“Do it anyway, it’ll be your final chance.”
She looked at him. “Are you enjoying this?”
“No. After the blokes have dealt with you two, they’ll come looking for me. I’m just dead.”
Dee snorted. “What for?”
“Letting you two wade into my battle.”
Del punched him lightly on the arm. “We weren’t leaving our friend hanging in the wind.”
“That’s right,” Dee agreed. “That poor dog.”
“You really mean me, right?” Farris asked.
“Sure, you keep thinking that.”
With a laugh, he walked through the back door of the dress shop.
Dee and Del looked at each other.
“Well, shit,” Dee said. “I think I need a Diet Coke. Maybe some chocolate.”
“Trying to sweeten yourself before Ryder comes to take a bite out of you?”
“He starts anything, I will kick his arse.”
“Won’t make any difference to Ryder. Your arse is grass, lady.”
“I’ll just stop his subscription to his beloved Green Lantern comics.”
Del squinted. “Okay. You might be able to wiggle out of it.” As if that would work. Not.
Dee cast her a jaundiced eye. “Unfortunately for you, you are so much dead meat.”
“Dad will be all disapproving, but I’ll sweet-talk him.”
“I don’t mean Uncle Dan, and you know it.”
“Who do you mean then?” As if Del didn’t know.
“Moz.”
“Moz isn’t my boss,” she retorted a trifle sharply.
“He’s your boyfriend, he’s the local inspector, and he has an over-protectiveness that makes him over-bearing at times, like most of the men in our lives.” Dee grimaced. “Do you think they were actually all brothers and simply separated at birth or something?”
“I dare you to ask Mrs Montague that.”
“Not in this lifetime. She’d have my guts for garters.”
They started back towards their own shops.
Del stopped and looked at Dee. “Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming out.”
“Well, hell, you’re my cousin.”
And that said it all.
With an understanding grin, they went their separate ways.
~*~
Leaning back in the chair, booted feet propped on the desk, hot tea steaming from the mug in his hand, Moz stared at the computer. There was always bloody paperwork. Whoever reckoned that computers made for less paperwork should have had their arses kicked.
The door to the office opened, Kirk striding inside with Maggie on his heels. “We need to talk.”
“About what?”
“You holding your temper.”
Moz’s eyebrows arched in silent query.
Kirk stood in front of the desk, Maggie leaned against the door with arms folded.
“What’s got you so worried?” Moz took a sip of hot tea.
“The fact that Harding, Dawson and Cutter were in town.”
Moz tensed. “What’d they do?” Putting the mug on the desk, he swung his booted feet to the floor.
“Got in a disagreement with some of the townsfolk.”
“Who?”
“This is where you need to hold your temper.”
“Shit.” He knew in an instant. “Del?”
“Words only, Moz. Words. No one hit, no one hurt.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “They bailed her up?” He surged to his feet.
“Not quite.” Kirk nodded at the chair. “You might want to take a seat.”
“You might want to start talking. Fast.”
Kirk gauged his stance before he said, “Brand was mistreating a dog, Farris intervened, Pierce and Cutter appeared. Looked like a free-for-all was going to start.”
“Three against one?” Moz scowled. “That’d be just like those bastards. But what’s Del got to do with it?”
“She didn’t like the odds and intervened in turn.”
“Shit. Shit!” Moz started around the desk. “If they hurt her, I’ll kill them!”
“Steady up.” Kirk side-stepped, barring his way. “No one got hurt. I just told you that.”
Hands fisted, Moz glared down at him. “So what the hell happened? Spit it out, Morrison, before I drag it out of you.”
“Maybe I should take it from here,” Maggie suggested. “Seeing as I was one of the cops who came at the phone call.”
“Phone call?” This sounded worse by the second.
“We received a partial phone call from Dee, got around there fast to find that a group of them had been at a stand-off. That’d be Del, Dee, Ian and Farris against Cutter, Harding and Dawson.”
His tension eased a fraction. Del hadn’t been alone.
“As Sarge said, Brand apparently mistreated the dog, Farris intervened, the others weren’t going to stand by and see him take on those three dickheads. It was a stand-off, Moz. A stand-off.” She looked reassuringly up at him. “No one got hurt, no one got touched.”
“Why am I just now hearing about this?” Why hadn’t Del told him? Oh right, she knew he’d have steam rolling from his ears. Like it was now.
“Oh, I don’t know. Because the altercation had nothing to do with you?”
“Mags,” Kirk warned quietly.
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Sorry. Look, you’re her boyfriend, but this was cop business-”
“Del is my business.”
“Really?” Maggie looked amused now. “Does she know that?”
Kirk cut her a look.
She held her hands palms up. “Over to you, Sarge.”
Kirk looked back at Moz. “Cutter, Dawson and Harding haven’t shown up anywhere. We’re on the lookout for them to have a word about the dog and the dispute.”
“They’ll lie their arses off. And I want to talk to them about that dog.”
“You know as well as I do that if we don’t go by the book anything brought against them in the future can be jeopardised. We go by the book if we want a water-tight case.” Kirk looked at him. “And seeing as you’re emotionally involved, that means us talking to them before you do. You’re liable to hit first and ask questions later. You need to calm down.”
He knew it was true, it just didn’t make him feel better. But meanwhile… Crossing to the filing cabinet, Moz grabbed the keys from the little hook near it. He was going to check that Del was all right before ripping her for once again putting herself in harms way. God, the woman was going to make him grey.
“Going somewhere?” Kirk asked calmly.
“Del’s,” Moz answered shortly.
“Oh good, you’re coming with us.”
Moz cast him a narrow-eyed look. If this drongo thought he needed to protect Del from him, then -
“We’re heading to her place to ask some more questions.” Kirk motioned for Maggie to step aside.
The two cops followed Moz from the office.
Moz shut the door, the lock clicking securely. “About what? The dog? I can do that while I’m there.” After I check she’s okay and after I’m through tearing a strip off her.
“The dog is interesting. It’s been in a fight at some stage, has an infected wound. Ian adopted it and took it to the vet. Grant took photos of the wound so we’ve got it on file. I’ll email them to you.”
Damn it to hell and back, this just kept getting worse. “She interfered between Cutter and a dog he used for fighting?”
“Apparently the dog belonged to Dawson. Might not be a bad idea to do a little drive around his place later.”
“You haven’t done that already?” Scowling, Moz opened the door of the work ute and slid behind the steering wheel.
Kirk kept the door open by the simple process of standing in the opening, resting his arm on the roof of the cab and bending down to look in at Moz. His eyes remained steady. “Oh yeah, we done it already. Did it last night as well while you were out of town on
that follow-up trip to Marcor Downs. But we’re going to do another drive by later.”
“Good to know.” Moz started the ute. “I’ll do one as well. After.”
“Moz.”
“Yeah?”
“You lose it with her before we get more answers and we could lose whatever lead we have.”
Moz glared at him. “Are you saying that her safety is worth nothing?”
“I’m saying that if you do your block before we talk to her, then she’s likely to clam up about whatever she else she may have heard or seen just to try and keep you calm.”
“I’m calm,” he snapped.
“Really? ‘Cause mate, you look like you’ve been chewing nails for lunch.”
Taking a deep breath, Moz gripped the steering wheel. “Can you blame me? Jesus, Kirk, Del put herself right in the middle of what could have been a brawl. How would you feel if that was Molly?”
Kirk didn’t hesitate. “Exactly as you feel now. I’ve already read Del the riot act.”
“That sure as shit isn’t going to stop me doing it. In fact,” he jabbed a finger at his friend, “as soon as you’re finished asking questions, you can take a hike and leave me to sort her out.”
An alarmed expression crossed Maggie’s face. “Sarge-”
“Its okay, Mags.” Kirk regarded Moz steadily.
Moz looked him right in the eyes. “My woman, Kirk. I’ll deal with her.” Reaching past him, he grabbed the door handle. “I’ll meet you there.”
Kirk stepped back, allowing the door to thump closed, but before Moz could back out onto the road, he leaned down again, that calm, steady gaze trained on Moz. “Do I need to be worried?”
Bloody hell, really? Moz’s jaw clenched. “You need to ask?”
With a satisfied nod, Kirk straightened. “See you there.”
Putting the big ute into gear, Moz backed out of the parking bay and headed off towards Del’s house, the cop car pulling in behind him.
The drive gave him time to regain control, drag his anger down, shove it in a mental box so he could breathe easily, focus on the job. Kirk was right, if he went in there all guns blazing Del would get defensive and tell them both where to shove it. No way would she talk with him there, and he sure as hell needed to be there.
Damn it, he shouldn’t have had to have his friend warn him. He was normally clear-headed, didn’t rise to the bait of people, could remain cool under the worst of verbal abuse screamed at him by those he’d faced down over mistreated animal reports. He’d stood shoulder to shoulder with the cops when needing their back-up to enter premises. Hell, he’d faced down meth addicts and once even a murderer, though they hadn’t known that at the time. All to save animals, reptiles, birds, anything that crawled or walked or swam. No matter how big or small, how cute or ugly, how sweet-tempered or vicious, if it was in trouble he was there. He kept his temper, didn’t get goaded into fights or arguments, let the insults and verbal abuse pour right off him because it was so important not to jeopardise a case, to make sure when it went to court that nothing could be pointed at him and thereby weaken the case. He didn’t care about those people, didn’t give a rat’s arse about their opinion as long as he got what he wanted and needed - justice for the creatures he was sworn to protect.
But one thought of Del facing down those bastards, one thought of her placing herself in danger, and he was hard-put not to tell Kirk to shove it, to stay away, to find those bastards and make them wish they’d never laid eyes on her, to let him deal with his woman first.
But he’d also learned a long time ago to maintain control on his temper. A man his size with his strength could do someone serious harm. Moz had never been a violent man.
Then along came Del and look there, she could push his buttons. Not to mention that anyone who threatened her was in danger of having their heads ripped right off their shoulders.
By the time he turned onto the curving driveway leading to her house he was breathing evenly, hands still tight on the steering wheel but not gripping, able to maintain a cool façade.
Standing on the veranda, Del looked at the ute with a smile, but then she caught sight of the cop car right behind him and her smile faltered. She took another look at Moz when he braked and turned off the engine and that smile disappeared altogether.
Oh yeah, she had no doubt that he’d heard from someone else what she should have told him.
Behind his mirrored sunglasses, Moz watched as she strode down the steps to the ground, those slim shoulders back, head held high. That blonde ponytail flicked side to side as she approached briskly.
With one finger, Moz drew the sunglasses down his nose as he studied her advance over the top. Yep, no hesitation. Brazen as the day was long, she was already showing attitude. Part of him admired that, but part of him feared it for her sake. That attitude could get her seriously hurt by the bastard across the road and his cronies.
Chin lifting, Del’s gaze met his.
His eyes narrowed. Oh yeah, baby, keep showing me that sass and see what it gets you.
Stopping in front of his work ute, she folded her arms and waited.
Pushing the sunglasses back in place, Moz got out of the ute, shutting the door firmly behind him before walking around to the front to lean back against the bonnet. Stretching out his legs, he crossed his ankles and rested his palms on the bonnet each side of his thighs.
Seeing her now he wanted to give her a hug, make sure she was okay, but he didn’t trust himself not to then start reaming her a new one, so instead he simply greeted her with a rumbled, “Del.” Hugs later. And reprimanding, to put it politely.
“Moz,” she returned. Her gaze went past him to track the cops’ progress. “Maggie, Kirk.”
“Hi Del.” Maggie nodded.
Everyone being civilized. Maggie a little tense, no doubt expecting him to make a leap for Del. Del watchful, keeping a wary eye on him. Kirk doing his usual calm, steady shit.
The golden-haired cop pulled a notebook from his pocket, replacing it with his sunglasses. “You doing all right, Del?”
“Fine.”
“Good. Just to let you know that we haven’t found Harding, Dawson or Cutter yet.”
“Headed for the hills, have they?”
“Possibly.”
Del cast Moz a quick glance before focussing back on their friend. “Ian says the dog’s doing okay.”
“He’s a nice dog. He’ll have a good home with Ian.” Kirk clicked his pen. “Del, do you remember hearing anything about a week ago?”
“A week ago?” She frowned.
“Sunday night a week ago, one of your neighbours, Bassinger, says he heard dogs barking.”
“Oh.” Her face cleared. “In the early hours of the morning?”
He didn’t agree, just asked, “You heard dogs then?”
“Yeah, they woke me up. It was about two o’clock. I remember because I looked at the clock.”
Moz watched her closely. Had she remembered his warning and not gone outside?
“Anything else?” Kirk was jotting down notes.
“A truck.” Del peeked at Moz. “Voices.”
He nodded encouragingly. He might be angry at her earlier actions, but in this she was an innocent.
Relaxing a little, she looked back at Kirk. “I didn’t see anything even though I looked out my window.”
Damn it, anyone could have seen her. “You looked out the window,” Moz repeated flatly.
Kirk cast him a fleeting glance.
Del nodded. “I could see lights but the bushes are too thick to see through properly.”
Kirk kept jotting. “Did it sound like dogs fighting or anything?”
“No. I opened the window to see if I could hear anything more-”
Moz’s knuckles whitened. Jesus, she’d opened the window.
“-I heard Cutter’s voice, sounded close, but sound carries at night.” She shrugged.
Moz’s teeth clenched. Cutter. She’d had the window open and Cu
tter sounded close. A vein in his temple started to throb.
Del happened to glance at him, her eyes widened a fraction, then narrowed.
Good thing she couldn’t see his eyes behind the mirrored sunglasses. He was glaring at her so hard he wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d drilled holes through her head. Oh Del, this is not finished.
“One of Dawson’s dogs was in my yard again, and I didn’t go out to hunt it away.” This was directly aimed at him.
Maggie grinned a little.
Ignoring her, Moz kept his attention on Del.
“Could you distinguish other voices apart from Cutter’s?” Kirk queried.
“Dawson’s, when he came after his dog.”
“Must have been scary,” Maggie commented sympathetically.
“It was a little unsettling, especially when I thought someone was in the bushes watching me,” Del agreed.
Moz’s nostrils flared as he drew in a deep breath, forcing himself not to swear, not to lurch upright and start ripping her for opening her bloody window when someone might have been lurking in her yard. He wanted to find whoever might have been lurking in her yard and beat the living shit out of them. He pressed his fingers against the metal bonnet, forcing himself to stay still and silent.
As if she’d realised what she’d just said, Del’s fingers on her folded arms gripped a little tighter. Refusing to look at Moz, she told a stoic-faced Kirk, “It was just the dog, though. Brand came, took the dog, and nothing further moved outside. I waited with the window closed and locked. Finally I went back to bed.”
“You sure you don’t remember hearing anything else?”
She shook her head.
“No more dogs, no more cars, no more voices?”
“Nope. Sorry.” She took a deep breath. “I’m really sorry, Kirk. I know I was supposed to phone you guys but by the time I remembered everything was quiet. It would have been a waste of time. I didn’t want to call you out for nothing. I really am sorry.”
“Okay.” Kirk studied his notes before lifting his head. “Guess we’re finished for now. But if you remember anything, anything at all no matter how small or insignificant it might be, you call us.”
“I will. I promise.”
Kirk slid his sunglasses on, put the notebook back in his pocket. “Del.”
“Yeah?” She transferred her gaze back to him from where she’d been studiously ignoring Moz.
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