Protect

by LK Shaw

  After catching a few hours of sleep, I spent the next hour debating on making a phone call or heading into the station to pass what I’d found to the detective on the case. I knew good and well I’d be out of a job if I kept this piece of evidence to myself. Yet, I didn’t hesitate to continue going forward with what I was about to do. I pulled out my phone and tapped out a number I had no desire to call.

  “Why are you calling me on a Saturday morning? Someone better be dying or I’m going to kick your ass the next time I see you. Which I hope isn’t any time soon.”

  I swallowed the bitter pill in my mouth before I could speak. “Actually, someone is already dead. And I need a favor, Black.”

  Heavy silence filled the air. Finally, Black broke it. “What kind of favor?”

  “I need you to swab a piece of evidence for DNA for me. See if you can find a match.”

  “I assume because you’re asking me to do this, you’re doing something that is going to be completely and utterly fucked up.”

  Three times now Connor Black had been a part of cases where things had gone south; it wasn’t a surprise he thought I would fuck something else up. The fact that he focused on that and not on all the people I’ve helped and criminals I’ve put away in my fifteen years on the force stung. I was a good cop who joined the academy because I wanted to do right for my community. I’d never taken money to look the other way. I was honest and, if I had to brag, I was smart. I’d made a couple mistakes, and Black would never let me forget them.

  “If I didn’t need your expertise, I’d tell you to go fuck yourself. Now, are you going to continue to bust my balls or help me?”

  “Fine, I’ll meet you at my office in thirty minutes.”

  With the utter silence, I knew Black had disconnected the call.

  I jumped into the car, and as I drove to Black’s office, I thought about last night and my intense, and highly inappropriate, reaction to Katherine. What the hell had I been thinking kissing her like that? I was lucky she didn’t file a complaint against me. I also thought about how I was going to handle her need to find the murderer. My conscience, which worked hard to be the kind of cop who followed the law and brought justice to those who needed it, warred with the man who would do anything, including breaking laws I fought to uphold, just to take the terrified look out of Katherine’s eyes.

  I pulled into the parking lot and stared at the building before me. It was now or never. I let myself in and took the five flights of stairs up to where I knew Black’s office was located. His door stood open, and I could see him sitting behind his desk, reading glasses perched on his aquiline nose. I noisily cleared my throat just to see if I could get a rise out of him. Petty, sure, but I couldn’t seem to control myself.

  He looked up, seemingly not bothered by me in the least, and removed his glasses before setting them down on the desk. With annoying nonchalance, he sat back in his chair, propped his feet up, and placed his hands behind his head. A sense of déjà vu hit, only this time, our positions were reversed. I was now the one who needed help.

  “You must be desperate if you’ve come to me. There must be a woman involved.”

  I tried to hide my shock. “What makes you think there’s a woman?”

  He chuckled and stared at me like I was an idiot. “We’re not exactly bosom beaus. You’re asking for my help at—” he glanced at his watch— “ten o’clock on a Saturday morning. There are few things in this world that reek of that much desperation, and a woman is at the top of the list. So, what can I do for you? And this woman?”

  Considering he was right, I didn’t want to waste time arguing. I pulled the baggie out of my pocket and placed it on the desk. “I need you to see if there is any DNA on this and run it if there is. See if you find a match in CODIS.”

  He reached out and began studying the object. “You said someone is dead. Is this the victim’s or the killer’s?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. But if I had to take a guess, I’m going with killer. Someone witnessed a murder last night, and I found this at the crime scene. I need you to tell me who it belongs to.”

  “And by ‘someone’, I assume you mean a woman? Why aren’t you going through your own channels to process this? Why come to me?”

  I hesitated, not sure how much I was willing to share. Because honestly, I wasn’t even ready to admit it to myself.

  “Let’s just say this one is off the books.”

  Black sighed in disgust. “Christ, it is a woman.”

  “Jesus, you’re not going to let it go, are you? Yes, it’s a woman. She came to the station last night saying she’d witnessed the murder. She’s bound and determined to find the killer, because apparently, she knew the victim. I’m trying to keep her safe and out of trouble.”

  Black threw his head back in laughter and didn’t stop, even when tears threatened to fall. What a dick. When he finally gained control of himself, still emitting a chuckle or two and wiping imaginary tears from his eyes, he looked over at me. I bit my tongue to hold back my words.

  “Well, isn't this ironic? It looks like you’ve finally met your match, Webber. I can’t wait for the show to start.” He held up his hand when I started to speak. “Let me reach out to one of my contacts. He owes me. I’ll just add it to your tab. Give me a couple days and I’ll see what I can find for you.”

  Chapter 4

  Patience had never been one of my virtues. I wanted things to happen, and I wanted them to happen now. Emmett always laughed at how impatient I got. My current situation was no different. It had been close to twenty-four hours since I’d met with Dan—Detective Webber.

  I was tired of waiting. I had already read a book, cleaned my apartment, and even run to the grocery. And I still hadn’t heard from him. What was he waiting on? I had the day off and everyone from work had called me at least five times asking if I knew what had happened to Emmett. I didn’t tell anyone what I’d seen. If I weren’t hoping for Daniel to call, I would have turned my ringer off, because I was tired of fighting the tears when someone called. A knock at the door startled me. I ignored it, hoping the person on the other side would give up and go away when no one answered. The knock came again, this time accompanied by a loud voice.

  “Katherine, you better be in there. Open the door.”

  What was Dan—damn it, Detective Webber—doing here? I thought he would just call me, not show up in person. It should have seemed odd that I recognized his voice, but it wasn’t. I had no trouble recognizing his voice. His smell. His taste.

  I picked my emotionally battered body up off the couch and went to open the door. “How did you know where I live?”

  He walked past me into the apartment and immediately made himself at home at the dining room table. I followed, taking the seat next to him.

  “I’m the police, Katherine. It wasn’t that difficult to track down your name and address. I just went to La Scala and asked around. Your friends at work said you stopped answering the phone three hours ago. They were worried about you.”

  “So, what, they just gave some random man my address? Are they trying to get me killed? They don’t know you from Adam. Maybe you were the one who killed Emmett?” I huffed in exasperation.

  “For God’s sake, Katherine, you’re being melodramatic. I showed them my badge. It’s not like I just went up to someone and asked for your information.”

  Melodramatic? He thought I was being melodramatic? “For your information, Detective, there is a killer out there. Yet you’re not even the slightest bit concerned that my co-workers didn’t hesitate in giving you my personal details? I’m a dead woman.” I jumped up from my chair in disgust, but only made it two steps before he too stood and reached out to snatch my hand. He pulled me toward him, drawing me into his personal space. My breath caught as he reached out to sweep my hair off my face. He slowly closed the distance between us, giving me time to stop what I knew was about to happen. When I didn’t, his lips softly touched mine. It was a brief kiss, but one I
felt to my soul.

  “No one will harm you, Katherine. I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”

  “Katie. My friends call me Katie.” I could only whisper, almost stupidly, after his heartfelt words. Words that touched something deep inside me. No one but Emmett had ever given two shits about me. And now this man, Daniel, whom I had only met last night, was vowing to protect me. I didn’t know what to think. But it felt good. Right. As though I was meant to be his to protect. To cherish. I shook my head at the crazy thoughts.

  “Are we friends, Katie?” My name had never sounded so sexy rolling off someone’s tongue. He softened the “t” sound, and his voice dropped an octave when he said it. A shiver raced through me, causing the tiny hairs at the back of my neck to stand and goosebumps to dot my arms.

  “We could be,” I practically purred. What the hell? Was I flirting? I needed to rein things in before they got out of hand. I cleared my throat and stepped out of his arms. “I mean, you said you’d help me find Emmett’s killer. I guess that would make us friends.”

  He seemed to almost deflate at my words. As though he were disappointed in my retreat. Especially after that kiss. But my focus needed to remain on finding Emmett’s killer. “So, what do we do first?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what do we need to do to find Emmett’s murderer?”

  “First, we aren’t doing anything. Second, I’m working on it. I went to the crime scene after you left my office last night and found something that might be a piece of evidence. Someone is taking a look at it for me, but until I hear back from him, there is nothing more to do but wait. I’m not the investigator on this case, so I have limited access to what was found at the scene before I arrived. Not unless you’re willing to come forward as a witness. Otherwise, we’re going to have to do this my way. My ass is the one on the line here.”

  I almost screamed in frustration at his words. I needed to help. To do something. It looked like I was going to have do this on my own. This was what happened when you tried to rely on people. My mother had taught me that.

  “Fine, do what ever it is you need to do. But know this, Detective, so will I. Now, if you have nothing further, I’d like to go to bed.”

  We remained staring at each other, neither of us giving an inch. I couldn’t help but gloat a little inside when he glanced away first and shook his head. Eventually, he’d come to realize how bullheaded I was and that I wasn’t letting this go.

  “Since I know I’m not going to change your mind, I’ll be going. Just remember what I said about doing something stupid, Katie.”

  I escorted him to the door, a plan already forming in my head. “Thanks for stopping by, Detective. I really do appreciate any help you can offer.”

  Just as I was about to close the door behind him, he turned and reached into his pocket, pulling out something. “I want you to call me if you need anything. And I mean anything. I’m here for you.”

  He placed the object in my hand, closing my fingers around it before turning to walk down the hallway toward the elevator. I closed the door, opened my hand, and stared at the card with, what I guessed was, his personal cell number hand-written on it. I laid it on the counter before grabbing my purse and heading back out the door. I made my way to the stairs at the opposite end of the hallway where Daniel went and crept out the side door of the building, not noticing the man hidden in the shadows across the street, watching me.

  Chapter 5

  It didn’t come as a shock to me when I saw Katie scurry out the side door of her building. She had pointedly ignored my statement about not doing anything reckless. It hadn’t taken a genius to figure out that she was up to something. I just didn’t know what. I watched as she walk-jogged across the street and hopped into a car. I jumped into mine and started following her when she pulled out.

  When I realized she was heading downtown, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like where she was going. She parked two blocks from La Scala, and I quickly found another spot. I thanked god it was so late, otherwise I never would have found a parking place. I discreetly followed her as she darted around the corner. I had no idea what she thought she’d find at the crime scene that we hadn’t already found.

  Katie surprised me though. She bypassed the crime scene and headed the next block over. I noticed a homeless man slumped against the wall whom she quietly approached. She bent down and gently shook his shoulder. He jerked awake and lashed out, causing her to jump back quickly. I started to intervene, but I saw that Katie had it under control when the man immediately relaxed when he saw her. His reaction seemed to indicate that he knew her.

  She squatted down and started speaking to him, but I was too far away to make out what they said. Her shoulders slumped in disappointment when I saw the man shake his head. Whatever answer he gave her was not what she wanted to hear. I cleared my throat loudly, making my presence known. They both startled and whipped their heads in my direction, Katie emitting a small shriek of surprise. A look of distrust crossed the man’s face, while irritation spread across hers.

  “What the hell, Daniel? You can’t go around scaring the crap out of people. And what are you doing here?”

  A small smile escaped at the sound of my name on her lips. It was obviously a slip of the tongue that she didn’t even realize she’d made.

  “That’s what you get for sneaking off like that. And to answer your question, I followed you. You were too agreeable back at your place. I knew you were planning something. Now, what are you doing here? And who’s your friend?”

  She sighed in resignation. “This is Skeeter. He lives around here, and I was hoping maybe he saw something last night.”

  “From your expression, I’m guessing he didn’t.” It wasn’t a question, even though she shook her head anyway.

  “Nothing. Now, I’m back to square one.”

  “You mean, we’re back to square one. Stop trying to get yourself killed. It’s late, and you have no idea who might be out here. I understand your frustration, I do, but I can’t protect you when you do reckless shit like this. I told you I would help you and I will. You need to be patient and trust me. Can you do that?”

  She didn’t speak for the longest time. I hated seeing her so disappointed, but I’d rather see her pissed off than dead.

  “Fine. I’ll be patient, but you need to promise me something. I need you to keep me in the loop. I’ve never been a patient person. If you find something, let me know. Don’t keep it to yourself. I also need to feel useful. Emmett was like my father. I want his killer to pay.”

  I had already agreed to go against laws I’d fought so hard to uphold. I don’t think she realized the lengths I would go for her. I knew it made no sense considering I only met her last night. I’d never believed in love at first sight before, until her. And maybe it wasn’t love. But, if it wasn’t, it was the closest thing to it. From the moment I saw her, all other women ceased to exist for me. It would only ever be her.

  “I promise you, Katie. He will pay. Now, will you please go home? And at least try to stay out of trouble?”

  Katie grudgingly said her farewells to Skeeter as I walked her back to her car. I followed her back to her place, telling myself it was just to make sure she reached home safely. I pulled into an on-street parking spot right behind her and walked her to the door. She stopped and turned so quickly I ran into her, almost knocking her over. I grasped her arms and pulled her against me to stop her from toppling to the ground. A small “oomph” escaped her full lips.

  I couldn’t help but inhale Katie’s light scent. She smelled of vanilla with a hint of cinnamon. It reminded me of the spicy apple pies my gran made when I was growing up. Between the smell and the feel of this soft woman pressed against me, my mouth watered. Unconsciously, she moved against me, or maybe I moved against her, and I barely held back the groan that escaped, even as my cock hardened.

  Her throat moved as she swallowed hard, and it was all I could do to not press k
isses along her neck. I wanted to lick the spot behind her ear and see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled. Her pupils dilated, and her breathing became shallow. On top of her clean, fresh smell I was already craving, I scented her arousal. My cock swelled even further at the thought that she was as turned on as I was. The timing couldn’t have been worse, and even though we’d just met, nothing in my whole life had felt as perfect as this. It was as though everything wrong in my life had been made right. I couldn’t even begin to explain it.

  Without thinking my plan through, I captured her lips in a bruising kiss. I swallowed her small gasp of surprise. Her body sagged against mine, and her hands came up to rest against my chest. My mind fought with my body about how wrong this was. Katie was witness to a crime I was, even if off-the-record, investigating. Her sighs of pleasure filled my ears, and my conscience wavered. Already I craved this woman, and knew I’d never get tired of tasting her.

  I pulled back and rested my forehead against hers, our chests heaving from breathlessness.

  “What have you done to me?” I pleaded for an answer. “You should be pushing me away, Katie.”

  Her finger plucked at my shirt. “I can’t explain it either, Daniel. This explosion of emotion I keep feeling every time you’re near is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. But, why do we need to question it? Why can’t we just let it be whatever it is?”