by Christi Snow
“Sure you don’t.” The kid drawled those three little words out to show his total disbelief. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Enjoy your evening,” he sing-songed as he closed the door to his bedroom.
Brian took a moment to compose himself. All it took was the thought of Toni, of how rattled she was when she got home, and he was back under control. He just hoped she was ready to talk now because he was tired of waiting.
Heading out the door, he sidetracked to the living room to snag the throw quilt off the back of the couch. The autumnal evenings were getting cold, and even with the fire, it was liable to get nippy before they finished their discussion.
As he came off the porch steps, he stopped for a moment just to watch her. She stared into the fire, her expression reflected in the soft firelight. She appeared so serious that it actually hurt him. Toni was a person who always had a smile lighting up her face. This pensive expression wasn’t right. Resolute to fix whatever troubled her, he strode over and draped the quilt across her shoulders.
She gave him a soft smile. “Thanks. It was beginning to get a little chilly and I think you’re going to have to work on the fire. I don’t have any better skill with it than I do with cooking.” She looked morosely at the dwindling fire.
“No problem. I’ll get it going again.”
While he worked on stoking the fire, she glanced toward the house. “Where’s Nathan?”
“He said he was done for the night. He has some work to catch up with online. So it’s just you and me.” He set down the poker and dusted his hands against his jeans to clean them off, before joining her on the bench. “Want to tell me exactly what happened earlier when you went to the grocery store?”
Despite the blanket pulled around her and the fire casting heat, she shivered as she looked up to him.
He clenched his jaw to fight back the need to hold and comfort her, but didn’t think she would welcome that at this point in time. She squared her shoulders, steeling herself. Against what, he wasn’t sure. He just hoped to hell it wasn’t against him.
“Can you answer me a question first?” She glanced inquisitively toward him.
He nodded hesitantly. “I will if I can.”
“Do you think Mark Hunter committed suicide?”
He didn’t know what he expected from this conversation, but that wasn’t it. Slowly, he answered, “At this point, that’s what it looks like…”
She shook her head impatiently at him. “No, I didn’t ask you what it looks like. I want to know what your gut tells you. Do you think he killed himself?”
“Toni, I don’t understand where this is coming from.”
She threw her arms up in exasperation and stood up to pace. “Yes or no? It’s not that difficult. Do you think he killed himself?”
A ball settled into the pit of his stomach. What the hell happened while she was out? “No, my gut tells me he was murdered.”
She blew out a gusty sigh and sank back into her seat. “That’s what I was afraid of.” She said it so quietly that he could barely hear her.
“You’re scaring me, Toni. What’s going on?”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what to do. I’m not supposed to tell you anything. They said they’d kill you or Nathan, but if I don’t tell you then it’s probably going to happen anyway and other people could get hurt, too. I trust you to keep us safe. God, we have to keep everyone safe.”
He couldn’t resist anymore. She was too vulnerable, too alone, too scared, and so goddamned determined to keep everyone besides herself safe. He needed to comfort her. Besides if this conversation was going where it felt like it was going, he needed to feel the comfort of her safe and secure in his arms as much as she needed it, too. He slid over beside her on the stone bench and pulled her into his lap, where she belonged.
“Relax, honey. It’s okay. Just calm down before you hyperventilate. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to keep you and Nathan safe, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what I’m keeping you safe from.” He ran his hand up and down her back to soothe her. She continued to tremble, but her breathing settled a bit as he ran over what she’d been saying.
She took a deep breath. “They want me to leave, to disappear before the trial. They said they would pay for me to go and that I should take Nathan with me. If I don’t agree, they’re going to hurt you or Nathan. They said they would make sure it would look like something other than murder, like with Mark Hunter. They told me I can’t go to the police because they will know. They have someone working in the police department. Oh God, I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you or Nathan.”
“Slow down. I promise you, I’m not going to let that happen.” His brain scrambled to come up with a plan so he wouldn’t break that promise. There was a senator involved in this and the political game got really nasty really quickly when it came to power from that high up. She said they had a mole in the police department. Who could he trust?
“They let you go tonight. First, I need to know... They didn’t hurt you, did they?” He wanted to brush his hands up and down every part of her to ensure she hadn’t been harmed in any way, but that would be overstepping.
“No, tonight they just scared me. They plan to get back in touch with me in two days, supposedly to help me with my travel plans. What am I gonna do, Brian?” Her voice was soft and pinched with worry.
“Right now, you’ll go about your life like normal. We have two days. That gives me a little bit of time to make a plan. Trust me, Toni. I will keep you safe.” He tugged her against him so he could hug her, reassuring them both that she was okay. He wouldn’t fail this time. He just couldn’t. The danger she’d been in tonight from simply going to the grocery store scared him to death. He tightened his grip on her, needing to know that she was definitely okay and whole. As he held her, her posture slowly melted into him and her breathing slowed as she calmed.
She leaned back so she could look into his eyes. “I do trust you.” She pressed her hand flat against his chest. His muscles clenched at her touch, wanting her to do so much more. “You’re the only one I trust in all this.”
She was so warm in his arms, alive and safe for now, with her distinct cinnamon-infused scent flowing over him. Belief in him shone through her eyes and he couldn’t resist any longer.
Bowing his head, he brushed his lips against hers. The heat of her skin in contrast to the cold of the night sent chills across his back, but just as quickly heat sizzled to his groin.
Her hands reached up to the back of his neck and she drew him closer, opening her lips to him on a gasp. Any semblance of calm shattered with the onslaught of her hunger-filled kisses. Blood surged to his cock as he devoured her. He’d known it would be a mistake to touch her, but he had no idea how all-consuming the experience would be.
She whimpered and the sound brought him back to what he was doing. He gently pulled away.
She made a soft murmur of protest, which he shushed by lightly rubbing his thumb across her swollen lips.
Their breathing was ragged as he leaned his forehead against hers. His emotions ricocheted inside his head. “Damn, I want you, Toni. I know I shouldn’t. You deserve better and it’s bad for keeping my perspective on this case and everything involved with it. But it doesn’t change a damn thing about my heart and my body. I want you. Right now, I have to keep my head—the right one—in the game and if I sleep with you, that won’t happen. God,” his voice broke with lust, “even just kissing you is like a drug to me.”
She cocked an eyebrow and gave him a soft smile. “I see why Nathan calls you Alpha. You never let go of that iron control do you?” She shifted against his erection pressed against her ass.
He sucked in a gasp at the wonderful friction and closed his eyes against the temptation she presented. She had no idea how much he wanted to just let go and sink into her body, but her safety came first, even when his control was hanging by a thread.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
She brushed her cold fingertips across his closed eyelid. “It’s okay. We can stop for tonight, but this most definitely isn’t over. This has been brewing between us for too long to ignore much longer.” She grabbed his earlobe between her teeth and another sizzle rasped across his cock.
“You’re a good man and I trust you with our lives. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have told you any of this tonight. You’ve already gone above and beyond to take care of us. You’ve taken us in. You paid Nathan’s hospital bill and I will figure out a way to pay you back for that.” She gave him a serious look.
“You’re even determined to protect me when it comes to sex, but I want you, Brian. What’s between us isn’t going to go away though, so I can be patient. Goodnight,” she whispered into his ear and climbed off his lap. She sashayed back into the house, leaving him there in the cold of the night, trying to convince his body to cool back off instead of chasing her down to ravish her.
Chapter 5
The morning sounds of the breakfast rush echoed across the busy retro-styled diner. Brian lifted the coffee cup to his lips watching his partner, Eddie. Could he trust him?
He’d called Eddie to see if he could meet him for breakfast, planning to discuss the situation. But faced with that option now, he began to doubt the intelligence of his plan.
Nathan and Toni’s lives rested on him getting this right. The temptation to scoop Toni, Nathan, and Sam up and take them away to someplace safe kept him awake, worrying most the night. All night long, he’d tossed and turned between frustrated desire and fear of making the wrong choice. Now he was exhausted and still faced the morning without a good plan.
Eddie looked up at him quizzically. “While I appreciate a good breakfast,” he nodded down to his half-eaten omelet. “I get the sense there’s more to this meeting than just starting off the day with something other than bad coffee from the station. Want to tell me what’s going on?”
Yes, he needed to do that, but Eddie had a family, kids. Would it endanger him more than just his day-to-day police work already did, to draw him into the middle of this?
Instead Brian sidestepped and asked, “Do you ever wonder why we do this?”
“Eat?” Eddie patted his love handles. “Because Viv likes a little something to hang on to in the heat of the moment.”
He held up a hand to keep Eddie from saying anything more. “I so did not want or need to know that. Ugh, where is the brain bleach when you need it?” He scowled at Eddie’s smirk. “No, I meant the job.”
Eddie frowned down at his hands for a moment. “I hope we’re doing some good for this world.” He shrugged and looked curiously at Brian. “Why do you ask?”
“The Morrow case…it just seems like every day we turn another corner and what should have been an open and shut case becomes more complex and impossible. These days, that’s more and more the norm. I hate that criminals are given more and more rights while the victims become more prosecuted, simply for being victimized. Something they certainly never asked for in the first place.”
Eddie frowned and leaned back against the cushioned vinyl seat. “You can’t look at it that way. You can’t focus on the criminals that get away with it. If you do, you’re going to burn out long before retirement. You have to focus on the lives and victims you’ve saved by putting away the bad guys you can. Otherwise, Brian, you’re going to drive yourself crazy and not in a good way.”
“You mean there’s a good way to drive yourself crazy?” Brian asked.
Eddie gave him a wolfish grin. “Hell, yeah. There are some really excellent ways to drive a man crazy. Viv drove me nuts when I first met her.” His smile became softer, reminiscent. “That girl sent me on a merry chase, but damn, was it worth it when I caught her. It’s still worth it. There are days when she drives me ape-shit batty, but I wouldn’t change that for the world. She’s my world and she makes me want to make the world a better place, a better place for her and my kids. At the end of the day, that’s all I can hope for, their safety and security.”
And that right there settled whether to pull Eddie into his troubles. He couldn’t drag Eddie into this mess. His family didn’t deserve it.
“So,” Eddie said. “Do you have someone driving you crazy these days?”
His thoughts immediately flew to Toni. She alternatively drove him crazy and made his world a better place. It was incredible to think about the change that had fallen over his entire house by having all three of them there—Toni, Nathan, and Sam. Suddenly, it felt like a home. He never even realized that it didn’t before. But he liked it that way now and that was the most shocking revelation to date.
“I’m guessing by that little smile that you do?”
“What?” Jerking his head up to look at Eddie, he hadn’t even realized he’d been smiling. “No, I’m not involved with anyone, not that way, not right now.”
“Hmm, mmm. Not right now? I heard that, which means that you have someone in mind for eventually.”
“Maybe, but we have a long way to go until I can even come close to pursuing that line of thought.” Brian frowned again as he refocused back on his problem. It would be hard to date Toni if she was dead. Last night sealed it. He wanted more with Toni. He wanted to explore that idea of forever, or a family with her, or hell, even an eventually, but first he had to keep her safe.
Thirty minutes later, they walked into the police department to be immediately met by the captain’s voice booming, “Barnes, Walters, get in here.”
They exchanged a look as they headed to the captain’s office. When they entered the room, he instructed, “Close the door behind you and have a seat.”
After typing some more on his keyboard, he cleared his throat and finally looked up at the two of them. Brian was surprised at how exhausted he appeared, with bags under his eyes, his grey hair disheveled, the wrinkles on his face more pronounced. “Tell me where we stand in the Morrow investigation.”
Eddie explained where the investigation was at, ending with the fact they were just waiting on the ME analysis of Mark Hunter’s suicide.
The captain lifted a folder. “That arrived this morning. According to the ME it was a cut and dried case of suicide. It’s a damn shame that boy took his own life this way since it doesn’t look like it’s adding up to much more than a slap on the wrists for those kids. It puts us in a very bad light.”
“Excuse me, sir?” Brian asked. “Why would they just get a slap on the wrist when they perpetuated felony assault on a minor, resisted arrest, public intoxication, and were driving drunk?”
“There’s a distinct lack of physical evidence of any of those things. The only thing we have is a questionable eye-witness.”
“Questionable?” Brian could feel his blood pressure rising.
The captain leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and met Brian’s challenging gaze. “She shot and killed her boyfriend, who just happened to be a cop, last year. That’s not exactly the sign of a mentally well-balanced person.”
“Yes, she did and thank God for that because he was a cop who was crazy and she saved two lives and probably more by doing so.”
“Detective Barnes, I realize why you wouldn’t have an objective viewpoint on this witness since I know you were one of those lives, but it’s time to drop this case and move on to more important things that need our attention.”
Brian shook his head and began to argue, but the captain shut him down.
“That’s an order, Detective.”
He ground his teeth together and tried to hold his tongue, but Nathan and Toni deserved better than this. They deserved to be able to live their lives without fear. “What if I told you the witness was threatened last night? These guys are not above murder and in fact, the guys that harassed her basically confessed to Mark Hunter’s murder. The ME is wrong. He didn’t commit suicide. Mark Hunter called me to talk about something. I think he wanted to confess and work a deal, but he never got the chance. Someone else got to him first. How many people have to di
e? Isn’t this our jobs to serve and protect?” Brian ignored the angry gaze from his captain. “Would that convince you to take your head out of your ass long enough to realize there’s more to this case than meets the eye?”
The captain narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re over-stepping your place, Detective.” The captain rose from his desk, leaning over it, using every bit of intimidation he could. “I realize you’ve had a hard year, but this is not an argument you want to continue to pursue. Trust me.”
It wasn’t working. Brian was too frustrated with the process, too incensed. He rose and growled out, “Who exactly are you working for on this, Captain? The citizens of this town or does the senator have his hand up your ass, telling you exactly what to say?”
The captain’s face turned purple. “You think you can talk to me that way?”
Eddie reached to Brian’s arm to calm him down, but Brian shook it off.
“I sure as hell do.” Brian reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge and then unclipped his service revolver. “I quit and now you work for me, asshole, because now I’m one of those citizens you’re supposed to serve. I promise you one thing… I will make sure that justice comes this time for these two people.” He stormed out of the office and went over to his desk to grab his personal stuff.
He sank into his chair. Not only had he just quit his job—the job he’d slaved over for the last twelve years—but he’d also lost his temper and revealed what happened to Toni last night. If the captain was working for the senator, then he’d just endangered her. He had to get to her and warn her and then he needed to figure out how to keep Nathan and her safe.
Busy throwing stuff into a box, he didn’t see Eddie walk up to his desk. Eddie reached out to shake his hand. Brian reached across to grasp it and glanced up questioningly when he felt the card in his palm.
“It’s been good working with you, Brian.” Eddie gave a slight nod toward their hands. “It always helps to have others watch your back.”
He had no idea who in the room could be watching them, who he could trust, so he was very careful about what he revealed. He didn’t want anyone going after Eddie in his wake, knowing that he wouldn’t be here to watch Eddie’s back. He didn’t want to leave anyone with the impression Eddie helped him, just in case, so he ignored the card and subtly slid it into his pocket. “Thanks,” he said, with a nod.