by Mimi Barbour
“Ahhh, you sure you want to visit and drive at the same time. Maybe the road needs all your attention.”
“Quit messing around and answer my question.”
She heard him mutter, “who’s messing around” but then he did satisfy her curiosity.
“I worked Homicide in LA, some undercover, mostly gang related stuff. Had unfinished business with Rhondo that needed to be followed up on. When I found out he’d likely show up here, I called in a marker on my old pal Cory.”
“The old pal stuff might have gotten you the job. Doesn’t mean you’ll keep it. Not unless you know how to follow orders.” Her tone resonated ‘don’t mess with me’ and if he resented it that would be his problem. Either he worked with her as lead, or he left. Given her druthers, she knew what would be her choice. The only time in her career she’d disliked wearing the badge happened while partnering with Harvey Wittlespoon. ‘Wit’ as the others liked to call him. ‘Witless’ as she referred to him behind his back. The man had idiot status stamped all over him, a reputation he’d earned legitimately. Never again would she get stuck pandering to a male partner had been her motto, and Cory knew it.
Speeding, cutting the last couple of corners real tight, Aurora sighed her enjoyment. The boost she always felt sitting behind the wheel of a well-oiled machine kicked in. Pressing down on the pedal so the vehicle leapt forward, maneuvering into spaces that anyone with brains wouldn’t even try, thrilled the hell outta of her. Today, not so much. She knew what awaited her at the end of this ride. She’d been there before.
The night Rhondo had attacked her partner; Aurora had shown up early with food for their ‘junk and drunk’ girl’s night—eating junk and getting drunk. Something they did whenever they broke a case. Only that night, Aurora remembered, she’d felt sickly, with a pounding headache that began as soon as she’d pulled into the parking lot, gathered the stuff from the car and headed towards the apartment. Then, while approaching the door juggling an aromatic pizza box, bags of chips, ice cream and two bottles of wine she’d heard a loud thud and a blood-curdling scream coming from inside Debbie’s suite. As if someone opened a trap door, her stomach plunged while her heart pounded out a rhythm of choking fear that nearly had her paralyzed. Then her training kicked in. She threw the food away and pulled out her purse gun. Without hesitation, she shot the lock and busted in through the door.
What she saw made her pulse ramp up even higher as rage like she’d never known filled her and turned her into a killer. Her eyes like lasers, scanned the room to see Debbie, bleeding, partially naked, clothes ripped and hanging, laying on the floor sobbing. The half-dressed male, who looked like he’d escaped from some scudsy Elvis wedding chapel, hovered over the writhing body of her friend, using her for cover. Yanking up his pants, he shot at Aurora to give himself some time.
He laughed—no he giggled like some kind of a freakish maniac. The creepy shit took another shot, and as she dove for cover, he fled out the open window and down the ancient fire escape.
Aurora ran to Debbie’s side and found her rolled into a fetus-like position, knees curled together almost under her chin and her arms clamped around them. “Dear Lord, Deb. I’m so sorry I wasn’t earlier. I—” Aurora felt the guilt gorging huge chunks from her soul.
“I’m fine.” Deb choked on the words as saliva ran over her chin to mix with the waterfall of tears. Smudged mascara highlighted bruises that had formed around cuts and scrapes. The streaks of blood near her swollen mouth made Aurora glance away quickly so she wouldn’t get foolish and pass out. Deb’s lipstick, a parody of color, was now smeared over her cheeks and on her chin, which gave her a grotesque look of a woman who’d been through hell.
Aurora reached out to smooth Deb’s hair, her hand shaking uncontrollably.
“Go after him, Aurora. Get the son-of-a-bitch. Get him. He hurt me.” The last words were screamed out between sobs and they galvanized Aurora into action.
“I’ll call for back-up; they’ll be here any minute.”
“You got here in time. I’m fine. Go!”
With Debbie’s furious prodding egging her on, she’d given chase, but to no avail.
He’d made it to his car and took off like a bat out of hell. She’d managed to get the plates and call it in. Then she’d headed to the district where most of the gangs hung out, waited and prayed for someone to spot the license number. Sure enough, within the hour a call came over the radio. A squad had caught the plates and they were in hot pursuit.
Aurora followed. She’d ended up in an underground parking lot, but had gotten there too late. Two officers were down, one dead with a bullet hole in his head. Rhondo had fled the scene. Seems he’d set up an ambush that worked slick as hell and deadly as sin. Two of his men jumped out from where they’d been hiding in the bays, one on each side of the cop car and gunned down the officers.
“Obviously, you know where you’re going.” Kai’s voice broke into her reverie.
“Oh yeah! Get ready to party. I’m using the car to block the entrance. If that prick is still in here, he’s not driving out.” A slick maneuver with the gas and brake had the car whipping around sideways to block a good portion of the underground exit.
Gunshots were heard in the distance, and running as fast as they could, they headed towards where the officers were in trouble. Sirens screamed and more officers piled out from the other cars that screeched up behind Aurora’s.
In order to get closer to the battle, some gave cover behind the parked vehicles and others used the large rounded pillars. Soon they came across the bloodiest of scenes. Two cop cars had smashed into other vehicles, a blaring horn added to the confusion. One of the passenger doors lay open with a uniformed body sprawled halfway out, blood dripping down the hand of the unconscious or dead cop. Smells of burnt rubber on asphalt emanated and added realism to the scene that would later be haunting. It looked as if only one rookie, pinned down, was holding them off and Aurora knew she’d be praising that young cop after the gun smoke settled.
Aurora ran to a pillar. The cold from the cement seeped into the skin on her arm and made her shiver with reaction. The smell of desperation had everyone on high alert. Some of the younger cops were so stoked they were taking stupid risks. She saw Lawson grab one of the daredevils and haul his ass down just in time as a number of bullets hurtled past. He issued orders and squatted to run toward her, using the cars as protection. Seeing the direction he ran, Aurora shot a number of times to give him protection.
A head poked out from the shooters that wore a gleeful expression. Aurora knew him at once. He was the same Elvis look-a-like who’d hurt her partner. With Kai now hot on her tail, she worked her way around the outer rim of the underground garage, creeping as close as to the action as she could.
One moment she was sneaking forward, and in another her body was securely hidden under the strong male who’d grabbed her in time to protect her. She lay under him as bullets, aimed in her direction, whizzed by. Glued to her like he was, she felt him breathing hard and noticed the sexy irritating smell from his aftershave.
“Get off me.”
“I will if you promise not to be so reckless.”
“Yeah! Yeah! Look who’s talking.” What pissed her off was the annoying noise in her ears performing a symphony.
Heart pounding, she shoved at him and had to suffer his infernal grin as he whispered. “You wait here!” Her new idiot partner gave orders as if he expected her to listen. With his gun out, he jungle-crawled under a larger truck and inched his way in the direction where the thugs were ganged up.
Paying no attention to the rapid beating of her heart or the fact that her female parts were wide awake and interested, she edged around the next vehicle. Working along the wall, she tried to come up behind the gang, to thwart their planned exit up the back stairs. Pissed at herself for not setting up a perimeter around the building, she fully intended to stop their escape.
Sure enough, she spotted one backing away from the oth
ers, sneaking away like the dirty dog he was, and she sent a warning shot in his direction. Only thing was, they now knew where she hid, and the subsequent blast coming her way pinned her down good. Once they’d trained their sights on her, Kai managed to come up behind them, and in no time, the shooting stopped. The weasels threw their guns out into the open and flung their empty hands in the air.
“Don’t shoot. We’re giving up. We dropped our guns.” Two cocky young teens stood, knowing that because of their age they’d get away with murder.
Chapter Eight
Not interested in these two, Aurora took off after her prey, running with her gun held low and pointed down. She found the exit she was sure that Rhondo would have used. A dark figure up ahead, caught in her peripheral vision, bolted from behind a dumpster and took off for the trees in the distance. Giving chase, she holstered her gun and used her flashlight to help her see the ground. Her boots held her back from giving him any kind of competition. The high heels dug into the soft ground and made it difficult to get up any speed. Frustrated, she wondered if by shedding them, it would give her any chance at all.
Rhondo, a big man, ran like his life depended on it and it did. Conserving her breath, she didn’t bother to yell “Police” or Stop”. He’d have only laughed. She’d as soon wound the bastard to slow him down if she thought her bullet would hit him. As good as she was, not too many people could make that shot.
“Aurora, move over.” Kai’s panting words came from behind and she swung out of his way on the path between the dark trees.
Kai, traveling swiftly, wasted no energy as his lean body sprinted ahead.
By this time, Rhondo had disappeared from sight and that made Aurora very nervous. She knew his penchant for setting up ambushes. And Kai was heading right for him.
The first boot flew off and then the other. She raced like the wind to catch up and got there in time to see where Kai had come to a full stop. “Let him go Rhondo.”
The terrified driver of a car pulled to the side of the road was held in Rhondo’s clutches. The stranger’s head shielded Rhondo’s grinning face. With his gun pointed at the guy’s ear, he called out. “You know I’ll kill him. You want his death on your conscience, Cop?” Disgusting exhilaration spiked his voice into a kind of an eerie shriek.
Aurora thought to sneak around the two until she heard Rhondo swear. “Bitch, get out where I can see you.”
She stepped up beside Kai, her gun still holstered.
“Both of you drop your weapons or I swear I’ll shoot this prick.”
Aurora saw the sweat on the middle-aged, bald man’s scrunched-up face. His pants weren’t quite zipped and let them know he’d probably pulled over on this dark stretch of road to take a piss. Most likely he was regretting that now. His paleness and beseeching whines added to the fear that surrounded him like a screen.
They both dropped their guns. “Let him go, Rhondo. The dude’s an innocent bystander.” Kai’s voice rang with the authority most police officers learn to use over time.
“Yes. Dear Lord, I’m innocent. Please don’t hurt me.” The whiner screeched the words as Rhondo forced him toward the driver’s side of the car where the door had been left open and the engine running.
As if Kai suspected that Rhondo would be sending some bullets their way, he stepped in front of Aurora. Not having any of his macho bullshit, she weaved to his side and added her two cents. “Rhondo, don’t add felony murder to your crime. Let’s keep this a gentlemen’s game so I can respect you in the morning.”
Her words made him stop and he sent another round of the maniacal chortling their way. Being that he’d reached the protection of the car, he took his time. Finally he answered, “One day, Lady, you and I are gonna have a private party.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Just send me the time and address.”
“How about we make it a surprise?” Another round of eerie laughter followed. Then he pushed the victim away, shot over their heads a few times which forced them to take cover and was off with just the taillights glowing red in the distance.
Both rolled for their guns but Aurora knew they’d be too late. Disgust roiled in her stomach and shot out of her mouth. “Fuck!”
Kai approached warily. Probably didn’t like her expression.
“You all right?” He reached out, covered her clenched hand and forced her to lower the gun.
“No! I’m mad as hell. I never thought it could happen again.”
“Trust me. Next time, and there will be a next time, we’ll get him. I promise. Okay, partner?” His soft voice sent shivers up a spine not used to this sensation.
Now why his assurance gave her a lift, she’d never know, but it did. Maybe it was because she knew they still had the lead from Ross about the party happening the next night.
Other than the tingling on the skin of the hand he still held and the soft pleasing hum ringing inside that soothed, damned if she didn’t feel better. With a toss of her head, she flipped her annoying hair back from her face, and gave him the evil eye. He never flinched, nor did he look away.
Finally she smiled, amazed at the speculative glint that entered his intense blue eyes. “Okay.”
ROLL THE DICE
Chapter One
“You shot me!” Sweet Jesus it hurt!
“You told me to.”
“Dumb shit!” Aurora Morelli pushed her new partner from hovering over her so she could sit up. “I didn’t mean it!” she continued. “I just wanted you to scare Rhondo.” She felt blood gushing from the wound on her arm, and purposely kept her head turned away.
“Shooting you did scare him. He let you go, didn’t he?”
Aurora frowned at him. Why does his voice have to sound so damn reasonable?
“Whatever!” She hoped her scorn would get to him.
“Hey! I saw his eyes. You didn’t. He had every intention of using that knife. I’m talking about that sharp one he had pressed against your throat. If I’d have tried to shoot him instead of you…” He shrugged, leaving her to come to her own conclusion.
Aurora shuddered, fighting off nausea. She didn’t want to listen to reason. Staying angry made the situation a whole lot easier to deal with. Sarcasm, the best weapon she had in such a macho-man’s environment, replaced whining.
She glared at him and saw his shapely eyebrows rise. The light of the bulb hanging from the ceiling of the cruddy apartment haloed his head, making the bare skin shine. “Just my friggin luck to end up with a partner who looks and thinks like Bruce Willis.”
Kai Lawson chuckled, but Aurora’s glower put a quick end to his merriment. He tried changing the subject with sweet talk. “I’ve been told I have perfect shaped head for being bald.”
“Sure, and it goes swell with your baby-blue eyes,” she sneered. No way would she admit aloud that he did look good.
His response was a grunt of displeasure. “Are you always this crabby?”
Disbelief shone in her amazed expression. “Not at all”, she said, disdain evident. “Only when I’ve been shot.”
Kai turned his attention away from her to call in the emergency. Then he tried to push up the bloody sleeve of her shirt for access to the injury. Seeing that it was too tight, he gave up and moved to undo the buttons on the top of her white blouse.
What the hell!? “Get away from me!” She slapped at his hands and wrenched away.
When he pulled back, his cold blue eyes stared Aurora down. No smiles, no teasing now—just a bull-headed male who would brook no interference. “I have to stop the bleeding. It’s not much more than a scratch, but it’s deep. Look!”
Not in a million years! She knew better than to look. Instead, she let him remove the bulletproof vest she hated wearing, then undid her own buttons, her injured arm trembling visibly. Then with his help, she slid the garment off her shoulder.
Wasting no time, he lost his own vest and then whipped off his white t-shirt that had “L.A. Kings” scrawled across the front. He folded it to u
se as a pressure pad. With a swipe at the mess of curls covering the wound, he said, “Hold your hair out of the way so I can see what I’m doing.”
Raising her good arm, she reached around and scooped the loose waves toward her back. Though she didn’t mean for it to happen, her eyes became glued to the bronzed male flesh just inches away from her face. His smell infiltrated her senses, and she determined that he had a great taste in body soap, aftershave, or whatever it was that she found so intoxicating about his scent.
She scanned the tattoo that decorated Kai’s chest and upper arm, and flowed around to his back. It must have taken a genius to do such fine artwork. The flowing lines and melding colors were perfect. It was even better than hers, and she’d been real picky. Obviously, he worked out because the proof stared her in the face. Of its own accord, her gaze travelled down, and she noticed that his pants clung low on his shapely hips where the tanned skin seemed unending. Good lord! He didn’t have a tan line. Her gaze kept roving. Every muscular configuration worked together to form a body most other men admired… and women longed for.
Gently, he put pressure on her upper arm, and she quickly switched her gaze to his expression. He turned to her and winked. “There. See? Merely a scratch.”
Embarrassed, Aurora nodded. “Yeah, whatever. I can feel it.”
“I don’t believe this. You’re squeamish. A cop who can’t look at a wound? That’s the best one I’ve ever heard.” He stopped jeering and worry crept into a voice that had softened. “Hey, you gonna pass out?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Kai. It’s just my own blood I can’t stand, or people I love. Anyone else, no problem.” Sirens screamed from close by and offered the two a reprieve from their bickering.
Before Kai had arrived in Las Vegas, Aurora’s informant had directed her to a felon’s apartment, one of the guys Rhondo hung with. They’d made the arrest and brought the lowlife in for questioning.
