Long, Lean and Lethal

by O'Clare, Lorie

  “I trust you,” she said slowly. “But if you cost me my badge—”

  “I thought you said you trusted me,” he interrupted, his attention on the screen. “We’ve got movement in the house, upstairs, back room. Let me see one of those GPS devices. I can get it on the car parked in their drive before they move further through the house.”

  “I’ll do it.” She put one of the GPS trackers on the seat next to her, and then set the LockBuster down, too. Holding the other GPS device in her hand, she rolled it between her fingers while energy charged through her. She needed to get out of the car to do something, and this would sure give the adrenaline pumping through her an outlet, not to mention hopefully sizzle out the burning need that was still enflamed deep in her womb. “We’ve got maybe fifteen minutes before the sun comes up. I’ll be back in a second.”

  “Rain, I will do—”

  She didn’t wait for him to argue but hopped out of the car and closed the door quietly.

  “You don’t listen very well,” Noah’s baritone purred into her ear.

  She damn near jumped out of her skin, having forgotten she still wore the communication device in her ear. “Watch my back,” she whispered, wondering if the device would pick up her voice.

  “I’m watching every inch of it, sweetheart.”

  She scowled but then pushed his comment out of her head. There was work to be done, and truth be told, Rain loved doing this shit. Some thought her crazy, and she’d learned over the years not to share this with many, but Rain loved the high she got from sneaking. In another life she would have made one hell of a cat burglar.

  Rain kept the GPS device in her hand as she hurried across the street to the nicely paved sidewalk. There wasn’t a house in the lot in front of her but instead a gazebo with flower arrangements that would soon come into bloom, which created a small neighborhood park. There wasn’t any playground equipment, and Rain imagined the people living in these homes on this street cared more about appearance than the happiness of their children. That is, if any of them had sex with each other enough to procreate.

  Darkness surrounded her and morning dew was heavy in the air. It clung to her flesh, mixing with the smooth sheen of sweat that broke out all over her. She was overheated and the chill in the air felt incredible.

  “Just move up the drive and bend over and slap it on the tire well, then keep going,” Noah instructed.

  “You don’t have to speak so loudly,” she whispered.

  “Your earpiece probably needs adjustment.” He spoke quieter this time, although his baritone still filled her head.

  It also made it seem as if he were right behind her and that at any moment those confident hands might touch her.

  She hurried past the next house and came up on the Porters’ home. Heading up the circular drive, she dropped low, shifted the GPS device from one hand to the other, and bent lower to slap it on the tire well of the car. It made a clinging sound when the magnet secured it to the vehicle. Rain let go, her hand wet from dew off the car, and then headed down the other end of the driveway.

  Her heart pumped with life. She fought the grin that ached to spread across her face. God, she loved doing this shit!

  Rain picked up pace, breaking into a jog, and headed toward the end of the block.

  “Where are you going?” Noah asked.

  “Thought I’d take a jog,” she answered, feeling the icy chill in the air make her cheeks burn. “I’m going to head around the block,” she decided at that moment. “If there’s an alley, I can get a look at the back of the house.”

  “Damn it, Rain. If you get spotted you’ll blow your fucking cover,” he hissed.

  “Lay off, Kayne,” she ordered, the chill rejuvenating her and adding to the thrill of doing some snooping. “Trust is a two-way street, sweetheart,” she said, emphasizing the last word like he did with her.

  It was damn near impossible not to smile when he growled into her ear. But the neighborhood would be waking up, and anyone staring out a window, half-awake, would look twice at a jogger who was grinning from ear to ear.

  “There is an alley.” She turned onto the brick-lined alley, wondering how many neighborhoods in Lincoln rated such a clean back entrance.

  Most alleys were no more than dirt and gravel, with huge potholes. God forbid Steve or Susie had to drive their precious vehicles over such weather-worn roads or alleys.

  “Okay. There’s movement in their house. Someone’s coming downstairs. The stairwell is in the middle of the house.” There was a clicking sound, as if he typed while speaking. “They’re probably on opposite sides of the house, not speaking after their fight.”

  Rain walked along the edge of a privacy fence, grateful that this neighborhood was into their privacy. Tall fences lined either side of the alley. Her tennis shoes squeaked over the bricks, which were almost slippery in spots. It seemed the dew was heavier this morning than usual for this time of year, which possibly meant it would rain later today.

  “I’m behind their house, and guess what?” she said as she stood at the edge of the fence.

  “What?”

  “The Miata is right here.”

  “Rain,” he growled into her ear. “Be fucking careful. There is someone downstairs in the back of the house.”

  Rain peeked around the fence and stared at the house. With it still dark outside, when a light went on inside she could at least tell where someone might be. But there weren’t any lights coming on.

  “They’re walking around in the dark then.”

  “Trust me. Someone is there.”

  She glanced up and down the alley, at the house on the other side of the alley. No one’s lights were on in any of the houses she could see. Must be nice to sleep in past six.

  Rain made her move, deciding it was better not to announce her actions, and damn near crawled toward the Miata and slapped the small magnetic cylinder to the tire wall. Then backing up, she sprinted down the alley.

  She barely reached the end of the alley when her cell phone buzzed.

  “I’m coming around to get you,” Noah informed her.

  “I’ve got a call.”

  “Who is it?”

  Rain pulled her phone free, feeling her gun press hard against her flesh as she did. “It’s Al.” As Rain stood at the end of the alley, a car turned the corner, and Noah slowed as he approached her. She answered her phone as she got into the car. “What’s up?” she asked.

  “Where the hell are you?” Al snapped.

  “Huh? Damn, girl. I didn’t know I had a time limit to check in.” She wasn’t going to tell Al she had just placed tracking devices on private citizens’ cars. She glanced at Noah. “We’re headed that way now.”

  “Don’t bother. Obviously you’re having enough fun with your sexy FBI man not to be down here and defend our force when the government comes in and takes over.”

  “What?” Rain leaned back in her seat as Noah accelerated slowly and then turned in the opposite direction of the Porters’ house. “Al, you aren’t making any sense.”

  “They took it!” Al yelled loud enough that Noah glanced over at Rain.

  “Who is they? And what did they take?” she asked coolly.

  “They are the fucking FBI. And they took our weapon. They are going to make sure they get the goddamned credit for solving this case. And just maybe, if you’d bothered to get out of bed with your new play toy, your being present down here could have stopped them from taking the gun.”

  “Now you wait one goddamned minute.”

  “It’s cool.” Al sounded like it was anything but cool. “It’s not like this will hurt your or my record. Neither one of us will get commendations, nor will we get credit for solving this case. I’m sure that doesn’t matter to you, Detective Huxtable. Your daddy was the great Double H. You’re good to go.”

  “Al, stop it.” Rain rested her forehead against her palm and sighed heavily. “We made a slight detour, but we weren’t—”

  “D
on’t justify yourself,” Noah hissed under his breath.

  “Don’t bother,” Al said at the same time. “It doesn’t matter. You call your own shots. I’m simply trying to catch a killer.”

  She hung up on Rain, and the compilation of emotions that ransacked Rain made her shake. “That’s not fair,” she growled, dropping her phone in an empty cup holder in the console between her and Noah and then leaning back farther to remove the gun from her waist. “Apparently the weapon picked up this morning at the Porters’ has been confiscated by the FBI,” she told him, anger and frustration mixing with pain at Al’s obvious low opinion of her.

  “We can head over to the field office.” Noah signaled to turn right at the next intersection.

  “No.” Rain held out her hand and then pointed to the left. “Head to the station first.”

  “You’re going to confront Al?”

  “Hell no.” She crossed her arms, fighting to chill out her anger. It wasn’t working very well. “Any issues she’s got are her own problem. But I am going to find out why they released that gun to the FBI.”

  “You already know the reason, Rain,” he said calmly, but turned left as she instructed. “Local law enforcement agencies don’t outrank FBI. More than likely we’ve got the equipment to handle ballistic fingerprinting better than you do.”

  Noah followed her direction and parked on the back side of the station. When Rain entered, she headed straight for the commons.

  “Good morning, Detective.” Betty, their dispatcher for the front desk, bent down and grabbed a candy bar out of one of the vending machines.

  Rain let her purse drop from her shoulder and opened it to fish out change. “Hey, Betty Boop,” she said, doing her best to smile.

  Betty always appeared cheerful, and the general consensus was that she had the least stressful job in the department. Rain remembered the rumor getting out that Betty always smiled from lack of stress. A full-fledged bulletin and berating by the chief resulted. He dared any of them to sit at her desk all day and handle the calls that she handled. From that day forward a new rumor spawned, one that entailed the chief and Betty Boop getting it on, although cops weren’t idiots. This second rumor was whispered and kept very under the wraps.

  “You just missed all of the fireworks.” Betty didn’t hide the fact that she gave Noah a very scrutinizing onceover.

  Her eyebrows shot up when he dropped change into the machine that Rain stood by, pushed the Diet Dr Pepper button, and then pulled out the cold can and handed it to Rain.

  “Thanks,” Rain said, looking over her shoulder and glaring at him. She turned and watched Betty as she headed toward the door. “What fireworks?” Rain asked, although she was willing to bet she didn’t miss them as much as Betty thought.

  Betty glanced at Noah, who moved across the room and helped himself to coffee, and then wagged her dark eyebrows at Rain as she moved closer.

  “Impressive,” Betty whispered, and then cleared her throat as she tugged on her uniform shirt. “Right after I clocked in this morning, an FBI field supervisor called informing me she was sending her people over. She talked to me like I answered to her,” she said a bit louder. “The FBI pranced in less than an hour later, just as our officers were returning from a domestic, and took evidence from Detective Gomez. I thought Al was going to throw her out the window.”

  “Damn, we did miss a show.” Noah blew on his coffee as he approached.

  “Well, I got to get to work. Night dispatch always leaves my station a wreck.” She rolled her eyes and then looked at Noah. Humming her approval, she turned and left the break room.

  “I guess it’s good to know not all cops hate me,” Noah said, draping his arm over Rain’s shoulder.

  Rain shrugged away from him and headed out the door. “Just because she likes buns of steel doesn’t mean she likes FBI.”

  Noah caught up with her at the elevator. “I’ve got buns of steel?”

  Rain stared at the closed elevator doors, listening to the elevator groan and squeak as it approached. Noah didn’t need his ego stroked, and besides, she wasn’t in the mood. At least not in the mood to assure him that all women would find him drop-dead gorgeous.

  “Let’s go find out if ballistics managed to do anything before they lost their evidence.” Rain entered the elevator when it opened.

  Noah stayed put. “Go do what you want to do,” he told her. “I’m heading back to the car and going to monitor our tracking devices, see if we learn anything new.”

  The doors closed before she could ask why he didn’t want to go up with her. “Your equipment will record what it finds,” she grumbled, and then watched the numbers light up above the door as she headed upstairs.

  SIXTEEN

  Noah stared at the steaks grilling and then gazed through the rich-smelling smoke that drifted and was caught by a breeze in front of him. Ever since they got back to the house yesterday, Rain seemed more reserved, lost in thought. Monday morning, tomorrow, they would probably know if they had a match with the bullets and the Porters’ gun. His bet was on the match; then it was just a matter of bringing the two of them in, questioning them, and making an arrest. In a few days he could be back in D.C. Not quite two weeks to wrap up a case; pretty good timing. He wished it would take longer.

  “Do you have any more steaks?” Rain walked onto the deck smelling of the same perfume she’d applied for the potluck that last weekend. It was a wonderfully enticing scent.

  “There’s a few more in the freezer, but they aren’t thawed. Why?” He turned around and then stared at the corset-type blouse she wore and blue jeans that hugged her like a second skin. “Damn, woman. What’s the occasion?”

  Rain raised one shoulder lazily and let it fall. Her shirt pushed her cleavage together and made it swell over the snug shirt. What she displayed looked a hell of a lot more appetizing than the steaks. And a moment ago, they looked damned good.

  “I just got off the phone with Joanna. I thought she just called to check in, but she mentioned she had a date with a friend.” Rain’s hair was down, which made her look very sultry. “Then she mentioned Jan Gamboa was fighting with her husband and Joanna felt guilty that she couldn’t ask her over and get her out of the house for a bit.”

  “Subtle hint, huh.”

  Rain smiled and then moved to stand next to him. She breathed in the smell of the steaks, which pressed her breasts against the form-fitting shirt. He focused on where they pressed together, and ached to run his finger down the inviting curves she displayed.

  “I took the hint. And anyway, after I called Jan and learned that Sheila Lapthorne was with her”—she offered him a small smile—“they’re on their way over.”

  Noah nodded. “Hopefully we can get more steaks thawed out in time. I don’t suppose you’re game to make a side dish of any kind.”

  “You make it sound like I don’t ever cook.” She held her arms out. “Do I look like I’m starving to death to you?”

  “You look like you want something, or possibly are offering something.”

  Rain turned around and headed back into the kitchen. “Damn. I was just trying to look nice. Is there something wrong with wanting a bit of downtime? This case will be wrapped up in no time, and I don’t feel like I’ve done shit to help get it there.”

  Noah followed her into the kitchen and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. “You look incredible, Rain. Gorgeous.” He pulled her closer, even when she stiffened. Her blue eyes grew large, and she licked her lips, then opened her mouth, her body language suggesting a protest was on the tip of her tongue.

  Noah didn’t want protests. Maybe it was selfish of him. In a few days they might part ways and never see each other again. But he wouldn’t be going into another woman’s arms, and something about Rain appealed to him too damned much to just ignore her during their time together.

  He tangled his fingers in her silky hair and held her in place while devouring her mouth. Rain stiffened further, and her
fingers dug into his shoulders, like she would push him away. When her tongue moved around his and the heat she offered soaked over him like an aphrodisiac, he growled, instantly needing her more than he needed to breathe.

  Rain sighed into him, and instead of pushing away, her fingers drew lines up his neck, and then she massaged his head while a soft, yearning sound escaped her.

  Noah got so fucking hard that he damn near came. The sound she made matched the craving burning feverishly inside him. Breaking the kiss, he nipped at her lower lip, then dragged his tongue down her neck, nipping at her soft flesh. Rain hissed, and the temperature in the room got even hotter. He inhaled and filled his lungs with her perfumed scent.

  “How much time do we have before they show up?” he growled.

  Rain dragged her fingers through his hair and then rested her hands on his shoulders. “Not enough.”

  “A quickie?”

  She laughed. “A quickie wouldn’t work with you.” She stepped back and adjusted her shirt, cupping her breasts and straightening her clothes.

  Noah reached in to help. The least he could do. “I messed you up,” he said, grinning at her while he fondled her, knowing he did damn little to fix her clothing.

  “You didn’t mess me up,” she told him, and walked toward the hallway. Then as she turned and looking over her shoulder, her blue eyes smoldered even as her expression hardened. “I won’t let you mess me up,” she whispered.

  Noah let her go without commenting, although he understood her words. As much as he hated admitting it, it was exactly what he’d been thinking outside. There was something between them, something he’d like to understand. Rain wasn’t going anywhere. Once this case was solved he’d be on a plane to D.C. Unless Brenda had another pending case, and then he’d be shipped off to God only knew where. Either way, it would be impossible to say when he’d see Rain again. He didn’t want a relationship with a woman he only saw a couple times a year. Rain wouldn’t want that, either.