Storms of Change

by Radclyffe

  “Maybe she’s not my type.”

  “Make the sacrifice.”

  “Maybe I’m not hers,” Carter said, realizing the thought bothered her.

  “So charm her.”

  After their brief encounter that morning, Carter wasn’t certain that charming Rica was going to be all that easy, but she liked the prospect. She regarded Allen seriously. “Look, this town is too small to have you hanging around. If Rica’s father does send someone over here to keep an eye on her, they’re going to be on to you and Toome right away. Stay out of town.”

  “I’m not leaving you unsupervised,” Allen said. “But the next time, I’ll come alone and book a room somewhere. I’ll play tourist.”

  Carter shook her head. “You’re the boss.”

  “You’d do well to remember that.”

  Allen turned her back and marched back down the wharf toward the gray sedan. Carter wondered who had been telling Agent Allen that she would sleep with suspects to get information. She actually never had, although she’d done drugs with a few to prove her cover story. It wasn’t a moral issue, since fabricating entire existences was part of her undercover work and using sex as a ploy to get what she needed came under the heading of “doing what was necessary to get the job done.” She’d always been able to find out what she needed short of getting completely up close and personal, and she’d actually never been tempted to take what was frequently offered. She just hadn’t been interested.

  Watching the federal agents drive away, Carter stuffed her hands in her pockets and headed west down Commercial Street, opposite the direction she really wanted to go. She wanted to go east, back to Rica’s gallery. Carter didn’t relish the idea of lying her way into Rica’s bed, and she wasn’t sure why. The woman was beautiful and desirable.

  Still she remembered the way Rica had searched her face through the glass, as if looking for truth. Making her believe she’d found it, when it was all a lie, was going to be harder than Carter thought.

  Chapter Eight

  Bri parked her brand-new Harley Roadster next to Reese’s Blazer and took the stairs up to the office two at a time. When she shouldered through the door, she saw her partner Ali already at her desk and Gladys in her usual place at the call station.

  “Hey. What’s going on?” Bri asked of no one in particular. She dropped her motorcycle gloves and helmet on her desk.

  Ali shrugged and Gladys pointed to Nelson’s office.

  “They’re in there.”

  Bri looked from one woman to the other, sensing a disturbance in the air. Tiny fingers of dread trickled along her spine, and she shrugged the apprehension away. Needing somewhere to aim her uneasiness, she strode to her father’s office door and knocked sharply. When she heard a rumble that approximated Come in, she pushed it open and stepped inside. Reese sat in one of the chairs in front of her father’s desk. She didn’t look sick, but she did look odd in her civilian clothes. Bri was used to Reese always being command perfect when at work, her uniform crisp and clean, her attitude focused and certain. Again, she had the feeling that something was out of place. Off kilter. As if the world had tilted just a little bit.

  With a note of bravado in her voice, Bri said, “What gives?”

  Reese turned ever so slightly in her chair and locked gazes with Bri. Her face was expressionless but her eyes were sharp and hard. “Do you want to rephrase that, Officer?”

  For a second, Bri was tempted to resist the authority in Reese’s voice. For a second, she was the same angry, belligerent teenager she’d been the first night Reese had come upon her and Caroline making out in a dark alley. She’d been ready to fight then, and she was ready to fight now. Because she felt threatened and afraid. She took a breath and looked from her father to Reese, and could find no enemy. She squared her shoulders and faced her father.

  “You wanted to see me, Chief Parker?”

  “I need you to take Conlon’s shift.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Reese stood. “And I need you to come for a ride with me.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Nelson stood as well and stretched his hand out across the desk. “I’ll see you soon, Conlon.” His voice was husky and he cleared his throat before clasping Reese’s hand. He shook it firmly and added, “And give them hell.”

  “Yes sir,” Reese said to the standard exhortation. “I will, sir.”

  Bri didn’t say anything as she and Reese walked through the squad room, but she felt Ali’s and Gladys’s eyes on them. Her stomach burned and her legs felt wobbly, and she didn’t have the slightest idea why. There was nothing visibly wrong, except her father looked sad in a way he hadn’t since that night she’d been attacked in the dunes. When she’d been beaten and—

  “Is Tory all right?” Bri stopped dead in the middle of the parking lot. “She’s not hurt, is she?”

  Yes, she is. And I’m to blame. Reese shook her head. “No, she’s fine. Come on, get in the truck and I’ll explain.”

  Bri climbed into the passenger seat and sat with her hands clasped between her knees, staring straight ahead as Reese pulled out of the lot, turned left and then left again onto Route 6. They were going to the parking lot at Herring Cove. They always seemed to go there when Reese wanted to talk to her. Knowing that made her both comfortable and uneasy. Something was coming, something she probably didn’t want to hear. But this was Reese, and she trusted her in a way that she trusted no one else in her life. She trusted her father to care for her and about her, but not to understand her. She trusted Caroline to understand and to love her, but she felt protective of Caroline and wanted to always be strong for her. With Reese, she knew she was understood, and loved, and if she needed it, protected.

  “You can just go ahead and say it,” Bri said.

  “That was my plan.” Reese smiled and stopped the vehicle midway down the long narrow parking lot, away from any other vehicles. The tide was coming in and white froth bubbled along the water’s edge, tracing a lacy border where sand met sea. She turned off the ignition, released her seat belt, and swiveled until her back was against the door. She waited until Bri did the same.

  “My reserve unit has been called up, and I’m going to be deployed to the Middle East.” Reese said it matter-of-factly, because that’s exactly what it was. She was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. And whether this particular involvement was called a war or not was of no consequence to her. She had pledged to serve and to fight, if asked to, and that’s what she was going to do.

  “When?” Bri’s throat was dry, but her voice was steady, and she was pleased about that.

  “I’m leaving tomorrow at four a.m. I’d like you to drive me to the airport.”

  “Sure.” Bri closed her fingers tightly into fists. “Tomorrow?”

  Reese nodded.

  “How do you know you’ll be sent… you know. Where there’s fighting?”

  “My father knows my orders. He told me.”

  “Oh.” Bri looked away from Reese out the windshield toward Cape Cod Bay. She’d seen the scene a thousand times. She’d seen the waves stretch endlessly across the horizon, seen the white slash of gulls diving through a crystal blue sky, seen clouds float by like wishes, impossible to catch. She tried to imagine being surrounded by endless miles of scorching sand and blistering sun and sudden death. “Someplace bad?”

  “There’s no place that’s safe,” Reese said quietly, “but I’ve got a top-notch unit.”

  “When will you be back?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Bri jerked her head around. “The television says it will be over soon. Weeks, maybe a few months.”

  “I know. But sometimes…” Reese lifted a hand, blew out a breath. “Sometimes things change. It’s better not to think about how long it will be.”

  “It doesn’t work,” Bri said sharply. “I tried that when Carre went to Paris… I know it’s not the same, but—”

  “It was hard, just the same. I
know.” Reese tapped her closed fist on Bri’s knee. “And you did well.”

  Bri snorted. “You didn’t see me sometimes.”

  “I saw you do what needed to be done,” Reese said quietly. “You stood strong for her.”

  “How’s Tory?”

  “Standing strong.” Reese brushed a hand over her face. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

  Bri sat up, her feet flat on the floor, her back straight. It was as close as she could get to coming to attention in a seated position. “Anything.”

  “I’m putting you in charge of the dojo until I get back.”

  “Tory outranks me.”

  “I know, but she’ll be busy with the baby, and”—Reese smiled—“we both planned for you to take over someday.”

  “Just until you come back,” Bri said insistently.

  “Just until then,” Reese affirmed. “And one more thing.”

  “Tory.”

  “Yes.” Reese met Bri’s unwavering gaze, proud of the strength she saw there. “She won’t lean on anyone, but she loves you and I know you love her. If there comes a time when she needs to lean, even if she doesn’t want to, I need you to be there.”

  Bri’s throat moved convulsively and she swallowed back a sudden swell of tears. “I will, but nothing’s going to hap—”

  “Good enough.” Reese started the engine. “Thanks for taking my shift today.”

  “Sure.”

  “And Bri,” Reese said gently before backing out of the space. When Bri looked over, Reese brushed a hand over Bri’s cheek and through her hair. “It’ll be okay.”

  *

  “Pia,” Tory said into the phone as she dropped the last file on the corner of her overcrowded desk. “It’s Tory.”

  “Hi,” Pia Torres said. “What’s up?”

  “Is KT coming in this weekend?”

  “She’s here now. She came in on an early plane and is just taking a shower. Do you need her?”

  “Would it be okay if I stopped by for just a minute? I know she’s probably tired if she worked all night, but—”

  Pia laughed. “We’re talking about the same KT, right? The tall, dark-haired surgeon with the endless energy who’s never happier than when she’s working?”

  Despite the million things on her mind, Tory smiled. It was still hard to believe that KT, her once and long-ago lover, the woman who had turned her life upside down and nearly torn her heart out in the process, was back in her life again. Back in her life and happily involved with a friend of hers, and it didn’t bother Tory a bit. In fact, she and KT had finally made peace and with it, a great deal of her past had finally been laid to rest. “Unless you’ve gotten a new girlfriend since the last time I saw you, that would be the one.”

  “Then she’s wide awake and I was just about to fix her something to eat. Come on over.”

  “Thanks. I promise I won’t keep you.”

  “Tory, just hush and get over here.”

  Six minutes later, Tory parked in front of Pia’s bungalow, a classic white Cape Codder set back from the street on the far west end of Commercial. KT didn’t live there; she worked in Boston as a trauma surgeon and spent as much of her time off as possible with Pia. Today, Tory was especially glad to have KT back. Despite all the pain, KT was one of the most important people in her life.

  Pia, her jet black curls framing a dark-eyed, sensuous face that typified her Portuguese heritage, came out the front door onto the small, neat porch as Tory made her way up the walkway between the flower gardens. She regarded Tory with a concerned smile. Impromptu visits were not common. “She’s in the kitchen.”

  “Thanks.” When Tory realized that Pia was going to wait out on the porch, she added, “This is about you, too. Come inside.”

  KT O’Bannon, tall, dark, and proverbially handsome, rose from her seat in the kitchen that looked out over Pia’s rear gardens. She was barefoot, in jeans and a frayed white T-shirt, and her dark hair was wet from her recent shower. “Hey, Vic. What’s going on?”

  Tory smiled at the old nickname that she had once asked KT to stop using because it was so painfully intimate. Now she found it warmly familiar. KT reminded her of Reese in some ways. They were devilishly good-looking, strong and commanding, and beneath the charisma, tender. KT, however, through no fault of her own when Tory looked back on it now, had never provided the solid, unshakable foundation that Reese brought to Tory’s world. And Tory had never been able to give KT the freedom she needed along with the certainty of always having a safe place to return, as Pia was able to do.

  Tory kissed KT’s cheek. “It’s good to see you.”

  KT frowned and pulled out a chair at the table. “Sit. Let me get you some coffee. You look beat.”

  “Why, thank you. I think.” Tory laughed shakily and pushed her hands through her hair.

  “You sit,” Pia said, brushing her hand over KT’s back. “I’ll get you both some coffee.”

  “Thanks, honey,” KT said before turning her attention to Tory. “What’s wrong?”

  “I hate to do this to you two, because I know you worked last night and you’re probably looking forward to a weekend off, but I need you to cover my practice tonight and maybe part of tomorrow.”

  “Sure,” KT said immediately. “Why?”

  “Reese’s reserve unit has been called to duty. She’s leaving tomorrow morning.” Even as she said it, Tory found the words hard to absorb. She and Reese hadn’t been apart except for the once-a-month weekends and the few weeks every summer when Reese had to fulfill Marine reserve responsibilities. Even sitting across the table from KT, a woman she had loved for years, she couldn’t remember a time when Reese had not filled her heart and her mind. “I don’t want us to be disturbed tonight.”

  “Of course we want to help,” Pia said.

  “Jesus.” KT turned her coffee cup in her hands, frowning. “Isn’t her father some big deal in the military?”

  “He’s a general.”

  “Can’t he do anything about this? Get her some kind of deferment or something?”

  Tory laughed, a short harsh sound. “KT. He’s been waiting for this to happen. He’s never forgiven her for leaving active duty, and he sees this as her chance to advance.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  Pia came to stand behind KT and rested her hands gently on KT’s shoulders. She leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Sweetheart, maybe Reese doesn’t want a deferment.” She looked over KT’s head at Tory. “Reese strikes me as the kind of person who would go if it was required of her.”

  “Oh come on,” KT said. “She’s got a wife and child to think about. Why would she—”

  “You’re right, Pia,” Tory said softly. “I wouldn’t say that Reese wants to go, but she wouldn’t be Reese if she didn’t feel compelled to carry out her duty.”

  “That’s bullshit,” KT snapped. “You’re her duty.”

  Pia cupped one hand on the back of KT’s neck and squeezed gently, massaging the muscles that had turned to iron. “Tory’s going to be fine.”

  Tory shook her head, amazed by Pia’s ability to read beneath the surface of KT’s anger and arrogance. She leaned across the table and took KT’s hand. “I appreciate you being upset for me. It’s complicated. Reese is complicated. But she loves me and Reggie more than anything in the world, and this is hard for her too.”

  “Good,” KT muttered, but the edge had gone out of her voice. “I can take your patients all weekend, if you need me to.”

  “You need a break sometimes, too. Just until tomorrow afternoon.” Tory stood and gave Pia and KT a grateful smile. “Thanks for being such good friends.”

  KT rose and walked Tory to the door, one arm around her shoulders. “You sure you’re okay, Vic?”

  “Scared,” Tory admitted. She stopped in the doorway and rested her head against KT’s shoulder. “It might all be over in just a few weeks. I just don’t know what I’d do if—”

  “Don’t,” KT said gently. “
Reese Conlon has the best reason in the world to keep her ass out of trouble. She’s got you and Reggie. She’ll be back before you know it.”

  “God, I hope so,” Tory said fervently.

  KT kissed Tory’s forehead. “Thanks for letting me help.”

  “Thanks for being here.” Tory looked past KT’s shoulder to where Pia stood in the kitchen doorway, watching them. “Both of you.” Then she took a deep breath and smiled. “Now, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a date with my lover.”

  Chapter Nine

  “I made sandwiches,” Kate said to Tory and Reese when she opened the door. “Go on back to the kitchen. Jean has Reggie outside.”

  Reese held Tory’s hand as they walked through the house her mother shared with her lover Jean. She couldn’t help thinking of the first night she had arrived on her mother’s doorstep after their twenty-year separation. She hadn’t quite known what to expect, because she had never been entirely certain why her mother had broken off contact after her divorce from Reese’s father. When Kate revealed that her ex-husband had forbidden her to communicate with Reese upon learning that Kate and Jean were lovers, Reese was more sad than angry. She loved her father, and that would never change. But he had made his anger her punishment, and in her heart she knew he had been unfair. She would never be able to replace the years she had lost with her mother. Unconsciously, she pulled Tory closer.

  “What is it?” Tory said gently, wrapping an arm around Reese’s waist as they stopped in front of the glass doors leading out to the deck. Jean and Reggie sat together on the weathered wooden surface, a jumble of building blocks scattered between them. Reggie, her hair the same red-gold-brown as Tory’s, wore a baby-sized Red Sox cap that shielded her fair skin from the sun.

  “She’s going to walk soon,” Reese said.

  Tory frowned, trying to decipher the source of the pain riding just below the surface of Reese’s voice. She caught her breath, understanding. “She’s going to be the most videoed baby on the planet.” She turned Reese to face her, slid both arms up to her shoulders, and kissed her softly. “You’re not going to miss a second. I promise.”