by Lisa Daniels
Luke felt a stab of worry as he looked at the usually calm man’s annoyed face.
“I’m just leaving, as you can see.”
“Rivers, I just got word of an interesting complaint from last week,” Ray Palmerston told him. “It seems like someone was spying on a new release, the very same release that I warned another someone not to go after.”
Luke felt his pulse quicken and he feigned a look of confusion on his face.
“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” the detective lied. “A complaint about me?”
A mirthless smile appeared on Palmerston’s face.
“Not yet, Luke, but if you aren’t careful, next time someone is going to recognize you. I told you, they are taping everything at that house, Rivers. All they need is to get your face on camera and I’ll have no choice but to write you up. You know that.”
Luke willed himself to maintain his calm and he shrugged nonchalantly.
“I really don’t understand what you’re talking about, Ray.”
“Oh, I think you do. You must think I’m an idiot if you don’t think I know you’re checking up on Andrew Blaise. You’re lucky he didn’t see you, but he did see your Ford Bronco. Stay the hell away from Blaise. Don’t make me tell you again.”
Luke threw up his beefy hands in a gesture of surrender.
“I heard you the first time!” he proclaimed. “I wasn’t anywhere near Blaise. I didn’t even realize he’d been released! And lots of people have Broncos! We live in Arizona, for Christ’s sake!”
Ray snorted in disbelief. “You really do think I’m an idiot, don’t you?”
“Not at all, Sarge, but I have to get going. I have a date with a beautiful woman.”
Palmerston flared him a wry smile. “Tell Jess I said hi. I miss her around here.”
Luke cringed inwardly but nodded enthusiastically. “Will do,” he replied, rolling up his window. He had to hand it to his wife. For all their problems, she managed to keep their difficulties well hidden from the rest of the world.
He missed the woman he had married sometimes.
But even Jess doesn’t compare to Maria Margolis right now, he thought, licking his lips hungrily.
Luke forced Jessica from his mind as he watched Palmerston disappear toward his own vehicle. Then he backed out of his spot, conjuring an image of Maria Margolis.
I’m going to have to be a lot more careful going forward, he thought to himself, but he had already known that.
Inside the side console of the car was a wiretap he had gotten from tech. He had called in a favor from one of the communications guys. There was also a GPS tracker, but that was something he had picked up himself from Best Buy.
I don’t want there to be too much connected to the stationhouse. I can talk my way out of one thing, but too much will get me in trouble.
Almost being seen by Blaise had shaken him and Luke wondered if he wasn’t thinking clearly. It was unlike him to be so careless and yet…
It’s okay. It was one mistake. No harm, no foul, and now you will just have to be more vigilant. That’s where Maria Margolis comes in.
The simple thought of the sexy-voiced vixen sent a sexual thrill through him.
I am growing closer to her, too. Everything about this is going to be a lottery, he thought, smiling.
By the time he arrived, Maria had yet to appear and Luke waited in the truck for her Audi to show.
I wonder what it would be like to be married to a woman like Maria Margolis, he thought. Self-made, intelligent, and sexy as hell. I bet she doesn’t bitch and scream like Jessica. She probably doesn’t want kids either. She’s the perfect woman.
Someone was knocking on his window and Luke jumped guiltily as Maria peered into his car. She wore a half-smile on her face and he questioned if she knew what he was thinking.
“Hi!” he called, placing his hand on the lever and she stepped back.
“Were you waiting long?” she asked as he scrambled out of the vehicle and he shook his head.
“No, I was just resting my eyes. I’ve had a lot on my mind,” he replied.
When did I become such a good liar? he asked himself as they made their way onto the sidewalk and headed toward the restaurant.
“It’s a thankless job you have, Detective,” she told him. “I can’t even imagine some of the horrors you’ve seen. I am shocked you sleep at all.”
“Well, it makes it all worthwhile when we catch the people responsible,” he replied smoothly, holding the door open for her.
Inside Lulu Belle’s, the lighting was dim and the music slow and rhythmic. Luke had purposely picked it for the ambience, but as he looked at the doctor’s face, he saw a flash of worry.
“Oh…” she said quietly. “This is a very nice restaurant. Perhaps we should go somewhere a bit more…”
She trailed off, searching for the words, and Luke chuckled.
“It’s not as expensive as it looks,” he assured her, but he knew that was not her concern.
A little romance never hurt anyone, Dr. Margolis, he told her silently. To his relief, she did not argue and they were seated at a small table near a gas fireplace in the back.
“You think you have a lead on Andrew’s accomplice?” she asked the moment they were seated and Luke felt himself tense slightly.
She just jumps right in there, huh? Clearly no one has ever romanced her properly. Well, she’s in for a treat tonight.
“Well, yes and no,” he told her. “I don’t know who the man is exactly, but I have reason to believe, thanks to you, that he is trying to reach out to said man.”
“Why?”
The question surprised him and he blinked several times as he tried to understand her question.
“Why what?”
“Why do you have reason to believe that?” She sounded unnaturally tense and he wondered if he’d made a mistake by bringing her there.
“Oh… I have an informant…”
“But legally, you can’t follow him, Detective. Provided he abides by the rules of his parole, you can’t tail him. Not without probable cause.”
Luke felt his mouth drop open, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Is she really telling me the law? She’s an arrogant thing, isn’t she?
Luke suddenly felt the urge to put her in her place.
“Yes, of course I know that,” he snapped with more anger than he intended. “But if he’s going to meet the other player in the robbery…”
“My concern is that if you do happen to find the accomplice, you won’t be able to use anything in court to convict him if he is discovered by illegal means. You know that, Detective Rivers. That is why I am asking you how you intend to find him.”
She really is much brighter than I give her credit for. There is only one way to do this; I have to tell her the entire truth. She can probably see right through me anyway.
The realization annoyed and humbled him simultaneously and once more, he found himself checking his temper.
If she keeps calling me on my shit, I might have to marry her, he thought with grim amusement. If only he could get her to relax a little.
“You’re right,” he sighed. “I have absolutely no legal right to follow Blaise and yet I have been. I can’t let Sam’s killer go free again, not when I am so close to finding him. So, yeah, anything I do is illegal, but I won’t stop. Not when it means justice for Sam. I will worry about the legalities afterward.”
Maria pursed her lips together and sat back. Luke wished he could read her mind as she stared at him.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked finally. “You called me here for a reason. What is it?”
“I want you to plant the wiretap in Con Lair next time you’re in there and find a place to put a GPS on him. He doesn’t have a car, but does he have a bag or something?”
Maria’s face twisted into a myriad of expressions, none of them easily readable.
“I don’t know if I can do that, Detective,” she breathed. “I me
an, I have already crossed an ethical line here, but this is just outright illegal.”
“Dr. Margolis, you know what kind of man Andrew Blaise is. He is not a kid who made a mistake. He is a hardened criminal with a propensity to offend again and he’s abetting a murderer. Your oath is to protect people, just like mine. Yes, it may be a grey area, but it is for the greater good.”
She looked down at the tablecloth and nodded slowly.
“Yes,” she agreed. “I already promised to help you, but Detective…”
He peered at her. “Yes?”
“He was different today. He seemed like he was ready to give therapy a shot. Maybe you should give me some time to work with him before we trail him and he might take us where we need to go.”
Luke looked at her skeptically.
Maybe she’s not so smart after all if she believes that Blaise is capable of being a normal human being. He’s playing her and she’s falling for it.
He weighed his options. Arguing with her might serve to alienate her altogether, but if they were fighting against time, they might lose Andrew.
“Two more sessions,” she told him. “Give me two sessions with him. I want to see if this is going anywhere.”
“And if he’s exactly who I’m telling you he is? Then what?”
“Then I’ll put the devices on him.”
She seemed stunned that she had agreed, but there was something else in her eyes, something he didn’t understand.
He swallowed his protest and nodded.
I’ve waited this long. I can wait a little bit longer—even if the anticipation is killing me.
“It’s a deal,” he told her.
In the meantime, he would just have to keep a close eye on Blaise without getting caught again.
The meal continued without talk of Andrew Blaise and Luke found himself opening up to Dr. Margolis. She had an easy manner about her and it did not take him long to see why she was so successful in her business.
On some level, he sensed that she was sizing him up, evaluating him, but it didn’t bother him because he felt like they genuinely had a good rapport. In fact, by the end of the evening, Luke was feeling bold enough to ask her to join him for a drink at a bar in the same strip mall.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said reluctantly, glancing at her bracelet watch. “It’s getting late.”
He laughed aloud. “Doctor, it’s eight thirty on a Friday night. Now, I don’t claim to be a young man, but I would have a hard time believing that you’re heading home to bed now.”
Maria joined him in his laughter.
“Okay,” she agreed. “One drink, but then I have to get home. I have—”
“Let me guess—you have to work?” he interrupted, grinning.
Again they chuckled and she shrugged, her shoulders visibly sagging as they walked toward the Twisted Tomato at the far end of the parking lot.
“I lead a boring existence,” she told him. “I don’t really know what happened to me. I was more fun than this once.”
“Oh? Were you much of a wild child?” he joked, but he felt a frisson of excitement as he tried to envision her as a college girl.
I bet she was a lot of fun back in those days. And those passions don’t die. She’s probably still got it in there somewhere. She just needs someone to help her unleash it.
The librarian fantasy had never been so appealing to him.
“No,” Maria chortled. “I never was any fun. My family always teased me about being such a straight arrow but I was always so busy. Maybe it’s time I learned to let loose a bit.”
Luke smiled wickedly.
“I will try to help you with that,” he told her, winking. “As it turns out, I was a wild child. I think I still remember some of my old tricks.” Maria chuckled but she cast him a wary look which he didn’t fully take in.
They made their way to the slowly filling bar and ordered drinks, Luke slapping his credit card down for a tab.
“Oh no!” Maria protested. “Just one!”
“I might want another one,” he told her slyly, but he could tell she was onto him.
I’m not letting her go anywhere tonight, he decided. Not without me.
He knew that the attraction he felt toward her was beyond physical. She was everything he could ever hope for in a woman and Luke was sure that he would not rest until he had her undivided attention.
A few drinks in the right atmosphere and she’ll be begging me to drive her home.
“Care to dance?” he asked, grabbing her arm, and she shook her dark hair, pulling away with a nervous giggle.
“No!” she laughed. “I have two left feet.”
“I think you’re lying, Doctor,” he teased, pulling her onto the dance floor. “Show me.”
She reluctantly followed him into the small crowd and soon they were a mass of arms and legs.
She wasn’t lying, Luke thought with amusement. She really is a terrible dancer.
He realized it was going to be one more thing he was going to have to teach her.
Soon, they were ordering shots of tequila and before either one knew what was happening, they were entwined in an embrace near the back of the bar, staring into each other’s eyes.
“I think I’m drunk,” she confessed, but she kept her face level with his. Luke could almost taste her from where he stood and the anticipation was nearly insurmountable.
“Do you want me to take you home?” he whispered, but he didn’t give her a chance to respond. Without warning, he pressed her lips to hers and she gasped aloud.
“What are you doing?!” she demanded, pushing him off her. “What the hell are you thinking?”
He offered her a smile and pushed her back against the brick of the building, leaning in to kiss her passionately.
“Let loose a little,” he told her. “I promised to show you some of my old tricks and I think they’re all coming back to me now.”
She looked up at him, her face still registering shock as she seemed to sober up.
He had intended to alleviate her hangover with more of what he had been yearning to give her since the first time he had seen her.
If only she’d relax a little and let him in.
“I’ll drive you home,” he told her, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face, but she shook her head.
“No,” she told him flatly. “You can’t drive either. You met me shot for shot.”
“Fine. We’ll take a cab to your place.” He still hadn’t backed up to let her free from the wall.
“No, thanks. I’m tired.”
His eyes flashed in fury. “You’re tired? You’re—”
“You son of a bitch!” The voice rang out toward them in the night and Luke felt the blood drain from his face as his wife glowered at him from the driver’s side of their minivan parked on the curb.
Amberlyn and Connor were asleep in their respective car seats in the back of the vehicle.
“Jessica,” he breathed. It was all he could think to say and he released Maria quickly, but of course the action came much too late.
“Jessica? Jessica?” the blonde shrieked, jumping from the vehicle to attack him. He grabbed her arms and restrained her as she turned furiously to Maria.
“You brought one of your whores out in public? Have you no respect for our family whatsoever? Did you even bother to look around and see who you were putting on a show for? My sister is in there, you asshole! She videotaped the entire thing for my divorce lawyer.”
Jessica spun and glowered at Maria, who held up her hands.
“I never touched him, ma’am,” she assured Jessica quietly, but the blonde was only seeing red. “Please calm down.”
Luke did not have to turn because he could feel the shock in Maria’s face in radiating waves flowing toward him.
“Who is this?” Maria hissed and Jessica howled, trying to lunge for her.
“I am his wife, you stupid whore! Who the fuck are you?”
Slowly, Luke turned to the
doctor and her face said it all.
“You’re married?” she whispered, her complexion opaque. Instantly, her jaw locked and any sense of drunkenness which she had been experiencing seemed to evaporate. A look of stoicism crossed over Maria’s face and she turned to Jessica.
“Mrs. Rivers, I had no idea, and I promise I will never contact your husband ever again, but you can be assured that I have not been intimate with him in any way. I swear.”
Maria did not wait for a response, whirling, and as she hurried away across the lot, Luke was filled with a sense of overwhelming loss.
“Maria!” he screamed after her. “Come back!”
He did not see the punch from Jessica before it hit his face, but even that did not overcome the pain he felt watching Maria run out of his life and into a cab.
Chapter Nine
The Truth Exposed
Rivers called so frequently afterward that Maria considered filing a restraining order on him.
What the hell was I thinking, letting things get that far? I shouldn’t have gone for drinks with him. Hell, I should have trusted my gut and said no to dinner, too.
Maria tried to alleviate her guilt by telling herself she had no idea that he was married, but what difference did it really make? A woman had been badly hurt by his deception.
Maria was certain she had never been so angry or betrayed in her entire life and with each phone call from Luke, she grew more incensed.
Rivers left messages on her cell phone, her home phone, and at both her offices.
She did not see the point in telling him not to call her—it should have been obvious. Her shame was far too great to deal with him yet anyway.
But over and above what had happened, she did not know what she was going to do about Andrew Blaise.
I can’t work with Luke Rivers anymore. I never want to see him again.
There was a concern growing in Maria’s mind, however—one that told her she may be in too deep already.
I have breached my ethics by talking to Rivers about Andrew in the first place. Will he report me if I don’t cooperate?
She knew at some point she would be forced to face the detective, but she was not ready to do it, not yet.
His voicemails had all been apologetic, groveling even, but Maria was well trained in the ways of the mind. She knew that if she ignored him long enough, his begging would turn to anger and he might lash out.
