Without Compromise

by Riker, Becky

  “Sorry,” Drake laughed. “I didn’t realize I was causing more trouble for you.”

  What was done was done. Tag needed to know what was happening now.

  “What did Lowell say about the situation?”

  “He’s going to read what I gave him and request you go speak to the psychologist at another precinct.”

  “That would be nice,” Tag hoped some good would come out of this. “Although, I gotta say, I don’t think she has the hots for me. I think she’s got it in for me. She doesn’t believe in using force to accomplish our purpose.”

  Drake laughed at that, “She may be practicing in the wrong place.”

  Tag shrugged.

  The following day Lowell called him to tell him to go over to see the shrink in precinct three. Dr. Jolson cleared him after one visit.

  Tag called the first person he thought of.

  “Thanks for giving my file to your dad, Josie. I get to start back to work on Wednesday.”

  “I’m so glad, Tag. I know that means a lot to you.”

  “It does. I can’t thank you enough.”

  “It wasn’t just me, you know.”

  “I’ll send your father some tickets to the Mets.”

  “You planning to thank God too?” she ignored the mention of tickets. “Because we’ve been praying for your situation.”

  “You mentioned that.”

  He wondered why he wasn’t uncomfortable discussing this with Josie. Talking about religion with anyone else gave him the willies.

  “Someday, Tag, you’re going to realize there is Someone bigger, stronger, more powerful than you.”

  “You’ll be the first to know,” he promised.

  “I’d better be.”

  He hung up and leaned his head back against the couch. It felt so good to belong to the team again.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Josie looked around the bar – still no sign of Carenza. She sighed and took a sip of her drink. It wasn’t really a surprise. The woman was notorious for being late.

  She sat down at the bar with her ginger ale, planning only to stay long enough to finish it. She and Carenza could catch up later.

  “Could I buy your next drink?” an attractive man who looked about her age took the seat next to hers.

  She had no desire to be ‘picked up,’ but the guy had spoken graciously and was not hovering over her.

  “Thanks,” she made eye contact, “but I’m waiting for a friend of mine.”

  He still looked hopeful, “Couldn’t you wait over there as well as over here?”

  He pointed to a booth where a couple men were seated. Josie was about to decline again when she saw someone else join the group. She looked back to the man beside her.

  He rocked back on his heels, “We won’t even trap you there – you can sit on the outside.”

  She held her hand out, “Josie.”

  “Malachi,” he grinned, “Malachi Prince. What are you drinking?”

  “I’m good,” she held up the soda as proof.

  She followed him to the table and took the seat opposite Tag.

  That man’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.

  “Guys, this is Josie. Josie, this is Tag Madden, Lowell Lutz, and Harry Jacobson. We’re in the same unit. ”

  “Cops?” she asked just to be polite.

  “Yeah,” Malachi took a sip of his beer.

  “You here alone, Miss. . .?” Lowell hinted at a last name.

  “It’s Josie,” she deflected neatly. “And, yes, I am. I was supposed to meet someone, but I think I’ve been stood up.”

  “A date?” Tag spoke up.

  She wondered if that was a hint of jealousy she heard, “I wouldn’t say so.”

  “What is it you do, Josie?” Harry was leaned back in the corner of the booth, comfortable.

  “I work in the film industry.”

  “Really?” Malachi latched onto that, “Doing what?”

  “I work with the development of action sequences.”

  Tag made a noise in the back of his throat.

  “Is there a problem, Officer Madden?” she plastered a syrupy smile on her face.

  “Nope.”

  Harry laughed, “I wouldn’t concern yourself over Tag. He got shot down by that blonde over in the corner about two minutes before you came over.”

  Josie forced herself to laugh, “Maybe you should run your lines by me, Tag. I could analyze them for you to see what went wrong.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  “You can see how advantageous it would be, certainly,” she toyed with her straw. “I am, after all, a woman.”

  Malachi chuckled at that. Tag just raised an eyebrow.

  Josie wished she knew what he thought about her change in attire. The navy halter dress she was now wearing was decidedly more feminine than her dobok or the yoga pants she had worn to help to Molly cook. Tag looked like he couldn’t care less.

  “I know you aren’t trying to pick me up,” she pointed out, “so I can be objective.”

  “I don’t use pickup lines,” he assured her.

  “No?” she pretended to assess him, “I suppose you don’t have to. You kind of have that boy-next-door look.”

  He did not smile at her private joke.

  “You just assume women will trust you and agree to anything.”

  “For crying out loud,” he muttered. “What did I ever do to deserve this?”

  “But you had to have said something, Tag,” she insisted, “or you couldn’t have been shot down.”

  All eyes were on her.

  “So?” she prodded.

  Malachi latched onto that idea, “Just tell her what you said, Tag. It couldn’t hurt.”

  “Yeah, really,” Harry chimed in. “Especially now.”

  “Jacobson,” the name was spoken in a tone of warning.

  Harry ignored it.

  “Tag’s usually a ladies’ man, but he’s been striking out the last couple weeks.”

  Tag’s face took on a slight pink.

  Josie was torn between amusement and compassion. She decided on the latter.

  “Have you guys worked together for very long?”

  Malachi was pleased to have something to talk about, so he explained the structure of the unit and how long each guy had been in it. Harry and Tag each interjected details during the account, but Lowell was silent.

  He spoke up after Malachi was finished, “What exactly do you do for the films?”

  There was no particular reason to keep it from him, but she didn’t have a reason to tell him either.

  She looked him in the eye, “I work in the stunt department.”

  His face remained impassive.

  Malachi seemed eager to explore the topic, “Do you get to work with the stars?”

  “Yes. More so if they do their own stunts.”

  Lowell spoke up again, “I wonder if you should call your friend – maybe something happened to him.”

  Josie chuckled, “I’m guessing something came up. It’s no big deal.”

  Her phone rang right then. She checked her caller i.d.

  “Excuse me, guys, I’m about to get an explanation as to why I’ve been stood up.”

  “Hi, Carenza.”

  “So sorry, Josie,” Carenza began speaking quickly. “I got lost, and then I couldn’t remember the name of the bar. Now, I finally found a parking spot, and I’m on my way in.”

  “No problem, Carenza. I’m still here.”

  “Great!” she hung up on that.

  Tag was watching her closely, “Carenza?”

  “Like Carenza Anthis?” even Harry was leaning forward in his seat.

  Josie stood up, “Well, guys, it was nice to meet you.”

  Tag followed her out of the booth, “Now, don’t run away so quickly, Josie. I think turnabout is fair play.”

  “Whatever could you mean?”

  “Malachi introduced you to his friends; you should probably do the same.”

  “
After all, we’re your friends now too,” Harry reasoned.

  “Oh, really?” she stood with her hands on her hips, “If I needed help sometime, you’d be right there for me.”

  “Absolutely,” Harry agreed.

  “So,” she looked back to Tag, “if, say, someone was chasing me, I should give you guys a call.”

  “Josie,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Or, what if someone was climbing in my window?”

  Lowell frowned, “You have that problem often?”

  She laughed, “Not me, but my sister does on occasion.”

  Tag took her shoulders and turned her away from the men, “Go find your friend, Josephine.”

  She started to walk away, but she made a quick u-turn, “It was nice to meet you, Malachi.”

  She looked at the other two, “Sergeant Lutz, Harry,” she smirked. “Thaddeus.”

  Tag watched her walk away and then sat heavily in his seat.

  Josie turned back to see Harry laughing. Lowell was shaking his head in a manner that told Josie the man knew there was something going on, and he didn’t approve.

  Malachi just looked confused, “How’d she know your name?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Josie hoped to get to her sister’s place before five. Al wouldn’t be home by then, and Josie could get in and out unnoticed with the potato salad Molly was making for their mom.

  She reached for the door handle and pulled.

  “That wasn’t a very nice thing to do, Miss Drake,” a voice startled her from behind.

  She whipped around, wide-eyed but relaxed when she realized it was just Tag.

  “Neither was that, Tag. Are you lurking out here for a reason?”

  He laughed aloud, “It isn’t lurking to walk up to my own building.”

  She turned away and opened the door, “It is if you were lying in wait, hoping to scare me.”

  “As if I have nothing better to do with my time,” he waited for her to punch in the code and then followed her up the stairs.

  “So your luck has changed?” she couldn’t resist.

  He gave a tug on her ponytail, “My luck would have changed incredibly if you hadn’t refused to introduce us to Carenza.”

  “You’re not her type,” she laughed and knocked on Molly’s door.

  “I can change,” he leaned against the wall. “Just tell me what her type is, and I can change.”

  “Door’s open,” Molly called out.

  Josie opened it.

  “That’s not safe,” Tag called in to his neighbor.

  “Don’t be silly,” Molly came out of her bedroom, “I live across the street from a paranoid cop. What could go wrong?”

  “I do have a job to go to,” he reminded her.

  Josie turned and looked at him, “Why aren’t you at it?”

  “I went in at midnight,” he opened Molly’s fridge and poked around in her plastic containers. “They let me go about an hour ago.”

  “Long day,” Josie commented. “Aren’t you exhausted?”

  He closed the fridge, “I just caught my second wind.”

  “Jo,” Molly reopened the fridge, “I hate to tell you that you wasted your trip over, but Dad stopped by fifteen minutes ago and picked up the salad himself.”

  “Why didn’t you call?”

  “I did. Your phone must be off.”

  Josie dug it out of her pocket, “Oops.”

  Molly handed Tag two containers, “Chicken and bok choy?”

  “What’s bok choy?”

  Molly pulled on a pair of shoes, “Do you care?”

  “I guess not. Thanks.”

  Josie seated herself and leaned on the counter, “Do you feed the whole neighborhood, Mol?”

  “Nope,” she dragged her sister off the stool, “just you two. Now out,” she ordered. “I’m meeting Angelé for supper.”

  Josie shuddered. Angelé and Molly always ate at haute couture places that served strange food at ridiculous prices.

  “Better you than me.”

  “I’ll tell her you said ‘hi,’” Molly hurried out the door and down the stairs.

  Tag, food in hand, exited without complaint, pulled Molly’s door shut and checked to make sure it locked.

  “You wanna come and share my bok choy? It looks like there’s plenty.”

  “Sure,” she powered her phone back on. “Most of what Molly makes is good.”

  He opened his own door, “What isn’t?”

  “Good?” she took the containers and headed into Tag’s kitchen, “She makes this nasty stuff called keema.”

  “What is it?” he followed her into the kitchen, unbuckling his belt as he walked.

  “It has tofu in it.”

  He lay his holster on the table, “That’s just wrong. Did she at least tell you what it was before you bit into it?”

  “Nope,” Josie dug through his cupboards until she found some plates. “And it smells terrific, so you are really caught off guard.”

  Tag laughed.

  She started the microwave and then looked at him, eyes widening, “What are you doing?”

  “Stripping,” he had opened his shirt and was pulling it from his waistband.

  “So it seems,” she glowered at him.

  “Relax. I’m just taking off the vest,” he unfastened the Kevlar and tossed it onto the table with his sidearm. “I promise not to embarrass you by displaying my incredible physique.”

  “I appreciate that,” she gave the gear a little shove so she could set down the glasses.

  Tag picked them up, “Give me a minute to put this away.”

  Josie had supper on the table by the time he was back.

  “Thanks,” he sat down across from her. “It looks like you’re hardly eating anything.”

  “I actually already ate on set. It just looked too good not to sample it.”

  She bowed her head and thanked God for the food. Tag was smiling at her when she lifted her head.

  “What?” she picked up her fork.

  “It’s really a part of you, isn’t it? Religion, I mean.”

  “My faith definitely makes me who I am,” she agreed.

  He took a bite, “This is good.”

  “Do you always wear that much stuff when you work?”

  “Like a sidearm and a bullet-proof vest? Yeah.”

  “It looks heavy.”

  “I think it’s about thirty pounds. You just get used to it.”

  “Do you wear more for SWAT?”

  “Um hmm,” he spoke around his food.

  She let him eat in peace for a while.

  “I’m curious,” she spoke up again as he was clearing his dishes, “what did you say to the blonde?”

  “What blonde?” he looked sharply at her.

  “The one at the bar last week.”

  Half his mouth lifted in a grin, “Nothing. I asked her if I could buy her a drink. She said ‘no, thanks,’ so I left.”

  “Not very persistent, are you?”

  He shrugged, “No reason to be.”

  “But cocky,” she laughed.

  He rolled a towel and snapped it at her.

  She dodged out of the way, “I should get going. You look like you’re ready to fall over.”

  “Now that I’ve eaten, it’s all coming back to me,” he admitted.

  He walked her to the door.

  “It would have worked on me.”

  He looked confused.

  “That line,” she admitted. “That’s exactly what Malachi said to me.”

  Tag smiled and shut the door after her.

  CHAPTER TEN

  A ringing phone woke Josie long before her alarm was set to go off. She frowned down at the caller i.d. screen, but her vision was too blurry to make out the name.

  “‘lo?”

  “Josie?”

  “Tag?” she blinked up at the clock.

  “Did I wake you. I’m sorry.”

  She sat up, “It’s quarter to five. I’m gu
essing you would wake most people if you called them at this time. What on earth are you doing up?”

  “I’m just, um I’m going to have to back out of the water skiing today.”

  Josie wondered if he had a better offer.

  “Okay,” she tried not to convey her hurt.

  “I’m in Brewster.”

  “Brewster?”

  “Yeah.”

  For the first time, Josie realized something sounded off about his voice.

  “Tag,” she focused, “why are you in Brewster? Has something happened with your family? Is your mom okay? Your brother?”

  He cleared his throat, “My mom’s in the hospital. She’s okay, but she had a heart attack.”

  Josie swung her legs off the side of the bed, “A heart attack?! Tag, when was this? Is she going to be okay?”

  “L-last night,” his words came out a little shaky. “She was feeling kinda off, so she called her neighbor, he came to get her.”

  “Praise the Lord,” Josie whispered as she stood.

  “My sister-in-law has been saying that all day.”

  “Do you need me to come up there? I could bring you clean clothes?”

  “No,” he assured her. “I just wanted to let you know that I would be up here today and tomorrow. Thanks, though.”

  “Let me know if something changes,” she pressed. “I can come up if you need something.”

  “I feel better just hearing your voice,” he sounded like he was teasing now, but she guessed there was some truth in what he said.

  They talked about nothing for another hour before Tag’s brother interrupted them.

  “Mitch just said Mom’s awake,” he informed her. “I’m going to go see how she’s feeling.”

  “I’ll be praying, Tag,” Josie promised.

  “Thanks, Jo,” he spoke softly. “For talking.”

  They hung up and Josie turned to God with her concerns.

  Tag called her the three days later. She was about to go back on set, but she answered the phone anyway.

  “They’re releasing Mom this afternoon.”

  “That’s good, right?” she checked her makeup. “I mean they wouldn’t let her out if she weren’t really ready for it.”

  “Mitch and Laurie are going to stay at Mom’s house for a few days to make sure she’s really okay, but the doctors say she is fine.”

  “Are you planning on staying there for a while too?”

  “I’m coming home tonight,” he informed her with a smile in his voice. “Apparently, there’s been a wave of crime since I’ve been gone, and I need to come and do something about it.”