by Ann Charles
A muscle ticked in Cooper’s jaw. “Pick a side and stick with it, Parker.”
“You are kind of going off like a loose cannon over there, babe,” Natalie added. “But I appreciate the support.”
I gave them both a middle-fingered salute and returned to my doodling, grumbling, “I didn’t ask to be here in the first place.”
“I don’t want to stop what we started, Nat,” Cooper said in a softer tone. “But I agree on playing it safe for a while in public.”
“But Coop,” she started.
He held up his hand to stop her. “No buts, Beals. And if we’re laying some ground rules here, I want you to stop all flirting with other guys. I have enough heartburn dealing with Parker’s stupid shit on a daily basis.”
“You’re the one with stupid shit,” I muttered, sketching a rough version of the newer ward I’d seen on the wall next to the now-broken window in the Sugarloaf Building.
“Okay, Coop, no more flirting with anyone—other than you, that is.” Natalie’s voice was low and breathy. “But the same flirting rule goes for you while we’re keeping things platonic in the public eye. And no more bimbos rubbing all over you and sticking their tongues down your throat.”
I grimaced at the image she painted while I drew the three triangles inside the ward sketch. Cooper was as abrasive as a great white shark most days, including the multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth. Just standing too close to him would leave most people scraped and bleeding, if not limping away with a bite-size chunk missing from their backside. I’d sure taken my share of …
“No more women,” he agreed. His voice was husky now, too. “If I can’t have you—”
“I don’t want nobody, baby,” I sang out loud and clear. Yvonne Elliman’s hit from Saturday Night Fever blared in my head for a moment before I could fully shut it down.
Natalie snorted with laughter.
Oops. So much for that little romantic moment.
At Cooper’s glare, I cringed. “Sorry about that, Cooper. My mom loves watching John Travolta dance in that tight white suit, so I know that movie’s soundtrack really—”
“Shut up, Parker, before I shoot you.”
“Okay, right. I’ll just shut up now.” I closed my mouth and mimed zipping and locking my lips, and then throwing away the key.
“Sooo,” Natalie said in her normal voice, the sex kitten caged again for the time being. She came over and leaned against the worktable, putting more space between the two of them. “I think we all need to figure out how to beat Hawke at his own game.”
“No,” he deadpanned.
“Yes,” Natalie countered.
“No,” he reiterated louder. “Whatever plan you two desperados come up with will backfire in all of our faces.”
Natalie guffawed. “What are you saying, Coop? That Vi and I are screwups?”
I lowered my pencil. “I believe that’s exactly what Mr. High-and-Mighty Detective is saying.”
“I thought your lips were locked, Parker.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “They broke free to join the girl-power rally.”
“Here’s another rule for you, law dog.” Natalie hopped up onto the worktable, letting her feet dangle. “If we end up continuing our under-the-covers game on the sly, you don’t get to boss me around like you do Violet.”
“Yeah,” I started, but then frowned at her. “Wait …”
“What do you mean, if we end up continuing?” He stalked closer, stopping in front of her. “I thought you said we needed to take a step back, even though I disagree.”
I was having trouble keeping score here, too. I sat back, waiting to hear where she was going with this.
“I know what I said.” She leaned back on her hands. “But you’re you and I’m me. We both know that I struggle when you walk into the room, so I’m just buying some insurance for the future when it comes to your Johnny Law side and your tendency to spout orders.”
A smile played at the corners of his mouth as he looked her up and down, getting stuck on her high points in the middle. “You struggle, huh?”
She shrugged, her full lips pursing as her gaze lowered. “You’re hard to handle, Coop.”
It was my turn to groan. “Okay, let’s stop with the innuendos.” I stood, tossing my pencil on the worktable. “I’m leaving now.”
“We haven’t decided on how we’re going to stop Hawke yet,” Natalie said, sitting upright again, flirting put on hold.
“You two troublemakers need to let me handle this from the inside,” he said.
“I agree with Cooper. I have a lidérc to catch, and maybe a Duzarx, whatever the hell that is. I don’t have time to deal with Hawke’s blundering attempts to pin the tail on the donkey right now.”
“Well, I disagree with you both.” Natalie crossed her arms. “Hawke is going to be watching you two closely. Of the three of us, I’m the one who should track him and figure out how to remove him from the equation.”
“No.” Coop stood his ground, eyeing Natalie.
“Yes,” she insisted. “He doesn’t suspect me of anything beyond being Violet’s friend yet.”
“That’s because he wants to take you to bed, woman.”
“Cooper is right. Hawke has wanted in your pants from the get-go.”
She harrumphed. “Violet Lynn Parker, you are flip-flopping more than a fish out of water tonight.”
I thumbed in Cooper’s direction. “He may be a pain in my ass, but he has a valid point. Hawke thinks he has a chance of getting you naked.”
“And we can use that to our advantage,” she said, hopping to her feet.
“No,” Cooper said again, catching her by the wrist and pulling her toward him.
“Coop.” She smiled up at him. “You have to trust me around Hawke if I’m going to fix this.”
“I do trust you. I just don’t trust him. You’re forgetting that I’ve worked with Hawke off and on for years. He’s not as dumb as Parker thinks he is.”
I pshawed. “I’ve seen smarter buckets of rocks.”
“As far as Hawke knows,” Natalie said, resting her hands on his chest, “I’m still on my sabbatical. I’ll be sure to remind him of that if he tries to make a move on me.”
Cooper stared at her. “Don’t you get it, Nat? Your sabbatical is a challenge.”
“Oh, yeah?” she countered. “Was it for you, too?”
His mouth curved upward. “It wasn’t your sabbatical that challenged me, wildcat.”
I did a double take. “ ‘Wildcat’? Is that some cute pet name?”
“Keep out of this, Parker.”
“Coop.” Natalie pressed against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re going to let Violet and me help you take down Hawke.”
Cooper leaned down, aiming for her mouth, but pulling up short. “And if I refuse your help?”
She laughed, low and flirty. “Well, Vi and I will just have to take down Hawke on our own then.”
Chapter Eight
Saturday, January 12th
Morning dawned dark and dreary. The sky spit icy pellets at me as I dashed from my SUV to the back door of Doc’s office. I tried not to take Mother Nature’s ill treatment personally. After all, we both had a lot on our minds these days—her with trying to turn the western half of South Dakota into an ice cube and me with trying to figure out how to catch a damned lidérc.
I slipped on a slushy ice patch halfway across the parking lot, nearly falling on my ass. Lucky for Doc, I managed not to dump the coffee I’d picked up for him on the ground. But I did spill part of mine on my coat sleeve, and that had me cussing the rest of the way to his back door since my coat was the new indigo cashmere trench that Doc had given me for Christmas.
Inside the door, I stomped the slush and snow off of my boots and breathed a sigh of relief. I’d made it with time to spare before I needed to be at work next door. I really needed a bit of “Doc” time to smooth my feathers before their next ruffling.
I’d left
the house early while the kids were still asleep. Aunt Zoe had been out in her workshop already, toiling away in front of the glass furnace. I’d watched her through the kitchen window while I scarfed down an English muffin, wondering how things had fared with Reid last night while I was stuck out there with Cooper and Natalie.
Our Mexican standoff had been interrupted by Aunt Zoe needing to get back to work in her shop. When I’d returned to the kitchen, the table was cleared, dishes were drying in the rack, and Reid and Harvey were gone. Cooper and Natalie had said their farewells soon after, both heading their separate ways after a brief hug and kiss inside the front door, during which I’d been ordered to cover my eyes by the bossy loverboy.
He didn’t have to tell me twice not to look. While I could accept my best friend cavorting under the covers with the detective in theory, observing too much of this new warm and fuzzy version of Cooper might give me nightmares, and I had enough of those without his help.
When everyone had gone for the evening, Doc and I had watched television with the kids, turning in shortly after herding them to bed. The poor guy had fallen asleep during our pillow talk about Cooper, Natalie, and Hawke. Several long days of crunching numbers had him counting sheep in his dreams before I even got around to kissing him good night.
He’d been missing in action already when I woke up this morning, his side of the bed long cold. But he’d left a note on the bathroom mirror for me about heading to the Deadwood Rec Center early, requesting a coffee and the good-night kiss he’d missed if I had time before his first appointment.
Being the sucker that I was for Doc’s kisses, his wish was my command. So, here I stood, a moment away from collecting my reward in exchange for brain rocket fuel and sugar—the lip-locking kind.
The subtle scent of Doc’s cologne in the back hallway spurred me to hurry. I’d come to enjoy our little coffee meetings in his office before work, especially when it included enough time to bar the doors and participate in some hands-on gratitude.
I set the coffees on the floor and shucked my coat, noticing the low rumble of voices coming from out front as I hung it on a wall peg.
Crabapples! I must have read his timeline for this morning wrong while corralling my curls into a chignon and trying to cover my big purplish-black shiner with multiple layers of makeup.
Straightening my black, half-zip sweater over my long, red bohemian skirt, I grabbed the coffees from the floor and headed for the front. With any luck, I could drop off Doc’s drink and say “hello” to his client without my black eye being a conversation stopper.
The rumble of voices quieted when I was halfway up the hall, apparently interrupted by the clomping of my boot heels on the creaky wooden floor. I squared my shoulders and pasted on a professional smile, only to stop short at the sight of Cooper sitting in the chair across from Doc. His steely eyes were watchful, but his shoulders had a definite slump under his black police coat.
“What are you doing here so early, Cooper?” I asked as I dropped my purse on Doc’s desk.
I turned to Doc, who’d risen from his chair at the sight of me. He looked good enough to eat in his cream button-up shirt and black pants. I tried not to make a show of licking my chops and just handed his coffee over, winning a flirty smile and a “Thanks, Boots,” in exchange.
“I’m trying to convince your boyfriend that he should lock you up and throw away the key before you stumble into yet another grand fuckup,” Cooper answered, sounding extra gravelly this morning. He must have gargled with shards of glass after brushing his teeth with barbed wire.
Splendid. Instead of a little feather smoothing from Doc, I was going to get snarled and barked at by a law dog. Lucky for me I’d already slurped down one cup of fully leaded zing-zing at Aunt Zoe’s and felt at ease with gnashing my teeth right back.
I sat on the corner of Doc’s desk, smirking at the detective. “And here I thought you didn’t like talking about my sex life, Cooper.”
I glanced over at Doc, who’d dropped back into his chair. His hair looked extra dark. It must still be damp from showering over at the Rec Center after his workout. “Now that Nat has taken pity on this lovesick sucker, I suppose he wants to borrow my fur-lined handcuffs.”
Doc shook his head. “Nah. Coop’s too rough and tough for fur-lined anything. He likes his women how he likes his guns.”
“You mean wearing a lampshade and sitting on his nightstand?”
Cooper had a Colt .45 bedside lamp that Harvey had bought him as a gift. The old man claimed it was an actual antique pistol that would not only light up any intruders but fill them full of holes, too.
“Nice one, Killer.” Doc raised his coffee cup to me. “You’re firing on all cylinders already this morning.”
Cooper didn’t look nearly as enamored with me. “Real funny, Parker. I’m laughing on the inside.”
Being the nice person that I was, I laughed on the outside for him. Turning back to Doc, I said, “Or did you mean he likes his women well-oiled and strapped to his hip?”
Doc’s grin widened. “Actually, I was thinking loaded and concealed in his bed, but I like your versions better.”
“If Harvey were here,” I said, continuing to poke the bear sitting in the visitor’s chair, “he’d say Cooper likes his women how he likes his whiskey.”
“You mean aged well and locked away in a cellar?” Doc took a sip of coffee.
I touched my finger to my nose. “Spot-on, mon amour.”
Doc’s gaze dipped to my sweater. “Ah, Tish,” he said in a low velvety voice that warmed me to my toes. “You know that’s French.”
“Oui, Monsieur Sexy,” I purred back, batting my eyelashes.
“Sweet fucking Jesus, you two,” Cooper cut in, dumping ice on our flirting foreplay. “I can’t decide if I should shoot you both here and now or save the pleasure for tonight.”
“What’s tonight?” I asked, focusing back on Mr. Crankyberries.
“Cornelius wants to have the séance,” Doc said, all humor gone from his voice now. “Coop agreed to join us.”
“What? No!” I set my coffee down on his desk, frowning all around. “I thought we were going to wait a few more days.”
“So did I, but Cornelius joined me in the weight room at the Rec Center this morning and told me he’d been up most of the night thinking it through. He’s relatively certain he knows how to lure Wilda’s twin to us.”
I blinked, cocking my head to the side. “I could swear you just said that Cornelius joined you in the weight room.”
“You heard me right.”
“You mean as in actually lifting weights? Or was he just standing next to you and waving at his reflection in the mirror?”
“He didn’t lift.”
Okay, the poles hadn’t shifted overnight and north was still north.
“He’d just finished swimming laps in the pool for a half hour,” Doc added, “and was relaxing before going for a run.”
What the hell? Maybe north was now south after all. Prudence must have done one heck of a number on Cornelius when she’d crawled inside his head. Then again, it’d seemed more like he’d done a number on Prudence when it was finished. I wondered how she and Zelda were feeling this morning after Cornelius had inadvertently drained both of their batteries.
“I think Cornelius has been possessed again,” I told Doc. “Only this time it’s the ghost of the Energizer bunny.”
“He was certainly hopping around the weight room for such an early hour.”
I reached for my coffee. “So, that’s why Cooper is here looking all bright and ugly? To make plans for tonight?”
“No, Parker,” Cooper deadpanned. “I’m here because of you.”
“Me?” I rolled my eyes. “Whatever Detective Hawke thinks I did now, he’s been sniffing glue. I was sleeping. Doc is my alibi.” I took a sip of my latte, needing the second boost of sweetened caffeine more than ever now that I heard my day would be ending with a séance.
“Dete
ctive Hawke doesn’t know about this particular problem yet.”
I looked at Doc. His frown didn’t make me feel very warm and cozy. “Uh-oh. What’s going on now?”
Doc answered first. “According to Coop, there was a B&E in the middle of the night up in Lead.”
“Breaking and entering?”
Cooper grunted, drawing my gaze. “Bingo. Since I was on call overnight, that meant I was the detective standing outside in zero fucking degrees trying to figure out who in the hell would break into a gourmet store that specializes in expensive locally made products like cheeses, wines, chocolates, and jewelry, yet messes with only items that are honey-based.”
I swirled my coffee, pretty sure I knew what store he was talking about. It was across from the visitor center overlooking the Open Cut. “I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”
“I didn’t think it did at first.” Cooper leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The two officers who were the first on scene had already reviewed the store’s security tapes by the time I’d arrived. They couldn’t see a single soul moving around the place, yet there were jars of honey and honey-based lotions smashed on the floor, honey sticks broken and scattered, and honey cakes torn open with bites out of them. None of it made sense.”
“Have you considered dragging Winnie-the-Pooh to your interrogation room down at the station?” I joked. “Or maybe Yogi Bear and his sidekick, Boo-Boo.”
He scowled at Doc. “I’m going to use a stun gun on your girlfriend and make her hair even crazier than normal.”
“I wouldn’t pick on her about her hair when she’s got her horns out.”
Cooper sighed and turned back to me, his eyes lined with exhaustion.
I’d better be careful. If Natalie found out I was picking on her boyfriend when he’d been up half the night fighting crime and looked ready to curl up in a corner with his favorite gun, she’d give me a colossal noogie on the noggin. “Sorry, Cooper. Continue, please.”
His gaze grew wary, but he nodded. “The thief left behind one clue that ties back to you.”
I waited, my grip tightening on my coffee cup, while Cooper reached into his coat pocket.