by Lynette Mae
Jessie reversed her position, knees on either side of Devon’s head, straddling her. Jessie moved between Devon’s legs and she opened her hips wider, affording full access. She nearly lost control at the first touch of Jessie’s tongue. Grasping Jessie’s hips, she pulled her down to bury her face in the luscious wet folds, needing more of her everywhere. Finding their own matching rhythm, tongues working and driving, giving and taking, Devon soared on blistering currents of need. She let out a strangled cry when her release came and clung tightly as Jessie followed her over, causing a second shattering explosion within Devon.
Jessie collapsed on her side as the remaining tremors shook through them. Devon’s heart pounded wildly in her chest. Slowly their breathing steadied and her body fell back to earth, reassembling. Gradually, she felt capable of functioning again.
Devon cradled Jessie in her arms and breathed in deeply, content to drown in her scent. She ran her fingers over the soft skin along her thigh. Jessie shuddered as Devon’s touch reached the sweet spot on her side just above her hip. Devon kissed Jessie’s forehead and she snuggled more closely to Devon.
Holding Jessie, still floating in the bliss of their passion, Devon wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. But then again, she could never dream of anything so perfect.
“I was afraid I might lose you,” Jessie confessed with her head pillowed on Devon’s shoulder. “I was terrified that we might never get the chance…” She stopped again.
Devon shifted carefully, ignoring the discomfort in her ribs, needing to look into Jessie’s eyes. She placed a tender kiss on her lips and then spoke softly. “That’s the first thing I thought of when I woke up. Well, that, and how much my head hurt.” She chuckled.
“Are you okay now? Oh, God. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
A throaty laugh bubbled out of Devon. “Baby, you could hurt me like that for the rest of my life.”
Jessie laughed as well and turned her face to Devon’s. The kiss was tender and sweet and filled with emotion. When their lips parted, Devon was awed by the intensity of Jessie’s expression. “The rest of your life, huh?” She broke into a warm smile. “I like the sound of that.”
Devon thought about what she had just said. It was as if she had just glimpsed the future, and rather than scaring her, the prospect filled her soul with a sense of peace that she barely recognized. After all the years of solitude, had she found her happiness? Was this possible? Incredibly, she thought the answer was yes.
With every inch of her being, Devon wanted to believe that Jessica Kilbride was the woman she could make a life with. Now she just had to make sure she didn’t screw it up.
Chapter Eighteen
HONEYCUTT SQUINTED INTO the darkness, concentrating on the south side of the road to his left. The narrow stretch was little more than a path into the dense woods, and it was apparent that nobody had come this way in quite some time. That was very good. He slowed the car to a snail’s pace, anticipating his turn instinctively. Although it had been nearly ten years since he’d last been in the area, he knew what he was looking for. There. The tree had been struck by lightning when he was a boy, and by some strange quirk of nature a new sapling had taken root in the center of the split. The old oak gave the appearance of a banana peel on either side of the new tree.
Driving through the overgrown brush, he stopped at a rusted chain hanging across the entrance to the property. A weatherbeaten metal sign was hand painted: “No Trespassing.” His father had inherited the place when he was only ten. It was supposed to be the family vacation house, but they’d actually stayed there only two or three times. The small cabin sat on ten acres of otherwise untouched land. The thick growth of cypress trees and palmettos nicely concealed the structure from the road. Since his father’s death, the place had fallen into disrepair and was long ago forgotten by anyone who used to know the family.
He followed the barely visible path more by memory than actual sight until he came to what used to be a clearing. The cabin stood silent and dark. Desolate. No sign of civilization for miles. Rolling to a stop a few feet from the front porch, he got out. He’d stopped at a small market a couple of minutes off the interstate to fill his gas tank and pick up supplies and non-perishables which would hold him while he waited for things to die down back in Tampa. He gathered groceries and a six-pack of beer he’d purchased. Darkness descended around him. The crickets were working themselves into a fever pitch in the surrounding woods, and the mosquitoes threatened to relieve him of every drop of his blood. Slapping at the annoying bugs, he hurried inside.
A quarter he’d dropped into the payphone at the Stop-n-Rob for that phone call to the hospital last week was well spent. Now James would be looking over her shoulder at every turn.
Honeycutt grinned with feral glee. He figured it would take a few weeks for things to cool down enough for Roy to start moving vehicles again, but he had enough money to buy more supplies, so there was no hurry. The bitch would still be there when he got back.
DEVON PULLED ON a white polo shirt with a police badge stitched into the left breast area and her name on the right. Three weeks of inactivity was enough to drive her crazy, and today she was thrilled to be returning as a working part of the investigation. Before her injury, she’d hated the confines of the wire room, but now she anticipated the chance to roll up her sleeves and make a live connection to the crime files she had pored over endlessly.
A sound from behind made her turn around. Jessie shifted in the bed, dragging the sheet with her as she rolled onto her side, her hand curled beneath her chin. Perfect was the only word that came to Devon’s mind. Jessie had worked her way deep inside of Devon already, in ways she could hardly comprehend. She couldn’t look at Jessie without her body reacting in even the smallest fashion.
Devon waited until she settled again, smiling at the sight of her sleeping soundly and wrapped in cocoon-like sheets. Devon warmed at the simple pleasure of watching Jessie and was amazed at how many of these pristine moments Jessie made her notice every day. The glow of dawn was just beginning to peek around the edges of the window shades affording Devon enough light to finish dressing without turning on the bedside lamp that would disturb Jessie. She tucked her shirt into black BDU pants that were the only option for attire in light of the cast on her leg. She’d even had to cut the bottom of the pant leg in order to fit it over the bulky plaster. After lacing up one boot, she stood awkwardly and hopped to the dresser to retrieve her wallet and thread her belt around her waist. She made one final assessment of herself in the mirror, deciding she looked fine, given the circumstances.
She picked up a set of keys and then realized they were Jessie’s. Devon lifted her gaze to the mirror to watch Jessie again. They hadn’t exactly discussed her moving in, but she stayed over now more frequently than not. Her things had begun taking their place among the household items, and Devon certainly didn’t mind. She enjoyed the scent of her on the sheets at night and the way Jessie’s perfume lingered in the air even when she was gone. All around the house little touches of Jessie made the place feel more like a home. A couple of weeks earlier, Jessie had planted a garden in the front flowerbed that brought cheer to the yard and a smile to Devon’s face. So far their relationship had been nothing but simpatico. Sometimes she felt as if they had known each other forever. Almost.
She’d felt Jessie tracing her scars on more than one occasion, no doubt wondering about their significance. Devon told her about the shooting, but not the rest. Those scars represented heartbreak and loss and a huge part of her that she kept from everyone. After all this time she wondered if she was capable of opening up, even to Jessie. Then she realized that just thinking about telling Jess was something she’d never considered before with anyone else, and that all by itself was a huge step forward.
Devon knew that there were lots of topics they’d need to discuss, triumphs and losses that brought them to this place in each of their lives, enabling them to find each other. But s
he was in no rush. Her experiences both in the military and being a cop taught her to trust her intuition. She relied on what her gut told her about people. Looking at the sleeping beauty peacefully wrapped in the comfort of her bed, Devon felt only the rightness of everything about being with Jessie. She moved around to the far side of the bed and sat on the edge. Jessie rolled toward her and murmured something unintelligible, draping her arm across the top of Devon’s thigh. She reached out brushed the hair away from Jesse’s brow, her eyes tracing every inch of her face, feeling nothing but contentment.
“Hi,” Jessie mumbled into the pillow.
“Hi baby.”
Jessie’s eye opened a crack. “Where you going?”
“It’s Monday. I start working light duty again, remember? Kelsey and I are going to work the wire, and I’ve got leads to run down from my notes on the auto theft files.”
“Sounds like a lot for your first day. Take it easy, okay?” Jessie rolled onto her back and stretched.
Devon resisted the temptation to strip and climb back into bed with her. “I’ve been taking it easy for three weeks, it’s time to get back to work and do something productive. Now you need to go back to sleep.” Devon pulled the sheets up around her neck and leaned in for a quick kiss. “I’ll be home early enough to make you dinner before you go to work.”
“That sounds nice.” Jessie closed her eyes and was already drifting away.
Devon crutched to the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit, yogurt, and a water to go. She stuffed her breakfast into her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She plucked her keys off the counter before switching off the kitchen light and exiting into the garage. As she backed out of the driveway past Jessie’s car a dark spot on the asphalt caught her eye. Devon leaned out of the window to look more closely. It was definitely a fluid discharge, as though a vehicle had been idling there.
She climbed out of the Jeep and carefully bent down to inspect the liquid. She touched her fingertip to the spot. It was clear, no smell either. Water, like the discharge from a car’s air conditioning system. A trail ran into the gutter at the side of the street. Whoever it was had sat there for a while and left recently by the looks of things. Her stomach soured. Had someone followed Jessie? Were they being watched? She pushed herself upright and made a visual sweep of the street. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. She dropped her eyes again to the water, wondering if she should go inside and warn Jessie to be extra careful. Then again, it could have been the paper delivery driver. She decided that there was nothing she could do about it right now, except head to work and start digging. The faster they found Honeycutt, the faster she’d be able to relax.
“MORNING, KELSE,” DEVON said as she entered.
“Look who’s decided to grace us with her presence.” Kelsey sat in the wire room surrounded by files and paperwork with plastic wrappers from vending machine snacks scattered throughout. The gigantic white board loomed behind her, hogging up a quarter of the room’s tiny space. Now the board’s entire surface was covered with the details of the ever-widening criminal web, with Honeycutt as its epicenter. She got up and pulled out a chair. Devon dropped into the seat and propped her crutches against the table next to her. “You’re looking good, bud,” Kelsey said.
“Thanks, it’s great to be back.” She glanced around the room. “So, bring me up to speed. What have I missed?”
Kelsey scooted her chair closer and pushed her notes in front of Devon. “Not all that much, though yesterday Roy made a few calls that were interesting. Check this out.” She handed Devon a printout. “I’ve highlighted the pertinent areas. There’s an incoming call that I can’t link to anything, so I don’t know if it’s random. The number comes back to a payphone in a place called Zellwood.”
“Where the hell is that?”
“Dot on the map northwest of Orlando. Nothing to link it to, so far. Anyway, Roy’s phone has been getting busier in the past few days. Yesterday he made three calls to known associates from the drug side. Without moving cars, I guess he’s got to make his money somehow. Those subjects, in turn, made a few more calls, and all mentioned something about moving a ratchet.”
Devon frowned as she scanned the pages in question. “Do your narc buddies have any idea what they’re talking about?”
“Not yet, but I told them to keep an ear open for whatever it is. The last mention of the ratchet was by a dealer who goes by Scooby. He lives over on the east side, but his girl stays in west Tampa on West Chestnut in the Homes. You ever see this guy over there? The kid you had your run-in with was supposed to be one of his little soldiers.”
Devon stared at the color photo of the guy called Scooby. His real name was Antonio Green, and he had a criminal record that included narcotics possession, robbery, aggravated assaults, auto theft, and most recently, being a felon in possession of a firearm. She sighed. “Why the fuck isn’t this guy in prison?”
“He got out six months ago. Do you know him?”
“I can’t say I’ve ever seen him. These guys usually drive something pretty distinctive. It’s possible I’ve seen his ride but never had a reason to stop it. What kind of car does he drive?”
“I don’t know.”
Devon pulled a laptop over and typed the name into the departmental database. When her response appeared on the screen, she scrolled down to the vehicle link. “Bingo. He drives a lime green ’71 Chevy Caprice with a hydraulic kit and custom rims. I’ve seen that car around lots of times.”
“Now we know he’s a business associate of Roy’s.” Kelsey made a few corresponding notes on the white board next to Green’s mug shot. She drew a line connecting pictures of the two men. Kelsey stepped back and Devon tried to take in the big picture of the entire board. Roy now emerged as the center of the activity, with solid links to both sides of the criminal enterprise. She shifted her focus to Honeycutt’s picture. Lines connected him to Roy, a couple of the dopers, and one auto theft case. Beneath that was an additional case number and the charge of attempted murder—law enforcement officer, and her ID card picture.
Devon clenched her jaw and refocused on the file in front of her. “All right. We know Scooby is a narc dealer who does business with Roy. Do we think Roy’s just supplying cars or is he branching out into another enterprise?”
Kelsey dropped into the chair next to Devon and kicked her feet up on the table. “My hunch is he’s the car guy, but he might also be picking up a little extra cash by letting Scooby ship dope in the vehicles. We haven’t had many auto thefts recently. Maybe business is a little slow because his wheel guy’s gone underground.”
“That would make sense,” Devon glanced at Honeycutt’s picture.
A call came through. Kelsey punched the button on the speaker as the recorder automatically kicked on. It was an incoming call to Roy’s shop. Kelsey tapped Devon’s arm. “Dev, it’s that payphone number again.”
After three rings Roy picked up.
“Yeah.”
“It’s me.”
“Where the fuck have you been? Three weeks ago I sent you to pick up a car. Plain and simple.”
The caller chuckled. “Uh, I ran into a little problem with that one. I sent one of the kids to get another one. I didn’t think the color was a big deal.”
The caller was definitely Honeycutt, and his choice of words wasn’t lost on Devon. She seethed inside listening to him joking about running her down in the street. Kelsey scribbled a note to mark the tape’s exact time as the conversation continued.
“I pay you to do exactly what you’re told,” Roy shouted. “A fucking black car is all over the news—the one they’re looking for that ran down a cop—that was my car?”
“Technically, no. It wasn’t your car. But yes, it was the one I picked up. As I said, I ran into a little trouble.”
“I pay you to deliver the cars. Period. If your stupid ass stunt costs me my business there will be nowhere in this town you can hide.”
“Aww, boss, relax. I got rid
of the car in the projects and got the kids to lift another. It’s foolproof. You got the ride for your customer. As far as the other one, nothing ties you or me to the car.”
“Fine.” Roy bit off the word. “It’s not like I have any love lost for cops.”
“So, will you have a job for me soon? I’ve gotta replenish some funds.”
Roy sighed. “I don’t know—”
“I’m the best and you know it, boss.”
“I’ll have something soon. A buddy of mine might need a job done. Don’t call me again. I’ll get you a message through our friend.”
“Gotcha.”
“Just remember who you work for. I’m not putting up with any more shit, or you’re done. Clear?”
“Crystal.”
The line disconnected. Kelsey stood and walked to the white board. She picked up a red marker and drew a line from the case number next to Devon’s picture to the one of Roy Beckman. She turned around and grinned at Devon. “Our boys just gave us what we need to tie their criminal enterprise to the attempt on your life. Holy shit, that’s good stuff!” She and Devon high-fived. “Now I need to scout the location for that payphone. It comes back to a gas station in that little town. Zellwood.” Kelsey shook her head. “Who the hell ever heard of that place?”
“You said it’s in Orange County?” Devon asked.
“Yep. Northwest of Orlando. I can drive out there tomorrow.”
“I think I have a friend who can help.” Devon pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jillian’s number.
BY THE TIME Honeycutt got back to the cabin, it was nearly nine p.m. He had spent the day checking out the area for moneymaking prospects, just in case Roy didn’t come through with a job. He’d found a couple of body shops a few miles past the service station, and he figured he might pay them a friendly visit soon. Shops were always looking for experienced mechanics. Then he’d found himself in a little watering hole to enjoy a couple of brews. He left later with a grill order to go.
