As she took her first bite she exclaimed, “Oh, Mike this is great!”
“Midnight Chevalier, all you eat is take out, it’s no wonder you think a homemade meal is good,” Mike said, laughing at her.
“Now, Mike, that doesn’t mean I don’t have taste!” Midnight replied between bites. “I’ll have you know that I have had some of the best take out in San Diego.” Her voice was haughty, but her eyes reflected humor.
“Yeah, I’ll just bet you have,” Mike said. He looked at her seriously. “How come you haven’t found yourself someone to settle down with yet? Somebody who’ll cook for you and take care of you.”
“Oh God, Mike who says that’s what I want?” she said, still smiling. She knew that he was just as bad. “And what about you? How come you haven’t found yourself some little woman to take care of you, Sergeant Harlow?”
“Touché,” Mike said, knowing they were a lot alike in this way. They were silent for a little while. Then Mike looked at her again, as always trying to figure her out. “So, Lieutenant,” he began, emphasizing her rank, “what have you been up to lately?”
“Same shit, different day, Mike. What about you?”
“Oh, same old, same old, making the streets safe for women and children, robbing from the rich to give to the poor, rescuing damsel lieutenants in distress … Which reminds me,” he said, his voice growing very serious, “you need to start watching your back, little girl.”
“What do you mean, my friend last night?”
“Yeah, Midnight, that guy was carrying, and we aren’t talking some little pea shooter either he was carrying a forty-five.”
“Really?” Midnight said, looking appropriately shocked.
“Really, Midnight, and he seriously considered pulling it on me so he isn’t messing around here. I want you to be careful.” His voice was very stern, his ‘training sergeant voice,’ Midnight called it.
“Yeah, Mike, yeah.” He could see her mind clicking away as she mulled it over. “You run him?” she asked after a few minutes.
“Yeah I ran him, he didn’t have any warrants, but he’s been in.”
“Yeah? How do you know?”
“He had the tattoos,” Mike answered.
“Notice any scorpions?” she asked, holding her breath.
“No, but I doubt I saw them all either. He was a real scumbag, Midnight.”
“Yeah, I wonder if he was from Quentin … Did you book him?”
“’Course I booked him,” Mike said, looking at her like she was nuts for asking. “But the DA’s office kicked him loose this morning. Possession of a firearm is only a misdemeanor.”
“Not if he’s on parole,” Midnight countered, she knew her laws inside and out.
“He isn’t on parole, he’s just out I guess. He didn’t show up as a parolee.”
“Hmm,” Midnight said, her eyes going unfocused. Mike could tell she was mentally going over all the information he had just given her.
She had a damn quick mind, he had to give her that. She shrugged then, realizing that she was being rude, and that she was here because she owed him for the stop he’d made, she didn’t want to turn it into an office visit.
She turned the conversation to more social topics and they spent the next two hours talking about minor things. It was almost ten o’clock when there was a muted ring, and Midnight looked chagrinned as Mike looked around trying to identify the source of the ring.
“It’s me,” she said, reaching for her jacket lying on the back of his couch.
“So important,” Mike said, raising an eyebrow at her, but his smile held no reproach. She smiled at him apologetically.
“Yes?” she answered.
Mike watched as she listened, her lips tightening in worry.
“Okay, thanks, I’ll be there as fast as I can,” she said, hanging up a moment later.
“Look, Mike, I have to go, Joe needs me.” She stood up and picked up her jacket. Mike’s hand stopped her.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Don’t know for sure, but that was La Jolla patrol. Joe’s been drinking all night and just got himself into a fight. I gotta go see what I can do,” she said, touching Mike on the arm. “I’m sorry,” she began.
Mike nodded. “He’s your partner, go.”
Midnight expelled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Thanks Mike, you’re a doll!” She leaned down, gave him a quick kiss him on the lips, and was gone.
Midnight drove as fast as she could up the freeway. She headed to the last bar Joe had been reported in. She found him at the bar, blood streaming from a cut on his eye. He was drinking straight from the bottle. She noticed that his shield was on the bar, so it was obvious he was warning the bartender off of trying to cut him off. That was not a good sign.
She sat down next to Joe, grabbed a shot glass from in front of him, took the bottle out of his hand, and poured them both a shot.
“What are we drinking to?” she asked, her eyes on him.
Joe looked at her, his eyes narrowed, but he picked up the shot glass. “To murder and all its benefits,” he said, his tone low.
Midnight was shocked by what he said, but she drank the shot anyway.
“What happened, Joe?” she asked, as Joe picked up the bottle and poured two more shots.
He shook his head miserably. “Just fucking shit,” he slurred. His accent was always thicker when he was drunk
“To fucking shit then,” Midnight said, lifting her glass again.
It was two hours before they stumbled out of the bar. Midnight had wisely had the bartender call them a cab. On the drive to Joe’s house, he looked over at Midnight.
“Whyn’t you need me?” he asked her, still slurring his words..
“Need you?” she asked, feeling the effects of the alcohol in her veins.
“You should, ya know, I’m your bloody partner,” he said then and leaned over to kiss her.
At first Midnight kissed him back, but she sensed something else was going on and pushed him away. She was stunned when he took her wrists, holding them away from their bodies so he could kiss her again.
“Joe, stop it!” she yelled, trying to rest her wrists from his grasp. He tightened his hold.
She cried out, wondering remotely if he was capable of breaking her wrists with his bare hands.
“Joe stop!” she yelled and she shoved her foot against his chest, breaking his hold on her.
Joe’s head hit the side of the cab, and he shook it, as if trying to clear it. The cab driver had pulled over by that time, and Midnight jumped out, eager to get away from Joe.
“Night?” Joe said, looking like he’d just come out of some kind of trance.
She shook her head, slammed the cab door, and then turned to walk away.
The cab driver took off again, heading toward the address he’d been given, glancing back at Joe a few times. Joe’s head was in his hands. He couldn’t believe what he’d just done.
In the end, Midnight caught a black and white and had them take her home. At home, she climbed into her shower and sat on the floor, letting the water stream down on her head. She cried hard. She had no idea what was going on, but she couldn’t believe her partner had just attacked her the way he had.
Chapter 9
The next morning, Midnight got out of bed feeling the effects of the night before. She showered and got dressed, then headed into the office. When she got there, Tim was waiting at her door for her. She sighed, not sure what to do with him. She saw that Randy had made it into the office and was relieved.
“Randy, why don’t you go work on Joe’s in mail, see if there’s anything we need to deal with right away. I doubt he’ll be in today.” Randy nodded. What did that mean? She noticed that Midnight didn’t look very lively that morning either.
“Okay,” Randy said, heading for Joe’s office.
Midnight turned her attention to Tim. “Hi there,” she said, stooping to get under his downcast eyes.
“Come on in my office and I’ll get the things you need to fill out to get the background started.” They went into Midnight’s office and she put him in the same place she had put Randy when Randy had filled out her background information.
Rick came in about twenty minutes later to talk to her about a case.
“What happened to you?” he asked, grinning, thinking that her date had gone a bit long from the looks of her.
He tried desperately not to be jealous. As Joe had done a little over a month ago, he didn’t notice the person sitting quietly in the corner.
“Joe lost it last night,” Midnight said, her look pointed.
“Oh shit,” Rick said, “what happened?”
“I have no idea,” she said, shaking her head, “but I got a call from La Jolla patrol. He was drinking his way through the town and getting into fights.”
Rick took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Taylor must have set him off.”
“That’s probably it,” Midnight said, her tone flat.
Rick detected her tone and looked more closely at her. “So what did you do?”
“I went and drank with him, hoping I could get him to talk,” she said, her look closed now.
“And?” Rick asked, his tone becoming much more serious.
Midnight just shook her head.
Rick stepped closer and reached down to take her hand. That’s when he saw the dark bruises on her wrist. He grabbed the other one and saw that both wrists were black and blue.
“What the fuck did he do?” Rick asked, his eyes searching Midnight’s.
Again, Midnight shook her head, not looking at him.
“Son of a bitch!” Rick said as he turned and headed out of the office.
“Rick!” Midnight yelled, realizing too late what Rick was going to do, but she couldn’t catch him, his stride was too quick.
Outside in the parking lot, tires squealed as Rick accelerated out of the lot. He put his foot down hard on the pedal of his Mustang.
He pulled into Joe’s driveway, skidding to a stop. Joe’s Porsche was there, so Rick knew Joe was too. Rick found Joe on his deck. He was drinking again. Joe turned at the sound of Rick’s boots on the wood deck. He suddenly became guarded and his body tensed. Rick’s eyes blazed and he knew what that meant.
“Rick, what’s going on?” Joe said, trying to sound casual.
“What the fuck’s wrong with you man?” Rick said, his voice loud and barely controlled.
“Wrong with me? Nothing,” Joe said, leaning casually against the railing of the deck.
“Well, then tell me this, who the fuck do you think you are? And before you answer that, I saw Midnight’s wrists …” His voice trailed off with the threat he had so far left unspoken.
Joe shrugged indolently. “So you saw them, what about it?” he asked, watching Rick’s reaction carefully.
Rick just looked at him dumbly; he couldn’t believe that this was the man that had been his best friend for twenty-two years.
“What about them? Are you fucking nuts? Do you even know what you did to her?” Rick’s voice was incredulous.
“I kissed her, it got a little rough. So what that’s got to do with you?” Joe said, his voice purposely cool.
Rick was so mad he could almost feel his heart pumping adrenaline to his body.
“You fucking son of a bitch, you attack her and think it’s nothing?” Rick’s hands were tightened into fists, as he fought to control his anger.
He knew Joe’s tactics, he’d been his second long enough. He knew that Joe was baiting him into getting mad and losing control, and then Joe, who was always cool in a fight, would kill him.
“I guess that all depends on who bitches first, doesn’t it?” Joe said.
Rick lost it, launching himself at Joe, catching him in the mid-section. They fell to the ground, Rick coming out on top. Rick punched Joe in the mouth twice, and then Joe moved stealthily to get out from under him. Joe twisted around, grabbing Rick’s arm and bringing him up with him, but Rick was faster, and sober, and he brought his left arm around and punched Joe again. The force of Rick’s blows stunned Joe. Rick had never actually hit him before, and they’d fought side by side a number of times, but never each other. Rick’s foot lashed out then, knocking Joe to the ground. Rick straddled his body and Joe looked up at him with bleary eyes. Rick grabbed a handful of Joe’s shirt, and pointed a finger at him.
“If you ever touch her like that again, I’ll personally break your neck, you got that?” Rick’s voice was like steel and his breathing was ragged from the exertion of the fight.
He stood, and walked away. Joe lay on his deck, unable to move. He could not believe what had just happened. Rick had just beaten him in a fight. He hadn’t even thought it possible, and his usual tactic of making his opponent blind with anger hadn’t worked either. Well, it had, but obviously he had gone too far, and it had made Rick stronger.
The next day at the office, Midnight immediately noticed the bruises on Joe’s face as he walked in. She also noticed, to her utter shock, that Rick did not have an apparent mark on him. She hadn’t thought that Rick could beat Joe. She realized she might have been wrong. The whole office was tense; it was like a film covering everything and everyone.
The bruises on Joe’s face had shocked Randy, but she knew this wasn’t the time to ask. She hadn’t talked to him since the night at his house. She wasn’t sure what to say. She noticed too that Rick had a very deep scowl on his face. Now she was really confused, but she knew she couldn’t ask anyone. Joe was stone cold; he didn’t speak to her when he came in. He just walked into his office and closed the door. Randy didn’t like this side of Joe and hoped she wouldn’t see it too often.
Midnight stayed in her office, and Joe stayed in his. Tim was in the office again, and watched Midnight doggedly until she motioned for him to come in.
Tim looked at Midnight timidly. “Are you okay, Lieutenant?” he asked, lowering his gaze dutifully to the floor. Midnight couldn’t help but smile, despite her horrible mood.
“I’m fine, Tim, and it’s Midnight, okay?”
Tim nodded. “Do you have anything you need me to do today?” he asked, his eyes darting shy looks at her. Midnight sighed, leaning back in her chair.
“Not really, Tim. Your background’s not through yet, and procedurally—” Tim was nodding.
“I understand,” Tim said.
“Tell you what,” Midnight said as she steepled her fingers in front of her. “How about you stay in here with me, and sit right there”—she pointed to the chair right across from her desk—“and write down all the names and information that you can possibly think of about the Scorpions. Will you do that for me, Tim?” Midnight looked at him, smiling sweetly. How could he say no?
“Sure, Lieu—I mean Midnight.” He said her first name shyly, as if afraid she would change her mind.
“Wonderful,” Midnight said, giving him a winning smile. “There’s a pad of paper over there and here’s a pen.”
They worked together in the office the rest of the day. Midnight would often catch him staring at her. A couple of times she would catch his gaze and smile at him, he would smile then, as if she had professed undying love. Midnight found it very sweet, and it helped to balance all the bad things going on in her life. By the time she stood to leave the office, she felt better. Tim was still working away; he had been for four hours. He had at least ten pages of information. Midnight figured maybe one page worth would have any real value, but she didn’t mind letting him think that he was giving her the moon.
She picked up the pad, and looked at it appreciatively. “Hey, you got a lot here,” she said, her voice purposely awed.
“Well, a quiet person seems to blend into the woodwork better so they don’t notice me as much,” Tim said, cautious with taking too much pride in all that he knew.
“Well, thanks a lot, Tim. It will help us out a great deal.”
>
Tim stood from the desk and ended up right in front of her, looking very nervous. Midnight realized that he was almost as tall as Joe, and the comparison jabbed at her. She looked up at Tim and smiled. On impulse, she reached out and hugged him. She thought she heard him suck in his breath as he put his arms around her, but he barely touched her, as if he was afraid she would break if he did. When she moved back, she saw that his face was flushed.
She smiled at him again. “Thanks again, Tim.”
She went back behind her desk, and locked everything up. Then she reached over and pulled her jacket off the back of her chair, and while shrugging into it she told him that he could go home if he wanted to.
“I think I’ll stay a little while longer if you don’t mind? I want to finish some stuff up on these notes. Okay?”
“Sure, Tim, go ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, bye,” Tim said, watching her walk out of her office.
After Midnight left, Tim worked dutifully on his notes. After he was finished and was standing to leave, he noticed the wall behind her desk. He stood and admired all the certificates and awards. She’s one hell of a woman …
San Diego, California, 1980
Thomas came home to find his sister sitting on the couch in their darkened living room. The stereo was on and Midnight was drinking, which was something she wasn’t given to doing alone.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he turned the lamp on.
Midnight narrowed her eyes, but didn’t turn her head to look at him. She was indeed drinking, and she looked like she’d been doing it for a while. When Thomas walked around the couch and saw her face, he knew why. It was obvious that she’d been in a fight; she had a nasty cut on her cheek, a dark bruise on her jaw, and a split lip.
“Damn, sis!” Thomas breathed, sitting down on the couch next to his sister. “What happened to you?”
“What d’ya think, Thomas?” Midnight said. Her tone was ice cold.
Building Empires (MidKnight Blue Book 1) Page 20