by Reina Torres
Just the thought of ending up in the water with the victim shook her down to the core. “Yeah,” she repeated her comment again, her voice louder. “That’s a good idea. Conor?”
“I’ll send him down and I’ll call for a coroner van to come out. Once that’s done, I’ll come over to where you are and see if we can’t just take him up the side of the berm instead of you bringing him all the way back in the canoe.”
“I like that idea much more. Thanks, Conor.”
“Good work, Blyss. We’ll take care of this together.”
Later, as they watched the van pull away, Conor, Blyss and another Game Warden by the name of Lance Soffer had a quiet conversation. They’d placed the pack that Blyss had removed from the body into the back of her SUV. They’d found four tightly wrapped ‘bricks’ of marijuana in it.
“That’s a lot of pot.”
Blyss caught Conor’s worried look. “You think it’s from the same group that went after Miranda?”
He hesitated before he spoke. “The drug trade has a bunch of groups working in and around this area, but this kind of weight isn’t just a bunch of kids working it. This is the kind of weight-”
“And the kind of packaging,” Lance turned over one of the still sealed bricks of marijuana with his gloved hand, “this isn’t just some guys messing around. This is way past felony weight. We’re looking at a serious operation.”
After a bit of conversation, they loaded up the drugs into Conor’s Game Warden vehicle and Blyss walked back toward her SUV. Lance jogged up beside her. “You okay?”
She stopped short and looked at him. “Me? Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Good,” he shifted closer and reached a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. “It’s not easy to find a body like that, I bet.”
She managed a little smile. “Not a moment I want to remember, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be stuck in my head for a while. I can’t wait to get back home and binge watch something to get the images out of my head.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” he dropped his hand back down and gave her a big smile. “If you want some company, I can bring over dinner, maybe a couple of beers.”
She was sure her jaw dropped open.
Lance quickly backtracked. “I mean, if you want the company. I know that couldn’t have been easy for you to find that man.”
“No,” she shook her head slowly, as she tried to figure out a way to turn him down without making it into a thing. “It’s something you know that will likely happen in our line of work, but it doesn’t make it any easier when it happens.”
“That’s why I think it would be a good thing to have someone around with you tonight. I haven’t had it happen to me, but I could be there for you.”
“Well,” Owen’s voice came out of the darkness on the other side of her SUV, “then it’s gonna be a bit crowded on her sofa with the three of us.”
“Really now?”
Blyss swung her head in the direction of the voice.
There was a sliding sound before she heard two boots hit the ground. Owen stepped into the beams of Lance’s headlights. “Really.” He looked at Lance and stuck his hand out. “Owen Mercier.”
Lance reached out and grasped his hand. “Warden Soffer.”
The arctic tone from Lance didn’t seem to bother Owen. In fact, he smiled like he’d just heard the best news.
“Well, if you’re done with Blyss,” Owen’s smile deepened enough that Blyss thought she might have actually seen a dimple in his cheek, “I’ll make sure she gets home.”
Blyss alternated between wanting to kick him in the shins, or slugging him in the arm. The arm would be more satisfying, but she would probably break a finger or two. He certainly had enough muscle.
“I’m a big girl, Owen. I can get home all by myself. I’ve been doing it for years.”
Owen gave it a little thought and shook his head. “You’re not a big girl, Blyss. You’re all woman and make no mistake, I’m going to make sure you’re okay tonight.”
Lance stepped between them, putting Owen at his back.
Blyss saw the flash of warning in Owen’s eyes the moment before Lance blocked him out.
“He can’t just tell you what to do.”
She heard the other warden’s words and saw the way his shoulders lifted. Lance wasn’t going to let this go. And as much as she hated Owen’s high-handed interruption, she was tired enough that she just wanted to get home.
Giving Lance a smile she waved a vague hand at Owen. “Here’s what I’m going to say to both of you. Thanks. Thank you for worrying about me, but I’m fine. I’m going to go home and relax and neither of you have to babysit me.” Turning on her heel she gave them a wave over her shoulder. “Night!”
Neither one of them came after her as she got into her vehicle.
Neither one of them tried to follow her home.
She should have known it was too good to be true.
Chapter 4
When Blyss pulled into the parking lot at the bar she tried not to swear at the lack of space in the lot. Sure, she was late, and the place always had a huge crowd, but for once, couldn’t she catch a break?
The space she pulled into wasn’t even really a space. It was some dirt at the far end of the property that acted like an easement between the parking lot and another business, but it really was the only space available. And as soon as her feet hit the ground, she was glad she’d just slipped on a comfortable pair of loafers. Nothing pretty, just covering for her feet. And with all the rocks and whatever else was on the ground in the dark, it was a practical choice.
She’d gotten back to her place and got ready to leave again. She spent the majority of her time in the shower, hoping to wash off the feeling of the lifeless body that she’d touched. It would take her a long time to forget, but she really did need an immediate cure.
And that meant going out and trying to push it to the back of her head. Fill the space with something else. That’s why she ended up at the bar when she would normally have just stayed home.
Her apartment was just too quiet. And all that quiet meant her mind would work and work and work and she’d never escape the image of that man, fresh from the water, his eyes sightless and staring up at the sky.
When she opened the door the music and noise of conversations hit her like a brick wall, and she loved it. Within moments of stepping inside she couldn’t hear her own thoughts.
She found her way to the table by the windows and made a little wave to the assembled group. As she walked around the area, Conor put a hand on her arm and leaned closer. He was shouting to be heard over the noise. “Glad you decided to come! I didn’t like the idea of you being alone tonight!”
She gave him what she hoped was a smile that looked real. “I needed the noise.”
Conor started to get up. “Here, take my seat!”
Blyss saw Conor’s wife, Erin, seated on the next stool and she shook her head. “I’m good.”
She could tell he was getting ready to argue, but with a concerned look, he sat back down.
“If you need to talk…”
Blyss nodded. “I’ll let you know, but right now…” She tilted her head back slightly and looked up at the speakers high on the wall.
Conor followed the angle of her gaze. “The noise! Yeah.”
She stopped by Erin’s side and gave her a hug and a kiss on her cheek, exchanging greetings before she moved on. She got caught at an impasse as a few women she didn’t know were pushing through the crowd to get to the bathroom. While she was there she had a moment to greet a man in their group, who like Conor, had offered her his chair.
When she refused and gestured with her hand for him to sit back down, the woman beside him reached out a hand. “Hi, I’m Viviana. This is my husband Ethan Blaise. He’s-”
“You’re the Chief at Station Seven!” She finished shaking Viviana’s hand and shook Ethan’s as well. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a crazy woman, but
I know Warren Vidal. He’s at Station Seven.”
Ethan’s strong face lit up with a smile. “Yes, he’s one of my engine guys. Are you with the Sheriff’s office…?”
She shook her head. “Game Warden. I’m Blyss Hardy. Warren used to live in my apartment building before some of the guys bought that duplex.”
Viviana leaned closer. “Did you hear about that man that drowned today?”
By the way Viviana’s expression changed, Blyss knew that the cold chill that fell over her was visible on her face.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Blyss.” She looked at her husband for help and Blyss felt horrible for her.
“Don’t worry.” Blyss really hoped her smile took away some of the worry on Viviana’s face. She hadn’t meant anything by it, it was just bad timing. “I was there when he was found.”
Sliding off of her stool, Viviana pulled her into a hug, whispering into her ear. “I’m sorry. It’s hard to conceive of what everyone does in their daily lives. I’m a caterer, and we’re a whole lot of indoor people. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
Her hug was great, actually. Blyss wasn’t that much of a touchy-feely person, but Viviana had ‘maternal’ printed onto her DNA, so it was really sweet to feel that compassion and concern. “Thank you. It’s a lot to deal with sometimes, but it’s part of our jobs.”
Before Viviana could also offer her a seat, Blyss stepped back and decided to head to the bar to grab a drink before someone else could apologize to her.
But true to form, she bumped into someone behind her.
With a little yelp of surprise, she stiffened as hands grasped her upper arms. “If you wanted me to hold you, cher. All you had to do was ask.”
The sigh that burst from her lips had a laugh in it. She shook her head. “What are you doing here, Owen?”
He turned her around, and she ended up pressed against his front thanks to the huge crowd. And damn him, he seemed to like the tight press. “I’m here for you.”
Heaven help her. She wanted to step even closer and wrap her arms around him. The need to hear his heart beating in his chest was a sudden rush of need, but she managed to fend it off.
She was losing her mind.
He tucked her into his side and leaned forward to introduce himself to Ethan and Viviana. His smile was his usual charismatic grin and by the brightness in Viviana’s eyes, Blyss knew exactly what the other woman was thinking. It didn’t matter if they were single or married, they could all appreciate Owen’s magnetism.
A quick look at Ethan was a relief. The larger man was giving his wife an affectionate look. He didn’t look put out by her reaction to Owen. With what she’d heard about him from Warren, she knew that Ethan Blaise wasn’t just a top-notch Fire Chief, he was also a really great person. And handsome to boot.
Turning away with a slight flush on her cheeks, her gaze met Viviana’s and the two of them giggled quietly to each other.
“Hey,” Owen leaned into her, raising his voice to be heard over the noise, “I see a table open, let’s grab it.”
She didn’t really have time to react. Instead, she just followed along until they reached the table. He gestured for her to go in first and she did. Realizing that as much as she was miffed at Owen for taking charge, she really did want to sit down and get a drink, and she always seemed to be a magnet for stray elbows when someone walked by so the inside seat was nice.
Once a member of the staff took their orders, she put her hand on Owen’s arm to get his attention.
And she got it all right.
He turned toward her and she had to take a breath. Maybe it was the lighting in the room, or lack of it there in the corner, but the shadows on his face gave his features deep edges. Dark slashes that gave his already rugged looks a more dangerous edge. And that would have been enough to hold her silent there in the seat beside him, but the color of his eyes had somehow changed from its normal grey to almost a deep metallic silver.
He wasn’t just gorgeous. He was breathtaking.
“Blyss,” he looked into her eyes and moved just a little closer, “are you okay?”
She surprised herself. If someone else, anyone else, had asked her the question again, she probably would have thrown her hands up and left the bar altogether.
It just wasn’t in her head to have to go through this over and over again, and she was a moment away from telling him to let her out of the booth. He shifted on the seat, bringing his knee onto the cushion between them so he could face her.
Blyss lowered her hand from his arm, but before she could bring it into her lap, Owen took it in his hand and set them down on his knee.
She knew she wasn’t a small woman. Not by any means. The only ‘petite’ thing about her was the fact that she could wear petite labeled tops since her shoulder to waist measurement was shorter than most, but she had her share of muscle. Still, seeing her hand resting on his palm made her feel ridiculously feminine.
And heaven help her, she wanted to hold onto that feeling.
Even for a few moments.
“I knew when you were about to leave the scene that you weren’t okay, but with that jerk asking you out I knew we weren’t going to get a chance to talk.”
The music changed. The end of one song gave way into another and a driving rock beat felt like it was reverberating inside her head. So, she leaned a little closer and looked straight into his eyes. “If we try to talk in here, we’re going to lose our voices!”
He shrugged and turned his head to speak closer to her ear. “Then we don’t have to talk all that much. Dance with me.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped from her lips. “That would be a mistake.”
His eyebrows pulled down into a frown and a muscle in his jaw ticked.
She felt her cheeks grow hot and she shook her head. Before she could pull back her hand, Owen tightened his hand around it and kept it right where it was.
“Why would it be a mistake?”
“It just would, okay?” Wow, defensive much? She was probably scoring some big ‘awkward’ points with that brilliant little come back. “Besides, I’m thirsty.”
The waiststaff brought their drinks and set them on the table. Owen gave the man a twenty and thanked him. Passing her one glass, he took the other in his free hand and took a sip.
Then he looked at her. She picked up her drink and took a sip of it before setting it down again. She said she was thirsty, but she’d hardly taken a little off the top before setting it back down.
There was something going on in Blyss’ head, but she certainly wasn’t sharing it.
“Did you want to go with him?”
That got her attention. Turning her head from the glass in her head. “What?”
“Did I completely misread the situation earlier? Did you want to go out with him and I was just interfering?”
He didn’t know what he was going to do if she said yes. Get up and walk away, maybe, but he hadn’t even thought about the possibility that she’d actually wanted to spend time with the man who looked more like a golden retriever than a guy she’d date.
Then again, what did he know about the guys she dated? He’d never seen her out with one, or heard of her talking about one.
Shit. She still hadn’t answered him.
Picking up his glass, he drank more than half of it down, before setting it back down on the table.
He was losing his hold on reality, apparently.
“Owen?”
He turned his head and looked at her, his gaze searching her face for any clue about her thoughts.
Fuck. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He was the smile at ‘em, screw ‘em, and move on kind of guy.
Wasn’t he?
He had no clue what she was about to say, but damn if he wasn’t curious. “Yeah?”
“I don’t really know Lance.”
“Okay.” That wasn’t an answer, but then again, he still didn’t have a good idea of why he’d asked the question in the fir
st place.
“He’s a warden like me and I’ve seen him around before, but I’m not attracted to him.”
Better. Sort of. She still hadn’t really said what he wanted to know.
Then again, he reminded himself, he hadn’t really asked the question that was on the tip of his tongue.
Releasing the inside of his cheek from his teeth he couldn’t help but ask. “What about me?”
He saw the subtle widening of her eyes. He’d surprised her and there was a certain morbid satisfaction in that. Point to him.
“Are you attracted to me?”
And there it was.
The look of shock plainly written across her features. “Owen, I-”
“Because I’m attracted to you, Blyss.”
Wait, that wasn’t the plan.
She tried to pull her hand away from his again, but he held on. Gently, but he held on.
“I didn’t like seeing him come between us.”
Yeah, if he read her expression right, she thought he’d lost his mind.
“I’m glad I was there when you found that man. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to have your back.”
“I don’t usually have someone with me when I’m out working, and you know that, Owen. Most of what we do as wardens is alone. It’s a luxury that I was close enough for Conor to call me in and having Lance nearby? That was crazy lucky. And that he was carrying a kayak with him?
“When we’re called out to a body search sometimes it takes time to get people together for the search. We have specially trained wardens with sonar and diving equipment for lakes and the ocean. If our victim hadn’t been up at the surface, we would have turned the search over to the rescue and recovery team.”
“Okay, that’s your job, Blyss. I’m talking about you. And me.”
He watched her gaze as it lowered down to her hand in his, and he could see the way her whole body quieted down as she turned her thoughts inward. Lots of people thought through things, but Blyss had a way of almost crawling into herself at times.
Owen counted himself lucky that she was putting that much of herself into the question, but it also worried him that it seemed to be that big of a decision to answer a yes or no question.