“Are you okay?” Eli asked, dropping to his knees in front of Sammi.
“I will be,” Sammi told him, still breathing heavily.
“Thank you for not shooting her,” Eli said quietly and Sammi looked up at his face to see that he had been crying.
It suddenly crossed Sammi’s mind that the only reason Shay would have been at that specific location would be that she knew Eli would be there. And she would only know that if they had been in communication with each other, which would only support Mack’s theory that Eli knew Shay was going to come after her.
Spooked, Sammi leapt to her feet and backed away quickly from Eli. Eli looked confused as he also stood up, watching Sammi’s face. Before either of them could speak, an unmarked squad car rolled up with the windows down and Mazzeline called out to Sammi that everyone was looking for her. Sammi hurried into the passenger seat without even a look back at Eli.
“Are you okay?” Mazzeline asked as he drove toward the precinct building after glancing over at Sammi and seeing how pale her face was.
“Everyone keeps asking me that. But I could’ve been shot by the same person for a third time, so forgive me for being a little shaken,” Sammi snapped at her partner.
“All right, the Captain can wait for your paperwork,” Mazzeline responded as he made an abrupt U-turn and headed in the opposite direction of the station house.
Mazzeline drove to the diner where he and Sammi had lunch together the one day they had worked together on patrol. He got out of the car and waited for Sammi to follow him. They walked inside together and Mazzeline got them a booth where they sat down, and he immediately ordered a chocolate milkshake for Sammi.
“Just relax and enjoy that,” Mazzeline said once the milkshake was in front of Sammi.
“Thank you,” Sammi said with a smile before taking a sip. She appreciated this moment more than she could put into words.
Mazzeline sat, casual and cool with his arm draped across his side of the booth. His blue eyes met Sammi’s for a short second and, in that moment, they finally bonded as partners.
Chapter Twenty
Where Do We Go?
The next six months passed by in a whirlwind. Shay was finally taken off the streets after being served a life sentence and Sammi chose to avoid Eli without telling anyone about her revelation upon Shay’s arrest. Everyone knew that she was shaken up after her final battle with Shay, but the proof was in her abrupt dedication to her job and her and Mazzeline’s speedy rise to being the top detectives in the unit.
One day, toward the end of six months, Captain Hobbs called Sammi and Mazzeline into his office before assigning new cases for the week. Sammi was still cold towards Hobbs, and his indifference towards her after she arrested Shay had not helped.
“A congratulations are in order for the two of you,” Hobbs announced once Sammi and Mazzeline were sitting across from him at his desk. “Both of you are being promoted to Lieutenant, but you each have a decision to make. You can either stay here in the same position, making the same money, and take the Captain’s exam with nothing to show for your promotion other than your shiny new badges. Or you can transfer to separate precincts where you’d be top rank in the unit with higher pay.”
“Mazzeline is my partner,” Sammi stated bluntly, looking directly at Hobbs. “I don’t want to work with anyone else.”
Sammi could feel Mazzeline looking at her, but she kept her eyes forward. She knew that Mazzeline had every right to leave and take a pay raise elsewhere. But she hoped that he wouldn’t. He had proven to her that he had her back and she trusted him as much as she trusted her own husband. The chances of finding a comparable partner were slim.
“You know what? I wouldn’t be getting this promotion without Sammi,” Mazzeline speculated. “I’m not about to abandon her.”
Hobbs nodded and handed his new Lieutenants their new badges. Mazzeline thanked the Captain and stood up to leave the office, waiting for his partner. But Sammi stuck her tongue out at Hobbs so she was asked to stay back.
“Is this ever going to stop?” Hobbs asked after Mazzeline had left the office.
“That depends. Are you ever going to admit that you were wrong to blackmail me?” Sammi replied with sass. “I used to think we were friends.”
“Fine. I’m sorry, Sammi, I really am,” Hobbs apologized. “I should’ve talked to you and shown you the proper respect instead of taking away your feeling of freedom. I was wrong.”
“Thank you. I wish I could say things can go back to the way they were before, but I’d be lying.”
Sammi went back out into the squad room and over to Mack’s desk where Mack sat in his chair awaiting a case. Hopping up onto the desk, Sammi sat on the edge of it with her legs crossed toward her husband. She placed her new badge down on the desk in front of Mack and looked at him with a cocky grin on her face. Mack looked between his wife and the badge a handful of times before standing up to passionately kiss Sammi in front of the entire squad room.
“I am so proud of you, baby,” Mack whispered against Sammi’s lips.
Feeling indifferent towards her promotion, Sammi just wanted to make out with her husband. She kept her lips pressed to Mack’s and kissed him back harder, grabbing his tie to pull him closer to her. The squad room disappeared and all that existed in Sammi’s world in that moment was the man she loved.
“All right, lovebirds, that’s enough,” Sammi heard Hobbs say nonchalantly from behind her. She finally released her man but remained seated on his desk.
“What’s up, boss?” Mack asked, sitting back down in his chair and leaning back, clearly feeling pretty good about himself.
“I’ve got two separate cases,” Hobbs told him. “You want to work with your wife on one?”
Sammi and Mack looked at each other and Sammi cracked a smile. She knew that Hobbs was only offering for them to work together to try and make up for blackmailing her while also testing her previous testament of loyalty to Mazzeline.
“Sorry, babe, but I’m a one partner kind of gal,” Sammi said to Mack, continuing to smile as she leaned over to plant one more kiss on his lips.
Then Sammi hopped down off Mack’s desk and went to sit at her own. Tuning out Hobbs while he explained the two cases, Sammi took her cellphone out of her pocket and sent a text message to Kodi about her promotion. While she still had her phone out, she got an incoming message from Mack telling her to meet him in the elevator while Mazzeline and Palma headed out ahead of them. Sammi looked up to see Mack grinning at her from across the room and couldn’t keep from blushing.
After Mack decided which pair of partners got which case, he and his wife sent their separate partners on ahead to pull the cars around. Then the two lovers met in front of the elevator and smirked at each other while waiting for it to reach their floor. Once they were inside the dark, small, rectangular box, Mack pressed the button for the ground floor before wrapping his fingers around Sammi’s arms and pushing her up against the wall with his lips immediately on hers. Sammi was able to get her arms out just enough to grab Mack’s belt and pull his body to her.
“I love you, Mack Johnson,” Sammi breathed into her husband’s lips.
Overcome by her words and her passion, Mack moved his left hand up to the right side of her face. He lightly brushed her porcelain cheek with his fingertips and tucked her long hair behind her ear without taking his lips off of her. He kept his hand there, cupping her jawline as she popped up onto the tips of her toes to get a better angle to kiss him with more force. Sammi had Mack’s tie undone and completely off his body just as the elevator came to a stop and the door opened.
Mack kept Sammi against the wall of the elevator and ran his fingers down her arm to her hand that held his balled up tie. He made a quick grab for the tie, but Sammi was faster and held the tie above her head.
“I need that back,” Mack said, grinning as he pressed his nose to Sammi’s. “Otherwise, I might just have to use it on you later.”
; “Maybe I want you to use it,” Sammi teased and kissed him hard, biting his bottom lip as she brought her arm down to hide the tie behind her back.
“You’re on, Mrs. Johnson,” Mack whispered huskily. Then he pecked her quickly on the lips one time and grinned hugely at her as they exited the elevator together.
Once in their separate squad cars with their separate partners, Mack grabbed a spare tie out of the glove compartment and put it on while Sammi wrapped the tie she took from Mack around her left wrist and tied it off in a bow.
*
A few weeks later, Mack and Sammi spent a Saturday in the city so they could take the Captain’s exam with Mazzeline upon Hobbs’ request. The three of them knew Hobbs was only humoring Mazzeline and Sammi because he felt guilty about them not getting appropriate pay raises with their rank promotions. Sammi only went along with it because she liked getting to do the same things that Mack was doing, and she felt closer to him than ever.
When they got home in the late afternoon, there was a car in the driveway that wasn’t theirs, but they both knew it was Eli’s. Sammi groaned and slid down in the passenger seat as Mack parked his car next to Eli’s Honda. It had been a good six months since Sammi had talked to Eli, but she had known this day was coming; she couldn’t stay in New York and expect to avoid him forever. She was actually somewhat impressed that he had stayed away for this long.
“Want me to send him away?” Mack asked, getting serious but remaining calm.
“No, it’s fine,” Sammi told him. “Just don’t leave me alone with him.”
Eli got out of his car as Mack and Sammi got out of theirs. As the married couple walked around the front of the cars toward their front door, Mack kept himself in between Eli and Sammi. He kept a skeptical eye on Eli but did his best to remain neutral so Sammi would feel more comfortable talking to Eli and finally express what had been bothering her for the past six months.
“Sammi, can I talk to you?” Eli asked quietly, taking a step forward.
“Sure,” Sammi shot harshly at him. “Let’s sit on the front porch where I almost bled to death.”
Sammi’s sass was a little more brutal than usual and Mack gave Eli a look that told him to run while he still could. But even though Eli felt undeserving of it, he knew Sammi would at least hear him out. So, the three of them walked up the front walk and Sammi sat on the porch step, Eli stood in front of her, and Mack sat behind his wife in one of their new rocking chairs.
“Go ahead,” Sammi said impatiently after no one spoke for a minute. Mack snorted, watching in amusement from behind as she tortured her former love.
“I couldn’t figure out why you wouldn’t talk to me and that day in the old apartment has been haunting me,” Eli explained nervously. “It took me until last night to realize that it wasn’t anything from the apartment, but what happened when you left.”
“Oh, you mean when I ran into Shay outside waiting for you?” Sammi asked smartly.
“She may have been waiting for me, but I didn’t know she was there,” Eli said, defending himself. “Sammi, I would never set you up to get hurt. I never spoke to Shay, not even once, when I got back to New York.”
“Then how did she know you would be at the apartment?”
“The same way you found out; Cleary told her.”
Sammi hung her head, feeling bad that she had even thought that Eli could be involved with her getting shot. She was silent as she looked at the ground, so Eli took a seat next to her on the step and put his arm around her back.
“I’m sorry,” Sammi whispered without looking up. “You’re my friend and I should’ve talked to you about this way sooner instead of avoiding you.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Eli told her, squeezing her to him. “Shay’s my sister and she was only in your life because of me. I wish I could’ve protected you from her better.”
“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” Mack offered, standing up and patting Eli on the shoulder from behind.
Mack then headed into the house and left the door open for the others. Eli got up from the porch step first and offered Sammi his hand to help her up, but Sammi still hadn’t picked her head up and didn’t seem to notice Eli’s outstretched hand. So, Eli reached down to pick up one of Sammi’s hands out of her lap and lightly tugged it to get her to follow him. Sammi finally stood up, but she kept her eyes down as she walked into the house with Eli.
Once inside, Sammi walked right to Mack who was going through the refrigerator in the kitchen. She was so quiet that Mack didn’t even hear her approach him, so she lightly poked him in his side near his ribcage. Mack flinched at the feeling and turned to look at his wife.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Mack asked after seeing the sadness in Sammi’s sparkling sapphire eyes.
“Do you mind if I go lie down?” Sammi asked quietly, sounding almost desperate.
“Not at all,” Mack told her and kissed her forehead. “I’ll chat with Eli and come check on you when dinner’s ready.”
Sammi gave Mack a halfhearted hug before disappearing into the master bedroom. She lay on the bed and sent a text message to Kodi asking if she was spending time with Anthony that weekend. While waiting for a response, Sammi fell asleep with her phone in her hand.
*
“Is everything okay?” Eli asked as he sat down at the kitchen table.
“Yeah, I think she’s just emotionally exhausted,” Mack told him, rubbing the back of his own head as he finally closed the fridge. “I really need to go grocery shopping. What do you want from takeout?”
“Chinese,” Eli replied with a halfhearted smile as he looked down at his hands.
“Try again,” Mack said matter-of-factly. “Sammi won’t go for Chinese.”
“Since when?” Eli asked, surprised.
“Since coming across three-year-old leftovers in your old apartment. The smell makes her sick.”
Eli grimaced, realizing he still hadn’t cleaned that fridge out. He told Mack to just go ahead and order whatever Sammi would want. Mack kept it simple and ordered a pizza then invited Eli up to the loft, offering him a beer while they waited.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Eli asked, clearly suspicious as they sat on opposite sides of the coffee table.
“Sammi missed you,” Mack replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“No, she didn’t,” Eli told him. “She could’ve reached out.”
“I didn’t mean this time,” Mack explained. “I meant the three years you were M.I.A.”
Eli nodded and fell silent. He had nobody to blame but himself for his absence during that time and he regretted every second of it. He still believed that Sammi wouldn’t have married Mack if he would have come back sooner.
When the pizza arrived, Mack dropped it on the kitchen counter and told Eli to help himself while he went to get Sammi. He found Sammi fast asleep on their bed and looking incredibly peaceful. Her cellphone lit up in her hand with a message from Kodi, but it was silent and Sammi didn’t stir. So, Mack crawled onto the bed and held himself over Sammi’s body, kissing her from her belly button up to her lips. Sammi’s eyes fluttered open and she giggled from the tickle of her husband’s lips.
“Feeling better, princess?” Mack asked, hopping up and off the bed.
“I think so,” Sammi said, stretching her arms out as she sat up and smirked at her husband. “Your kisses healed me.”
Sammi stuck her tongue out playfully and Mack smiled warmly at her. Checking her phone, Sammi showed her husband the photo of Kodi and Anthony that Kodi had sent her.
“I did a good thing,” Sammi said happily, beaming at the photo on her screen.
“You’ve done a lot of good things,” Mack told her, hooking his arm around her waist. “My favorite is the way you love me.”
*
By the end of the following week, Hobbs had gotten the results back that Mack, Mazzeline, and Sammi had all passed their Captain’s exams. Although his clear choice for his replacement was still Mack, the d
epartment was making him give all three of them an equal opportunity for the position, especially because his two newest Lieutenants still didn’t have anything to show for their exceptional work. So, an email was sent out across the precinct asking anyone who had worked closely with any of the three Captain candidates to write a letter of recommendation for their choice. The three candidates also got to have a say, as long as they didn’t discuss it with each other and as long as they didn’t recommend themselves.
“Can you do me a favor?” Sammi asked Mack in the car on their way home the night the emails had gone out. “Since you can’t recommend yourself, can you write a letter for Mazzeline?”
“We’re not supposed to discuss it, Sam,” Mack replied, only partly serious.
“Mack, literally everyone knows you’re going to get the position,” Sammi told him. “And I shouldn’t even be a candidate because I’m a thief and no one is going to recommend a female Captain anyway. So just help Mazzeline feel like it was a close call between you two.”
“Fine, but I don’t know the guy like you do so you’re going to have to help me write it.”
*
Sammi ended up writing Mack’s entire letter for him, as well her own recommending Mack for Captain. Although overwhelming, she found that she enjoyed writing about the people she cared about and partly wished that she could show them these letters so they could see just how important they were to her. But she struggled with making Mack’s letter sound more like it was actually coming from Mack and worried that the similarities between the two letters would get her in trouble.
With the sudden push to find the Captain’s replacement, it was widely assumed that Hobbs was looking to retire. Personally, Sammi was looking forward to the change because with Hobbs out of the picture, she would get her freedom back. She knew she was going to have to ease Mack into the idea of her going back into crime, but she wasn’t willing to wait much longer once he got his promotion.
Love Against the Law Page 17
