Midnight stared at him openmouthed for a long moment, then shook her head. “Wow,” she said, sounding as stunned as she looked.
“Uh-huh,” Joe said, grinning.
“Congratulations,” Midnight said, still sounding shocked.
Joe nodded, knowing he was catching her by surprise.
Midnight stood up to hug Joe and Randy.
“Wow,” she said, again, shaking her head, not sure how to respond.
She’d known Joe and Randy were together, but she hadn’t expected this. It was great, she told herself, but so sudden.
“I want to celebrate,” Joe said, “tonight.”
“Where?” Midnight asked.
“I dunno, maybe dinner and Park Place.”
“Park Place is a bar, isn’t it?” Randy asked.
“Yeah,” Joe said, grinning, “don’t remind me again how young you are.”
Randy laughed softly.
“Sounds good to me,” Rick said, looking over at Midnight to see her response. He detected she was reeling a bit from Joe’s announcement.
“Yeah, sure, sounds good,” Midnight said, nodding.
That night at dinner Joe glanced over at Midnight a few times, wishing that she would be as happy with Rick as he was with Randy. It was clear she was not fully ready for him to get married. He wasn’t sure what to do with that.
Rick could sense Midnight’s tension too. He felt a cold hard knot start in his stomach, knowing that all the progress he thought he had made with Midnight had just been wiped away with her reaction to Joe’s pending marriage. He didn’t know how long he could take it and he wondered if he would ever be in her heart like Joe was. He wondered if there was room.
It was obvious to both Rick and Midnight that Joe was very much in love with Randy, and she with him.
Midnight was glad for Joe. She knew that Randy was probably what he had always needed, but she was sad for herself, in a way she couldn’t put her finger on. She just felt a terrible sense of loss that she couldn’t shake. She could also feel the tension from Rick. She knew that she was hurting him, but she couldn’t explain what she was feeling to him, because she didn’t understand it herself. She knew trying to explain would only make it worse. So she was silent, which was always her way of dealing with things she didn’t understand.
After dinner, they all went to Park Place where Midnight proceeded to drink three shots of Southern Comfort in a row. Joe and Rick jokingly followed her up by drinking shots of tequila. Randy didn’t drink, she just watched. She’d never seen Joe in a social situation. He was different, but she liked it. He smiled more, and seemed more outgoing, less brooding. She didn’t know that it had a lot to do with her.
Joe felt like a huge weight had lifted from him since he and Randy had gotten together. The only damper was Midnight, but after a few drinks he could see that she was lightening up. What he didn’t know was that Midnight was making a point of being cheerful for him, knowing that she was putting a downer on his mood.
Joe and Midnight knew the band that was playing that night, so during the breaks they had a few drinks with them. The guitarist for the band, Danny, had always had his eye on Midnight, and flirted with her outrageously. Midnight just laughed and flirted back, but Rick was ever present in case the guy actually decided to make a move. Joe was talking to the lead singer with his hand clasped in Randy’s the whole time. A couple of times during the conversation, he would lean over and kiss her on the top of the head, or nuzzle her hair. Randy felt very special, being there with him. She could see other girls in the bar looking at Joe and they looked at Randy with envy, as they saw his hand in hers.
At one point, during the band’s first break, Joe stepped away for a minute and the bassist had started to talk to her. Joe had reappeared suddenly and put his arm around her possessively. He had looked at the bassist with a sardonic grin and said, “Forget it, Steve, she’s mine.”
Randy hadn’t been interested in the bassist. He was cute, but in her opinion, Joe was by far the best-looking man in the whole bar. She felt an incredible sense of comfort at Joe’s reaction to another man giving her attention.
It was a little after eleven thirty and the band had just gone back on for their penultimate set of the night. Randy saw Midnight slip out the side door. She had noticed Midnight’s mood earlier and wanted to talk to her, so she followed. Joe had gone off to talk to someone at the other end of the bar, and Randy figured he wouldn’t notice if she was gone for a few minutes. She walked outside, looking around for Midnight, not sure where she could have gone. She was almost to the corner of the building when she saw her. Midnight’s back was to her; she was standing with her legs apart, her arms down at her sides, but away from her body. She was looking at something, or someone. Randy felt a cold knot tighten in her stomach. She edged her face around the building, and saw the stocky man that faced Midnight. He was holding a nasty looking knife and grinning evilly. Randy turned and ran back into the bar, searching frantically for Joe. She spotted him and Rick at the other end of the bar. She pushed her way through the crowd, screaming for Joe. His head snapped up the second he heard her voice. He and Rick came pushing through the crowd toward her.
“Randy! What is it?” Joe yelled, over the din of the crowd.
“It’s Midnight, come quick!” She half-dragged Joe through the crowd, with Rick close on his heels.
When they got outside all three broke into a dead run. They skidded around the corner. The man with the knife looked up, Midnight didn’t. She recognized the sound of Joe’s boots on the pavement and knew her reinforcement was there now.
“Joe! There are three of them!” she yelled, not taking her eyes off the guy with the knife.
The guy jumped at her, but Rick was there, almost as if by magic. He grabbed the guy’s arm and twisted it, making him drop the knife. The guy brought his fist up, cuffing Rick on the side of the head, but Rick didn’t go down. Midnight launched at kick at the back of the assailant’s knee. She could see the second man, who had stood in the shadows, starting to move toward them. He had a knife too.
“Rick!” she yelled pointing to the second attacker, but he was too busy with the first.
She glanced over and saw Joe standing in front of Randy, keeping her out of danger from a man that was advancing on him. Midnight decided she had to take out the second guy. She moved toward him, but he was fast, and he lunged at her, catching her off guard. He caught her upper arm with the blade. She cried out, but she didn’t look at the cut, she kept her eyes on him.
Joe was watching a blade of his own The shorter man was advancing on him, but Joe knew that Randy was right behind him, so he couldn’t move aside if the guy lunged at him. He knew he had to be careful. Joe decided then that he’d have to attack first to avoid the chance that Randy would get caught by the knife. Joe took two quick strides, bringing his foot up, trying to kick the knife from the guy’s hands, but the other man was fast and agile. Instead of backing away from Joe’s advance, he stepped into it, and caught Joe in the mid-section with the blade, sticking it halfway into Joe side. Randy screamed Joe’s name when she saw the blade go in.
Feeling the searing pain of the blade, Joe shifted back, knowing that if he gave the other man the chance, he’d move it around plenty to do extra damage. He brought his arm down, knowing he was risking another slice, but wanting to end this fight quickly. The knife cut through the leather jacket sleeve, but barely scratched Joe as it was dislodged from the man’s hand. Joe brought his other fist up, punching the man in the face, knocking him out cold.
Joe turned and to his horror saw another man holding a knife to Randy’s throat, his eyes locked on Joe. Joe had to still his breathing. He shuddered at the thought of what the man could do to Randy in one easy stroke. Closing his eyes for a moment, Joe forcibly calmed his nerves. He opened his eyes, reached under his jacket and calmly drew his gun, pointing it at the man’s head. Midnight and Rick had managed to dispatch the two they’d been fighting and came up to
flank Joe.
“Drop the knife!” Joe said, his voice cold steel.
“Fuck you, Sinclair. You put the gun down or I’ll kill her!”
Randy’s eyes were on Joe. She was calm; she had complete faith in him. She knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She had been terrified when the man had grabbed her, when Joe was still fighting the other man, but when Joe had turned around, Randy had watched him as he closed his eyes. She had almost felt him centering himself. Randy felt calmed by that, she trusted Joe implicitly.
“Man, I’m warning you, you even twitch like you’re going to hurt her, and I’ll drop you right here. Didn’t they tell you that I’m a top ranked marksman,” Joe said conversationally. “I can hit a target from a mile out, and you’re certainly a lot closer than that.”
“He’s good,” Midnight said, standing beside and just behind Joe, “believe it.”
“He’ll kill you, man,” Rick said, his voice certain.
Joe had his finger on the trigger; he had the guy in his sights. If Randy was hurt … But he wouldn’t let himself think it, he’d kill the guy first.
The man holding Randy stood ten yards from them, but Joe could sense his indecision from where he stood. He narrowed his eyes at the other man, settling his finger on the trigger of his gun. The guy swallowed convulsively, his eyes on Joe’s trigger finger.
“Just let her go, and you walk,” Joe said. He could see the guy was getting nervous. Joe was half-afraid he’d cut Randy by mistake with a hand shaking from fear.
“You think I believe that, Sinclair?” the knife wielder yelled back, his voice breaking nervously on Joe’s surname.
When Joe’s eyes met Randy’s, he could read complete trust in them and he felt his nerves grow totally calm. He knew that if the kid holding the knife to her throat did twitch, he could nail him. Randy believed it, and because of it, so did Joe.
“You don’t have a choice punk, you either let her go, or I’ll drop your ass. It’s as simple as that.” Joe’s voice was calm and rational.
The man knew he was screwed, but he thought he’d make a ditch effort to get away. He didn’t care what Robbins said, there was no way he was going to risk cutting this woman he held hostage. Sinclair was too good, he’d kill him in a heartbeat. Hell, the chick wasn’t even shaking, she must know how good her boyfriend was. That’s what scared him the most. She wasn’t afraid.
In a blinding flash, he pulled the knife away from her throat and shoved her as hard as he could toward Sinclair. He had time to see Sinclair pull the gun up and lung forward to catch Randy, before he turned to run. Suddenly a five foot five blond woman tackled him.
Midnight had taken off after the guy, as soon as she saw that Randy was clear of the knife. She tackled the kid, and as she turned, saw Rick coming up right behind. She handcuffed the young man, and Rick hauled him to his feet. Midnight gave Rick a lopsided grin as he chuckled. He knew the man he was holding was likely to be mortified at being run down by a woman.
Joe was holding Randy against him, he was shaking, but she surprisingly wasn’t.
“Randy, are you okay?” he said, looking down at her.
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice perfectly calm.
Joe shook his head at her. “You’re amazing,” he said then.
“Why?”
“Most women would be a little on the hysterical side right now. He could have killed you, you know, that’s probably what he was sent to do …” Joe’s voice trailed off, as he watched Rick haul the kid to his feet.
“But you were here—oh God, Joe you’re bleeding!” she said, her voice growing upset. Her hand had touched his side and she had felt the sticky warmth.
Joe laughed. “Great, you’re not worried about your own neck, but I’m bleeding a little and you go crazy.”
“A little! No, Joe, you’re bleeding a lot. We’ve got to get you to a hospital or something.” Randy’s voice was on the edge of becoming hysterical now.
Joe took her by the shoulders, looking straight into her eyes. “Randy! I’m okay, it’s just a little cut. Calm down.”
“Hey, you okay?” Midnight asked, coming up to him.
“Yeah,” Joe answered, rolling his eyes.
“You’re bleeding ya know,” Midnight said, smiling at him.
“I know,” Joe said calmly.
Randy seemed to take comfort in Midnight’s casual attitude, and Joe felt her relax. He was grateful to Midnight. All four turned then to realize that a crowd had gathered from inside the bar to watch the proceedings. Midnight and Joe held up their badges. Joe’s arm was around Randy’s shoulders. Rick had handcuffed the kid to nearby water pipe. He put his arm around Midnight, and the crowd applauded and cheered. The four of them laughed.
Later, the black and white showed up to take the Scorpions into custody, and the paramedics arrived to check out Midnight and Joe.
“We seem to be pretty popular,” Joe said later. The bar was closed for the evening and the band was breaking down for the night. The owner of the bar had offered them any drinks they wanted on the house. Joe and Rick had opted for Tequila as usual, Midnight went for Red Hot shooter, and had even managed to talk Randy into one. They had a good laugh at Randy’s reaction to the alcohol and the fiery effect of the drink. Randy laughed too, once she could get her eyes to stop watering. Joe and Rick were both working on beers now. Midnight had switched to a Bailey’s and coffee and was trying to get Randy to try that but she was expectedly gun shy this time.
Danny wandered over and put his arm around Midnight, and took a sip of her drink. Midnight laughed and swatted at him.
“So when are you going to teach me some of those moves you used out there?” Danny asked, his eyes looking down at her suggestively.
“Which ones?” she asked, grinning at him.
“Well the tackling part looked fun,” Danny replied, his voice full of innuendo.
“I wouldn’t want you to get hurt,” Midnight said then, smiling up at him.
“Neither would I,” Rick put in, his eyes boring into Danny’s. He kept his voice even but you couldn’t miss the threat.
Midnight looked over at Rick, surprise clear in her eyes, but she laughed. After a couple of tense moments, Danny laughed too.
Steve wandered over and sat down at the table, right across from Randy. He put his elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand. He gave Randy a sad-eyed puppy dog look. Joe watched with an amused grin on his face.
“If you ever get tired of the tough, good looking, rich, English cop type, will you give me a call?” Steve said, his voice was melodramatically sad. Everyone at the table laughed.
“You’ll never win, Steve,” Joe said, his smile wide. He leaned over to kiss Randy on the lips. Their kiss lasted an extra few moments and Steve sighed dramatically as he watched. Randy and Joe broke into laughter.
Rick, Midnight, Joe, and Randy stayed at the bar until well after four o’clock in the morning. Finally, they left when the owner told them he had to close or risk getting into trouble with “the cops.” They laughed, knowing he knew that they were “cops.”
They left good naturedly, in a surprisingly good mood for a group who had just had their lives threatened yet again by a gang that was out to end FORS. They all knew what it meant but none of them wanted to be the one to bring it up, so no one did. But they were all thinking it. Robbins had just sent them a message.
This wasn’t over yet.
Chapter 3
After spending two days relaxing, for the most part in Rick’s arms, Midnight was itching to get back to work. Rick could sense her agitation. It was eleven o’clock in the morning, they were in Midnight’s living room with the stereo was on. Rick had discovered that the stereo was usually on a lot more than the television. Midnight had just gotten up to change the disk on the CD player. She put on the soundtrack to The Bodyguard. Rick had also figured out that she was very into soundtracks from movies, especially dance movies. He found that she liked to dance, and tha
t she did so very well. Now watching her, the song “Queen of the Night” came on, and she began to move. She looked at him as she danced seductively. Rick enjoyed the show and Midnight very obviously enjoyed performing for him.
As the song played on, Rick stood and walked over to her. He held her by the waist, and she continued to moved, her eyes looking up into his, as she repeated the chorus of the song. The phrase about how she could bring a man to his knees had him grinning.
“You do, and I am,” Rick said smiling down at her.
“On your knees?” she asked then.
“Figuratively speaking,” Rick said, laughing.
“I see …” Midnight said, reaching up to kiss him. Rick’s arms moved to her back, holding her against him as they kissed. After a couple of minutes, he looked down at her.
“Why don’t we go in today?” he said.
Midnight looked at him, surprised. She thought she’d have to drag him to the office. She’d been thinking about a way to broach the subject.
“You mean the office?” she said.
“Yeah, I can tell you’re getting ready to climb the walls.” Then, putting his index finger on her collarbone, he looked at her seriously. “But, you have to take things slow. I don’t want you getting back into that cycle of overworking yourself again. I’ve just gotten you back to normal, okay?” His eyes bore into hers, indicating how serious he was.
“Yes, I promise,” Midnight said, a mischievous grin on her face, as she looked up at him like a naughty schoolgirl.
Rick laughed at the look she gave him. “Go on!” he said then, giving her a gentle shove toward the bedroom. “Get dressed and I’ll wait for you.”
Midnight went into the bedroom and threw on her jeans. She reached into her closet for a shirt, and pulled out one of Rick’s, a black oxford. She shrugged into it and then sat down to pull on her boots. She ran a brush through her hair, still damp from the shower she had taken earlier. She put on a touch of mascara, and a little bit of blush, and she was ready to go. She walked back into the living room, ten minutes after she had left. Rick could never get used to how quickly she could be ready to leave. She was very different from the prima donnas he’d dated in England.
Empires Fall (MidKnight Blue Book 2) Page 5
