“Do you need my socks?” she asked, and his whole body clenched at the thought of her taking off even one more article of clothing.
“No!” He spoke more harshly than he should have, and he felt her freeze.
“No, we won’t need that,” he made himself say more steadily. “All I need now is something to gag him.”
“How about my hat?” she asked, tossing it in his direction. It smelled like her, too, but he grabbed Eddie’s head and shoved the hat into his mouth. The less time he spent thinking about that, the better off they’d be.
The scraping sound came from the other side of the warehouse again, louder this time. Luke patted the floor around them, searching for Eddie’s gun. When he found it, he stuck it in his waistband then touched Julia’s arm. At least she had her shirt back on, he thought sourly.
“Let’s move over here a little more. I don’t think they’ll come looking for Eddie right away, but I don’t want to be near him if they find him.”
She followed him without a word, and he settled them behind a stack of boxes closer to the other door. He didn’t give a damn if she wanted to be here or not. If they had a chance, they were going to get the hell out of this warehouse.
The door across from them scraped again, and suddenly the warehouse was flooded with light. A truck engine idled on the other side of the door. He longed to look out and see what was going on, but knew he didn’t dare. Realizing that Julia must be as curious as he was, he bent over and put his mouth to her ear.
“That’s the truck they’re using to bring in the coke. As soon as they get the door open all the way they’ll just drive it right in.”
“How do you know?” she demanded, carefully turning her head to look at him and moving her ear away from his mouth. He should be grateful, he told himself. Her pulse had fluttered wildly just beyond his lips, a hairbreadth away from his lips, and the scent of her warm skin was enough to drive all other thoughts from his mind.
“How do I know?” he repeated. “Because I’ve seen this dozens of times. Standard operating procedure.”
“Where are the police?” She turned to look at him, and he saw the worry on her face. “Shouldn’t they be here by now?”
“They’re here. They’re just waiting until all the players are in place.” He prayed it was true. He glanced at her, not sure of how much to say. “They have to catch Molloy and Eddie and the others in the act.”
She licked her lips and turned her head. “I know that.”
Reaching out for her hand, he wrapped his fingers around hers. “It’ll be all right, Julia.”
She surprised him by returning the pressure of his fingers. Holding his hand desperately tight, she looked over at him, infinite sadness in her eyes. “We’ll solve the case, Luke. But it won’t be all right.”
What could he say? He remembered how it had felt when she’d told him that Eddie was involved in this. How much worse would it be if Eddie had been his brother? Letting go of her hand, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders arid pulled her close. She resisted for a split second, then let herself relax into the curve of his arm.
On the other side of the warehouse the door swung fully open with a groan and the truck rumbled in. Low voices mingled with the noise from the truck and the sound of footsteps entering the warehouse. Leaning forward, he strained to hear.
Julia shifted in his arms, throwing him off-balance, and he slammed into a stack of boxes. He grabbed frantically for them, but they tumbled down onto the floor in front of him.
The warehouse was instantly silent. Even the truck engine was switched off, and the sounds of their breathing became unbearably loud in the stillness. Then voices began murmuring again, getting louder as they headed toward the place they hid.
Pulling his jacket around him to hide his shoulder holster, Luke grabbed Julia and eased her onto the dirty floor. “We have only one chance to convince them,” he whispered urgently into her ear. “Follow my lead.”
He began kissing her, unbuttoning the top buttons of her shirt at the same time. She froze, resisting for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around him and drew him closer. When he ran his tongue over her lips she opened to him immediately, and he nearly forgot where they were and what was happening as he tasted her.
“What’s going on? What are you doing here?” The voice came from directly above him, and he felt Julia stiffen in his arms and clutch her blouse together with one hand.
Rolling over slowly, he sat up and tried to shield Julia with his body. Behind him he could hear the rustling of her clothes as she fumbled with the buttons of her blouse.
“What the hell does it look like we’re doing?” Luke snarled. He’d always believed the old saw about a good offense being the best defense. “Get out of here and leave us alone.”
The gang member who stood over him with a gun couldn’t have been any more than fifteen. He licked his lips nervously and looked over his shoulder toward the truck. “I think you’re going to have to come and talk to the boss.”
“And what if I don’t want to?” Luke crossed his arms and stared at the kid, trying to intimidate him.
But apparently that was the wrong approach. The kid’s gaze flew back to him and hardened, and the hand holding the gun steadied. Gesturing with the pistol, he backed up a step. “Stand up and get moving.”
Never taking his eyes off the boy, Luke reached behind him and pulled Julia to her feet. As they walked slowly into the glare of the truck’s headlights, he could see a group of figures standing around the truck. Tightening his hold on Julia’s hand for a moment, he finally dropped it and casually rested his fingertips in the pocket of his jeans. He needed to be ready to pull his gun.
“What did you find, Mongo?” someone called from the other side of the truck.
“These two were rolling around on the floor. He had his tongue down her throat and his hand in her blouse.”
Crude laughter floated over to them, and Luke longed to reach for Julia’s hand, but he didn’t dare even look at her right now. He had to be ready to react in a split second.
“Don’t you have a bed, lady?” another voice asked, accompanied by another burst of laughter.
“Get them out of here, Mongo,” the first voice ordered impatiently, and Luke exhaled slowly. Without a word he turned to go, reaching for Julia’s hand.
“Wait a minute.” This voice came from in front of the truck, and Luke turned around slowly. All he could see was a silhouette in front of the truck, but he didn’t like the tone of that command.
“That broad is the nurse we saw a few days ago. Remember? She was looking for someone in the neighborhood.”
Dead silence filled the warehouse. He felt Julia move behind him and reached for her hand to warn her to stay silent. His finger itched to pull his gun, but they would both be dead in an instant if he did. He tensed, waiting to move.
“If she’s a nurse then I’m a dancing horse.” The voice came from the deeper shadows against the far wall, and Luke jerked his head in that direction. He knew that voice.
Joe Molloy, one of the detectives from Eddie’s precinct, stepped into the light. His gun was steady in his hand and it was aimed right at them.
“The guy she’s with is an ex-cop. I doubt if it’s a coincidence that they’re in here tonight. Where’s Eddie?” Molloy looked around. “He used to be McKinley’s partner. We’ll let him deal with these two.”
“Good to see you, too, Joe,” Luke said. “What brings you to these parts?”
“Shut up, McKinley. Eddie!” he yelled. “Get the hell over here!”
After a moment someone shifted his feet, the noise shockingly loud in the silence. Luke reached behind him slowly and squeezed Julia’s hand, waiting for the right moment. When most of the gang members were looking toward the shadows at the back of the warehouse, he shoved Julia to the floor and rolled on top of her, shooting for the headlights on the truck at the same time.
As the room was plunged into darkness he pulled her
to her feet and headed for the door. Just as they got there the door burst open and a bright light was switched on, blinding them.
“Police! Freeze!” someone shouted, and Luke jerked Julia over to the side and out of the way.
The door behind the truck burst open a few seconds later, and another bright light illuminated the interior of the warehouse. The gang members and the cops inside the building were caught with their guns in their hands, frozen in place.
“All right, drop your weapons,” Luke heard another voice command, and realized with a jolt of relief that it was Captain Lewis. As they watched the uniformed officers rounding up everyone in the warehouse, he pulled Julia into the circle of his arm and held her close.
“Are you okay?”
She gave a shaky laugh. “Other than having ten years scared off my life, you mean?”
He dropped a kiss onto her hair. “I’m sorry. I thought we had a better chance at bluffing our way out of here.”
She leaned into him for just a second, pressing against his heart, and then stepped away so quickly that he wondered if he’d imagined it. “Don’t be. You made the right choice,” she said. “You bought us enough time for the cavalry to save us.”
He reached for her again, to reassure himself that she was all right, but stopped when he saw that she was staring across the warehouse. The uniformed officers had the gang members and the cops who were dealing with them lying on the floor, their hands on top of their heads.
Julia was watching them intently, and with an ache in his chest he realized why. “Do you want me to check for you?” he asked gently.
She shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “I have to do it myself.”
Julia was halfway across the floor when she realized that she still held the gun in her hand. It was the one Luke had taken away from Piotyr and handed to her. She’d pulled it out of her waistband when he’d stood in front of her, facing down the Demons, and now she slowly shoved it back into place. The cold metal chafed against her skin.
Captain Lewis glanced over at her as she approached the men lying on the floor. “You did a good job on this case, Carleton,” he said gruffly. “Why don’t you go on down to the station house and wait for us there? We’ll have a few questions to ask you later.”
She didn’t answer as her eyes scanned the prone men on the floor. Her heart began to lighten as she didn’t see any bright blond heads lying in the dirt. Then, just before she got to the end, she saw him.
He was facedown in the dust, but her heart contracted when she saw her brother’s profile. Stepping over to stand at his feet, she stared at him for a long time, feeling the hot lump of tears congealing in her throat.
“Bobby,” she breathed.
It wasn’t possible that he heard her above the din of noise in the warehouse, but her brother turned his head and his eyes met hers. They were filled with regret, pain and shame, and he looked at her only for a second before he turned away.
“Bobby, how could you?” she cried. “What made you do this?”
At that he turned around again. “Get out of here, Skinny,” he said, weariness etched in every word.
“Don’t call me that,” she sobbed, feeling the tears streaming down her face. “Don’t ever call me that again.”
“Let’s go,” Luke’s voice whispered in her ear, and his arm slid around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I’ll take you home.”
“No!” She resisted stiffly, pulling away from him to stand staring at Bobby, lying on the floor below her.
“Come on, Julia. You can talk to him later.” Luke tried to pull her away, and she jerked her arm out of his grasp.
“Let go of me, Luke. You can’t tell me what to do. I have to know why he did it. I can’t leave until I find out why.”
Luke slid his body between her and her brother, blocking her view of his humiliation. “He may not be able to tell you that,” he answered gently. “Especially not right now. It’ll be easier to talk to him later, when you’re alone.”
Alone. She grasped that thought to herself and turned away, heading blindly for the cool air rushing through the open door. Right before she stumbled through it she felt Luke at her side, but before she could tell him to go away she heard the captain’s voice again.
“You two need to come into the station and tell us what happened. I’ll finish cleaning up here and meet you there.”
“Could we do it tomorrow, sir?” Luke asked.
“Tonight, McKinley,” the older man barked.
The captain turned away, and Luke called after him, “You’ll find Eddie Timmons behind those boxes over there. You’ll want to collect him, too.”
Then Luke steered her out into the clear night air. He didn’t say a word, just wrapped his arm around her as he led her down the street to the rental car. Neither of them spoke as they drove through the night toward the police station.
Julia stared down at the cup in her hand, not seeing the brown sludge that seemed to be slowly congealing inside of it. It had been hours since she’d noticed the drab walls that surrounded her and the uncomfortable chair she was slumped in. All she could think about was Bobby, locked in a cell somewhere below her, and Luke, who’d disappeared as soon as they’d reached the station.
It was standard procedure, she knew, to isolate witnesses so they didn’t have a chance to compare notes, but after three hours she’d finally realized that Luke was avoiding her.
“What did you expect?” she asked herself harshly, standing up abruptly and dumping the cold coffee into the drinking fountain. “That he’d be waiting for you with open arms?”
She’d hoped he’d come to take her home after they’d given their statements so that she could at least give him one final apology. Not that it would make any difference to him, she acknowledged sadly. She had failed him, just like so many of the other people in his life. Eddie, his wife, even the police department had failed him when he’d needed it the most.
It had been wrong to fire him. She knew that now. She’d merely been obeying orders, doing what she’d been told to do, but now she realized how wrong she’d been. And not only because his firing had been political. She’d broken the rules herself, trying to protect her brother. Had what Luke done been any worse? She didn’t think so.
She should have challenged the department two years ago. Even though what Luke had done had been wrong, even though she’d followed the rules precisely, there were times when the rules had to be bent. And Lucas McKinley’s case had been one of them.
She stood over the trash can and slowly crushed the paper cup in her hand. She couldn’t change history. She couldn’t even change what she’d done last week, although she’d give anything to do so. She should have been straight with him up front, told him that she suspected Bobby was involved.
But she hadn’t, and now she had to live with it.
Prowling around the tiny room, she wondered if Luke was talking to Captain Lewis right now, or if he’d already left the station. Could he have walked right past the room where she waited and not even stop to say goodbye?
Remembering his face when he’d found Bobby’s name on the duty roster, she knew it was not only possible, but likely. He’d felt betrayed and manipulated, and he wouldn’t forgive that easily.
Dropping back down onto the hard chair, she buried her face in her hands and tried to hold back the hot tears that threatened to fall. She’d been afraid to trust him, and she’d ended up making sure he would never trust her.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the door; she ignored them at first. People had been walking by the room all evening. But the steps slowed and stopped outside the door, and she looked up, her heart leaping with hope.
Maybe he had come for her, after all. Maybe he’d been able to forget what she’d done, and been able to forgive her. The doorknob turned, and she stood up as the door began to open.
Her brother Bobby stood framed in the doorway, his face etched with lines that made him look ten years older
. “Thanks for putting up my bail,” he said. “Come on, Skinny. I’ll take you home.”
Chapter 16
Julia paused on the sidewalk and stared up at the boardedover windows of Luke’s office. Was he up there? He hadn’t been at home for the last three days, and she didn’t know where else to look for him. The boarded-up, bombed-out rubble of his office was the last place to check. Nobody had seen Lucas McKinley since the night Eddie and the others had been arrested.
She didn’t know if Luke had found out that they’d caught the kid who’d caused their accident. She didn’t even know if he’d been home since the Bomb Squad had swept his house and found it clean. She wasn’t sure if he cared. Not even Raul had been able to find him to share his good news about the scholarship.
She reached into her briefcase one more time to make sure the check was there. Running her finger over the stiff paper, she took a deep breath and pushed open the lobby door. It was as good an excuse to see him as any, she told herself. She had made a deal with Luke and she intended to keep it. And she wouldn’t be sure he’d gotten the money unless she handed him the check herself.
The hallway was just as dingy as she remembered it, and the linoleum just as worn. But now there was a new smell in the corridor, the faint, acrid odor of smoke. Maybe he wouldn’t be here, she thought, disappointment crashing over her. After all, how could anyone stay in a bombed-out office?
Shifting the handle of her briefcase to her left hand and tightening her grip on the warm leather, she raised her right hand to knock on the door.
“Come on in,” his voice answered almost immediately from the other side.
Taking a deep breath, she ran one hand over her curly hair, then glanced down at her suit to make sure that nothing was out of place. Licking her lips, she opened the door and stepped inside.
An Honorable Man Page 24
