And I thought it was fucking cute.
This is what I was in for and I didn’t even care. I was so into her, she probably could have told me she wanted to take couples’ interpretive dance classes and I would have been like, “sign my ass up.”
“You’re not into couples dance classes, are you?” I asked her after I had that thought.
She gave me a sort of what the hell look and laughed. “No. Why? Are you?”
Thank fuck.
“Not unless it’s a bit of dirty dancing.”
“You’re so weird.” She got up and went into the kitchen and came bag with the bag of pickle flavored chips she made me buy for her. And I was the weird one.
She tried to kiss me with her pickle chip breath and I playfully flipped her and pinned her to the couch. “I don’t think so, woman. Maybe after you’ve guzzled some mouth wash.”
The bright side was that she seemed equally amused by some of my less than stellar habits and personality traits. I think the fact that I could set her off like a bottle rocket in bed helped her to overlook the other stuff.
We had dinner with my parents and Spence and Nora the night before the memorial service for Billy. My mother couldn’t keep the grin off her face for nothing any time her gaze fell on me and Em. She even pulled me aside later in the evening and warned me not to blow it.
I didn’t intend to, but when did we guys ever really intend to fuck things up? Still seemed to happen. I’d already made note of her favorite chocolates, ice cream flavors and flowers for when it inevitably happened.
If that failed, I’d found the spot that instantly turned her to mush and wasn’t above resorting to sexual groveling.
Whatever it took, I wanted this to work, maybe more than I’d ever wanted anything before. I’d do a lot more than pick up my life and move across the state for her.
Twenty-Eight
Emily
I’d gone shopping the day before with Nora for the black sheath dress I picked up from the floor and slipped on, smoothing out the wrinkles.
Camden was rebuttoning his shirt and tucking it into his pants. He wore his dress blues. My God did he wear them.
The reason we both had to redress and I now needed to fix my hair and touch-up my make-up for a second time that morning was because of the things seeing him in them did to me.
“So that’s all it takes?” he grinned, slipping his jacket back on as I reapplied my lip stain. “Maybe I should hang onto this thing.”
“Maybe you should, and don’t get rid of the cuffs either.” I bit my freshly crimsoned bottom lip.
“Woman, if we weren’t already going to be late. . .”
I laughed and did one last check in the mirror.
“You’re beautiful, now we have to go before I change my mind about the handcuffs.” He took my hand and dragged me away from the mirror. I slipped my feet into the black heels I’d dug into his backside before they fell off only moments ago, when he’d taken me against the wall, then let him pull me from the room and out of the house.
In the car, I reached forward and turned the volume on the radio down as he sped along the highway into town.
“Have you told anyone in the department yet that you’re going to be leaving?”
“I talked to my captain yesterday when I went in, but I haven’t told anyone else. I’ll wait a week or two while things settle down with the Russians before I make any kind of formal announcement that I’m stepping down from the force. Because of how things went down, I’ll be on leave pending the trial and can use the time to get the house on the market and get ready for the move.”
“You should get some kind of medal for saving the day.”
He snorted a laugh, “Afraid that’s not how it works. They don’t just hand those out willy nilly, and let’s just say the department wasn’t thrilled that a ‘rogue cop’ and a couple ‘mercenaries’ took those guys down. And it was another ‘mercenary’ that apprehended Alexei Kuznetsov.”
“Rogue cop? Mercenaries? You guys are heroes.”
“Yeah, but they don’t look too fondly on guys like my brother who occasionally go outside the rules and laws that tie our hands, and with feds involved, none of them are happy that someone else did their job for them.”
“Well someone had to,” I pointed out.
He chuckled again, “It’s just lucky it turned out the way it did, or I wouldn’t have to worry about stepping down, I’d be fired.”
“Why? I don’t understand what you did wrong.” It was stupid that our law enforcement officers could be punished for doing the job they were supposed to be doing.
“Babe, I lost track of the number of rules I broke and orders I disobeyed on this one.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. But it’s over now. The bad guys are all locked up and we shouldn’t have to worry about retaliation. If the Russians want to rebuild, they’ve got bigger fish to fry. When the top dog, so to speak, goes down, there’s ten more fighting to take his place. The cartel will be breathing down their backs since they know the Russians set them up.”
“I bet they’re not too happy.”
“They are not. Two of their top guys went down and a shitload of product was confiscated, drugs and guns. And the feds now know enough about their trafficking operation here in the northwest that it won’t be long before they start dismantling that.”
“So, an all-around win for the good guys,” I said proudly.
He cast a smile at me. “Looks that way.”
His parents and brother, along with Nora, were already at the service and had found seats when we arrived. They’d saved two and we quietly slipped into them as the remaining attendees took their seats and prepared for the service to start.
The huge room was packed with police and state patrol in their dress uniforms. I’d never seen a service like the one they did for Billy except on TV.
Billy was a good man and it became clear to me that he’d also been an exemplary law enforcement officer right up until the night he was shot. My heart broke for everyone that knew him. There were so many in this room that had not only known him but considered him a friend. The words they shared broke my heart even more.
I wished I’d gotten to meet this guy that Camden and everyone else spoke so fondly of. Both Spencer and Cam got up to speak, along with their dad who had been like a second father to Billy. I found myself dabbing tears from my eyes and I wasn’t the only one.
After the service and burial were over, a reception followed. When the food was served and the alcohol started flowing, everyone’s spirits were lifted. The large hall was full of laughter as stories of Billy’s exploits in life and on the force were shared. I heard more stories from high school and college, as well as some colorful ones from the academy and his time on the job.
I was introduced to so many new people, I would never be able to keep them straight. I’d heard about the rivalries between different branches of law enforcement and the different departments, but for tonight they were all like one big family. A family that had lost one of their own while the perpetrator remained unknown.
There was plenty of anger in the room as well, over that fact.
By the time the reception came to an end, Camden had consumed one too many Guinnesses and I was tasked with driving us back in his car. While I waited for Camden to finish his goodbyes, I stood with Nora, who was waiting for Spencer as well.
“Spencer wants to leave for Bellingham Sunday morning. We’re going to have brunch with his parents tomorrow if you and Camden want to join us.”
“I’ll ask him if he wants to, but I imagine we’ll join you guys.” And just like that, Camden and I had become a ‘we.’ It felt right even if my brain was trying to slam on the brakes. It was all happening so fast.
Everything with Camden was like that, I was beginning to realize. He was a dive in head first kind of guy. He didn’t do anything half way and rarely stopped to weigh the options or consequences. He didn’t let anything slow him
down or stop him from going after what he wanted.
It just so happened that the thing he wanted this time was me.
“That is if I can get him to the car and home.”
Camden was dragging his feet, still caught up in a conversation with a few of the other stragglers. I said goodnight to Nora and then found Mr. and Mrs. Shaw before they left. Then I had to practically drag Cam to his car and shove him in. If I hadn’t, he probably would have stood outside the reception with those guys all night.
Camden appeared to have fallen asleep on the drive back. I was lost in my head, the music playing softly in the background, when he startled me by reaching for my hand and taking it off the wheel.
I jerked in my seat and the car swerved a bit before I corrected with the one hand that remained on the steering wheel. “Shit, I thought you passed out,” I breathed.
A soft chuckle passed his lips, “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.” He threaded our fingers together and brought the back of my hand to his lips. I spared a quick glance over at him. The tender smile he wore melted my insides, making them all gooey. I returned my eyes to the darkened highway.
“I’m glad you came with me today. Even the hard stuff seems a little less hard with you there.” He kissed my hand again before letting it go.
I returned it to the wheel, my insides nothing but a mess of warm, melty feels.
“I feel the same way,” I admitted. “Life doesn’t seem quite as scary when you’re around. I feel like maybe I can handle it after all.”
“That’s all you babe, you’re stronger than you realize.”
“Maybe, but you’re the one who shows me how to be strong.”
We made it back to his place where all these feelings bubbling up got the better of us. We barely made it in the door and let the dogs out before he was stripping me bare of more than just my clothes. I’d never felt more exposed or safer in my entire life than I did in his arms. It was a strange and beautiful contradiction.
Every time I was with him it felt like this thing was growing deeper between us, that he was reaching further inside of me, claiming more of me. I didn’t know how to stop it, nor did I want to.
Tonight, we hadn’t made it farther than the couch in our fervor. I was wrapped naked in the throw, tucked into his arms when the dogs began pawing at the door to be let back in.
When Cash and Kota were in and the house was locked up tight, he scooped me up from the couch. He tossed away the throw, and with a little squeal of surprise, I let him carry me up the stairs to bed.
I didn’t know what I would do when I had to adjust to sleeping in my own bed without him again.
Twenty-Nine
Camden
After a lazy morning in bed the following day, Emily and I met everyone for brunch downtown. Emily would be leaving the next morning with Spencer and Nora and I hadn’t yet told my parents about my decision. I wasn’t sure how they would take it, but I decided it was as good a time as any to tell them.
I cleared my throat and spared a quick glance at Spencer, before looking to my parents. “Mom, Dad, I need to tell you guys something.” I knew this decision wouldn’t go over the easiest with either of my parents.
We were a cop family going back five generations. I’d seen the pride in my father’s eyes the day I graduated from the academy and was sworn in with SPD. I worried walking away from that would disappoint him.
They were definitely shocked when I broke the news that I was leaving the SPD and joining Spencer at Teller Corp.
Mom had a million and one questions. As much as she worried over me being a cop, at least, being a cop’s wife for thirty years, she knew what to expect. With Spencer joining the military, and then this gig with Teller, it was so much unknown for her.
Dad appeared to take it better than I expected. He asked me if I was sure it was what I wanted, and when I said it was, he didn’t say another word about it. Throughout breakfast he seemed distracted by something else, and several times one of us had to repeat something we’d just said.
“Honey, are you feeling alright?” Mom finally asked after he’d handed her the small pitcher of syrup instead of the cream she’d asked for.
“I’m fine,” he muttered and then seemed to realize his mistake and handed her the cream. “Sorry, just a lot on my mind. Thinking about Billy and Paul and the good men we’ve lost.” Paul was Billy’s father, Dad’s former partner.
Mom rested her hand over his and they shared a soft look before Dad attempted to put himself back into the conversation we’d been having.
Once everyone’s stomachs were full and the check had been dropped off, Dad won the tug-of-war for the bill.
Spence grabbed my attention as we all stood to leave. “You got anything going on this afternoon?”
“Whatever she wants to do,” I nodded at Emily who was at my side.
“Vick is still in town, but leaves for Europe tonight; he was hoping to get an hour or so with you to go over some things and work out the details of you coming on with us.”
“How soon is he taking off? I should probably get Em back to the house so she can pack up if you’re looking to head out in the morning.” I looked to her to see what she wanted to do.
“You can go with your brother and take care of what you need to. I can drive myself back to the house and get packed up if he’ll give you a ride home later. Bring dinner with you and we can have a nice night before I leave in the morning.”
“You sure?” I didn’t want to ditch her since it was our last day together before she left. It would be a week or so before I followed them. A week wasn’t that long, but it felt like a long time to go without seeing her. It would be weird not waking up and going to bed with her every day.
“I’m sure. It’s fine.”
“Why don’t you take Nora with you. She’s all packed up and I’m sure she’d rather hang out with you than sit at my parents while we do this,” my brother suggested. Nora had her head together with my mom, but looked up when she heard her name and came over.
“Cam and I need to take care of some things with Teller before he goes to Europe tonight. You want to go with Emily back to Cam’s house and hang out until we’re done?”
Nora was more than okay with the plan, and after saying goodbye to my parents, the girls left the restaurant in my car and I went with my brother to see Vick at the hotel where he was staying.
Vick was a straightforward guy and I knew how highly my brother thought of him. That alone was why I’d even considered this move in the first place.
After talking with him more over drinks in the hotel bar, I was convinced my brother wasn’t wrong about the guy, and that I would have no problem working for Teller. He laid out what he had in mind, what my role would be and how it fit into his entire operation. I was impressed and even found myself feeling a sense of the same excitement I’d felt when I first joined SPD and vice.
Essentially, I would be doing the same sort of work, like my brother had said when he first put the offer on the table. The resources I’d have at my disposal would entirely change the game. Of course, there was still a fine line we had to walk to keep from finding ourselves in hot water.
“And I think you could be an asset when our paths cross with law enforcement as they sometimes do on cases. In the past, we haven’t always had the best working relationship with the local police.”
“I agree I could be some help there,” I told him and we continued to chat about my role with Teller Corp. Spencer served as the buffer between us, offering insight from both sides, knowing the job and knowing what some of my concerns were. We spent close to two hours laying out our questions and getting a clear picture of what it would be like for me to join the team.
Teller broke-down his entire business, the ins and outs, the angles they ran, the types of work they took, who handled what and how the chain of command worked within the sectors. It was like several autonomous teams that ran their own ops, or gathered intel, or worked in security
, whatever their specialty was, but there was a lot of overlapping and coordination between them. Teller was the man that oversaw it all and kept it running as one unit.
“What do you think?” My brother asked me when we left Teller.
“I think you were right and it’s going to be a good fit, but we’ll see.”
“But you’re in?”
“Yeah, I’m in.”
Spencer didn’t hold back his excitement, smacking me on the back none too gently. “Gonna be fun working with you, little brother.”
“As long as we’re clear in that I don’t work for you, big brother.”
He laughed. “Come on, we better go pickup food and get back to the girls.
“Let me just call Emily and see what she wants for dinner.” I slid my phone out of my pocket, but before I could dial her, an incoming call from my dad came in.
“Hey Dad, what’s up?” I answered.
“Where are you? Are you with your brother?” His voice was urgent.
“Yeah, Spencer’s right here.” The two of us shared a confused look. “Everything okay, Dad?”
“No, I need to talk to you boys right now. You need to meet me at the house as soon as you can get there.”
“Okay, but what’s going on? Where are you?”
“I’m just leaving Arty Tomlinson at the nursing home, and I know who killed Billy Jacobs.”
“What?” I blurted loudly. His statement caught me off guard and now Spencer was frowning at me, looking puzzled and curious as hell. “You’re sure?”
Before he could answer me, there was a loud pop in the background. My father groaned into the phone and then the line went silent.
“Dad! Dad!” I shouted, but it was no use, the call had been disconnected.
“What’s going on?” Spencer demanded.
“I don’t know,” I sputtered, trying to dial my dad back but there was no answer.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I growled at my brother. “Dad said he figured out who killed Billy and then there was a loud pop. I think Dad might have been shot,” I voiced my fear. “Then the call went dead.”
Tears of Blue (Shades of Death Book 2) Page 23