by Talty, Jen
“You really want to know about me and Blaine, don’t you?” Emma shot Toby a glance. He grumbled something, then got himself a beer and headed for the bathroom.
“No.” Kaylee lied.
“It’s pretty simple. We didn’t love each other, although I didn’t realize that until after we broke up. I was too busy competing with you.”
“Me?”
“He kept saying he was over you, but I doubt he’s ever truly gotten past you running…sorry.”
Kaylee let out a huge puff of air. “We didn’t communicate with each other very well.”
“Anyway, I was defending this guy who’d been accused of beating and raping his wife. My job was to give him the best possible defense, and Blaine had been the arresting officer.”
“Ouch,” Kaylee said, knowing how Blaine felt about domestic violence. “Conflict of interest, huh?”
“The problem was I knew he was guilty, but I was able to get him off on a technicality.” Emma glanced at the loft, as if she could read Kaylee’s mind, wondering if Blaine was listening to the whole conversation. “Anyway, the next day he fatally beat his wife and daughter and then tried to kill himself. It took almost a year and a half to get a final sentencing.”
“Does he ever blame the system? Instead of the people who use the system?” Kaylee wondered out loud.
“Actually, he blamed himself because the technicality had been faulty police procedure, but he got ticked at me for using it, and now two innocent people are dead.”
“I can see how that would end a relationship.”
“Not sure you could call what we had a relationship. It didn’t last very long and it was really over before it started.”
“You love Toby?” Kaylee asked.
A broad smile came across Emma’s face and a sparkle filled her light brown eyes.
“She’d better,” Toby said, leaning in the doorjamb. “Otherwise I might have to do something crazy.”
“You are crazy.” Emma threw back the covers. “Shut the lights out.”
Darkness filled the room and Kaylee tried to shift and squirm, but the floor was just plain hard and her back was killing her. She’d almost wished she’d taken Toby and Emma up on their offer, but she’d be damned if she’d go begging to Blaine. She hoped he woke up with a migraine.
“Damn it,” a male voice muttered.
Kaylee tipped her head up to see Blaine coming down the steps. “Shhh.”
“Oh, shush yourself,” he barked. “One word from anyone in this room and I’ll handcuff you for the night.” He bent over Kaylee and tossed her over his shoulder like she was a rag doll.
“Put me down,” she said behind a clenched jaw.
“I guess you like handcuffs.”
A few muffled laughs came from the other side of the room as Blaine carried her up the stairs.
“I said put me…humph.” She bounced on the bed.
“You are down. Now shut up and go to sleep.”
“I will not take your bed.”
“No, you won’t,” he snapped as he ripped back the covers and climbed in next to her.
“I won’t sleep with you either.”
“Sleep or have sex with? Because the sex part we’ve already done twice today.”
“Oh, you bastard.” She flung back her part of the covers, but his arms came bolting around her. “Let me go.”
“Not if you plan on getting out of this bed,” he said.
“You do realize that other people can hear you,” she whispered.
“Do you think I care?”
“Maybe I care.”
“Then stop talking and go to sleep.” He tucked her backside up against him and actually let out a sigh.
She lay next to him, stiff as a board, while his breathing seemed to deepen. How could he just yank her in his bed and then have the audacity to fall asleep? She shifted herself, trying to move away, but every time she tried, his arms tightened.
Taking a deep breath, she held it for a second before letting it out, hoping to force her muscles to relax. Soft pressure at the base of her spine began to ease her discomfort and relax her body.
It took a few moments to realize it was Blaine’s hand moving up and down her spine and across her scars. “Damn you,” she whispered.
“I know.” He kissed her shoulder. “Damn me to hell.” He cupped her chin, forcing her head to turn. “You will not run away this time, not until I catch whoever is trying to hurt you and whoever killed your father.”
“But what if you can’t figure it all out?”
“Trust me, I will.”
“Then what?”
“If you still want to leave me, go ahead. I won’t stop you.”
“I don’t belong here.”
He let out another sigh. “I’m tired.”
“There are some things you should know.”
“In the morning.” He slipped his hand under her shirt and lifted the elastic to her panties.
“You said you were tired, and there are people here.”
“I’ve never been able to resist you.”
“But you’re mad at me.” She blinked as she allowed his fingers to probe and tease her.
“Not anymore.” He shifted her to her back, removing every article of clothing between them like he had five hands.
She opened her mouth to protest, but he touched her quivering lips with his finger. “I can be quiet if you can,” he mused, pushing down slowly with his hips, filling her. He stared at her until her breathing became ragged and soft moans echoed behind her closed lips.
He bent and kissed her, hard and wet, capturing all her soft cries when her orgasm hit her. Moments later, he gripped her hips and dug his tongue deep down inside her mouth while his own fulfillment spilled out over to her.
Completely relaxed, she curled up like a kitten in Blaine’s arms wondering how long she’d get to have with him. Once he solved the mystery of her father’s death and found a way to stop Nino, she’d be sent on her way. A man like Blaine wouldn’t want the woman she’d turned out to be.
Chapter Nine
Blaine didn’t dare stir. The warm body sprawled out over him brought back memories he’d been trying to forget. But now he wanted to feel them in the present and enjoy them while they lasted.
He peeked open one eye, thankful the room was still dark. Prying open both eyes, he glanced at the clock. Only five in the morning. He should be good for another hour, so he relaxed and drifted back to sleep only to be startled by his pager. “Damn,” he muttered.
He managed to keep one arm around Kaylee while he snagged the vibrating gadget. Dave’s number appeared on the small screen. The phone was on her side of the bed and his cell was in its cradle being charged across the room. Careful not to disturb her, he reached across her.
“I’ll get it,” she whispered. “The wind is really howling.”
“I bet the roads are a mess.” He hit the numbers on the phone and waited.
“Sorry to have to wake you,” Dave said.
“No problem. What’s up?” Blaine wrapped his free arm around Kaylee, nestling her head to his chest. It was like she’d never left ten years ago.
“We need to get out on patrol. Everything is going to be shut down. The other side of the lake is without power and we’re asking for no unnecessary travel.”
“Give me five.” Blaine flicked on the small reading lamp. “Toby can hang here with the girls and my mom.”
“My brother’s coming to get Shima to take her to the farm.”
Blaine thought about that for a moment. She would be safer at the Whitcomb Horse Farm since most of the help lived on the property, along with Dave’s brother and his family.
“I can have everyone transported there,” Dave said.
“Actually, I’d like to get Kaylee over to her father’s house and have her go through it. Can you take Kaylee, Toby and Emma to the Mead residence before you take my mom to the farm?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. Now get
your ass in gear.”
Blaine handed Kaylee the phone and she left his arms to hang it up. “I don’t really want to go back to that house right now.”
“I need you to.” He ran a hand through his long hair, pushing it from his face. “I’ve got a theory.”
“I think we both agree it’s Nino who is behind all this.”
“Probably, but I need you to start looking for something specific.” Adjusting the covers, he glanced at her. Waking with her had been natural, like she should be there with him every night, but at the same time, he knew he had to pull away from her.
“What?” She sat up, pulling the sheet up to her chin. “What am I looking for?”
“Phone records, credit card bills, old letters--anything dated back from about year before you were born until right after your extended hospital stay.”
“I wouldn’t have a clue as to where he kept those things.”
“Hadley’s looking through old tax returns and anything he has, but he swears he doesn’t know who your father could be.”
“You don’t believe him, do you?”
“I believe he thinks he’s doing the right thing by your parents. His loyalty runs deep, but he’s also hiding something. I’m afraid he might be putting himself in an awkward position.”
“I can relate,” she muttered. “I need to tell you something,” she said, pushing at his chest.
“Don’t tell me, tell your lawyer.”
Her eyes widened. “But— ”
“No.” He kissed her good and hard, making sure she’d be speechless when he came up for air. “Tell Emma and let her deal with it. I’ll deal with it after I’ve figured out who killed your father.”
“What about Nin— ”
He covered her mouth with his hand. “Don’t put me in a position where I’d have to call in the feds or something. Tell your lawyer and work with her. But tell her everything. She’ll know how to help you.”
She nodded with a fearful expression and tears in her eyes. “I’ve so screwed up, haven’t I?” she whispered.
“Don’t look back, just move forward.”
“Okay.” She wiped the tears from her pale face.
He shifted the covers and swung his legs to the side of the bed. Part of him really wanted to know what she’d done to be in so deep with a man like De Luca, but if he did and it was illegal, he’d be in one hell of predicament.
“Blaine?” Her voice trembled.
“What, baby?”
“Be careful, okay?”
He smiled, remembering his first day of working as a police officer and she’d said those same words. They’d been married for a few months, and she’d gotten up, made him breakfast and tried like hell not to cry because she was so scared he’d get shot. Back then he had wanted to laugh because not much happened in this sleepy little town, but today… today he didn’t want to laugh.
“I will. You promise to hang close to Toby and Emma?”
She slipped her arms around him pressing her lips against his bare chest. “I’ll get up and make you something to eat.”
“That will wake Toby and Emma. I’ll be just fine.”
“You never go five minutes without food.”
“I’ll figure something out, just go back to sleep.” He kissed her temple and tucked her back into bed hoping the snow wasn’t all that bad. He wanted to rummage through that house.
“Do you think that a secret room really exists?” Kaylee asked.
“You lived there, not me.” Blaine finished getting dressed.
“My mother said that’s how Daddy spied on her. Once she woke me in the middle of the night to go search for the room. She’d been drinking and I… I…I was terrified I’d turn out just like her.”
Blaine looked down at the beautiful vision lying in his bed. “You’re not your mother.”
She rose up on an elbow. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not throwing me to the wolves.”
“Don’t give me reason to.” He sighed and then made his way down the dark stairs. Emma and Toby didn’t move, so Blaine just slipped on his boots and grabbed his coat and gun. Hopefully the wind would die down, the sun would come out, and the day wouldn’t be too long. He wanted in that house. That room was somewhere inside and he knew it.
After hours of shoveling cars out of snow banks, putting groceries away for half the elderly in the community, and finding two missing dogs, Blaine’s body begged for a rest, but his mind was still agonizing over Kaylee.
“You wouldn’t believe all the crap I’ve found on this De Luca guy,” Stacey, the secretary said. “He’s involved in a high profile murder, and the Grand Jury is discussing the possibility of indicting him and half his family on all sorts of charges.”
Blaine took the cup of coffee she offered him and stared into the black liquid like it had all the answers. “Remember, this is unofficial.” Unofficial or not, he’d taken an oath, one he’d was duty bound to uphold. Right now he was glad Kaylee hadn’t told him much of anything.
“Well, this jelly doughnut isn’t unofficial.”
“Aw, shucks.” He smiled, taking the doughnut. “Best way to a man’s heart.”
“I don’t want your heart, Blaine, just a few answers.”
“It’s better if you don’t ask, that way if I screw up, I won’t take you down with me.”
“I don’t mind bending the rules for you, but I’d like to know why the sudden interest in the mob.” Stacey gave him a pointed look. For a young girl of maybe twenty-three, Stacey was one smart woman.
“I think they might have set my Mustang on fire.”
“Why would you think that?” she asked with her head cocked to the side and both her hands firmly planted on her hips.
He took a long sip of his coffee, ignoring Stacey’s glare. She’d been working for the department since she was eighteen, and was a wealth of knowledge, but too damn nosey for her own good. She was also dating a local firefighter, who’d been at his house last night. He was sure she’d gotten all sorts of unofficial information.
“I know that fire was set on purpose, but it wasn’t to get at you,” she said with a clipped tone.
“Stay out of it, Stacey. Let me do my job.”
“Your job doesn’t include harboring a material… ”
Blaine slammed his fist on his desk. “Someone shot at a guest of mine, then tried to light my house on fire. My job is to find that person and make sure they suffer the consequences of their actions.” He paused to take a deep breath. “It’s not my job to interrogate my house guests when they haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with.” Stacey gave him a level stare. “Here’s what I found.” She tossed a file onto his desk.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now watch your back.” She stormed out of his office.
He’d been bending the rules since he knew how, not to the point of breaking the law, but just enough to keep informed. The more information he had about De Luca, the better. Although, before looking at these files, he needed Emma to pull out any incriminating information on Kaylee.
If it was documented and staring at him in the face, he’d be forced to act. Not something he was prepared to do, and not because she was sharing his bed again.
The clouds started to break apart and the sun began to warm the frigid snow. The mini-spring snowstorm that had come in with fierce fury would melt away by the next morning.
Heavy footsteps down the hallway indicated Dave was on his way. Blaine stuffed the files into a bag and set them aside. Dave was a rules man and didn’t always approve of Blaine’s methods, but he’d never called him on them as long as Blaine didn’t blatantly wave them under Dave’s nose. And it didn’t cause another “technicality.”
“I’ll split the night shift with you,” Dave plopped himself in the chair, rubbed his scruffy face and closed his eyes. “We’ll go back to regular rotation on Monday, but yo
u and I’ve got to take tonight and tomorrow night.”
“I’ll take the second half, both nights.”
Dave arched a brow. “You want to trade off around three in the morning?”
“Yeah, but I’m taking Monday off.”
“You’ve already got Monday off this week.”
Blaine shook his head. “No, I don’t.”
Dave grunted something, then rolled his head to the side. “Do I have Monday off?”
“Yep.”
“Wonderful. Before I forget, the bullet we dug out of Toby’s snowmobile matches the bullets we found in your yard.”
Blaine slipped his arms through his coat. “What about the car?”
“Stolen two days ago. The owner reported it immediately, and State filed the report.”
“So we’re still chasing a ghost.”
“I also got an ID on some prints lifted off Rutherford’s house.”
That stopped Blaine at the door. “Really?” He turned back to look at his boss. “And?”
“Mrs. Linda Hicks. She’d been fingerprinted when she volunteered at the elementary school.”
“Interesting,” Blaine said. “So I get to ask her a few questions?”
“You can ask her when the last time she saw him was and if she was at the house, but since they were friends I kind of suspect her prints could be in the house.”
“Well, let’s find out what she has to say.” Blaine turned on his heels and headed out of the station. His first stop would be the burger joint on the way out of town, then he’d pay a little visit to the Hicks household.
The sun began to dull as it made its descent into the western sky. The snow was piled high, but the air had lost its frigidness giving way to spring warmth.
Blaine finished his burger and fries in record time and was still hungry when he pulled into the lavish home of Reverend Hicks. He tried to remember everything he could about every encounter he’d had with the Hickses over the years, and came to one very simple conclusion. They were too perfect. He couldn’t find one thing out of place, except for the odd relationship the good Reverend had with Rutherford.
