by Radclyffe
“That’s not precisely true,” Tory objected gently. “If you remember, two years ago you had to break up a bar brawl, and one of the drunks pulled a knife.”
“That was just a scratch, and if she hadn’t come at me while I was stopping the bleeding on the first victim, she never would have gotten that close.”
“Yes, but if you hadn’t been as quick and as well-trained as you are, that knife would’ve been between your shoulder blades in another second.”
“Tor—”
“My point is, Reese, that you do have a dangerous job. It would scare me under any circumstances, but now…” Again, she drew a shaky breath. “I keep thinking how important you are. You’re everything to me. I wouldn’t want to live without you. But now, it’s even more vital that you’re safe, because there’s going to be another life depending upon you.”
Reese’s chest tightened. “I’ll be careful. I promise. You don’t have to worry about that, Tor. My family means more to me than anything in the world. I won’t do anything to risk it.”
I know you mean that, sweetheart, but I know you won’t be able to help yourself. You’ll do your duty because that’s who you are.
Swiftly, Tory wrapped both arms around Reese’s waist and pressed hard against her, needing to feel her, needing to know the solid reassurance of her unwavering presence. “I love you so much.”
“And you can count on it,” Reese whispered.
“Good, because I do.”
“Don’t we have a doctor’s visit coming up this week?” Reese asked gently.
“You don’t need to come with me every time. Wendy is just going to check fetal growth and monitor my hemoglobin and do the usual routine prenatal things like that.”
“What about your blood pressure?” Reese tried not to ask her about it very often, but it was on her mind every day.
“It’s okay.” Tory smoothed her palm over Reese’s chest and drew away. “You need to get ready for work, sweetheart.”
Reese stood and caught Tory’s hand. “Tor? Remember, you promised.”
“Okay.” Tory sighed. “There’s still a persistent elevation, but nothing approaching critical.”
“I’m going with you.” Reese tried hard to sound unconcerned, but her insides turned to ice.
“Reese—”
“I’m going with you. Friday, right?”
Tory threaded her arms around Reese’s neck and kissed her. Amazingly, as her breasts and stomach brushed against Reese’s hard body, she felt a swell of arousal. She kissed her longer than she had meant to, because Reese’s lips were soft and full and her mouth was so warm. The strong hands moving the length of her back and gently rubbing the muscles below the swell of her hips urged her blood to run faster and her muscles to tense. When Tory reached the point that she knew she needed to stop or go forward until she had satisfied her rapidly escalating desire, she pulled her mouth away, gasping shallowly.
“Can you be late?”
Breathing rapidly herself, Reese shook her head regretfully. “I shouldn’t. Bri will be expecting me.”
“Oh, damn.” Tory tightened her hold and rested her face against Reese’s shoulder. “I suppose this is good practice.”
Aware that her thighs were trembling faintly, Reese laughed hollowly. “Practice for what?”
“Coitus interruptus.” Tory leaned back, her eyes dancing. “I have a feeling that we’re going to experience that a little more often once we have a third person in the house.”
“You know,” Reese quirked a brow, “there may be a few aspects about this baby thing we should have discussed in a little more detail.”
Tory kissed Reese’s chin. “Regrets, Sheriff?”
Smiling softly, Reese ran one finger along the edge of Tory’s jaw, ending with a light caress along her lower lip. “Not a one, Dr. King.”
Chapter Sixteen
When Bri walked into the station house thirty minutes before her split shift was due to begin, her father and Gladys were the only two people present.
“Hi, sweet cakes,” Gladys called. She’d called Bri that all Bri’s life and apparently wasn’t about to stop now.
Bri grinned and sketched a small wave in the air. “Yo, Gladys.”
“What say we take a ride,” Nelson suggested mildly before Bri had a chance to sit down.
“Yes, sir.” Bri tried to hide her surprise. She’d been assigned to her father’s command for almost a week, and he’d done little more than nod to her and give a perfunctory “How’re you doing” in passing. She hadn’t been able to tell if he was angry with her or not. Since the night she’d told him she was leaving school, the only time they’d really spoken had been when Reese was sick. Then it was as if they had both understood that what was happening with Reese was something bigger than their differences. They had tacitly agreed not to talk about anything personal. Her dad had come to the hospital every day, but most of the time he stood in the hall outside Reese’s room, getting updates from Bri or Tory that way. He had clearly been uncomfortable visiting Reese while she was sick.
Once, when Bri had walked in unexpectedly and seen her father leaning over Reese’s hospital bed, she’d had a flashback of seeing him with her mom in the last weeks of her life. Suddenly, she thought she knew why he didn’t like to visit.
When they got into the patrol car, Nelson backed out onto Shank Painter Road and silently headed toward Route 6. Bri didn’t know what to expect and tried desperately to remember if she had done anything wrong in the last few days. She supposed he could’ve found out about her late-night stroll on the beach with Ashley Walker, but it wasn’t like he didn’t know that she was gay. And it wasn’t like they’d ended up under a pier making out somewhere.
She and Ashley had walked and talked until, eventually, they’d made a complete circuit of town. When Ashley had taken her hand and asked her to come upstairs to her rented room for the night, Bri had just said no thanks, and that was the end of it. Then she’d ridden out to Herring Cove and sat astride her bike watching the moonlight on the water and listening to the surf. She was lonely, but this time she knew exactly who she was lonely for. She didn’t need to wake up next to Ashley Walker to know that it was Caroline she wanted to lie down beside.
Bri jumped when her father cleared his throat and gazed her way. Jesus, I’ve got to pay more attention when I’m working.
“Caroline called me this morning,” Nelson announced without preamble. He spun the wheel and turned into the lane that led to the ranger’s kiosk at the entrance to the parking lot at Herring Cove.
“Is she okay? Has something happened?” Bri was unable to keep the alarm from her voice.
“She’s okay, as near as I can tell.” He pulled into a spot in the parking lot facing the ocean. The scene was familiar to everyone who had ever spent time in the small seaside town. A few fishermen lingered, sharing the sand with the early-morning sunbathers. It was almost June and the air was still cold, but nothing seemed to keep people from the beach, even when they had to wear jackets as they sat on their beach towels.
“Then why did she call?”
Nelson fixed his attention straight ahead, his hands curled around the steering wheel. “She sounded pretty upset, though.”
“Dad—”
“I didn’t get you out here to lecture, Bri,” Nelson said gruffly. “God knows, I’m no expert at this kind of thing. She asked me if she could stay at the house for a while this summer.”
“What?” Bri shot up straight in the seat and stared at him in amazement. “She has a job in Manhattan this summer! She’s not coming home. That’s how this whole thing got started.”
“What whole thing?” Nelson was pleased that he managed to sound calm while pretending to concentrate on the activity along the shore. Bri hadn’t said this much to him in months.
Bri blushed. “This whole…mess…between Carre and me. I thought she was coming home for the summer before she went to Europe, and then she told me that she was going to stay
in Manhattan. When I heard that, I…I got a little crazy.”
“A little crazy?”
“I…we had a fight. It was my fault. It was stupid.”
“Well,” Nelson said, finally turning to his daughter, “she wants to come home now. She said she got a job with one of the artists in town…something about a special deal she arranged with the chairman down there.”
“She’s coming home,” Bri whispered, her heart sinking as she tried to understand what that meant. And she didn’t call me.
“You know, Bri, I think a lot of her. Hell, I love her.” He cleared his throat again and searched his shirt pocket for his Tums. When he found one, he pulled it out, tore off the wrapper, and chewed it vigorously. “I know she doesn’t have anywhere else to stay here, not with the way her old man always treated her. But…you’re my daughter. If it’s going to be a problem—”
“No!” Bri shook her head. “No, it’s no problem. It’s fine.”
“Because I thought,” Nelson persisted, “maybe, you’d be moving back in sometime.”
“Uh…I planned on getting an apartment. I just…haven’t…yet.” There was something about being at Reese and Tory’s that felt right, comforting. And living at home would make her feel too much like a kid again.
“You could visit, you know.” His voice was soft, his eyes uncertain.
“I will,” Bri said quietly. “I’m sorry…about the thing…about school.”
“Well, Reese says you’re not half bad in the field, so maybe you made the right decision.”
“Yeah?” Bri almost grinned, but her thoughts were still on Caroline. Is she coming home to be with me? It killed her that she didn’t know anymore.
“So you’re okay with Caroline staying with me?”
“Absolutely. This is her home, too. And I don’t want her going anywhere near her old man.”
“Is there something I don’t know about Caroline and her father?” Nelson regarded his daughter steadily. “I know the guy is a grade-A asshole, but is there something you two never told me? Because if there is—”
“He hit her a couple of times,” Bri said abruptly. Just the thought of anyone touching Caroline made her insides twist. “But he never went near her…sexually.” Bri laughed mirthlessly. “If he’d ever tried, Carre would’ve killed him…or I would have.”
Nelson believed her. “I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, Bri. But if you…if you love her, you should try to make it right.”
Bri was momentarily speechless. It was the most he’d ever said about her and Caroline’s relationship. He’d given them a home and given them his protection when they’d needed it, but he’d never really said very much about their being together. His saying it now brought unexpected tears to her eyes, and she had to look out the window and blink.
“I love her,” she whispered, watching a gull bank steeply toward the ocean’s surface and disappear under the crest of a wave.
“That’s good then.” He started the engine and backed out of the parking place. “Good she’s coming home.”
*
When Bri and Nelson returned to the office, Reese was there at her desk leafing through a stack of papers. She motioned to Bri to join her. “We’re getting some feedback from the feelers you sent out.”
“Oh yeah?” Bri pulled over a chair and raised a questioning eyebrow. “What’s up?”
“There have been three suspicious fires on the Cape in as many months.” Reese pulled out several sheets of paper and passed them to Bri. “In addition, there were four others, all in a cluster around Providence or lower Massachusetts, in the past six months.”
“So,” Bri rapidly scanned the pages, “do you think we have a serial arsonist?”
“I don’t know. But I think we need to put that question to Ashley Walker.”
Slowly, Bri raised her head and met Reese’s eyes. “Do you think she has something to do with this?”
Reese shrugged. “I don’t think anything yet. But there’s more we need to find out. How’re your computer skills?”
“Pretty good.” Bri grinned.
“All right then. Make a spreadsheet with what we know about each fire—owner of record, insurers, net value of the properties, amount of the policy, policy beneficiaries—”
“Wait.” Bri flipped to a clean page in her notebook and wrote rapidly. “Okay, go ahead.”
“…and intervals between events. Pull up all the fire marshals’ reports and look for a pattern—time of day, incendiary method, anything indicating a signature. Review any witness statements. And let’s run a background check on Ashley Walker.”
Bri looked up from her notes. “Uh…any particular reason?”
“Not specifically. But information is our most potent weapon.” Reese studied her trainee intently. “Do you have a problem with looking into Ms. Walker?”
“No, ma’am,” Bri said crisply. “Not at all.”
“Would you happen to know where she’s staying in town?”
“Yes.” Now Bri blushed.
Reese stood and settled her cap down over her brow. “Then let’s go, Officer Parker.”
*
Ashley, barefoot and in a sleeveless red T-shirt with gray gym shorts, opened the door after the second knock. She had obviously just gotten up. Her hair had been hastily finger-combed, and her eyes were still hazy with sleep. Looking from Reese to Bri, she grinned lazily. “Come on in.”
Reese removed her cap and tucked it under one arm. Bri did the same.
“Sorry I can’t offer you coffee,” the redhead remarked, “but this place doesn’t have a kitchen.”
“No problem,” Reese replied. “Sorry to disturb you so early, but there are a couple of things I want to check with you.”
“If you don’t mind,” Ashley poured coffee from a thermos into a Styrofoam cup, “I’m going to finish this. I haven’t had my second cup yet, and it usually takes at least that much for me to get started in the morning. Thank God that Espresso Joe’s is just across the street.” She carried her coffee to a worn overstuffed chair and regarded her visitors, who were both still standing. “Somehow, I don’t think you came here to fill me in on the investigation.”
“Actually, Ms. Walker,” Reese used her official voice, “we were hoping that you could provide us with some assistance.”
She shrugged, curled up in the chair with her feet tucked beneath her, and smiled. “It’s your town, Sheriff. Your game.”
“That’s true,” Bri said before Reese could reply. “But we’re just coming into the inning, and you’ve been playing for a while.”
“I’m not sure I follow.” Ashley leaned back and regarded Bri over the top of her coffee cup as she slowly brought it to her lips. “What’s your point, Officer?”
“We wondered if you might have any information on similar occurrences.” Bri hooked one thumb over her gun belt and raised a dark brow.
“Now, how could I answer that when I don’t know anything about this occurrence?”
Reese smiled. “Were you a lawyer in a previous life, Ms. Walker?”
“No,” Ashley replied carefully, “as a matter of fact, Sheriff, I was a cop.”
“Then you appreciate our situation.” Reese didn’t miss a beat. “It would help us if you’d share whatever pertinent information you might have.”
Ashley blew out a breath. “I don’t know that I have any. I called the fire captain first thing this morning, and he promised me a look at the fire marshal’s report tomorrow. If I learn anything that has any bearing on your case, I’ll let you know.”
“That easy?” Reese raised an eyebrow.
Ashley’s gaze flickered to Bri and slowly traveled the length of her body. “Let’s just say it’s a favor.”
As they walked down the street toward the patrol car, Reese stopped Bri by her arm. “Is there anything you want to tell me about you and Ashley Walker?”
“No, ma’am,” Bri replied stiffly.
“This isn’
t personal, Bri. This is business.”
Meeting Reese’s eyes, Bri said steadily. “There’s nothing going on of a personal nature. I told you everything that happened the other night.”
Except what you were doing out until quarter to four in the morning. And that’s none of my business. And I still want to know. Reese drew a long breath and let it out slowly. “Good enough. Let’s go hunt down Alan Peterson. If he told Ms. Walker that he’d have something for her on the fire tomorrow, he has something today.”
Once they were settled in the car, Reese began to drive slowly through town. They did this run multiple times throughout their shift, just watching the traffic flow and the various pedestrians roaming in and out of the many small shops.
At length, Bri commented quietly, “Carre is coming back for the summer, after all.”
“Well, when did this happen?”
“She called my dad this morning. She’s going to stay with him.”
“How do you feel about that arrangement?” Reese kept the surprise from her voice.
“I’m okay with it.”
“And how do you feel about her coming back here for the summer?”
Bri turned her cap aimlessly in her hands. “I wanted her to come before, but she said she couldn’t. Now she’s coming, and we’re not even speaking.”
“There’s a fairly simple way to change that.”
Bri cast Reese a questioning glance.
“Bri.” Reese shook her head and smothered a small smile. “Call her on the phone.”
*
Bri hooked a boot heel over the bottom rail of the split-log fence that ran between the Meeting House and the building next door. Leaning a shoulder against the side of the pay phone kiosk, she listened to the repetitive ringing on the other end. Her heart pounded and her palms were damp. She could’ve called from Reese and Tory’s, but she wanted to be alone. In the middle of Commercial Street at eight at night, she was hardly alone, but somehow the anonymous faces passing by made her feel invisible.
