Stuck On You

by Christine Wenger

  "Won't the District Attorney object?" she asked.

  "I'll handle the DA," said the judge.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She remembered how kind Mack was to her in high school when he’d found her sobbing by Rose Lake.

  In her distressed frame of mind, she'd told Mack that she was so tired of moving from place-to-place that she prayed she could stay in Rose Lake forever.

  "I got my wish after my father died," she had blurted to him, wracked with guilt.

  But Mack comforted her and tried to show her that it wasn't her fault. Then he paved the way for her to be accepted by her classmates. Thanks to him, she’d had a wonderful senior year.

  She also remembered when she was first hired as a probation officer and Mack was her firearms instructor. It was only because of his extra efforts that she qualified to carry a gun. If she hadn’t qualified on the range, she would have been let go.

  She owed him.

  "Kate?" Mack pressed.

  She tried to put herself in his place. Mack was genuinely concerned and definitely worried about his partner. She would be, too, if the situation were reversed.

  "Okay. I'll drive you to the hospital." She gave herself a mental kick. He was on house arrest, not on a motor tour of the city. Why was she suddenly caving in despite all her positive affirmations?

  "Thanks, Kate, but one more thing."

  She shook her head in disbelief. “You sure have nerve."

  "Nerves of steel," he said. "That's why I'm a great undercover cop." He smiled the same disarming smile that had thawed out many a high school virgin. Or so she'd heard.

  He met her gaze. "I want to take a shower before you put that ankle thing on me."

  She stood. "No way. It's going on you before we walk out that door, and that's non-negotiable."

  "Have a heart. I need to clean up and shave."

  "The ankle monitor is waterproof. It'll survive your shower."

  Another look at Judge Nash confirmed that she was all alone on this one, too.

  "Look," she said, "this isn't some kind of deal where you can do what you want. Your home is your jail, hence the name of my business. Clever, huh? I already agreed to drive you to the hospital to see your partner, but I want you wearing the ankle bracelet."

  "I thought you said it works off the phone."

  "The voice verification does. However, with the ankle monitor, I can track you with another device."

  "A shower. Just one quick, hot, soapy shower. And a shave. Then I'm all yours."

  Her heart fluttered as the image of Mack lathering his hard body played in her mind. Correction, his hard naked body.

  Then I'm all yours.

  Her mouth suddenly went dry. Why did he still do this to her–make her still feel like a teenager with a crush? Casually, she walked over to the desk of the amused Pete Nash and poured herself a paper cupful of water from a pitcher on the corner of his desk.

  "Well?" Mack asked.

  His smile was giving her the start of an ulcer, but she was in charge here, and she was starting a program that she believed in.

  "I agreed to take you to the hospital, but before we leave this room the ankle bracelet is going on. That's my offer, take it or leave it."

  Mack shifted in the chair and his chains clinked together. "I'll take it, since I don't have a choice."

  "Are you ready to sign the conditions of your release now?" asked Judge Nash.

  "Yeah," Mack said without much enthusiasm.

  Kate opened her briefcase and took out an orange folder. She handed it to the judge who studied the papers briefly, signed the bottom of each one, and handed them back to her. "Why don't you spell it out for Mack."

  "I want to make it clear to you that I will be making unannounced home visits as part of the program," she said. "That's another enhancement that makes my program special."

  "At night?"

  "At night, during the day, early morning–whenever I choose."

  “Pete, why don’t you save Kate the trouble, and just set bail on me once and for all.”

  “No,” was his quick reply. “I don’t want you going off half-cocked, investigating. You’re too personally involved. You are to stay home and let the sheriff’s department handle this.”

  Mack swore, and the one word echoed through the high-ceilinged room. “They were the ones who arrested me.”

  Forcing herself to concentrate on business once again, Kate placed two copies of the release agreement side-by-side on the judge's desk facing Mack.

  “As I indicated, the voice verifier, the VV-98, will call you at random and ask you to repeat some words, so you’ll have to do that.”

  Mack chuckled. “The VV-98?”

  “Yes,” Kate replied, ignoring him. “Nothing but state of the art for you.”

  She held a pen in the air, close to him. "Read the terms, then sign on the bottom line if you agree to abide by them."

  Scowling, Mack snatched the pen out of her hand and scribbled his name on the papers without a glance.

  Judge Nash stood up. "I'll get one of the guards to remove your chains."

  Mack's gaze never left Kate's until the chains were off. It was as if he were trying to figure out how far he could push her. She felt her cheeks heating up under his scrutiny, but she didn't back down.

  He rubbed his skin where the metal had dented it. "Strap the damn ankle thing on me, and let's head to the hospital," he finally said, adding an additional curse under his breath.

  Kate nodded and unzipped the small nylon case. She pulled out the black plastic monitor that she had readied for the occasion.

  Getting up from her chair, she walked over to him and leaned over. "Can you lift up your right pant leg a little?"

  He grunted.

  She stifled a smile and stared him down. Reluctantly, he scrunched his pants up past his ankle.

  Knowing that it would irritate him, Kate said, "Just a little higher," even though it wasn't necessary in the least.

  He rolled his eyes, but obeyed, and she slipped the black plastic device around his ankle and tightened the strap. Just being that close to Mack and brushing his sun-darkened skin with her knuckles made her pulse quicken. Why was she always so jumpy around him?

  "Is that too loose or too tight?" she asked.

  He waved off the question as if he could care less.

  "Suit yourself," Kate said.

  Judge Nash stood. "Good luck to you, buddy, and take care. I'll be following your case and rooting for you, but I can't be the judge of record. Judge Clark will be back from vacation soon, then this mess is all his."

  "I understand," Mack said, finally looking away from Kate.

  She gathered up her equipment. "Aren't you going to go change?" she asked, looking at Mack's jail clothes.

  "I'm not walking back into that jail. They can send me whatever they're going to let me keep—like maybe my wallet."

  Remembering that Mack had been arrested after testifying before the grand jury, Kate figured that they wouldn't let him have his gun and badge back until he was exonerated. That must have been another blow.

  Judge Nash walked toward the door leading to the courtroom. "I'll get the deputies to let you go through the tunnel so you can avoid the reporters."

  Mack extended his hand, and they shook. "Thanks, Pete."

  Judge Nash nodded, but Kate noticed that he avoided looking directly at Mack. He must have been remembering better days when they'd played football together and were best friends.

  Kate and Mack went through the tunnel which lead from the courtroom to the basement of the courthouse. After ascending a flight of steps, they went out the back door. Kate's car was parked across the street at a meter.

  When they slipped into her car, Mack turned to her and said, "Sorry, Kate, but I have no intention of doing your program."

  CHAPTER 2

  The shock that registered on Kate Kingston's face might have been amusing under other circumstances, but Mack knew that
Kate was dead serious about her program. She was serious about everything. But he might as well be straight with her.

  He needed to be free to find out who framed him and why.

  Maybe he could work out a compromise with Kate.

  "But you agreed to the conditions of my program," she said, as anger sparked her eyes.

  "I would have done anything to get out of jail."

  "You're under a court order to be on house arrest." She hurled the words at him like stones.

  He knew she was frustrated and angry and anxious. He felt the same. But he had no choice. He was a cop–a damn good one at that–and he had work to do.

  He stared into her grass green eyes. They seemed to look right into his soul. And he loved the way her blonde hair fell around her face. In different types of light it shimmered with various shades of gold, and her body could stop traffic.

  Katherine Kingston had crept into his dreams on more than one occasion since high school.

  He had seen her around the jail, the courthouse and the county office building when she was a probation officer. This program was a new venture for her, and she’d make it successful or die trying. That’s the way she was in school, and that’s the way she was now.

  He remembered how Kate volunteered to be the editor of the school paper when no one would do it because of the work involved and because it was a geek job. But Kate didn’t know that. She took it on, and actually made The Rooster Crows an interesting paper to read.

  He remembered how she even interviewed him just before the big football game. She didn’t know a thing about football and admitted to doing research before the interview. She sure as hell tried to ask good questions. Actually, she did quite a flattering story on him. He had always felt that her article had helped him get the Rose Lake High Alumnae Scholarship.

  And then he had passed on the scholarship to join the sheriff’s department and the scholarship went to Pete Nash instead. Mack’s father had been livid and things were never the same between them.

  But that was then, and this was now.

  "I can't sit at home," he said, wanting Kate to understand. “I have to find out who set me up and who shot Tom. I had nothing else to do in jail but replay that night over and over in my mind. So now, I have to check out a couple of things. I can't do that if I'm locked in my house."

  "If you'd bothered to read the contract you signed, you'd know that you get to go twenty feet around the perimeter of the house."

  "Oh, boy." He rolled his eyes. “Kate, I’m a cop, a good cop, believe me. And something’s rotten in Rose Lake. I have to get to the bottom of it.”

  The elevator came and Mack was relieved when he saw it was empty. The fewer people who saw him in jail clothes, the better. They got on and he pushed the button for the intensive care floor.

  "You lied," Kate said, shoving back her bangs in a way that made some of them stick up.

  "Don't worry. It'll all work out."

  "It'll work out because I'll make sure that it does, Mack. And if you don't cooperate, you can just rot in jail until all your court proceedings are over because I'll simply surrender you."

  "You'd have to catch me first. With a good pair of scissors, this ankle monitor is history."

  Her face was turning red. He was pushing her past her limits. He liked her. She was a good egg in high school and the butt of a lot of ribbing due to her shyness and because she was a bookworm. Over the years, she had gotten over some of her shyness. She certainly said what was on her mind now.

  “How did you get into the house arrest business anyway?”

  “The Probation Department had their budget cut, and I was one of the lowest in terms of seniority. I like computers, and saw a void in the criminal justice system in Rose Lake. We needed a house arrest program.”

  “No, we don’t. The cops arrest the criminals, and the criminals should stay in jail.”

  “Even those who can’t afford bail?” she asked.

  He grunted. “Most of them are bailed out or released on their own recognizance before I can finish their paperwork.”

  “But some aren’t. Why should they languish in jail just because they are poor? Many have ties in town, so they won’t abscond.”

  He rolled his eyes. “But some will. Then we’d have to find them again.”

  “I’m going to be selective in who I recommend for my program.”

  “No, you’re not,” he said. “If you were, you would never have let me out.”

  She was just about to explain that Pete Nash insisted that she take Mack, and he’d send her more clients, but they had reached their floor. He strode out of the elevator and headed for Tom Murray's room with Kate close on his heels.

  Two guards posted at the door blocked their way into intensive care.

  "Good morning, doctor," one said, nodding at Mack.

  Mack laughed. In his turquoise jail clothes, he supposed he did look like a surgeon in scrubs. He turned his back to them and pointed over his shoulder to the black stenciling on his shirt proclaiming 'Rose County Jail'.

  They look more confused, then they finally recognized him.

  "Olsen." Mack nodded at one deputy, then the other, reading their brass name tags. "Cruz." He ran his fingers through his greasy, unruly hair. He couldn't wait for that shower along with a haircut and a shave, but first things first. "How's Tom doing?"

  They both remained silent.

  It figured that he'd get two cops that he didn't know very well. "C'mon, guys," he said, trying to get their cooperation. "I'm here to see my partner."

  The two cops looked at each other and closed ranks in front of the door to Intensive Care.

  Mack lifted up his pant leg so they could see the ankle monitor. "I didn't escape if that's what you're thinking. I was released from jail on house arrest. Got it?"

  They bent down to inspect the black plastic band with the square plastic block in the middle. After a while, he shook down his pant leg and met the cops' uncertain stares.

  Mack stepped toward them. "Tom's my partner. I want to see him."

  The cops didn’t budge, and Mack’s hands closed into fists. He didn't know how much more he could handle before he exploded. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself against a physical fight. One punch at a cop, and he’d be back in jail. He never felt so helpless in his life, and he didn’t like it one bit.

  It was even more demeaning with Kate being there to witness his humiliation.

  Kate wedged herself between Mack and the deputies.

  "Gentlemen, my name is Katherine Kingston and I'm responsible for Sergeant Mackowitz while he is awaiting trial. Only minutes ago, County Court Judge Peter Nash and I agreed to give the sergeant permission to visit Sergeant Murray before Sergeant Mackowitz officially starts his house arrest." She glared at Mack. "And he will follow all the conditions of his release." Turning back to the guards, she added, "His visit won't take long."

  Mack shook his head. This was shy, introverted Kate Kingston?

  "I can handle this, Kate. Will you just let me handle it?" "We have orders not to let anyone in that room, ma'am," said Olsen. "And that includes this citizen."

  This citizen? Mack fumed. Citizen? They were talking over him like he didn't even exist, as if he'd already been stripped of his rank. He couldn't stand the thought of not being a cop. If he wasn’t a cop, he was nothing.

  "But Officer, Sergeant Mackowitz isn't just anyone. He was...um...I mean he is Tom Murray's partner, and he's very concerned about him. Wouldn't you be if you were in his position?"

  Well, she didn't back off and he had to admit that she looked good when she was challenged. Her cheeks were flushed with color, her eyes were bright, and he liked the feeling that she was on his side in this particular battle.

  Mack grudgingly concluded that Kate wasn't doing all that badly. She had the two cops shifting on their feet, looking like they were ready to give in. But this was his fight, not hers.

  "I said I can handle this, Kate." Frustrated,
he took a deep breath. "I don't need you to talk for me."

  Ignoring him, she stepped closer to the cops and smiled at them as if they were the most important guys in the world.

  “C’mon, officers. If anything goes wrong, you can blame me and Judge Peter Nash.” She winked, and they actually melted before his eyes.

  Cruz stuck out his chin. "But he was arrested, and there's talk that it's his fault that Murray's in there."

  That's not true, Mack assured himself even though he had thought the exact same thing a million times. The guilt was choking him. Maybe he should have seen it coming. Maybe he should have investigated more extensively, but maybe Murray should have anticipated it, too, and been on his toes. Maybe it was just damned unavoidable.

  Or maybe the bullet was meant for him.

  But who the hell was this cop to judge him? Accuse him? He was ready to lunge for Cruz when he felt Kate's grip on his arm.

  "Officers, you don't believe that the sergeant would put his own partner in danger, do you? You know his reputation. Everyone knows that he's been decorated and has several commendations. The Rose Lake Herald said he's the most decorated cop in the sheriff's department, and he holds the record for the most arrests which resulted in the most convictions. Now why don't you call your commanding officer and get the okay for Sergeant Mackowitz to visit his partner?"

  It blew him away that Kate had read newspaper articles about him, and he couldn't help but wonder if she had kept track of him through the years, as he’d done with her.

  She probably just reads the paper, Mack. That's all.

  Mack closed his tired eyes. All he wanted right now was to see Tom and then take a shower to scrub the jail stink off of him.

  And why was he still allowing her to do his talking for him? Grudgingly, he admitted that she was doing a pretty good job of it and he just wasn't thinking right. Of course, he should have told them to call Captain Marty Crowley right from the get-go and saved himself all this trouble. No. He should have reminded them that he was still a sergeant, their commanding officer, until fate or a jury decided otherwise.

  "Are you going in there with him, Miss Kingston?" Olsen asked.

  Kate looked up at him. "You bet I’ll be with him. I won't let him out of my sight."