Callahan's Fate

by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

It was so easy to imagine Raine walking through the door, holding him tight, kissing him, and talking in her sweet yet somehow sensual voice he adored so much. He wanted to say “yeah, come on,” but he didn’t. The last thing he wanted was to drag her down into the stormy waters of his emotional dark side.

  “I want you to, sure,” he said. “But it’s better if you don’t. I gotta deal with this, and I don’t want to upset you any more than I already have. I’d rather not trash your life, baby, or make you want to run in the other direction. I want more of you, Raine. I couldn’t bear to lose you, too.”

  Raine’s quiet sobs filtered into his ear. “Callahan, you say the sweetest things, but they rip my heart out in the process. Are you sure you don’t want me to come over?”

  “Yeah, I’m totally sure. Just talk to me for a while, okay? Once I get my shit together, then I’ll take a shower and get some sleep. I gotta work tomorrow and then I’ll meet you. I’ll be looking forward to that all day long. So how’s that?”

  She sniffed. “It’ll do. But I’m not hanging up until I’m sure you’re doing better.”

  “I can deal with that,” Cal said. “I like talking to you, doll.”

  “Good. So talk to me. If you don’t want to talk about your brothers yet, I’m cool with it. Just talk about anything.”

  To his surprise, Callahan did. He began with talking about an average day, of which there weren’t really any, as a law enforcement officer in the Big Apple. Raine listened and made appropriate comments, enough to demonstrate her genuine interest. Cal talked about his days at the police academy and how he transferred from Lower Manhattan to the Bronx. After a while, the stories rolled easy from his tongue and his tears evaporated. He even laughed a little.

  Toward the end of the conversation, after more than two hours had passed, he talked about his brothers—not their deaths, but their lives.

  “Did I ever tell you about the time I busted a window with a home run, and Anthony took the blame?” Cal knew he hadn’t.

  “No, but I want to hear about it.”

  “Aw, we were at this baseball park not too far from Grandma’s apartment and we got into the game. It’s wasn’t no Little League or anything, just for fun, but the guys took it serious. We hadn’t lived in Brooklyn too long and I wanted to show off, make them see I was cool, so I hit the ball hard. It flew through the outfield and over the fence. I ran the bases while our team cheered for me, but I heard glass break. A woman started cussing, and about the time I slid into home plate, she showed up.

  “I’ll never forget her. She had her hair all up in curlers, the old-fashioned bristle kind and was wearing a plaid robe. She marched over to home plate and grabbed my arm. I guess she figured if I just scored, I must’ve hit the ball. ‘You little bastard,’ she shrieked. ‘You’re gonna pay for my window. You’ll be lucky if I don’t call the police on you.’”

  “Oh, my goodness,” Raine said with a laugh. “She sounds a little crazy.”

  “Yeah, I think so. Anthony walks up and taps her shoulder. When she turned around, he looked her square in the eyes and said, ‘Get your hands off my kid brother. I hit the ball, not him, so if you got a problem, take it up with me.’ At the time, he stood a good six feet and he’d bulked up. She hesitated and he shook his head. ‘Or I guess I can call my uncle, the police commissioner, and let him deal with it or something.’ The woman let go of me and grinned. ‘You don’t gotta do that,’ she said. ‘I got home insurance, so don’t worry about it.’”

  Raine giggled. “Wow, that’s a real switch.”

  Remembering, Cal laughed, too. “Yeah, she changed her tune and hustled back home. Of course, we didn’t have an uncle who was a police commissioner, but I realized right then that being a policeman, a cop, has a social standing, a kind of power.”

  “And you decided to grow up to become one.”

  “Yeah, pretty much. I’d wanted to be one already before that, ‘cause I wanted to be the good guy and I liked guns. And I wanted to be like my grandfather.”

  “I bet you played cops and robbers as a kid.”

  “You bet, that, and felony car stop,” Callahan answered.

  “Your brother sounds like he was an awesome guy.”

  A grief pang touched his heart, but the warmth of her sympathy and the balm of her compassion overrode it. “Yeah, he was. Aidan, too,” he said. “Raine, some time I do want to tell you about what happened to both of them, to spill it all—but when I’m ready to talk about it.”

  “Good. Just let me know,” she replied. “Anytime, anywhere. I don’t care if it’s three o’clock in the morning or the middle of the day. Okay?”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said.

  If he quit now, Callahan worried he might think too much about Anthony and Aidan. He shifted the topic to music and movies he liked. For the first time since his childhood, he admitted to loving musicals.

  “My mom loved them,” he said. “Grandma did, too. So I grew up knowing the songs from Oliver!, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, plus the newer stuff, too, like Cats. Even now, if I get the chance, which isn’t often, I go see a Broadway show, musical or not, and get the standing room only tickets. I don’t mind, and they’re a hell of a lot cheaper, too. Sometime, we ought to go see a show.”

  “I’d like that,” Raine replied. “I like musicals and plays, too. I did a little theater in high school.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Absolutely. I was in Canterbury Tales, Our Town, and Once Upon A Mattress.”

  “I wish I could’ve seen that.”

  Callahan learned they liked a lot of the same music, too. He thought he could have talked all night without stopping, but it had to end. He’d talked so long his throat was dry and fatigue had begun to settle over him in a heavy fog, but he felt better. “You helped, baby, more than you know, just talking to me tonight, and I appreciate it.”

  “I’m glad you called me. You should get some rest now. I’ll see you tomorrow, Callahan. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “I am, too. Thanks, Raine.”

  “Sure. Call me later if you need me, otherwise, I’ll see you after work.”

  “I’ll be there, doll. Good night, Raine.”

  “Good night, Callahan.”

  After they ended the call, he sat in darkness for a few more minutes. Cal saved the sound of her voice and filed away her concern. She cared, that much he couldn’t doubt, and she carried him through some bad moments. If he hadn’t talked to her, he would’ve drained the bottle and suffered for it in the morning. He pushed away the past and turned on a lamp. Then he showered, shaved, and stretched out for the night, his scarred heart hurting a little less now.

  ****

  In the morning, he rose rested, donned his uniform, strapped on his weapon, and made his way across the city to his precinct. En route, he caught himself whistling an upbeat tune he recognized as Roy Orbinson’s classic, “Pretty Woman.”

  So I’m thinking about Raine, he mused, nothing wrong with that.

  At the precinct, his partner, a veteran officer with almost thirty years in the department, glanced up from his desk, coffee mug in one hand, and stared. “Jeez, what’s up with you, kid?” Joe Lowry asked.

  “What?” Callahan said. “It’s just another Monday morning, another week.”

  “Did you win the lottery or get laid?”

  “Neither one,” Cal answered. His cock expressed interest at the latter.

  “So tell me. Did you fall down on your knees and get saved at a church revival? ‘Cause something sure as hell has changed. You’re walking light, whistling a tune, and wearing a sappy-ass grin.”

  Callahan held out for another minute, then caved. “Okay, so I met a woman, that’s all. Don’t get any nasty ideas, either, Lowry. She’s a nice gal, a teacher and all.”

  The older man shook his head. “Good. I’m glad for you, kid. You need something more than the job in your life. Good luck.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it. Let’s get through the shif
t already. I’m meeting her for dinner.”

  “All right, Romeo, you bet. What’s her name?”

  “Raine.”

  Speaking it evoked the woman—her blue eyes, her ready smile, and her knack for offering comfort when needed. Callahan reflected she made him laugh when he needed some humor, she provided insight when he became thoughtful, and she made him stronger.

  “Pretty name,” his partner commented.

  “She’s a pretty woman,” he replied.

  Lowry snorted. “I been married twenty years and more so I know the signs, Callahan. This one sounds like a keeper.”

  Cal thought so, too, but he wasn’t ready to admit it. If he did, it might jinx everything, and he wasn’t willing to take the risk.

  Chapter Eight

  The first time Raine read A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Francie Nolan ranked as her favorite character. Later, she admired the mother, Katie, for her strength and endurance in a life of unrelieved poverty. Now, as she re-read the work with her students, she liked Officer McShane most of all. It didn’t take much imagination to figure why—Callahan.

  Throughout the slow hours of her day, moving from one location to another via a series of buses and trains, Raine had thought of little else. Their late-night conversation haunted her, and she hoped she had helped as much as he claimed. No guy had ever moved into her life with such an impact or so fast, but their connection was real. Every time he kissed her, his lips sent unholy fire blazing through her veins, and his touch evoked a passion beyond any she’d known. She didn’t think it would be long until they became intimate, and she anticipated it with hunger.

  At the Thirty-Fourth Street Station, Raine spilled from the crowded car, part of the homeward-bound exodus. As she maneuvered her way toward the stairs to the street, she thought she caught a glimpse of Bull. A cold fear seized her heart, but when she turned around to check, he’d vanished. The possible sighting left a small uneasiness, but when she came out into the late afternoon sunshine and saw Callahan, she pushed everything else away.

  He stood near a lamppost, still in uniform, and when he spotted her, a grin spread over his face. Raine smiled back and walked into his open arms. His shield, worn around his neck, bumped against her, solid and heavy. He held her for a brief moment and deposited a light kiss on her lips. “Hey, doll,” he said. “How did your day go?”

  “Slow, but all right,” she told him. In his crisp blues, he oozed sex appeal. As good looking as he was in everyday clothing, his uniform made him all the more handsome. “Are you still on duty?”

  “Naw, I’m through. I haven’t been home yet. I waited for you.”

  Raine linked her arm through his. “I’m glad you did. So where are we headed?”

  “My place, so I can change,” Cal told her. “Then we’ll go eat. Whatcha want?”

  You, she thought, but said, “Chinese is fine, or pizza, or whatever.”

  “How about Italian?” he asked. “See, I know this place…”

  “Sure,” she replied. Wrapped in a cable-knit sweater, she shivered when the wind blew. “Aren’t you cold in shirtsleeves?”

  “Naw, I’m hot-blooded.” He lifted one eyebrow and leered so she’d know how he meant it.

  She touched his forehead with the back of her hand. “Hmm, you don’t have a fever.”

  His dark eyes met hers, candid and open. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

  Reminded of an old Peggy Lee classic, “Fever,” a tune covered by several major artists, Raine sighed. “Maybe I shouldn’t be either.”

  Heat crackled between them, as volatile as summer lightning. “As soon as we get to my place, you can check me out thoroughly,” Callahan said. His lips curved into a devilish grin. “Right now, you might be arrested for accosting an officer.”

  The idea titillated her. “I’ll take the chance.”

  Her nipples tightened with imagination, and her pussy moistened as she indulged in a few momentary fantasies. A sweet, erotic chill that had nothing to do with the weather rippled down her back. Raine inhaled his delightful male musk, a combination this late in the day of his soap, deodorant, and cologne mixed with a little sweat. Food moved to second place on her inner needs list. She wanted Callahan and now.

  By the time they reached his apartment, Raine’s body tingled with anticipation, and the tension stretched between them tighter than well-strung barbed wire. Callahan unlocked the door and swung it open, then gestured for Raine to enter. “Go ahead, make yourself at home.”

  She strolled through the kitchen and sat down on the couch. His blankets and pillows were in a tangled heap on one end. He hung up his cap while she removed her sweater. Cal unbuttoned his uniform shirt and placed it on a hanger, then stripped off the T-shirt he wore beneath it. Raine ogled his trim torso, his flat belly, and broad shoulders with a growing lust. “Nice,” she said, and he turned toward her, grinning.

  Raine gasped. She stood up and crossed the floor with three steps. “What happened?” she asked. “You were hurt.”

  Her fingers touched a round, raised area on his left shoulder. Still pink in the center, the surrounding skin had the shiny look of new growth. Although she brushed lightly, she saw Cal wince and removed her hand.

  “Yeah, shot,” he said. “It’s no big deal.”

  To her, it was huge. “Callahan, it is. How did you get shot?”

  He stood facing her, no more than a few inches between their bodies, and shrugged. “I was on duty, answered a domestic disturbance call, and the old gal shot me. She didn’t mean to—she was aiming at her husband, but she couldn’t shoot for shit.”

  With her imagination working overtime, Raine’s mind played a series of awful images. “It must’ve hurt.”

  Cal glanced down at the wound. “Yeah, some.”

  “How long ago did this happen?”

  “Back in June,” he said.

  “Is it still sore?”

  “Sometimes,” he said. “Raine, it’s all right.”

  Curiosity mixed with concern fueled more questions. “Were you in the hospital?”

  He sighed and shook his head. “You ain’t gonna quit until I tell you, are you? Okay, already. I got shot and bled like hell. My partner called for an ambulance, and they took me to St. Barnabas, treated me in ER, and kept me overnight. They tanked me up on pain meds and sent me home, then I had a little surgery to repair some damage right after the Fourth of July. I went back on duty August 1st, and I’m good now. It’s almost healed as you can see, just a little sore sometimes. I’m lucky. The old lady could’ve been a little lower and shot me in the chest or even the heart.”

  Tears formed in her eyes, and her throat knotted shut. “You could have died.”

  He wiped an escaping tear away with one finger. “Yeah, well, I didn’t. Don’t start bawling. It’s over and in the past.”

  “But it could happen again, couldn’t it?”

  The downside of dating a police officer hit her hard. Every time he walked through the door could be his last, and each shift could bring new injuries.

  “Yeah, but it’s not likely, doll. Don’t you worry about it.”

  Raine snorted. “I can’t help it.”

  She knew now if she hadn’t before, without any doubts. I love him. Oh God, I love him.

  On impulse, she bent forward and touched her lips to the edge of the wound in a light, tender caress.

  Cal drew a hard breath and exhaled it slow. “Oh, baby.”

  When she raised her head, he kissed her, his mouth hot and hungry against her lips. He locked his arms around her and pulled her tight against him. His cock bulged in his uniform pants and moved against her with definite interest. Raine rested one hand on his right shoulder and put the other around his waist. His kiss ignited her smoldering desire into an explosion she couldn’t contain if she’d tried.

  She responded, eager as Cal to lock lips. As his mouth moved over hers with increasing urgency, she kissed him back. The contagious fever consumed her and she return
ed fire for flame. Her hands strayed down his smooth skin, and she savored how it felt.

  Callahan tightened his embrace but freed one hand to rake through her hair before it came to rest holding the back of her head. He kissed her hard and fast enough she couldn’t breathe, and before he paused so she could draw breath, Raine thought for a moment she might pass out. Her head whirled with giddy passion and a delightful dizziness she’d never known before. With quick hands, Cal managed to undo her blouse and remove it, then her bra.

  He pulled back, panting, and for a moment she feared he might tell her they should stop. Instead, Callahan pressed his hot lips to the tender spot at the base of her throat and kissed her with delicate finesse. Raine shuddered as he shifted left and nibbled, his teeth creating exquisite sensations. After leaving his mark, Cal planted his lips between her breasts. His fingers caressed her nipples until they hardened and became so sensitive, so charged with need Raine thought she would scream. He tweaked them and she bit her lip to stay silent, but when he took one into his mouth and suckled, she moaned. Then he did the same to the other, and any last ounce of control she’d had melted.

  Raine tugged at his belt and struggled to unfasten it, but Cal took over and had his pants removed in record time. She shimmied out of her skirt and peeled down her panty hose. Callahan hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her panties, and when he pulled down, she stepped out of them. Standing skin to skin, want consumed her, and she touched him everywhere. Her hands stroked down his sides and she took his cock into one hand, savoring the stiff weight of it. Cal groaned and pulled her against him, his mouth moving in a line from her throat to her pussy, using both lips and tongue. When he reached her crotch, he used his hand to massage her mound in a rapid circular motion that brought her to the brink of orgasm. Then he reached within, using two fingers to fondle her clit, and she whimpered in response.

  Her legs became rubber, flexible, and so weak she doubted she could stand much longer. Raine let go of his dick and clung to him as every nerve ending in her body shrieked for release from the mounting sexual tension. She quivered with need and trembled with desire.