Treachery Rising (MidKnight Blue Book 4)

by Sherryl Hancock

  “Yes, she is,” Midnight replied, surprised that the girl seemed to know so much about Joe and his current problems. “Look, I’m coming up there. I should be there in about three hours. Can you keep an eye on him till then?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jessica replied, as if to a superior officer.

  “And Jessica, Joe’s a real mean drunk, and he…” She hesitated a little. “Well, he gets kind of violent sometimes, so watch it, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jessica said, sounding less sure of herself.

  “I’ll see you when I get there.”

  “Okay.”

  Midnight hung up and continued on her way to her house to throw some things together. At home she had to explain to Mikeyla that she was going to stay with Daddy while she was gone, and that she had to go take care of Joe.

  “What’s wrong with Uncle Joe?” Mikeyla asked, sitting on her mother’s lap.

  Midnight wasn’t sure what to say. Rick walked in the room and knelt down beside his daughter.

  “Daddy!” Mikeyla squealed as she threw her arms around her father’s neck. Then she looked up at him. “Daddy, what’s wrong with Uncle Joe?”

  Rick looked at Midnight, realizing this had been where he’d come in. Then he looked at his daughter and said, “His heart is hurting, baby, and Mommy has to go make sure that he gets better fast.”

  “Why does his heart hurt?”

  “Well,” Rick said, “you know how you feel when Mommy goes out of town, or how you felt when your cousins left?”

  “Uh-huh,” Mikeyla said, nodding.

  “Well, Uncle Joe is missing someone right now, and it is making his heart hurt.”

  Mikeyla looked at Midnight. “And Mommy can make his heart stop hurting?”

  “Yes, she can,” Rick said, surprising Midnight with the surety of his statement. He looked at Midnight. “What time does your flight leave?”

  “Whatever’s next in line when I get there.”

  Rick looked at his watch. “You better get goin’. I’ll close up things here.”

  “Thanks,” Midnight told him for the second time that day. She leaned over and kissed Mikeyla. Grabbing up her overnight bag, she headed out the door.

  Rick caught up to her a few minutes later. “Night!” he called, just as she was getting into her car.

  “What?” she said hurriedly. But she stopped, seeing the concerned look on his face. “What is it?” she asked softly.

  “Just…” Rick said, hesitating over the words. “Just be careful. I know what Joe can be like, and, well…” He trailed off, and Midnight knew he was thinking of the same incident she had been thinking of when she cautioned Jessica to be careful around Joe.

  “I’ll be careful,” she assured him. Then she reached up and touched his face. He watched her intently. He wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t want things to get complicated between them again; he was still recovering from their last night together and her subsequent rebuke the next day. Things were friendly between them now, and he wanted to keep it that way for the time being.

  Midnight somehow seemed to understand what he was thinking, and, nodding as if they had just discussed it, she got in her car. Rick watched as she drove off. Then he turned and walked back to the house. He had decided to stay there with Mikeyla rather than having to drag her somewhere strange. He walked inside and closed the door.

  Midnight drove down the Sacramento freeway, her mind on nothing but reaching Joe’s townhouse. After a few minutes she found the address and walked up to the front door. She was wearing her usual jeans, boots, and a black cotton shirt that was open at the neck. Over it she had thrown Rick’s jean jacket, which she had found in her car; obviously she had forgotten to return it to him. If felt a little like home to her. At the front door, she knocked, looking the door’s hardware over as she waited, in case she needed to kick it in. She grinned to herself. Yeah, that’d look real good, she thought wryly, having to kick in my second’s door in case he’s passed out.

  The door opened, and Midnight found herself facing a young woman a little taller than herself with auburn hair and green eyes. The woman seemed taken aback by Midnight’s appearance, but she smiled warmly at the leader of FORS all the same.

  “Lieutenant Chevalier?” Jessica asked, knowing it was a dumb question. She had been shocked at how young Midnight looked—she’d also expected someone… bigger, was the only word she could think of, as she stepped aside to let Midnight in.

  “That’s something I’ve been meaning to mention,” Midnight said as she looked around. “It’s Midnight, not Lieutenant.” She extended her hand and Jessica took it. “Now,” Midnight said, “where is my ailing partner?”

  “In the kitchen. He’s been drinking all day, from what I can tell.” Midnight nodded and headed in the direction Jessica had indicated. Jessica followed along behind, not sure what to do.

  When Midnight walked in the kitchen, Joe’s head was down on his arms as they rested on the table. He hadn’t shaved in going on three days, and he looked like hell, from what Midnight could see. But she had expected no different. Joe lifted his head, as if sensing her there, and Midnight’s eyes filled instantly with tears at the look of loss in his eyes.

  “Night?” Joe said, as if not believing his eyes. Midnight moved to him, kneeling down beside him. Joe turned in the chair and pulled her up into an embrace. They were both in tears. After a few moments, Midnight pulled away, standing and drawing Joe to his feet.

  “Bedroom?” she asked, looking at Jessica, who had been watching with interest. She pointed to the hallway. Midnight nodded. She reached out and took Joe’s hand, leading him almost like a child to the bedroom. Joe stood watching as she sat down on the bed; she moved a few pillows, then grabbed his hand and pulled him down.

  Jessica took the chance to wander down the hallway and, noting that the bedroom door was still open, looked into the room. Joe’s head rested on Midnight’s lap, and his body was stretched out across the bed, both arms basically wrapped around Midnight’s midsection. Midnight rested her head against the headboard, her eyes alternating from staring up at the ceiling to looking down at Joe. Joe was either passed out or asleep—Jessica wasn’t sure which—and Midnight was stroking his mane of dirty-blond hair.

  Jessica could see that she had been right in wanting Midnight to be here to take care of Joe. It amazed her still how much she had come to care about this man, in such a short time. When she had talked to Joe and he had sounded so despondent, she had been almost sick with worry. By comparison, she had been very relieved when Midnight told her she was coming up. Now, watching Midnight with him, Jessica found herself wishing she could have such a close relationship with someone as fantastic as she had come to feel Joe was. Jessica could also see the problem that Randy was having with the friendship—it was difficult to discern where the “lovers” stopped and the “friendship” started between the two of them.

  Midnight glanced up, noticing Jessica standing in the doorway. She smiled at the younger woman.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Jessica asked.

  Midnight looked down at her sleeping partner, and then back at Jessica. “Eventually,” she said, sighing. “This is just really rough on him. You have to understand,” she said very seriously, “Randy means everything to him, and to have her do this… Well, it’s like she’s taking everything from him and kicking him on the way out.”

  Jessica nodded, understanding what Midnight was saying. Then she looked at Joe for a long moment and shook her head. “Why would she want to give him up?”

  Midnight smiled. She’d heard that tone before, from other women who thought Randy an incredibly lucky woman. “You know the old saying, the grass is always greener. Randy thinks she wants to be independent. You see, Joe met her when she was still very young and very innocent.” Midnight’s emphasis was on “innocent.” Jessica took her meaning, surprised all the same. “Anyway,” Midnight continued, “I don’t think she realizes how lucky she’s really been. I kn
ow Joe can be a real pain in the ass sometimes when it comes to overprotectiveness, but I also know that he can be reasoned with.” She paused, looking sad. “And what that dumb kid doesn’t seem to understand is that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing—she just has to try to talk to him. But she didn’t want to do that, she wanted to run away and be free.” Midnight’s voice grew angry on the last sentence.

  Jessica was quiet for a few minutes, not sure if she should tell Midnight what she had told Joe a few days before. Finally she took a deep breath and said it. “Do you think their breakup had anything to do with you and Joe’s relationship?”

  Midnight looked at the other woman for a long moment, surprised that she had been brave enough to say it, for one, and two, for thinking along the same lines Midnight had been over the past couple of weeks. “You know, a conversation that Randy and I had a few weeks back has started to come back to me again and again. Randy was pissed when I told her that if she really wanted to be a police officer, she might have to give up some things to make it happen. She wanted to know what I’d given up, and one of the things I listed was Joe.” Midnight shook her head. “I thought about it later and thought that maybe I shouldn’t have said it in quite that way, that maybe she thinks that I still wanted him, but that wasn’t the point I was trying to make. Moot point now though, huh?”

  Midnight seemed to be looking to her to validate her thinking, and Jessica felt good to know that Midnight already liked her enough to at least ask for her opinion. “Maybe,” was all she said at first. Then, wanting to be helpful if she could, she continued. “Or maybe Randy wanted it to mean something else. Maybe that’s the only way she thinks she can make a break with him, you know, trying to get out without being the one burned.”

  Midnight considered that for a long moment, wanting Jessica to be right, wanting to be absolved of being the cause of Joe and Randy’s breakup. The thought of it had been weighing heavy on her heart for the last few weeks. “Maybe,” she said finally. “Randy does seem to be spoiling for a fight.”

  “Fight?” Jessica asked.

  Midnight was thinking back. She nodded absently, but when she noticed Jessica was waiting for an explanation, she grinned. “Sorry. Yeah, she and this friend of hers have been trying to pick a fight with me. They came to my office once, right after your accident, and then they started shit with me when I did a class for them at the academy.”

  “Started shit how?”

  “Just being stupid. They tried to say that I probably couldn’t handle an actual physical confrontation with a gang member, since I just sat behind a desk and all.” Jessica was already grinning by the time Midnight finished.

  “I take it you put them back in their place?” Jessica said, having heard about Midnight from Joe and knowing she wouldn’t stand for that kind of insult.

  “You’d be right,” Midnight said, her face indicating the pleasure she had taken in doing so.

  “Well, I’d say Randy was wanting to find fault with him then,” Jessica said, nodding at Joe’s sleeping form.

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  They were silent for a few minutes, both of them watching the man they were discussing sleep on.

  Midnight looked up at Jessica. “Have you ever considered investigations?”

  Jessica began to laugh. “Your partner asked me the exact same thing. You two are almost like a married couple—you’ve been together so long, you think alike.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it,” Midnight said, rolling her eyes. “Know how hard that makes it to keep anything from the guy?”

  “I’d imagine pretty hard.”

  Midnight and Jessica talked for a few more minutes, then Midnight suggested that Jessica head home. She promised to call her the next day to let her know how Joe was doing. Jessica left.

  Midnight was dozing when she felt Joe begin to move around. She woke to find him watching her.

  “Hey,” she said, noting that he looked a lot more sober now.

  “Hey,” Joe replied. Then his face grew serious. “Tell me everything,” he said, his tone resigned.

  Midnight shook her head. “Like hell I will. I’m not into turning the knife once it’s in.”

  “Night, I need to know,” Joe said, his voice taking on an angry edge.

  “What d’ya want to know, Joe?” she asked harshly. “You want to know if they’re fucking, or do you want to know if they’re doing it in public?”

  Joe closed his eyes, visibly flinching from her words. He shook his head slowly as he sat up. “I can’t do this, Night,” he said, his tone all but dead. “I can’t take it.”

  “Well, you’re not going to take it, Joe.” Midnight knew she had to snap him out of his depression fast. She recognized the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice. It was like when his aunt had accused him of killing his own parents. Joe had been devastated, and it had not only just about killed him, but had gotten very violent where Midnight was concerned as well. “You’re going to divorce the fucking bitch and move on. That’s what she’s doing.”

  Joe was shaking his head, as if trying to keep out her words. “No, I can’t,” he said, with so much pain in his voice there were tears in Midnight’s eyes a split second later. “I can’t, Night.”

  “Yes, you can!” Midnight yelled. “Damn it, Joe, she doesn’t deserve you, if she can do this to you.” She was crying now, and Joe turned to look at her. He had heard the anger and hurt in her voice. She looked at him, her eyes staring straight into his soul. “If they can do this to us,” she said, so quietly Joe felt it more than heard it.

  He pulled her into his arms, holding her close to him. As she cried, he realized he’d been remiss in taking care of her during this thing with Rick. She had seemed okay, and he had his own problems, so he had just let it go. He knew now that she hadn’t been okay, and he knew that Randy cheating on him had only polarized the whole thing with Rick for her.

  He sat holding her for a long time, until her cries quieted and she just rested against him. “Joe,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.

  “What?” he asked, trying to look at her, but she kept her face in his shirt.

  “I have to tell you something, but it can’t go any farther than this room.” She still wouldn’t look at him, and Joe began to feel a cold, hard knot in his stomach. It was a rare time when Midnight wouldn’t look him in the eye.

  “Tell me,” he said quietly.

  “I’m pregnant,” she said, so simply that Joe wasn’t sure he had heard her correctly.

  “You’re what?”

  “You heard me right the first time—pregnant,” Midnight said, deadly quiet.

  Joe was silent for a while, trying to digest what she had just said. He knew this news wasn’t as simple as it sounded. Midnight’s pregnancy with Mikeyla had been very difficult, the labor almost costing her life. The doctors had more or less told her not to have any more children, saying that her body just wasn’t designed for the stress of a full-term pregnancy and definitely not for the trauma of a labor and birth. Joe figured that Midnight’s hesitation in telling him stemmed from the difficult idea of having to have an abortion.

  “Night,” he started, trying not to sound too callous, “if you want me to go with you, to be there, if you don’t want Rick, but—”

  Midnight cut him off. “I’m having it.”

  Joe almost stopped breathing. “Night,” he began, but she cut him off again.

  “Don’t, Joe. Don’t tell me I can’t, because I can, and I’m going to.” Her voice was determined, but she still didn’t look at him.

  “How far along are you?” Joe asked, wondering if it was already too late to terminate the pregnancy safely, and that was why she’d been afraid to tell him.

  “About ten weeks,” Midnight said, feeling Joe relax instantly. “It doesn’t matter, Joe. I’m not getting rid of this baby.”

  Joe reflected on it, realizing how this would sound to any outsider, but he knew the baby was Rick’s because he knew that con
trary to what Rick thought, Midnight hadn’t slept with anyone but him for over four years. Certainly not with Griff, not while she was still legally married to Rick.

  “Obviously you haven’t told Rick,” Joe said disapprovingly.

  “No,” Midnight said, bringing her head up sharply to look at him. “And if you tell him, I swear to God, I’ll kill you.” Her voice was deadly serious, and Joe didn’t doubt her for a minute. Midnight knew that if Rick knew about the baby, he would either make an extensive effort to talk her out of having it or he’d stay with her just to make sure she was alright.

  Joe looked at her for a long time. He could see the determination in her eyes, and he knew he’d be wasting his breath if he tried to talk her out of her course of action. “Fine then,” he said finally, in a way that brooked no argument. “As soon as I get back from here, you and Mikeyla are moving in with me.” His tone sharpened further as he saw Midnight begin to shake her head. “Don’t fucking shake your head at me. If you’re stupid enough to put yourself in this much danger, then you’re damn well going to be smart enough to take my help!” He was angry now. The idea of Midnight going through something this dangerous alone was not only unbearable, but unimaginable.

  Midnight stared at him for a long moment, then started to grin. “Jesus,” she said finally. “I’m surprised you didn’t propose while you were at it.”

  “Fuck you,” Joe replied, smiling. “Maybe I just haven’t gotten to that part yet.”

  Midnight reached out, touching his face tenderly. “Don’t tease me, Joseph Michael Sinclair, I just might think you’re serious.” Her grin was reckless, and Joe knew what was about to happen. Midnight’s hand trailed up his neck to entwine itself in his hair, and with confidence born of complete comfort with the man she was with, she pulled him toward her, her lips meeting his in a kiss that left them both breathless minutes later.

  When they parted, Joe could see the fire burning in his partner’s eyes, and he knew it was a mixture of passion and a desire for revenge. It was a dangerous combination, and Joe knew it would be so easy to give in and let their bodies lead them down very familiar territory. To make love, and feel so close to each other again, to feel connected and united against all enemies again. For a few moments, Joe fought it. He wanted to tell her they had to stop; he even started to say the words, but looking into her eyes, it just didn’t make sense to say no.