In the Shadow of the Shield (Secret Lives Series Book 2)

by Carolyn LaRoche

  ***

  Seven a.m. rolled around much too quickly. The alarm sounded, and Diana groaned. She hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep, and every muscle in her body ached, especially her neck and shoulders. She had neglected to take her pain meds before going to bed, and her body was letting her know.

  A hot shower later, she stood in the bathroom studying the angry bruises that seemed to get uglier with each passing moment.

  “You look like you’ve been hit by a truck. Oh wait, you were,” Diana said, addressing her reflection.

  “Bye, Mom! I’m heading out!” Jackson called from outside her bedroom door.

  “Have a good day!” she called back.

  The slamming door was the only reply she got. At least Jackson would be gone when Carter got there. She wasn’t ready to explain anything to her son yet—just in case nothing came of what they were doing.

  When the doorbell rang a half hour later, she was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a fleece pullover. Her shoulder-length hair had dried wild and curly, serving as a bit of a distraction from the hot mess that was her face. Grabbing her purse and slipping into her jacket, Diana opened the door and greeted Carter with a big smile. He was rubbing his hands and stomping his feet. She had to give him credit, he tried hard to hide his wince when he saw her bruises.

  “This has got to be a record-setting cold.”

  “Yeah. Sometimes I forget where we live. We shouldn’t be this cold—ever.”

  With his hand at the small of her back, Carter guided her down the steps and into the passenger side of his pickup truck. She tried to ignore the tingling his touch incited. The vehicle was running, and the heat in the cab hit her full blast as he pulled the door open.

  Scrambling inside and situating herself, she was clicking her seatbelt closed when Carter climbed into the driver’s seat. Out of nowhere, a wave of panic washed over her. She hadn’t considered the fact that she was now terrified to get into a vehicle.

  Look, Di, you need to get it together here. You have to get into a car again sooner or later. Might as well be today.

  Her hands shook, so she crossed her arms to try and hide it. Carter was quick, though, and he shot her a sideways glance. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine. Just cold.”

  Her lie seemed sound to her, since it was polar cold outside. Apparently the man was not only hot, but perceptive as well.

  “I’m very cautious when I drive, but with you in the car, I promise to be extra careful.”

  She looked at him and nodded. “I trust you, but if it’s all the same, I’m going to close my eyes for a bit.”

  Picking up her hand, he gave it a little squeeze. “You do what you have to do.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, closing her eyes. Carter backed the truck out of the driveway and eased it down her street. By the time they reached the corner and turned onto Virginia Beach Boulevard, her eyes were open. She still gripped the door handle, and her eyes darted all over the place looking for potential accidents, but she slowly relaxed enough to at least stop shaking like a leaf on a tree in a hurricane.

  “See, this isn’t so bad, now is it?” He reached over and took her hand again. Somewhere inside her a little voice told her to take her hand back, but she told that voice to shut up.

  “I’ll survive. I had no idea how scary it would be getting back in a car. I wonder how I’ll manage driving again.”

  Carter pulled the truck onto the interstate. “You’ll be fine. I’m completely sure of that.”

  “Maybe.” Diana watched out the window as they passed other vehicles. “How fast are you going?”

  “The speed limit is sixty-five, so I’m going sixty-five. I promise.” She glanced over at the speedometer and saw that he told the truth. Donnie never went the posted speed limit. He used to joke that the signs were just guidelines. It made her absolutely crazy, especially when Jackson was a baby. “I’m a professional driver,” he used to tell her, and then he would laugh.

  “Sorry. I don’t mean to be such a baby.”

  “There’s nothing to be sorry about. You’ve had a rough couple of days with the accident, and now we are going to the place that caused your husband’s death. That’s a lot to put on one person.”

  “I’m not usually so difficult about everything.”

  Carter laughed. “You’re not being difficult.”

  “I am. And it pisses me off. I pride myself on being the strong cop’s wife who can handle anything that comes her way, and the first sign of adversity has me whining like a two-year-old. Of course, I’m not a cop’s wife anymore. I suppose when Donnie died, I lost my membership.”

  “Nope. I heard that once a cop’s wife, always a cop’s wife. Well, except my ex. She’s a crazy bitch, so she lost that title the day she left. She didn’t deserve it anyway.”

  “I hate that your marriage went south so quickly. You deserve a good wife.”

  “I’m not sorry.” He glanced at her and smiled. She knew exactly what he was hinting at, and, quite frankly, she had to agree. She returned a shy smile, hoping he didn’t notice the flush building in her cheeks.

  “I suppose her loss will be another lucky woman’s gain.”

  “I’m not so sure any woman would like to marry an old, cynical cop like me.”

  “You’d be surprised. Some women are really good at loving old, cynical cops.”

  “That’s what I’m banking on,” Carter said.

  Suddenly feeling hot, Diana opened the window and let the cool air rush over her face. It had been a lifetime since any man had flirted with her. It was amazing and unnerving all at once.

  They left the interstate at the Lynnhaven exit. Carter took Lynnhaven Parkway across Virginia Beach Boulevard, and into one of the neighborhoods. At the end of a dead end street, he stopped in front of a small ranch house with a detached garage. The windows were boarded up, and ‘No Trespassing’ signs were plastered randomly to the front of the structure. Brown, overgrown weeds blew gently in the chill breeze, and the bushes beneath a large picture window were wild and ragged. The whole property gave off an eerie vibe.

  “This is the house Donnie went to? If it was a meth lab, why is it still standing?”

  “Once the city cleared it, they told the owner to knock it down, but the owner refuses. He insists if the city wants it gone, they should take it down, and he shouldn’t have to foot the bill. They are tied up in court over it currently.”

  “Was he the one cooking?”

  “No, it was a rental. We aren’t sure who was in there.” Carter pulled away from the curb and turned his truck around. They drove about a block before he pulled down a side street and shut the truck off. He turned to her. “You ready? We’re going to hike it a little bit. I’m parking down here, so no one sees my truck and associates it with the house.”

  She nodded. “I’ve got this. No more acting like a big baby.”

  Carter jumped down from the truck and jogged around the front to meet her as she opened her door. Without giving Diana a chance to exit the truck, Carter reached in and lifted her down. The feminist in her wanted to complain about the presumptuous act, but the rest of her burned for the close contact as he set her on her feet.

  “You didn’t need to do that.”

  “I know,” he replied with a wink. “I wanted to.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Her mastery of the English language was downright terrible when Carter looked at her like that. “Wait! I need my bag.” She reached in and grabbed her purse off the seat.

  “What do you need a purse for?”

  It was her turn to flirt a little. “You never know. A girl’s gotta be prepared for whatever comes her way.”

  Carter led the way back to the dead end, and then down the rutted driveway to the back of the house. “This door is the one that was open yesterday.” He indicated a back door as they climbed the steps of the small deck. As they walked to the door, Diana tested each board carefully. The entire deck seemed ready to collapse at a momen
t’s notice.

  “When was the last time anyone actually lived in this dump?”

  “About a year ago.” Carter pulled on some black latex gloves and tried the knob. It wouldn’t turn. “Damn it. The door is locked. Who the hell would come here and lock the door?”

  “It doesn’t matter, I can get us in. Do you have another pair of gloves?”

  He looked at her, his expression questioning, but pulled a second pair of gloves from his jacket pocket. She pulled them on, then dug into her bag for the little packet of lock pick tools Donnie had given to her shortly after they moved into their house.

  “What are—hey, are those lock-picking tools?”

  Diana giggled as she started to work on the lock. “Yeah. I used to lock myself out of the house so much, Donnie bought them as a gag gift a long time ago. I took it upon myself to learn how to use them. I figured a girl’s gotta have skills, you know?”

  “I have a feeling you are full of all kinds of surprises.”

  “Officer, you have only begun to navigate the surface of the waters that make up Diana Massey.”

  “Hmmm…is that an offer to swim deeper? I like a good challenge.”

  The tumbler inside the lock clicked, and the door opened. “After you, Officer.”

  Diana stowed her toolkit in her bag and followed Carter inside the small house. The lingering scent of bleach caught her nostrils. “Why do I smell bleach?”

  “I don’t know. Bleach is not what they usually use to decontaminate a meth lab.”

  “Well, someone decontaminated something, because that’s a lot of bleach.” They stood in the kitchen. Nothing looked amiss. An old table with a couple of mismatched chairs sat by a plywood-covered window. A couple of grimy plates were in the sink, and a funky smell emanated from the trash can.

  “Follow me,” Carter said. “Damn, I should’ve grabbed my flashlight out of the truck.”

  “No worries.” Diana dug into her bag and pulled out two penlights.

  “You carry two flashlights?”

  “What if one dies?”

  Carter shook his head. “You are either the best Girl Scout ever, or you have a serious case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

  “Or, and this is the best option, I was married to a man that liked to be prepared for anything. I might have picked up a tip or two.”

  “A lot of the veteran cops talk about being prepared a lot. Mills, especially.”

  She chuckled as she followed him into the next room. “So, you know Jason, huh?”

  “Yeah. All I can say is—his poor wife! I hear she can’t leave the house without a bodyguard these days.”

  “Cyndi does okay. Jason’s not that bad—well, okay, maybe he is—but he is a really good guy.”

  “How’s she doing after being kidnapped and almost sold into the slave trade, anyway?”

  “About as good as can be expected. Cyndi is tough. She recovered well.”

  “The boys say she can really work a pole. Too bad I wasn’t on the case that night.”

  “If you like that adorable smile of yours, I wouldn’t say that to Jason Mills.”

  He grinned at her over his shoulder. “You think I’m adorable?”

  Diana shoved him in the shoulder. “Just do your job, cop man, this place is giving me the willies. And that bleach smell—oh, man.”

  They were standing in the living room. An old sofa was shoved against one wall. A small television, complete with a set of rabbit ear antennae, sat in front of it. That was it for furniture. The wood boards of the floor were damaged and stained, particularly in one corner of the room.

  “Look over there.” Diana pointed to the corner. “The floor looks wet.”

  Carter aimed his flashlight in the direction she indicated, and illuminated the large dark spot. “Hmm…” He walked toward it, and Diana followed. By the time they stood over the patch, the bleach smell had become unbearable.

  “Someone poured a bottle of bleach here.” Diana pinched her nose between two fingers. “I can actually taste it.”

  “Why would someone dump cleaning products in the corner of a living room?” Carter flashed his light around. Nothing else seemed to be disturbed. As he brought the light around and back to the wet spot, Diana caught sight of something. Shining her own light on the wood floor close to the wall, she illuminated the perfect impression of a shoe in the dust.

  “Did you enter the house yesterday when you were here?”

  “What? No. I checked the door, and then went to your place. It was way too dark, and I didn’t want anyone to see my flashlight.”

  She pointed toward the print. “Someone has been in here recently.”

  Carter pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and snapped a few pictures of the footprint and the wet spot on the floor. The back door opened, and then closed. Diana froze, and Carter put a finger to his lips, silently telling her to be quiet. Footsteps and muted voices filtered in from the kitchen. He pointed to the front door, and she nodded, understanding. They made their way along the wall silently. Diana held her breath as Carter slowly flipped the lock and turned the knob, inching the door open.

  “Stop right there!” Diana and Carter froze. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

  They both raised their hands and slowly turned to face the voice. Diana found herself looking down the barrel of a shotgun.

  “Morgan? What the hell are you doing?”

  “Ryan? What are you doing here? And who’s that?” He motioned to Diana with the shotgun.

  “What’s goin’ on in there, Morgan?” A second man stepped into the room.

  “Bassett?” Carter dropped his hands. “Will you put that thing away, Morgan?”

  “What the hell, Ryan?” The man called Bassett cursed.

  “I should say the same. Where do you two get off?”

  “We got a call that someone broke into the place, and then we find you here. What are you two up to?”

  “This is Diana Massey.”

  “Massey?” Morgan said, understanding registering in his eyes. “Oh. Massey’s widow.”

  She grimaced, and Morgan shot her a look of apology. “Sorry, ma’am.”

  “It’s still hard to think of myself as a widow.”

  “Your husband was a good guy,” Bassett said. “I’m real sorry for your loss.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why you two are poking around in here,” Morgan said.

  “Mrs. Massey wanted to see the place where her husband last was. This being his one year and all, I thought I would oblige her and give her a chance at some closure.”

  Bassett nodded. “I get it, but you know you should have cleared it with the sergeant. This place has no trespassing signs all over it. You coulda been shot—or worse.”

  “No one broke in. The door was open when I checked it.” She wasn’t sure why he was lying, but Diana kept her mouth shut. Morgan and Bassett shared a quick look before Morgan turned his attention back to them.

  “Well, no harm, no foul, then. Ma’am, again, I’m very sorry ‘bout Massey. I hope seeing the place has helped you to put him to rest. Have a good day now.”

  With that, he dismissed them. She expected Carter to push the issue, find out more about why they were there, but he didn’t. He took her by the hand, and led her out the front door and to his truck. When they were a safe distance from the house, she asked him about it.

  “Why did we leave so quickly?”

  “I’m not sure. Something didn’t feel quite right.”

  She breathed in deeply. “I’m just happy to get some fresh air. That bleach was sickening.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “Do you think the two of them are somehow involved?”

  Carter didn’t answer right away. She was about to repeat herself when he spoke. “I don’t think so. They were on duty, and they let us see them there.”

  They were passing by some tall bushes at the edge of someone’s yard. The leaves beside her rustled a little,
and she peered inside, looking for a bird or a squirrel. Seeing nothing, Diana started walking again, until something grabbed her arm and yanked it. Diana screamed, and everything went black.

  Chapter Nine

  “Diana?”

  Her eyes blinked open so that she looked straight into the worried face of Carter. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

  Carter grinned. “I don’t know. I sort of like you in my lap.”

  She reached up and socked him on the arm. “What happened?”

  “You fainted.” She tried to sit up, but Carter held her head still in his lap. “Give it a second before you start moving around.”

  “What happened?” she asked again.

  Carter nodded at the unkempt young man sitting on the curb, his hands cuffed behind his back. “Says his name’s Lookie Louie. He was spying on us and grabbed your arm. It scared you.”

  Right. She remembered. Something had grabbed her when they passed some bushes. She struggled to sit up and this time Carter helped her. “Why did you grab me?”

  “Hey, man I wasn’ tryn’a hurt no one. I jus’ wanna get yo’ attention.”

  “You forget how to speak English when you stopped bathing?” Carter snapped.

  “Hey, man, donna be so harsh. How ‘bout removin’ these here han’cuffs?”

  “How about you shut the hell up? Changed my mind. Why don’t you tell me why you are scaring the crap out of my lady friend?”

  He called her his lady friend. She kind of liked the sound of that.

  “I saw ya’ll comin’ outta the smoke house o’er there.”

  “Smoke house?” Carter asked.

  “Yeah. It be where the smoke used ta come outta at night.”

  “Seriously, man, is that the best you can do with the words? How about I tighten those cuffs. Maybe they will straighten out your vocabulary.”

  “What’cha got against me, man? I’s jus’ tryna help.”

  “So far, you haven’t helped at all. Let me call in for a patrol car to pick you up for loitering.”

  “All right. All right! Don’t do that.”

  “Look, Diana, Louie here is capable of forming whole words.”