Without Compromise

by Riker, Becky

  He wasn’t sure where he stood with her. He knew she loved him, but their differences in faith kept her from pursuing a relationship. Despite that, she still acted like she wanted to be with him.

  Tag had no idea what to do with that. He had been under the assumption that Christians wanted to stick to themselves unless they were out proselytizing. From his experience with those groups in high school, they were kind enough to people outside of their cliques, but they only wanted to be friends with those who were like-minded.

  In fact, Tag had asked James, a kid in his ninth grade class, if he wanted to go to a basketball game. James said he couldn’t because he had youth group. James had then invited Tag to the youth group. Tag had not been interested in going to sit around and listen to someone talk about the Bible. Tag asked James a different night, but James always had something going on with his church and could never do anything fun. Tag determined to never get caught up in a religion that would keep him from having fun.

  Tag’s parents went to church about once a month. When he was little it was less frequent than that, and he could think of only one time he went to Sunday school. The teachers had spent the majority of the hour telling him he needed to come more often.

  Now Tag was left wondering if Josie and Molly were different from the rest of Christians. They weren’t stuck up or prone to spending all their time at church. As far as he knew, they went to church every Sunday and sometimes other days of the week too, but they were both interested in doing other things as well. Molly was a little more timid, but Josie was willing to try just about anything. Just before he made the mistake of telling her that he loved her, she had convinced him that they should try hang-gliding. They hadn’t ever gotten around to it, but he had agreed to the scheme.

  Tag caught the bus to the station, knowing he could better think through the situation while lifting weights. He passed by the front desk clerk with a nod and was soon on the treadmill.

  “I thought you would be at the hospital all day,” Jacobson came and stood in front of his machine.

  “Her family is there right now,” Tag spoke as he increased his speed.

  “They don’t like you?”

  “I think they like me fine.”

  “You don’t like them?”

  Tag gave his friend a look of annoyance, “I like them; they like me. I just felt like I was hogging her time.”

  Harry didn’t look convinced.

  Tag increased his speed again and proceeded to ignore Harry.

  Maybe the problem was that Josie thought he was going to corrupt her. He had taken her to a bar twice. He figured it was okay since she had met Carenza at one. Maybe he was wrong to do that, though. The first time they went she had ordered a soft drink, but the second time she had a white wine. If Josie was afraid that he was turning her against her religion, she was probably right.

  He stopped running and wiped down the machine.

  “You want me to spot you?” Harry knew that Tag usually followed his run by lifting.

  “Thanks,” Tag lay down on the bench.

  “So,” he stood over Tag and looked down at him, “what’s really going on?”

  Tag’s grimace had nothing to do with the weight he was pressing.

  “You nearly fell apart yesterday. We’ve been partners for six year, and I’ve never seen you so close to a break down.”

  “It was stressful,” Tag ground out through his clenched teeth.

  “You’ve been shot at while resuscitating a victim; you shot a perp while he was holding an infant and a toddler hostage; you’ve dangled off the edge of a sixty story building,” Harry listed some of Tag’s more notorious stunts. “I don’t think your heart rate even increased. You feed off of stress, buddy.”

  “It was different.”

  “Because it was Josie.”

  “Wouldn’t you handle it different if it was Abigail?”

  Harry’s brows lifted in surprise, “You’re comparing Josie to my wife?”

  Tag pushed up again, wishing he hadn’t asked that last question.

  Harry glanced around before speaking again, “Are you really that serious about this girl?”

  Tag breathed out, “I would be.”

  Harry forced Tag to stop what he was doing by pulling the weights into the rests.

  “Are you kidding me? You’ve never been able to stick to one girl more than a month. It’s been what three, four months?”

  “Six. I met her in May.”

  Harry whistled, “And you’ve been dating only her this whole time?”

  Tag sat up, “I haven’t been dating her or anyone else. She won’t date me.”

  Harry startled.

  “She won’t,” Tag walked over to a clear area and dropped to do pushups.

  “She won’t date you? Why not?”

  Tag grunted.

  “She afraid you can’t commit?”

  Tag shook his head and kept going.

  Harry squatted down beside him, “She isn’t interested?”

  Tag held the push up at the top, “She’s in love with me.”

  He resumed his pushups.

  Harry nudged him over with a knee so Tag tipped over and landed, sprawled out on the floor.

  Tag rolled over onto his back, “Jerk.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “She’s concerned about our religious differences.”

  Harry waited for the rest. There was, of course, no more.

  “That’s it,” Tag stood up and went back to the bench press, “now are you going to finish spotting me or do you need to keep meddling like an old lady?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Josie was surprised to arrive in her new room to find flowers already waiting.

  “I hope the last patient didn’t leave these,” she commented, “because they’re beautiful.”

  Doris touched one of the petals, “Who would have thought of sunflowers and roses?”

  Molly pulled out the card and handed it to Josie, “One guess as to who sent them.”

  Josie wished she had a way to hide her blush. She opened the envelope and took out the card. The front of the card had a picture of a man dangling from a frayed rope, bored look on his face. The caption read, ‘Hang in there.’

  Josie laughed softly and opened the card. The inside said, ‘You’ll feel better soon.’

  She read those lines to her family and showed them the picture before reading the personal note from Tag.

  I thought you might like a little time with your family, so I’m going to run to the station for a couple hours. I’ll stop in and see you before I head home. Heal fast.

  Josie was disappointed that he hadn’t come back up to say goodbye, but she wasn’t too surprised. If she had to place a bet, she would guess Tag was either lifting weights or pounding the punching bag back at the police station.

  “That was nice,” Sol sat in the window.

  “It was,” she agreed, knowing her father had more to say. And, if she knew her father, she would not have to wait long before he said his piece.

  “I think the boy is searching for a way to fit Jesus into the man he knows he is. It’s an identity issue.”

  Molly laughed, “You always fall back on the identity conflicts, Dad.”

  Sol pointed a finger at his elder daughter, “Only when it is relevant.”

  Josie yawned. Her sister and father could debate psychology theories for hour.

  “Okay,” Doris piped up. “Time for us to let the invalid convalesce.”

  Sol and Molly didn’t argue; they just picked up their things and followed Doris from the room, informing Josie they would be back later.

  Josie fell asleep but not before she gave instructions to the nurse that she was to be wakened if Tag showed up. She was not thrilled to wake three hours later to the nurse’s ministrations.

  “Hi, Josephine,” this one was a little too chipper for the surgical wing. “I’m Sunny.”

  Of course.

  “I
’ll be your nurse this evening.”

  “Hi, Sunny,” Josie sat the bed up a little further. “I’m going to go use the bathroom.”

  Sunny’s smiled didn’t falter, “How about I bring you a bedpan instead?”

  Josie threw the blanket off her legs, “How about I use the bathroom, and we forget the bedpan. We’ll all be a little happier then.”

  Sunny cheerfully moved the side table out of the way and stood beside Josie as the patient hobbled to the small room.

  “I’ll take it from here,” Josie pulled the iv pole in after herself.

  She was prepared to use her iv pole as a weapon should the nurse attempt to join her in the small room, but Sunny simply pulled the door closed.

  Josie emerged from the bathroom minutes later to find Sunny had not abandoned her. She was standing midway between the bathroom and the bed. She didn’t offer to help Josie, but she did watch her patient with a judicious eye. Josie washed her hand to the best of her ability and went back to the bed.

  “I suppose you need to do some poking and prodding,” Josie perched on the edge of her bed, not yet ready to lie down again.

  “Not much. I mostly came to ask you if you need any pain medication.”

  Josie took stock of her injuries and pain, “No. I don’t think so. I’ve had some pretty scary drugs floating through my body the last couple days, and they’re planning on doing it to me again tomorrow to fix my ACL. I think I’ll just hold off.”

  Sunny typed that into the computer, “I was surprised when I found out they were going to repair your ACL so soon after your accident.”

  Josie wondered if that was disapproval she heard in the nurse’s voice.

  “I’m here anyway. May as well kill two birds with one stone.”

  Sunny glanced up from the computer and made eye contact with Josie, “I assume they discussed the danger of having the surgery so soon.”

  “Yes, but he also discussed the danger of letting the injury go untended,” Josie took a sip of water, “I can’t afford to be off my feet too long, and, as far as waiting or doing it now, it seemed like six of one and half a dozen of the other.”

  Sunny didn’t respond to that.

  A knock sounded on the door. Josie grabbed at the back of her gown to ensure it was closed.

  Sunny, who had a clear view of the door, looked up. Her eyes widened as she looked back at Josie.

  “It’s the cops,” she leaned in and whispered the words.

  Josie pulled her legs up into the bed, “Tag?”

  “Sorry,” Jeremy came into view, followed by Harry. “Just us.”

  Josie couldn’t help but be disappointed, but she managed to keep a smile on her face, “Hi, guys. What bring you by here?”

  Jeremy handed her a balloon, “Tag said there was a hostage situation down here, so we came to bust you out.”

  Sunny shook her head, causing her ponytail to bounce, “None of that. Josephine has to stay in bed until after tomorrow’s surgery.”

  “Josephine?” Harry took the chair closest to her, beaming with this new information. Jeremy coughed a little, “Does Tag know?”

  Josie looked up at her nurse with a raised brow, “Do you need anything else, Sunny?”

  That woman shook her head, “Call me if you need anything.”

  “Perky,” Jeremy commented from the window seat.

  “Yeah, a little.”

  “They gonna keep you in here long?” Harry gave her a once over.

  “I tore my ACL, so they’re doing that surgery in the morning. Then it’ll be 24 hours.”

  “Bored yet?” Harry smiled.

  “Completely. Did you happen to bring some cards?”

  “You play poker?” Jeremy stood up.

  “Sure,” she wondered if he really did have cards on him. “Or Old Maid if you’re afraid of that.”

  Jeremy scoffed at that as he left the room.

  “Isn’t it against your religion to play poker?” Harry frowned at her.

  “My religion?” she wondered what exactly it was that Tag had said.

  “Yeah. Gambling and all that.”

  “We can play for tongue depressors,” she arranged her blankets around her folded legs and pulled the table over her lap.

  Jeremy appeared with a deck, “The nurses’ station had a deck.”

  Harry ended up on the foot of Josie’s bed while Jeremy claimed the chair. They played for an hour before a knock on the door alerted them to a newcomer.

  “I see you’re getting plenty of rest,” Ken deadpanned.

  “Ken,” Josie smiled up at him, “these officers came to make sure I didn’t try to leave the hospital.”

  “I’m sure,” he set a balloon bouquet down on the counter. “And you just decided to play a little five card stud while they were guarding you.”

  Harry didn’t budge, but Jeremy stood up and offered his hand, “Jeremy Granger. Who are you?”

  “Ken Barry.”

  Harry kept looking between Ken and Josie, his eyes narrowing every time they lit on the man.

  Josie rolled her eyes at the show of testosterone.

  “Ken, this is Harry Jacobson. He’s Tag’s partner.”

  “Oh,” Ken’s face relaxed a bit. “I should have made the connection.”

  “Ken is my agent. He’s probably in here to make sure his cash cow hasn’t injured herself permanently.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Josie,” Ken laughed. “You’re more like a heifer.”

  Harry laughed at that.

  Josie smiled, accustomed to Ken’s strange humor.

  “Don’t worry, Ken. I’ll be back on my feet long before February.”

  Jeremy asked about the significance of February.

  “She has a contract that begins then,” Ken jumped in before Josie could give specifics.

  “Did they find someone to finish the shoot?” Josie knew time was too tight for putting that off.

  “They decided not to do it. They figured if Josie Drake couldn’t manage it, it shouldn’t be done.”

  Josie narrowed her eyes, “Did you watch the footage?”

  He nodded.

  “Then you know it wasn’t me.”

  Ken glanced between the men and back to her, “We can talk about that when you’re back on your feet.”

  “Ken, I don’t want a law suit or even a settlement,” she leaned forward, “but I never want him holding me up again. Frankly, the man shouldn’t even be allowed to do stunts.”

  Ken’s mouth straightened into a firm line, “I’ll take care of it. You just focus on getting better.”

  Ken didn’t stay much longer for which Josie was glad. She was a little unnerved by the mingling of Tag’s world and hers.

  “What was that about?” Harry barely waited for the door to close behind Ken.

  Josie shook her head, “I can’t divulge that right now.”

  They didn’t appear to like that response, but neither argued with her.

  Jeremy grabbed the deck, “I’m dealing this time.”

  “Does Tag know what’s up with the accident?” Harry watched the other officer handle the cards.

  “We haven’t had much time for talking.”

  “But you will, right?”

  Josie shrugged, “It may come up.”

  Jeremy’s chuckle rumbled low in his throat.

  Harry glared at him.

  “Guys,” Josie spoke up, “could you just leave it alone? What’s going on or not going on between Tag and me is between Tag and me. I appreciate your concern. I know how much you love him.”

  They were skeptical. She could understand that, but she needed them to stay out of her business. Jeremy quirked a grin at her, but Harry clearly wanted to argue his position a little further.

  “I love him,” she admitted without shame. “But sometimes that isn’t all it takes. Whether we can work this out or not, we’ll do it all a lot better without meddling.”

  Harry finally nodded and looked at his cards, “I fold.
”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Tag went to work on Saturday morning with a headache. He rarely suffered from them, but he knew what had caused this one.

  “You have a hot date last night, Madden?” Pahl questioned him as he stood at the coffee pot.

  Tag knew it was a fair question, but it still irked him.

  Burkheimer clapped him on the shoulder, “It’s been a while, Madden. Welcome back to the game.”

  Tag shrugged off the hand and stomped to his locker.

  Harry followed him, “You had a date?”

  Tag almost answered the question but decided it was none of Harry’s business. He changed the subject instead.

  “I heard we have a warrant today.”

  “Yep,” Jeremy came around the corner, far too chipper for Tag’s liking. “We get to go SWAT today.”

  The men rode toward the home that was going to be searched. The team realized they were probably going to be waiting a while. The department typically used SWAT to execute search and arrest warrants only in volatile situations where there was expected to be a violent reaction. On occasion, they were also called in because there was a need to work quickly.

  They weren’t surprised to have the detectives’ captain come to give them a rundown of the situation. They were surprised when Captain Morris told them it would only be fifteen minutes before they were ready to begin the proceedings.

  “Fifteen, ma’am?” Lowell was as confused as his men.

  “Maybe less, Sergeant Lutz,” she leveled a glare at him. “Get ready.”

  Lowell turned to them and pointed his finger in the direction they were to go.

  Prince and Granger were sent to the back of the house. They were quiet, but they looked about as subtle as foxes in a henhouse with their full gear on, rifles at the ready. Tag and Harry were assigned to the front door, so they followed Detective Harlan to the porch of the traditional middle class house.

  “Let’s pray this goes smoothly,” Harlan spoke quietly as they stood waiting by the front door.

  The captain’s voice sounded through the earpiece, “Now.”

  Harlan rang the doorbell, waited half of a second, and stepped back, “Have at it, guys.”

  Tag shifted slightly to get a better angle in case force should be necessary. He raised an eyebrow to indicate he was ready when Harry was.