Sword of the Raven

by Diana Duncan

  Empathy wrenched in Delaney’s stomach. “Oh, Van. I’m so sorry.”

  “His bill is about to get a lot more expensive.” Vanessa sniffled as she rounded the hood. Wham! The passenger mirror flew onto the manicured lawn.

  “Vanessa, that’s enough! Stop!”

  “The rat-bastard loves this car more than me. ‘Don’t put on makeup in the Porsche. Don’t eat in the Porsche. Don’t drink coffee in the Porsche.’” Vanessa’s brittle laugh skated on the edge of hysteria. “He never said anything about baseball.”

  Delaney’s chest tightened. “Have you been drinking, girlfriend?”

  “Maybe. They had a bottle of leftover Dom.”

  “Where are they? Still alive, I hope?”

  “Chad locked the door behind me after I grabbed the bat and the booze and ran out. They’re inside.”

  “Okay…I guess killing his Porsche is better than killing him, but stop now. Do too much damage, and you’ll be committing a felony.”

  “You know the difference between a Porsche and a porcupine, Delaney?” Vanessa stalked to the rear of the car. Wham! The left taillight shattered. “With a porcupine, the pricks are on the outside.”

  “Vanessa, quit it.” Delaney cautiously approached her distraught friend. “Chad is not worth getting yourself arrested for. Let’s grab some chili-cheese fries and chocolate milkshakes and devise a subtler, but just as expensive revenge.”

  “Even if I could eat without hurling right now, the bubbly already torpedoed my new diet.” Vanessa gulped back sobs, her lips quivering. “What kind of revenge?”

  “He gave you signing privileges on his credit cards. We’ll max ‘em all out.” Delaney held out her hand. “Give me the bat.”

  “I really thought he was it. Thought I’d finally found the guy I could spend the rest of my life with.” Vanessa’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t need a damned prince.” Leaning against the battered car, she swiped the back of her hand across her streaked face. “At this point I’d settle for a duke. Or a count, even.” She shuddered. “Count of Monte Cristo. Count Dracula. Hell, Count Chocula.”

  Delaney eased the bat from Vanessa’s shaky grip and wrapped an arm around her friend. “I know how much this hurts. But we’re going to get through it together, like always.”

  “Ladies?” a deep male voice drawled from behind them. “Take a wrong turn on the way to Fenway Park?”

  Bat in hand, Delaney spun. A sleek charcoal-gray Ferrari had pulled up behind her GTO, and two casually well-dressed, dark-haired men stood on the parking strip. One guy was a complete stranger.

  Unfortunately the other wasn’t.

  Could this day blow any worse? Delaney stared into a pair of hazel bedroom eyes as unchanging and implacable as the man who owned them. Her ex-fiancé’s familiar, perfect face was as heartbreakingly handsome as she remembered.

  Her heart stuttered into double-time. “Detective Zachary Walker. Last I heard, you’d transferred to Phoenix PD.”

  “The weather sucked.” Zack shrugged. “No rain. Once a Duck, always a Duck. What in hell is going on here?”

  “Vanessa is breaking her engagement to Chad.”

  “Looks like that’s not the only thing you two are breaking.” Zack wore confident cop authority as easily as his tailored black slacks and white shirt. “Put down the bat, Delaney.”

  Delaney took a step back. “I can handle this. It isn’t your problem.”

  He subtly shifted, his lithe body all police business. “Unfortunately, it is…as of seventeen minutes ago, when dispatch got a 9-1-1 from a Chad Dumont saying he’d been threatened with a weapon and fears for his safety.”

  “Why did they send an undercover vice unit?”

  “We were the closest unit and I recognized Van’s address, so we responded.” He indicated the striking Asian man dressed in tan slacks and a brown shirt. “This is my new partner, Detective Jason Kim. Jason, meet Delaney Morgan and Vanessa Clare.”

  Detective Kim nodded a greeting as he moved closer to Vanessa.

  Van tried to fend him off. “I was so upset, I wasn’t thinking straight. This is not Lanie’s fault.”

  Zack extended his palm to Delaney. “I’m not asking this time.” Coiled awareness hummed beneath his deceptively relaxed posture. “Drop the bat.”

  Aware he was fully capable of taking it from her, she hesitated. Submitting to Zack stung.

  “Let it go, sweetheart. Don’t make me get physical with you.”

  Getting physical with Detective Walker was extremely detrimental to her peace of mind. Delaney forced her stiff fingers open, and the baseball bat clattered to the pavement. “I’m not your sweetheart. I’m not your anything anymore.”

  Zack kicked the bat out of reach, martial-arts honed movements graceful. His features went hard, his gaze impassive. She knew that expression. Cop face. “I need both of you to turn around and plant your hands on the car.”

  “Not Delaney,” Vanessa sputtered. “She didn’t do anything, Zack. It was only me. She was trying to talk me out of it.”

  “Turn around, ladies.” Zack’s quiet tone was unyielding. “Put your hands flat on the hood.”

  As Vanessa complied, Detective Kim stepped behind her friend. “How much alcohol have you consumed this morning, ma’am?”

  “Don’t answer him,” Delaney said. “Right to remain silent.” Fighting rising temper, she spun and slapped her palms onto the cool metal. “So, all the pimps and meth dealers on vacation in the third precinct today?”

  Zack moved behind Delaney. His smooth baritone slid into her ear. “I have to pat you down. We do this by the book.”

  “Oh, yeah, I know. You’re all about the rules.”

  “Without rules, chaos reigns supreme.” He inserted a knee between hers, slowly spreading her feet until she was supporting her weight on her arms.

  Hands she knew far too well settled on her shoulders and Delaney willed her nerves and her voice to steady. “Where exactly do you think we’re packing weapons? If I had an Uzi stashed up this skirt, I’d have bigger problems than you.”

  He sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.” His palms cruised beneath her coat, down her sides and the warmth of his agile fingers radiated through her sweater. Though his touch stayed impersonal, every muscle in her body stiffened. “Easy, Lanie.” He’d always—if a bit reluctantly—respected her boundaries. “I won’t hurt you.”

  She clenched her fists. “Too late.”

  Zack grazed taut hands over her hips, then huffed out barely disguised relief. “Okay, you’re clean.”

  Delaney and Vanessa turned back to face the men. Vanessa bit her lip. “I’m so sorry. Very sorry. If I pay for all the damages right now, can we go?”

  The detectives exchanged silent communication before Zack inclined his head at his partner. “Keep tabs on these two while I speak to the complainant.”

  Detective Kim’s dark eyes crinkled at the corners. “I think I can handle them.”

  Zack strode past. Halfway to the parking strip, he jerked to a halt beside Delaney’s open car door. “Delaney?”

  Spirits sinking, she looked over and saw her purse toppled on the passenger seat, a casualty of her abrupt stop. The Glock had slid halfway out the unfastened top. Fantastic.

  Today was about to blow a whole lot harder.

  Zack’s broad shoulders went rigid. “Do you have a permit to carry concealed?”

  “I’m exercising my right to remain silent.”

  “Shit.” The mouth that had once-upon-a-time kissed her breathless pressed into a grim line. “Now I have to take you in.”

  Scowling, Zack slid a pen through the trigger guard to lift the Glock. He sealed it in a clear plastic evidence bag before retrieving the baseball bat and depositing both inside the Ferrari’s trunk.

  He pointed at Delaney’s handbag sprawled on the seat. “Got any more surprises in there?”

  “Not unless you consider super absorbency a threat.”

  “Mind if I chec
k?”

  “Knock yourself out.”

  Zack quickly shuffled the contents. He switched off her car and locked it, then added her purse to the trunk.

  Vanessa put herself between Delaney and Zack. “This is all my fault. The gun is mine. Let her go.”

  Delaney shook her head. “No, it’s not! Shut up, Van. Carrying without a permit can land you in jail for a year.”

  “Yes, it is,” Vanessa insisted. “It’s mine.”

  “How about if you both remain silent,” Zack said. “And we’ll sort this out at the precinct.”

  The men exchanged another look, and Detective Kim grasped Vanessa’s elbow. “This way, ma’am.” Kim’s disciplined grace revealed Zack’s new partner shared his commitment to martial arts as he escorted Vanessa to the far end of the Porsche. When he began to recite the Miranda warning, her best friend burst into fresh tears.

  Delaney set her teeth. “Bastards,” she muttered.

  Zack withdrew handcuffs from his back pocket. “I have to cuff you.”

  “Oh, come on. I didn’t even make the top one hundred on ‘America’s Most Wanted.’”

  “You know the regs as well as I do. And you understand why I have to follow them.” He lowered his voice. “Especially with you.”

  She glared at him. “You made your priorities very clear.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Turn around and place your right arm behind you.”

  “I sure hope snuggling up with your procedural manual keeps you warm at night, Walker.” She pivoted, putting her back to him.

  “I did what I had to, Delaney.” His tone was as gentle as his hands while he carefully bracketed her wrist with cold steel.

  Delaney bit into her lower lip to stop it from trembling. “I’m sure that’s a huge comfort to Connor.”

  “I tried to help him.” Zack’s admission held a husky rasp that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “Give me your left arm. Okay. Face me again.”

  “You survived the academy together. You were partners, tighter than brothers. He trusted you. We trusted you. But when everything went to hell, you ran.” Wrists bound behind her, she stumbled when she attempted to turn around.

  Zack caught her, held her against him for a heartbeat before helping her straighten. “I did what was best…for all of us.”

  Shaken by the eerie events of the past twenty-four hours, she wanted to lean on his solid strength. But where did trust always land her? She raised her chin, and her defiant gaze clashed with his. She might have eventually forgiven Zack for abandoning her. But she could never forgive him for betraying her brother. “Careful. You wouldn’t want to get too close to me and tarnish that shiny detective’s badge.”

  Zack’s nostrils flared as heat smoldered in his eyes. “Connor made his own choices. Now he has to live with them. But you don’t.”

  “Wrong,” she said quietly. “I do.”

  He shuttered his expression and Mirandized her. “Do you understand these rights as I’ve explained them to you?”

  “I understand a lot more than you want me to, Zachary.”

  “I don’t fucking think so,” he growled beneath his breath. Holding her forearm, he steered her toward the Ferrari where Vanessa sat handcuffed in the back. Delaney awkwardly climbed into the cramped space beside her while Zack stalked into the condo to question Chad.

  Vanessa’s sobs subsided into sniffles. “I’m so sorry for dragging you into my mess, Lanie. Are you scared?”

  “Nope,” Delaney lied. She knew what life was like trapped behind steel bars…and didn’t want any part of it. “Archer will bail us out.”

  “I’m terrified.” Van scooted closer. “Listen,” she whispered. “When we get to jail, tell everybody I’m your bitch, okay?”

  Nervous giggles caught in Delaney’s throat. “You have no problem defending yourself, Babe Ruth. Besides, once they run the serial number, they’ll know the gun isn’t yours. It’ll be fine, I promise.”

  Vanessa rested her head on Delaney’s shoulder. “You’re the best, Lanie. The sister of my heart.”

  “Aww, likewise, Van.”

  “Hey.” Vanessa straightened. “What are you doing in town? You said you were staying at Archer’s vacation cabin until Sunday.”

  Delaney’s thoughts arrowed to Rowan, making her skin tingle. Great. Not. “Wait until you hear what happened to me last night.”

  Zack returned and climbed into the driver’s seat, and Delaney lowered her voice to a whisper. “It involves a naked dish of Scottish man candy.”

  That bombshell caused the distraction Delaney was hoping for.

  “What? Seriously?” Van hissed. “You? I don’t believe it. Are you all right?”

  If you defined “all right” as turned-on by a psycho, and then totally weirded out. “Mostly, yeah. I’ll fill you in when we have more privacy.” She grinned. “Up for pushing Zack’s buttons?”

  Van grinned in return. “Always.”

  Delaney started singing the first line of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” and Vanessa joined in. They belted out repeat choruses all way to the station, watching Zack’s neck muscles winch tauter with every passing mile.

  Twenty minutes later, the patrol car parked in the crowded downtown lot beside Portland’s Central Precinct. A tense Zack escorted Delaney into the massive high-rise while Kim escorted Vanessa. Delaney’s guts twisted. She’d walked in here hundreds of times for work, and to visit Connor and Zack. But her final trip to pick up Connor’s things last year had been wrenchingly personal.

  Every cop shop she’d seen during her career was mostly interchangeable. Industrial paint and utilitarian furniture framed a racket of ringing phones, clacking keyboards and multiple conversations, with a buzz of adrenaline overlaying the odors of sweat and stale coffee.

  The humiliation of fingerprinting and mug shots completed, Delaney and Vanessa were re-cuffed. The admittance processing officer returned them to where Zack and Jason waited at the front desk.

  Delaney braced herself. Stripped of her freedom and locked in a cage...not on her list of fun.

  Keep it together. Deep breaths. You’ll be able to call Archer soon, and he’ll spring you.

  Zack’s cell phone pinged from inside his front pants’ pocket. No frivolous ring tones for him. Watching her like he expected an imminent escape attempt, he tugged out the phone. “Walker.” His eyes narrowed on Delaney’s face and he frowned. “Yes, she is.” A startled pause. “I’m not sure I heard correctly, sir.” His frown morphed into a piercing glower. “Absolutely, Captain.”

  He hung up, shoved the phone into his pocket. “Hold Ms. Morgan’s and Ms. Clare’s paperwork until further notice,” he snapped at the desk sergeant.

  Now what? Nobody in the PD department would defend her, much less Connor’s former captain.

  Zack grasped Delaney’s upper arm with controlled strength. She’d only seen him lose his temper once—with her brother. Zack Walker’s unleashed fury wasn’t an experience she cared to relive. “You’re trouble on legs, Ms. Morgan.” He propelled her down the corridor and into the elevator, with Jason and a subdued Vanessa following.

  “You’re the one who insisted on arresting me.” In spite of her inner turmoil, Delaney’s anxiety eased somewhat when Zack viciously stabbed the button for an office floor instead of the detention cells. Any call that delayed their incarceration couldn’t be all bad.

  The elevator surged upward in a mercifully short trip. Zack marched her past a long row of frosted glass doors before stopping in front of one that read: Detective Zachary W. Walker. Connor’s name had been removed, the glass as pristine as if he’d never existed.

  Zack turned the knob, and their merry little band filed inside the sage green room. He pointed at two sturdy black armchairs angled in front of the dark wooden desk. “Sit.”

  Being in this office again—with all traces of her brother erased—hit Delaney with an emotional hailstorm. She bristled. “Sorry, I flunked obedience school.”

  “
Sit down.” His jaw tightened. “Please.”

  “How about uncuffing us first? They hurt.”

  Zack’s teeth ground together, but he stepped behind her and opened the left cuff. Her cramped arms dropped to her sides, heavy handcuffs dangling from her right wrist. Kim did the same for Vanessa.

  Zack nodded. “Now plant your butts.”

  Delaney dropped into the seat next to the wall, Vanessa taking the one beside her. Kim snapped the free end of Vanessa’s cuffs onto the chair arm while Zack shackled Delaney to hers. He leaned close. “Kim and I have to attend a short briefing. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “Ha, ha. Funny as diuretic punch at a nursing home party.”

  Zack and Jason strode out. The door banged shut. Keys rattled and then the lock clicked.

  Delaney turned to Vanessa. “You’re awfully quiet. And, yikes, greener than the walls. You okay?”

  “Ugh.” Van slumped, one hand pressed to her abdomen. “I feel really squicky, especially after the elevator ride. I shouldn’t have chugged champagne on an empty stomach. I’m afraid I’m gonna hurl.”

  “We’re talented, but I don’t think even we could wrestle our way into a bathroom stall manacled to chairs. Slow, relaxing breaths, girlfriend.”

  Delaney’s gaze ricocheted around the space. Tall metal file cabinets loomed like sentries in the far corner, bare except for a pristine coffeemaker. The only other furniture was Zack’s desk and rolling computer chair. Naturally, the glossy desktop was clear, save for a ruthlessly organized in/out box, multi-line telephone, and a closed laptop.

  Delaney stood and dragged her heavy chair forward. Straining against the weight, she ignored the stabbing pains in her arm to wrestle it around Zack’s desk. “Aha.” She grabbed his garbage can off the floor with her left hand, stretching on tiptoe to pass the container over the desk to Vanessa. “Here you go.”

  “Thanks.” The gratitude on her friend’s face turned to horror when she noticed Delaney wrenching her chair closer to Zack’s computer. “Oh no! You wouldn’t! If you get caught…”

  “Hello…handcuffed to the furniture here. I’m already incarcerated.”

  “You always were short on patience, Lanie.”