Code 11- KPD SWAT Box Set

by Lani Lynn Vale

  I shook my head. “No. Well, that’s not entirely true. We’ve heard about the string of family pets going missing, but we hadn’t heard that there’d been so many coming from here.”

  She nodded and stood. “Come with me, I’ll show you what I think.”

  We walked with her, passing Mocha and the Doberman as we went.

  I smiled at Mocha. There weren’t many dogs that could keep up with her in the quickness department, but the Doberman could. Easily.

  “There’s a hole in the fence over here that’s been patched up, but it’s got a different color tie on it each time I come out here. It makes me think that it’s being used and then replaced each time. Except they’re not using the same color ties, nor are they putting it in the same holes.” The woman pointed to a hole in the fence.

  Luke and I walked up to it, stooping down on the balls of our feet to check out what she thought of as a ‘hole.’

  And sure enough, there was one. A large one. Big enough not just for a dog, but a human as well.

  “Call O’Keefe. Let’s get him out here to look at this, see what he thinks,” Luke ordered.

  I nodded and pulled out my phone once again, smiling when I read the text from Memphis.

  Memphis- I didn’t think it was a dick. At least not one that belonged to you anyhow. ;)

  I snorted and exited out of the text from her and pulled up O’Keefe’s name and called him, explaining what we’d found.

  “Alright, I’ll be out there in ten,” O’Keefe said.

  O’Keefe was the detective that was put on this particular case.

  After I’d taken down the dog that was going to attack Memphis, little pieces had started to be put together, and a dumping ground of dogs had been found not far off from our apartment complex.

  What we thought was going on, was that they were dumping them in a creek off the highway. Except the water ran to nothing more than a trickle about a tenth of a mile down the creek.

  That’d been where the dog that had nearly attacked Memphis was traced to after some officers had started to case the area.

  What we thought happened was that the dog was dumped like the others that’d been found, except he hadn’t been dead, and had gotten out of the creek and up to the street where instinct had then taken over, carrying him in the direction of his home.

  Except he’d encountered Memphis on the way and had lost his life anyway.

  Another text from Memphis popped up on my phone, and I would’ve read it, but a faraway form started to walk down the tree line. A person.

  On the wrong side of the fence to be coming from anywhere else but the woods beyond the dog park.

  The trail ran along the opposite side, so there was no way that he’d be coming from there, either.

  “Two o’clock,” I rumbled quietly.

  Luke didn’t bother to look up, only turning his eyes to look at what I was seeing.

  He grunted. “Take Mocha.”

  I nodded and started walking toward the gate, whistling to Mocha as I went.

  She broke off from her new friend and came running at me, tongue lolling out, eyes alert.

  I’d used our ‘time to work’ whistle for her.

  She was a good girl when she had to work.

  Now, if I’d tried to do that because we were leaving, she would’ve ignored me.

  She stepped up to my side, keeping pace with me as we walked out of the gate around the chain-link fence.

  The guy must’ve turned around, because when we reached the end of the fenced-in dog area, he was gone.

  I found grass that was folded over from his trek through, so we followed it until it ended in a wooded area.

  After a quick search around, I walked back to the hole in the fence, this time to the opposite side.

  O’Keefe was there, examining the hole with a trained eye.

  “It’s being used a bit. The metal here is worn like it’s been pushed back and forth a lot. There are stress marks in the links here,” he said, pointing at the links.

  I’d seen that as well, but O’Keefe was the detective, so I let him detect. If he didn’t notice anything that I had, then I’d mention it, but until then I’d let him come up with his own conclusions.

  The Chief had charged us beat cops with asking questions to the public, asking if they’d seen or heard of anything.

  He wanted answers, as did we.

  Yet, as Luke and I were leaving an hour later, we were still just as unsure of what was going on now as we were when we arrived.

  My phone vibrated again, this time with an email.

  However, it reminded me of the text I’d gotten from Memphis earlier but had never read.

  I about choked on my tongue as I read it.

  I was also glad I wasn’t driving this time.

  Memphis: I masturbated in your pants today. It was like you were there.

  My heart thudded inside my chest at the idea of her masturbating, period. The idea that she was in my pants when she did it was just bonus points.

  Downy: Where’d you get my pants from?

  I could practically hear her laugh over the time and distance that was separating us.

  Memphis: Trade secret. You’ll never know.

  I snorted. I remembered exactly when she got them. It was when she took them off the floor of my room after I’d taken them off to get ready for work.

  Regardless of where she got them, I was glad she was wearing something of mine.

  However, the next morning, when I woke up to find a man on a bike staring me down with death in his eyes, I wasn’t so happy she’d brought the pants after all.

  Chapter 9

  If you were one of the three little pigs, and I was the big bad wolf, instead of blowing your house down, I’d blow you kisses. And wink at you and shit.

  -T-shirt

  Memphis

  “Alright, Momma. I’m going to head home if you’re sure,” I said, giving my mom a warm hug.

  My mother was smaller than me, but she had a little more padding up top than I had.

  We really looked nothing alike, except for our eyes.

  She was around five foot three and had the features of most in Chinese culture.

  The lightly tanned skin, dark brown hair, exotic-shaped eyes.

  She was the epitome of beautiful, even at fifty-four years of age.

  I wanted to be her when I grew up, but sadly I had too much of my daddy in me, and it would never be.

  My eyes squinted, and I looked around. “Where is Daddy?”

  He’d been here last night, but I hadn’t seen him all morning.

  She shrugged. “He had a few errands to run. He said he’d come see you soon, though.”

  I looked at her skeptically but shrugged. “Okay, well I guess that’s fine.”

  I walked out to my old car and threw my bag into the backseat, not needing to open the door since I’d never bothered to roll up the window when I’d gotten here three days ago.

  When I turned, I saw her staring at my car with a frown on her face.

  “What?” I asked.

  Her eyes moved up to mine as she said, “Why are you driving this?”

  “I like it,” I said, lying through my teeth.

  In all honesty, it was a piece of shit that I got for a grand off the side of the road. It needed a hell of a lot of work, and quite a bit of it I couldn’t do myself, so it never got done.

  She looked at me skeptically but stayed quiet. “You should’ve taken your car.”

  I laughed, then.

  My ‘car’ as she said, was the one I’d been driving since I was sixteen. It also had a GPS tracking device in it. Something I hadn’t known until the day I’d turned twenty.

  For four years, my dad had known where I was at all times, and that’d really stuck in my gullet. I hated how he was so overprotective.

  I realize that he nearly lost me when I was younger, but that didn’
t give him any right to stalk me.

  “Sure, as soon as Daddy takes the GPS chip out of it, I’ll start driving it again,” I said.

  She sighed at hearing the familiar statement. “Take care of yourself, baby girl.”

  I nodded and gave her one more kiss before I dropped down into my old car and started it up with a rumbling cough.

  Smoke poured out of the tailpipe and my mom waved her hand in front of her to clear it from her face before scowling at me.

  I smiled at her and said, “How about you take care of yourself, too?”

  She waved a dismissive hand at me and turned around to walk back into the house.

  My heart hurt at watching her walk away from me.

  The call I’d gotten three days ago had scared the ever-loving shit out of me.

  I was in the area of medicine, but I had no knowledge, whatsoever, about the actual diseases that there were. Not knowing that the seizure she’d had was actually not ‘bad,’ I’d driven straight home, skipping my classes and work, as I went.

  It turned out that she wasn’t hurt or dying after all, and I’d probably overreacted, but I’d been scared.

  My mom and dad meant the world to me, even if my dad was overprotective as hell.

  The same day I’d arrived, my father had started grilling me on my life. That night when I’d told him I met somebody at my apartment complex and had started seeing him, he’d gotten really weird about it, even going as far as to interrogate me about who Downy was. What he did for a living. Who his parents were.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if he was at work running a background check on Downy, even though it was his day off.

  My drive was uneventful, and when I finally pulled into my parking spot at the apartment complex later that afternoon, I was nearly about to pass out.

  I hated driving. It always made me so tired.

  I’d had to stop at a gas station about halfway and buy some sunflower seeds.

  I was cheeking them like a baseball player does while chewing tobacco.

  In fact, it was a good thing that my mouth was occupied, because the moment I stepped out of my car, my eyes caught on a very familiar looking motorcycle.

  One that looked incredibly similar to my father’s.

  I started to get a sneaking suspicion that there was more to my father’s frantic phone call, telling me that my mother was sick.

  Oh, I didn’t doubt for one minute that she’d been ‘sick.’

  What I doubted was that she was sick enough for me to come all the way home.

  Something that got me conveniently under my mother’s watchful eye and freed up my father to come check out my new man.

  I let Peter out of the car, slamming the door closed behind him.

  He was much more watchful now since the near dog attack and stayed within three feet of me the entire way up to the apartment.

  I debated on whether or not to go to Downy’s apartment but decided against it when I heard laughter coming from behind the closed door.

  I went to mine instead, opening the door wide for Peter to go in before slamming it behind me.

  Hard.

  That little shit.

  I started slamming stuff, going first to the kitchen cabinet where I left the cups, then going to the fridge for my jug of juice… only to find it empty.

  Either Dad had been in my apartment, or the apartment full of men next door were making use of my amenities.

  Sighing, I went to the faucet and filled my glass up all the way. Then chugged it.

  Water ran down the sides of my mouth, but I didn’t stop until I finished the entire thing, slamming the glass down on the counter when I was finished.

  “Wow,” Downy drawled. His sexy, Southern accent making tingles trickle down my back. “Who’d have thought seeing your girl chug a glass of water would be that sexy?”

  I smiled and turned, finding him leaning against the side of the island that separated the kitchen from the living room.

  He was shoeless in jeans and a red t-shirt that said, ‘If all else fails, empty the magazine.’

  “That’s a nice shirt,” I said, walking toward him, stopping with my hand pressed lightly to his chest. “It’s soft, too. Do you mind if I borrow it sometime?”

  He looked down, spying the entirely way too big pants I was wearing of his, and smiled.

  Hooking his finger in the loose waistband, he pulled me all the way against his chest and wrapped his arms around my body.

  My face went to the middle of his chest, and I breathed in his unique scent.

  Pine needles and leather.

  The leather was from his gun holster, and a smell I’d smelled since I’d first been old enough to hug my daddy.

  Dad never went anywhere without a gun strapped to him somewhere, and Downy didn’t either.

  Even lazing around the house, he had a gun on him.

  His ankle, if I’d guessed correctly.

  “How was your trip?” he asked, looking down into my eyes.

  I shrugged. “Mom’s fine. She played it off the entire time I was there, and Dad did, too. It never made any sense until I saw Dad’s bike in the parking lot.”

  He smiled, trying to contain his laughter, but he was unsuccessful.

  “He wasn’t… mean, was he?” I asked nervously.

  He shook his head. “No, he was fine. It was my first time meeting a woman’s parent, though. It proved to be nothing but interesting.”

  I shook my head. “When did he get here?”

  He looked at his watch and said, “Around seven. I was on my way out for a run.”

  He pursed his lips and said, “I went for a walk and breakfast instead.”

  I sighed and rubbed my nose on the softest t-shirt I’d ever felt before. “Where is he now?”

  He pointed his thumb in the direction of his apartment. “That way.”

  I looked at the wall that separated my living room from Downy’s as if I could see through it and asked, “Does he know our rooms are open to each other’s?”

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  I nodded. “Who’s been drinking my juice?”

  He grinned. “Me.”

  “Why?” I asked, running my hands up his sides until I met his ribs just under his armpits.

  “Because I wanted it,” he said simply.

  I could do nothing but shake my head. “You’re a cop, you know. You shouldn’t be snooping around in other people’s belongings.”

  He shivered when my thumb swiped over his nipple, pressing me farther into the counter behind me.

  “Your father thinks I’m in the bathroom,” he explained.

  “So?” I asked, not seeing the problem like he did.

  “He’ll get suspicious if I’m gone too long,” he countered, strain evident in his voice.

  I could feel the evidence of his “strain” pressed up against me, and the fevered way he ran his hands up my side.

  “Fuck my father,” I replied huskily.

  I licked his neck, running my tongue from the bottom of his collarbone as far up as I could reach, standing on my tiptoes.

  He growled and then lifted me onto the counter. His eyes were filled with need, and his jaw, which was even more scruffy today than it’d been three days prior, was hard and fixed.

  “Quick. We need to be quick,” he rushed out. “Lift your hips up.”

  Balancing my hands on either side of my hips, I pushed myself up enough for Downy to be able to work the pants down and off my legs.

  My panties went with them in his haste to get them off, which worked for both of us.

  My eyes went to the door, then back down to Downy as he started to unbuckle his belt.

  I went forward, licking his lips.

  He growled, and his eyes, those green eyes that were starting to mean everything to me, latched onto mine.

  “The door. I need to lock the door,” I said desperately.

&nb
sp; He ripped himself from my front, stalking to the door while he started yanking at the buttons of his jeans.

  When they were all the way undone, the back of them slipped, giving me an unhindered view of the crack of his taut ass.

  And what an ass it was.

  My hands clenched, and I had to physically stop myself from jumping off the counter to go to him. When he turned around, though, my ass slipped off the counter on its own accord.

  His cock was now hanging out of his pants: angry, red, and hungry.

  I licked my lips, taking a step toward him, but his command stalled my forward movement.

  “Stay,” he ordered.

  I stayed, looking at him, waiting for what he was going to ask me to do next.

  A shiver chased down my spine as he looked at me with those commanding eyes, those eyes that could tell me to do anything when it came to my pleasure, and I’d jump through hoops to do it.

  “Turn around, put your hips up to the counter and lean over it,” he said roughly.

  When I didn’t move quick enough, he took me by the hips and did it for me, pushing me roughly into the counter.

  My bare legs met the cold of the counter, causing me to squeak in surprise.

  He laughed. The fucker laughed.

  Reaching down, he gathered my shirt by the hem and yanked it roughly over my head.

  My arms went up in reaction, causing me to gasp at the sudden movement.

  I felt his nimble fingers at the back of my bra as he unhooked it and let it fall over my shoulders.

  Instead of removing it all the way, though, he just pushed me forward until my bare breasts pressed against the laminate counter, and then bent down.

  I gasped as he bit the cheek of my ass.

  “Spread your legs wider,” he ordered.

  I moved my legs as far as the pants still around my ankles would allow, and he started to feast.

  He buried his face between my legs, zeroing straight in on my weeping entrance.

  I groaned and dropped my head to the counter as he worked his stiffened tongue into my pussy in short stabs.

  I clenched down on him as best as I could, and he growled against the lips of my sex.

  His hands traveled up the back of my thighs until he met the apex of my legs. Then he hooked his thumbs on the outside of my lips and pulled them apart, spreading me open wider so his mouth could gain access to my clit.