Heroes in Uniform: Soldiers, SEALs, Spies, Rangers and Cops: Sexy Hot Contemporary Alpha Heroes From NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors

by Sharon Hamilton

  He cast a sideways glance at Joe. “It’s not just about you and the victim being friends. I don’t want you to jump straight into a homicide after last night.”

  “I’m fine.”

  The captain let a couple of seconds pass as he set the crime-scene kit by his feet. “I didn’t come to your house this morning just to check on you. I came to ask a favor.” He paused. “I need you for protection detail. Woman and child. Nasty ex-boyfriend. She moved. He probably won’t find her. But to be on the safe side.”

  Joe thought of Lil’ Gomez. “I don’t think I’m a good bet in the protection-detail department.”

  “It’s a personal favor. She’s a friend of Sophie’s. Sophie said you might remember her. Wendy Belle.”

  The name hit Joe like a sledgehammer. Everything inside him stilled. Wendy.

  “We’ve met.” He’d run into her at Sophie’s house a while ago when he’d been providing protection detail to Sophie, back before Sophie and Bing had gotten together.

  Wendy Belle was a professional model. She had the looks to twist a man into a lust pretzel, lips that begged to be tasted, and those mysterious gray eyes that Joe hadn’t been able to forget since he’d first looked into them.

  Being a small-town football hero, then a policeman, he’d had his share of dates. Uniforms were a chick magnet. He’d been raised to be a gentleman, took good care of his dates in and out of bed, kept in shape, put in more time at the police station’s gym than anybody else. He appreciated women, and they appreciated him right back.

  More often than not, women walked up to him with their phone numbers. Not Wendy. He’d been dazed by the instant, visceral wave of lust at their first meeting, but she hadn’t taken him seriously, not for a second. She’d taken one look at him, and she’d dismissed him.

  Which was probably why he’d shown up a month later at a fashion-show fund-raiser she participated in. He’d put big money in the plate—okay, big for his cop salary. His gesture didn’t impress her, as he’d stupidly hoped, but impressed some of the other models, and they’d invited him to the after-party.

  He’d caught her sneaking out early. Pouring rain outside, and not a cab to be had. He offered her a lift home. She offered him a cup of coffee for his ride back out to Broslin. Which had turned into—

  “It’s a temporary thing,” Bing said.

  Joe rubbed his chest with his fist. He didn’t want to be responsible for Wendy, or her toddler son, Justin. He especially didn’t want Wendy to see him like this, all busted up. Not that he was vain.

  “Her ex, Keith Kline, has turned threatening, from what Sophie says. I don’t know all the details,” the captain went on. “Wendy and the boy are staying here in Broslin, at Sophie’s place, temporarily. Sophie’s out at the log cabin with me.”

  His lips flattened. “The cops in Wilmington aren’t doing anything because the guy hasn’t committed any actual crime yet that can be proven. From what Sophie tells me about him, my gut says he will. Sooner or later he’ll hurt her bad. Point is, Wendy is scared. He knows it, and he’s being an asshole. Keeps pushing her.”

  Joe tried to line up that batch of new information in his head, fit it into the picture he’d formed of her. Their first meeting had lasted five minutes, the second an hour and a half. Obviously, there were a lot of gaps.

  Yet all that darkness the captain was talking about didn’t seem possible. She’d been nothing but light and perfection both times he’d met her. Still, he knew how abusers manipulated and how hard the abused worked to keep their problems hidden.

  The thought of Keith Kline, or any other idiot, laying hands on Wendy didn’t sit well with him. The ex sounded like he could use a little talking to. Joe knew the type. Bullies. They started with threats, then knocked people around when they didn’t get what they wanted.

  Bing said, “Sophie figured if Wendy was in Broslin, at least she’d be in my jurisdiction. If the jerk shows up and tries anything, I’m going to come down on him like a ton of bricks.”

  “But you can’t give her a protection detail.”

  “For one, she won’t ask for it. The bastard has her scared but good.” Bing’s eyes steeled. “She wouldn’t even talk to me about it. But even if she did, I couldn’t justify twenty-four-hour surveillance on a domestic violence complaint that was never substantiated and didn’t take place in my jurisdiction.

  “I figured, since you’ll be taking a sick day, maybe you could drive by a couple of times, hang around at the house with her. All friendly like, since you know each other. Nothing official. If you’re on sick leave, you can hang out wherever you please.”

  “I’ll keep an eye on her.” Even if he didn’t need time off. He was sore from the crash, but he’d taken beatings ten times worse on the football field.

  “I appreciate it. If you can do that today, it’ll give me a chance to figure out what we can do to keep her safe long-term.”

  Joe glanced toward Phil’s office, where Mike stood guard at the door. “I’d like to be the one to notify Marie.”

  The news was damn tragic no matter who brought it, but she might take it better from someone she knew. Joe had met her a couple of times. She was from Delaware. She and Philip had met at college. “I could drop by on my way to Sophie’s place.”

  Bing nodded. “You take my car and drive over. I’ll ride back to the station with Harper when we’re done here. You can drop the cruiser off when you get a chance.”

  “About working on the case—”

  “I’ll make sure Harper keeps you up to date. Then we’ll see. Right now, focus on getting the rest you need after last night and spending some time with Wendy.” Bing cleared his throat. Flashed Joe a pointed look. “She’s a nice young woman. Vulnerable right now. I don’t want her feelings hurt.”

  Not so subtle code for Don’t hit on her.

  Joe flinched. No worries there. His last encounter with Wendy…. Hell, she’d been the one to hurt his feelings.

  The best sex of his life, and she’d kicked him out as soon as it was over, told him not to bother with calling because it was strictly a one-time thing. Told him, actually, while he’d still been inside her.

  He groaned at the memory as he slipped behind the wheel, turning on the heat the second he had the engine started.

  His day was shaping up to be an ass kicker. Which was saying something, considering that the day before included his arrest, a concussion, and a near drowning.

  Deathblow: Chapter Three

  The bitch had moved out on him again. Keith stood in the middle of Wendy’s apartment, dark rage gathering inside him. A vein throbbed at his temple.

  She definitely wasn’t just out shopping. All the baby shit was gone, the heat turned down. She didn’t plan on being back for a while.

  He would have to teach her respect. Again. His hands fisted as he walked through her living room.

  He never should have let her go. He had, after the baby was born, because the brat cried all night, and she was no good for sex anyway. He was a man. He had needs. If he had other women, it was her fault, nobody else’s.

  Her absence had been fine for those first few weeks. He’d expected her to beg him to let her back. She hadn’t. She always had some excuse for why she couldn’t return—the lease she’d signed here, whatever.

  He hated the damn place. He wanted to see it burn. And maybe he would. But not today.

  Did she think that she could outsmart him? That he wouldn’t find her?

  He paced the apartment, stopped in her bedroom door, then walked inside, opened her top dresser drawer, and stared at the jumbled mess of silk. He reached in, began folding and reorganizing.

  Who did she have but him?

  Not that many people. Her parents in Florida and her bitch friend, Sophie, in Broslin.

  Wendy needed a lesson.

  * * *

  “I don’t need a babysitter.” Wendy kept her voice down, since Justin was watching his favorite TV cartoon about three tap-dancing sheep, sitti
ng on the couch in Sophie’s living room.

  She was rapidly regretting that she’d let Sophie know that she was having problems with Keith. “I don’t need Joe Kessler to come and take over. We barely know each other.”

  Her best friend stood by the door, ready to leave. She’d stopped in for a quick visit and to pick up a couple of old work files she’d left behind when she’d moved in with Bing. She was setting up a full office out at the farm, and she wanted to keep all her paperwork in one place.

  She put down the box to shrug into her coat. “Bing said Joe had a rough case yesterday. He’ll be taking the day off. He could hang out here. In case Keith shows up.”

  “There’s no way for Keith to know where I am.” Wendy chewed her bottom lip. “He’s going to be furious when he finds me gone. Maybe I could still go back before he realizes that I left.”

  Temporary safety was all well and good, but there’d be hell to pay when he caught up with them. “Maybe I’m making everything worse.”

  “No. If he won’t stay away from you, then you need to find a way to stay away from him,” Sophie said with full conviction.

  She was smart and right about most things, but maybe she was wrong about this. Wendy pushed back against her rising panic, but it wouldn’t go away. Letting Sophie talk her into moving out here yesterday afternoon had been a mistake. It wasn’t as if she could stay away from Keith forever. They had a son together. She didn’t have full custody.

  The thought filled her with the kind of dark desperation she didn’t want to dump on anybody. She smoothed down her pants and rubbed the heels of her hands on the side. She was a model; she could certainly smile on demand, so she did. She didn’t want Sophie to worry. “I was shaken up yesterday. I was too tired. I made more of things than what they really were. We’ll be fine at home.”

  Sophie was her only friend left. All the others had dropped off one by one over the years. They didn’t like Keith. And Keith hated them. They weren’t really her friends anyway, according to him. They just pitied her because she was such a screwup.

  If Sophie found out how weak she was, what a mess her life really was, maybe Sophie wouldn’t be her friend either. Wendy brushed some invisible lint off her pants. “I just needed a good night’s sleep. I got that last night. Thank you. I’m totally fine now.”

  Sophie flashed her an encouraging smile. “Stay for a day or two. Give yourself a chance to think. At least you get out of the paint fumes. I swear those hallways at the apartment building are toxic. But they’ll be all painted in a day or two. And you’d be helping me out. It’s nice not to have the house stand empty. I still have all this furniture and some computer equipment here. Treat this like a mini vacation.”

  No such thing as a vacation from Keith, but Wendy couldn’t tell Sophie that. She wanted to stay, she really did, but she was afraid she was making everything worse. And the idea of some private bodyguard made her even more nervous.

  If Keith did find her here and saw her with a man, he’d probably kill them both.

  “I don’t want to put anyone out.” She fixed her model mask on her face, the one that showed no emotion, certainly not fear.

  But it didn’t look like Sophie was buying it. She went still, worry sitting openly in her eyes. “I’m scared for you and Justin.”

  Wendy gave a quick laugh. “Keith had a bad day. He knocked me over by accident. You’d think if I could walk down the runway in six-inch heels, I could stand steady barefooted in my own kitchen. I was a little lightheaded. I skipped breakfast.”

  “Are you dieting?”

  “No.” She hadn’t been yesterday, but she did cut back to a low-fat, low-sugar smoothie today. Keith had said she was gaining. She wasn’t as strong or as smart as Sophie. Her figure was all she had. She earned her living with it. She couldn’t afford to gain weight, as Keith had reminded her a million times in the past.

  She’d be showing soon. The few weeks she had left that she could still work, she needed desperately.

  Sophie tilted her head. “Extra security wouldn’t hurt. To be on the safe side. Joe kept an eye on me when I needed help.” She grinned. “He’s so hot, he has his own Broslin fan club. And he likes you.”

  “I’m not in the market for a romantic fling. No offense, but Joe Kessler is a total jock, ex-small-town football hero with an inflated ego.” If she ever let another man into her life, he was going to be the exact opposite, someone who would be a great father for Justin.

  Her out-of-this-world-hot one-night-stand with Joe notwithstanding. Whatever had gotten into her the night of the fund-raiser, the first night Justin had been away from her, staying at the log cabin with Sophie and Bing…. Something like that could never happen again.

  Sophie wrapped her pristine white silk scarf around her neck. “It’s not your fault that Keith turned into a jerk. He used to be better.”

  Wendy filled her lungs. “He works too much. He’s responsible for more than his fair share of accounts. The stress level at work is incredible.”

  He told her that every time he apologized for flying off the handle. “I’m sorry, babe. I’m exhausted. I love you so much, you drive me crazy.”

  “Does he still do drugs?”

  “No. He only took speed for a while, to be able to keep up with work.” That was when she’d moved out, shortly after Justin was born. Keith had let her leave. He couldn’t stand the baby crying all night. But now he wanted her back.

  Wendy closed her eyes for a second. “It was just a phase. This is a phase. He can be romantic too. He used to be.” There’d been gifts and flowers and some pretty amazing dates. She’d liked the attention. She wanted to believe that she could be loved like that.

  Sophie raised an eyebrow. “I wonder how much of that was true. Maybe he needed a model girlfriend to round out his hotshot moneyman image. I’m sorry. But how does someone suddenly turn abusive? Maybe it was there all along under the surface.”

  “Maybe.” How could she have been too stupid to notice? “He changed little by little.”

  The first time he’d grabbed her and screamed at her after a grueling day at work, he apologized profusely. She’d believed when he said it was never going to happen again. But as time went on, he lost it more and more often, becoming more violent and controlling. She knew she had to leave. She’d planned it—but then she found out she was pregnant with Justin.

  She’d been on the pill. And she always insisted on Keith using protection. But he wouldn’t always comply. He’d start playing with her, then push inside, claiming afterward that he’d gotten carried away. But since the pill was only 99% effective….

  Not that she could ever regret Justin. Wendy glanced at her son and smiled as he clapped madly at the tap-dancing sheep, a bundle of innocent joy. He was the very best of her.

  Yet Keith had never been happy with the baby. He’d turned violent for the first time shortly after Justin was born.

  “You were smart to move out of his place and get your own apartment.” Sophie took her hand and squeezed it. “Smart and brave.”

  But Wendy shook her head. “I was naïve.” She’d thought she would be safe from him across town. She couldn’t have been more wrong about that. Keith kept showing up at her place, and the violence kept escalating.

  She forced a smile. “All right. Enough with the pity party, or I’m going to have to look for some cheese to serve with all this whine. How is life at the farm with Bing and Peaches?”

  Sophie frowned as if she might protest the sudden change of subject, but the frown quickly disappeared as she said, “Pretty great. You could come and stay with us there. Peaches would be happy to guard you.”

  Peaches was the stray Rottweiler mix Sophie had adopted.

  “That dog and Justin do have their own mutual admiration society going, but you two lovebirds need your privacy.” She was glad that Sophie had found happiness after some pretty difficult years. Bing was the perfect guy for her.

  “Either you agree to protection here
, or I’m taking you two back to the farm with me. I’m not leaving you in danger.”

  But Wendy couldn’t let Sophie take on her problems. “Just because you moved in with a cop, it doesn’t mean you get to do the tough-cop talk with me.” She tried for a smile.

  Sophie wasn’t buying it. “Then let Joe help. If for no other reason than because worrying about you stresses me out, and stress is bad for me.” She tucked her unruly curls under a knitted hat as pristine white as her scarf.

  “Really?” Wendy folded her arms. “Playing the heart-transplant card? You’d sink to that?”

  “Hey, if that’s the only thing you leave me, I have to.” Sophie stuck out her chin, unrepentant.

  Wendy drew a deep breath. “I don’t see this working. Is he going to fit us in between dates?”

  Joe had the sexiest smile in three counties and trouble glinting in his dark eyes when he looked at her. Sadly, she had a feeling he looked at every woman the same way.

  The sexual attraction between them had been instantaneous, had knocked her back a step. She’d given in to Joe’s sexual allure once, so she knew what it felt like. He was a wild ride, exciting, hormones humming, leaving her breathless. But they would never last beyond a few weeks. A couple of years ago, maybe that would have been fine with her, but now with Justin, everything had changed. She wasn’t interested.

  “He’s going to hit on me, and then things will get all awkward. He’s a womanizer. You said so.”

  Sophie frowned. “I said women like him.” She wasn’t going to give up on this. Quitting wasn’t in her nature.

  “Fine. Joe can drive by when he has free time. But I don’t want him in our lives. I don’t want to confuse Justin with that. I don’t want to be the kind of mother who has a revolving door for all the uncles.”

  Sophie had a look of satisfaction on her face as she gave Wendy a hug. “Joe will be great. You won’t even notice that he’s here.”