by Radclyffe
“You’re her training instructor,” Nelson snapped. “You’re supposed to be training her.”
A muscle in Reese’s jaw jumped. “If you have a problem, sir, with the way I’m conducting Officer Parker’s training, I—”
“Oh, stow it, Conlon. She’s just a kid. God damn it, I just don’t want her to get hurt.” He stood up suddenly, his wheeled chair spinning across the small room. She’s all I’ve got.
“Chief,” Reese ventured in a more reasonable voice. “She’s just going to knock on a few doors and ask a few questions. I’m not going to let her patrol alone, at least for a while. This job is what she’s chosen to do.”
He ran a hand over his hair and grimaced. “Yeah, and she didn’t ask my opinion about it.”
Reese grinned. “And if she had, do you think you would have been able to talk her out of it?”
“Sure. When pigs fly.” Nelson fixed Reese with a baleful stare. “She’s not even living at home.”
“Uh…” Reese shifted slightly, uncomfortable for the first time. “I think that probably has to do with her being twenty years old, Nelson. She’s trying to stand on her own.”
“Yeah, I know.” He retrieved his chair, pulled it back to his desk, and sat heavily. “But I still wish sometimes she’d waited, at least until she’d finished school.”
Reese thought about Caroline’s tears that morning, and the desperate anguish she had glimpsed in Bri’s eyes that afternoon. I’m with you there, Chief.
*
Reese met Bri several hours later, and they drove into the center of town together for dinner. As they walked toward a small sandwich shop on the pier at Commercial and Standish, Reese asked, “Get anything from the interviews?”
“Maybe,” Bri replied cautiously. “The manager of the condominium next door says he thought he saw lights flickering in the restaurant a couple of times late at night in the past few weeks.”
“And he didn’t bother to call us?” Reese sighed in disgust.
Bri shrugged. “Said he thought it was probably just kids and didn’t pay much attention.”
“I suppose we’re lucky he mentioned it to you at all.” Reese was next in line at the order window and put in her request for fish and chips and soda. “I don’t suppose he saw a vehicle?”
“Nope. But it fits with our theory that someone’s been using the place. If so, they’re going to be looking for new digs. I thought maybe we could start keeping an eye on some of the other abandoned places around town.”
“Good idea.”
After they had both ordered, they moved away to await their dinners.
“There was something else,” Bri confided.
Reese raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“I talked to maybe a dozen people this evening, up and down the cul-de-sacs off Bradford and along Route 6 toward the Provincetown Inn. At least half told me that I was the second police officer to interview them since the fire.”
“Interesting. Hold on for a second.” Responding to the shout that their orders were ready, she and Bri collected their food and drinks and walked out of earshot of the tourists and other diners to a small picnic table on MacMillan Wharf. “I don’t suppose you got a description of the new member of our force, did you?”
“Yep.” Bri grinned. “Red hair, green eyes, late twenties. Female.”
“Thorough, isn’t she?”
“Would you say that’s SOP for an insurance claim?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Reese regarded her food absently. Something was off, and the fact that it involved something as dangerous as the possibility of arson bothered her a good deal. “It looks like we need to pay a visit to Ms. Walker.”
“Fortunately,” Bri announced, patting her chest pocket, “I have all her numbers.”
*
The rest of the shift passed uneventfully. The town was just gearing up for tourist season, and although the population had already doubled with the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, the true crowds would not arrive until July 4th. Nevertheless, all the stores were open up and down Commercial Street, as were most of the restaurants and galleries. Reese and Bri took their time getting reacquainted with the shopkeepers, many of whom had left for the winter and were just returning. They walked through the business district of the tiny village several times, stopping in all the establishments just to say hello. Along the way, they took note of any unoccupied or abandoned buildings. There were at least half a dozen scattered along the length of Commercial Street.
“When you give report to the night shift, make sure you give them the addresses of these places and remind them to do a pass-by several times during the shift.”
“Got it.” Bri felt a sudden let-down as she realized that her time with Reese was coming to an end. It was five minutes to midnight, and they were on their way back to the sheriff’s department to sign out. In another few minutes, Reese would go home and she would be alone. It was Saturday night, she had just finished an exciting shift at work, and she had no one to share it with.
She could go home with Reese, but the small spare bedroom with its single bed seemed too lonely to contemplate. Caroline would be out somewhere with friends, probably having a glass of wine and talking about school, or a film she had just seen, or some project she was involved in. Bri’s heart ached as she wondered if Caroline would be thinking about her. I should call her. But she said not to—that she would call me when she was ready. She said she wanted a little time to think. Think about what? Think about whether she still loves me? Think about whether she still wants to be with me? Think—
“Bri?”
Bri jumped. They were sitting in front of the sheriff’s department. The engine was off and the night was very quiet. She had no idea how long she had been staring unseeing through the windshield.
“Yeah?” she said hoarsely.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” Bri nodded and swallowed hard. “Fine.”
“I saw Caroline this morning.”
Bri closed her eyes.
“Have you straightened things out with her?” Reese asked gently.
“Not yet.” Bri didn’t want to talk about it. Just thinking about it made her hurt so much inside she was afraid she would cry. She especially didn’t want to discuss what had happened with Reese. She had a sudden sick feeling in her stomach. Christ, does Reese know about Allie?
Thankfully, it was too dark in the car for Reese to see her shamed blush. The thought of Reese knowing about the way she had fucked up was almost as bad as Caroline’s tears. She felt like dying.
“You need to do that, Bri,” Reese said evenly as she opened the door of the cruiser.
“Yeah, I know,” Bri replied softly, all the while wondering how to even begin.
*
When Reese and Bri walked into the office, Lewis, one of the summer recruits who had been hired to work the swing shift, looked up from the dispatch counter and nodded perfunctorily. “There are messages for both of you on the spindle.”
Bri looked surprised, and Reese frowned as she asked, “From whom?”
The ruddy complexioned, sandy-haired officer shrugged his heavyset shoulders. “The names are on the slips there. Yours just says to call home.”
“God damn it,” Reese swore swiftly in a tone that made both Bri and Lewis jump. “If you ever get a call from my partner or anything remotely connected to her again, you call me ASAP.”
He stared at her open-mouthed as Reese grabbed the nearest phone and punched in her home number. Her body vibrated with tension.
“Tor?” She worked to sound calm. “Are you all right?”
As Reese listened, her body relaxed, and she settled her hip onto the corner of the nearest desk. A smile slowly eclipsed the worry that had suffused her face. “You’re kidding, right?…I thought that was an old wives’ tale…Well, I don’t know that many…No! I’ll do it…I’ll be home soon.”
Still grinning, Reese hung up the receiver. When she glanced up, Bri was watchin
g her intently. “She’s fine.”
Bri relaxed her tight stance, too. “Good.”
“I don’t suppose you know Spiritus’s number offhand, do you?”
“You’re kidding, right? Pizza?”
“That’s exactly what I just said to her.” Reese shook her head. “She’s hungry and pretty cranky about it, too.”
“I have to go to the house to change,” Bri said with a grin. “You want me to go get it on my way?”
“No, thanks. I know you’re good on that bike, but I’d rather you weren’t riding while balancing a pizza. If you see Tory when you get home, just tell her that her delivery is on the way.”
“Sure thing,” Bri replied as Reese picked up the phone again. While Reese got the number and called in the pizza order, Bri pulled the pink message slips from the spindle on the counter. They were two for her. She read them, then read them again. At first, she thought it was a joke, but then realized that it couldn’t be. Who would know to do this?
Both messages were exactly the same, with one minor difference. Each had only two words, Call me, followed by a phone number. They were signed Ashley and Allie, respectively.
“Everything okay, Bri?” Reese noted the confused expression on Bri’s face.
Blushing, Bri rapidly stuffed the notes into her pants pocket. “Sure. Perfect.”
*
“Oh, thank God,” Tory said vehemently as Reese walked in the house. “Hurry.”
Reese grinned at her lover, who was curled up on the sofa in a shapeless button-up pajama top and what appeared to be striped boxers. “You know, I can remember a time when you only said that in bed.”
“Shut up, Conlon, and give me my pizza.”
Laughing outright, Reese put the box down on the coffee table in front of Tory and walked through to the kitchen for plates and napkins. “Is Bri here?”
“No,” Tory said around a mouthful of pizza. “She came in, changed her clothes, and went right back out again.”
“At this hour?” Reese frowned as she carried a bottle of beer for herself tucked against her side, a glass of seltzer for Tory in one hand, and plates, silverware, and napkins in the other. She carefully set them all down, settled on the sofa, and slid a slice of pizza onto a plate. “What is she doing out?”
“It’s Saturday night, love.”
“So?” Reese regarded her with a raised eyebrow.
“Try to remember Saturday night when you were twenty.”
“I remember perfectly well, and I was either studying or, more likely, sleeping.” Reese shook her head. “ROTC students got up early, because we had PT first thing in the morning. Every morning.”
“I forgot.” Tory ran her hand affectionately up the inside of Reese’s thigh. “You were a most unusual twenty-year-old, sweetheart.”
“Oh yeah?” Reese said challengingly. “So what were you doing?”
For a second, Tory was quiet. “I met K.T. that summer.”
Hearing the sadness Tory couldn’t quite hide, Reese slipped her arm around her lover’s shoulder. “If I could take her out and thrash her, I would do it cheerfully.”
“She was good with you in the hospital,” Tory pointed out with a smile as she rested her cheek against Reese’s shoulder. “She was good to me then, too.”
“That notwithstanding,” Reese said with a low grumble. “She hurt you, and that’s not acceptable.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Reese kissed her gently, lingering for a moment to savor the incredible softness of her lips. “I missed you.”
“Mmm, me, too,” Tory murmured.
“Did you and K.T. talk about the past at all, when I was sick? I can’t remember very much of the first couple of days.”
“Not really.” Tory drew a shaky breath as her throat tightened. It was still hard to think about how very close she had come to losing Reese. She moved closer on the sofa, her pizza forgotten. “You were all I could think about. I was shocked to see her at first, but I didn’t really feel anything.”
“I can’t imagine ever seeing you and not wanting you, not loving you,” Reese whispered, resting her chin on the top of Tory’s head. “No matter what.”
“Sometimes there’s so much hurt it drives the love from your heart.”
Reese tightened her hold on the woman in her arms. “I’m not sorry that you’re not with her, but I’m sorry that you were hurt.”
“I know, sweetheart. But loving you makes up for any pain I ever had.”
“You think Bri and Caroline are going to be okay?”
“I think they can be,” Tory said quietly, “if they come back together soon and don’t do anything more to add to the pain.”
“Do you think I should go look for Bri before she gets herself into more trouble?”
“Let’s give her a chance to find her own way.” Tory felt Reese stiffen. “She needs to come to her own realization of what she wants and needs.”
“I just don’t want either of them to suffer any more.” Reese closed her eyes. “You didn’t see Bri today. She’s…lost.”
Tory tilted her chin and pressed her lips to Reese’s neck, then reached a hand back to curl her fingers into the thick, black hair. Tugging gently, she pulled Reese down for a proper kiss. When she lifted her mouth away, she whispered huskily, “You’re going to make the most wonderful parent.”
*
By the time Bri rode back to the center of town and parked her bike, most of the stores were closed and the bars were beginning to empty. As was often the case, Commercial Street between the Pied, one of the popular lesbian bars, and Spiritus Pizza was crowded with men and women who were not yet ready to end their Saturday night revelry. It was a cruising ground and general meeting place, and it had been a common location for her clandestine late-night rendezvous throughout high school.
As she approached the gathering throng, she remembered Reese coming upon her and Caroline in the narrow alley between the ramshackle restaurant and the adjoining storefront one night when they’d been seventeen. They’d been making out in the shadows when Reese had walked up on them, her flashlight beam illuminating them in the midst of passion. Stunned, Bri had thought for a second that they had been busted. She’d stepped in front of Caroline to hide the fact that Caroline’s lace-up vest was open and the snap of her jeans unbuttoned. All she could think of in that second was to protect Caroline from whatever threatened them. God, I was scared. But Carre never flinched. She’s never backed down from anything.
Thinking about that night, she felt anew how desperately she had wanted Caroline, physically and emotionally, and how unbelievable it had been to actually have her—to be able to touch her, to be able to express physically how much she loved her. She still couldn’t believe her luck. Out of all the people Caroline could have had, she’d chosen her. Sometimes she had expected to wake up in the morning and look into Caroline’s eyes and see the realization there that Caroline had made a mistake. That she didn’t love me after all. That she finally realized that I had nothing to offer her.
Bri’s chest ached just remembering how sweet those first few months had been, and how desperate the last. I miss you so much, babe.
“Unless I’m wrong,” a deep melodious voice announced very close to Bri’s ear, “I believe you’re looking for me.”
Jesus Christ. I’m walking around not paying attention to a damn thing I’m doing. Some alert cop.
Hoping that her involuntary flinch hadn’t been noticed, Bri turned to the woman by her side as they continued navigating slowly through the wall-to-wall people. “You did say to meet you here.”
Ashley Walker was wearing a sleeveless black T-shirt tucked into figure-hugging black leather pants and black ankle-high riding boots. Her crimson hair was down and glinted like fire as she casually brushed it back with one hand. “I didn’t think you’d call me.”
“I’m working the same case you are,” Bri reminded her. The two messages folded inside her right front pocket had
felt hot enough to burn as she had ridden the short distance from the sheriff’s department to Reese and Tory’s home just on the border between Provincetown and Truro. At first, she’d thought she would ignore them both. The idea of seeing Allie was a little scary. Things seemed to happen that she didn’t plan on when they were together. The more she’d thought about it, however, the more it seemed that Ashley Walker could only have business on her mind. After all, they didn’t even know one another. “You said you might have some information for me.”
Ashley slowed and nodded toward the Pied. “We can probably still make last call.”
“No thanks.” Bri wasn’t interested in drinking, and if she was, she wouldn’t be doing it in a bar in Provincetown. Not for another couple of months, and probably not even then.
“All right, then.” Ashley sighed and pretended to look disappointed, but her slightly lopsided grin gave her away. “So I’m guilty of mixing business with pleasure. We can do both.”
Bri blushed. Work. Keep the conversation on business. “Have you been conducting interviews with the neighbors around the Moorings?”
“I see you have been working,” Ashley observed with a new note of respect in her voice. “Come on. Let’s get out of this crowd.”
Bri followed as Ashley turned down one of the sandy access paths to the beach. Once there, they both settled onto a pile of sun-bleached, wind-weathered pilings that had once been part of a fishing pier. Ashley drew one knee up, wrapped both arms around it, and leaned a bare shoulder lightly against the outside of Bri’s arm.
“Yes, I’ve been asking around a bit.” Ashley confirmed what Bri already knew. “I thought maybe we could pool our resources.”
“Share information, you mean?” Bri moved an inch away. The touch of skin contacting hers was unexpectedly warm.
“Could save us both some time,” Ashley pointed out. She noted the subtle shift in Bri’s body and tried to decide if it was intentional. The young officer looked even better out of uniform than she did in one, and that was pretty damn good. The white T-shirt hugged her torso, doing little to hide the swell of her breasts and hint of hard nipples, and the low-riding jeans seemed designed to invite a hand inside.
