Laura and the Lawman

by Shelley Cooper

  “Yes,” Donna Brewer said wryly, “I know.”

  “But if we all go in together, we promise to be quiet as mice. We won’t stay long. We won’t touch anything we’re not supposed to touch. The plus is that it will be quiet out here, and you’ll have us out of your hair faster.”

  Laura wondered if Carlo Garibaldi would run out of charm before Donna Brewer ran out of patience.

  “Okay,” the nurse said. “You can all go in. But five minutes only. After that, I call security.”

  “Nurse Brewer, you are a princess among nurses.”

  “Thank you. You now have four minutes and fifty-five seconds.”

  Charm and patience had both just expired, Laura thought. Apparently Carlo Garibaldi realized it, also, because he didn’t try to bargain for any more time.

  Her gaze was fixed on the door when it swung inward. Six people, five of them men, barreled inside. The group came to an abrupt halt, almost running into each other, when they saw Laura.

  So this was Antonio’s family. She would have known it, even if she hadn’t overheard the conversation with Donna Brewer, just by looking at them. The resemblance to Antonio was unmistakable.

  She was thankful for the unexpected glimpse into Antonio’s family life. It was obvious that the Garibaldis were a boisterous, impetuous, emotional group. Equally obvious was their love for, and loyalty to, each other. No matter what happened, Antonio would be okay. He wouldn’t be alone.

  “Hello,” the man in front said. “I’m Carlo Garibaldi, and this is my sister, Kate, and my brothers, Roberto, Marco, Bruno and Franco. You are?”

  Laura climbed out of the chair. She knew she looked a mess, that her outfit was destroyed and her hair in wild disarray, but she didn’t care. After everything that had happened today, the way she looked, or even what Antonio’s family thought of her, seemed unimportant. The only good thing was that she had put Ruby behind her. She didn’t have to pretend to care. Besides, after tonight, it was highly unlikely she would see any of Antonio’s siblings again. It was highly unlikely she would see Antonio again.

  Choking back sudden emotion, she said, “I’m Laura Langley. I worked undercover with Antonio on the Merrill case.”

  Bruno eyed her up and down suspiciously. “I know most of the cops Antonio has worked undercover with. He’s never mentioned you.”

  “That’s because this is the first time we’ve worked together. I’m with the NYPD. They brought me in special on this case.”

  Marco separated himself from the back of the group and moved to the foot of the bed, where he began flipping through the chart hanging there.

  “He’s not hooked up to any machines, just an IV,” Roberto observed. “Surely that’s a good sign.”

  “How is he?” Kate asked.

  Laura thought she was directing her question to Marco, but when she looked at the woman, Kate’s gaze was squarely on her.

  “He’s going to be fine,” she said. “The surgery went well. Miraculously there was no damage to any internal organs. Right now he’s sedated. He should awaken by morning.”

  “How did it happen?” Franco asked.

  Laura bit her lip. “Our cover was blown. Antonio took a bullet that was meant for me.”

  Bruno nodded. “That sounds like Antonio. Always sticking his neck out.”

  “You’ve got blood on your clothes,” Kate said, going a little pale. “Is that…Antonio’s blood?”

  Memories surged over her, and Laura experienced anew her feelings of horror, shock and helplessness, and her dreadful fear that Antonio might actually die. Unable to speak, she nodded.

  “So you’re the one,” Carlo said.

  As one, six pairs of eyes centered on her.

  She was the one? The one what?

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “You’re the one he told me about,” Carlo explained. “The one he asked my advice about.”

  “He asked your advice about a woman and you didn’t tell us?” Bruno demanded.

  “He’s never done that before,” Franco said. “This must be serious.”

  “I didn’t tell you,” Carlo replied, “because he told me that she—Laura—was the opposite of everything he found admirable in a woman.” He turned to Laura. “He never said you were a cop.”

  “He didn’t know until recently. Our contact officers thought it safer to keep us in the dark.”

  “So you were playing a role the way he was.”

  “Yes.”

  Carlo nodded his head in understanding. “I’m glad I was right.”

  Laura had to ask. “About what?”

  “That you weren’t who you appeared to be. I told him that, you know. That he wouldn’t be so attracted to you if you were really the kind of woman he thought you were.”

  Laura turned her attention back to the figure in the bed. So he’d told his brother he was attracted to her. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she wished it could be otherwise, he wouldn’t let it go any deeper than that.

  The door opened and Donna Brewer marched in. “Time’s up,” she said crisply. “Everyone out. Quietly.”

  When Laura fell into step behind them, Carlo turned back. “Stay here with him. He needs you.”

  Donna Brewer nodded her assent, and Laura sank back down in the chair, her gaze going to the man in the bed.

  The sun was just beginning its climb over the horizon when she made her decision. Moving to the side of the bed, she looked down at Antonio for a long minute before leaning over and kissing him tenderly on the lips.

  It was time.

  “I love you,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I know I promised myself to leave without complaint if you would only be okay. But that’s not the reason I can’t stay. I know you’re not ready to commit to me. Another woman might stay and fight, hoping to wear you down. The problem is, I’ve already had enough pain to last two lifetimes. I don’t want to delude myself that you might someday change. It’s best if I leave now and go back to Queens where I belong, while I at least have my dignity. While I still have the strength.”

  At the door she paused. Turning, she gave him one long, last look. “Thank you for teaching me that I still have a life. It’s time I went and lived it.”

  Feeling more nervous than he had on the morning of his first auction with Joseph, Antonio stood on the porch of a two-story brick house located in the heart of Queens. His finger was poised just above the doorbell.

  Four weeks had passed since he had taken the bullet meant for Laura. Four weeks during which his body had slowly healed, while the ache in his heart had continued to worsen. Four weeks during which the investigation into Joseph’s activities had wound to a satisfactory close—it would be a long time before he tasted freedom again. Four long, endless weeks, during which Antonio hadn’t heard so much as a peep from Laura and during which he had tried to get his head screwed on straight.

  Doubts assailed him as he stared at a front door that had been painted a bright red. Maybe she wouldn’t want to see him. She’d left without saying goodbye, after all. Maybe she didn’t care anymore. Maybe his actions had served to kill her fledgling feelings for him.

  There was only one way to find out. He’d never been one to back away from a challenge, and he wasn’t about to start now. After drawing a bracing breath, Antonio pressed his finger to the doorbell.

  This was the real Laura, was his first thought when she opened the door. His Laura.

  She stood there, staring at him, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a loose-fitting blouse. Her feet were bare, and her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. She wore no makeup. Nothing in his life had ever looked so wonderful. The only thing that kept him from sweeping her into his arms was her total lack of reaction at the sight of him.

  He thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross her face and a flare of emotion deepen the green of her eyes. Then there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Hello. You’re looki
ng well.”

  She was acting as if they were complete strangers. Of all the possible scenarios Antonio had imagined, the one thing he had never expected was her indifference. He couldn’t help wondering, in the midst of the despair that seized him, if this was how she’d felt the morning after they made love, when she woke to find him gone.

  “Can I come in?” he asked.

  “Of course.”

  He followed her into a sparsely furnished living room. Her sketches lined the walls.

  “You left without saying goodbye,” he said when she turned to face him.

  Laura perched on the edge of an armchair. “I did say goodbye. You just happened to be unconscious at the time.”

  “Why were you in such a hurry to go?”

  She shrugged. “The job was over. You were out of danger. I saw no reason to stay.”

  With a wry twist to his mouth, Antonio conceded that he deserved that. He had, after all, acted like a first-class heel. He only wished she would betray by some word or action whether she was actually glad to see him.

  For the first time he noticed the boxes piled around the room. “Are you moving?”

  “No. These are some of my husband’s and son’s belongings. I’m donating them to charity.”

  Antonio didn’t know what to think. “They told me you quit the police force. Why?”

  “Because,” she replied, “the reason for my joining is no longer relevant. I became a cop to use the rage I felt over Jacob’s and Jason’s deaths in a positive manner. The rage is gone now. I’m ready to move on with my life.”

  “What does moving on mean?”

  She plucked at a piece of lint on the arm of the chair. “It means I’m going to return to my first love, which is art history. I’m going to take a year off to sketch and relax. After that I’ll probably return to teaching.”

  Antonio drew a fortifying breath. Obviously, donating her husband’s and son’s belongings and quitting her job was Laura’s way of breaking with the past and starting anew. The only question remaining was how much of the past she was putting behind her. Was the time they’d spent together included on the list?

  “Did you come all this way just to say goodbye?” she asked. Rising, she walked to the window, parted the curtains and stared outside. “If so, you could have saved yourself a lot of time and trouble by picking up the phone.”

  It was hardly the sign he was waiting for, but Antonio forged ahead.

  “No. I didn’t come to say goodbye. I came to tell you that I quit the police force, too.”

  Laura whirled to face him, her shock at his announcement written clearly across her face. At last, a reaction from her.

  “Why?”

  “I’ve been feeling restless and dissatisfied with my work for some time now. I didn’t understand why until I started working for Joseph. That was when I realized how much I love that world. Standing at the auction block, working the crowd, I felt a sense of purpose and satisfaction I never did in police work. I’ve decided to become an auctioneer full-time.”

  “That’s wonderful, Antonio. I wish you all the luck in the world.” Her sincerity was unmistakable.

  “Thank you.” He took a step toward her. “Why did you blow your cover?” He took another step. “Why did you put your life on the line the way you did?”

  He saw emotion in her eyes and felt a flare of hope. She wasn’t as indifferent to him as she seemed.

  “I was just doing what any cop would in the same situation. I was standing up for a comrade who was about to walk into an ambush. After all, didn’t you do the same thing for me? Didn’t you take a bullet that was meant for me?”

  “That’s all it was? You were just doing your duty?”

  “What else could it be?”

  Her chin jutted out, and he knew what she was thinking. Why should she be the one to admit anything? Especially after the way he had acted. At least, he hoped that was what she was thinking.

  “You know,” he replied, musing, “learning that I want to be an auctioneer was only one of the things I’ve discovered about myself this past month. Like you once suggested, I finally examined my life. It took a long time, and it wasn’t very pretty, but I did it. Know what I found?”

  “No, Antonio,” she replied softly, “I don’t. What did you find?”

  “That the Merrill job introduced me to three of the most courageous people I’ve ever met. The first two were Vincent and Serena. They were both orphans, yet they had the courage to love each other. Then there was you. You lost your husband and your son, yet somehow you opened your heart to me. And I trampled on it.”

  He waited for her to say something, anything, but she just stood there, staring at him.

  “Do you realize that for years, ever since my mother died, I’ve been daring the Fates to come and take me, the way they took her? That’s why I took so many risks. That’s why I became a cop. That’s why I went undercover. And that’s why the only relationships I would allow myself were of a temporary nature. I was doing whatever I could to avoid facing the magnitude of my loss.”

  His last step brought him directly in front of her. “I’m not running anymore,” he announced. “I don’t want the Fates to take me. I want to live. Oh, how I want to live. What’s more important, I am ready and willing to take the one risk I would never allow myself to take—the only risk in life worth taking. Can you guess what that is?”

  Wordlessly, her eyes wide, Laura shook her head.

  “I want to experience the love my parents shared, the love you and I read about in Vincent’s and Serena’s letters. And I want to experience it with you, if you will let me. Because I love you, Laura. I will always love you. That’s why I took that bullet.”

  Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks.

  “Don’t cry,” he pleaded. “Please, Laura, don’t cry. I can’t bear it.”

  She fell into him then, and his arms closed around her in a vise.

  “Am I dreaming?” she asked, her head against his chest.

  “If you are, then we both are.” His voice lowered. Once again he asked, “Why did you blow your cover like that? Why did you put your life on the line for me?”

  Pulling back as far as his arms would allow, she looked up at him with a gentle smile. With one hand she cradled his cheek.

  “Silly man. Don’t you know by now that I’m madly in love with you?”

  “Enough to marry me?”

  “Yes. Oh, yes!”

  It was the answer he’d prayed to hear. This time, when he saw the love shining in her eyes, there was no hesitation, no pulling back. His only thought was that he hoped she would always look at him that way. His arms tightened around her again, and they tumbled together onto the sofa.

  Much later, cradled in his arms, Laura asked, “Where will we live?”

  “I don’t care.” His heart full, Antonio traced a finger over her swollen lips. “I can be an auctioneer anywhere.”

  “And I can sketch and teach anywhere. I was really impressed with how friendly and helpful the people are in Pittsburgh. Plus, that’s where your family is. Why don’t we live there?”

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “It’s what I want,” she said.

  He grew serious. “I’m sorry I ran out on you, Laura. You have my solemn vow that I’ll never run from you again.”

  “And you have my solemn vow that, if you do, I’ll go after you. With my gun.”

  He gave a mock shiver. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “It’s not a warning. It’s a promise.”

  “There is one thing I haven’t told you,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “I think it’s only fair to let you know that I come as a package deal.”

  Her eyebrows went up. “A package deal?”

  He nodded. “I have five brothers and one sister who will meddle endlessly in our lives. And I have dogs. Two of them. Puppies, really.”

  Understanding dawned in her
eyes. “The puppies we picked up in West Virginia. You’re the one who adopted them?”

  “Actually, I sent Carlo to get them. He and his wife kept them for me until I got out of the hospital. So, what do you think?”

  “I’ve met your family. I like them.”

  “They like you, too. And the puppies?”

  “Who wouldn’t love a puppy?”

  “So you’re going to accept the package deal?”

  “Try and stop me,” she replied with a broad smile. “In fact, I can’t wait to unwrap it.”

  “Neither can I.”

  He unfastened the buttons of her blouse with fingers that weren’t quite steady. His heartbeat kicked into high gear when her smile changed to a gasp and her eyes went slumbrous. His hand closed around her breast, and he paused.

  “Laura?”

  “Hmm?” She sounded breathless, and impatient for him to continue.

  “Just like Vincent Bickham, I knew the first minute I saw you that you were meant for me. You think their love was special? I promise you, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  In answer she raised her arms to him, and Antonio went home.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-0104-0

  LAURA AND THE LAWMAN

  Copyright © 2002 by Shelley Cooper

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  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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