by Carsen Taite
It sounded so simple, but like most things, it wasn’t nearly as easy as it appeared.
* * *
Tanner dug through her drawer of delivery menus—that much hadn’t changed since college—partly to avoid making eye contact with Syd. She’d half gambled on Syd saying no to her impromptu dinner invitation, and now that Syd had accepted, she was out of sorts. She wasn’t used to being out of sorts.
“What are you digging for? The Tanner I know would have the best pizza joint in the city on speed dial.”
“Yeah, well, the Sydney I know would want something a little fancier than pizza.”
“Not true.” Syd placed a hand over her heart. “Pizza will always be my first love.”
Tanner laughed. “I knew it wasn’t me.” As the words fell from her lips, she wanted to bite them back. “Sorry, that was lame.”
“It wasn’t lame.” Syd slid her hand along Tanner’s arm. “But I’m glad we have that truth out of the way. Now, about that pizza.”
They both broke into laughter. It felt good, a much-needed release, breaking the tension between them. Tanner pulled out her phone and started dialing. “Hamburger and green olives?”
Syd nodded, her smile signaling pleasure that Tanner remembered her favorite order. Tanner placed the order and pocketed her phone, ushering them to the couch. “So, you want to tell me what you and Carlos Aguilar were so deep in conversation about tonight?”
“Sure, if you’ll share where you wandered off to.”
“You first.” Tanner settled into a chair across from the couch, telling herself it was so she could see Sydney’s face while she talked, but really she didn’t trust the sparks between them not to ignite into something dangerous. Gellar’s words echoed in her head. She didn’t believe for a minute that Sydney was a threat to anyone but Gellar, but tiny seeds of doubt had been planted and they were already doing damage. What if Peyton didn’t know Sydney as well as she thought? Maybe Peyton’s plea to Main Justice to send someone to look into Gellar had backfired and they’d sent someone to look into the task force instead.
“He was sickeningly charming, but that’s it. I didn’t get any kind of read off him other than he might’ve wanted to get in my pants if I’d given any indication that was a possibility.”
Tanner held back a growl. “You didn’t talk about anything else?”
“He did ask why I was in town.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Just that I was here to help Gellar out with an investigation. No specifics. He said something like any friend of Gellar’s is a friend of his. Very clichéd.”
“Any other vibes about this guy?”
“Why the intense interest? Do you have some reason to believe this guy is involved in something illegal?”
“Come on, Syd. Just answer me.” Tanner watched as Syd scrunched her brow and thought hard.
“I just recall feeling he was a little too intense for my taste, but I wrote it off to my aversion to him hitting on me. Now, tell me what you’re thinking.”
Tanner considered her options. She didn’t have anything concrete to go on, but something about Aguilar had set her on high alert, and she’d learned to trust her instincts. She wanted to talk it out with Dale or Mary or Peyton, but none of them were here right now. Only Syd, who years ago had been the one person she’d talked about everything with. Until she’d held back on the one thing that had driven a wedge between them. Oh, what the hell. “I don’t have anything to base this on, but I don’t trust Aguilar, and I don’t think he just happened to be at Gellar’s house.”
“Okay,” Syd drew out the word. “Let’s go through how you got there.”
Thankful Syd hadn’t dismissed her theory out of hand, Tanner ticked off the reasons. “Carlos is known in West Texas as a very successful businessman. If he is really looking to expand here in North Texas, he’s not going to cozy up to someone like Gellar. He’s going to make friends in the business community.”
“Good point, but maybe showing up at Gellar’s would be a good opportunity for him to make those contacts.”
“Except he wasn’t at any other house on the tour.”
Syd started to say something, but the doorbell rang. “Hold that thought,” Tanner said. She paid for the pizza and motioned for Syd to join her in the kitchen. She opened the box and watched Syd swoon.
“Oh my God, that smells amazing.”
“Tastes even better. I’ll get some plates.”
“Who needs plates?”
She turned back from the cabinet at the sound of Syd’s muffled voice and found her midway through a slice. “I’m guessing you didn’t get your fill of finger food at the party.”
Syd reached for the napkin Tanner handed her and swiped hastily at her mouth before taking another bite. “Those high society bitches ate all the jumbo shrimp before I got to them.”
Tanner laughed. “You should’ve been with Virginia. She would’ve made sure you got your share of shrimp.” She watched Syd chow down on the slice of pizza like it was her last meal and an observation tumbled out. “You know, once upon a time you wanted to be one of those high society bitches.”
“Maybe, but not the kind who hogs the shrimp.” Syd turned her focus from the skimpy piece of crust left in her hand to face Tanner. “I wanted a lot of things. When you’re young, you don’t really know what you want. Sometimes you miss out on really important things because of it.”
Tanner caught her gaze and held it, trying her best not to read anything into Syd’s words. But how could she not? They had been young, and Sydney especially so. Tanner had already served two tours in the Army before she entered law school while Sydney had gone straight through. Now that they’d both been out in the world, their outlooks were probably more closely aligned, but too much time, too much hurt, and too much life had passed for it to matter.
Tanner wanted to ask Sydney if, looking back now, she would’ve made the decision to walk away from their relationship, but what would be the point? The answer would be full of either satisfaction or regret, but it wouldn’t change anything. Friendship was the most she could hope for, and in the spirit of friendship, she decided it was time to lighten the mood. “I know you well enough to know you would never be a shrimp-hogging, high society bitch.” She grabbed the pizza box. “Let’s take this back to the couch and eat the entire thing.”
An hour later, they were sprawled on the living room furniture with the box of pizza bones lying open on the coffee table. They’d shared a couple of beers and more than a couple of memories of law school.
“Do you remember Colin Danvers?” Sydney said, enunciating their former classmate’s name with a nasal voice.
“You mean Colin ‘may I ask one more question to clarify your point, Professor’ Danvers?”
Syd punched her playfully in the side. “That’s the one. He’d press on with his question no matter how loud we all groaned.”
“How could I forget?”
“He’s a freaking judge now. State court. Pretty sure his rich daddy got him elected.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
Tanner shook her head. “Just goes to show who you know is more important than what you know.”
“Sometimes.” Syd sat up. “Hey, that reminds me. You were talking about Carlos Aguilar, and why you think he’s up to no good.”
Tanner shifted to an upright position to match Syd’s and felt the intimacy between them whoosh out of the room. Probably best, but definitely not welcome. She pressed on. “I don’t have any hard evidence. It’s more instinct.”
“And your instincts—are they usually spot-on?”
Tanner stared at Syd’s eyes as her husky-voiced question penetrated her consciousness. The question was loaded, and a trickle of sweat down her back told Tanner to tread carefully. Normally, she trusted her instincts completely, but right here in this moment every one of them urged her to lean forward and kiss Sydney, to charge back into the memory of the past like years
hadn’t passed between them. Syd leaned closer, her darkening eyes a signal she was ready and willing to join her in this throwback moment. Inches. They were only inches from touch, and Tanner’s heart thumped wildly when Syd reached out to touch her face.
“Pizza sauce,” Syd said, gently stroking her thumb along Tanner’s lip.
“What?” The word was thick in Tanner’s mouth and it was all she could manage.
Syd thrust her hand in Tanner’s sightline. “Dregs of dinner.”
The words fell like ice picks, slicing neatly through the growing heat, but they didn’t cool her desire, only her determination to act on it. She struggled to remember what they’d been talking about. “You were saying? You know, before the pizza sauce incident.”
“I believe I was asking about your instincts.”
Syd’s pupils had returned to normal size and her voice was even and matter-of-fact. For a second, Tanner wondered if she’d imagined the crazy attraction, the almost kiss, and decided it was possible the entire episode was one-sided. Just to be sure, she inched away from Syd. “Usually.”
“Tell me more.”
There was that husky innuendo again. Stick to the case. Just the facts. Tanner cleared her throat. “Observations. He acted like he’d been to Gellar’s house before. He knew his way around. He was very friendly with Gellar’s wife.”
“What else?”
“Like I said, he’s a successful businessman, but he didn’t mingle other than to hit on women. I’m guessing he made a move on you.” Syd looked downward and Tanner knew she was right.
“Okay, so what are you going to do about it?”
“I haven’t thought that far,” Tanner said. It was true. She hadn’t had time to give much thought to Aguilar since she’d been consumed with thinking about Sydney since they’d walked through the door of her place. She shook away the personal thoughts and cast about for something else work related to talk about. She should tell Syd about the fake wine cellar, but she wasn’t ready to confess she’d picked the lock, and she heard Gellar’s words in her head, cautioning her about Syd.
She should tell Sydney that Gellar had suspicions about her, but she held back. Instinct told her to do some checking of her own. She didn’t seriously suspect Sydney wasn’t everything she said she was. Hell, Peyton had vouched for her. But what if they’d all been fooled? As much as she touted her well-honed instincts, they’d never been one hundred percent, and she’d never worked a case with a former lover. She was too close to this. What she should do was tell the rest of the team she needed backup, but doing so meant confessing she had doubts about Sydney, and she wasn’t ready to go there.
No, she’d look into Sydney on her own while ostensibly working the case with her. If something turned up to tell her Sydney might actually be working against them, she’d tell Peyton and bow out. In the meantime, she’d get as close as she could. Gellar would be happy, thinking she was doing his bidding. And bonus—she’d get to spend more time with Sydney.
Chapter Ten
Syd stared at the files spread out on the table in front of her. It was Monday afternoon, and Peyton and Bianca were in court, and she’d set up in Peyton’s office to review the case files. She’d been at the office for three hours and had nothing to show for it because every time she started looking at paperwork, her mind glazed over with thoughts of the kiss she and Tanner had almost shared Saturday night.
She’d spent yesterday writing up a report of her impressions of everyone Gellar interacted with at the party. She knew Tanner was meeting in person with Dale and Mary, and she’d half hoped they’d include her as well, but apparently it was an agent-only gathering. She didn’t care so much about the debriefing, but the sooner she saw Tanner, the sooner she could figure out if the desire to kiss her lingered into the light of day.
Maybe she should have just gone for it when she’d had the chance. If she had, then she wouldn’t be left with this hollow feeling, the kind you have when you go to bed hungry. Bad analogy. Bed and Tanner were two things that were never going to happen simultaneously.
Why not?
The question popped up out of nowhere, and she wondered why she hadn’t asked it before. They were both adults, working together on the same side of a case, so no conflict there. And if the waves of heat coming from Tanner were any indication, it was clear she felt the attraction too. Syd was only going to be in town temporarily. They could have a fling—work on the case by day and let off steam at night, and when the case was over, Syd could go back to her boring, normal life in DC, and Tanner could do whatever Tanner did when she wasn’t around.
What did Tanner do when she wasn’t working? She’d said she wasn’t dating anyone, but that didn’t mean she was celibate. Did she go out to clubs, pick women up at bars? Did she have a steady, friendly fuck?
Why the hell am I obsessing about this? This is exactly the reason you can’t have sex with her.
Syd shook her head. If she slept with Tanner, no matter what she told herself, she wouldn’t be able to contain whatever feelings might surface, and she was certain some would. Since she’d been here in Dallas, close to Tanner, all kinds of emotions she’d thought were long buried had managed to tunnel their way to the surface. No, it was better to let things settle back into a friendly, but not too friendly, professional relationship. Nothing more.
“Hey you,” Bianca said as she walked into the room. She pointed at the files. “There’s nothing more boring than reading about a case you haven’t actually worked, am I right?”
“You are indeed right.” Syd stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “And I think someone switched the coffee to decaf when I wasn’t looking.”
“It’s weak. I don’t know why anyone bothers drinking it. You should taste the stuff my mother makes—it will grow hair on your chest.”
“Not a big selling point.”
Bianca laughed. “I hear you. Are you ready for a break? Peyton thought it might be a good idea for you to meet Jade, but there’s no way she’s coming to the office, so we’ll need to go to her.”
“Jade is your girlfriend?”
“Yes.” Bianca punctuated the word with a sharp nod. “But before you say anything, I just want you to know—”
Syd cut her off with a smile. She wasn’t in the mood to get into an argument over who was sleeping with whom, especially not considering the thoughts she’d been having. “Save it, counselor. Let’s go meet her.”
Bianca’s tiny Miata raced through the streets of downtown toward the east, and the wind whipping against Syd’s face was exactly what she needed to wake up. “Where’s the meeting?”
“My place.”
“Okay.”
“We’re not living together, me and Jade. Well, we may as well be, but as much as my daughter loves Jade, having another adult in the house would be a big adjustment. I’m the only parent she’s ever known, and we haven’t had a chance to sort out how it would work with both of us parenting. Besides, Jade’s mother needs her at the ranch.”
Syd couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you always such a fast talker, or did I do something to make you feel like you have to explain everything before I even manage to get a question out?”
Bianca’s face flushed. “It’s me. My mouth is my Achilles’ heel.” She ducked her head. “Don’t worry, I know how to keep it shut when it’s really important, but I figured I could trust you to listen to my ramblings.”
“Is that right?”
“Peyton says you’re good people, and I trust her, so by default I trust you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the vote of confidence.” Sydney meant the words. This team was obviously close-knit, and she figured it was hard for them to welcome a stranger into their midst. “Tell me about Jade.”
“I’ll warn you right now that you’re probably going to swoon when you first see her. The first time I met her, she was riding toward me on a beautiful horse. Central casting for dream cowgirls. That was it for me.”
“L
ove at first sight?”
“Hmm, maybe. I’m not sure I believe in love at first sight, but I do believe the first impression kind of plants the seed for love to grow. Is that too corny?”
“Not at all.” Sydney remembered the first time she’d seen Tanner. They were sitting in a large lecture hall, about as far apart as two people could get from each other. Professor Dautry had singled Tanner out for one of his sadistic Socratic examinations on the finer points of criminal procedure, and Syd had watched with rapt attention at the smooth, steady way Tanner fielded all of his questions, never once displaying the nerves that took most students down. Syd had typed one simple sentence into her outline during the exchange. I’m going to marry that girl.
She’d come close.
“I definitely think first impressions are important, but unfortunately, they don’t always tell the whole story.” She looked over at Bianca, who was frowning. “I’m not talking about you and Jade, of course.”
“It’s okay. Everyone’s different.”
Sydney wished she’d kept her mouth shut. She had no business judging these people and their relationships, and she could use some friends instead of scaring them away. She reached over and touched Bianca’s shoulder. “Everyone is different. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Bianca talked the rest of the drive about how Jade had overcome her sketchy lineage to graduate from Wharton and run a successful quarter horse breeding ranch. She’d managed to avoid the lure of the quick money drug trade run by her uncles and run a legitimate business. Bianca ended with the story of how Jade had saved her daughter Emma’s life just as they pulled up to a modest bungalow-style home.
“This is it,” Bianca said as she parked in the driveway.
“Nice. Will your daughter be home?”
“She’s at my mother’s, a block over. I figured it would be better for us to talk alone.”
