Radclyffe - Safe Harbor 03 - Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

by Distant Shores, Silent Thunder (lit)

  Goddamn it. Reese's jaw tightened as she leaned back against the patrol car, watching Allie climb off the bike and laughingly shove at Bri's shoulder. Bri merely grinned and shook her head no. Allie butted her hip against Bri's thigh and said something that made Bri toss her head back and laugh. They looked like a couple of healthy young animals in the midst of a mating ritual. What the hell is wrong with her?

  Watching the pair continue to tease and banter, Reese chastised herself for approving Allie's transfer to the department.

  She'd known that there had been some kind of attraction between the two earlier in the year, but she'd thought it was over. She'd trusted Bri to respect Caroline and her badge, and to keep things purely professional with Allie. Goddamn it. Out of nowhere, Reese looked at Bri and saw another darkly handsome, dangerous woman. One with the same seething, wild energy. KT. Fast on the heels of that inexplicable image, she remembered the shadows in Tory's eyes that morning and thought of how much greater her lover's pain had been when they'd met a few years before. Remembered, too, that Tory had withdrawn from everyone because of the hurt and disappointment KT's betrayal had caused. Reese pushed away from the cruiser and strode across the hard-packed sand lot to where the two young women now stood talking.

  "You're both on duty in less than an hour."

  Bri turned from telling Allie for the fourth time that she couldn't drive her bike, a smile on her face. "Hey, Reese."

  "You're out of uniform, Parker. Where's your weapon and the rest of your gear?"

  "In my bike bag, ma'am." Bri straightened, clearly confused by the tone of Reese's voice.

  "Um" Allie began, sensing that Bri was in trouble but not understanding why.

  Reese silenced her with a quick look. "I want you to take personal time until further notice, Officer Tremont."

  Allie straightened, her eyes flashing. "Why, ma'am?"

  "Because I ordered" Reese stopped in the middle of dressing down the startled young recruits. They 're not recruits. And Bri's not KT. Christ, what am I doing. She took a breath, slow and controlled, her expression revealing none of her disquiet while she settled herself. She couldn't ever remember having behaved quite so irrationally. That it had to do with KT was clear, but why, she wasn't sure. She hadn't felt any particular animosity toward her when she'd seen her in the parking lot at the clinic, only a wariness that came from knowing that KT was a woman who had once hurt her lover. And knowing with absolute certainty that KT could still hurt Tory. And you 're probably not going to be able to stop it. And if you can't protect her...

  "Parker," Reese snapped.

  "Yes, ma'am." Bri stood atrigid attention, her eyes unwavering, fixed on Reese's face.

  "If you want to wear the uniform, treat it with respect."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  "Go home and change. Report back for your shift looking like you're ready to do the job."

  "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, ma'am."

  Reese shifted her gaze to Allie, "Come inside so we can talk."

  "Respectfully, ma'am," Allie said, her voice steady. "I'd like to get ready for my shift as well, Could we speak later, ma'am?"

  "We'll do it now. I'll make adjustments in your shift assignment if necessary."

  "Yes, ma'am."

  As Reese turned and headed toward the building with Allie beside her, she heard the roar of Bri's engine accelerate rapidly and then fade into the distance. She'd come down on Bri hardfor reasons that weren't altogether Bri's fault. She'd have to make that right.

  KT was dizzy, and she didn't think it was entirely due to the beer. Vicki's tongue was demanding, probing her mouth insistently, threatening to devour her. It felt unexpectedly good, being taken for a change. But before she completely lost control, she pulled away from Vicki's mouth and trapped the hand that was inching open her fly. "Hey, baby, slow down. I'm too old to do this standing up in a dark corner,"

  Vicki pressed hard with her whole body against KT's, rocking her hips between KT's spread thighs, her mouth on KT's neck, biting lightly. "Mmm, me too, but you've got me so hot. God, you're a great kisser. Tell me you're not going a little crazy, too,"

  "Oh, I wouldn't say that," KT said, breathing rapidly as Vicki continued to thrust her hips, working KT's blood up to a rolling boil. "Keep doing what you're doing, and I'm going to explode."

  "Oh, yeah. I'd like that."

  The bar was wall-to-wall people, and no one was paying them any attention in the dark corner of the bar where they'd eventually migrated as their superficial conversation had given way to more in-depth physical explorations. Still, as aroused as she was, KT was long past fucking in public places. Vicki felt good in her arms, though, and with her body this turned on, she wasn't thinking about anything. That was the best part of all.

  "Can we go to your room?" KT asked, circling her right hand over the base of Vicki's spine, matching the roll and thrust of Vicki's pelvis with her own. She felt teeth on her neck and carefully pulled away. "Easy."

  "Mmm. God, I want to get naked with you." Vicki managed to get her hand between KT's thighs and squeezed. "And I want this."

  "Then let's get out of here," KT urged, happy to surrender awareness to the pleasant euphoria of alcohol and the consuming burn of passion.

  Reese handed Allie a paper cup of coffee and leaned against the counter in the far corner of the squad room. The only other person present was Paul Smith, and he was busy with the phones. "How are you feeling about last night?"

  Clearly surprised, Allie shrugged. "I'm okay."

  "Is that the first time you found a victim like that?"

  Allie hesitated, trying to decide the best answer. The sheriff never gave any indication of what she was thinking, but Allie knew that she always told the truth. It was something you could count on. Maybe the truth was the only answer. "No."

  Reese sipped her coffee, wondering at the flicker of unease in Allie's eyes. "But it wasn't on the job, was it."

  "No. It was my cousin. I was fourteen and he was seventeen." Allie swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat and put her coffee cup down before meeting Reese's unwavering gaze. "He OD' d on heroin. I found him in his room one afternoon after school. We lived next door to each other. We were pretty tight."

  "I'm sorry." Reese tossed her empty cup into the wastepaper basket. "Last night couldn't have been easy."

  "I'm not sure what it was," Allie said quietly. "I didn't feel a whole lot then and I don't feel veiy much now. I feel like I'm okay-to work, though."

  "Sometimes things like last night come back on us when we don't expect it."

  Allie nodded. "I understand. I had nightmares for a while after Kevin."

  "Provincetown is a small village, and we don't see a lot of action here. But that doesn't mean that we don't have to be alert."

  "I know." Allie straightened. "I give you my word if I'm having problems, I'll tell you. I saw a shrink for a while when I was fifteen. It was okayit helped. I'll do it again if I need to."

  "Very well. Report for duty as scheduled, then."

  "Thank you, ma'am." Allie made no move to leave. "Sheriff, about Bri"

  "I'll deal with Officer Parker, Officer Tremont."

  Allie looked as if she wanted to say more, but wisely said nothing. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

  Reese watched Allie leave with new respect, impressed with her fortitude. She didn't want to lose her and hoped that she would be able to sort out the situation with Bri.

  "You'll have to make allowances for my performance," KT said, her breathing irregular and shallow as Vicki slid down the zipper of her fly. She was flat on her back in the middle of a double bed in a small motel room with a single window that faced Long Point, the final curve of sand before Cape Cod disappeared into the ocean. She couldn't get any further away from her demons if she tried. Vicki knelt naked above her, methodically undressing her. "I've only got one good arm here, and I don't quite know what to do with this contraption on my left."

  "You don't have to do anyth
ing," Vicki assured her, her full breasts swaying as she worked to open buttons and buckles and zippers. "I'm going to take care of us both,"

  Not normally one to give up control under any circumstance, and particularly not in bed, KT felt an uncharacteristic surge of relief. She closed her eyes, distantly aware that her left arm throbbed and her head spun slowly. The breeze from the open window blew across her chest as her shirt was opened and the silk tee beneath was pushed up to expose her breasts. Her nipples hardened in anticipation.

  "Lift your hips," Vicki urged as she pulled down KT's trousers and underwear. She stopped long enough to tease her fingers along the inside of KT's thighs until she was rewarded with a faint groan, then she leaned forward to slide an arm behind KT's shoulders. "Now sit up for just a minute."

  KT pushed herself up with her right arm and helped free herself from the tangle of clothes, carefully drawing the garments down over her splinted left arm. She was no sooner completely bare than Vicki's hands were on her breasts, fingers closing hard over her nipples. KT groaned again and shivered. "Oh, yeah." "Lie back, baby. I'm going to make you feel so good." The light from the single table lamp that Vicki had turned on just inside the door flickered on the ceiling as KT stared upward through half-closed lids, surrendering to sensation. The mouth and hands that stroked and teased and fired the burn in her skin and stoked the hot need deep inside were talented and sure. Before long, the fingers of her right hand were tangled in Vicki's hair, and she was urging her down as her hips rose and fell with rhythmic urgency.

  "Come on, baby," KT murmured. "I need your mouth." As warm lips closed over her clitoris, KT sighed and closed her eyes completely. She moaned with relief as the orgasm slowly rose from her distant recesses to steal the last vestiges of thought When her hips bucked with the first spasm, she whispered brokenly, "Oh, Vic. Baby. It's so good, so good."

  Chapter Nine

  W hen Bri arrived for her shift, Reese merely gestured to a nearby desk. "Settle in for a minute. I need to return a call."

  In a freshly laundered and crisply pressed uniform, Bri sat quietly as directed while Reese spoke on the phone. Her leather equipment belt and silver badge gleamed. She didn't see Allie, so she figured that she was already out with Lyons on a tour through town. At least she hoped she was. She still didn't know what had gone down between Reese and Allie earlier that afternoon; in fact, she had no idea what had gone down between herself and Reese. Well. She had some idea. Reese was pissed that she'd been running around town with her uniform in a shambles. But there had been something else, and all through the ride to her apartment, and her shower, and the process of triple-checking her uniform to make sure that everything was in order, she still hadn't been able to figure out what that something else was.

  She'd known Reese for a long time, and she couldn't remember her flying off the handle before, not ever. Her dad did that, and she was used to it. She knew he didn't mean anything most of the time when he lost his cool, and if she took the time to think about it, he usually only did it when he was worried about her. But Reese Reese is different. Reese always has it together. But she didn 't this afternoon. She was pissed. At me.

  Bri had to force herself not to fidget. It made her uncomfortable knowing that she'd upset Reese somehow. In fact, it made her feel just a little bit sick.

  Reese hung up the phone and reached for her hat. "Let's go, Parker."

  Bri jumped to her feet. "Yes, ma'am."

  As Bri settled into the passenger seat, Reese buckled up and started the engine. Bri stared straight ahead, her hands open, palms down on her thighs, unconsciously imitating her preparatory position to work out in the dojo. She was trying to settle her mind and banish the queasy feeling in her stomach.

  "That was Robert Bridger's attorney," Reese said as she headed toward 6 East. "His parents want to talk to me."

  "Huh," Bri said, forgetting her discomfort for a moment. "Why the turnaround, do you think?" She'd gotten the full story of the stonewalling attorney from her father and Reese late the previous evening when they'd returned empty-handed from Hyannis. She'd known then that Reese was really angry with the attorney and wondered if that had anything to do with Reese's behavior that afternoon. She fervently hoped so.

  "Could be the attorney wants to find out what we know." Reese kept her eyes on the road, mulling over the possibilities. "Or she might be trying for some damage control by making a preemptive move."

  "Controlling the information flow?"

  Reese gave Bri a quick, appreciative grin. "Something like that. At the moment, I don't care, as long as I get some information. It's early still, but we haven't found anyone that matches the dead girl's description in the missing persons bulletins from any of the counties on the Cape. Leads from the mainland will be slower, because the larger departments don't disseminate missing persons information that quickly. Someone may already have put her data into the system, but we just haven't gotten it yet."

  "Man, I hate to think of someone somewhere wondering where she is. Not knowing that she's..."

  "Yeah. Same here."

  They rode in silence another five minutes before Reese spoke again.

  "You know, whether you're in uniform or out, you're still a peace officer."

  Bri stiffened. "Yes, ma'am."

  "When you walk down the street, when you ride through town, when you go to a partyyou're still a peace officer." Reese spoke quietly, almost contemplatively. "Everyone who knows you, knows that."

  "I know."

  "And do you know what's the most important thing, the most powerful weapon, that you have as a law enforcement agent?"

  Bri took a deep breath. "It's not my sidearm, I guess."

  The corner of Reese's mouth flickered into a fleeting grin. "No. But I'm glad you know how to use it." She turned her head for a second and held Bri's eyes. "Respect, Bri. The respect of the community and the people you serve, and the respect of those you sometimes need to control."

  "I understand," Bri said as she colored, embarrassed because Reese wasn't yelling at her. She wished she were.

  "You're doing something to be proud of, and part of that pride is reflected in the uniform that you wear. I know that you'll respect it, because you're a good officer, Parker."

  Bri blinked rapidly, horrified that her eyes had filled with tears. "I'm sorry."

  Reese shook her head. "You don't need to be. The next time you...don't have a clean uniform to change into, go straight home."

  "I know I should've done that, but Allie wanted to pick up her car" Bri stifled the excuse. "Yes, ma'am."

  "Now, about Officer Tremont." Reese's hands tightened on the wheel but her voice remained conversational. "There's a reason that we discourage interpersonal relationships among officers. In a crisis situation, you need to be thinking about two things: your own safety, and that of your partner. If everyone does that, everyone lives."

  Bri frowned, shifting in her seat slightly so she could study Reese's face, intent on understanding the new direction of their conversation. "I know that. But Lyons is Allie's training officer."

  "Correct. And it's his responsibility to ensure her safety. My point is that if you were worried about her, too, or vice versa, because you're..." Reese searched for a word that she could tolerate saying, "...involved, then"

  "Involved! You mean like girlfriends?''

  "Well, yes."

  "We're not. Jesus." At the sight of Reese's raised eyebrow, Bri hastened to add, "Sorry. I mean, we're friends. But we're not., .why did you...?" She suddenly had a mental image of herself and Allie arriving at the station on her motorcycle that afternoonher in the clothes she'd worn the day before, not counting her uniform shirt, which she'd balled up and stuffed into her motorcycle bag, and Allie wrapped around her wearing what she always wore. Skimpy little bits of nothing that Bri had yet to figure out how Allie kept on her body at all. It looked like they'd just crawled out of bed, which they had, except it looked like they'd crawled out of the same bed. Oh fu
ck me.

  Bri had learned something from growing up on the brunt end of her father's tendency to jump in with both feet, or perhaps she'd merely absorbed it unconsciously. But somewhere, somehow, she'd learned to wait one extra second before saying what was on her mind. She had nowhere near the control that Reese had, but she was trying for it. She took a long, long breath, because after the first wave of acute embarrassment, she was righteously pissed. How could Reese think that I would treat Carre that way? Doesn 't she trust me at all?

  Before the bitter words could erupt, Reese spoke into the quiet, dense air of the suddenly crowded space. "I'm sorry. I should've known better."

  "I...uh..." Apologies were foreign to Bri, at least in the heat of the moment, and she had no way to answer. "Okay."

  "No, it isn't," Reese replied firmly. "If it had been someone else with Allie, other than you, then the conclusion I came to would've made sense," She looked to Bri again, her blue eyes dark with regret. "But it wasn't someone else. It was you. And I know how much you love Caroline. I'm sorry for forgetting that."

  "Oh man," Bri muttered and turned her face to the side window, seeing nothing outside. The tears were back, and there were so many reasons for them she wasn't sure she could handle them all at once. She wanted to cry because she missed Caroline so much. Because Reese cared enough about her, about them, to get angry when she thought Bri was fucking up. Because someone believed in her feelings, believed in how much she loved Caroline. She bit her lip and waited for the tight fist that was squeezing the air from her lungs to relax enough for her to speak. "You know I almost did screw up, with Allie...last spring."