Ten Four (Protect and Serve Book 5)

by Nadine Hudson

  Ten Four

  PROTECT AND SERVE SERIES

  BOOK 5

  BY: NADINE HUDSON

  Copyright © 2020 Nadine Hudson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Description

  Veronica

  I have finally proven myself to everyone at the academy, but now there’s just one more person I needed to prove myself to. The chief of police...good old Dad. I came into this job with all the confidence in the world only to be weakened at the knees by my new partner.

  The outrageously sexy and secretive Finn Carter. That’s a BIG no no V. Not only is he your partner, but he’s also one of your dad’s best friends. Eyes on the prize. You still have to prove yourself, but I suppose some harmless flirting wouldn’t hurt, right?

  Finn

  Is she flirting with me? I knew this partnership was going to be a problem the moment I’d laid eyes on her. There’s not even a trace of the younger girl I remember-but before me stands a full grown woman with curves everywhere a man likes to see them.

  Snap out of it Finn!

  This is Henry’s daughter I’m fantasizing about. I have to get a grip on myself! I can do this. At least until I grow tired of that smart mouth of hers. Then I might have to see how she handles it when I stop ignoring her advances and return fire instead.

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  Table of Contents

  Description

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  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Epilogue

  What Happens Next?

  Follow Me!

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  Chapter One

  Veronica

  Dad passed away during the night.

  Despite losing so many people in my life—basically everyone I knew and cared about—I’d never actually watched someone die. It was… confusing. I was holding his hand and we’d been talking for hours, talking slowly since Dad could hardly catch his breath, and after some time, he just leaned his head over and closed his eyes. I listened to the monitors on either side of his bed wheeze and beep, noticing that they seemed to be getting slower and slower.

  Only a few hours later, he was gone.

  But not before he told me everything I needed to hear. It more than made up for the fact that I lost the last two weeks of his life to anger and pettiness. And maybe I would feel differently when grief took over and this was real, but in some ways, I was so glad that I didn’t have the two months that Dad knew about his diagnosis. He’d managed to spare me the fear and worry, the endless watching of the clock and treating me like a fragile baby.

  It was exactly the way he wanted to go, and he was ready. He told me so, right after telling me that he knew I would be fine.

  “This may come as a surprise, but I have to argue with you,” I’d joked when he said that. “I’m not ready. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

  “You’re gonna do what you’ve always done… whatever you want,” he’d said, but he said it like he was proud. “Besides, me trying to control you only got you shot and landed you in bed with an old man.”

  I knew he was kidding when he’d said that, but it had still made me wince.

  “Finn is hardly an old man, he’s only your—” I’d started, but I’d camped my mouth shut. My dad’s age? And here he was, dying?

  “Will you give him a message for me?” my dad had whispered.

  “That depends. If it’s ‘see you in hell,’ then I’d rather not,” I’d joked back.

  That had made Dad smile, just one side of his mouth pulling up, but it took all of his strength.

  “Tell him, I put his name in for Captain.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked, my eyes wide. “Finn’s not even a lieutenant yet. Can they do that?”

  Dad nodded. “They will when they see his record and my letter of recommendation. Besides, he’s got seniority. That precinct doesn’t need some snot-nosed punk who’s been there for a year trying to tell the others how to do their jobs.”

  “Do you think he’ll accept it?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “He will… if you tell him to. Tell him I said, and that even after everything that happened, I still put his name in.”

  Dad struggled to breathe for a little while after that, so we didn’t say anything for a long time.

  “Are you scared?” I managed to ask before tears instantly blurred my vision.

  “Nah. I’ve already been through the worst pain there is. Losing my wife, losing my son… and thinking that I was gonna lose you, too. There’s nothing else they can do to hurt me now,” he said, turning his head and looking at me. “You just be strong. And go do whatever you want to do with your life. Live it for yourself, not for anyone else. Got that?”

  “Got it,” I’d said quietly, nodding my head.

  After a while, a nurse had motioned for me to join her in the hallway. I stepped out, crossing my arms in front of myself as if I could physically hold myself together.

  “Look, we’re not going to make your dad do anything that upsets him,” she began, looking back at the door to his cubicle to make sure he wasn’t overhearing, “but this stage can be incredibly painful. You just say the word, and we can give him something for the pain. But when we do, he won’t be awake long after that.”

  “I understand,” I said softly. The thought of him in pain was worse than the thought of losing what precious time I had left with him though. I wanted so badly to be selfish, but I couldn’t. “I’ll let him know you can give him something.”

  I thanked the nurse and crept back into his room to sit beside him. “Hey, the nurse just told me they’ve got stuff to give you for the pain whenever you need it. You good? Or should I call them?”

  “And fall asleep on you? No way,” he’d answered, but within the hour, he’d changed his mind.

  Dad got some rest once the medication was in his IV line… and he never woke up.

  ***

  Finn

  The hospital called around three in the morning. I picked up on the second ring, knowing in my gut that the worst news was waiting. But that’s okay—I’d asked the nurse to call me if I needed to come back up there, no matter what time it was.

  Henry was gone. My best friend, a man whose side I’d stood by as he endured one horrific tragedy after another. I’d seen him through the death of his beautiful wife and an incredible son, just as he’d been there for me through one string of bad luck after another.

  I didn’t believe in fate or guardian angels or any of that stuff, but there had been some kind of power at work that made the hospital call me when Henry had been brought in. Something had made Henry call me earlier that day and ask to come by my house… and whatever that power was—karma, coincidence, whatever—it had given me a precious hour or two with my best friend.

  And I’d never see him again. The next time I saw Henry, he’d be in a little urn, ready to be placed on a bookshelf at V’s house.

  Oh god… V. I had to get up to the hospital in a hurry. This would ordinarily be one of those times that I’d cheat a little and turn on my sirens. But I couldn’t do that anymore.
Now, I was just an ex-cop, an out of work bum who didn’t have anything going for him.

  I threw on some clothes and ran my hands through my hair, then headed outside. Despite it being almost three-thirty, Tammy was staggering up the steps to her house, a car that had dropped her off peeling out of the driveway and turning onto the main road a little too fast.

  “Hey there,” Tammy called out, slurring slightly.

  “Hey Tammy,” I answered without slowing down.

  “You’re headed out awfully late,” she drawled, but I didn’t have time to do anything more than wave over my shoulder. “Call me later on!”

  I slid behind the wheel and made sure I didn’t exit the same way that last car had. I couldn’t do much for Veronica if I was dragged into the ER by an ambulance myself.

  All the way to the hospital, I wondered about what I would say to her, alternating with the serious hope that Henry had woken up long enough to fix things between him and his daughter. If not, she was going to carry that hurt and disappointment for the rest of her life.

  “Hi, I got a call,” I began when I reached the nurses’ station. Fortunately, the same nurses were still on their shift and they remembered me.

  “Yes, you were here before with Henry Miller?” one of them said. “I’m so sorry, but he passed away. His daughter is still here and… well, she said there was no one we could call for her. So, I hope it wasn’t presumptuous of me, but I took the chance on calling you.”

  “Where is she?” I asked, already wondering what the hell I could possibly say that she’d want to hear.

  “She’s in our bereavement lounge, waiting for some paperwork to be sent up. We have to have releases signed for her father’s body to be sent to the funeral home, that kind of thing.”

  “Thanks,” I said before heading in the direction the nurse pointed. When I reached the door, I took a deep breath and let it out, then knocked.

  “Come in,” a muffled voice said from the other side.

  I opened the door only a crack, realizing that V had no way of knowing I was on the other side of the door. I looked in and got a glimpse of her face, trying to gauge whether or not I would be a welcome sight.

  “Hey Finn,” she said softly, so I opened the door and came.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked, coming to sit across from her and resting my elbows on my knees.

  “What makes you think I’m holding up?” she asked, wiping at her eyes with a worn-out tissue.

  I reached for the box that was on the table near my chair and passed it to her. I didn’t say anything for several minutes, knowing from too many past experiences that there was nothing in the world that could make this better.

  Suddenly, I couldn’t think of any way to help her. Why was I even here? The Veronica I knew—the fierce fighter who knew what she wanted and went after it, whether it was her career, a bad guy… or me—looked so small and defeated. My heart broke for her, knowing that she was facing the kind of pain that we only deal with a few times in our lives.

  I knelt down in front of her and looked at her tear-filled eyes for only a moment, then I kissed her. I don’t even know why, and it certainly wasn’t the time and place. But I would do anything to take away her pain, even if it was the wrong thing.

  She kissed me back for only a moment, and then—as if remembering where she was and why—Veronica pulled back, looking embarrassed.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, reaching back for my chair and giving her some space. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “It’s fine,” she said, though she spoke almost automatically.

  “Did… Henry wake up any?” I finally asked, struggling to think of the best way to put that question to her.

  “Yeah,” Veronica answered, nodding as she tore at the tissue in her hands. I noticed that her hands were shaking and I wanted to reach for them, but I didn’t know how she’d react. “It was really good actually. We got to talk for a good bit before he… well, couldn’t.”

  “That’s good,” I said, a flood of relief running through my veins so fast that it almost made me dizzy.

  “Yeah,” she repeated, but that was all.

  “V, if you don’t want me here, I won’t crowd you,” I said after several minutes of silence had passed. “But I hate to think of you doing this on your own. Even if nothing had ever happened between us, I would have been here for you because you're Henry’s daughter.”

  She only nodded, still looking down, and I started to feel really awkward for intruding on this painful time. Just when I started trying to think of an exit strategy—just to make this easier on both of us—Veronica looked up at me sharply.

  “Why didn’t you fight for me?”

  Chapter Two

  Veronica

  I can’t believe that’s what flew out of my mouth, at least at a time like this. But with Finn sitting there staring at me—and obviously wishing to be anywhere but here—this might be the only chance I’ll ever get to ask.

  “Fight who? Your dad… or you?” he finally said, looking up at me from beneath his lashes as he hung his head.

  “My dad, obviously. I mean, I guess,” I said, not sure what he meant by that. “Why would you have had to fight me, that doesn’t make any sense.”

  He didn’t answer right away, but when he finally spoke, his words were hushed. “V, we don’t have to talk about this right now…” he started to say, but then he sat back in his chair and said, “I didn’t fight for you because there was no enemy to fight. You and your dad—that was the most important thing. And no, I wasn’t about to come between you when you were all each other had left in the world. You and I—geez, V, we haven’t even gotten to go on a real date or anything. I wish we had, don’t get me wrong. But I was supposed to be the reason you and your dad quit speaking when we hadn’t even gotten that far?”

  “That makes sense,” I muttered reluctantly, but it didn’t erase the hurt I’d felt at having him reject me twice.

  A knock at the door interrupted us, and someone from the hospital’s records office entered. She took her time explaining a number of issues and showing me different forms that needed to be signed.

  “And do you know which funeral home you’d like for us to call?” she asked politely. I froze.

  “Um, I have that information,” Finn said. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

  When had Finn gotten that? And why had my dad told him and not me? He must have noticed my confusion. He looked at me sheepishly.

  “Your dad and I had talked about this years ago. I mean, in our line of work, we never knew when the worst could happen. He reminded me of it all before you got here yesterday, and I dug it out.” Turning to the woman, he said, “All of his arrangements have been made and paid for. This is the number to call.”

  She took it and read over the name and number. “Perfect, I’ll go make the call and they’ll handle everything from here. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  With a sympathetic smile and a quick pat of my hand, the woman left the room. The air was thick again as soon as she left.

  “So my dad could tell you about his plans, but not me. Great,” I said, unsure of how I felt.

  “V, it was a gift from your dad for you,” Finn said. He reached for my hand and I let him take it, even if I didn’t return the gentle pressure of his fingers on mine. “He didn’t want you to have to think about these kinds of details while you were hurting. The same is true for your brother and your mom, if he’d been killed in the line of duty while they were still alive.”

  I nodded. That was just like my dad, trying to be the hero even after he died.

  “Besides,” Finn continued, “the precinct will have its own way of saying goodbye.”

  “Oh god, the precinct,” I moaned, and Finn nodded.

  “Yeah. We’re both going to be expected to make an appearance at your dad’s sendoff. It’ll be hard showing up there after—well, after what’s happened. But it’s the right thing t
o do. They were your dad’s other family, and they’re going to hurt just like we are.”

  Wait a minute, I thought. This sounds a whole lot like… oh god, Finn doesn’t know.

  “Finn, what did you and my dad talk about?” I asked, looking away.

  He didn’t answer, and finally I looked up at him. I knew he’d heard me, there was no way he couldn’t have. So why wouldn’t he tell me?

  “Finn?” I asked, ducking my head to try to meet his eye.

  “We talked about you,” he finally confessed with a slow sigh.

  “Well, I figured that much since my dad wanted to take your head off not too long ago,” I said. “What did you actually say?”

  Finn shrugged, and I knew this was going nowhere. Besides, since he’d obviously told my dad there was nothing going on, I didn’t need to hear the awful details of that conversation. I needed to know if Finn had heard about the precinct.

  “Forget that part,” I said, my voice cracking. I coughed and said, “So you don’t know about the job?”

  “What job?”

  “The precinct,” I clarified. “Dad put your name in for Captain.”

  “What? He can’t do that, I haven’t even been through the proper program,” Finn argued, sitting upright. “Besides, I turned in my resignation.”

  “Dad mentioned that,” I said, thinking back to the ugly text messages from my dad in the days after the dumpster fire of my life blew up. “Maybe he didn’t do anything with it, figuring that…” I paused and wiped at fresh tears. “Figuring that he was dying and the police department would need you.”

  Finn fell back against the chair, a look of disbelief on his face. His eyes began to water too, and a few tears fell. He wore the look of a man who’d just realized what he’d lost.

  “Are you going to take the job if they offer it to you?” I asked quietly. “It’s what my dad wanted, you know. And everyone in that department agrees with him, I’m sure of it. They all worship you, almost as much… as much as they worshipped my dad.”