An Officer and a Maverick

by Teresa Southwick

  “So don’t. Stay.” He was a little surprised at how much he meant that. A fiercely intense longing tightened in his chest.

  “I can’t. We might not hate ourselves now, but if we get caught in your room, Melba Strickland could change that. Besides, I have to get my truck.”

  “I’ll take you. Later.” He couldn’t help feeling they only had now, and he wanted to put off saying good-night.

  “You’ll get more sleep if we do this now. There’s no point in both of us being exhausted.”

  She was right, but he didn’t care about sleep. And that wasn’t good. It was time to find out what she was hiding before he got in any deeper than he already was. Maybe she felt the same way about him. She’d been curious about why he left the police force in Denver. He wanted to tell her about it, get that weight off his shoulders. Let her know that keeping secrets inside made them more powerful than they had any right to be. Quid pro quo.

  He would tell his story, then she could share hers. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  “Okay.”

  And that was one of the things he found so irresistible about her. It was late. She had to be tired after working at the ranch then a couple hours at the bar. And she had to be at work again at dawn and was already facing the prospect of very little sleep. But he wanted to say something, and she agreed without question or hesitation.

  He took her hand and led her over to the floral-patterned chair in the corner, sitting her in it after he moved the throw pillows to the bed. He lowered himself to the ottoman in front of her and leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

  “About why I left the Denver PD...”

  When several moments went by she said, “You don’t have to tell me. You know that, right?”

  “Yes. But I want you to know.” Because when you felt a pull as strong as he did for Lani, she had a right to his past. And he had a right to hers. “I found out my partner was on the take.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “What?”

  “He was being paid for information about undercover drug operations, raids, imminent arrests, evidence for trial and even perjuring himself in court.”

  “How did you find out?” she asked.

  “Little things at first. He wasn’t where he said he was going to be. A big new house that seemed too much for a cop’s salary. Expensive car. Bits of phone conversations. I got suspicious, followed him. Got pics of him meeting with a known drug dealer and cash changing hands.”

  “Oh, Russ. What happened?” She reached out and linked her fingers with his.

  “I went to the watch commander with what I had.”

  Lani’s clear brown eyes were full of sympathy and concern. “What did he say? Something bad happened or you wouldn’t have left Denver.”

  “I guess you don’t have to be a detective to figure that out.” He smiled but knew it was grim. “He told me to leave it to him.”

  “And?”

  “When nothing happened I tried again. He said I should just stay out of it. My job was to uphold the law so I went over his head to Internal Affairs. But they could never make a case against him. He got careful and no evidence was found. And that’s when it all went to hell.”

  “I don’t understand,” she said. “You did the right thing. How could that be bad?”

  “Cops have a code. You watch each other’s back. No matter what.” He blew out a breath. “I broke the code. Ratted him out.”

  “He was a bad cop, breaking the law.” She was adamant, on his side. “He’s the one who did wrong.”

  “But all of them had been together for years. I was the newcomer. An upstart. Going for the big score, a promotion at the expense of a brother. I was downgraded in rank and took a pay cut. A subtle way of trying to force me out, but I refused to go. So the precinct cops circled the wagons. They closed ranks, refused to partner with me and, if forced to, slanted incident reports to make me look dirty.”

  “Oh, my God. That’s awful, Russ.”

  “The thing is most of those guys are good cops. But the mind-set of supporting a brother in arms is more sacred than finding out the truth. In the beginning I backed them up in tough spots and they did the same for me. I thought I’d built up trust, made friends, but it turned out the truth wasn’t the most important thing to them.”

  “But it is to you.” She nodded. “It must have been hard being shut out like that. I can’t even imagine.”

  “I could deal with that. But the situation became dangerous. Damned if I did, damned if I didn’t. The trust was gone on both sides, which put people at risk. No one had faith in me to watch their back and based on what happened, I didn’t believe they had mine. I responded to a domestic violence situation, and a woman and child were endangered because I was alone. No backup. And you never know what you’re walking into. I was lucky on that one. It resolved safely.”

  “So you resigned,” she guessed.

  He nodded. “If I hadn’t, someone could have been hurt—or worse.”

  “You sacrificed your career for the sake of fellow officers and the public.” She squeezed his hands. “That’s pretty heroic.”

  “My fiancée didn’t think so.”

  “You were engaged?” She looked surprised. “Alexis?”

  “Yes.” He stood and started pacing the room. “Alexis Davidson.”

  “Pretty name.”

  “It fit her. She was beautiful.” He stopped walking and looked down at her. “I needed a job. When I told her about the one on the force in Kalispell, she said no way she was moving to a two-bit town in backwoods Montana.”

  “If she loved you, she would have gone anywhere just to be with you.”

  “Then I guess she didn’t.” Some detective he was that he hadn’t seen the truth. “It never crossed my mind that I’d lose the career I’d worked my ass off for and the woman I loved because I did the right thing.”

  Lani shook her head. “I’m sorry she hurt you, but it seems to me you dodged a bullet there.”

  “How so?”

  “That woman was, probably still is, shallow as a cookie sheet if she couldn’t see that you’re a good man, with character and the courage of his convictions. Then there’s that little thing in the marriage vows—for better or worse. The going got tough and she got going.” Lani’s eyes blazed with anger and disapproval. “She didn’t know what she had and didn’t deserve you. You’re better off without her.”

  “You think so?” Russ wondered if Lani was as loyal as she seemed.

  “I know so. And I’m not sure which is worse—her leaving you or good men who take pride in supporting each other but didn’t support one of their own.”

  “Yeah. I learned the hard way that having someone’s back doesn’t mean it’s okay to lie for them.”

  Lani went still for just a second then looked up at him. There was a plea in her eyes that said she knew what he was getting at. “Sometimes having someone’s back means you can’t say anything at all.”

  The words opened up a hollow feeling in his gut. She wasn’t going to tell him why she made him arrest her, or kept him locked up and off the street. Damn it. Now the line was drawn—and Russ had to figure out whether or not he could risk crossing it.

  Even for Lani.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Three days later Lani was working at the Ace in the Hole and fretting because she hadn’t seen Russ since he’d dropped her off to pick up her truck. It had been the best of nights and the worst.

  She’d felt all gooey and warm and intimate and close. For just a little while the attraction between them was something more. Something special that had a chance of being more. But then he opened up about the horrible way he was treated while working for the Denver PD. Outrage didn’t begin to describe how she felt for him. And he’d endured a double w
hammy when the woman he loved had dumped him. Alexis. She was an idiot, and there was nothing left to say about her.

  Lani knew from personal experience that honest men didn’t grow on trees and Russ was that, and so much more. That night he’d taken her to his room at the boardinghouse he’d wanted her as much as she wanted him. Then the other shoe dropped. He’d said having someone’s back didn’t mean it was okay to lie for them.

  She knew he was asking why she’d forced him to arrest her. She couldn’t even explain that she’d done it so Anderson wouldn’t be hauled off to jail and end up with a police record. That would lead to questions that she couldn’t answer and would make her look even worse.

  Telling the truth would break her promise to her brother. Refusing to answer would fuel Russ’s doubts about her. As he’d said the other night—damned if she did, damned if she didn’t.

  She’d seen the look in his eyes when she hadn’t taken the hint to tell all about her arrest that night. She knew that answers were important to him. Heck, he was a detective, and a case could be made for answers being his life. But this one she had to keep to herself. When he drove her to her truck, they didn’t say anything, which kind of said everything.

  So here she was, working at the bar and getting her hopes dashed every time the rusty screen door opened and Russ didn’t walk in. It was slow right now, the time of the day after the lunch crowd and before the dinner rush. She stacked the few burger baskets and eating utensils in a big plastic tote and dropped them off in the kitchen. Busing tables was busy work and just what she needed if there was even the slightest chance of getting Russ off her mind.

  To get ready for the dinner crowd she put napkin-wrapped silverware in booths and on tables. Filling saltshakers and napkin holders also needed to be done. Behind her she heard the screen door open and gave herself a stern warning not to look. Herself didn’t pay the least bit of attention and looked anyway, just in time to see Russ walk in with Gage Christensen. The two men took a booth by the front window.

  Alrighty, then, she thought. He would have to talk to her now. It was her job to take his order. So she walked over and did her best to look normal, as if her heart wasn’t hammering hard enough to be heard.

  She smiled at both men. “Hi, Gage. Russ. How’s it going?”

  The sheriff took off his hat and set it on the booth bench beside him. “Good.”

  “Glad to hear that.”

  “It would be better if you and Russ could find out who spiked that wedding punch.”

  “Yeah.” She looked at the detective. “It’s pretty hard to figure out who’s responsible when there are zero clues. So you shouldn’t feel bad.” About the case, she thought.

  “I don’t. Sometimes you get what you need.” He met her gaze, and there was a disappointed look in his eyes. “And sometimes you don’t.”

  Right now she wished he would cut her a little slack. More than anything she needed to talk to him, but not in front of Gage.

  “So what can I get you two?” She pulled a pad and pencil out of her jeans pocket.”

  “Burger and coffee for me,” Gage said.

  “Isn’t it a little late for lunch?”

  “We’ve been busy. Going over all the information Russ gathered in the investigation.”

  Something squeezed in her chest at the reminder that Russ was temporary, and his allotted time was soon coming to an end. “Do you want fries or a side salad with your burger?”

  Gage’s expression was wry. “Salad? Seriously? Have you been talking to my wife? She thinks I need to eat more healthy food, and salad is at the top of her list. How can a man do a hard day’s work when he eats the equivalent of grass?”

  “This is where I point out that cows and horses kind of do that, and they work pretty hard.” Lani tapped her pencil against the pad.

  “It’s a conspiracy, right?” Gage teased. “All you women stick together.”

  “Darn right.” She glanced at Russ, who’d been really quiet. “You’re going to leave him blowing in the wind on this?”

  One corner of his mouth curved up. “At the risk of mixing metaphors, he dug the hole. All he had to say was ‘I’ll take fries.’”

  “He’s got you there, Gage.”

  “Two against one. And I thought you were my friend, Russ.” He sighed. “Fries it is. But don’t rat me out to Lissa.”

  “It’s not carved in stone, but I think discretion in this job is sort of client privilege. Your secret is safe with me.” She looked at Russ. “What’ll you have?”

  “The same.”

  “Okay. So, I’ve got two burgers, fries and coffee.” When both men nodded she said, “I’ll get this going and be back with the coffee.”

  She took the order to the kitchen, where Rosey was doing the cooking, filling in during this slow time until someone came in to work the evening rush. Lani handed her the piece of paper.

  “This is for the sheriff and Russ Campbell.” Her boss gave seriously generous portions to law enforcement and US military veterans, so the information was important.

  “Coming right up,” Rosey said, tossing a couple of thick beef patties on the industrial-sized stove top. She lowered a basket of sliced potatoes into the hot grease then looked over her shoulder and frowned. “You okay, Lani?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Now that I think about it, you’ve been kind of down the last few days. Not yourself. Are you really okay?”

  “Fine.”

  “That’s the code word for man trouble.”

  “No, it’s just—”

  “Save it.” Rosey flipped the burgers and pulled two red plastic baskets from the shelf above the stove. “I know when a woman is unhappy, and it’s all about a man.”

  She couldn’t tell her boss about the problem because it involved Anderson’s issue, and he’d said not to talk about it to anyone. But there were concerns that she could talk about. “Russ’s time here in Rust Creek Falls is almost over.”

  “Not the end of the world.” The other woman grabbed the long handle of the fry basket and pulled it up, hooking the contraption above the grease to drain. “He lives in Boulder Junction, and it’s not that far away.”

  And that’s when Lani voiced another something else that had thrown her. “He didn’t want to give up his career in Denver and come back to Montana.”

  “Then why did he?”

  “He exposed a corrupt cop on the Denver force, and no one backed him up. Without officer support it became dangerous for him and the general public if he stayed on.” She watched Rosey put tomato, lettuce, onion and pickle in the baskets beside the open buns. “So he came home. But what if he decides small-town life doesn’t appeal to him after living and working in the big city?”

  “Then you go with him if he decides to make a change.” Rosey’s tone said “duh” but when she looked over, there was sympathy in her eyes. “Life is full of choices. Not all of them are no-brainers.”

  “Yeah.” Lani had voiced the concern because it would break her heart if he moved away. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that if Russ asked, she would follow him anywhere. “I have to get their coffee, then I’ll be back for the hamburgers.”

  “Okay. And, honey?”

  She looked over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

  “For what it’s worth, all those months Russ was coming here? Let’s just say it wasn’t about the beer.”

  “Then what?” Lani asked.

  “You. It’s obvious.”

  “Not to me. Respectfully, you’re wrong, Rosey. He never talked to me.”

  “I’m not saying it was easy for him to come in. Maybe he didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help himself. Couldn’t stay away from you. And—” Rosey pointed the spatula in Lani’s direction “—he couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

 
That was before she’d gotten herself arrested then took his keys to keep him from arresting her brother. If only she could tell him why she’d done it. Then he might understand. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Rosey.”

  “Anytime. Hang in there, honey. The course of true love is never smooth sailing. That’s what Sam always says. He likes to talk in navy SEAL metaphors.”

  Lani really hoped this wasn’t love. She didn’t know what to call it, but she didn’t want to even think the L-word.

  She poured coffee into two mugs and delivered them to the lawmen. Both took it black. A few minutes later she brought their food and said, “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  Then she turned her back and occupied herself with busy work while stealing looks at Russ. A couple of times she was almost sure he was looking at her, too. That was all she needed to make up her mind to talk to him alone if she got the chance.

  Just after finishing his food, Gage pulled out his cell phone and answered it. She was too far away to hear what he said, but he grabbed his hat and slid out of the booth before ending the call. He reached into the pocket of his uniform pants to pull out money, but Russ put up his hand. Lani didn’t have to hear what they were saying. This was men dealing with who would get the check. Women usually split it however many ways down to the half cent. The guys were more macho and straightforward, and that wasn’t altogether a bad thing.

  She waited until Gage was gone to bring over the bill and set it on the table. “No rush on that. Can I get you more coffee?”

  “No, thanks.” That was his cop voice, the one without a drop of emotion and designed to make a person believe God gave him extraordinary good looks at the expense of a sense of humor. “I have to get going.”

  “Back to the sheriff’s office?”

  “Things to catch up on.” That didn’t answer the question.

  “Well, things will just have to wait a few minutes.” The place was practically empty, and this was as good a time as any to talk, so Lani sat in the space Gage had vacated moments before. “I have a question.”