Officer Bryan Mazzeline led Sammi to his patrol car without a single word. He definitely looked like a cop with his lean but muscular build and his blonde crewcut. His eyes were an aquatic blue that certainly stood out on his clean-shaven baby face but were nowhere near as head-turning as Sammi’s.
Sammi didn’t care enough to start any trouble with Mazzeline so she just got in the passenger side of the patrol car and didn’t bother trying to start a conversation. They drove around in silence with minimal action and the day dragged on. Over lunch, Sammi attempted some small talk to try and save the rest of the shift from brutal awkwardness, but Mazzeline just rolled his eyes and gave his full attention to his sandwich.
With two hours left of their shift, a call came over the radio for an armed robbery taking place at a large chain grocery store only a few blocks away. Mazzeline answered the call and sped off in the direction of the store. As soon as they were out of the car, Sammi and Mazzeline could hear gunshots inside the store.
Mazzeline, trying to be the macho man, sent Sammi around back while he went in the front of the building. Sammi had her handgun out of her holster before she even reached the back of the enormous concrete building. The delivery door was unlocked so Sammi let herself into the warehouse with her weapon out in front of her. There was nobody around as she made her way through the stacked crates and boxes toward the front of the building. She heard another gunshot over the low humming of the refrigerators and freezers as she reached the swinging doors that led to the rest of the store.
Peeking through the clouded windows of the flimsy swinging doors, Sammi could see three people hiding behind a row of freezers that held a variety of ice creams and other frozen desserts. Sammi slid silently through the doors and over to the terrified civilians, signaling for them to remain quiet.
“How many shooters?” Sammi whispered, kneeling down by the small group of two store employees and one shopper. There were no signs of injuries among them.
“I only saw one, but I heard a second gun,” the teenage male employee informed her, but she knew the second gun was Mazzeline’s.
“Where did you last see or hear the shooter?” Sammi asked.
“I think he’s a few aisles in,” the young adult female employee told her. “He shot a shopper and is holding him hostage.”
“Okay. The back delivery door is open and I’m going to cover you guys while you run through those doors that I just came through,” Sammi directed the three of them.
Sammi stood up first and the others followed. She waved them behind her and kept her back to them with her gun raised in front of her as they quickly and silently ran for the warehouse. Turning her head only slightly, she made sure they had escaped before looking for the shooter.
Walking down one side of the store, Sammi stopped and looked down each aisle for suspects or any more civilians. She found Officer Mazzeline in the third aisle from the front of the store along with the suspect using a hostage as a human shield. The hostage had already been shot in the shoulder and was bleeding through his t-shirt.
The standoff between Mazzeline and the suspect was going on too long and Sammi could tell right away that the hostage was sweating and fading out. That didn’t stop his eyes from widening as they made contact with Sammi’s eyes. He knew her and she knew him.
“Is there any way we can end this right now?” Sammi asked the suspect as she took her spot next to Mazzeline with her gun raised.
“I ain’t going to jail,” the suspect answered. He was an exceptionally large man wearing black pants and a black t-shirt with a long-barreled pistol pointed at the hostage’s throat.
“Well, I’m going to need you to let that man go,” Sammi said softly and calmly while internally panicking and wondering why Mazzeline wasn’t saying anything.
“Oh yeah? You gonna take his place?” the suspect scoffed at Sammi.
Sammi thought about it for a second and decided that was a pretty good idea. She could easily play him with her looks and distract him into letting his guard down. This was clearly going against protocol, but Sammi wasn’t interested in trying to keep this job anymore. And it was clear that Mazzeline wasn’t going to do anything, so it was up to her.
“Sure, if that’s what it takes,” Sammi said and lowered her weapon. She removed the rubber band from her hair and let the picture-perfect blonde strands fall around her soft face to increase her appeal.
“I’m not letting him go until you drop the gun,” the suspect said, his eyes locked on Sammi.
Sammi squatted down, possibly puffing out her chest for effect, and placed her pistol on the tile floor. She stood up with her hands up in surrender and kicked the gun under the potato chip rack next to her.
“I’m not coming to you until you release that man,” Sammi told the suspect.
The suspect turned his gun on Mazzeline to keep him back before shoving his hostage to the floor. The injured man fell toward Mazzeline and Mazzeline yelled at him to stay down. But the man needed medical attention, and the sooner the better.
“Alright, let’s go, blondie,” the suspect ordered and patted his thigh like he was calling a dog over. He was trying to keep his eyes on Mazzeline so he wouldn’t get caught with his guard down.
Sammi began walking slowly to him, swaying her hips as much as possible and drawing his gaze with her hypnotic sapphire eyes. Mazzeline watched the suspect intently and the second he turned his eyes on Sammi, Mazzeline fired one nonlethal shot into the suspect’s shoulder. The suspect dropped his pistol, but he didn’t go down. Sammi dashed to him, kicked his gun away, and wrenched his arm behind his back, applying pressure to the gunshot wound and causing him to surrender. She kicked the backs of his legs to bring him to his knees as Mazzeline hurried over and cuffed him.
With the suspect in custody and macho man Mazzeline wanting credit for the arrest, Sammi turned her attention to the hostage who was slowly losing consciousness as he bled out on the grocery store floor.
“You’re crazy,” Howard said through bated breath, forcing a grateful smile as Sammi knelt down next to him.
“That’s not the first time you’ve said that,” Sammi replied, returning his smile. “Just hang in there. Paramedics will be here any second.”
Sammi stayed with Howard until he was taken away on a stretcher. By that point, the detectives who had caught this case were waiting impatiently to take her statement. Not having heard Mazzeline’s rendition of what happened, Sammi had no choice but to tell the truth and accept the consequences. The detectives didn’t question her account so she figured Mazzeline must have been honest in his statement as well, which had her thinking that he cared more about getting her in trouble than getting praise for himself.
When the detectives were satisfied that they had gotten everything they needed from the two patrol officers, they released Mazzeline and Sammi from the scene. Their shift had ended over an hour ago and they still had to get back to their precinct building in the middle of rush hour.
“The overtime will be nice,” Sammi mumbled as she scooted forward and leaned back to relax in the passenger seat of the patrol car.
“I’m, uh, I’m really sorry about the way I acted today,” Mazzeline said nervously from the driver seat. “You were incredible back there.”
“No offense, but I shouldn’t have had to prove myself to you,” Sammi shot at him. “I’m on the job, just like you, and deserved your respect right out the gate. As do all female cops.”
“You’re right,” Mazzeline admitted. “I’m really sorry and I hope I get the chance to make it up to you.”
Sammi still wasn’t impressed with Mazzeline’s apology and allowed the conversation to drop. She was far too uncomfortable to call Mack with no privacy from her temporary partner, and her anxiety grew as she thought about her husband left waiting and worrying for her back at the station house. Without getting into too much detail, she sent him a text message apologizing and explained that she was on her way back from a crime scene and that
she was fine.
*
As soon as they got back to the precinct, Sammi hurried into the locker room to change out of her patrol uniform. She barely had her street clothes on before Mack Johnson burst through the door and hugged her tightly to his body. Sammi let him hold her for as long as he needed before she even tried talking to him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call you,” Sammi said softly once Mack loosened his arms around her.
“You’re safe and that’s all that matters,” Mack replied with fear still in his voice.
“No, I acted stupidly, and you have every right to be upset with me,” Sammi told him, very aware that he had already heard the entire story of what happened from somebody else.
“What were you thinking? I’m not mad; I just want to understand.”
“I honestly wasn’t thinking anything, and I wasn’t the least bit scared.”
“You’re crazy and you’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Not if I get off the job. I just want to finish out the week to get the overtime from today.”
“That sounds pretty ideal to me.”
Mack kissed his wife’s forehead and the two of them left the locker room together. As they got into Mack’s vehicle, which was parked behind the station house, Sammi remembered that she wanted to make a pitstop on their way home.
“Do you mind swinging by the hospital quick?” Sammi asked as Mack started the car.
“Why? Are you okay?” Mack replied, immediately concerned.
“I’m fine,” Sammi said with a chuckle. “Howard was the injured hostage and I want to check on him.”
“Howard, as in…?”
“Yes, and before you say anything, Howard is good people. He was probably the best person on my team.”
Mack gave Sammi an uncertain look and sighed but headed for the hospital anyway. Sammi obviously held Howard in high regards, especially since she had just risked her life for him, so Mack wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt for her sake. He just hoped that Howard wasn’t still in contact with Shay because he didn’t feel as forgiving towards that crazy woman.
When they got to the hospital, Howard’s nurses and doctors somehow knew that Sammi was the cop who saved Howard and insisted on making a big fuss over her heroic actions. Sammi didn’t care much for the attention and kept her eyes on Howard in the hospital bed. Howard was already looking and feeling so much better and couldn’t hide the gratitude he felt toward Sammi.
“So, you’re really a cop, huh?” Howard asked as Sammi stood by his bedside.
“Not for too much longer,” Sammi admitted and Mack squeezed her hand, subconsciously showing his support.
“Well, you certainly showed up that jerk of a partner of yours today,” Howard stated with a kind smile.
“Dude’s not even really my partner,” Sammi told him. “I was just filling in for the day.”
“I guess fate was on my side today.”
Sammi removed her hand from Mack’s so she could take Howard’s hand in both of hers. She said goodnight to him and promised to visit him after her shift the next day. Then she and Mack finally headed home.
Chapter Thirteen
Firing Squad
Sammi had a hard time waking up the next morning. She was more tired than she usually was, and she had lost the motivation for her job since she had made her decision to part ways with the force. The fear of Sergeant Tanner yelling at her for her actions the previous day wasn’t helping her desire to call out of work and was giving her anxiety.
When Mack and Sammi finally got to work, Mack got a phone call before even getting out of the car and sent Sammi on ahead without him. As soon as Sammi walked through the front doors, she saw that the lobby was lined with law enforcement officers who all erupted into cheers at the sight of her. Balloons were released into the air, people were shaking her hand left and right, and Sergeant Tanner waited for her at the back of the lines. Sammi had a look of pure confusion on her face as she walked cluelessly to her boss.
Once Sammi eventually reached Sergeant Tanner, he held out a black leather wallet and flipped it open to reveal a shiny new detective badge. Sammi was speechless as she took the badge from her boss and looked at it with uncertainty.
“I thought I was coming into a suspension today,” Sammi said quietly, not looking away from the badge.
“Although your actions yesterday were not ideal, they were heroic and went above and beyond the call of duty,” Sergeant Tanner explained. “You’re being assigned to Homicide, and Captain Hobbs is on the third floor waiting to welcome his new detectives.”
“Detectives?” Sammi asked, talking more to herself than the Sergeant, but Tanner pointed in the direction of the front door. Sammi turned to look as Officer Mazzeline entered the lobby and received the same celebratory greeting as she just had.
Shit! Sammi didn’t want to keep working with Mazzeline and his arrogant attitude, nor did she want this promotion. This had come completely out of left field and was going to make it more difficult for her to quit.
Not in the mood to deal with Mazzeline just yet, Sammi dashed up the stairs ahead of him. She went right to the Captain’s office and knocked softly. Hobbs called for her to enter and she let herself into the cramped but comfortable office that she had been in once before.
“Ah, Detective Johnson!” Hobbs said, and Sammi cringed internally. It wasn’t often that anyone used Sammi’s married name with her and it always caught her by surprise when they did. And she wasn’t totally warmed up to this whole detective thing yet either.
“Good morning, Captain,” Sammi replied, coming across more shy than normal. She and Hobbs had a good relationship despite Hobbs’ knowledge of her not-so-clean past.
“I hate that they decided to promote you without any warning,” Hobbs told her. He was always so kind to Sammi and she appreciated him for that. “But once I get a chance to talk to you and Mazzeline, I’m going to send you guys home and give you the day to mentally prepare for this job.”
While they waited for Mazzeline, Hobbs and Sammi talked about Mack and the possibility of him taking Hobbs’ position when he retired. Hobbs had put in a good word for him, but the entire precinct knew how difficult Mack was to work with and all the problems he had brought to the unit. Of course, only Hobbs and Sammi knew that Sammi was in fact one of those problems.
“I’m really sorry for everything,” Sammi said quietly, looking down at the floor.
“Samantha, Mack saw something in you and wanted to give you the opportunity to expose it. And I do not believe that you have let him down,” Hobbs replied.
Mazzeline showed up a moment later and Hobbs explained that he and Sammi were going to be partnered with each other in the homicide division of the precinct. They would be able to start catching cases the next day, after taking time to read protocols and standards for their new positions. Then Hobbs took them out into the squad room to introduce them to everybody and show them their desks, which Hobbs had made sure were as far away from Mack’s desk as possible.
After they were shown around, Hobbs released Mazzeline and Sammi for the rest of the day. They were still getting paid so Sammi headed downstairs to clear out her old desk and move the necessities up to her new one. While she was setting up the new desk, Mack finally wandered over to see her.
“So, detective, huh?” Mack asked, smiling at his wife from the opposite side of her new desk.
“Did you know about this?” Sammi replied, still wondering and bothered by why this happened so suddenly.
“I wouldn’t have talked you into quitting the force if I had known,” Mack told her.
“So, let me guess. Now you want me to stay?” she asked, irritated that he was going to change his mind. It wasn’t like she needed his permission to quit, but she had liked it when they were on the same page. She wasn’t about to feel bad for wanting her husband’s support.
“Let’s talk about this later,” Mack whispered, suddenly very aware of where the
y were.
“I’ll see you at home,” Sammi replied bitterly and slammed a desk drawer before walking away in anger.
Sammi left the station house and walked several blocks to Kodi’s apartment building. Kodi wasn’t expecting her so she had a look of shock on her face when she opened the door and let Sammi inside. Without speaking, Sammi walked to the kitchen island and sat down with her head down on the counter.
“Why aren’t you at work?” Kodi asked, somewhat afraid of the possible answers.
“I got promoted,” Sammi mumbled into the countertop.
“That’s great!” Kodi said. “Isn’t it?”
Sammi sat up and swung around on the stool to face her best friend. Then she took a deep breath and proceeded to tell her about Mack backing her decision to quit the force and become a thief again, her standoff to save Howard’s life in a grocery store, and her promotion to Mack’s department where Mack had wanted her all along.
“We really need to stay in touch during the week,” Kodi stated after having a difficult time keeping up with everything she had missed in just a few short days.
“Do you want to go see Howard with me at the hospital?” Sammi asked, changing the subject to help herself calm down.
“Sure, I’ll drive,” Kodi offered, “but we’re talking about your career dilemma on the way.”
Sammi followed Kodi out of the apartment and down to the garage to Kodi’s car. She thought about the last time she was in that garage and the feeling of being watched, but she was too distracted and bummed out to be able to sense anything this time. Not that she would’ve cared if someone was following them again, because she was in a bad enough mood that she was itching for a fight.
On their way over to the hospital, Sammi explained what she had been thinking for getting back into thieving. She obviously wanted Kodi on her team and she considered it to be fate that brought Howard back into her life. The three of them would make just as good of a team as the five of them had, but without all the drama. She wanted to travel outside of the state and was willing to spend months at a time planning and perfecting the heists before pulling them off. The fewer jobs they did and the further away from each other they were would make it nearly impossible for anyone to track them back to Sammi and her friends.
Love Against the Law Page 10
