by Lori L. Lake
“I hardly think my meal warrants a code red. Just get a move on,” she said, hiding her smile of happiness.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jaylynn didn’t know what to expect when she arrived for work the next day. Riding with Pilcher had been okay, and she liked when she got assigned with Crystal, but some of the other cops were not fun. She couldn’t avoid admitting to herself how much she preferred Dez. She’d forgotten—no, she’d chosen on purpose not to remember—how enjoyable a shift could be. The evening before had flown by taking no time at all for the two of them to slip back into an effective work rhythm. Little needed to be said. On calls, a quick nod or hand gesture, maybe a raised eyebrow, and each knew what the other was thinking. Two domestics and three noise complaints kept them busy until midnight, and when shift ended, she’d felt a twinge of longing for the night to go on and on. But she was Cinderella at the ball, and at the stroke of twelve the party would be all over. She laughed ruefully at herself for comparing Cinderella’s tribulations to hers. At least I don’t have to wear high-heeled glass slippers. Or a skirt with a giant hoop.
She arrived nearly forty-five minutes early to see the lieutenant, and then went to the locker room to change into her uniform. She dressed hastily. Sitting on the bench in front of her locker, the back of her knees pressed against the rickety wood, she worked at threading her wide belt through the loops on her pants. The locker room door opened. She didn’t look around until she sensed someone looming behind her, someone very tall with long black hair.
“Oh, hi.” Jaylynn willed herself not to blush, but it didn’t work.
Dez didn’t seem to notice. She sat down on the other even more rickety bench across from Jaylynn’s back. In a low, soft voice she said, “We need to talk.”
Jaylynn swung around, lifting her feet over the bench to the other side, and faced Dez . Not looking up, she finished buckling her belt. “What about?”
“Us.”
Jaylynn’s head came up swiftly and her eyes met shards of smoldering blue. She waited, not trusting her voice to speak.
Dez looked away, her face grim but determined. “I think I’ve been sort of hard on you lately.” She leaned forward, put her elbows on her knees, and looked down. Quietly she said, “I want you to know you’re developing into a damn good cop, and I’d like to go back to riding with you—whenever you want, that is, if you want to, I mean—”
“I accept.”
“What?”
“Your apology. I accept.”
Dez looked confused. “I wasn’t aware I was apologizing.”
“Well, you should be,” Jaylynn said with a great deal more vehemence than she intended.
Her face now a carefully guarded mask, Dez rose to full height, towering over Jaylynn as she gave her the most merciless stare. “Now see here, you’re the one who asked out—not me.”
Jaylynn stood up, too, and all five and a half feet of her met Dez’s gaze with unflinching firmness. “You gave me no choice. Besides, can you stand there and tell me you weren’t passing me off anyway?” Dez made a gesture with her hand, but Jaylynn interrupted, “Don’t lie to me to make me feel better. You didn’t want to ride with me anymore, did you?”
Dez glared at her. This discussion was not what she’d had in mind when she’d begun it. She’d felt better during last night’s shift than she had in a very long time. It felt—right. Like all was right with the world. And she’d pondered nothing else all day, had debated back and forth whether she should even approach Jaylynn, and now she was sure she should not have. “What do you want from me?”
Abruptly, Jaylynn sat down and put her head in her hands. “Nothing. Really. Forget it.”
Dez stepped over the bench and squatted in front of Jaylynn. She tapped Jaylynn’s knee with her fist. “Hey. Let’s not be so serious, okay? If you’d rather not ride with me, that’s okay.”
“No, Dez, that’s not it. I like riding with you. A lot.” She looked up and saw the guarded look on Dez’s face. “But what about your reputation?”
“Whaddya mean?” Dez rocked back on her heels and stood up again.
“You’ve got a reputation to uphold. You told me that before. You sure you want to partner with the lesbian rookie? Believe me, enough people know now.”
“God! Why are you making this so hard?” Dez tightened her fist and smacked it into the palm of her hand, making a growling sound in her throat. What she wanted to do was pick up the lockers and throw them out the window—but this was the basement and there were no windows. She sat on the bench again and squeezed her eyes shut. “All right. I apologize.”
“For what?”
It was all Dez could do to keep from screaming. She drew a deep breath and held it, then expelled it forcefully and opened her eyes. She looked into Jaylynn’s hazel eyes and saw a trace of amusement. Inexplicably, she relaxed.
What did Ryan use to say? In the face of female adversity, either run like hell or throw in the towel.
She’d already run like hell and that hadn’t worked. She wondered how good her towel tossing skills were. She cleared her throat. “What I’m sorry about is that everything I said and did hurt you. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Jay. Can you accept that?”
“Okay.”
“And I’d like us to go back to riding together again. I’ll keep teaching you what I know if you’ll forgive me for being such an oaf.”
“Okay.”
“So, should we go talk to the lieutenant?”
“No.”
Exasperated, Dez groaned. “Why the hell not?”
“I went to see him when I first got here and already put in the request. All you have to do is okay it.”
Dez got to her feet and loomed over her. “You made me go through all of that?”
Jaylynn tipped her head back, and with a smile of satisfaction said, “Yup. And it was worth it.”
In mock anger, Dez grabbed Jaylynn’s collar and tugged her to her feet. “You are the most pigheaded person I’ve ever met.”
“You looked in the mirror lately? Maybe you should have someone introduce you to yourself.” She shrugged Dez’s hand off and straightened her collar.
In a grumpy voice, Dez said, “Very funny.”
The locker room door swung open and in came Cheryl. “Hey there, girls.” She launched into an account of her fabulous day. Dez took the first opportunity to slip away, leaving Jaylynn listening intently to Cheryl’s rambling. What Dez didn’t realize was that although on the outside Jaylynn appeared to be listening, on the inside, she was still talking to Dez, still with Dez, totally immersed in happiness.
After shift that night Jay was still wired. She’d been full of energy for nine straight hours. They got back to the locker room and she called out over her shoulder, “Are you lifting weights tonight, Dez?”
“Nah, day of rest from lifting.”
“Too bad. I feel like I need to work off some of this nervous energy.”
“Let’s take a run then.” Dez wrestled off her bulletproof vest.
“Very funny. Just jog up and down the halls of administration or what?”
“No. I’m serious. We take off and run down to the river and back. I do it all the time.”
Jaylynn started to remove her T-shirt, but paused. “Do I need to remind you it’s after midnight?”
“I strap my weapon on over my jogging clothes, and presto—no problem. Nobody ever bothers me.”
“I’m not running with a gun flapping at my side.” She tugged her T-shirt back down and got out a pair of sweat bottoms.
“You don’t have to carry. I don’t think we need more fire power than what my weapon offers,” Dez said dryly. “I’m used to it anyway. So, are you game?”
Jaylynn swung around on the bench and waited as Dez put on socks and shoes. Jaylynn was already dressed in leotards under blue sweats and three layers of shirts: T-shirt, long-sleeved jersey, and an orange sweatshirt. Dez slipped into black sweats and a heavy gray sweatshirt with the SPPD lo
go. She finished tying her shoes and fished through her locker until she found a neoprene sport holster. She tugged her sweatshirt up and Velcroed it around her waist, secured the gun, and moved the holster so the gun was at the small of her back.
“Hey, that’s cool,” Jay said, “but that’s not your Glock is it?”
“No, it’s a thirty-eight I like to carry when I run or ride my bike.”
She tugged Dez’s sweatshirt up to examine the holster. “It’s like scuba dive material.”
“Yeah, so it keeps my middle warm, that’s for sure.” She tucked some money and her license in her sock and faced Jay, ready to go.
They went out the building into the cool night air. “So what’s the route?” Jaylynn asked.
“You want, say, a mile down and back, or the long route?”
“How long is long?”
“Maybe four miles.”
Jaylynn stopped to think for a moment. “Let’s go long then.”
By now they were out on the empty avenue, the street lamps shining down on Jaylynn’s hair and making her look as though a halo reflected around her head. Dez’s face was shrouded in shadow. Jay walked next to her and looked up, trying to see her eyes, but the dark gloom obscured her face.
“Okay,” Dez said, “let’s go down Jackson, under the train overpass, across Warner to the river, and run on the path for a mile or so. Then let’s come back up and go through Rice Park. It’ll be a nice loop.”
Jaylynn nodded and they took off into a slow jog, gradually stretching their legs farther, speeding up, until they found a steady rhythm suiting them both. For the first mile they heard only the rasp of one another’s breath and an occasional far-off siren. They reached the river and ran side by side on the path. Jay said, “I like . . . those lights . . . on the water.”
Dez looked out across the Mississippi. Reflections from the buildings on the other side cast wavy golden light on the surface of the water. “It’s pretty.” The path was well-lit by lamps placed every thirty feet or so, and a waist-high bright blue metal fence ran beside the path between them and the drop down to the river. When the weather improved, there would be flowers and plants galore alongside the footpath.
Soon they came to the end of the river path and turned around. With a sly grin, Jaylynn said, “I’ll beat you to the boat mooring sign,” and she took off. Dez accelerated after her, long legs beating staccato on the cement. She gained slowly and drew next to her. Now they were engaged in a battle of wills since their legs were fatigued and tiring. Jaylynn fell into a familiar rhythm: knees up, hands loose, breath even. Her peripheral vision slowly narrowed until she was focused only on the sign seventy yards, sixty yards, fifty yards ahead . . .
With her longer, stronger legs, Dez pushed herself, tenaciously remaining alongside the fleet-footed woman. She was determined to stay with Jaylynn, maybe not beat her, but at least reach the sign simultaneously. Her breath was ragged, and she felt her lungs burning. Forty yards, thirty yards, so close, so close.
They blew past the sign, abreast, and slowed gradually until they both came to a stop next to the fence along the path. Panting, they bent over and tried to catch their breath.
“Good speed there,” Jaylynn gasped, “for an old lady.”
Dez whacked Jaylynn’s shoulder lightly with the back of her hand. “Easy for you to say,” she choked out. “You aren’t . . . packing a . . . heavy gun.”
Jay squealed with laughter. “Oh, right . . . that’s a good one. Want me to take it, and we’ll . . . try another four hundred yards or so?”
“Nah, that’s okay. I . . . concede to the . . . superior sprinter.”
Jay looked up at her in mock horror. “Oh my God! What a day. Apologies. And concessions. All in one night!”
Dez could finally breathe better and started walking along the path, still taking deep breaths of the cool night air. “That’s where you’re wrong. It’s after midnight—a whole new day. Yesterday was apologies. Today is concessions.”
Jaylynn fell in beside her walking swiftly. “What will tomorrow bring?”
“Who knows, confessions? Maybe I’ll divulge a few long-lost secrets.”
In a droll voice Jaylynn said, “Ooh, can’t wait to hear that.”
“That’s enough racing, but let’s pick it up now that I can finally breathe again.”
They shifted into a slow jog and struggled up the hill to Kellogg toward Rice Park. The ornamental street lamps shone brightly all around the one block circumference of the park. Two cement paths formed an X from corner to corner of the block, and in one quarter of the X was a beautiful fountain, ringed by a wide, waist-high marble retaining wall which enclosed a pool of dark water. The fountain was not operating, and all was quiet in the park. They jogged up to the wall and stopped. Jaylynn put her heel up on the wall and proceeded to stretch out her hamstrings. At the center of the pool of water was a ten-foot-high iron statue of a woman. She looked downward, her head cocked slightly to the side. She had powerful arms and legs, a narrow waist, and long hair. Her face was mysteriously passive and hard to make out in the murky night light.
Dez leaned back against the wall, pulled herself up, and balanced on the wide edge. The cement was cold against her legs, but she disregarded it.
Jaylynn stopped stretching and shook her legs out. She could keep running. She wasn’t yet tired, though she thought she should be. Instead, nervous energy coursed through her limbs. She glanced up at Dez and found thoughtful blue eyes already on her. In two steps, she could put her arms around Dez’s waist, her head against her middle. She willed herself not to think about that. She’d be damned if she’d make a fool of herself again. The mischievous side of her was even tempted to push Dez into the pool, and she gave a strained laugh and leaned her elbows on the wall a safe two feet away from the dark form perched nearby.
“What’s so funny?” Dez asked in a low throaty voice.
“You’re in a mighty vulnerable position. If I wasn’t such a nice person, you could be doing the backstroke right now.”
“And you’d have joined me, count on it.”
“Hmm, I’m not waiting to see if you’re right. Especially since I see a squad car coming our way now.”
Dez looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, a car was slowing on the street. The cruiser’s spotlight illuminated them and a streak of light shone their way. Dez jumped off the wall and faced the cops, raising her hands out and above shoulder level. “Hey,” she shouted. “Who is that? Patterson? Bentley?”
The spotlight went out and the driver’s door opened. “Reilly? Is that you?”
“Yeah,” she shouted. “Bentley?”
“No, Patterson.” A tall skinny form moved toward them, stepped over a low brick wall, and came around the side of the fountain. “What the hell are you doing out here this time of night? And who’s this?”
“Savage and I went for a run.”
“Jesus, Reilly, it’s almost two-fucking-o’clock in the morning.” He was close enough now for them to see his tired face.
Dez said, “Best time to run. There’s no roller bladers competing for the jogging path.”
“You gals might not be safe, you know. I wouldn’t be out this time of night.”
“Patterson, you are out this time of night,” Dez said.
“But I’m working. What if somebody came along, hassled you, attacked you?”
“You worry too much. I’m packing.” She turned a bit so he’d see her holster. “Nobody messes with me. But if it makes you feel any better, we’re on the way back up to the station.”
“Okay. Whatever.” He peered at Jaylynn. “I haven’t met you, Savage. Heard your name. I’m Gus Patterson.” He stuck his hand out and she told him her first name. He let go and spoke to Dez. “Hey, Reilly. I hear you’re competing in a couple months. Is that right?”
There was a long pause. “Yeah, I am.”
“I’ll come and root you on. It’s for a nice cause. So good luck.”
“Than
ks, Patterson.”
“See you two girls around. Be careful.” He spun on his heel and moved away from them.
“Don’t worry, Patterson,” Dez called out confidently. “Anybody messes with us, I’ll shoot ’em. And if I miss, Savage here can just run away.”
His voice came back faintly, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t call me to take the report.” He got back in the car and drove off.
Jaylynn looked at Dez quizzically. “What competition was he talking about?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” She moved away from the wall. “Let’s head back up—”
“Wait.” Jaylynn grabbed her forearm. “Tell me. What was he talking about?”
Dez shook her head. She spat out the next words. “I didn’t want everyone and their brother to know about this, but apparently they must.”
“I’m not everyone and their brother, Dez.” Jaylynn was getting mad and trying to keep it cool. She still gripped DEz’s arm and felt warmth and moisture through the cotton sweatshirt.
Dez gave a sigh. “I’m in a bodybuilding competition in four months, and I pledged the proceeds to Ryan’s memorial fund for the kids’ college. If I place, that is. It might not be a lot of money, but it’s something. Come on. Let’s walk.”
Jaylynn let go of her arm, and they silently moved out of the park. “You weren’t planning to tell me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe tomorrow. It’s a day early for confessions you know.”
Jaylynn looked over at her, startled, then realized she was kidding. “I think that’s a wonderful thing to do. I hope you win.”
Dez shrugged. “I guess there’s a pool going with some of the officers, too. Some betting for, some against me. They’ll probably raise a couple thousand dollars that way.” Dez lengthened her stride, and Jaylynn picked up her pace to keep up.
“Where is it? I want to come.”
Dez stopped. “This is going to be hard.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll give you moral support.”
“It’s not that. Geez, I don’t know! Ryan’s wife will be there. His kids—it’s going to be—I don’t know why in the hell I agreed to do it.” She shuddered. “Except I’d give every dollar I’ll make for the rest of my life to have him back.” Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head. In a soft, bitter voice she said, “But I know that’ll never happen, so the best I can do is help out Julie and his kids.”
