Waiting for Him

by Stormy Glenn

  Lyn Philips was an easygoing man pretty much ninety-nine percent of the time, but that one percent made even the strongest, most confident man stop in his tracks. It was one of the things I truly loved about him.

  "Stay close to me."

  I didn't give Lyn a chance to say more or to hit me. I headed out of the basement then toward the front of the house. I could hear Lyn's boots hitting the hardwood floor behind me, so I knew he was staying close.

  I pressed myself against the wall next to the front door then peered around the edge of the window. There were two men trying to break down the door, but two more men stood on the porch behind them.

  All of them were armed.

  "These are definitely the guys who were chasing you in that alley. I recognize Detective Franklin."

  "Why does he want me so bad?" Lyn asked.

  I could give him a hundred reasons why someone would want him, but I knew of only one that applied in this situation. "It's got to be whatever is in that briefcase."

  "Thank god it's not here."

  I almost wished it was just so I could crack the damn thing open and find out what was so important that people were willing to kill for it.

  "Oh fuck!" I grabbed Lyn and threw him to the floor, coming down over the top of him. Those windows might be bulletproof, but a shotgun could put a mighty big hole in just about anything.

  I sucked in a breath when I saw the tears in Lyn's eyes.

  "They're destroying my house." Lyn's cry was almost desperate. It was a sound I'd never heard come out of him before, and I never wanted to hear again.

  "How can I bring my baby home if they destroy my house?"

  What the fuck?

  I forgot to breathe. "What baby?"

  Lyn's eyes rounded as if he just realized what he'd said.

  "Lyn?"

  "Um…"

  More shots fired at the door before Lyn could answer me. As much as I wanted to know what in the hell he was talking about, his safety came first. I leaned up then pushed Lyn back toward the office.

  "Don't suppose you have a bazooka down in that weapons locker, do you?"

  "Uh…"

  I wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no.

  I was saved from having to ask when the sounds of sirens filled the air. I grabbed Lyn and climbed to my feet, taking him with me. I hurried back over to the wall next to the door and peeked outside.

  "Damn it"

  "What?"

  "They're getting away." I yanked open the door and took off after Franklin. If I couldn't catch anyone else, I at least wanted to catch that bastard. I suspected he was knee-deep in whatever this shit was and could tell us how Lyn was involved.

  I just had to catch him first.

  I made a long jump and leapt over the white fence in front of Lyn's place. I was just grateful it wasn't one of those picket fences. If I'd crashed, I could have lost something vitally important.

  I didn't crash.

  When Franklin veered around a vehicle, I did my best impersonation of a country boy and slid right across the hood. I landed right behind him. I grabbed him before he took another step and threw him into the side of the car.

  I winced at the dent.

  Franklin quickly scrambled to his feet and came at me. The raised fist conveyed his intent, which was just fine with me. I had a few intents of my own to convey.

  I turned my upper body just as his fist flew at me. It glanced off my shoulder. I brought my fist up with an uppercut to Franklin's jaw. A deep satisfaction filled me when Franklin's head snapped back and the man let out a loud grunt.

  It was petty and it was mean, but he had fucked with Lyn and made him cry. The man deserved whatever I did to him and then some. I punched him again before he could regain his footing. I felt bone and cartilage crunch under my fist then blood spurted everywhere.

  When Franklin dropped to the ground and pressed his hands to his broken nose, I knew the fight was over.

  I was actually disappointed.

  I drew my gun and pointed it at him. "I'm sure you know the procedure, so I won't bother going into it."

  "You broke my nose."

  "I'll do more than that if you don't put that gun down on the ground." I cocked my weapon. "I'll put a hole in your stupid ass."

  "Okay, okay, okay." Franklin held up one hand while using the other to reach into his jacket and pull a gun out.

  "Two fingers, asshole."

  Franklin carefully set his gun down on the ground in front of me. I kicked it far enough away that he couldn't get it. I'd pick it up after I had this guy in handcuffs.

  "On your stomach, fingers laced behind your head."

  "You're making a mistake, you know," Franklin said as he stretched out on his stomach. "I'm a detective. You could get into a lot of trouble for interfering in my apprehension of a known criminal."

  I snapped out my handcuffs then leaned down and cuffed the man. "What I know is that you started shooting up a house for no damn reason. When I was in the academy, they frowned on that. I doubt it's changed."

  "He's a suspect in a robbery, and we have reports that he's armed."

  "Oh, he is." I'd seen his weapons cage. He might actually be better armed than Sal. "But he's no robbery suspect."

  I seriously doubted these guys knew who exactly they'd been hunting.

  I pulled Franklin to his feet, retrieved his gun, then started walking him back to the house. I smiled when I looked up and saw Sal standing on the top step. The glower on his face and the crossed arms brought me a measure of satisfaction I didn't even get from punching Franklin.

  "Sir," I said formally, "this is Detective Franklin out of the Thirty-Fourth Street precinct. He's one of the men who has been hunting Lyn. He says Lyn is a robbery suspect and quite possibly armed."

  Sal grunted. "Oh, he's armed all right."

  "See?" Franklin glanced over his shoulder at me. "I told you he was armed."

  "Do you even know who's house you just shot up?"

  "His name is Lyn Philips. He's some sort of computer analyst."

  "Is that all you know?" I asked, because come on, he shot up some guy’s house without doing a full background check on him?

  "Isn't it enough?"

  I rolled my eyes.

  "You're an idiot."

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lyn

  I waited inside the house, listening, until my anger got the better of me. I opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch behind Sal. I slowly edged around him until I could see Clarke and Franklin standing at the bottom of the steps.

  This was the man who'd made my life hell for the last twenty-four hours?

  "Did you beat me up?"

  I cringed when all eyes snapped to me.

  Maybe I should have stayed in the house?

  Sal's gaze swung back to Franklin. "You beat him up?"

  "We never touched him," Franklin insisted. "We just wanted to question him. We needed information on his associates so we could catch the entire crew."

  "And what about the dead man in the alley?" I asked as I took a step closer. "Did you want to question him, too? Is that why you killed him?"

  Franklin's eyebrows rose swiftly. "Turner is dead?"

  "Who is Turner?" Clarke asked.

  "Detective Bruce Turner," Franklin said. "He is…was…my partner on the force."

  I cocked my head to one side as I ran that name over and over in my head. Where had I heard it before? "Didn't Turner used to work out of the detective's squad housed in the commissioner's building?"

  If I remembered correctly, Turner had been involved in some sort of run-in Lany had had with the former Detective Whelan before the man went to prison for so many crimes, I wasn't even sure what they all were. Kidnapping and torturing Lany had been the one that made me remember him.

  And the fact that they tried to frame me for their crimes.

  Idiots.

  "Were you one of them?" I asked as I took another step, and then another until I st
ood right in front of the man. "Were you one of those assholes who did nothing but stand there and laugh while Detective Whelan humiliated Lany Delvecchio?" My eyes narrowed when I heard a growl behind me. "Did you think it was amusing when he bullied Lany and spilled coffee all over him?"

  "Hey, I had nothing to do with that," Franklin insisted. "I wasn't even assigned to that precinct. I'm out of the Thirty-Fourth. Turner transferred there right after that happened. He said he couldn't work with people who thought it was funny to harass another officer."

  Okay, he was off the hook for that incident, but not for shooting up my house.

  "You shot up my house."

  "We were told you were armed. We weren't taking any chances."

  I waved my hand back toward the house. "If you'd waited two weeks, there would have been a baby in there. You could have killed him."

  The man paled. "Baby?"

  "Yes!" I shouted. "My son is supposed to be here in two weeks. If he'd been early, he would have been inside. I'll have to do a hell of a lot of repair work as it is. Do you see my house?"

  "No one ever said anything about a baby."

  "Does it matter?" My voice was getting louder, harsher. "You shot up my house."

  "You're a criminal," Franklin shouted at me.

  I smirked as I took a step back. "No, I'm a former member of SWAT team one, and now I work for the FBI's cyber crimes division."

  Franklin turned so pasty white, I had serious doubts he had any blood left in his body. The man started shaking his head. "No, we were told you were involved with a gang of thieves who have been robbing people in the upper east side. This group is highly trained and very efficient, so I'm not surprised you're working with them."

  I felt a presence at my back, but I wasn't afraid. Sal would never hurt me. His husband was my best friend, and he'd never do anything to make Lany unhappy.

  "Who told you all of this?" Sal asked. "Where are you getting your information?"

  "We have an informant on the inside."

  I narrowed my eyes when Franklin glanced at me. "Who?"

  I really wanted to know who was spreading lies about me. It wouldn't be the first time someone had tried to frame me, and I was getting really tired of that. Apparently, I had sucker tattooed across my forehead.

  "I'm not going to give up my CI in front of a suspect," Franklin sniped. "What kind of detective do you take me for?"

  Did he really want me to answer that?

  "I'm going inside to call someone to come repair my house. I'm sending you the bill." I spun on my heel and stalked back up the steps.

  "So, where are you getting your information?" Sal asked before I even reached the door.

  I stepped inside, but hovered behind the door. I wanted to know who was fucking with my life, and then I was going to hunt them down and make their life just as miserable as mine had become.

  I might leave out the dead detective.

  Maybe.

  Detective Franklin was at the top of my list of volunteers.

  "Well?" Clarke asked. "Who's feeding you information about Lyn?"

  "His name is Jordan Kershaw. He's been on the inside of this group for a while now. He said Philips brought him in. They've been hitting mansions on the upper east side while the owners were attending high-profile society functions and fundraisers."

  I ground my teeth together as I growled and stormed back out of the house. "Jordan said I was involved in this?"

  Franklin raised his eyebrow. "So you do know him?"

  "Oh yes, I know him. We were fuck buddies once upon a time." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared. "He said he wasn't interested in settling down and I was, so he left." My eyes strayed to Clarke. "That seems to be a reoccurring theme in my life."

  Sal grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Clarke and Franklin. "What can you tell me about this guy?"

  "Jordan?"

  Sal nodded.

  "Well, um, we dated for about six months. We never lived together, but he stayed over a lot on weekends and stuff."

  "What does he do?"

  "He works at a computer store. That's how we met. I needed a part, and he tracked it down for me. When he called me to tell me he'd found it, he asked me out on a date."

  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

  What did I know?

  "Did he ever give you any indication that he might be involved in this?"

  "No." I shook my head vehemently. "I mean, we didn't live in each other's pockets or anything, but he never once gave any indication that he was doing anything underhanded or illegal. You know I wouldn't stand for that, sir."

  "I do know that, Lyn. I'm just trying to figure out why this guy would point the finger at you."

  I shrugged because I really had no idea.

  "When did you last speak to him?"

  "When he dumped me."

  It might have been the best thing to ever happen to me.

  "About ten months ago, I guess. It was before I resigned."

  "Okay, that at least gives us somewhat of a time table."

  I frowned. "For what?"

  "To figure out what this jackass is up to."

  I didn't see how, but I wasn't going to argue with Sal. The man knew his stuff. He'd already pulled my ass out of the fire once before when someone tried to frame me. I was kind of hoping he'd do it again.

  "I didn't do what he's saying, sir."

  Sal smiled as he patted my shoulder. "I know that, Lyn."

  I blew out a breath. "Okay."

  I just had to be sure.

  "Why don't you go call those repairmen while Clarke and I deal with the detective?"

  My eyes narrowed as I glared at the man in question again. "Make it painful."

  Yeah, I wasn't feeling real merciful right now.

  I stormed into the house and made my way to my office. I dropped my head into my hands after sitting down behind my desk. Who would have thought one bad decision would come back to haunt me almost a year later?

  I needed to start hanging out with other people.

  Better people.

  I felt as if I was coming apart at the seams. My skin actually ached. Considering how craptastic my life had become, that made sense. In desperation, I picked up the phone and called Lany.

  Maybe he could talk me off the ledge.

  "Hey, Lyn," Lany said when he answered the phone.

  "Hold on, I'm bringing Eddie in." I tapped a couple of buttons then lifted the phone back to my ear. "Hey, Eddie, it's me and Lany."

  "Hey," Eddie replied. "What's up?"

  "My life just imploded."

  "Uh… A little more information, Lyn," Eddie said.

  I quickly ran down everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Even as I said the words, I couldn't believe I was saying them. My life hadn't just imploded. It had gone nuclear. We're talking atom bomb here.

  "I'm really enjoying things here in Paris," Eddie said, "but I almost wish I was there. You sound like you could use a hug."

  I groaned. Oh man, could I.

  "I can't believe Jordan did this. I don't even understand why he did this. He was the one to kick me to the curb, so it can't be revenge, and it wasn't like we were in love or anything. Hell, he broke up with me when things started to get a little serious."

  "Did the two of you have a fight or something?" Lany asked.

  "No." I was actually glad things hadn't gotten that messy. Well, until now. "When he said he was leaving, I didn't fight it. Like I said, we weren't in love or anything, and I wasn't going to hold on to someone who didn't want to be with me."

  I'd been trying to do that for ten years, and it hadn't worked out real well for me.

  I was still alone.

  "I don't know what I'm going to do, guys. My house is shot to shit and the baby is supposed to be here in a couple of weeks and now Clarke seems to be all up in my business and—"

  "Wait, wait, wait," Lany said. "Back up. What do you mean Clarke is all up in your bus
iness? Is he being his usual overbearing self or something new?"

  I groaned again.

  Deeply.

  "Lyn," Eddie said. "What did you do?"

  I dropped my head to the desk and mumbled, "I slept with him."

  "Oh. My. God!"

  I winced when Lany squealed in my ear.

  God, he was loud.

  "Don't see anything in it," I said. "He still doesn't want me."

  "I believe I told you the exact opposite."

  I gasped and jumped up, spinning around. My eyes rounded when I saw Clarke leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed and a deep glower over his face.

  How much had he heard?

  "Hang up the phone, Lyn. It's time we talked."

  Oh damn.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Clarke

  I ground my teeth together to keep from snarling at Lyn. That was not how to handle this situation. That wasn't how to handle Lyn. He needed a gentle touch.

  I was about as gentle as a rattlesnake, and everyone knew it, especially me.

  Lyn knew it too if the apprehension flaring up in his eyes was anything to go by. "I have to go, guys. I'll call you later." Lyn hung up, set his phone down on the desk, then looked past me. "Where is everyone?"

  "Wu is taking Franklin in for questioning. Sal headed home. We're supposed to meet them there so we can get that damn briefcase open and figure out what's going on."

  Lyn nodded. "So, what do you want to talk to me about?"

  "Us."

  Lyn swallowed tightly. "Us?"

  "Yes."

  "There is no us, Clarke," Lyn said. "There never has been an us."

  All of my good intentions went right out the window at Lyn's words. I stormed across the floor and grabbed him by his arms, giving him a good shake. "The hell there's not!"

  The widening of Lyn's eyes was the only indication that he even heard me. Other than that, nothing changed. He didn't smile or frown. He didn't say anything. He didn't even breathe.

  I realized what I was doing and instantly released him. I shoved my hand through my hair as I strode to the other side of the room as fast as I could. "Fuck!"

  I stared out the window for a moment as I tried to gather my thoughts and regain control of my temper. "This is why I stayed away from you for so long, Lyn. Not because I didn't want you, because believe me, I did. I do."