by Lori Ryan
He cleared the alerts about Lucia’s calls and texted Ava. Any chance you’re free for dinner again this weekend?
He waited, forcing himself to put down the phone and not watch for that little bubble that meant she was writing back.
Rhys walked past John’s cubicle and settled into his chair at his own desk diagonally across from John’s.
John didn’t stand up to talk to him. They rarely did. Calling out over the dividers was easier.
“You guys get called out?”
Rhys and Mason hadn’t been in when John and Eric arrived that morning. That could mean they were out chasing a lead on a case, or it could mean they’d caught a new case. They were up next on the lineup.
Rhys’s disembodied voice came over the wall. “No, took Zaragoza over to meet one of my informants.”
Zaragoza was new in Major Crimes, so all of the teams worked with her from time to time, even though she was officially partnered up with Nate Ryder. She was ambitious and sharp. Last John had heard, she spoke four languages. But she was also gorgeous, which could make her job tough. She was tall and lean with exotic looks and a striking appearance. Suspects liked to give her shit about her looks. She gave it right back to them, not taking any crap from anyone.
So far, John had a good feeling about her and how she’d do on the squad. She had worked in Vice for a short time before moving over to Major Crimes. That experience would help her, but sometimes detectives didn’t realize how hard Major Crimes could be. It wasn’t uncommon to be called out on a heinous crime that you knew would stick with you forever, and then not have a single clue to lead to an arrest. And even when they did catch someone, there were times when there was no reason for the crime, other than the suspect was just a shitty person with no concern for anyone but themselves.
It could get to you.
His phone pinged with a text.
Eric shot him a look. “I thought you broke up with Laura.”
John didn’t answer him. The truth was, he hadn’t thought about Laura at all since he saw Ava the other day.
Laura was the fourth woman he’d dated since he and Lucia broke up. With most of those relationships, he’d been content to let them keep going until they didn’t really work anymore. The problem was, that was happening faster and faster. He seemed to be getting to the point where he didn’t care much one way or the other whether the relationship kept going or not. After all, he wasn’t going to let anything lead to marriage.
He’d get to the point where the woman would call or text, and he’d just think, I don’t want to make the effort here. With Laura, that had happened in a matter of weeks, not months.
There was a time when maybe that would have been okay with him. That he would have said his job was enough, so why have anyone else in his life to muck shit up? He wasn’t so sure anymore. The problem was, he didn’t know how to fix that. He didn’t know how to make a relationship work for him.
So he ignored Eric and shoved thoughts of Laura and Lucia and all his exes to the back of his mind.
I’d love to, Ava wrote. I’m free Friday and Sunday. Does one of those nights work for you?
He typed back. Barring any changes, Friday looks good.
He felt the need to put a caveat in there. People outside the life always thought they understood things might need to be up in the air when they were dealing with a cop, but in reality, it could get tiring needing to have plans be tentative. Better to show her that right up front if they were going to renew their friendship. Or whatever the hell it was they were doing. He honestly didn’t know.
He’d figured out sometime in the last few days that staying away from Ava McNair might not be possible for him. He didn’t want marriage and he couldn’t offer her anything permanent, but Ava was gorgeous and the pull he’d felt toward her back in college hadn’t gone away.
When she dumped him in college, he’d been pretty devastated. Not that he had shown it. Hell, back then, he wouldn’t let anyone know his feelings.
When he asked Lucia out a month later, it had been because he was trying to get over Ava. Lucia had helped him with that, for sure. Looking back, he could see Lucia wasn’t the one for him, but he’d been so damned set on making it work with her after things fell apart with Ava, he’d overlooked a lot of things.
Like the fact when he and Lucia were together, they were usually having sex. He’d seen that as a good thing. Hell, what college guy wouldn’t? It never occurred to him that talking or laughing with someone was as important as what happened between the sheets. Or up against a wall. Or in the back of a car.
When they started trying for a baby, it never in a million years dawned on them that might not be possible. The strain of that effort, of trying everything from prayer to medical help to have a baby, was something their marriage wasn’t able to sustain.
She started dating another man right after the divorce, and John couldn’t help but wonder if they would make it where she and John had failed. There was always going to be some level of “what if” there for him. What if he’d tried harder? What if he was a different guy? What if he could have given her the baby she’d told him she needed for her to be happy.
The whole situation had left him sure of one thing. He couldn’t offer more than a fun time to any woman.
He almost laughed at the irony of it. He needed a relationship like the one he and Lucia had mistaken for love. Only this time, he wouldn’t make the mistake of thinking it was anything more than lust.
His phone pinged again, just as Eric walked into John’s cubicle and sat on the edge of the desk.
Great! If things change, just let me know.
John read Ava’s text and typed back a quick confirmation before shoving his phone in his back pocket.
Eric made a show of leaning over to look at the disappearing phone, as though he might be able to read it from where he sat. Zaragoza came up behind Eric on her way through the bullpen, and John couldn’t resist.
He lifted his foot from where it had been resting on his desk and nudged Eric, tipping the other man over so he lost his balance. Zaragoza’s grin said she was feeling more comfortable on the unit with the other detectives.
Eric laughed as he caught and righted himself. “I hope you’re making an appointment to have your panties straightened out. They’ve been in a damned twist something awful.”
John started to laugh but sobered when the radios that sat at either end of the room crackled to life. They were small black units that remained silent most of the time. They were only activated when an officer’s emergency radio button was pressed. When that button was hit, the officer’s voice would broadcast to all the dispatchers, no matter the region they covered, and to the Major Crimes unit where they now sat.
It was a uniformed officer’s lifeline if they were in trouble.
John and all of the other detectives stood and listened to the all-call. They would get the recording to analyze later. John went still and silent as he listened to the sound of the young man’s voice across the line.
“10-33.” The code meant the officer needed immediate assistance. The strangled sound in the man’s voice told them he was hurting. “Shots fired.”
There were shouts and arguing in the background and the sound of a gun being fired again. John leaned in, trying to hear more. Hoping for some sign that the second shot hadn’t ended the officer’s life.
He knew dispatch would be sending all available units in the area to back up the officer. They’d have an ambulance on the way. They’d be doing all they could to get to that officer and bring him in safely.
John looked up and met Eric’s sober gaze. God, he hated it when Eric was serious. It meant shit had gone to hell again.
Someone yelled, muffled and distant, “go, go, go!” in the background of the call.
They could hear the dispatcher, calm and collected. “Officer Hall, I’ve got backup and an ambulance en route. Can you tell me if you’re secure?”
Another voice came t
hrough the radio. A woman.
“Help, help! They shot this guy! They shot the cop. Can you hear me? I don’t know how to work the radio.” Her words were punctuated by sobs.
“Ma’am, I can hear you. The channel is open, so I can hear everything that’s happening. Can you tell me your name?”
“Vivian.”
“Vivian, did the shooter leave the premises? Are you safe?”
“Yes, they’re gone. They were fighting and they ran out.”
“I’ve got your location as Crane’s Jewelry at 501 East Riverside Parkway. Is that correct?”
“Yes. He’s bleeding badly. I—I think he’s unconscious.”
Another voice came on the line. “Vivian, this is Bob Hines. I’m with the paramedics. The dispatcher patched me in on the call with you. Can you tell me where the officer has been shot?”
“In his stomach.”
“Okay, Vivian, can you find something to apply pressure on that wound for me? A jacket or bandages if you have a first aid kit.”
There was noise in the background and they all waited. This was likely another hit by their jewelry store thieves, and this time an officer had been shot. John felt the weight of that and knew the detectives around him did, too. If they’d gotten these guys off the streets before this, this wouldn’t have happened.
“I’ve got it,” came the woman’s voice again. “I’ve got a coat and I’m pressing, but I don’t know how hard to press. I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Just firm pressure is fine. You’re doing fine,” came Bob’s voice again. “My guys are at the end of the block. They’ve got officers with them who will clear the scene. Can you hear the sirens?”
The woman’s voice broke as she answered. “I hear them.”
The rest of the call was scuffles and the no-nonsense discussion between the EMTs that could be heard as they treated the patient.
Silent communication took place between the detectives. John, Eric, Rhys, and Mason left, headed toward the location of the call. The paramedics were fast. They would likely have the officer out of there and en route to the hospital before they arrived. The sooner they started questioning witnesses and processing the scene, the better. This case had just risen to top priority on all their desks.
Chapter Twelve
Thirty-seven hours later, they had nothing more than they’d had before Officer Levi Hall was shot.
Officer Hall went through eight hours of surgery and was expected to recover, but that was something none of them wanted to see any officer suffer. The kid had only been on patrol for a year, and now he’d be taking time off to recover and, most likely, do the grueling work needed to get his head back in the game so he could get back out there. If he ever did.
Captain Scanlon looked at all of them as John, Eric, Rhys, and Mason stood before her. “Go home. Sleep, shower. Be back in four.”
None of them wanted to do it. They hated being told they had to do things like eat or sleep when they had people who were clearly willing to take out a cop on the streets.
“Cap, they went from three weeks between robberies to a matter of days. The violence is escalating. These guys aren’t going to take time off.” Eric spoke for all of them.
The captain gave him a look. “Cantu, you can bet your ass these guys have taken a nap between now and then. And even if they haven’t, I don’t want any of you out on the street without getting some down time. You’ll be a danger to yourselves and others if you try to take these assholes down without taking a break. I’ve got people running down evidence. The work won’t stop.”
Her tone said she wasn’t really debating the issue with him. That was the way she was. Captain Scanlon wouldn’t debate an issue when she knew she was right, but she respected her team enough to give them more than a because I said so answer.
They filed out, and Eric tossed John a look. “Pick me up a coffee on your way back in?”
John passed by their favorite coffee place on his way to work. “Yep. See you in four.”
Twenty minutes later, John stood on Ava’s front step, under the light of a single porch bulb. He knocked on the glass, quietly, telling himself he needed to replace her front door with a solid one. The glass windows in hers might look better, but they made it all too easy for someone to break the glass and unlock the door.
She needed a brighter front light, too. He looked around at the windows that were pretty low to the ground. She needed a lot of things to make this place secure. He’d come over here on the weekend when this was over and take care of some of it for her.
When she came to the door and looked through the glass at him, she was wrapped in a sweater with her hair a little mussed. Hell, it was almost eleven. What had he expected?
“John?” She looked past him when she opened the door, as though there might be some explanation for his presence behind him. “Is everything all right?”
He nodded and leaned closer. He wanted to wrap himself up in her, but he didn’t dare. The other thing on his list for when this case was over was to see if she might be interested in … well, hell, he didn’t know what. In a no-strings relationship, he guessed. Or was that just friends with benefits?
He didn’t know. But he would talk to her about something.
“Everything’s fine.” It wasn’t, not really. They had a cop in the hospital and no leads. The violence of these robberies was escalating and he had a feeling at least one of them was now motivated by thrill-seeking as much as money, or maybe more than money.
Thrill-seeking meant taking risks. That meant going after the kind of target that would present more risk. A target like Ava’s store.
“I can’t stay,” he said.
Ava reached out and put her hand on his chest. “I heard about the officer. Is he doing okay? They said on the news, he’s expected to recover.”
John nodded. It was harder than he thought it would be not to reach out to her. He’d only come to tell her in person he wouldn’t be making dinner the following night. Now, though, his arms itched to pull her into them.
He told his feet to step back. They moved closer.
“He’s going to be okay. I need to go home and shower and sleep for a couple hours. I just needed …”
He stopped.
She stepped toward him, both hands coming to his chest. “Yes?”
John leaned in and kissed her. Softly at first, in question. When she moaned, he let the question fall away and took the kiss to another level, hard and fast. His whole body committed to that kiss, giving in to the pleasure that raced through his senses at the feel of her.
She met him wholeheartedly, and damn, if it wasn’t the same as it was in college between them. There was something so different about the way she felt in his arms. No woman had felt this way before. Not even Lucia.
It took all he had in him to keep control and stop the kiss before it went too far.
He broke apart from her. All he managed was, “we need to talk before this goes further.”
She nodded, looking as shell-shocked as he felt.
“I need you to be careful. These guys are upping their game.”
She furrowed her brow. “What?”
“The robberies. The guys doing them are getting more violent and taking more risks. I know they haven’t been hitting stores like yours, but I need you to be careful. Think about closing early. You should consider locking the door during business hours and having anyone who wants to enter show ID.”
He saw her face fall. Damnit, he was an asshole. One minute, he was kissing her, probably making her think he wanted more than he could give her. The next, he was telling her how to keep her store safe.
“John, I can’t make my customers show ID to get in the door. And I can’t close early. We do a lot of business in the evening when people are strolling around the green.”
He wanted to shake her. Hell, he wanted to do a lot of things to her.
He rubbed his forehead instead. He knew the store was not just her livelihood,
but her family’s, also.
“Promise me you’ll be careful? Maybe keep the front door locked, and have your guard unlock it as people approach? It’ll give the guard a few seconds to scan for anything suspicious, and your customers can feel like they’re getting golden glove treatment, or whatever.”
She laughed at him. “You mean white glove treatment.”
He scowled. “Whatever. I want you to be safe.”
“I want you to be safe, too,” she said, coming forward, putting her hand to his face this time.
John knew he was going to let this woman down. He’d probably already gotten her hopes up that there could be something real between them.
He put his hands to hers and pulled them away from his face. “Ava, I need you to know, I can’t…” he cursed under his breath. “This can’t be more than sex between us. It can’t go anywhere other than that.”
She shocked the shit out of him when she grinned and nodded, her eyes sparkling like he’d just told her something fantastic. “I know. Isn’t it great?”
He did one of those comical double takes. “It is?”
If his chest tightened a little at that, he didn’t acknowledge it.
Her amusement was clear. “Yes.” She looked around, as though she thought her dad or sister might be listening in, and lowered her voice. “We were always great in bed together. I don’t have time or room in my life for a real relationship. You don’t want to get married again. It’s perfect.”
John nodded.
Why the hell did it sound like the exact opposite of what he wanted when it was coming from her mouth?
She came up and pressed her lips to his again, just a brief kiss.
She stepped back, gone before he could wrap his arms around her and pull her in for something more. For something that might start to get at what he needed from this woman.
“Go and rest. I can see you need it. And be safe out there. Let me know when this is over, okay?”
