by D. D. Ayres
“That was a long time ago. Who recommended me to him?”
“I did.” He could see the idea didn’t please her, though it didn’t show anywhere except in the tiny jiggle of her left foot.
“Why me?”
He knew what she meant. She wanted to know why he wanted to work with her. He wanted any reason to be near her again. That truth would blow this operation all to hell. He opted for a lesser truth. “Let’s just say this operation is more important than the odds against us being a successful U/C team.”
“What, exactly, do they want us to do?”
“Follow a lead the DEA has developed that points to the dog-competition circuit as a major means of drug smuggling. We’re to get in close and gather more evidence.”
She looked over at Hugo, who stood alert to every word they spoke. “We don’t have time to qualify for any kind of serious competition. That would take months.”
“DEA will see to it that you have the credentials you need to make the cut.”
“Why not just hang out at the shows or use drug dogs to search behind the scenes until you turn up something?”
“We have a suspect and don’t want to spook her.”
“Her?” She looked at him, finally. “Working the female-suspect angle is more in your line of undercover work, isn’t it?”
Scott ignored the barb. “This is how it will go down. We pose as a couple. You’ll compete. That’ll give me cover to nose around with my K-9 partner without suspicion.”
“You work K-9 drug detail for DEA?” The surprise in her voice said it all. “Since when?”
“A year. Her name’s Izzy. A chocolate Lab.” He smiled. “You’ll like her, Nikki.”
“Stop calling me that. Everyone calls me Cole.”
He couldn’t stop himself. “Your husband called you Nikki.”
“License revoked. And don’t change the subject.” She launched herself toward him. “What about your SWAT and undercover work? The boys’ club where females are good only for recreation? You lived for it. Traded us for it.”
Her sudden blast of anger caught him off guard. “That’s not what I wanted.”
She stopped right before him. “Oh right. Then why are you on record in our divorce proceeding? I quote, ‘Marriage? Screw that. There’re too many women to fuck and there’s only one lifetime.’”
His eyes flashed anger for the first time. “That was taken down by the duty officer the night I was arrested. I was drunk as a skunk, and I’d been working undercover in a biker bar. I was still in character.”
“I know what you were doing. I was there. Remember?”
Guilt knifed through Scott’s gut. He remembered. Would never forget it.
“You weren’t supposed to…” He groped for a better beginning. He wanted to explain how jacked-up miserable he had been juggling two lives and knowing he was losing on both ends. He wanted her to know that after she left him he’d staggered under so much regret he could barely function. So many things to say, to admit, to account for.
He heaved his shoulders. “Things change. If you’d let me explain—”
“Don’t even go there.” Her eyes, only two feet from his, were throwing off sparks that should have burned him to the ground. “Bastard. Rat bastard. For you to come here, after all this time and—and—”
The catch in her throat so appalled her that Cole did an about-face. “Get out.”
“Right.”
Cole waited until she heard the front door close. Then she released Hugo, who bolted past her.
She followed and watched as her partner sniffed every spot where Scott had stood or touched. He was memorizing the scent of the man who had upset her. Too bad she couldn’t explain to her partner all the complex reasons why. Especially, the long-absent feelings of familiarity coursing through her the entire time Scott had been here.
When Hugo was done, he came back to her and leaped up to place his front paws square in her chest. She wasn’t a small person but Hugo didn’t have any trouble planting a big slurpy kiss on her face. His way of saying, I got your back.
“I love you, too.” She leaned her head against his and hugged him tight.
* * *
Working nights was not something her body had ever completely adjusted to. When Cole woke up late in the afternoon, her head felt stuffed with cotton balls and her head throbbed. And then she remembered. She’d fallen asleep with tears staining her face.
She was still angry. The emotion beat faintly behind her gritty eyes. But on another level, she felt calm. The confrontation she had longed for and dreaded for two years was behind her. There was just one teeny-weeny little problem left.
She should just admit the hard pathetic truth.
I still have feelings for Scott.
She also hated Scott’s guts. And after what he’d done, hate still topped love.
Cole let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding, and scooted off her bed.
She made coffee and toast then brought the items to her dining room table where she sat and looked as objectively as possible at the pictures Lattimore had sent her.
Someone needed to catch the assholes who had done this. She’d been asked to be part of that. But what about Scott? How much was seeing him again going to cost her?
She opened her computer and ran him through the law-enforcement background-check system via her police department. He hadn’t remarried. Lived in an apartment in a less than desirable part of D.C. After nearly a yearlong gap in his work record he was now listed as a DEA agent, SWAT K-9 division. No Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or other social network accounts under his name. No record of that missed year, either.
To learn more personal details, for instance if he had a girlfriend, she would have to reach out to her personal connections. However, law enforcement became an unbelievably small, gossipy world when an officer went snooping about a colleague. She couldn’t go further without the risk that Scott would learn about it. Not knowing was better than him discovering she was checking on him.
Instead, she called Agent Lattimore, just to confirm that she was still eligible to be considered for the task force job. That would be a yes, he told her.
Cole sat and nibbled her thumbnail.
Did she dare grab this opportunity the DEA was offering to prove herself? Even if it meant agreeing to spend a few weeks in close quarters with the one man she didn’t know how to handle, didn’t trust, and was pretty sure she still hated?
Tall order, in the name of the law.
CHAPTER FOUR
“You said no, right? Right?”
Cole shrugged off her sister Becca’s question. “It’s an opportunity not many local law enforcement officers get.”
“It’s an opportunity to find yourself in more danger than necessary.” Becca sat back as their waitress set grilled chicken salads down before them.
Cole noticed the waitress eyeing her nervously as she put her plate down. Some civilians welcomed a police presence while for others the mere presence of a uniform and all that went with it was seen as some sort of hostile provocation.
Cole smiled at her. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” The waitress’s gaze skittered away. Maybe she’d been on the wrong end of an encounter with law enforcement recently.
Cole gave up and picked up her fork. It was her lunch hour. She had exactly fifty minutes left to explain to her sister the big decision she was about to make.
“So here’s the thing. If I did accept the task force position, the assignment may take me out of town from time to time.”
Becca gasped. “You’re going undercover!”
“Loud, maybe?”
“Right.” Becca’s voice dropped to a whisper as she glanced around the busy restaurant. “Are you going undercover?”
“I can’t give you details. Just don’t say anything to Mom and Dad until it’s a done deal, okay? Then I’ll tell them.”
Becca dipped a forkful of salad into the side dish of dressin
g. “Why do you need to do this? You’re doing great with the county police department. You made the K-9 in record time. You don’t need to do anything else. You’re set.”
Cole leaned forward. “That’s just it. I want to do something more, Becca. Something important and exciting. Use my skill set where it’s most needed. You’ve got a husband and a career. You’re set.”
Becca grinned. “And we’re expanding the franchise.”
“The vet’s office— Oh!” Cole’s expression widened into a gape as Becca patted her tummy. “You’re pregnant? I’m going to be an aunt!”
The two sisters jumped up and hugged each other, all girly squeals of joy.
“You’re the first to know.” Becca’s smile couldn’t stretch any wider. “I had to check on the results of some extra tests this morning before I told the folks.”
Cole’s smile dissolved as she sat back down. “Why extra tests?”
Becca made a sad face. “I’m thirty. It’s a bit late for a first pregnancy, since we’ve been trying for three years. But everything’s fine.”
Cole searched her sister’s face. “You would tell me?”
Becca nodded. “You first. Just like always.”
Cole felt the tightness in her chest ebb as they tucked into their salads. Though three and a half years apart in age, they were closer than most sisters. Really, BFFs. Their attitudes and tastes were so similar that, more often than not, they could finish each other’s sentences and predict what the other would order for a meal. And, they always told each other everything—no matter how personal—eventually.
Cole ducked her head on that final thought. She had decided to wait until the end of their meal to bring up the matter of Scott Lucca.
Meanwhile, there were dozens of other catch-up topics to discuss since their last sisters’ lunch four weeks ago. For instance, the new assistant in Becca’s office whom she had to fire because she kept “borrowing” boarded pets.
“The first weekend she took a cockatiel because, she said, birds need more attention than dogs. I told her never to do that again. But the following weekend she takes home a pet ferret, and loses it. I mean, really? So there I am, on my hands and knees in her apartment, searching. Turned out the little guy had climbed in under her dishwasher. Probably to get away from her. I finally lured him out with a thawed mouse. I was so done with her.”
Cole laughed. “The gla-mouse-rous life of a vet.”
“Speaking of gla-amorous lives, tell me you’re finally seeing someone. Anyone?”
Cole met her sister’s mischievous expression with a sour one.
“Harper knows this guy. Don’t make that face. He’s new in the area, a podiatrist in Harper’s clinic. A real looker.”
“I don’t need a man to make my life complete, Becca. I’m not you.”
“Ouch, and unnecessary.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s been two years, Cole. When do you move on? If you need a challenge, go back to school. With your five years of law enforcement experience, you could get into law school like that.” A snap of her fingers accompanied the thought.
“I doubt it. There’s the little thing called the LCAT.”
“Which you passed once.”
“It’s been years since I cracked a textbook.”
“Okay, not so easy—but once you graduated, you could do something important. Instead of chasing the bad guys, you could make certain they went to prison. That’s where your talents are needed, where you can make the biggest impact. D.A. Jameson. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Any Tom, Dick, or Jane with a badge and a gun can arrest perps.”
“Suspects. We call them suspects. You watch too much TV.”
“You know what I mean. You told Mom and Dad you didn’t intend to stay in law enforcement, you just needed a breather after college.”
Cole sighed. She had told them what they could handle at the time. “After I’d worked summers for the sheriff’s department between college semesters they should have guessed I was interested in law enforcement.”
“They hoped you’d be interested in law without the enforcement part.” Becca pointed the tines of her fork in the general direction of her sister’s weapon.
Cole rolled her eyes. “This is one point that we won’t agree on, okay? I love being a cop. Hugo and I do important work every day. We help people and protect people. Sure, we chase the occasional bad guy. But a month ago, we helped locate an Alzheimer’s patient who’d gotten away from her caregiver. We make a difference. Now we’re being asked to step up to something even more important.”
“Tell me more about it. Maybe you can make me believe it’s a good idea.”
Actually, what she was about to say was guaranteed to do the opposite. Time to confess. “Scott called me.”
Becca’s final forkful of salad paused halfway to her mouth. “What? When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks…” Becca stared at her so long Cole began to feel a blush creep up her neck. “Your anniversary. That’s the day he called?” Becca dropped her fork back into her plate. “What did he say?”
“He said wrong number and hung up.”
“The bastard!” Becca’s usually mellow voice lost all tone. “I can’t believe even he has the nerve…”
“Isn’t it my place to be the one upset?”
On a roll, Becca didn’t pause. “… after all you tried to do for him, defended him against the family, and his family, and everything. For him to betray…”
Her sister sputtered to a stop as Cole’s gaze narrowed. “Right. We can’t talk here.” Becca glanced around to signal for the check.
A few minutes later, they were walking toward the park where Becca had scheduled a mid-afternoon dog obedience class.
“So what, exactly, is going on? Why did you wait to tell me about Scott’s call?” Becca’s head turned back toward Cole. “DEA task force. Hah! There’s more to it than you’re telling me.”
No moss growing on her sister. “When I went in for the initial interview Scott showed up. He’s part of the team.”
“He’s what?” Becca paused momentarily on the sidewalk, uncaring that they upset the park traffic of strollers, runners, and lunch-hour walkers. “Scott calls you out of the blue and then just happens to be part of this DEA business? That’s just a little too convenient. He’s up to something. This is a trick.”
They were so in tune it was scary.
“It’s what I thought at first. But my sergeant got a visit this morning from a DEA representative. It’s been cleared through my department for me to go. I have this lunch hour to think it over and say yes or no.”
“Say no.”
“As my big sister, you’re supposed to tell me that I shouldn’t let a great job opportunity slip through my fingers just because there’s a bump in the road.”
“Bump? Scott Lucca is an axle-busting deal breaker. The last time you saw him, he was screwing another woman.”
Cole winced.
“Okay. You’re right. I’m sorry. Picking a scab.” Becca embraced her sister’s waist and leaned her head against Cole’s as they continued walking. “I saw what Scott did to you. You fell so hard, when you landed there were scarcely enough pieces left to collect to put you back together. I’ll never forgive him for that.”
“It wasn’t all Scott’s fault.”
“No. You should have known better than to get involved. He had bad-to-the-bone written all over him.”
“Then why did you point him out that night?”
“Come on, Cole. It was a game. Find a hot guy. Turn him on. Then turn him loose. You were supposed to know better than to take it seriously.”
Cole looked out across the park. Is that what she had done? Taken the game with a sexy stranger too seriously?
Truth or Dare on a girls’ weekend. After dinner they decided to move out of their comfort zones and find a bar that didn’t cater to middle-class twenty-somethings. They found one on th
e outskirts of D.C. Another round of drinks, and the game was on.
“Him.” Her sister and three girlfriends had pushed her out of the booth. “We dare you to kiss that guy.”
Cole had noticed him even before her sister pointed him out. He was hard to miss, even in a room full of men. Even from the back. He wore a leather jacket with a lot of miles on it and jeans that hugged his hips and thighs like they were happy just to be along for the ride. And then he turned around.
He was gorgeous; hard-eyed, hard-bodied, and so laid back it seemed as if he didn’t care if the world kept on spinning or not. Thick black hair with a tendency to wave, light eyes. He didn’t show any emotion, just went very still as their gazes met.
Maybe it was the adrenaline rush of the dare. Maybe it was what she’d been drinking. Or maybe it was just lust. She wanted him with an awful urgency that felt truer than any sexual craving she’d ever had before. Like steel to a magnet, the force of attraction was undeniable.
It was as if she’d been waiting all her life for this moment, even if it was a total lie and he probably was everything he seemed, bad-news-dangerous, and then some. But she was just drunk enough to want to find out. She had reached up on tiptoe and kissed him.
A few more kisses and a couple of slow turns on the tiny space that served as a makeshift dance floor, and she’d left with him. She never looked back.
“Earth to Cole.”
Cole glanced up.
“Where did you go?” Becca had her serious face on. “And why are you blushing? “Oh. My. God. You still have a thing for the bastard. You’re thinking that if you spent time together you might patch things up? You’re an idiot!”
Several nearby park visitors glanced their way.
“Uniform, Becca.” Cole said the words quietly.
Becca’s turn to blush. “I’m sorry. I forgot. Respect for the badge.”
She turned to the people looking their way. “She’s my sister. We fight. Get over it.” She looked back at Cole. “Better?”
Cole pulled her sister to a nearby bench and made her sit. “I know this won’t make any sense to you but I need something from Scott. Maybe just to hear his side of the story of what went wrong.”
“How can there be another side to what you saw with your own two eyes?”
