The Lawman

by Martha Shields

  Jeez! There she went again.

  Did she actually want this man?

  She knew the answer to that question before it formed in her mind. Yes, she wanted him—with desire that hid like red-hot embers beneath everything she said, everything she did. Embers that burst into flames with the slightest prodding—a smile, a word, a touch.

  What would he do if she twisted around and began fanning those flames with kisses, with caresses, with provocative movements of her body?

  She knew the answer to that question, too. He’d made his desire perfectly clear, more than once. He’d also made it clear that he’d seen the embers inside her, felt their heat.

  Tabitha almost wished she could turn around. Who would know? The world that waited outside already knew he was staying with her. If any of the reporters had suspicions about where he was sleeping, they wouldn’t hesitate to splash them all over the papers, no matter what went on.

  But Tabitha couldn’t turn around. Her heart pounded with fear at just the thought.

  She’d been so unsuccessful in every intimate relationship she’d ever had—all one of them—she didn’t have the confidence to initiate anything more than a handshake.

  No, it was more than a lack of confidence. She didn’t know how to initiate intimacy. Her father had spurned any kind of affection at all, and Scott had turned cold the one time she’d kissed him first. He’d insisted on being the one to start their sexual encounters—and they’d always begun and ended with pain. She’d finally realized they weren’t making love at all. Scott had a rape fantasy, and all he’d wanted from her was fulfillment.

  She’d only dated a few men since, and never more than twice, never going further than a chaste good-night kiss.

  Until yesterday when Jake had kissed her and she’d kissed him back. He seemed to like it. So…

  No. She had to get up and get dressed before he woke.

  Reaching back, she gently lifted his arm and began moving it back to his side.

  The cat jumped on the bed with a bounce and meowed.

  Jake came awake immediately, fully conscious the instant his eyes opened.

  “Go away,” Tabitha whispered hotly. “I’ll feed you in a minute, but first I have to get up without waking him.”

  “Him who?” Jake asked with a smile. His voice was still husky with sleep. However, other parts of him had definitely wakened.

  Tabitha started, then froze. “You’re awake.”

  “How can a man sleep with you two caterwauling?”

  She twisted to look at him. “I was not.”

  Her eyes widened as her hip bumped against his morning erection. “Oh.”

  He couldn’t help smiling. “Surprise.”

  “You…” She swallowed visibly. “That wasn’t there a minute ago.”

  “Did a little exploring, did you?”

  “No, I just—”

  She tried to ease her bottom away, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him. Her softness felt so good. He wanted to sink into her and never come up for air.

  He nuzzled the hair off her neck. “I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

  “You wouldn’t?”

  “Not a single bit,” he said in between the kisses he placed up the right side of her neck.

  “Jake, we—we need to get to the hospital.”

  “What time is it?” He lifted his head and squinted at the clock beside her bed. “Just six-thirty. The press conference isn’t until nine.”

  “We both need to take showers and… Oh.” She sighed sensuously as he slipped a hand under her T-shirt and ran it across the velvet of her stomach. “I don’t… Oh.”

  He smiled at her obvious pleasure and returned his attention to her neck. “Feel good, kitten?”

  “I don’t… Oh, yes.” She bowed her head forward, giving him better access to the sensitive tendons extending into her shoulders. “But we… I mean, don’t you… Oh, jeez.”

  His hand slipped upward, stroking the underside of her breast. She arched back, stretching the T-shirt across her chest. His gut tightened as he witnessed her nipples forming taut little buds. He held her hips against his, feeling her movements across his throbbing heat, feeling even more blood flow in to engorge him.

  He took the weight of one breast in his hand, feeling the satin texture of the pliable curves contrasting with the puckered tip. He rubbed his thumb across it and couldn’t have said what turned him on more—the flexible resistance of the bud against his finger, or watching his hand caress her beneath her shirt, or the moans that emanated from both of them.

  “Jake. What are you…”

  “I want to make you feel good,” he whispered. “As good as you’re making me feel.”

  Wanting to see what he was touching, Jake threw the sheet off. Cool air hit his heated skin.

  She had on red panties. Silk.

  “Damn, Tabitha.” He ran his hand over the curve of her hip. “How did you know? Red panties do a number on me.”

  She didn’t say anything. Didn’t move.

  “Kitten?” He pulled his hand from her hip and pushed the hair back from her face. “What is it?”

  She turned wide blue eyes to him. “We need to get up.”

  He placed a kiss on her shoulder. “We do?”

  She shrugged away from him. “Yes.”

  Rising to rest on his elbow, he pulled her onto her back and studied her guarded face. The hand he rested on her stomach felt the tension that had suddenly entered her body. “Why?”

  Her gaze slid away from his. “You’re the one who said we could stay in the same house and remain professional.”

  “I said that? And meant it?”

  She didn’t smile at his joke.

  “Please let me up, Jake. The cat is hungry.”

  Jake lifted his hand from her stomach.

  She rose immediately and all but ran into the hall.

  Sighing with frustration, Jake fell back to the pillows.

  Damn, she’d been so hot for him. Why had she turned cold all of a sudden? Was it him? Or was it the badge he wore?

  He wasn’t wearing it now.

  What the hell did she have against policemen, anyway?

  Her father, Albert Monroe, was the only connection that Jake knew of between Tabitha and police officers.

  He glared at the open door.

  What had the son of a bitch done to her?

  Ten minutes later, Tabitha stood in the shower, letting the warm water sluice down her body. Such a simple thing, yet it felt incredibly sensuous this morning. Even with her eyes closed she could trace every path the water followed along her curves. The shower droplets were thousands of warm fingers thumping against her skin.

  The senses in her entire body had been turned up several notches, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

  Turning impatiently, Tabitha reached for the shampoo.

  Okay, she was attracted to the man. It wasn’t as if she could do anything about it. Above and beyond the fact that he was a cop, above and beyond the fact that they were key players in a situation that meant life and death for two people—a situation that could make or break either one of their careers—was the fact that attraction inevitably led to intimacy. It almost had just a few minutes ago.

  And intimacy wasn’t one of Tabitha’s greatest strengths. In fact, she sucked swamp water when it came to intimacy. After Scott, she’d vowed she’d never be close to any man again. Intimacy terrified her—which meant that Jake terrified her, because the desire she felt for Scott paled in comparison to what she felt right now.

  Tabitha scrubbed the shampoo deep into her hair.

  What was wrong with her? People’s lives were at stake, and here she was having a latent overdose of adolescent hormones.

  She had to get a grip on herself. This…hunger she had for this cop was just a passing fancy. A blip on the screen of her long-range goals.

  As long as she remembered that, she’d be okay. She could repel hi
s animal magnetism. She could see his smile without having heart palpitations.

  Dropping a dollop of scented liquid soap on her pouf, Tabitha rubbed it into a frothing mass of bubbles. Scrubbing her skin, she berated herself until she looked down and noticed that her skin was turning Chinese red.

  She couldn’t trust herself enough around him to do the simplest things like give herself a shower.

  For the first time Tabitha looked forward to Branson Hines’s call. She needed someone to take her frustration out on. If he didn’t call, she might have to go looking for the little twerp herself, just so she could keep her hands off Jake.

  Tabitha opened the bathroom door and called, “Your tu—”

  She stopped dead. Jake stood in front of the stove, dressed only in his slacks. At least he had them zipped this morning. The wonderful, wake-up smells of coffee and bacon comingled with the happy sound of his whistling.

  “What are you doing?” What a brilliant question. What he was doing was perfectly obvious. Instead of speechless, shock had rendered her stupid.

  He glanced over his shoulder and answered her obvious question with an equally obvious answer. “Cooking breakfast.”

  “Oh. Right.”

  “Hope you don’t mind.”

  “For me, too?”

  He frowned. “Of course for you, too. What kind of a cook do you think I am?”

  Never in her entire life had anyone cooked breakfast for Tabitha. Except a restaurant, and that didn’t count, because she paid them.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She made a conscious effort to raise her jaw. “Nothing.”

  “You act as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

  The Ghost of Breakfast Future?

  “No,” she said too loudly, more to negate her thought than his statement. She cleared her throat and forced her frozen muscles to move. “I’m fine. Thank you for cooking breakfast. It’s very thoughtful.”

  And totally unlike a cop.

  “You’re welcome.” He smiled. “It won’t be ready for about ten minutes. I checked on my men first thing. Everything’s quiet, both here and at the hospital.”

  “Good. Okay, then. I’ll get dressed.”

  As she turned toward the bedroom, he said so softly she wasn’t sure she was meant to hear, “You don’t have to on my account.”

  Nine

  “The Mission Creek Police Department’s presence is certainly visible,” Tabitha commented as Jake pulled into her parking space.

  With just a casual glance, Jake could see seven of his men. They watched every person coming and going. The three guarding the front entrance had a big job, controlling the crowd of reporters milling around, no doubt waiting for Tabitha. “That’s on purpose.”

  “To scare Hines away?” she asked.

  Jake switched off the engine. “That, plus we want to make it clear that he has no chance to get back in here and wreak more havoc if he does something to the hostages.”

  “You can’t keep up this protection forever,” she said. “I’m sure it’s costing the taxpayers a bundle.”

  “The taxpayers are who we’re protecting.” He handed her the keys. “We’ll keep it up at least until Hines is caught.”

  “Which will be soon.”

  Jake approved of her positive thinking. “God willing.”

  As they entered the hospital, he paused to talk to the men stationed there. Tabitha hurried in, away from the cameras and microphones and questions shouted at her by the horde of media men and women.

  When she disappeared, they turned their attention on Jake, but after telling them they’d have a full statement at the nine-o’clock press conference, he ignored them.

  He didn’t catch up with Tabitha until he reached her office twenty minutes later. He was going over the day’s schedule with the men who had just arrived to relieve the night crew in the command center in Marie’s office when Tabitha walked through her door.

  When the men he was talking to shifted their attention behind him, Jake turned around to find her headed out. “Where are you going?”

  She stopped at the door to the hall, seeming surprised that he’d asked. “I always make rounds first thing in the morning.”

  “Rounds? You’re not a doctor.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I visit around the hospital. I like to keep in touch with my people, and patients.”

  He checked his watch. “It’s Sunday and we have a press conference in half an hour.”

  Her chin began a rebellious ascent. “Today, of all days, I need to check on my people. They see me every morning that I come to work. They’ll expect to see me today.”

  He walked over to her. “Wait until after the press conference, and I’ll go with you.”

  “After what’s happened, I need to talk to the employees, reassure the ones who are frightened. It’s important.”

  “I know, and I agree. But I can’t go with you now. I have to talk to the men who are about to go off shift, and brief the ones taking over.”

  “I don’t need you to go with me.”

  “Please wait.” He was used to giving orders, not begging favors. “I’ll be with you in a few minutes. We need to go over what you’re going to say.”

  “Well…” She took a deep breath. “I suppose there’s some paperwork I can see to.”

  He smiled. “Thank you.”

  She seemed mollified but still annoyed at having her freedom curtailed. “You’re welcome.”

  He watched her walk stiffly back into her office. He knew just how she felt, but it couldn’t be helped. She needed protection and he needed to see if any of her employees seemed a little too smug.

  He turned back to his men. They watched him with knowing expressions.

  “Have a good night’s sleep, Chief?” one of the younger, braver officers asked.

  Jake growled as he returned. They couldn’t possibly know he had slept in Tabitha’s bed last night. What’s more, he didn’t want them to know. Ever.

  “Go fishing in some other lake, Tyrrell. Now, where were we?”

  Fifteen minutes later, Jake opened the door to Tabitha’s office and was about to walk through when Marie’s office phone rang. Everyone in the room stopped and looked at the officer closest to it.

  Tabitha’s wide eyes rose from her paperwork. “Do I answer it?”

  Jake held up a hand. “Just a sec.”

  Officer Pitner looked down at the display, then at Jake. “It says ‘Out of Area.’ Same area code as my mother-in-law. Houston.”

  “Hines could certainly have driven that far. The ambulance was found in that direction.” Jake pointed at Dan Hammel, who’d already seated himself at the tape recorder. He switched it on. “All right, Miss Monroe. Answer it.”

  Tabitha took several deep breaths, then picked up the phone on the third ring. “Tabitha Monroe. Can I help you? Yes, he is. Just a moment.” She punched a button, then looked at Jake. “It’s for you. Detective Bill Hackleman of the Houston Police Department.”

  “Right.” Jake nodded at Hammel, who turned off the tape recorder. Then he turned his attention back to Tabitha. He certainly didn’t want her listening in on this conversation. “I’ll get it out here.”

  “Okay.”

  He waited until she’d hung up her phone, then stepped behind Marie’s desk. As he picked up the secretary’s phone, he blessed the fact that secretaries needed to know when their bosses were on another line. A light would come on if Tabitha picked up her phone.

  “Jake White.”

  “Hey, White. Got some interesting information for you.”

  Jake sat in Marie’s chair and spun so his back was to his men. “What’d you find?”

  “Seems Al Monroe had a penchant for abusing prisoners. In fact, that’s how he died. In the line of duty, my ass. A Mexicano he took a stick to still had a gun.”

  Jake’s hand tightened on the receiver. Abusive police officers were all too often abusive husbands…and fathers. “Anything else?”


  “That ain’t enough for the broad to hate cops?”

  “Yeah, that’s enough.” More than enough. “Thanks, Hackleman. I owe you one.”

  “All in a day’s work, my man.”

  “Talk to you later.”

  Jake stared at the receiver as he replaced it, suddenly depressed.

  As a police officer, he knew that abuse of a child hurt so deeply, the wounds stayed fresh all their lives—rarely healing, rarely even scabbing over. It took an incredibly strong person to overcome such trauma enough to lead a halfway normal life, much less forgive the person who had inflicted the damage.

  He already knew that Tabitha was an incredibly strong woman. Now he knew how strong.

  Now he knew what he was up against.

  The press conference was frustrating for everyone, since there was no information to give the media beyond the conclusion that the tire tracks found near the abandoned ambulance probably were made by Branson Hines’s vehicle. From there the trail went cold because the ambulance and tracks had been found scarcely half a mile from the Lone Star Highway, a two-lane paved road that headed east toward Corpus Christi.

  The hour after the press conference, however, was very enlightening for Jake. At least on a personal level.

  As he followed Tabitha around the hospital wards and service departments, he watched as she talked to her employees about what had happened and what was being done. Some of the hospital’s employees seemed afraid to be at work; others realized the danger was over, at least for now.

  Tabitha was amazingly good at bolstering her employees’ courage. Somehow, she made each employee think his or her job was the most important in the hospital, made each employee believe that he or she was the most important employee—both to the hospital and to her. She made such a stirring speech to the kitchen crew, Jake was surprised they didn’t follow her out doing a goose step to the theme from General Hospital.

  She was one of the most well respected and beloved administrators that he’d ever seen. He actually watched people’s faces light up when they saw her coming.