“That’s not fair, Joe, and you know it.”
“Fair?” Joe repeated, his voice low, his expression disbelieving. “And I suppose it’s fair that I catch hell every time your brother does something stupid?”
“No, just when you treat him differently than other officers.”
“I give up,” Joe said coldly. “I’m not going to argue this with you, because there’s no winning with you. To hell with it.” His phone rang then, and he hit the hands-free button without hesitation. “Yeah?” he barked.
“Jesus,” Midnight said. “What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”
“Sorry.” Joe closed his eyes momentarily. “I’m just on the receiving end of a lot of shit right now.”
Midnight was silent for a moment. “Let me guess… It has something to do with your wife and her brother?”
“How’d you guess?” Joe said, angry still. Randy looked over at him, narrowing her eyes.
“Randy,” Midnight said, obviously knowing she was on the speaker.
“Yes,” Randy said after a long moment. She still looked irritated.
“I don’t know what Joe’s told you—”
“He told me that Donovan’s in trouble for getting into a bar fight and that he could lose his job over it, and that’s just plain bullshit, Midnight.”
“It’s not bullshit, Randy. It’s procedure.”
“Yeah, and it always goes double for Donovan, doesn’t it?”
“As a matter of fact, it does,” Midnight said calmly. “Randy, do you have any idea the fine line Joe and I walk every day? We have to balance everything—we have to keep everyone happy. And believe me, since half the fucking department still thinks Joe and I are together, and the other half isn’t totally convinced that I didn’t sleep my way into this job, or that your acquittal for attempted murder wasn’t a departmental whitewash to save Joe’s reputation, keeping people happy around here is a full-time job. Furthermore, Joe is Donovan’s supervisor—Joe is doing his job. And I’m doing my job. When I hear that one of my officers hauled off and coldcocked another officer, it is my responsibility to see that it doesn’t happen again. And if it happens to be your brother that was stupid enough to do it, then I have to make sure that he gets exactly the same treatment every other officer in the department would get. ’Cause I guarantee you one thing, Randy—everyone is just watching and waiting for me to screw up, and they’re watching for Joe to screw up so they can write us off. I won’t let it happen, not to me and not to Joe. We’ve worked too fucking hard for this department to lose it over hurt feelings—yours, to be exact. Do you understand?” Midnight’s voice had become strident during her tirade, and even Christian could almost feel her anger crackling through the speaker.
Randy was silent for a long moment. It was obvious she was digesting what Midnight had said. Joe was looking over at her, having driven into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked during Midnight’s maelstrom. His face held no apology; it was drawn and serious. It was obvious to Christian that this was an ongoing issue with them, but he doubted Midnight had ever addressed it directly with Randy. He was right. Joe had told Midnight about Randy thinking he was too hard on Donovan. Midnight had always threatened to “straighten her out,” but Joe had always told her he’d deal with it.
Randy glanced over at Joe, a pained expression crossing her face at the look on his. She nodded to him, and Joe closed his eyes for a long moment.
“Randy?” Midnight said, her tone all chief.
“Yes,” Randy said. “I get it.”
“’Bout goddamned time,” Midnight said. She sounded only half joking, and Randy knew it.
Midnight and Randy’s relationship had been very different since Randy’s affair with Dick Dickerson five years before. Midnight had become more of a friend, but also more of an adversary. Whereas before Randy’s dalliance Midnight would excuse any foolish or naive thoughts of Randy’s as her youth or innocence, now she was quick to point it out when she thought she was being difficult or irrational.
Midnight’s main concern was always Joe. The agony her best friend had gone through, inflicted on him by his wife, had been burned into Midnight’s memory, and she was determined to keep it from ever happening again. For that reason she was ever watchful for anything that made things hard on Joe. She guarded his spirit like a sentinel, determined to keep him from being hurt like that ever again. Just as Joe was there for her anytime Rick failed to be, Midnight was ever Joe’s back up. That conviction made her more vocal, like she had just been. Randy appreciated it, because as determined as Midnight was to keep Joe from being hurt, it was matched by Randy’s determination to keep from hurting him ever again like she had five years before.
Lunch after that was a more sedate meal. Joe dropped Randy back at school, telling her he was headed home for the rest of the day. He had been up since four o’clock that morning and it was starting to wear on him. At the college, Joe pulled up to the curb and stopped the car. Randy had been quiet all through lunch and even more so on the drive back. Joe looked over at her, reaching across to touch her hand. She turned to him, the look in her eyes pained. Joe shook his head and leaned over to kiss her softly. “We’ll talk later,” he whispered against her lips.
Randy nodded and got out of the car.
On the drive to Joe and Randy’s house, Christian looked over at his cousin. He’d been surprised by the argument between the couple, but he’d been pleased to note that Joe didn’t seem to have been pussywhipped in the slightest. He had stood his ground, and Christian had been further surprised by Midnight’s vehemence. It was obvious to him that there was a history there, and he was curious as to the nature of it.
“So what’s the story with Midnight?” he asked.
“Pertaining to what?” Joe said, his tone guarded. Christian picked up on it.
“You.”
Joe gave the younger man an assessing look, as if trying to judge how much to tell him. Finally he shrugged. “We’ve been partners forever. She’s married to my best friend, and she is my best friend.”
“And you were a couple once,” Christian added wisely.
“Yeah, that too,” Joe said, his grin slow.
“She is incredible.” Christian shook his head. “And I don’t say that kind of thing about women.”
“She is pretty great,” Joe said, thinking of his partner. “And very taken,” he added, seeing the look on Christian’s face.
Christian waved Joe’s statement away. “Taken is a temporary condition, easily curable.”
Joe looked back at his cousin, surprised at first, then started to laugh. “I’m warning ya, man, Rick may seem easygoin’, but Midnight is the one thing he will fight to the death for. And I’m deadly serious about that.”
“Yeah, but what if she decides she wants me?” Christian said, testing his boundaries.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Joe said confidently. “She’s in love with him deep. Besides,” he said, changing tactics when he could see he wasn’t convincing the younger man, “that woman is more than two handfuls, and she’s getting more difficult as she gets older, not easier.”
“That’s why she needs a younger man to take care of her.”
Joe gave his cousin a long look, then shook his head. “Make your best play, man. But I’m not gonna be responsible for what Rick does to ya, or for that matter Midnight.”
Christian nodded, his grin wide. “I could be so lucky. So what’s the story with your wife? She got a mother bear complex or what?”
“I guess in a way she does. She’s been the only mother Donovan’s had since he was eleven—that tends to make her protective.”
“She always jump your shit like that?”
Joe shook his head. “She gets a little bent when it comes to Donovan, yeah.”
“So why didn’t you marry your partner instead? At least she’s on your side.”
Joe laughed. “Not always. In fact, half the time she sides with Randy. You just happened to cat
ch the argument she’s on my side in.”
“Yeah, but Midnight is so…” Christian held his hands up as if trying to think of a way to describe her. “What possessed you to break it off with that?” He sounded aghast.
“Falling in love with Randy is what possessed me. You haven’t had a real good first impression of her, but believe me, she’s the one I want.”
Christian shrugged. “Okay…”
“Trust me, Randy and I have been through a lot together, and she’s been worth every second.” Joe looked out the window for a long moment, then back at Christian. “So what was the story with you and Geneva Glasstone?”
Christian looked over at him, his eyes showing mild surprise that Joe knew about Geneva. After a long moment he shrugged, looking away. “It was business.”
“Business?”
Christian glanced back at his cousin, a leering grin starting on his face. “That and sex.”
Joe widened his eyes. “She’s older than me, man…”
“You know her?” Christian said, surprised.
“Yeah, me and Rick and her used to attend a lot of the same parties, and they weren’t all society gigs, if you get my meaning.”
“I believe that. Well, she used me, I used her—it was mutually beneficial.”
Joe looked surprised, but didn’t question him further.
“Look, man,” Christian said, his tone changing. “I gotta tell ya, what you did for me, for my mother…” He trailed off as emotion welled up in his voice. “I can’t begin to thank you. To do that for someone you didn’t even know, on the word from some guy that your father knew his mother.” He shook his head as if he couldn’t begin to comprehend it.
Joe looked back at him seriously. “I recognized my father’s way. And I believed you. You’re family—that’s what family does.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know me.”
“And how much desperation had to build up to get you to call me? You didn’t know me either,” Joe said somberly. “I figured you weren’t in the habit of going through all that you did to get to me as a scam. You were legitimate, and so was your need.”
Christian grinned “Legitimate.”
“You’re a Sinclair. I don’t care what you call yourself,” Joe said simply.
Christian just stared back at him; hearing him say it made it seem true. He didn’t know what to make of these people. They were so different from the people he’d dealt with his whole life. They didn’t seem to want anything from him, and were willing to accept him into their circle without a price. He knew it wasn’t possible, he just didn’t know when he’d find out he was wrong.
Two nights later, Christian was sitting in Joe’s living room. He was watching television, his mind still trying to adjust to being there. It was just after nine o’clock when Randy came in. She had one night class this semester and it kept her out late two nights a week. Christian had kept to himself over the last two days, trying to make the assimilation to being dependent on someone for his livelihood without giving anything in return. It was a difficult leap for him.
“Hi there,” Randy said, surprised to see him sitting in the living room. She had noted his isolation from them and had wondered if that was how he would always be. She hoped not; she knew Joe liked the young man, and she sincerely hoped they could become friends.
Christian glanced up, looking chagrined at having been “caught” in the living room.
“What are you watching?” Randy asked, making a point of keeping her tone friendly. She knew she had made a bad impression on him the first day she’d met him, and that had also bothered her. She didn’t want Joe’s cousin thinking she was a shrew.
Christian looked down at the remote in his hand, then at the TV, and shrugged. “A movie.”
“Well,” Randy said, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. She smiled. “That narrows it down.”
Christian grinned, not really looking at her.
“I owe you an apology,” Randy said quietly.
Christian looked up at her. “For what?”
“For the other day, for the fight that Joe and I had in front of you…”
Christian looked down at his hands, shrugging. “It was your car—you have a right to fight with your husband in it,” he said, his tone belying his discomfort at the position he was in.
“That bothers you, doesn’t it?” Randy asked, zeroing in on his concern easily. “That you imagine yourself to be at a disadvantage here.”
Christian glanced up at her, his light blue eyes clearly indicating that he didn’t think she had a good grip on reality at that moment. “Imagine? No, I don’t imagine anythin’,” he said coolly.
“You’re wrong, Christian,” she said softly. “Joe doesn’t look at your being here as an imposition, or that he’s doing you a favor. He looks at it as family doing for family. It’s what he’d do for his aunt, or his uncle if it came to that. You’re his family and you needed something—he provided it. Nobody’s keeping score here.” She looked at him frankly. “But you.”
Christian narrowed his eyes slightly “Nothing comes for free. I’ve been around long enough to know that.”
“Well, you haven’t been around my husband,” Randy said, her face taking on a faraway look. “Since I’ve been married to him, he has done so much for my family, my brothers. He bought the house we grew up in and gave all three of us the title. He paid for Donovan to go to school. He helped Darrell, my older brother, with the capital to start a construction business. He’s done so much… and he never asks for anything in return. He doesn’t remind you of what he’s done for you, he just does. We’ve been through so much together, and there were some really bad times, but he stood by me. And he loved me when I didn’t deserve it. I love him all the more for that now.” She turned back to Christian, looking a bit abashed. “I’m sorry, I’m going on and on. I guess I’m still hammering myself for the fight the other day. We were supposed to talk and we haven’t had a chance yet. But I don’t want you to think Joe is expecting anything from you. Neither am I. Okay?”
Christian had watched her during her speech and begun to wonder if his judgement about her had been a bit hasty. Rethinking his first impressions was not something Christian Collins was given to doing, but things seemed to be changing a lot since he’d reached America.
“Midnight said something the other day about you being on trial for attempted murder?” The question had been mulling around in Christian’s head since that day.
Randy couldn’t help but smile. She wondered if he’d even taken to heart one word she’d just said. She rubbed her forehead as she tried to think of a way to put her answer. Finally, she just nodded, not sure what to say.
“Who did you try to kill?” Christian asked, his tone reminding her that was what he had done to get arrested.
Randy shook her head. “I didn’t try to kill anyone. I was accused of trying to kill Midnight and Joe.” She said it so simply that Christian had to think about it for a minute to understand that she’d been accused of trying to kill his cousin and his cousin’s partner.
“Whoa…” he said, his face showing his disbelief. “What happened?” Then he looked a bit chagrined. “Or is it none of my business?”
Randy shrugged. “It’s common knowledge around here. About five years ago I decided to become a police officer, much to Joe’s dismay. He fought the idea and I ended up foolishly rebelling against his adamancy. That rebellion led me into the arms of another man. Another police officer with the department. Little did I know that the guy was as dirty as they come and he and his friends had had his sights on getting rid of Joe and Midnight and their unit, FORS, for a long time. I fell right into the trap. First he attacked Midnight in my presence, almost killing her when he threw her up against a wall. Then he and his friends kidnapped Joe and tried to kill him too. Because I was involved with this dirty cop, I was accused of masterminding the whole thing.”
“But you were acquitted?” Christian said, surprised by h
er story.
“Yes. And to this day, I’m sure that what convinced the jury the most was the fact that both Joe and Midnight testified on my behalf. They’d both been hurt so much by this man I’d been involved with, and yet they stood by me.” Randy closed her eyes, shaking her head. “You can see why I’m devoted to my husband now. He loved me enough to believe in me, and trust me, even when some of the evidence was pretty damning. Even when I cheated on him.”
“And Midnight testified for you too?” It was clear Christian couldn’t believe that.
“Yes. She almost died because of what Dick had done, while I was standing right there, and yet she testified for me. In fact, she hid the fact that I had been there at all from Joe when she woke up, because she knew that for whatever reason, Joe still loved me. She wanted Joe to be happy, and she thought he would be if I would just regain my senses. I did in a hurry.”
“Jesus Christ…” Christian said, almost awestruck. “Who are you people?” He shook his head. “I can’t even begin to fathom having that much faith in anyone.”
“Hang around this family long enough, we’ll get to you,” Randy said, her smile wide.
The following morning, Christian sat in Midnight’s office, working on her computer. Midnight was at the table, reading and writing notes. Joe walked in and again was taken aback by his cousin sitting at a computer. He couldn’t get used to the fact that the young man had a knack for the machine.
“Where’ve you been?” Midnight asked, glancing at her watch and looking back at the man she still considered her partner.
“Had to drop Susan off at school,” Joe said, leaning against the doorjamb.
“She’s going to school in the daytime now?” Midnight asked, surprised.
“Just on Mondays and Wednesdays. Her and Randy are doing a sort of a trade-off for a semester. Susan wants to finish her child psychology degree, and Randy had a night class to take for a lab.”
“Okay…” Midnight grinned at her partner. “Speaking of Susan,” she said, taking on a conspiring tone, “Rick told me what you thought about her and Warren, and I have to tell ya, I agree with you. The guy’s about as dullsville as they come.”
For all Intents and Purposes (MidKnight Blue Book 6) Page 16
