Bad Boy's Touch (Firemen in Love Book 3)

by Starling,Amy

  Look how fast he canned Max – and all he did was drive a fire engine through a store window.

  “Look, Madison. Maybe we can work something out.”

  “Bribing an officer is highly illegal, I'll have you know,” she grumbled. “And don't call me that. Stop acting like we're friends.”

  Another cruiser drove away with two of Rico's guys in the back. She'd called for backup to collect Ian and Rico, but they hadn't gotten here yet. That meant we were alone for now.

  Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

  “You're making a huge mistake. If you take me to jail, it will end very badly for me. I'm kind of in the public eye. I can't be seen getting thrown into a cell.”

  “Perhaps you should have thought about that before making so many bad decisions.”

  “You wanna be responsible for getting me fired? The only thing I'm guilty of is knocking out that asshole's tooth.”

  Rico cussed at me and flipped me off. Madison wasn't amused.

  “You've got the wrong guy in cuffs. Do you realize how much good I've done for this city? How many lives I've protected? All the buildings I've kept from burning to the ground?” I forced myself to smile. “You never know. The next person I save might be you.”

  She hesitated. Rico shouted at her.

  “Don't listen to his white-knight bullshit! This fool's even more dangerous than me. He's a snake, that's what he is. Strikes when you least expect it.”

  “Shut up,” she hissed. “Both of you are coming with me. You can argue about your personal problems once we get to the station.”

  That son of a bitch! If it weren't for him, she just might have let me go. Now what?

  Her radio beeped. She dropped my arm to pick it up.

  “Sorry for the holdup,” said a man on the other end. “There was a truck accident on the highway and we're stuck in traffic. You want me to call another unit over?”

  “No, I can handle this one on my own.”

  Here was my chance. She wasn't looking at me, wasn't paying attention. I could run. Would probably make it into the building before she reacted.

  Ian waved his arms and gestured wildly at the employee exit. He was thinking the same thing.

  “See you back at the station.” She put the radio back and reached for me. “Okay, enough wasting time. Get in.”

  I dug my heels in. “Wait a minute. C'mon, just hear me out.”

  “I've already heard you. Now do what I said or –”

  A loud crack echoed from somewhere down the alley, then something whizzed past our heads. Holy shit; was that a bullet?

  “What the...”

  Another one came from the opposite direction, narrowly missing us as it ricocheted off the pavement.

  “Gunfire!” She drew her pistol. “Everyone get down!”

  At the end of the alley stood several of Rico's gangsters. They'd parked to block the exit so Madison couldn't get out. Moments later, another couple of cars blocked the north entrance too.

  “Bitch, you let Rico go or I'm gonna kill you!”

  I wasn't dumb enough to stand around waiting to get shot in the head. Time to move – whether Madison liked it or not.

  Rico bolted into the strip club. Ian grabbed the door before it slammed shut and waved to me.

  “Hurry up!”

  I ducked low to the ground and ran for the door. Bullets flew around me in all directions, bouncing off brick walls, hitting cars, and shattering windows. By some miracle, none of them hit me.

  Madison glared at me over her shoulder. “Get back here or you are in serious trouble, Silver!”

  “Sorry,” I yelled over the noise. “But I ain't in the mood for dying tonight.”

  Her angry screams were the last thing I heard before the heavy door slammed shut behind me.

  Chapter 2 - Madison

  Which was worse: the hail of bullets raining down on me, or my prisoner escaping into a strip club full of terrified topless women?

  “Where's Rico?”

  “I dunno, man. You, go and find him. Martin, get the car ready. I'll keep this bitch busy.”

  This was about the five hundredth time I'd been called that word since I joined the force. Even now, years later, it still stung.

  I dove behind my cruiser, praying that the hunk of junk could stand up to gunfire. Where was the radio? I needed to call for backup, now.

  I grabbed for it, but it wasn't on my belt.

  “Officer Finley, come in please. Finley, come in.”

  The noise caught my attention. There was the stupid radio, right in the middle of the alley! Must have dropped it when I ran for cover.

  No way could I risk my neck to go after it. Using the cruiser's radio, too, was equally dumb. The moment I poked my head up, I was rewarded with another bullet zipping my way.

  “You're a terrible shot, fool. Just blast her already!”

  “I ain't gonna kill a cop. You think I wanna get life in prison?”

  They were arguing. Distracted. This might be my only opportunity.

  The back door to Twinkles was so close. I clutched my gun to my chest and ran.

  “Yo, she's getting away!”

  “Who gives a shit? We're getting Rico out and that's it.”

  The door, thank God, was unlocked. I slipped inside, trading the filthy alleyway for a dark, seedy bar. They had the music turned up so loud, the bass booming and shaking the floor, that it seemed nobody heard the standoff happening just outside.

  The door I'd entered led me through the kitchen and bar. Cooks and other employees gawked as I made my way through the room.

  “Excuse me, Kingston Police.” I showed my badge. “Have any of you seen a couple of strange men coming through here? One is Hispanic, dark skin, scar down the side of his face.”

  They just stared. The dishwasher shrugged and continued scrubbing his pots and pans. One of the cooks muttered something in what sounded like Portuguese.

  “Uh, okay. Guess not. The other guy was handcuffed, and...” My heart pounded. “And shirtless. Lots of tattoos.”

  I left out how delicious that chest of his looked, or how much I secretly enjoyed putting my hand on his solid, muscular back.

  Stop it. Don't be a moron, Mad. Yes, he's gorgeous, but you're supposed to be arresting the guy.

  A minute ago, I was getting shot at by gangsters. Now here I was, drooling over Brett Silver like a preteen girl with a celebrity crush.

  “So, uh, I take it you haven't seen him either.” My voice cracked. The staff exchanged glances. “Thanks anyway.”

  “Eeek!” A woman's shriek pierced my eardrums. “What are you doing in here? Get out, creep!”

  I followed the sound of voices from the kitchen, down the long hallway, to a closed door that said “Dressing Area” on it.

  “Take it easy, Candy. I'm not staring at your boobs.”

  “You're not supposed to be back here! I'm calling Tom.”

  There were two males and a woman talking in there. Brett?

  I opened the door slowly so it wouldn't squeak. There was a wall just ahead, separating the entrance from the rest of the room. I hid behind it and listened.

  “I just need to borrow one of your bobby pins.”

  A man groaned. “What the hell are we doing in here? The cops'll be all over this place in minutes. We should be getting far away as possible.”

  “Yeah, but we're not going nowhere with these cuffs on. I heard you can unlock these puppies with a bobby pin.”

  Oh, this was comedy gold. I should have hurried in there to nab them, but this was the first time I'd had a good laugh in weeks.

  “Here, Ian. Just take it and get out. The other girls will be coming in soon, and if they catch y'all, you're gonna be in serious trouble.”

  “Just give us a second, will you?” Ian grunted. “There's the keyhole. Maybe we just stick it in there and turn, like a real key.”

  Brett sighed. Even his sigh was so sexy, it made me tremble with desire.

&nb
sp; I hated it. Hated how readily my body reacted to his presence. Hated how much it flattered me to be hit on by a handsome firefighter.

  Maybe he was a hometown hero, but he was also a bad boy – precisely the type of man I wanted nothing to do with.

  “Ugh, it's not working.” Ian threw the bobby pin down. “Yo, sweetheart. Do we got any bolt cutters around here?”

  The stripper let him have it, calling the poor idiot every nasty name in the book.

  Brett jangled his cuffs. “All right, MacGyver. Enough. Let's just bail and worry about getting these things off after we're home free.”

  Shots rang out in the main room. Candy howled and dove beneath her makeup table.

  “Aw, it's the pigs!”

  “What about Rico?”

  “Forget about him, man. I'm not going down for him.” More gunfire. “Hurry up and barricade the front door. We'll get out the back way.”

  Out there, staff and guests screamed in terror. My stomach sank. Whenever you involved civilians in a mess like this, it was never pretty.

  The station had sent backup, but it wasn't going to be enough. I counted about a hundred different ways this whole thing could go horribly wrong.

  Ian shrank back. “Dude, what do we do? I'm just a bouncer. I can't stop bullets.”

  Brett's jaw set. “Nobody is getting shot. Not us, anyway. Those thugs are busy trying to fend off the cops so they can escape. I say we follow their lead.”

  “You wanna shoot a cop?”

  “No, damn it! We use the distraction they're causing and slip out unnoticed.”

  I'd let them have their fun and games long enough.

  “You two aren't going anywhere.” I stepped out, pistol at the ready in case they tried something funny. “Move it. We're leaving.”

  Brett didn't look altogether surprised to see me. He offered me that oh-so-charming smile of his and held his hands out to me.

  “Just the lady I needed. Mind unlocking these for me? My wrists are getting sore.”

  “Unlock them? You're in my custody, Silver. You're getting in that car and we are getting out of here.”

  He dared walk right up to me, unafraid of my gun. His bravery was both stupid and unnervingly impressive.

  “You're seriously more worried about taking me in than Rico? He's a dangerous, violent criminal.”

  “And you aren't?”

  Somewhere nearby, bullets fired in rapid succession. Oh God, was that an automatic weapon?

  “Guys, what are we doing here?” Ian cracked his knuckles and paced. “We're sitting ducks. These walls are like cardboard.”

  “Then we're moving. We'll go out the way I came in, get in the car, and leave. Simple.”

  Brett scoffed. “Just one problem with your plan. How you gonna get out of the alley when it's blocked on all sides?”

  Crap. He was right.

  “We've got to reach the other officers outside.”

  “Oh, the ones currently being shot at? Yeah, wonderful idea.” Brett shook his wrists. “C'mon, help a guy out. How am I supposed to protect you with these cuffs on?”

  “Protect me?”

  “It's clear y'all are losing control of this situation.” He nodded at his friend. “Ian and I know this place. We can get you out safe.”

  My cheeks burned. “I'm not losing control of anything. If you'd have just got in the car when I told you to, we wouldn't be here right now, about to get turned into Swiss cheese.”

  “You guys are morons! You thought it was a good idea to shoot at the police?”

  “But we were just trying to get you out, R.”

  Rico!

  Brett leaned against the wall. “Tell me again why you're harassing me when he's the one you should be after? Bigger fish to fry, and all that.”

  It annoyed me that he had a good point. Rico had a long history of clashing with the law, and he'd only recently gotten out of jail for dealing drugs to high-school kids. Soon as he went free, he was right back at it again. The guy was a real bastard who deserved life behind bars.

  What if I were the one who helped put him away?

  All those people who doubted me – friends, family, even other officers – that would shut them up quick.

  “Tell you what.” Brett's gruff voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “You let me out of these cuffs, and I'll help you take him down.”

  I laughed. “You're my prisoner, first of all, and a civilian besides.”

  “I'm a firefighter. Used to toughing it out, risking my life, breaking the occasional bone or two.” His gaze fell to my chest as he rattled the cuffs. “And if you're into that kinky bondage stuff, don't worry. We can save that for the bedroom.”

  Flustered and probably blushing, I pushed him away with the butt of my gun. “I order you to keep your mouth shut and do as I say. Is that clear?”

  Out in the hall, Rico fretted.

  “They got this place surrounded. No thanks to you fools, we're fucked.”

  “Nah, man, don't worry. They ain't stupid enough to come in here guns blazing. Not with all the people still inside.”

  I turned to Ian. “You work here. Is there any other way out of here? Like an employees-only route, maybe?”

  “Out of this room, no.” He glanced upward. “Unless...”

  The ceiling! Its panels were the type that could be removed.

  “There's a crawlspace up there. It's generally used to store a few things, but I doubt anyone's been up there in years. It leads around the club's perimeter.”

  Brett shook his head. “Stop giving the woman crazy ideas. She's gonna get herself killed.”

  “I didn't ask for your opinion.”

  Now, how to get up there? Those chairs were too short, and I doubted they kept a stepladder in the girls' dressing room.

  “This is insanity,” Brett continued. “I say we just hunker down and wait for the officers outside to get a grip on things.”

  Ignoring him was impossible. How could I, while he strutted around the room half-naked like a proud peacock? Ugh, I couldn't believe he actually hit on me! If he thought his dumb pick-up lines were going to work on me, he was in for a real surprise.

  Just when I thought there might be no way to reach that ceiling, an idea popped into my head.

  “Hey, Silver. Give me a boost up there.”

  “Ah, good. Finally admitting you need me. That's a start.” He laughed softly. “How am I supposed to boost you up with these cuffs on?”

  I pulled the key from my pocket and unlocked the handcuffs. Brett rubbed his wrists when the metal rings fell off.

  I sure hoped I didn't just make a huge mistake. Sure, he was a firefighter – and the hottest man I'd ever laid eyes on – but my intuition told me he couldn't be trusted.

  “Don't you make me regret this. If you even think about trying to escape...”

  “Yeah, I know. You'll give me a spanking, right?” He grinned. “Just so you're aware, I prefer to be the dominant one. Submitting to a woman just ain't my style.”

  I growled and kicked him in the leg. “Quiet, and get me up there before he gets away.”

  His smile faded. “What do you seriously plan to do once you're up there? Rico is dangerous. The asshole tried to kill me a minute ago. He wouldn't hesitate to do the same to you.”

  My heart pounded. I knew everything he said was true, but I'd be damned if I would admit it.

  “You've got your officers out there. Why not just wait and let them settle things?”

  “Because Rico will get away if I don't do something now.”

  He knelt and waved for me to get on him. I climbed on his back, put my hands on his shoulders – and enjoyed touching him way more than I should have.

  “You're shaking, Madison. Hmm, I wonder why that is.” He glanced at me over his shoulder. “I hope the next time you're riding me, it's under more pleasant circumstances.”

  I kneed him in the ribs. “Stop acting like a pig and lift me up.”

  He raised me up with ease
, not once straining under my weight, even when I stood on his shoulders in my heavy boots.

  The ceiling panel moved out of the way with no trouble. Cobwebs and dust clouds floated in my face. Ian had been right about no one coming up here in years.

  I flicked on my flashlight to cut through the darkness. It was a crawlspace in every sense of the word, with barely enough room for me to fit. At least the wood beams seemed sturdy enough.

  “This is a bad idea,” Brett said once he'd gotten me up there. “You're only one woman.”

  I'd heard those words way too often, as if my gender made me less capable of taking down criminal scum. Hearing them from Brett annoyed me even more.

  “You two stay put. When it's safe, I'll have someone come and get you.”

  His eyebrow lifted. “By 'get,' do you mean put back in handcuffs and taken to jail?”

  I didn't bother responding. Right now, stopping Rico was more important.

  A pair of rats squealed and skittered away as I made my way through the passage. Below me were muffled voices, screaming, and the occasional gunshot. I prayed one of those bullets didn't come through the ceiling.

  Rico's voice led me in the right direction. He was yelling at his men, but I couldn't be sure how many were down there. Dropping down now would be a horrible idea. No, I had to wait to get him alone.

  “Okay, listen up. Some employee told me there's a ladder to the roof in the kitchen. We get out that way, then we can jump across to the next building. Climb down the fire escape there, run to the parking lot, get our car and jet.”

  “Good plan, R.”

  “You two, head up first and make sure it's clear.”

  There was the sound of men running, then Rico began talking to someone else. Took me a moment to figure out he was on his phone.

  “I'll be coming down from the roof of the building next door. Make sure you've got the car ready.”

  He was distracted and alone. That was perfect, but how to get the drop on him? Maybe slip down in the next room, then sneak up on him from behind.

  I crawled after him. Beneath me, something cracked. Oh, no.

  The beam, old and weak, was giving way. I struggled to find a more sturdy support, but not fast enough.

  The ceiling collapsed, sending me and a bunch of boxes plummeting to the floor in a filthy heap. Light blinded me; my back throbbed so badly I could barely stand the pain.