Breathless and warm, Sue waited for him to meet her stare. When he did, she slowly curled up one side of her bright red lips and held his gaze until a small wave of pink lit her cheeks and his.
When the silence stretched on too long, Sue noticed Lindy frowning at them both. “Ah, sure.” Lindy cleared her throat and spun on one heel to march into her office. Max didn’t smile. His expression hardly changed, but the wave of heat between them crashed right back over Sue.
And when he shut the door to Lindy’s office, Sue flapped a hand quickly in front of her face to cool off.
At some point, she was going to apologize, even if she didn’t mean it. Smoothing over their argument was important. No way was she going to miss out on…whatever came from chemistry like this. The fallout would be rough, but she could handle it.
A little short-term insanity never hurt anyone.
~*~
Max braced his hands on his knees as he watched Lindy scan the letter. Sitting across the desk from her like this took him back to the one time he’d visited the principal’s office in junior high school.
His mother had not been pleased.
“I’ve already sent in my notice to headquarters. They’ll need to start hunting for a replacement for next school year soon.” He cleared his throat. “But I wanted to make sure you knew how much I appreciate all you do for these kids.”
Lindy dropped the letter and eased back in her chair. “I guess I understand, but I hate to see you go.” She glanced at her door and then back down at the letter. “Have you told everyone you’re leaving?”
Was she specifically referring to Sue? “Jack and I’ve talked about it while he’s helped with my conditioning. And Sue. A little.” Max ran a hand down his nape. “If I can’t make the cut in Dallas, I’ll have some backup applications out, but Dallas is home.”
Lindy braced her elbows on her chair. “Okay. It’s hard to argue with home.” She bit her lip. “But…I’ll try. When I started out as a teacher, I had all these big dreams. The truth is that these kids have to learn in spite of the real world. We can’t teach them if we can’t keep them safe. I hope you know how much your work has mattered to the parents who entrust us with their babies and to the teachers who are dreaming of making a difference.”
Max shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Most days he’d felt more like a mall cop than an officer of the law, but she made this security assignment sound like a noble calling. This was why kids listened to her and teachers worked hard for her in spite of low pay and budget cuts. Lindy Mason believed in the cause. Everyone around her would, too.
“So, if you change your mind,” Lindy said as she stood slowly, “I will fight a cage match against any other principal who tries to hire you away from Lincoln. Remember that.” Then she held out her hand.
Respect. He’d faced a ton of disrespect as a cop, sometimes from his fellow officers. Standing in front of someone who gave it to him even when she was disappointed was humbling.
“Don’t think this gets you out of the barbecue.” Lindy squeezed his hand and then pointed. “And you better make sure that the recipient of your eye hanky-panky really understands you aren’t long for this town. She’s determined to put down roots. You break her heart, I’ll hire someone to break your face.”
She smoothed a hank of hair behind her ear. “Not really, but I’ll wish that I could.”
On his way out of the office, Max stopped. “Are you still mad?”
Sue ran both hands up the sides of her poofy hair. Her style was as unpredictable as she was. “No. I’m sorry we fought. Talking isn’t our strong suit.”
“Let’s try again. Over dinner. I studied up on our local polling places. I can recite them for you.” The weight that lifted as she smiled at him convinced him he was going to make it through the next two weeks.
And there might even be a chance to see where Sue led him after the police exam in June.
“Dinner, yes. You eat. I’ll talk. We both know I’m better at it.” Sue wrinkled her nose and the urge to kiss her to show her what he was better at burned inside.
But they were both at work.
And she would murder him if he disrespected her work authority.
Instead of arguing, Max shook his head and moved out of the office. There was no way she wasn’t staring at his ass as he left. To verify his hunch, he stopped and turned his head. Her lips immediate curved up in a wicked grin.
His matched as he headed down the hall to the exit. Crazy woman.
“Frank, I’m about to do a perimeter check. Over.” As he spoke into the two-way radio normally strapped to his utility belt, Max checked his watch. Meeting with Lindy had pushed his round later than usual, but the hour before lunch was prime dealing time.
“Ten-four, Max. I’ll log it.”
He and Frank had worked out a system. First and last periods, they manned the metal detectors at the main entrance. All other doors in and out were secured. Then they alternated patrolling, one walked while the other manned the security cameras and monitored the administration office.
Instead of his usual path, Max deviated and checked the school’s football field and bleachers first.
And the same way changing a fishing hole or a slot machine can bring a windfall, he spotted Lincoln’s busiest drug dealer lurking behind the ticket box.
Like flipping a switch, adrenaline poured through him and he was pretty sure he was invincible. He was ready to charge into battle. Then his thigh muscle pulled as he stepped down into the grass next to the building.
Be smart. Don’t lose the arrest because of overconfidence.
He’d gotten this injury when he’d rushed. Waiting might have netted better results.
It seemed fitting that it give him a bit of wisdom here, even if it was hard to swallow.
Max stepped back into the shade of the building. “Frank, we’ve got a deal in progress at the football field. Notify the sheriff.”
“Will do. Do you plan to engage or monitor?” Frank asked.
More than once they’d tried to catch this vermin, but he had serious survival instinct. “No sirens.” He didn’t want to lose them. The old adrenaline pumped through his veins and standing still was nearly impossible.
“Proceed with caution. Sheriff’s deputies are on their way.”
“Copy.” Max turned off his radio and slipped it back on the utility belt before quietly crossing the parking lot between the school and the field. He did his best to stick to the perimeter, inching along silently until he could see both kids clearly.
Neither one surprised him. The dealer, a guy they knew as Mash, and Stevie Rappaport, one of the unfortunate fringe kids that Max tangled with on a weekly basis about one thing or another were deep in discussion. Max took two steps closer and peered at them through the breaks in the bleachers.
At the sight of a cop car, Mash would disappear like smoke.
Holding Rappaport would get them almost nothing.
He had to move.
For half a second, he could imagine Sue’s worried eyes watching him. Doing this without backup was reckless.
This time, he should try being smart instead.
Max slowly lifted his electronic control device from his gun belt and squatted to get closer. Each step burned through his thigh but the muscle held. Chasing either one of these assholes would hurt.
“My dad says you better come up with the rest.”
Confused, Max inched around the post in time to watch Rappaport bang Mash in the middle of his chest. He wasn’t buying. He was supplying the neighborhood drug dealer.
The high school kid who never could make it to shop on time was a go-between.
Who was his dad?
“Your mother’s sleeping with Cantrell. That don’t make him your father.” Mash shoved the kid back but held up both hands quickly. “I’ll get it.”
He needed them both, but there was no way he could catch two kids, both of whom had serious motivation, so he tried to calculate how clo
se the deputies might be and watched the road for signs.
Max’s careful math prepared him for when the deputies rolled into sight. Both Mash and Rappaport had been dodging cops for years. Before Mash could finish saying “Cops. Scramble,” Max had Rappaport down on the ground, one hand twisted up behind his back. The loud bang of a gunshot drew every muscle in Max’s body tight. Max gently squeezed his finger on the stun gun’s trigger. Mash was fast, but not fast enough to outrun the darts and electric current. By the time the deputies cleared their cars, Mash was twitching on the ground and Rappaport was screaming about police brutality.
Except for the leg that was on fire, Max was on top of the world.
He could have run all the way to Dallas to shout about his arrest.
“Stand down, officer.” Max fell back on his butt and then grabbed the hand held out by a guy dressed head to toe in a tan uniform.
“Sherriff. Frank called in the big guns, I see.”
“Looks like you had it handled. Don’t need backup, do you?”
“Sir, you arrived just in time.” Max locked his knees and gave his thigh muscle strict orders not to let him down.
“Don’t you have backup at the school?” The sheriff propped both hands on his hips as he watched the flurry of activity of officers cuffing Rappaport and Mash.
“Protocol says one officer remains behind, monitoring security cams.”
“And that you do not engage in high-risk maneuvers such as this one.” The sheriff tilted his head.
“Sir, I was well within my jurisdiction to apprehend a drug dealer on campus. This is my duty.”
The sheriff paced in a small circle. “Could have gone differently for you all.”
No one knew that any better than Max. “I knew the risks.”
The sheriff whistled. “Well, then, do me a favor, and call out Principal Mason. She’ll want an update on the situation.”
Max limped away from the crowd and pulled out his radio. “The suspects are in custody, Frank. Sheriff would like to speak to Principal Mason.”
“She’s already on her way. As soon as I let her know about the deal, she was perched on the edge of my desk watching the cameras. Her and Sue both, having a silent conniption, complete with tears. You’d have thought you were facing off against a battalion.”
The thing about spending his life surrounded by police was that he knew exactly what Frank meant. As threats went, a strung out kid and dealer weren’t much of a danger. Not in the big scheme.
“Thanks, Frank. I’ll pass the word along.”
“Good job, Max.”
They didn’t gush over each bust, but cops gave credit where credit was due.
“You couldn’t wait for the police?” Sue had outpaced Lindy by twenty yards and even from this distance, he had no trouble hearing her anger or seeing the fire in her eyes. Her pale cheeks and pink nose punched a hole in his ego. “What if they’d had guns?”
Max pointed at the officer bagging their guns. “They did.”
Sue stumbled to a stop. “You have got to be kidding me.”
So he shouldn’t have pointed that out, but her tone, as if she was an annoyed mother speaking to a toddler, set his teeth on edge.
“And I am a cop. I handled it.” Max rolled his shoulder to chase some of the tension away, aware that how he handled this would impact more than the rest of his afternoon. “This is the job.”
Sue clenched both hands tightly in front of her. Normally, Sue was larger than life. Here, she was so fragile. “So this job that you think is beneath your skill, it could have gotten you killed today. For what purpose, Max? Why would you rush in like this?”
He held both hands out. “I didn’t rush. I carefully assessed the threat and proceeded with a solid plan. That’s what we’re all trained to do.” The sheriff was watching as if this were the best sporting even he’d seen in a while. “Why are you mad? It all turned out the way it should have.”
Sue shook her head and wrapped her arms around him in a desperate hug. They stood there for a minute and Max soaked in the comfort of her arms.
“Dinner’s a bad idea, Max. Already I’m too…” Sue spun on one heel and marched back inside.
“So, you had to squeeze every bit of excitement that could be had out of a high school assignment before you left, didn’t you?” Lindy shook her head slowly. “And whatever you might have had, it sort of looks like you just sank that particular ship.”
“I was doing my job.” Max flopped down on the grass and massaged his thigh. “This is what I’m paid to do.”
Lindy walked over to join the sheriff. He couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but dramatic bits and pieces of Lindy’s description of events floated his direction occasionally. He thought about interrupting, but no one was asking for details.
He wished Sue had hung around. Even listening to her lecture would be preferable to sitting and watching the world go on around him.
“All right, officer. We’ll need a report. Principal Mason has given us permission to come in to the school to speak with you and Officer Baldwin.” The sheriff offered him another hand up. “Then you rest that leg. Good work. A little risky but the story unfolding does merit taking the gamble. If you’ve handed me a connection to Cantrell, I’ll buy you a beer.”
“The kid, Rappaport, was the go-between. I thought he was buying from Mash, but Mash was picking up a package.” Max tried not wince as he shifted his weight to his good leg. “Not much to go on, but I’ll be happy to cooperate in any investigation.”
The sheriff studied the kid one deputy was putting in the backseat. “Interesting.”
“The north Dallas task force will need to notify schools, make sure everyone is looking for kids carrying packages.” In his days on the task force, they’d concentrated on suppliers. Here, starting with the dealer and working up the chain could net a big fish.
The sheriff grunted. “S’pose you’re right. We like to handle our cases our way, but some cooperation could go a ways to improving cooperation.”
Max followed him over to the car where deputies were talking with Mash.
“You know something about those task forces?” the sheriff asked.
“I served on a Dallas task force until I was injured.” Max stood tall, relieved the muscles in his leg had relaxed. “With hard work, I will again.”
The sheriff pursed his lips. “Well, that’s a worthy goal, but we need good officers at all levels. No telling how many lives you impacted today. Remember that.” Then he tilted his head back and forth. “And if you were to apply with my department, know we’re always searching for experienced officers.” The sheriff offered him his hand and Max shook it.
Then, for the rest of a long afternoon of writing what he’d heard, repeating what he’d heard, and waiting for someone to ask him questions about what he’d seen and heard, Max turned those words over and over in his head.
Pinning all his goals on Dallas made sense. That was home. His family would give him such grief if he went anywhere else.
But nobody could deny he’d done good work.
Without kicking in doors or a single shot fired.
No undercover work. No threat of discovery or fear for his friends or family.
This job might leave time for more than the mission.
Replaying the way Sue had marched away made him wonder what he’d do with that time.
Chapter 9
Not even running an extra four miles was enough to lessen Max’s irritation a week later.
“We gonna run all day?” Jack asked as he wiped sweat out of his eyes. “No way Lindy will buy that as a reason to skip the barbecue. Although, if I tell her about your mood, I might get a pass. Maybe a merit award, medal of honor, something.”
The black cloud above his head was obvious apparently. “You’re the one who wanted to run earlier.”
“Yeah, I’m the one who wanted to get up early on my Memorial Day holiday to come out and sweat like this.”
&nbs
p; “You didn’t have to come.” Max knew he was being an asshole, but after a week of the polite but cold shoulder from Sue, his ability to play nice was gone.
“Fine. I’ll go die over there in the shade, wait for you to pull your head out of your ass. When you want to talk, stop running.” Jack immediately slowed and stepped off the track, hands braced on his hips as he panted.
Determined not to be that guy, the pitiful one who was so clueless about a woman, Max grimly finished another lap. By the time he made it back around, Jack was stretched out in the grass.
He thought he could play his irritation off as a sleepless night, and if he kept running, his body would revolt soon, so Max stepped off the track. Before he had to make an excuse, his cell phone rang.
“Hi, Dad.” A white towel nailed him in the side of the head, and he glared at Jack as he pulled it over his head. “Happy Memorial Day.”
For a minute, all Max could hear was whispering. His mother was nearby.
“Glad to know you’re alive and kicking. Your mother worries, son.” His father cleared his throat. “And happy Memorial Day. Big plans?”
“Tell her I’m fine.” Max stretched out to stare up at the clear blue sky. “I’m going to the school’s end-of-the-year party later.”
“Good.” The silence vibrated over the line, and Max could almost feel his mother’s interest. “The boys are coming over later to cook out. We’ll miss you.”
His mother had to be feeding his father the lines. That didn’t sound like his dad.
“Fourth of July, count on me.” Max stretched his legs, relieved his wounded thigh was solid. “Is Mom around? Maybe I could—”
“Oh, you want to talk? A woman has to learn about her son’s heroic arrest from strangers, but now you want to talk. I should be flattered.” His mother’s annoyed voice made him wish he was standing in her kitchen. She’d never been able to stay mad.
He could picture her settled in his father’s lap, out on the covered deck he and his brothers had built two years ago. That was their new favorite spot, but it was almost easier to picture the two of them together than either one of them alone.
Book Boyfriends Cafe Summer Lovin' Anthology 2015 Page 197