Covert Lessons

by Mari Carr

  When Juan noticed where her gaze was, his smile grew bigger and crueler, if that was possible. “Look at her, Mitchell, she’s dying for a taste. You ever had a speedball, Ms. Finch? It’s my favorite—heroin and cocaine mixed together.”

  Her heart exploded into motion at the words “heroin and cocaine” and she began to struggle against the bonds holding her.

  Juan chuckled at her obvious panic. “Well, you know the magic word, bitch. Just say no,” he taunted, knowing full well she couldn’t speak around the gag in her mouth. “Just say no and I’ll stop.”

  She tried to get the word out clearly but the gag was effective and all that came out, no matter how hard she tried, was a muffled cry that sounded like a painful moan.

  “Not going to say it? Well, then you must want it. Bet you’re a regular druggie, Ms. Finch, aren’t you? Bet you go home and shoot it up all night,” Mitchell added to Juan’s taunts.

  Juan moved closer to her and she began once again to fight for freedom from the ropes holding her, knowing her attempts would be in vain. She shook her head despite the ripping pain that exploded behind her eyes at the movement.

  “You’re gonna like how this feels, Ms. Finch. Of course, I wouldn’t usually recommend quite so much for someone new to drugs. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if you OD’ed from this. I can’t wait ’til they find your body. Respectable teacher dies of a drug overdose. Think of all the kids who looked up to you, stayed after school for your fucking cookies. Wonder what they’ll say when they find out their English teacher was nothing but a junkie.”

  She tried to shrink away from the approaching needle but the ropes were unforgiving and she couldn’t move an inch.

  Mitchell moved closer as well and seemed excited at the prospect of watching her die slowly as the poisonous substance worked its way through her veins. She struggled to scream through the gag as Juan leaned forward to push the sharp syringe into her arm.

  Just as she felt the tip puncture her skin, the front door of the trailer slammed open and a man she didn’t know pointed a gun directly at Juan. Another man entered and held his weapon on Mitchell.

  “Drop that needle and step away from the woman!” the first man yelled.

  Juan stood frozen and for a moment, she thought he was going to disregard the man’s order. Finally, he dropped the needle. It tumbled into her lap as Juan straightened to face the man with the gun.

  “Get your hands up in the air!” the man yelled again—and it was only then that she spotted Mac. He was cuffing Chad, who was putting up no fight. The other two cops moved to do the same to Juan and Mitchell, who seemed to realize they’d been caught. Neither had been paying attention to the door and they hadn’t had the opportunity to pull their guns. The first cop began reciting the Miranda to Juan. “You have the right to remain silent…”

  That was all Kelly heard as Mac finally made it to her side. He pulled the handkerchief out of her mouth and used it to pick up the syringe from her lap. She didn’t have time to take a breath before his mouth landed on hers in a hard, fast kiss that told her exactly how worried he’d been.

  Not that she had to wait long for him to tell her in words as well. As quickly as he’d kissed her, he pulled back, his expression fierce. “What the hell were you thinking coming here by yourself?”

  She was so overwrought with emotion she didn’t know if she should laugh, cry or berate him for yelling at her. Instead, she merely stared at him before calmly answering. “I knew you’d come,” she whispered, her mouth dry and her throat sore from being gagged.

  Mac seemed to calm down at the sound of her voice, his hands moving down to untie the ropes around her wrists and feet. She watched him and detected the slight trembling of his fingers that slowed his progress.

  A siren sounded directly outside the door.

  “That’ll be the ambulance. Kelly, sweetheart. You’re hurt. You need to go to the hospital.”

  At his words, she remembered her reason for coming in the first place as rescue workers piled into the already-crowded house.

  “José…he’s hurt,” she said, looking around for her student, wincing at the effort. An EMT was helping the young man sit up. “Mrs. Alvarado,” she continued, her breathing shallow and painful as she struggled to get out the words. “She’s in the bedroom. I think she may have pneumonia.”

  Mac, still kneeling in front of her, got another EMT’s attention and pointed him toward the bedroom, explaining the situation. Once she felt certain José and his mother were being cared for, she closed her eyes and relaxed a bit before sensing Mac’s undivided attention on her.

  She cracked her eyelids and imagined how dreadful she must look. Her entire face hurt and every feature—her eyes, nose, lips and cheeks—felt at least ten times bigger than their normal size. She continued taking only shallow gasps as any deep breath that filled her lungs ripped through her like a thousand daggers.

  “Don’t look at me. I’m a mess,” she attempted to joke, recalling saying the same thing to him after their lovemaking the previous night.

  He obviously recalled as well as he answered in turn. “Yeah, but you’re a gorgeous mess.”

  She started to laugh, but the reaction soon turned to a painful intake of breath. “Shit,” she cursed through gritted teeth. “Don’t make me laugh. I hurt all over.”

  His face softened at her words, though she could sense the tight grip he had on his emotions. She wished she could tell what feelings he was holding back. Anger? Annoyance? Fear?

  “I think you may have some broken ribs, Kell.”

  She nodded only once. Any movement of her head set off another round of blinding explosions behind her eyes.

  “Jesus, Kelly,” he muttered, and she saw the first crack in his composure. “You’re killing me, baby. When we broke in here and I saw you tied to that chair, Juan shoving that needle—”

  His words broke briefly and she longed to comfort her brave champion. “Mac,” she started, but the weakness in her voice only fueled his emotions more.

  “Never, never do such a foolish thing again!” he barked. “Promise me, Kelly. Promise me you’ll never put your life in danger again because I swear to God, I can’t…I can’t lose you.”

  Tears escaped before she could hold them back. “Mac,” she began again, but they were interrupted by an EMT.

  “Ma’am, we need to take a look at your injuries.”

  Mac quickly rose to his feet and helped the rescue worker lift Kelly gently to the stretcher.

  He stayed beside her, helping as they loaded her into the ambulance. He started to climb in with her when he felt Shotsie’s hand on his shoulder. “We need to clean up the mess here. There’s a chance we can get back to the warehouse and back into position before the meeting breaks up.”

  He knew Shotsie was attempting to gently remind him that he had a job to do.

  “Kelly is in good hands, Mac. She’s safe and they’ll look after her.”

  He glanced up and saw her watching their interaction.

  “Go on,” she whispered. “Finish this, Mac. Finish it once and for all.”

  He wanted to refuse, to say to hell with the job. He needed to be with her, but she wouldn’t be denied.

  “You’re a good cop, Mac.”

  He held up a finger for Shotsie to wait. He climbed into the ambulance and leaned down to her, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “I’ll come to the hospital as soon as I can.”

  She smiled at him and he could see what the expression was costing her in pain. “Don’t worry. I’ll be waiting, Lieutenant.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kelly opened her eyes and for just a moment tried to figure out where she was. Looking to her left she saw an IV in her arm, and to her right she saw Mac. He was dozing in the chair beside her bed. Somehow he must have sensed she was awake because his eyes opened slowly and he smiled.

  “Hiya, gorgeous,” he said, his charming smile so sweet she wanted to cry at the sight of it and she felt te
ars forming in her eyes.

  His smile turned quickly to a concerned frown. “Hey, Kell, what is it, sweetheart? Are you in pain? Don’t cry.”

  His words were her undoing and she couldn’t hold back the tears that started to flow. Moving forward, he slowly lay next to her on the bed and gently took her in his arms. “It’s okay. You’re okay now. Please don’t cry.”

  “I k-know,” she stuttered, gasping between sobs. “It’s just I was so scared and I thought I was going to d‑die.” As she spoke the words, the fear rushed back and she started to cry harder. “Oh God,” she sighed out breathlessly, her cries ceasing in a moment. “Oh shit, that hurts.”

  He leaned up on his elbow and offered her a crooked grin. “I told you not to cry. You have several bruised ribs and having been there, done that, I can tell you right now, you may want to avoid crying, laughing and—God, I can’t believe I’m saying this—sex for a few days.”

  Somehow, his smartass comments soothed her more than any crying jag would have and she giggled before gasping at the sharp pain the movement produced.

  “What did I just say about laughing?” he teased. Despite his light air and smile, she could see it was costing him to act so nonchalant.

  “I’m okay, Mac. Just feeling stupid. I should never have gone into that house alone. I knew better.”

  He shrugged off her words. “Kelly, fact is you were needed there. The doctor who’s looking after Mrs. Alvarado said she wouldn’t have survived another week without medical care. You saved that woman’s life.”

  The mention of Mrs. Alvarado perked her up and she suddenly felt ashamed for her self-pity. “And José? How is he? Is he okay?”

  Mac placed his hand on her shoulder to keep her from trying to rise. “He’s fine. Sleeping peacefully just down the hall. I looked in on him about half an hour ago. Nurse says he’s sedated and probably won’t wake ‘til morning.”

  “But he’s okay?”

  “Kelly, he’s fine. Bit more banged up than you, but nothing that his young body can’t recover from.”

  “What about Juan? Is he in jail?” She realized she’d missed hearing the end of the story. She’d known from the serious look on Mac’s face outside the Alvarado house that something had been going down, but she hadn’t heard exactly what was said between him and his partner.

  He grinned. “Well, sweetheart, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got same bad news. What do you want first?”

  She frowned, uncertain she wanted to hear any news at all until his face broke out in a smile and she realized he was back to teasing.

  “The good news,” she replied.

  “I won’t be staking out in your classroom anymore.”

  Her heart plummeted at his answer. “What’s the bad news?”

  “I won’t be staking out in your classroom anymore,” he answered, and she grinned.

  “The students won’t like that. I’m fairly certain I can list at least fifteen girls who have a crush on you and I’ve caught more than a few of them attaching your last name to their first in their notebooks. A lot of teenage-girl fantasies are about to be dashed.”

  “I think I’m more concerned about their teacher’s fantasies,” he said, raising his hand and running it through her hair.

  “Are you suggesting that her fantasies are about to be dashed?” She narrowed her eyes. “Because I seem to recall some promises made on your part about what would happen at the end of this case. Something about a week’s worth of sleepless nights.”

  She felt his body go hard and she was quite certain it wasn’t his knee that was suddenly pressing against her hip.

  “Oh Kelly, you don’t have to worry about any of your fantasies going unfulfilled.”

  “Kiss me, Mac.”

  He grinned at her request and studied her face for a moment. When he failed to move, she frowned. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “I’m trying to figure out where to kiss you that won’t hurt.” Continuing to look at her with false seriousness, he finally said, “Aha!” and promptly kissed her left eyebrow.

  She scowled when he moved back. “Just for the record, Lieutenant, that particular kiss was not in any of my fantasies.”

  “None of them?” he asked with fake astonishment and she merely shook her head in response. “Well, tough, that’s going to have to do until the rest of you heals. Christ, woman, you’re one giant bruise and I’m not about to attempt to kiss any part of you for a while.”

  “I don’t see what harm a little kiss would do. What happened to the concept of kissing something better?” she pouted.

  “Kelly, there is no such thing as a little kiss with you and I’m not sure all the kisses in the world can take care of your boo-boos as quickly as you might wish. Besides, one taste of you, sweetheart, and I want the whole enchilada—and believe me, you are not ready for that.”

  She shrugged in grudging agreement. “I guess you’re right. So what happened after you arrested Juan?”

  He explained about Rodney’s beat-in, their suspicions regarding the gang’s leaders and the sting operation. “So by the time we got back to the warehouse, the team was just about to move in. They never saw us coming. Rodney was on guard duty and he managed to take out the other two guards before we went in, so the gunfire was minimal. One of our guys got a flesh wound in his arm and a couple of the gang members suffered some superficial wounds. We arrested Leo Carlson and he’s been charged with drug trafficking and a bunch of other things that will pretty much ensure him a long and not-so-happy life in jail.”

  “And Juan?”

  His face sobered up at her question. “He’s got the same drug charge, but we added assault and attempted murder to his charges since the lab determined he was injecting you with a lethal dose of cocaine and heroin.”

  She shuddered at the thought. “He said he wanted me to OD. He thought it would be funny if all the kids at school thought I was a junkie.”

  He growled. “He’s lucky I didn’t rip him limb from limb. I’d like to go grab his ass outta lockup and teach him a lesson he won’t ever forget. Slimy bastard.”

  She smiled at his defense of her. “You arrested him, Mac, and you’ve made sure that he doesn’t sell his poison to anyone else. That’s enough for me.”

  “It’s not enough for me,” he muttered. She leaned up to place a soft kiss on his jaw and attempted to change the subject away from Juan.

  “What about Mitchell and Chad? What happened to them?”

  “Mitchell’s been charged with assault and accessory to attempted murder, as well as possession, and Chad, when I left the station, was singing like a canary. Turning state’s evidence no doubt, to plead for a lesser charge.”

  “In his defense,” she said, “I don’t think he was comfortable in his role of gangster. You know the expression, ‘Be careful what you wish for’?”

  Mac nodded.

  “Well, I could see Chad was really sorry his wish had been granted. I think he wanted out of that trailer as badly as I did.”

  He didn’t seem appeased by the comment. “I don’t give a shit if he was sorry or not. The little bastard got the rope they used to tie you up. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that. You should have pressed assault charges against that kid after the fight with Scotty. Dammit, Kelly, are you seriously going to sit here and defend him again?”

  She sighed. “No, Mac. He was wrong and he should be punished. I just don’t think hard time in prison or even juvenile detention is what Chad needs. He’s a stupid bully, but I really think he learned a hard lesson in that trailer today. He was terrified.”

  He looked prepared to launch into yet another tirade, but she held her hand up to halt it. “Forget I said anything.”

  She watched him take a deep breath and beat back his comments. “Yeah, well, looks like the DA is going to side with you on this one anyway. With the evidence Chad’s providing and his lack of a prior record, he’ll most likely be bailed out by his parents if he hasn’t been already
and end up with nothing more than probation and community service hours. I heard the dad ranting and raving in the hallway to his wife, saying something about sending Chad to military school.”

  She stifled a yawn but he caught sight of it. “That’s it. Enough talk. You need to get some sleep.”

  She tried to argue. “I don’t want to sleep here. I want to go home.”

  He shook his head. “Doc says you’ve got a concussion and you’re staying here tonight for observation. If you’re a good girl and behave yourself, maybe I’ll put in a word with the doctor and see if I can get you sprung tomorrow.”

  Her eyes started to drift shut. “If you bail me out, doesn’t that make you responsible for me?”

  “Oh I’m responsible for you, baby. No doubt about that. You’re mine, remember? Now go to sleep.”

  * * * * *

  Mac was true to his word and she’d been released from the hospital the following day. Kelly grinned as she stirred the pot of chili she was cooking for dinner. For the past three weeks he had taken his sense of responsibility for her to new limits and tonight, that was going to end.

  The first week after she was released from the hospital, he would only let her out of bed for bathroom breaks, insisting that she needed rest to recover. Finally, she’d blown her top and thrown her alarm clock at him one morning when he’d told her she should stay in bed “just one more day”. She’d demanded that he back off and he did, but grudgingly.

  The second week, he’d followed her around like a shadow, not allowing her to pick up anything, insisting that lifting wasn’t good for her bruised ribs. She’d cured him of that annoying habit by sneaking into the kitchen, coming out armed with a skillet and threatening to give him a concussion of his own if he didn’t leave her alone. When he’d seen her hefting the heavy skillet with ease, he’d shrugged and given in, but not gracefully.

  The third week, they’d waged a battle of mammoth proportions when she’d announced she was returning to work. He’d tried every trick in the book to stop her, even stooping so low as to call Mr. Hallstrom and her doctor to rally support from them. She’d persevered, however, and won, although he’d absolutely put his foot down about her reinstating her afternoon study sessions right away. He always arrived at the school promptly at the last bell and drove her home each day, lecturing to her the entire way about overdoing it.