In the Line of Duty

by Carolyn Arnold

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  POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.™

  “Carolyn Arnold’s love for law enforcement and providing an accurate depiction of their job is clearly evident in her writing. She is eager to have police procedures spot on, both in tactics and investigations. It’s this enthusiasm paired with her knack for storytelling and her realistic portrayal of police work that makes her an author that mystery readers would enjoy reading, including those with a law enforcement background.

  “You experience the emotions, distractions, frustrations, and successes of the characters in every chapter of In the Line of Duty. I found her heartfelt details to be spot on with a line-of-duty death. Being able to put such a tragic situation into words, is difficult in itself, but she does it with compassion, knowledge, and respect for those in uniform who know what it is like to lose a brother or sister in blue.”

  — Carl J. Harper, Training Officer, ERT (SWAT), Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania

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  In the Line of Duty (Book 7 in the Detective Madison Knight series) copyright © 2016 by Carolyn Arnold

  www.carolynarnold.net

  November 2016 Hibbert & Stiles Publishing Inc. Edition

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  All rights reserved. The scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN (e-book): 978-1-988353-33-3

  ISBN (paperback): 978-1-988353-24-1

  ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-988353-25-8

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  To all the fine men and women who serve or have served in law enforcement, and in memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice…

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  Chapter 1

  I LOVE YOU. Three words that possessed the ability to change everything—your beliefs, perceptions, decisions. They also had a way of transforming whatever previously mattered to you and replacing it with this warm feeling that melts away your defenses, leaving you completely vulnerable.

  Until now, Madison Knight had avoided such vulnerability at all costs. And she had been good at it. Maybe it came from her job as a major crimes detective and all the lying criminals, but it more likely had to do with the fact she’d been engaged before and it had disintegrated before she reached the altar. A bias toward men and romantic relationships was always born when the first one you gave your heart to was a cheater. Call it once bitten, twice shy.

  To compound the issue, her ex, Toby Sovereign, was a fellow detective with Stiles PD. This should have taught Madison to date outside of law enforcement, but she’d failed to grasp that little lesson. Currently, the man in her life was Troy Matthews, SWAT team leader and hot-blooded American male who turned the heads of most women. But the good news for Madison was that he didn’t seem to notice their attentions. Well, maybe he noticed, as in he was aware, but he certainly didn’t care. He said that he only had eyes for Madison, and for the most part, she trusted him when he told her so.

  There were still times that doubt about his loyalty would creep in, but she would acknowledge them and then release them. In the five months they’d been dating, he had never given her actual reason to distrust him. It was just her past recycling back, trying to tell her that all relationships were doomed to failure. In her defense, finding your fiancé in bed with another woman wasn’t exactly an image that went away quickly. And really, Troy had just as much reason to be suspicious of her, seeing as his marriage ended because his wife cheated on him with his best friend.

  She looked over at Troy lying beside her. She was in his bed, at his house. These days she was at his place more than she was at her own apartment. Even Hershey, her chocolate lab, was snoring loudly on the floor at Troy’s side of the bed. It made her smile and her stomach flip-flop.

  And there it was. The gushy side of her…

  What had he done to her? What had those three words done to her? After Sovereign, she’d become good at keeping any man in her life at a distance. Less chance of getting hurt that way. And she’d usually put an end to things if it they got close to being meaningful. But Troy was just about as stubborn as she was. He wasn’t going to let her go easily; he’d said as much. His determination and loving perseverance were actually wearing down her defenses. Maybe there was a benefit to existing in a state of vulnerability. It meant she had someone she could rely on.

  She wanted to wake him up, but the sun wasn’t streaming in around the drawn curtains. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. 5:35.

  And it was Saturday.

  She let her head fall back against the pillow, surprised that she was even awake. They hadn’t turned out the light until after midnight, and she loved sleeping.

  She rolled onto her side, trying to abstain from touching him. But he was so beautiful… His jaw was angular and had the hardened edges of the alpha male he was. She should have turned away from him right then, but he was lying with the sheets crumpled at his feet, wearing a pair of boxers. His chest was a work of art—six-pack abs, a speckling of dark curls across his pectorals—and lower down were groin lines.

  Her breath caught and tremors coursed through her body just remembering his flesh against hers, his hands on her skin, the sex they’d had last night before collapsing into a heap of sweat. His love made her high in a way she had never experienced before—as crazy as that sounded, even to her. And maybe that’s why her mind sometimes got carried away thinking Troy might be the one.

  Her heart raced at the thought. Or maybe it was just Cynthia’s romance getting to her. Her best friend and colleague had recently set a wedding date, and Troy and Madison had just had dinner with the lovebirds the night before.

  Really, who needed marriage when everything was going so well? They had the love, the romance, and their independence. It couldn’t get better than this…

  Something niggled in her gut. What if it could get better?

  She hated that damn niggling. It had to be the fact that she was immersed in party and wedding planning for Cynthia. Madison was the maid of honor, and the responsibility had her immersed in taffeta, cake decorations, guest favors, and flowers. And if that wasn’t enough, she’d been working with Cynthia’s fiancé and Sovereign’s partner, Lou Stanford, and Samantha—a technician from the crime lab that Cynthia managed—on a surprise engagement party. It was something that the groom wasn’t typically involved in, but Lou had graciously stepped in and initiated the plan. But with the caseload at work, it had taken them months to put together.

  At least the party would be behind her
come next Saturday. Until then, there were only a couple of last-minute details to work out: checking in with the caterer and making sure the florist would have Gerberas, as they were Cynthia’s favorite flower. Today, though, Madison had to go dress shopping with Cynthia.

  No wonder she was thinking about marriage—she was drowning in it!

  “Someone’s up early,” Troy said groggily, opening one eye at a time as if he was adjusting to the light. He looked over at her and smiled. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  Madison returned the smile. “Morning.”

  “Why are you up already? It’s Saturday. You should still be snoring,” he said.

  She raised both brows. “I don’t snore.”

  “Yeah, okay,” he stated drily.

  She playfully hit his shoulder, and he grabbed her sides and started tickling her. She squealed and squirmed, trying to get out of his reach…but not really.

  “Stop it…” It was a weak protest, but it was the best she could manage.

  His hands were resting on her hips, and his green eyes were peering into hers the way they always did. It was as if the man had the ability to read her mind. And based on what he’d say and do sometimes, she wondered if he really could.

  She’d never tell him how the M-word wasn’t as scary some days, though. Why risk scaring him off? Besides, he probably wouldn’t believe her anyway. Her and marriage? Laughable.

  “My mind’s awake,” she said, finally answering his question. It was simple, precise, and honest.

  “Is that all?” He moved over until he was against her, hard against her.

  Her eyes playfully narrowed to slits, and her gaze fell to his lips. He took her mouth with hunger, yet she felt like the one feeding on him. Heat grew in her belly…and lower.

  His cell phone rang, and his moan was deep-seated as he pulled back from her.

  “Let voice mail pick it up,” she whispered.

  Troy lifted his phone. “You know I can’t.”

  As part of SWAT, he was on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

  She dropped the back of her head onto the pillow, panting and disappointed.

  Then her phone rang.

  Strange… This was her day off, and she wasn’t on call.

  She reached for her phone. Her superior Sergeant Winston showed as her caller. First Troy’s boss, now hers? This couldn’t be good news.

  She answered and listened to Winston, only the odd word making it to her ears. “…a shooting…Officer Weir is down…fighting for his life…”

  Madison swallowed, her mouth thick with saliva, her eyes full of tears. Her heartbeat slowed and her chest seemed locked in expansion.

  “When?” She managed to scrape the one word from her throat as she looked over at Troy. He was still on the phone, staring at the far wall.

  “Just over a half hour ago.”

  “Where— Is he—” The question only partially formed when Winston’s earlier words sank in.

  Fighting for his life.

  “Outside a gas station on Hamilton and Highbury,” the sergeant responded. “He’s at Peace Liberty Hospital.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Madison hung up, otherwise frozen in place on the bed, her heart beating fast for a different reason than before. Barry Weir was more than a fellow officer. He was their friend.

  Troy ended his call.

  “Barry was shot,” she said in disbelief.

  Troy’s face was pale as he got out of bed ahead of her. “I know. We’ve gotta go.”

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  Chapter 2

  THE HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM WAS A SEA OF BLUE. Regardless of their rank, all the officers in the Stiles PD were awaiting word on their brother. Even those on duty would be taking turns stopping by. The energy in the room was one of both grief and desire for answers.

  Madison and Troy walked in together and were greeted with embraces. Their fellow officers had solemn expressions on their faces, and while tears filled the eyes of almost all who were there, most were refused the right to fall. Honor and determination made that a requirement. And just as with a blood family in the case of an emergency, all their differences disappeared.

  She even hugged Officer Tendum, in that moment letting go of the anger she had been harboring against him for the last six months. Tendum had accompanied his training officer, Higgins—who was also her former TO—on a call that had resulted in Higgins being shot. She’d held Tendum responsible, attributing it to his negligence, but maybe she had rushed to judgment. Tendum hadn’t caused the shooting, and at least Higgins had recovered fully.

  Speaking of Higgins… She looked around the room but didn’t see him anywhere.

  “What’s the word on Barry’s condition?” Madison asked Tendum, aware of Troy’s hand on her lower back and finding comfort in his touch.

  “He’s…” Tendum’s chin quivered and he bit his bottom lip.

  Madison squeezed the officer’s shoulder.

  Tendum swiped a finger under his dripping nose and sniffled. “It’s not looking good. He hasn’t come to since the shooting. We’re all trying to be optimistic, but the doctor said it’s too soon to tell. He’s in the operating room now. The bullet hit his lungs.” Tendum’s gaze fell to the floor briefly. “That’s all we’ve been told. He was wearing his vest…but they’re not one-hundred-percent—” Tendum locked his gaze with hers, apparently thinking better of trying to educate her, and took pause.

  Vests only helped so much. Bullets could still penetrate the Kevlar despite the fiction of movies, and even in the cases when they didn’t, the impact alone could cause fatal internal bleeding.

  “The bullet entered the meaty part under his left arm,” Tendum added.

  Madison swallowed, suddenly aware of Troy’s silence, and pressed on. “Did they catch the guy who—”

  Tendum shook his head. “He even hit the panic button. The closest cruiser to his location was five minutes out.”

  Every police radio had a red button that would clear all radio traffic and alert dispatch that an officer was in trouble. They could tell who and where with that one push.

  “Weir didn’t say anything in that time. It’s believed he didn’t have the strength.” Tendum cleared his throat and then went on as if trying to assign some sense or reason to what had happened. “He was just filling the gas tank.” He shook his head. “A car pulled up and fired off rounds.”

  Madison’s mind snapped into investigative mode. Had this been random or targeted? That was one of the first things they would need to figure out. “And his family?”

  Barry Weir was married with three daughters, ages six, twelve, and fifteen.

  “Joni’s over there.” Tendum pointed to Barry’s wife, who was seated at the edge of the waiting area closest to the doors that led to the operating rooms. She was surrounded by officers, leaning forward with her head in her hands, her dark hair falling to the sides, hiding her face. Joni sat back as if she sensed new eyes on her and connected directly with Madison’s gaze. Joni’s eyes were bloodshot, her cheeks streaked with tears.

  “Where are the girls?” Madison asked Tendum.

  “Officers are with them at the house.”

  Madison nodded and then looked over her shoulder at Troy. His eyes were glazed over, his focus on Joni. It was rare to see emotion etched into Troy’s features, but it was clearly visible now.

  “Excuse us,” Madison said to Tendum.

  When they were a few feet away from Tendum, she put a hand on Troy’s arm. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. We have to think posi—” His cold gaze quieted her. The pain in it was tangible. She swallowed roughly and nodded. He wasn’t in the mood to be placated.

  They silently walked over to Joni, Madison leading the way.

  Joni’s eyes were full of shock and confusion, and while they had been looking in Madison’s di
rection, she didn’t really seem to see Madison until she squatted in front of her.

  “We came as soon as we heard,” Madison said softly.

  Joni’s gaze went from her to Troy and back to Madison. She wrapped her arms around Madison’s neck, and in that moment, Madison nearly lost it altogether. Tears did fall, but to hell with it.

  She cupped the back of Joni’s head. “I’m so sorry, Joni.” Madison’s chin quivered as she struggled to regain control of her emotions. Joni was sobbing, and Madison just held her until Joni pulled back.

  She swiped her palms down her cheeks, wiping away the tears, only to have more fall in their place. “I need to be strong—” the hiccup of a sob “—think positive. The girls…” Joni broke down for a while and then managed to get out, “They need their father.” Joni held out a hand for Troy to take.

  “Anything you need, we’re here for you,” Troy reassured her, his voice gravelly as he squeezed her hand.

  Joni nodded, chewing on her bottom lip.

  At least Troy could speak now. Madison didn’t have confidence in herself at the moment. All she wanted to do was take Joni’s worry away and guarantee that Barry would pull out of this. But she couldn’t. There was, however, one thing she could promise. “I’ll make sure we find his shooter and bring them to justice.”

  Joni’s gaze latched on to Madison’s, and in that moment there was only purity—a vow spoken that Madison would ensure was fulfilled.

  She took a deep breath, exhaling from her mouth as she tried her best to pull herself together. Detachment was the toughest part of the job—the separation between the job and what was personal was hard to distinguish. Madison didn’t even like to refer to murder victims by that label, preferring to use their actual names. But Barry was blood… Rage, the desire for vengeance, and heartbreak blurred together. She dried her cheeks with her hands.

  More officers came up to Joni, and Madison put her hand on Troy’s back. Others wanted to speak with her. Troy was hugging Joni when Madison turned to see Sergeant Winston stepping through the doors. Their eyes met, and she found herself moving toward him, regardless of their history, which usually saw them blending about as well as oil and water. Madison stopped about a foot in front of him.