One Taste of You (One Taste #1)

by Amanda Siegrist

  She picked her book back up. Forget about it. Quit worrying. That's what she needed to do.

  She threw the book back down again. She should make supper. What was she thinking? He would be home soon.

  She stood up, adjusting her sweats. She needed to go to her house and grab more clothes. When Zeke originally packed her suitcase, he threw in only a few lounging clothes, the majority of clothes work outfits. She wouldn't be going to work for at least a week and she'd never survive with what she had.

  She wrapped her cardigan closer to her body. Her phone smacked against her side. A small smile formed as she thought about dressing in his clothes. She imagined he would get excited seeing that. Although, it didn't take much to excite him.

  Excitement or not, she needed more of her own clothes. Perhaps if he called on his way home, she'd mention getting more clothes from her house.

  Except he didn't have a house key.

  Okay. They could go together later after they had supper.

  Moving back into her house didn't seem necessary anymore. It didn't seem plausible that he would want her to go back to her house. She had already walked into the spare room several times imagining how they would decorate it for the baby.

  She pulled open the pantry to find something for supper when the doorbell went off. The pantry door slid closed with a soft click as she slowly moved toward the front door. Worry lingered in each step.

  Who could be at the door?

  Maybe it was the mailperson. Or a solicitor.

  Breathing a soft sigh, she figured it had to be Richard or someone Zeke knew.

  With measured movements, she glanced in the peephole. An eyebrow lifted as surprise swept through her.

  Tori Black, the office manager, stood on the other side.

  Figures. She couldn't take a week off work without some issue popping up. She unlocked the door and pulled it open. "Ms. Black, how are you?"

  "Fine, Zoe. May I come in a moment? I need to speak with you about an issue I have," Ms. Black said with a friendly smile.

  Zoe couldn't remember a time when Ms. Black didn't have a smile on her face. Friendly, gregarious, easy-going. They were very blessed to have such a great office manager.

  Unless you screwed up. Watch out. Ms. Black could produce talons without blinking. Not that Zoe ever did anything wrong to see that happen. And with the smile she had now, she figured it wasn't a mistake she did. Most likely, Ms. Black needed her to fix someone else's mistake.

  Zoe held the door open further. "I hope it's nothing too serious. I know I've taken a bit of time off work lately and it hasn't exactly been the best around the office. If you need me to come in earlier, I could probably work it out."

  Ms. Black stepped inside and took a few steps into the living room as Zoe closed the door. "Yeah, the office has been in such an upheaval. It's horrible about Mr. Mills and Mr. Murphy. And now Mark."

  Zoe sighed at those words. Upheaval did not begin to describe the horror of the past few weeks.

  Ms. Black glanced around the room, then swiveled her eyes back to Zoe with a sweet smile. "I didn't know you were pregnant."

  Zoe glanced at the couch where the pregnancy book lay. "Umm...yeah. I was waiting to tell everyone. Can you keep it a secret for a while? You know, they say it's best to wait until the three-month mark to tell people. So many things can go wrong."

  Ms. Black's lips went from sweet to frightening as her hand dipped into her purse. "Yeah, so many things can go wrong."

  Zoe backed up a step when the gun emerged. "I don't understand."

  "Of course not. You've been too busy screwing me over. Screwing that detective. Getting pregnant, obviously," Ms. Black said, waving the gun. "Move. Get away from the door. Have a seat."

  Ms. Black stepped back from the couch, the gun never wavering in her hand as Zoe walked past her to sit. She tried not to let her nerves show, but it was impossible to walk without a slight tremble.

  With the powers of stealth, she slid her hand into her pocket, unlocking her phone as best as she could. She never thought she'd have to do it, but she did. She had set her phone to Zeke's number in case she had to dial him quickly. Moving her hand around as if she could see perfectly, she hoped she hit the right buttons. There was no way of knowing unless she looked down, which she couldn't do.

  "Relax. Sit back. Hands out of your pockets," Ms. Black said with the patience of a teacher watching twenty kids all alone as they rushed around like bats out of hell. "Why didn't you just hand over the flash drive when we asked for it?"

  "Oh, God. You killed them. You killed Mr. Mills and Mr. Murphy. Did you kill Mark, too?" Zoe said, as she leaned forward, a hand clinging to her chest in horror.

  Why didn’t she realize that when the gun emerged? That should've been the first clue that Ms. Black killed them.

  "Zoe, Zoe, Zoe. Are you that slow? Are you really that dumb? Answer my question."

  She sank back into the couch. No amount of distance would remove the sight of that gun in her hands. She'd probably see it in her dreams. If she made it out of here alive, that is.

  Why did she open the door?

  Ms. Black should've never known where to find her. How in the world did she know she was at Zeke's?

  "I'm losing my patience. Why didn't you hand over the damn flash drive?"

  "I never had it to begin with. How did you know I was here?" Zoe said as confidently as she could.

  "I know a lot of things. It's my job to know things. And I know you had the flash drive. I saw Mills that night in the office. I followed him. I saw him stop at your desk. When I went to his house later that night, he didn't have the flash drive. He gave it to you," Ms. Black said, moving to her right, standing more in front of Zoe instead of at an angle.

  "He was just as surprised when I pulled a gun out. He didn't know he was going to die until I pulled this out." She reached inside of her jacket, pulled out a silencer and proceeded to twist it onto the end of the gun as the horror filled in Zoe's eyes.

  "When he didn't have it, I thought maybe he gave it to Murphy before I got to the house. So I paid Murphy a visit. He begged for his life right up until I pulled the trigger. He claimed he didn't have it either. I thought it might raise a few flags with both of them dead, so I disposed of his body. Obviously not well enough. But neither of those idiots had it which means Mills handed it to you when he stopped at your desk. I didn't think so at the time. Otherwise, I would've taken care of you then. You made me look like a fool."

  "Please, Tori, I never had it. He never gave it to me. Murphy hid it in his locker at the gym. That's where the police found it. I don't even know what's on it. I swear. Please."

  "The police..." Ms. Black cackled, reminding Zoe of a wicked witch.

  This was a nightmare. The witch was waiting to feast on her.

  "The same police you're sleeping with. Yeah, I don't believe you. You had it all along, and instead of handing it over to us, you handed it to the police. I don't like being made a fool of. Mark made me look like one, too. If Mark would've gotten it back from you without being an idiot, I wouldn't have had to kill him."

  She waved the gun around. Zoe tried to sink further into the couch. Of course, that wouldn't make a difference. Ms. Black had already killed three people. Clearly, she knew what the hell she was doing.

  Suddenly, Zoe wanted to cry. She wouldn't be walking out of this living room alive.

  "It's his fault to begin with. He got greedy. He stole that information, thinking he could extort more drugs and money from us. The idiot let Murphy find it. Then Mills found out about it and suddenly it spiraled into a damn cluster."

  "Please...think of my baby. I swear I never knew anything. I didn't. I still don't. I never heard a word. I swear," Zoe said, knowing her words weren't even reaching Ms. Black's ears.

  "Ray-Ray told me to get the flash drive back, and quite frankly, you pissed me off. If you would've handed it over from the beginning, I wouldn't have to do this. Now the whole operation may cru
mble and it's your fault."

  "Ray-Ray?" Zoe asked, then shook her head in a terrified frenzy. "Never mind. I know nothing. I'll say—"

  "Nothing. I know."

  Zoe clutched her chest as a deep pain radiated throughout her body.

  "Silencer's. They're the best. You never even saw it coming."

  Zoe dropped sideways onto the couch. The pain slowly numbed as darkness wanted to take over. Her eyes fluttered close. She could survive this.

  How?

  She tried to blink. To move. To do anything to save herself, but nothing but the deep abyss called her name.

  Play dead. Just play dead. Don't actually die. Perhaps Ms. Black would leave and then she could call Zeke.

  Zeke.

  Yeah, she just needed to call him.

  A loud noise, a popping of some sort echoed throughout. She told herself to open her eyes, to check it out, to see if Ms. Black left.

  Instead, she dropped her hand from her chest, losing all feeling. She felt her hand rising again and a heavy aching pain in her chest. So painful, she moaned out loud and then let the darkness take over.

  ***

  "Oh, God, Zoe. Stay with me. Do you hear me? Talk to me, honey," Zeke said as he pushed hard into her wound. "Ben, we need an ambulance. Where's the ambulance?"

  "It's coming, man. It's coming," Ben said as he stood up after checking for a pulse from Ms. Black. "She's dead."

  "I want to shoot her all over again." Zeke pressed harder onto Zoe's wound.

  A second sooner. One second, and they could've prevented Zoe from getting shot.

  Her blood slowly seeped out between his fingers. That one second would cost him the love of his life. She was losing way too much blood.

  "Please, honey, please don't leave me. I'm here now. I got your call. I'm so sorry it took so long. Yell at me, fight with me about it. Please, say something," he said, lowering his head and kissed her forehead. "Zoe."

  Before Zeke could say anymore, or plead for her to speak one word, in walked the paramedics. They swiftly moved him out of the way and started working on her, laying her onto the stretcher.

  They started to wheel the stretcher out when Zeke hollered at them, "She's pregnant. She has to be alright. You have to help her."

  They didn't stop, but as they walked out, one turned to Zeke. "We'll do everything we can."

  "Come on, Zeke. I'll drive. We'll be no more than a foot away," Ben said, laying a hand on his shoulder and ushered him out of the house.

  Tray met them in the driveway. Ben gestured his head to the house. "Ms. Black, the office manager, is dead inside. Zoe's shot. We need to go to the hospital."

  "I got it covered here. We found Ray-Ray. He's in custody as we speak," Tray replied and started toward the house with long purposeful strides.

  Ben jumped inside the car and backed out of the driveway as fast as possible. Less than thirty seconds later, he caught up with the ambulance that had gotten a huge start on them.

  "She'll be fine. She's a fighter. I mean, you guys fight all the time and she wins most of the fights. Right? That makes her a fighter."

  "Your attempt at making the situation better is useless. She was shot in the chest. Most of her blood is on my hands," Zeke said, barely above a whisper.

  "I'm just saying, think positive. That's all."

  "I broke that prostitute. She revealed all of Ray-Ray's operations. How he made a list of all his drug deals, how Mark stole it, how Tori Black was Ray-Ray's girlfriend. Why couldn't I have broken her sooner? Why couldn't I have done it before she ever stepped foot at my door? Why weren't we a few seconds quicker? Why?" Zeke said with a strangled sob. "I can't lose her, Ben. I just can't."

  "You won't. I told you. She's a fighter."

  Chapter 14

  "What do you think about this one? This one is freaking adorable," Dee said, holding up a blue dress, a flower adorned on the top right corner and a big bow in the center.

  "I like that one. But they're all adorable, Dee," Rina said from across the room where she sat in a chair next to the bed.

  Zeke glanced over at her, eyed the dress, then brought his attention back to Zoe, who lay quietly in the hospital bed. "I think...you'd better not dress my little girl up in slinky, provocative dresses when she turns eighteen. I'll destroy you, Dee."

  "So you don't like this dress?" Dee asked.

  He looked back over at her. A tender smile lingered on her face. A very rare occurrence. He'd never seen Dee look like that. "It's cute. We're having a boy, though."

  He glanced at Rina when he heard a small chuckle leave her lips. He shrugged, giving her a weak grin.

  "There you go. Argue with me. It's better than your annoying grim face and sulkiness. You're driving me nuts." Dee tossed the dress onto a chair near the window.

  "No one said you have to be here, Dee. I can't say you've been the best companion to have here either. You're driving me nuts right back," Zeke said, as he squeezed Zoe's hand and started to rub the top of it.

  "Not be here? I've known her longer than you, buddy boy. My beautiful face will be the first thing she sees when she wakes up. Count your blessings I haven't kicked you out of that chair yet," Dee said, raising an eyebrow at him that she might do it right then.

  "As much as I'd love to see you try, I'm going to pass. I don't have the energy to spar with you right now. I didn't have the energy when Ben was here a while ago and I won't down the road either. The only energy I have is to hold Zoe's hand until she wakes up. Go grab a coffee or something. You are seriously driving me nuts," Zeke said without sympathy.

  He jerked slightly when a hand landed on his shoulder.

  "I know you love her. It wasn't your fault she got hurt. Nobody's perfect. I guess you're not a douche or an SOB anymore. But I'm still gonna drive you nuts as much as possible. Because I enjoy it," Dee said with a smirk.

  She walked around the bed and stopped by Rina, who gave her a tender smile. "Let's grab a cup of coffee and let lover boy have a moment by himself. Do you want a coffee, too, Zeke? I'll give you a moment's peace for about...uhh...five minutes. That good with you?"

  Despite how he felt, he gave her a grin. "Make it ten and I'll let you talk my ear off without complaint. I don't need any coffee."

  Dee winked at him and started for the door. Rina stood up and laid a gentle hand on the bed near Zoe's leg.

  "She'll be fine. She'll wake up soon. Dee's right. Try not to be so hard on yourself. You did everything you could," Rina said, glancing over at him as she pulled her hand away and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

  "I should've been there. She never should've gotten hurt like this." Zeke brushed a hand over Zoe's forehead and back across her hair, reveling in her beauty. She may lay silent, sick, and slightly pale, but her beauty would never waver no matter what.

  Rina leaned over the bed. "I'll try to make it fifteen minutes for you."

  "You're a good friend, Rina," he said appreciatively, his lip curling into a warm smile.

  He watched Rina leave the room, Dee's loud voice trailing down the hallway. He pulled Zoe's hand to his mouth, giving her a small kiss, and lowered it back to the bed. He thought about letting her hand go and leaning back in the chair for a rest, but he couldn't. He wanted her to know he was here, to feel his strength and absorb some of that. He wanted their little monster to feel his strength.

  He couldn't describe the feeling the moment the doctor had come out and said she would be fine. That they removed the bullet and put her back together like it was as simple as sewing a hole in a shirt. One more inch to the left and the bullet would've torn her heart apart. To his extreme relief, and her luck, it hit more near her shoulder. She had been lucky, according to the doctor.

  Once the shock cleared that she would survive, he mumbled, just barely, if the baby had survived the injuries. To his shock again, the baby was okay. Both would be fine after they had plenty of rest, the doctor had uttered in response.

  He stared at her hand as he traced s
mall circles. The purple dress caught the corner of his eye, giving it a full-on glance. He hoped for a boy, deep down, always wanting a boy first. He'd love a little girl as well. She certainly wouldn't have a shortage of dresses if Dee had anything to say about it.

  He smiled. The dress was pretty cute.

  "I love your smile. Although it was your eyes that held me mesmerized when I first saw you."

  Zeke whipped his head to Zoe's beautiful face, the relief plain in his eyes. He lifted her hand to his mouth, giving her another kiss. "I believe the first thing that mesmerized me was your legs and the way you sat perched on that stool. I was dying to feel them from your dainty toes right up to your creamy breasts."

  "I don't believe my legs go all the way to my chest," Zoe said with a chuckle.

  "I think you know what I mean. Everything about you screamed at me. I had to refrain from adjusting myself in a crowded bar. You had me hard so fast. You always do." He squeezed her hand lightly, then reached over with his other hand to caress her cheek. "Don't ever scare me like that again. I don't ever want to see you lying in a hospital bed again. Until you have the baby, of course. That's the only time it's okay. Do you understand me?"

  She reached up, covering his hand that held her cheek. "The baby's fine?"

  "You're both fine. I had my worries when I saw you on that couch, bleeding like you were. Please, Zoe. Don't scare me like that. My heart can't handle it."

  "I...I didn't know what to do. I should've never opened the door. I never thought she would be involved," Zoe whispered.

  "I know, honey. I know," he said, rubbing her hand gently, soothing her as best as he could. He wanted her to know it all. To understand it all. He didn't forget this time he was a cop and shouldn't, not like those other times he lost himself in her beauty and did things he shouldn't. No. This time he knew she needed to hear it.

  "Mark had a drug problem, so much so, that he managed to get his hands on his drug dealer's buyer list. This list contained who bought drugs and how much cocaine they received in return. It only spelled out people's initials, but it could've done damage in the right hands. Murphy saw him looking at it at work and demanded he hand it over. Suddenly Mills found out and they argued about what to do. Little did Mark know that Ms. Black happened to be involved with Ray-Ray, the drug dealer. Nobody knew that. She figured it out and knew that Murphy had the information."