Sweet Seduction Shield

by Nicola Claire

  I reached forward and took a measured sip of my now cooler coffee, enjoying the sharp, acrid taste on my tongue. The sugar providing the exact amount of sweetness to counteract the full-bodied flavour of the beans.

  "Well," Stone finally said, his hand at the chin moving when he crossed his arms over his chest again, "it certainly didn't look like you had no intention of doing anything to jeopardise Ryan's career."

  "Caught up in the moment," I said breezily, behind my cup. "Easy enough to do under the pressurised circumstances. But I'll be more vigilant from now on," I promised, returning my cup to the table with casual ease, as though we were having a pleasant conversation about the weather and not about such personal and emotional things, such as Pierce's and my attraction for each other.

  "And you Ryan?" Stone asked. "A momentary lapse of judgement? Or something more?"

  The way he looked at Pierce made me think he expected his answer to be damning. As though he knew Pierce better than I had realised, and was certain the man wouldn't hedge his attraction for a woman when placed on the spot. I could understand that assessment. Pierce was, like Abi had said, from the school of see 'em, like 'em, want 'em, take 'em. And I think this man sitting opposite us was well aware of that fact.

  I tried not to hold my breath. On the one hand, I wanted to hear his defiant possession. On the other, we needed Stone to back the fuck off.

  "Wouldn't you have taken what was on offer? Even if it was only a little taste," he said slowly. Purposefully. Almost a challenge in itself.

  Stone chuckled. "Bad timing, my man. But if you can swear to me, on your mother's grave, that this is a one time thing, I'll drop it."

  On your mother's grave. They were words spoken enough by people trying to get a promise backed by something close to the promiser's heart. But the way Pierce jerked in his seat let me know there was more to those four words than I was aware. And that Stone knew exactly what mentioning them would mean to Pierce.

  I was thinking it was a low blow. And for a moment I just wanted to reach over and grasp Ryan's hand reassuringly, while I hurled the last of my coffee at Stone's face. The image was blazing in my mind, taunting me, teasing me, begging me to reproduce it in reality. The gut clenching desire to soothe the man next to me, mixed with the acidic need to strike out at the man who had caused him to respond with a shocked jerk of his frame.

  I opened my mouth to misdirect, to change the tangent this conversation had taken, but Pierce beat me to it. A careful press of his hand on my thigh, hidden from sight under the table, halting the words in my throat.

  "On my mother's grave," Pierce said with a twist of his lips mimicking a smile. "This was a one time thing."

  Stone stared at him for a long drawn out moment. I think he was shocked. I think he expected a different answer. And for a moment he didn't quite know how to respond.

  And while he blinked back at a blank faced Pierce, I picked up the pieces of my bruised heart and told myself to harden the fuck up. I had to hope Pierce was playing along, on the same page as me. But the intense emotional reaction to hearing those words slip off his tongue made me realise, that if Pierce was where I was at, in whatever relationship we'd started, he would have definitely been hurt by my previous misleading words too.

  Unless he could see through my shield, see the real me beneath the ice princess, confident façade.

  I flicked a glance at him from the corner of my eye, but his attention was on Stone. Waiting for his verdict. He'd also removed his hand from my thigh when he'd answered the other detective, making the distance it caused feel like a chasm once he'd finished what he had to say.

  "All right, then," Stone finally announced. "Enough said."

  Not nearly enough as far as I was concerned, but I kept my mouth shut.

  "We need to go over some of the court evidence the Crown Prosecutor wants to present," Stone said, his gaze on me but his words for Pierce.

  "Can't it wait?" Pierce asked.

  "No," Stone replied firmly. "I've done what I can in your absence, but this was always your baby, Ryan. Not mine."

  "Today's not a good a day," Pierce argued, but didn't go into details about why, which I was thinking was the planned retrieval of the ledger from the courtyard at the Police bar.

  It made me realise, that Pierce hadn't told Stone what evidence I had. I couldn't remember if Stone's was one of the faces and voices around this table when Pierce told everyone I had something on McLaren. If he was, he hadn't received the update yet. He didn't know I had the means to destroy more than McLaren's fucked-up little world. But to turn this 'case', as Pierce had originally called it, into something much grander in scale. Something encompassing more than just one drug lord's syndicate, but maybe a good portion of New Zealand's drug supplying ring.

  It was a goldmine, if it was still there. And I had no reason to doubt that it wasn't. If an off duty cop had found the book at the Birdcage while having a few post shift beers, then Pierce would have heard. But the question remained, why hadn't Pierce told Detective Stone? I was beginning to see they knew each other well, probably worked together as partners. So, why not share the goldmine?

  "Can't be helped," Stone said, interrupting my thoughts. "I'm here to replace you on guard, so you can get down to his offices and go through some of the stacks of evidence your man collected for this case."

  Pierce let out a long frustrated breath of air. "Now he decides to collate the fucking evidence."

  Stone shrugged. "I thought you'd be pleased, progress is finally being made. This thing might see a courtroom before the end of the year, after all."

  Pierce pushed back from his chair and took his empty coffee mug to the sink.

  "Well, that's one thing," he agreed, and I watched stunned as Stone's shoulders relaxed. Just a smidgeon. I only noticed because my eyes hadn't left the man once. But that simple, barely there movement, let me know how much he needed a return to their previous - I was guessing, easy-going - relationship. He was relieved to have the Pierce he knew back.

  In that moment I realised this man cared for Pierce, and that was probably why his reaction earlier was so over the top.

  "But there's no need for you to stick around," Ryan said, turning back to look at Stone. "ASI's got Marie and her daughter covered for now."

  "So you being here was just a coincidence?" Stone asked, and although his tone was light, it didn't hide the pertinence of his question.

  Pierce let out a huff of air; a semi-laugh. "Yeah, coincidence," he agreed.

  Stone's gaze shifted to my face and the jovial exterior of second's before dropped. "Well, maybe a change of scene is called for, then. Too many coincidences cannot be a good thing, I'm thinking."

  He held my gaze for a few moments and then stood from the table, leaving his untouched coffee cup where I'd placed it.

  "I'll catch you at the station afterwards," he directed to Pierce.

  "I may be tied up with the Prosecutor for the rest of the day."

  "Then I'll catch you for a beer later," Stone persisted, and I got the distinct impression the man was trying to make sure Pierce didn't return here.

  "Yeah, all right," Pierce agreed, but I was thinking he only did it because there was no arguing with Stone right now.

  "Good," the other detective said, walking to the back door. "Mrs Costello," he added, nodding to me and then he was gone.

  Both Pierce and I waited for his car to start out in the driveway, and the roll of the tyres to reach us, as he reversed down the side of the house.

  "Mrs Costello," I said under my breath, once the vehicle was certain to be gone. Detective Stone had not been won over at all.

  "I'd better let Nick know what's happening," Pierce said quietly, eyes on the backyard, determinedly not looking in my direction.

  I wanted to ask if he was still with me, still on the same page. But his refusal to meet my eyes made the words stick in my throat, swamp my tongue. Until even breathing became a little difficult.

  "Ther
e'll be no retrieval of the ledger tonight," he added after a pause.

  "OK," I said, my eyes willing him to turn around and face me, face this cloud that hung above us and threatened to darken whatever it had been that we'd shared.

  "OK," he repeated back, but his tone meant something else entirely.

  A second. Two. Then he sucked in a deep breath and simply walked from the room. Not even glancing in my direction once.

  Chapter 18

  I Guess I'd Just Been Told, Hadn't I?

  "Tequila," Kelly announced into the silence that had met my description of Stone's, Pierce's and my kitchen showdown.

  "That's your answer to everything, "Abi offered.

  "And a damn fine one it is," Kelly shot back.

  "I can't drink tequila," Gen pointed out. "But I'd settle for a large tub of chocolate chip ice-cream instead."

  "Tequila and chocolate chip ice-cream then," Kelly suggested. "Or better yet, tequila flavoured ice-cream. Now there's a fan-fucking-tastic idea!"

  "Amen, sister," Abi agreed, offering a hand up for Kelly to high five.

  "I'd just settle for this to all be over," I supplied, from my corner of the room.

  We were in the lounge, spread out on every surface. Eva had left Daisy with Adam in the garage, fixing up something of Ben's she'd said, and sat on the armchair, cowgirl hat pushed back, eyes closed as she listened in our conversation. Or maybe hummed a tune in her head. Abi and Kelly sat on the two seater, side by side like terrible twins. And Gen stretched out on the recliner, rubbing her slightly rounded belly affectionately while everyone talked, or just gawked at me as I relayed Stone's hard faced insinuations, my devious ploy to misdirect, and Ryan's total shut-down in the end.

  Yeah, over would be a good thing. No more 'case'. No more tattooed freak chasing us down. No more danger. Then maybe Pierce wouldn't feel the need to run as soon as his co-worker butted his sandy blond haired head into our business.

  "I thought he'd stand up to him," I admitted out of nowhere.

  "But didn't you want Ryan to play along?" Gen asked softly.

  "He was following your lead," Abi offered, again gently, as though they all thought I was about to self-combust.

  "Yeah," I agreed, but let out a sigh afterwards.

  "Tequila's not gonna cut it," Kelly declared.

  "Neither will chocolate chip ice-cream," Gen added, a little disappointedly.

  "Chick flick movie night?" Abi suggested, receiving a snort of disgust from Eva.

  "A round of Guitar Hero on the X-Box then?" Kelly asked, wiggling her eyebrows at the cowgirl.

  "You guys have no imagination at all, do you?" Eva announced in a slight twang, sitting forward on her chair.

  "We have imagination," Abi defended immediately.

  "I've got a helluva lot of imagination, sister," Kelly argued. "Enough for all of us, I guaran-damn-tee you."

  "She's not interested in your type of imagination, Kels," Gen said on a delicate laugh, which soon became a snort.

  "Actually, we could throw a little of Kelly's imagination into the plan," Eva declared and all the women, including me, stopped what we were doing and stared.

  "OK, I'm interested," Kelly said, the first to blink back to life.

  "You would be," Abi remarked. "It's your imagination that's given Eva ideas."

  "Well, shall we listen to what the good cowgirl has to say?" Kelly shot back. "Or do you want to discuss how inspiring my imagination can be?"

  "Does Fred think you've got a good imagination?" Abi asked pointedly.

  "Who's Fred?" Gen demanded, but was ignored by both women.

  I noticed Eva sit back in her chair, readjust her hat and close her eyes again. She'd undoubtedly been here before and knew when to take a moment to snooze, bypassing all the drama. It would have been hilarious if I wasn't so upset by it all.

  "Fred loves my imagination," Kelly was saying. "In fact it was my imagination that attracted the man to me in the first place."

  "Ah," Abi said excitedly, "so he's an adventurous lover then?"

  "Pfft!" Kelly exclaimed, as even Eva opened her eyes to hear the next words out of her mouth. "That man thrives off adventure." Then she realised what she'd admitted, probably more than she'd intended, as it only added fuel to Abi's fire-quest to find out who the mysterious fifth man hooked on Kelly's line was. "And that's all I'll say about that," she finished, turning her attention to Eva. "Your plan, Evangeline?"

  "You sure, cookie?" the cowgirl drawled. "Seems to me you've got something on your mind."

  "Not you too," Kelly groaned, flouncing back into her seat with an attractive pout.

  Just as Abi sat up straighter, pointed her index finger towards her terrible twin and declared, "I'm watching you, and now so is Eva. Your secret doesn't stand a chance against the both of us."

  "Abi," Kelly said with a roll of her eyes, "you watch way too many teen dramas."

  "There's nothing at all wrong with Glee," Abi shot back.

  Gen snorted, Kelly arched an eyebrow and Eva said, "They never do Country."

  "They sang a Carrie Underwood song once," Abi argued.

  "Yeah, once," Eva pointed out. "How many shows have there been now, cookie?"

  Abi ducked her head.

  "Enough Glee, let's get serious," Kelly declared, then chuckled at her word play. "What's the plan?"

  Everyone turned their attention back to the cowgirl, who tipped her hat back on her head and smiled. It was a little mischievous and calculating, and had no place on the pretty woman's face, I thought.

  "Simple. The men all think they call the shots, don't they?" she announced and we all nodded rigorously. "Well, I say we go get this book thingie and in the process have a bit of fun."

  "You can't be serious," Gen said, sounding stunned.

  "Ooh, I like it," Abi and Kelly both offered, living up to their terrible twins moniker.

  "Well, Marie. What do ya think?" Eva asked. "Kill two birds with one stone, isn't that how the saying goes? Grab the ledger, and show Pierce you're not sitting around the house waiting for him to see sense. Nothing tells a cowboy that you mean business, than taking the bull by the horns."

  And maybe it was her choice of another overused saying that did it. But Pierce had told me to grab the bull by the horns too. Hearing it again, this time from a genuine looking cowgirl, made me want to do just that. But, I was not a young innocent without experience and responsibilities. I had a five year old daughter to think about and real life memories of what the bad guys could do.

  "I don't think so," I replied, and the whole room deflated like a popped balloon. "At least, I don't think we can do it alone."

  Eva raised her eyebrows.

  "Now, did I say we wouldn't have reinforcements?" she asked.

  "What am I, chopped liver?" Abi offered.

  "I know how to fire a gun," Gen added.

  Everybody ignored the pregnant woman.

  "Where's your sense of adventure, Marie," Kelly demanded. I opened my mouth to reply, when Eva beat me to it.

  "You ladies seem to forget who our other halves are. Do you really think Ben would let you out of his sight, Abi? Or Nick let me wander off at night without knowing exactly where I'm going?" She turned to Gen and sighed. "And Gen, sweetie, really? Dominic would lock you up and throw away the key if you went off loaded for bear in your current state. No," she added, turning back to the rest of us. "This is not about defying them, as such. It's got to be a little more subtle than that."

  I liked this woman. She had a devious side that appealed to me right now.

  "We convince them that the retrieval is still on," I suggested, getting into the swing of things now. "We don't need the good detective to accompany us for the original plan to go ahead."

  "Now, see," Eva said, sitting back in her chair and adjusting her hat again. "That's what I'm talking about."

  It wasn't going to be as simple as we'd thought, however. Nick took one look at the innocent, sweet face of his fiancé and s
aid, "You're up to something."

  "Who me?" Eva asked, slipping onto his lap without waiting for an invitation.

  Abi sauntered over to Ben where he was leaning against the kitchen bench drinking a beer, and snuggled under his arm, burying herself into his side. He immediately offered her his bottle, grunting in amusement when she tried to take more than one sip.

  Gen and I pulled out chairs around the table and sat down, while Kelly bumped hips with Adam, who was leaning over Daisy's shoulder pointing out a spot she'd missed on what looked like a birdhouse, clearly recently painted due to the new-paint smell wafting up off the thing.

  "So," Nick said, once we'd all gotten ourselves into position. "Finished scheming?"

  "Nobody's scheming, cowboy," Eva drawled.

  "Angel," he shot back. "One word. Eric."

  My eyes darted to Abi's, taking in her widened gaze and slight grimace.

  "Ah, fuck it all to hell," Kelly declared. "You guys are seriously whacked. Listening in on your women's conversations. What's with that?"

  "Who's Fred, Kels?" Adam asked. "Another guy I have to knock outta the ring to get to you?"

  Kelly snorted, Gen made a long suffering sighing sound, and Ben said, "You wanna go ahead with the retrieval, all you had to do was ask."

  "You think it's a good idea?" I queried.

  Ben shrugged, then looked over to Nick for guidance.

  "Pierce said he'd meet us there," Nick offered and every single woman groaned.

  "Did he now?" I murmured. Nice of him to have told me. Here we were thinking we were being so clever, getting one up on the men. And all the time we didn't even need to, the men had it all planned out for us.

  A small slightly amused sound escaped my lips. I had no idea what was going through Pierce's mind, but clearly he had no intention of meeting up with Stone for a beer after work. He wanted, instead, to meet up with me... us. A smile curved my lips. Nah, me.

  "I'm glad you think this is amusing, Marie," Nick said, interrupting my cheerful musings. "But there's a couple of things we need to get sorted first."