“We have the federal warrants the moment we’re asked in after the search turns up anything on a terrorist connection. It’s probably overkill because the falsified documents give us federal jurisdiction anyway,” Fulton put in. “We also have Araya’s holdings being watched. Did Stennis say anything to you about why he left early with Morton?”
Gravitts looked shocked for a moment, glancing quickly toward where Stennis and Morton had been sitting. “I didn’t see him leave. Sorry, I’ve been glad handing the whole night so far and haven’t been paying attention. Maybe he said something to my brother. I’ll go check.”
“I have a question,” Donaldson asked. “What the hell do you need us for?”
“Cooperation between federal and local agencies expedite matters, and lays the groundwork for prosecution,” Guzman stated.
“Cover,” Ellie surmised. “They need us for cover. If anything goes wrong, it was local screw-ups ruining a federal case.”
“You’re full of shit, James!” Guzman barked out.
“I don’t think so.” Donaldson grinned over at Ellie. “I think Ellie has it just right.”
“Ditto,” Connor added.
Gravitts arrived back at the table, leaning on it instead of sitting down again. “Sebastian told me Stennis wasn’t feeling well. Morton drove him home.”
“We’ll go check for activity on his communications.” Fulton urged Guzman up. “Happy New Year to you all. I trust we’ll be apprised of any new developments your department runs across in the meantime?”
“Of course.” Donaldson shook hands with Fulton as did Connor.
“We’ll get together soon, girlfriend,” Guzman told Ellie.
“Until that time… until that time.” Ellie sighed contentedly.
* * *
Connor, Ellie, and Julie stood together at the window, sipping Champagne while gazing down at the San Francisco Bay under a still crystal clear night. The first strains of Auld Lang Syne, complete with party horns, streamers, and balloons heralded the new year’s arrival. The three toasted each other. Ellie put her glass down and wrapped her arms around Connor’s neck.
“Happy New Year, Opie.”
Ellie’s lips met Connor’s in a tentative gesture which escalated into a writhing, groaning release of emotion. Julie’s mouth dropped open slightly as Ellie moved against Connor, her body molded into his. Connor’s hands spread openly over Ellie’s back, pressing her to him. Ellie pushed away suddenly, her eyes startled. Connor reached out to take Ellie’s hand but she turned instead to hug Julie.
“Ha…Happy New Year, Jules.”
“Happy New Year, Sis.”
When Ellie released her, Julie moved into Connor’s arms. Connor hugged her, his arousal very obvious to Julie. He kissed her. Julie’s lips opened to him. In a split second, the soft yielding meeting ended long moments later in a hard passionate coupling of desire. Ellie yanked on Julie’s ear, evoking a surprised yelp.
“Break it up, Jules, the floor’s beginning to melt.”
Connor released Julie, grinning at the two broadly. “Thanks for making me come tonight.”
“Was that a double entendre?” Julie asked, rubbing her ear and checking for damage around the diamond studded earring.
“In his dreams,” Ellie declared. “I don’t know about you two but I’ve had enough of the high life for tonight.”
“Tonight was wonderful,” Julie exclaimed. “I feel like Jane Eyre when at last she is united with her Edward.”
“Who?” Ellie asked.
* * *
“Other than a brief hello when Connor picked her up, Ellie had remained quiet for an unprecedented time. Now in their patrol car, Connor began feeling an uneasiness with Ellie he had not experienced before. Connor decided to wait it out and keep his attention on their patrol grid as he drove. He didn’t have long to wait.
“You raped me last night,” Ellie blurted out suddenly.
“Not hardly.”
“That was not a partner kiss.”
“I believe a kiss requires two participants.”
“You caught me off guard and took advantage of me.”
“What’s really bugging you, El?”
“Oh… let’s see… you dancing cheek to cheek with Jules, Whiney hanging all over you tonguing your ear, you tonguing me and then doing Jules a moment later. Am I missing any highlights?”
“The fact I didn’t want to come at all pops into my head.”
“You’re sideswiping the issue.”
“What is the issue?”
“You tryin’ to be a player.”
“If the account of my adventures you gave is accurate, it sounds like I wasn’t just tryin’.”
“Frack you, Opie!”
Connor laughed. “Is that why you’re mad, El, because you didn’t frack me?”
Ellie looked over at him with rage at first, her mouth working to spew out denials and protestations. A minute went by of silence. Her features softened.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe you did want to frack me, or maybe you didn’t want anyone else fracking me?”
Ellie shrugged. “Maybe a little of both. Haven’t you ever thought about it?”
“Sure, El, it’s just when partners become involved in this line of work, bad things happen. Ray told me about being partnered up with Lois Kemp years before taking me on. He said she was the best partner he ever had. They got along great. Lois was funny but serious as a heart attack when it came to patrol.”
When Connor didn’t go on, Ellie nudged him. “Well, you can’t clam up there. What happened?”
“The usual in that they went out for a drink and things went too far when Ray took her home. Ray said it was like when a dam bursts. There was no shutting it off. They couldn’t keep their hands off one another. A couple of close calls on the job ended it.”
“What, it ruined their marriages?”
“They were both single.”
Ellie punched Connor’s arm in frustration. “I’m not a fracking Dentist! I don’t want to extract facts from you like pulling teeth. Get on with it.”
Connor chuckled. “Sorry. Ray married Lois. Luckily, Lois wasn’t as repelled by admitting as you are, El. When their daughter Sandy was born, Lois went home for good.”
“I’ve been over at Ray’s. He-”
“Lois passed away of ovarian cancer a year before you came out of the academy. Ray doesn’t talk about it and you’ve never met Sandy. She’s married, lives down in LA, and is expecting her first child in April. Ray’s thinking of moving down there.”
“It sounds like Ray did all right. Maybe I could handle admitting.”
Ellie’s statement brought on a few minutes of laughter as both of them knew the chances of Ellie transferring to admitting.
“I could probably transfer to admitting,” Connor suggested. “I’m just not ready to lose my partner yet.”
“You’d go stark raving mad in admitting.”
“Says you. Not all of us have lost touch with our compassionate side.”
The two shared another long bout of laughter over Connor’s adlib.
“This is just like New Year’s Day last year: quiet.”
“Oh great, El, why don’t you draw your weapon now? You’ll need it after that jinx. What have I told you about tempting the Cosmic Balance?”
“Grow up, Opie.” Ellie gave Connor a disgusted look. “This is New Year’s Day, not Halloween night. What’d you think of Jules preparing to get blotto?”
“We’ve all had those nights. Besides, she reined herself in. You did too and a good thing it was. I might not have survived an Ellie James hangover.”
“That was pretty funny when Whiney’s date came over and grabbed her. I think until you stood up he was going to get himself some.”
“It takes two for a brawl and no way was I getting drawn into throwing hands in the middle of a New Year’s Eve party with all my supervisors in attendance. I have to admit, Brandy did seem like she was trying t
o start trouble.”
“Ya’ think? What about if the boyfriend had bitch slapped you, Opie?”
“I don’t comment on hypothetical’s. What about you and Agent Guzman?”
Ellie shrugged. “’Nita has a hard-on for me but no dick. It’s confusing for her.”
Connor laughed. The events of the prior night buzzed through his head in rapid-fire fashion. The night had been one long continuous challenge between personal and professional life. He drove on in silence after the clearing of the air their talk had taken care of. Life after the New Year’s Eve party would never be quite the same - Connor was sure of that. It had been a game to play out after Ellie bullied him into coming, but the innocent part ended with their kiss. When Julie Morrison had slipped into his arms right after Ellie pulled away, Connor knew she had felt his arousal left over from Ellie, which did not lessen during their kiss.
“I’m not getting any younger you know,” Ellie stated suddenly.
“Yeah, me either, but now is a tough time to hash it all out, El. Last night started as a fun gag with you bribing me into going. Arriving there and actually seeing all the people threading into our lives lately, both good and bad, was a lot more than I bargained for. Finding out Gravitts had talked his brother into inviting all the usual suspects including the Terrances and the FBI made me wonder if we were way out of our league. Add in the Doc being his sister-in-law… and partner, I think we got served.”
“Meaning Gravitts used us as the stick to stir the stew.”
“It worked. Stennis sent Morton to plant doubt about us with the FBI by playing around with you on the dance floor. Then the two of them bugged out. During the course of the evening’s entertainment Guzman lets slip she has dossiers on us and everyone we know.”
“’Nita also spilled the fact Whiney sold a house to Araya.”
“You can bet they were all watching to see how cozy the Terrances were with Stennis. We come in to work today and find a package for us from Stennis with exactly what we were asking for - a video and written confession. I was hoping he’d changed his mind and let us off the hook. Even Donaldson thinks we’re getting set up. Ben jumped right in on your side when you popped the FBI with letting us handle everything so they can stay clear of it.”
“Okay, I’m convinced. We’re in way the fracking hell over our heads. Now what, Opie?”
“We play it out but once this Araya thing is over I say we ease up on the Crusade for a while.”
“Agreed. Now, what about you giving Jules tongue?”
“There’s worse news on the love front than that. Brandy called me before I picked you up today. She wants to meet for a talk about our relationship.”
“Oh barf! She couldn’t stand to see you with me and Jules. We didn’t look but I’ll bet she really got an eyeful of our stroke of Midnight kisses. You told her to fire up the broomstick and step off, right?”
Ellie’s facial features tightened with each passing second Connor didn’t respond. She punched him in the arm again.
“You are such a tool!”
“This Dr. Phil stage you’re going through is wearing thin, El. I see no harm in meeting with Brandy. We’re adults. We’ve been together before. More importantly - I’m not a eunuch.”
“I’d rather you bang Jules than that… that-”
“Real Estate Agent,” Connor finished for her, trying to avoid hearing Ellie rattle off a string of epithets degrading his ex-girlfriend, even he would end up laughing at. “Have you ever considered Brandy and I might simply enjoy each other’s company?”
“Oh gag!” Ellie accompanied her statement with a credible dry heaves imitation, hand over mouth and bent forward.
Connor laughed, glancing over at Ellie’s theatric opinion. Ellie straightened, leaning back in the seat with a disgusted wave off of Connor with her left hand.
“You are pathetic, Opie! How come you never get jealous when I have an intimate friend?”
“When you’re happy, I’m happy. When you’re pissed off, I get tortured all day. When you and Rick were together at first, all was sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. The two of you broke up and my only escape was Rick’s seventy-two inch plasma.”
Ellie snorted, looking away and trying not to laugh. She failed.
“Does the Doc know you’re trying to pimp her out to me?”
“I wouldn’t have to if you’d quit letting little Opie do your thinking for you with Whiney. I like Jules. Meeting a psycho-babbler with real personality is a once in a lifetime experience. She likes being around us for some unknown reason.”
“The way you ride her, I’m surprised she even says hello,” Connor remarked.
“Yeah… I was pretty rough on her last night; but good God, was there any sentence she spoke that didn’t begin with a ‘who’? She can take it which is another reason I like her. When do we return her car?”
“I figured she’d call and we could pick her up.”
“You dog! You’re plannin’ on making a booty call on duty.”
“What, with you in the car?” Connor chortled. “Yeah, I’m sure that-”
A shots fired call directing them to the corner of East 12th Street and 29th Avenue cut off Connor’s reverie. Ellie acknowledged the call.
“Leave off the siren, El. There’s no traffic anyway. I’d rather not paint a target on us until we find out what the hell’s going on.” Connor turned left at 35th Avenue, speeding down the empty avenue with Ellie calling out any movement on intersecting streets. Connor turned left on East 12th Street, slowing immediately as he could hear the telltale staccato gunfire from multiple weapons.
“Holy shit, look at the muzzle flashes!” Ellie patted her vest with nervous apprehension.
Connor stopped the patrol car. “Get in the back on my side with the riot-gun, El!”
Ellie quickly did as Connor told her, holding onto the riot-gun with a death grip.
“I’m going to do a donut right in the intersection just before the gunfire. We exit on my side with the patrol car between us and them. I’ll broadcast a ceasefire for all the good it’ll do us until we get backup. You good to go, El?”
“Can I get back to you on that?”
“Sure.” Connor turned on the sirens and peeled rubber all the way to the East 12th Street and 29th Avenue intersection where he slammed on the brakes and steered left, sliding the passenger side of the patrol car across the intersection.
Before Connor stopped completely, Ellie leaped from the rear seat, crouching behind the shielding vehicle. Automatic weapon fire tore through the passenger side windows only a moment later, shattering glass on both sides as Connor dived out of the driver’s seat.
An Officer Down call came through at the moment Connor hit the pavement at their location. Connor put a reassuring hand on Ellie’s arm.
Chapter 16
Battle Zone
“It wasn’t us that called so we better find out which side is which.” Connor pulled the transmitter out while staying below window level. “Dispatch! I need location of downed officer. We are under fire! Can you patch us through?!”
A moment later, Luke Morton’s voice crackled over their radio with all the battle-zone background noise.
“Of…Officer down,” Morton’s voice repeated.
“Luke, which side of the street are you on, the overpass or across from it?” Connor barked out loudly as he cut off the siren.”
“Overpass… I… Ray’s dead.”
“Hang tight! Dispatch, how long on all units?”
“ETA ten minutes.”
“Ellie! Bad guys on the right. Morton’s down on the left.”
Connor saw Ellie nod her head. “Can you fire a couple rounds over there while I go right and see if I can get to Luke?”
Ellie looked blankly at Connor, her mouth dropping open as she realized what he planned to do. Her mouth tightened. She nodded her head again, inching over to the rear bumper as another burst exploded the right rear taillight.
“On th
ree,” Connor called out. “One… two… three.”
Ellie leaned around the bumper and shot the riot gun, aiming for the corner where she had seen flashes on the right. Someone screamed out in pain. Ellie smiled and fired again. She hurriedly crawled toward the patrol car’s hood to check on Connor. A volley of shots hit the trunk area, making Ellie wonder if the fuel tank would explode any second. Connor was out of sight behind the vehicles parked under the freeway overpass. She heard the distinctive sound of Connor’s Ruger .40 caliber automatic. Return fire began in Connor’s direction but Ellie realized there was less of it.
* * *
Connor raced in a zigzag pattern across the short distance as Ellie fired. He found Luke Morton leaning against the side of a silver Lexus Connor recognized as belonging to Councilman Stennis. Morton’s right hand clutched his Sig 9mm as it lay across his right leg. Morton’s left hand was clamped over his thigh, under which blood pooled in a frighteningly rapid amount. Connor holstered his Ruger and tore Morton’s belt from his pants. He quickly encircled Morton’s upper leg and cinched the belt tight in a tourniquet, reducing the blood flow significantly. Connor ripped his own shirt off. He tied it tightly around the wound in seconds.
“It…it was a trap,” Morton mumbled to Connor. “They’re… armored too.”
Connor peeked over the hood as a volley of gunfire hit the trunk of his patrol car. He drew the Ruger in one smooth motion. The first pad of his index finger squeezed the trigger gently. A man Connor recognized as Terrell Araya fired an AK47 across the street. Connor fired. Araya jerked, the AK47 falling from his hands as brain matter flew out the other side of his skull. Connor ducked down again. He heard sirens in the distance finally.
“Did… you get one?” Morton asked weakly, noting the lighter gunfire dinging into the car they were behind.
“Yeah, Araya didn’t have a vest on his head.”
Morton chuckled in appreciation, ending in a groan of pain.
“I have to get back over to Ellie. Help’s coming Luke. Stay conscious.”
“Go… I’ll be okay.”
Connor crab-walked to the Lexus trunk. He eased up over it, staying low with his Ruger aimed across the street once again. Another man popped up, a fresh clip in the AK47 he had picked up from beside his dead boss.
The Protectors: Vigilante Justice (Vigilante Cops Book 1) Page 19