White Roses Calling

by Hudson, Dakota

  Now Alex smiled in a roguish way.

  “Or so help you what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a small step toward the desk. Sydney shook her head and took a half a step back. She felt the back of her knees make contact with her desk chair and knew she couldn’t back any further.

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes breaking from Alex as she looked at the ceiling. She took a deep breath and worked hard to maintain physical and mental control of both herself and the situation.

  “We’ve got to come up with some ground rules,” she said. She closed her eyes and continued to breathe deeply for several moments.

  “Okay.”

  The whispered voice came from directly in front of her and Sydney opened her eyes to find that Alex had silently closed the space between them. Alex now stood with their lips inches apart, separated by Sydney’s crossed arms.

  “How about we discuss it in more detail tonight?” Alex rested her hands on Sydney’s hips and Sydney grasped Alex’s wrists, holding the hands in contact with her body and allowing Alex to move closer. “You know, just so we can establish the ground rules.” As she spoke, Alex leaned in slightly, gently grazing Sydney’s lips.

  With this contact Sydney abandoned any vestiges of control. She grasped Alex by the nape of the neck, drawing her head down in a passionate kiss. Alex’s arms wrapped around her, their bodies crushing together, tongues battling for dominance.

  When the kiss ended they stood, foreheads resting against one another, catching their breaths. Sydney ran her fingers down Alex’s collar, and gently fondled the top buttons on the uniform shirt. Alex’s fingers caressed her back and she could tell Alex was thinking of taking the contact further. If that happened Sydney was unsure of her ability to maintain any limits on conduct. And she couldn’t remember if she’d heard Alex lock the door behind her.

  Sydney laid her hand flat on Alex’s chest and firmly pushed her away.

  “Go,” Sydney said. The look on Alex’s face was priceless. Sydney quickly turned and sat down, pulling her seat toward her desk and picking up an important appearing legal document. She pretended to inspect it but in fact could barely see straight and was unable to make out the words on the paper.

  “We’ll finish this discussion this evening,” she said, finally looking back up at Alex who stood unmoving with a slightly dazed look on her face. Sydney had a mental surge of triumph when she saw proof Alex was suffering at least as much as she was. “Turn-a-bout’s fair play, Sergeant Chambers. Don’t ever forget that.”

  Alex took a deep breath, clearly working to get her own passions under control. It obviously took a moment and some serious effort, but the roguish smile returned and the passion in Alex’s eyes diminished slightly. She leaned forward, putting both hands on the desk and bringing her head down to meet Sydney’s. Once again their lips shared the same air. Sydney sat completely frozen, willing herself to maintain total control of her body and breathing as she met Alex’s look from only inches away.

  “Like I was saying,” Alex said quietly. “You drive me completely, utterly...” Alex leaned in and kissed Sydney very tenderly, sucking Sydney’s bottom lip momentarily as she pulled away. “Crazy.” Alex straightened and moved to the door, opening it.

  “Oh, Sergeant?” Sydney said, just loud enough to be heard only as far as the door. Alex turned. “You better drink enough of those energy drinks of yours.” She looked up into Alex’s face. “You know, so you’re sure to be properly energized for that discussion tonight.”

  Alex paused, and Sydney was once again convinced she’d had the desired effect. Then Alex smiled and gave her a wink before disappearing into the hallway. Sydney finally let her body go, wilting into the seat and moaning. She looked at the clock on her desk and knew there was probably no way she would get any real work done over the next hour before she left for home. She silently willed the time to move more quickly.

  Chapter Fifteen

  THEY SPENT FRIDAY night together and it more than lived up to the tension and expectations they had established with their teasing verbal foreplay. Alex had been forced to work each night over the rest of the weekend and when Sydney returned to her demanding work schedule on Monday they had once again been forced into mostly telephonic communication.

  It had proved thus far to be a relatively quiet Wednesday for Alex as she looked forward to her evening with Sydney after their several day stretch without each other’s company. That was suddenly shattered just before noon by the dispatcher’s broadcast of a violent robbery in progress.

  “Any available Central unit, two-eleven in progress, five-four-six South Hill Street at the jewelry store. Four male black suspects wearing ski masks and hooded sweatshirts. One suspect is holding the employees at gunpoint. Suspects are inside the store smashing jewelry display cases.”

  A rash of such takeover style robberies had plagued downtown in recent months. The suspects were believed to be gang members from South Los Angeles. Alex knew from prior incidents the suspects would likely run to a waiting getaway car and head west to the 110 freeway to get back to South L.A. Knowing that other units would respond directly to the robbery location, Alex drove west on Seventh Street, intending to cover what she believed would be a likely avenue of escape for the suspects.

  As she drove westbound on Seventh Street and approached the intersection with Hill Street, the first unit arrived at the jewelry store and broadcast over the air that the suspects were last seen southbound on Hill Street in a gray four door Honda.

  Simultaneous to the officer’s radio broadcast, Alex pulled to the intersection of Seventh and Hill Street just in time to see a gray Honda run the red light and turn onto Seventh Street directly in front of her. As the car made the turn she noted four occupants and caught sight of one of the rear passengers wearing what appeared to be a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.

  She pulled behind the vehicle and reached for the radio microphone.

  “One-zebra-one-thirty, I’m requesting back-up and an airship, following two-eleven suspects, westbound Seventh Street from Hill. It’s a gray Honda four door with four male black occupants.”

  She listened as the dispatcher repeated her broadcast and request for back-up, alerting units in the area and any available police helicopter. Alex heard several units in the downtown area broadcast their response as she continued to follow the vehicle, choosing at that time not to activate her lights or siren until additional units were closer. She strongly believed the suspects would not easily surrender.

  The two rear passengers turned to look out the rear window at the black and white police vehicle, then the driver accelerated, swerving dangerously across the double yellow centerline into oncoming traffic in an effort to escape.

  Now left with no choice but to warn the public of the oncoming dangerous driver, Alex activated her light bar and siren.

  “One-zebra-one-thirty, show me now in pursuit of two-eleven suspects, now northbound Grand Avenue from Seventh Street.”

  Alex accelerated after the suspects, now heading into the high rise business district at the heart of the busy downtown financial district. She heard additional Central units broadcasting they were en route to assist with the pursuit as the suspects hit sixty miles an hour through the streets crowded with lunchtime pedestrians. She momentarily thought the suspects might turn left and head for one of the freeway on-ramps, but was surprised when they made a sudden right turn on Second Street, back toward the Civic Center and away from the freeway.

  The driver tried to take a right turn going way too fast, skidding across the intersection sideways and sliding the driver’s side of the car into a thick telephone pole on the opposite corner. Alex skidded to a halt, positioning her vehicle facing the passenger side of the wrecked vehicle, quickly exiting and crouching behind her armor paneled driver’s door with her weapon drawn. She fought the rising adrenaline to ensure her broadcast was clear and un-rushed.

  “One-zebra-one-thirty, suspects have
crashed, southeast corner of Second and Main.”

  Alex heard the sirens of approaching officers as she attempted to ascertain the status of the four occupants of the vehicle. She saw the right rear passenger, who was in the seat closest to her, moving and bending down in his seat. He looked out at her then suddenly threw the door open and ran from the vehicle southbound down the street as the first back-up units screeched to a halt in the intersection.

  Seeing multiple officers focusing on the crashed vehicle with the remaining three occupants, Alex holstered her weapon and took off in foot pursuit of the fleeing suspect. He made it across the street and less than half a block down the sidewalk before Alex caught him. Just as she got close enough to reach out and grasp his upper body, a vehicle suddenly pulled out of the mouth of an alleyway immediately in front of them. Neither she nor the suspect were able to stop or adjust their trajectory. Alex saw the suspect reach toward his waistband as both of them skidded across the hood of the vehicle and crashed to the pavement on the other side.

  She rolled to her feet, turned toward the suspect and heard the distinctive sound of metal hitting pavement at the same time she recognized a blue steel semi-automatic handgun skidding along the sidewalk within a few feet of the suspect. She drew her handgun and took aim at the suspect as he reached for the fallen weapon.

  “Don’t fucking think about it!” Alex said with authority. “Hands up! Move away from the weapon!”

  The suspect froze momentarily, as if measuring her intent, gauging her willingness to pull the trigger. Alex’s finger was already on the trigger and she was more than ready to apply the necessary pressure if his hand moved much closer. Although she was zeroed in on the suspect, in her periphery, she noticed the numerous unprotected pedestrians in the immediate vicinity. She knew she couldn’t permit an exchange of uncontrolled bullets on the busy downtown street.

  The suspect apparently sensed her willingness to shoot and slowly straightened up, moving away from the handgun at her direction. As the first officers ran up to assist Alex, the suspect dropped to his knees with his hands behind his head and was taken into custody.

  Several minutes later Alex was organizing the scene. Two suspects had been transported to the hospital by ambulance as a result of the collision and officers had to accompany each of them to maintain custody. Witnesses were transported from the jewelry store to identify the remaining suspects and the vehicle and to claim the collection of jewelry and money, which was found in the car.

  Alex was in the midst of briefing the newly arrived robbery detectives from Central Station when her cell phone vibrated. She excused herself from the detectives for a moment and stepped aside. She pulled the phone from her pocket and smiled.

  “Good afternoon, Ms. Rutledge,” Alex said. “How are you doing?”

  “Just fine,” came the reply. “Are you busy?”

  “Uh, not really anymore. Just cleaning up some loose ends at a scene.”

  “Uh-huh, just cleaning them up?” said the slightly amused voice on the other end of the phone. “Or did you perhaps have a hand in creating the need for the clean-up?”

  “Why, Ms. Rutledge, what could possibly give you the idea that I—” At that precise moment, Alex’s eyes drifted across the street where she noticed a familiar person standing in the entryway to a café on the corner. Sydney was looking directly her and had a cellular telephone to her ear.

  “Ms. Rutledge, how long have you been spying on me?” Alex asked, though she couldn’t keep the smile off her face as her eyes met Sydney’s across the four lanes of roadway.

  “Long enough,” Sydney said. “We were just finishing lunch inside when you made your rather spectacular arrival.”

  Alex couldn’t help but snicker at Sydney’s terminology. “So you saw that, huh?”

  “Uh-huh.” Alex watched from the opposite side of the street as Sydney shook her head in mock frustration. “Are you okay?” Sydney asked.

  “Sure. I’m not the one who crashed into the telephone pole,” Alex said lightly.

  “You know you’re bleeding,” Sydney replied. When Alex looked up at her she saw Sydney gesture toward her own elbow, then nod at Alex. Alex looked down at her arm and noted a rather large and bloody abrasion to her elbow and forearm. The adrenaline had obviously kept the discomfort from registering yet, though it looked like it would sting a little bit later.

  “Oh. Uh, I guess I hadn’t noticed. That’s just from a stumble, when I, uh, kinda tripped. It’s just a little road rash.”

  “Uh-huh. You mean when you were chasing the one with the gun and pretty much got hit by the car?” Sydney asked.

  “Hmm. You saw that too, huh?”

  “Yes, Sergeant Chambers. I had a front row seat for the entire terrifying episode.”

  Alex heard Sydney take a deep breath.

  “I’m going to have to work with you on this whole concept of full disclosure, aren’t I, Alex?” she said quietly.

  Alex could think of nothing to say in response and so she shrugged and attempted to look suitably chastised. Sydney smiled back at her from across the four lanes of traffic, then shook her head again in feigned frustration.

  Alex looked over at the waiting detectives. “Your mere presence is extremely distracting, Ms. Rutledge. Perhaps you could vacate the area so I might actually get some work done without inappropriate thoughts invading my mind.”

  “Come over later?” Sydney asked. “We can discuss those inappropriate thoughts?”

  “You bet. As soon as I’m off. Bye.” Alex looked up again and they exchanged a smile as Sydney turned to walk the few blocks back to the courthouse and Alex returned to the detectives.

  RAIN WAS FALLING heavily outside when Sydney faded off to asleep on the couch in her den waiting for Alex to arrive. Alex had called earlier to say she would be a little delayed due to some minor complications with the robbery case. Sydney assured her that she should come over whenever she got off.

  The first time the doorbell rang Sydney resisted waking from the exceptionally erotic dream she’d been having about a certain police sergeant. The second time it rang she awakened fully. She noticed the time on the mantel clock read eight-fifteen as she ran for the entryway and threw the front door open. Standing before her was the subject of her recent fantasy.

  Alex stood there, soaked to the skin, rain streaming down her face.

  “You really need to check the window or peep hole or something before you go throwing the door open like that,” she said. “You never know who could be standing here.”

  “Get in here, silly.” Sydney reached out and pulled Alex inside. Alex closed the door behind her, then turned back to Sydney. She dropped the duffle bag she was carrying, initially startled when Sydney suddenly wrapped her arms around her.

  “Hey,” she said, playfully trying to pry Sydney from her. “You’re gonna get soaked.”

  “I don’t care,” Sydney said, pushing past Alex’s resistance and pulling her into her embrace. “God, I’ve missed you.”

  Their lips met as Sydney’s arms moved inside Alex’s wet jacket, pushing it from her shoulders and allowing it to slide down her arms and drop to the floor. Alex wrapped her arms around Sydney’s slim waist, pulling Sydney fully into her embrace. Sydney ran her fingers through Alex’s wet hair, pulling her head down, pressing their lips together more aggressively. Alex pulled Sydney’s blouse from her waist and worked her hands underneath the silk material. Sydney groaned with desire when Alex’s hand met the bare skin of her back.

  The spell was broken when Alex broke from the kiss and they both stood looking at each other, lips lingering inches from each other.

  “Not that this was anything but unbelievably enjoyable,” Alex said with a smile, “but I’m getting you soaked. I’ve spent the afternoon rolling around on a downtown street and then doing parole compliance searches on less than clean houses in South Central L.A. I should shower before I...” She looked down at the front of Sydney’s blouse, now soaking wet, clea
rly exposing a lacy bra beneath. Sydney watched as Alex’s eyes lingered on her visibly hardened and excited nipples. Alex paused, temporarily unable to speak.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Sydney said. “How about you clean yourself off and I’ll get changed into something more comfortable and we’ll relocate to somewhere more appropriate?”

  Alex’s eyes returned to Sydney’s face and she nodded. She picked up her bag and followed Sydney up the stairs to the master suite. Sydney led her into the bathroom.

  “Take a hot shower before you catch your death of a cold, Sergeant Chambers. Take your time. I’ll be here when you get done.” She leaned up and gently kissed Alex, then backed from the room, partially closing the door behind her.

  Several minutes later Sydney returned, glancing through the partially open bathroom door. The glass shower door was steamed up and the view was obscured, but Sydney could make out the outline of Alex’s naked body. Even through the steam she could see the streamlined muscular build. Her breath caught as she relived the feel of having those strong arms around her, the lips on hers. She brought herself back to the moment and averted her eyes from the open doorway, instead raising her voice to be heard above the running water.

  “When you’re ready to join me, I’ve got the fire going and I brought a beer up for you.”

  By the time Alex exited the bathroom, Sydney had lowered the lights and had the fire burning at a low level. She was dressed in a lacy sleep camisole and matching briefs. Both accentuated her sleek build and firm breasts and the way the silky material hung across her body she hoped would leave little to Alex’s imagination.

  Sydney straightened up after lighting the candle and noticed Alex standing in the middle of the room looking at her. The tight athletic cut t-shirt accentuated Alex’s strong arms and muscular shoulders, slimming to her trim waist. The nylon sweatpants were barely snug against Alex’s legs and Sydney believed they showed off what she had always thought was an exceptionally good looking butt. Sydney noticed how a curl of Alex’s short damp hair still fell forward across her forehead in that classic roguish fashion she was now so fond of.