Songbird's Call

by Herron, Rachael

  “I don’t know.” That’s why she’d run to see her sister. Adele was good at figuring things out. At fixing them when they were screwed up.

  Molly had none of that skill.

  “Eh.” Norma looked like some kind of saloon deity with her dress spread out on the floor around her like holy robes, the ropes of necklaces she wore clinking slightly every time she moved. “Come here.”

  “I have to –” Molly pointed out towards the street.

  “Just touch this deck. One second. That’s all I need.”

  Molly jerked forward and tapped the deck with her fingers.

  “Good. Now let’s see.” Norma turned over the top card. “Just one. That’s all it takes when it comes to matters of the heart. Ah. That’s lovely, that is.” She held it up. “See? Isn’t that wonderful?”

  “I have no idea.” But Norma looked so comfortable on the floor that something inside Molly relaxed. “What is it?”

  “The Ace of Cups. A new relationship, a strong one. You’re going to find the thing you’re looking for.”

  “The T-seventy-eight?”

  Norma tilted her head. “It usually points more to love than a highway. You’ll find what you’re meant to, have faith in that.” Then she raised her hands, pressing the palms together at her heart. She bowed her head, before flapping both hands at Molly. “Scoot now. Go find whatever it is you’re looking for.”

  The only thing Molly had been looking for was her sister. But now her heart was lighter. Her very limbs felt warmer.

  “It’ll be okay, honey.”

  “Thank you.” And then, feeling like an idiot but doing it anyway, Molly bowed back.

  As she went out the front door, Norma called one last thing. “When your sister gets done loving her man on the elemental level, I’ll tell her you were looking for her!”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  At the Darling Bay Sheriff’s Office, Molly knocked on the glass window.

  “I’m here to see Sheriff McMurtry,” she said to the elderly woman who wore a crooked plastic name tag that said VOLUNTEER.

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “Yes,” she said. She kind of did, right?

  “Name?”

  “Molly Darling.”

  The elderly woman dropped the book she’d been holding. “Oh, my stars. You are.” She pointed to the door to the right and pressed a button. The door buzzed. “Come in, you precious thing, you.”

  The woman, Sweetie Swensen, escorted her to Colin’s office, twittering all the way. “I think you were always everyone’s favorite, don’t you? You know, I remember when you girls first came to town to visit your uncle. You must have been about a year old, and little Lana wasn’t even born yet. Your mother took you girls to church, and the pastor had to ask her to leave because you wouldn’t stop screaming like you’d been dipped in Lucifer’s hot oil.”

  Of course she had. Molly had always been the one to embarrass herself if anyone was going to. Always the one who tripped going up on stage. Always the one to get the words wrong. Always the one Dad had notes for after a show. Adele did everything right. Lana did everything wrong but somehow got away with it, every time. Molly was the one who always needed help.

  She sighed. “That sounds like me.”

  Sweetie rapped on the closed door. “Sheriff? A Darling girl is here to see you.” She opened the door and peeked inside. “And she is darling, I have to say.” She tittered. “A little joke, oh, mercy. You must hear it all the time.”

  “Always funny,” lied Molly and mustered up her brightest leaving-the-stage smile.

  “Hi.” Colin pulled the door open all the way. He was still in uniform, but he wasn’t wearing his gun at his hip and something about his face made him look a little more tired. “Come on in. Thanks, Sweetie.” He closed the door quickly, ignoring whatever it was the woman had started to say. “Oh, my God. She exhausts me. She’s like an eighty-year-old Energizer Bunny, and her batteries never, ever wear out.”

  “The perfect person to have at a front desk.” Molly looked around. The room was smaller than she’d thought a sheriff’s office would be, smaller than a staff cabin on a ship. He had a wooden desk that was covered with paperwork. On the wall was an American flag and what looked like a photo of the whole department, everyone in uniform. At a glance, she spotted him, standing to the left of the group, his hands folded in front of him. Handsome, even in low resolution. The rest of the room was impersonal – a desk chair and two other metal chairs. A dusty rubber fig plant stood next to an empty umbrella stand. The room smelled delicious, though, like fresh copy paper and something spicy – his aftershave?

  “True, she’s a front-desk ninja. You should see her interrogate people when they come in. Since we put her there, she’s managed to get at least four men hooked up on outstanding warrants. She pours tea down their throats until I come in to slap the handcuffs on them.”

  “Why do they come in if they have warrants?”

  “They call in to check to see if they do, and she tells them that they have to come here in person so she can check their ID before giving them the information. Which is true. You can’t give that kind of info over the phone. But they just trust her voice, I guess.” He pointed at the chair on the far side of his desk. “Have a seat. I’ve got the packet here. June had a Post-it on her desk asking someone to get it to you, but I guess no one saw it.” He sank into his chair and rubbed his eyes. “When people around here are going to catch on to the whole email phenomenon, I’ll never know. Probably not in my lifetime.”

  “You sound tired.” Molly had the same fatigue in her own limbs, a weight that felt sleepy and cold at the same time. For a split second, she let herself imagine moving around his desk and sitting in his lap. She wanted to rub away the deep crease between his eyebrows. She wanted to kiss his cheek and then move her mouth to his lips.

  “Yeah. I am.” He looked at her, and for a moment she wondered if he was having the same thought. His gaze dropped to her lips, and then color rose to the tops of his cheekbones. But all he said was, “Here, take a look, and let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help.” He pushed the blue folder of paperwork towards her.

  She’d panicked and she’d run away. That’s what she did, after all. If she’d do it on camera in front of millions of people, of course she’d run from one man who suddenly made her feel. And want.

  She’d ruined any possibility of climbing into his lap, of running her fingers along those cheeks, of sliding her hands down his wide chest. She had no right to imagine unhooking his badge, feeling the edges of that star. Were the points as sharp as they looked? How did it attach to his shift? A pin? Strong magnets?

  Business. She was here on business. She flipped through the papers with unseeing eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. June should have gotten hold of you long before now. I can’t really apologize for her, though.” A smile crept into his expression. “She’s wanted to be pregnant as long as I’ve known her, and I’ve never seen a person more excited about an impending birth. Or births.”

  Goddamn. The man was gorgeous, all hard edges and uniform, but when his face went all soft like that, happy about a woman’s pregnancy, well, it was enough to melt Molly’s very bones.

  “Not about that.” She slid the folder back onto his desk. She couldn’t give a crap about the T-seventy-eight. “I’m sorry I left this morning.”

  He’d been rocking back and forth in his desk chair, but he stilled. “Oh. That.”

  “It really was me. It really was not you.”

  “I was worried.”

  “I left a note,” she reminded him.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why are you a cop?”

  “To help people.” His answer was fast on his lips, but there was something heavy behind the words that she didn’t understand.

  “And do you?”

  Colin shook his head. “Almost never.”

  Molly was startled. She’d exp
ected a less hopeless answer. “Really? Then why do you stay here?”

  “Because I’m hopeful that I will. And honestly, sometimes I do help. A little.” He steepled his fingers and looked at them as if searching for the answer. “That has to be enough.”

  “What about the days when you don’t help people?”

  “Those are the normal days. I tell people how to do their job. I try to help my deputies investigate cases.”

  “You order people around.”

  He tilted his head, and she noticed a tiny gleam of silver at his temple. “I do.”

  “Do you like that part?”

  He leaned forward. “Are you interviewing me?”

  “I’m just trying to figure out what you get out of it.”

  “Out of giving orders?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not much.”

  Her toes were cold, as if her blood wasn’t moving enough. “Why does anyone order anyone around?”

  “Molly, did I do that? Because I don’t remember doing it last night, but if I did, I’m incredibly sorry. Something scared you, and I’m beginning to think it was me, and that’s the last thing I would want.”

  “I just want to understand it. What it feels like. Why people do it.”

  “You’ve never just barked an order at someone?”

  Molly pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Besides telling my sisters to cut something out? I don’t think so. It’s not the right thing to do, to just tell someone imperiously to do something.”

  “Try it.”

  “What?” Something shot through her chest, a quicksilver lightning bolt.

  “Give me an order.”

  “Number one, that sounded like an order, and I don’t like that.”

  “I’m picking up on that about you. Go on.” Colin paused. “Please.”

  “And number two, is this some kind of kinky –”

  He laughed, a big, round sound. “Will you do me a favor and just try it?”

  “Giving you an order?”

  “Just for fun. Like a game.”

  There was a catch somewhere here, and she knew it, but she couldn’t quite figure it out.

  The look on his face, though.

  It was hot.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Super hot – the way he was looking at her was making her heart race and warming her extremities like he’d turned up the heat in the office without moving. Her toes weren’t cold anymore. Nothing was. She was aflame, just from the look in his eyes.

  Okay, then. She’d play along.

  “Why don’t you…” she paused for effect, “get up?”

  He leaned back in his chair, linking his hands behind his head. “Nah. That’s a question. Not convincing enough.”

  She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. “Get up.”

  He stood.

  “Come here.”

  He did, standing in front of her.

  Oh. Right. It had worked.

  And he was too close now. Her bent knees almost touched his straightened ones. “Um…” She swiveled her head, looking around the tiny office. There was a window on the door, one that anyone could look through. “Shut the blinds.”

  Colin nodded his head once, silently, then, in a move she didn’t expect, reached over her, and tugged shut the blinds on the door’s window.

  The right corner of his mouth was quirked, as if he was pleased, as if he was orchestrating this.

  Time to take over.

  She pushed her chair back and stood. Her breasts brushed his chest, and she caught her breath, but she was busy. Experimenting. She moved to the left, out of his way.

  “Sit,” she said.

  He sat in her chair, his hands resting on his thighs.

  She scooted aside a radio and a file folder, then rested her rear on the edge of his desk.

  Then, screwing up all her courage, she undid the first button of her shirt.

  Colin’s smile grew.

  “No smiling.”

  He sucked in his lips and straightened his expression, but his eyes kept shining at her. That was all right. She liked that.

  She undid another button and then another, working slowly, until the shirt was open without being parted. Maybe he could catch a glimpse of her bra, maybe he couldn’t. She wanted it that way. She wanted to tease him, to play with him.

  His eyes darkened.

  “Close your eyes.”

  On a low groan, he did.

  “Without opening them, stand up.” She waited for him to do so, and then she said, “Come stand in front of me, slowly. Keep your eyes closed.”

  It only took two steps for him to be knee to knee with her again.

  She reached forward and took his hand. She raised it, placing it on the side swell of her breast, over her shirt. He took in a quick breath, and his hand moved, pushing aside the fabric. Molly said sharply, “No.” She slapped the back of his hand. He laughed, but the tone of it was strained.

  “You can open your eyes.” He did, and they widened as she parted her shirt, putting her black lace bra on display. Then she hitched up her denim skirt slowly, an inch at a time, until the edge of her black panties was on display.

  “Holy…” his voice trailed off.

  Molly felt like she might fly apart. Tension sawed at her insides, deliciously. He was holding so still but she could feel the tremor in him as clearly as if she had her hand on his chest.

  She reached forward and took his hand again. “Slowly.” She drew his hand to her, placed it on the front of her panties, just under the denim. “Don’t move.”

  “Impossible,” he whispered, though his hand stayed still. The heat of his hand made her pulse.

  “Now one finger. Just one.” She used her own hand to guide his. His forefinger dipped, pulling the fabric to the side. She let him trace her slit. “Softly. Just once.”

  She watched his face. His lips parted, and his eyes met hers as he moved his finger slowly, so slowly.

  Molly needed to shift her hips, to move forward, but Jesus, she was already sitting on the edge of his desk. This was insane. And she loved it. “Did you lock the door?”

  He nodded.

  She lifted his hand to her lips, and slipped the finger that had just touched her into her mouth. She sucked, and without asking, his other hand went to her thigh as he groaned. She swirled her tongue, licking his finger from its base to its very tip. Then, when she could hear in his breathing that he was as crazy as she was, she said, “Kiss me.”

  He was on her instantly, his body between her legs, one hand behind her head, his fingers wrapped in her hair, cupping her skull so that he could pull her against him as he kissed her hard. His other hand slid up her bare thigh, under the skirt, until it hit the edge of her panties.

  “Oh, Jesus. We can’t do this here,” he groaned against her lips.

  “I know.” She reached up and put her finger into his mouth, and he sucked it the same way she had sucked his, long and slow, licking it like a lollipop, except this one wouldn’t melt, this one she could let him keep licking, and had she ever been this turned on in her life? She was so wet and slick that her panties were soaked, she knew it. “How do we stop?”

  He smiled into her eyes and gave her finger one last suck. “You’re the boss, boss.” He pressed against her, and his uniform-clad hardness moved against her panties. “I’ll do whatever you tell me to.”

  Molly’s brain seemed to have left the building, dropping right into her core, where she felt like she might explode if she didn’t have him inside her soon.

  And then the door to the office burst open with a clatter.

  “Sheriff McMurtry, sir!”

  A man in full uniform stood in the doorway with his hand over his eyes.

  “Deputy Hoskins.” Colin’s voice went from soft to full roar by the time he turned, holding out his arms to ineffectively shield Molly behind him. Molly slid off the desk, bumping him forward as she desperately tugged down her skirt and closed her s
hirt. “You’d better have a damn fucking good reason to interrupt me –”

  Colin was so loud it sounded like his voice was echoing from the officer’s radio. Interrupt me, interrupt me, upt me.

  No, it really was echoing.

  “Hot mic, sir! You’ve got an open mic!”

  “Jesus.” The curse echoed, too. Jesus, sus, sus, sus, us. Colin hit something at his waist, then reached around Molly to whack the radio she’d moved on his desk. “How long?” He wasn’t echoing anymore.

  The deputy didn’t drop his hand from his eyes. “A little too long, sir!”

  “Thanks, Hoskins. Sorry. Good man.” Colin slammed the door shut again. “Well, that’ll make something for the city council to talk about, anyway. Wow.”

  “You said you locked the door.”

  “I thought I did! It sticks open…”

  “Oh, my God. How many people listen to that?”

  Colin scrubbed his face. “Not that many. Only everyone on the city council. Everyone in the fire department. Oh, and Public Works. The post office has a scanner. The computer store. Sometimes the hardware store puts it on. Everyone in a city vehicle. The school district.”

  “Stop, stop, stop.”

  “Is that an order?”

  “Oh, my God, I’m so out of here.” Molly snapped her fingers. “Give me that form. Give.”

  “This one?” Colin held it up.

  Two seconds from laughing hysterically (or crying), she snatched it away from him. “I’m going to kill you.”

  “Go to dinner with me tonight instead.”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Is that an order?”

  He shook his head, and his eyes were so soft Molly could almost feel his mouth on hers again. “No. It’s a favor I’m asking. I’d really, really like to take you to dinner at Caprese. No strings.”

  “Call me.” Another direct order. It felt good.

  “I don’t have your number. That was the whole reason I couldn’t track you down this morning.”

  “Good point.” Molly took the pen out of his pocket, just under his name tag. She wrote it on the back of his hand. “Now you do.”

  He grinned. “I feel like a teenager. Oh, damn it. I’m short a deputy, so I have a patrol shift tonight. Tomorrow? You don’t have to come back to my house afterwards. In fact, I won’t even ask you to, how’s that?”