by Lori Ryan
What had this woman’s childhood been like? Eve had to wonder if, in some ways, Rebecca Evans had seen her efforts at picking up where the police officers of New Haven had left off as the ultimate way to screw over her father for the childhood she’d been denied. Or maybe it was penance for things her father had made her do before she left him. Their source from the militia group had been fairly sure the General had started having Rebecca use the training he’d instilled in her. He wasn’t sure what he’d had her do, but there had been times he’d taken Rebecca away from the group for days at a time. Some speculated he had been auctioning off her services as a sniper around the country.
If they took her in alive, they might have the opportunity to find out if there was any truth to those claims. Either way, Eve had the sense that this woman was someone who’d been utterly failed by the people who should have protected her as a child. From her dad to the rest of the adults around her, and all the way down to a system of child protective services that probably should have had this child on their radar, but didn’t seem to have even been aware of what she’d been going through.
Who trains a child to be a soldier?
Cal signaled and they began to move, splitting up to circle around Rebecca as she headed toward the back of the lot. She was going to cut through other yards. Cafferty and Reynolds were still ten minutes out. There was no way to wait for them with Rebecca on the move. With any luck, they could either follow her and wait for backup, or contain her until the pair could arrive.
They didn’t have luck. Within minutes, Rebecca sidled up to a car parked in a neighbor’s driveway, using the cover of darkness to remain unseen by the homeowners.
Eve shouted. “FBI, Rebecca, show me your hands!”
She heard Cal come up beside her. Rebecca raised a hand and Cal shouted, “Gun!” As Cal tackled Eve out of the way of the shot, Rebecca turned and fled on foot.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Go. Go!” Eve waved Cal off and he charged down the driveway in the direction Rebecca had run.
Eve didn’t waste time brushing the dirt from her pants as she stood. She drew her weapon, finger on the slide, and took off after them.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
The chase stopped almost as quickly as it had started. Rebecca had nowhere to go. She’d run down the side of a yard a few houses over, but a fence cut off her escape and Cal was too close behind for her to try to scale it.
“It’s time to stop, Rebecca!” Cal called out, eyes glued to the weapon she held on him. He had his weapon raised as well, putting them in the fun position of a standoff, each one waiting for the other to make a move.
Her eyes were wild now and he knew she understood there was nowhere to go. The brick side of the house flanked her on the left, the six-foot wooden fence closed her in on the back and right sides. She seemed to get herself somewhat under control as he watched, drawing on some reserve that allowed her to speak to him as she held her weapon steady. “I can’t do that.” She all but whispered the words and he wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him or herself.
“We know you didn’t mean to hurt Officer Burke, Rebecca. We understand what you were trying to do.”
Her answer was almost pleading. Pleading for forgiveness or understanding, or what, he didn’t know. “He stepped in when it was too late for me to do anything about it. He just…” She didn’t finish the sentence, as though she couldn’t offer any further explanation.
“You were trying to help. I understand that, Rebecca. It’s time now to come in, though. Just come on in with me, and we’ll talk.”
He could almost see the exhaustion weighing on her as she held her arms aloft, gun trained on him. Cafferty and Reynolds had to be coming soon.
Cal saw movement behind the fence and knew it was Eve. He kept his eyes trained on Rebecca, not wanting to alert her to what Eve was doing.
Because Eve was climbing. He couldn’t see what she was climbing on because the fence blocked his view and all his focus had to be on Rebecca, but she was still a good six feet back from the fence. There must be some structure there she was going to use to get to Rebecca.
“You need to let me leave.” He saw her gun come up a fraction of an inch as though she were fortifying herself for the shot. She was certainly capable of it. The woman had proven that. Not only on a skill level, but from an emotional level. She’d proven herself capable of taking life more than once. But he was banking on the fact she wouldn’t want to kill another officer. She had to have a code of ethics that told her who she could and couldn’t harm, and he was willing to bet officers weren’t on her list.
“I can’t do that, Rebecca. I can’t let you go.”
The next seconds happened so quickly, and yet, time slowed down all the same. He felt like he was moving through a vat of molasses, and one that had been in the refrigerator, at that.
Eve’s foot must have hit something as she moved along the top of the fence. The sound of metal scraping metal, of something falling rent the air. He saw Rebecca spin, her weapon training on Eve as she turned.
Cal squeezed once, twice. Dead center mass. A double tap to the body. But Rebecca’s weapon had gone off as well. She’d gotten a shot off and Eve’s body fell to the ground behind the fence.
“Jesus, no. God please, no.” Cal said. He heard approaching cars, heard shouts from confused neighbors. “Police officer, stay back!” he shouted as he approached Rebecca Evans, one hand still holding his gun on her as he felt for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there. He picked up her weapon and pocketed it, then holstered his gun. “I’m a police officer. Go back into your homes until my backup arrives,” he called out.
Cafferty and Reynolds arrived, taking over with Rebecca Evans, Reynolds applying pressure to her wounds as Cafferty barked at Cal. “We got this. Go!”
Cal didn’t need to be told twice. He needed to get to Eve. God help him, he could not lose her. He just couldn’t.
“Eve! Eve!” Cal could hear the panic in his own voice. Once again, it had come down to him praying he’d gotten a shot off fast enough to save his partner. Only this time, his partner was so much more to him. She was…everything, he realized.
For the first time, he understood what Jarrod felt for Carrie. What it meant to want to spend the rest of forever getting to know someone. To know everything about that person, yet still discover something new each day you were with them. He wanted that with Eve. All of it with Eve.
A life, maybe kids if she wanted them. He’d never asked her. He needed to ask her if she wanted to have kids.
“Eve!” He wrenched open the gate and his heart seemed to kick over in his chest, almost as though it had stopped and was starting again—which wasn’t possible since all it had done was pound uncontrollably for the last few minutes.
Eve was rolling onto her side, coming up onto her knees, one arm wrapped around her middle.
Had she been hit? A stomach wound would be bad. Really bad. “Eve.” He breathed her name as he skidded to a stop, hands covering hers as his eyes scanned for blood. “Are you hit?”
She shook her head at him and moved to stand and run, ready to get back in the fight.
Cal pressed her back. “She’s down. She’s down, it’s over.”
Eve’s eyes met his and he read there the same relief he felt. They’d stopped the sniper.
This arrest was great for the force and great for the city. They’d needed it.
But it was more than that. It also meant Cal and Eve didn’t have to wait. Didn’t have to fight against what they were feeling anymore.
Behind him, he could hear the commotion of an ambulance arriving, of officers and agents coming on scene. Of neighbors and bystanders asking questions. He didn’t focus on any of it. He focused on Eve, thinking only of when he could get her out of here.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Sadly, the pace of police work didn’t allow for whisking Eve off for a private recovery of their own. And to be honest, Cal wasn’t sure he’d
have been able to convince her to go with him if it had. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure where she stood on the issue of them dating when this was over. She’d suffered some cuts and bruises from her fall off the fence, but Rebecca’s bullet had gone wide. Forensics had pulled it out of the tree next to the fence.
Rebecca Evans had one bullet in her shoulder and another in her chest. She’d been taken right into surgery. The doctors expected her to pull through, but there were never any givens with those kind of injuries. She’d be in surgery for hours and then in recovery. Of course, she would be under lock and key, with officers on her door at all times, but Cal suspected it would be days, if not weeks, before they could interview her. Waiting on something like that sucked. There was nowhere to put the pent-up energy they’d built up on the chase and takedown.
It was like running a sprint and then being stopped two feet short of the finish line and told you had to wait. And wait.
This was the part of the job Cal hated. Writing reports. Eve didn’t seem to struggle with it. She’d had her head down, typing away since they got back. She looked up now and smiled at him and he felt that stupid grin cross his face again. Seriously, he must look like an idiot. And, somehow, he just didn’t care.
“Any news?” Cafferty asked, walking up just as Cal was finally checking his last report into the system. He’d printed all of his and Eve’s write-ups to drop with the captain before they left. He was hoping to talk her into dinner the following night.
“Nothing yet. You guys heading out?” Cal asked. Eve was collecting her things and unlocking her weapon from the top drawer of Jarrod’s desk.
“Yeah. Turned our reports in. We still need to work our mugger’s slaying until we find out if Rebecca James was the one who gave him the nice new air holes in his stomach. We’re gonna take Rebecca’s picture over to the building tomorrow and see if any of his neighbors recognize her.” Cafferty turned to Eve and offered her a hand, as Reynolds came up and did the same. “It’s been a pleasure working with you, Agent. I assume you’ll be heading back to the FBI tomorrow?”
Eve smiled as she shook hands with each of them. “That’s the plan. It was great working with both of you, gentlemen.”
Twenty minutes later, Cal dropped Eve off at her place, walking her to the door.
“Listen, Eve. I know you’re still unsure about things, but I really want us to see where this is going. Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?” Cal had no problem taking this slow. They could date and take the time to get to know each other off the job. Much as it killed him not to drag her back to his place and toss her into his bed.
Damn. The dumbass caveman fantasies running through his head were a little shocking.
She looked at him for a long beat, but nodded, coming up on her toes to kiss him. “Dinner tomorrow night.”
She moved to pull away after a quick brush of their lips, but he was having none of that. It was one thing to acknowledge that kidnapping her to take her to his bed was wrong. It was another to let her walk away without giving her something to think about before the following night.
He hooked his hand behind her head and tilted his head. He heard her laughter for the briefest second before he felt her lean in against him. His tongue swept over the crease of her mouth and she opened to him. The heat that raged, taking over, never ceased to amaze him. She did things to him no other woman did. If the small moan she let out was any indication, she felt the same way.
He lost himself for a minute in the feel of her hair tangled around his hand, in the way her breasts pressed against his chest and her hands gripped his arms. It was all he could do not to reach for her keys and walk her backwards into her house. But he wouldn’t do that with her. He’d give her the time and space she needed to see that this was more than just the kind of work fling that terrified her. That this was more than a potential threat to her career.
He pulled back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Eve.”
“Mm hmm,” she murmured, opening her eyes slowly. He laughed and walked away, knowing he needed to get the hell out of there before he changed his mind.
Cal had time to shower before the knock on his door. He tossed an old NHPD tee-shirt on and pulled on a pair of jeans, leaving the button undone.
“Eve.” He looked past her as though there might be some explanation for her presence written in the skyline behind her. There were times he recognized what an idiot he could be. This was one of them.
“Tomorrow night is a long time from now.” She stepped into the house and gave him the kind of look that said she’d made up her mind about their dating and was ready to move forward full force, no holding back.
Thank the Lord for giant favors.
“It is,” he said, shutting the door and pulling her into his arms. “It really is.”
A smile tugged at her lips, just as she pulled at his heart.
Once again, he found his body going from zero to sixty with nothing more than the touch of her hands, the press of her body into his. She was incredible. All lean muscles that showed how powerful she was, but enough curve and softness in all the right places to have him drooling. Hell, never mind drooling, he was ready to take her to bed.
“Don’t think I’m always going to make things this easy for you.” She pushed him backward down the hall as she spoke and he thanked his lucky stars for the day she walked into his life. Hell, that was all sorts of wrong since his partner had been shot that day, but he didn’t want to think about that now.
But speaking of wrong, was it sick that his cock stirred at the challenge in her voice? Nah. She was a strong woman. It was one of the things he loved about her.
Loved. Hell yeah. Loved. He didn’t back away from the word or the thought at all. He loved this woman, and one day soon, he’d tell her. Not now, though. She was too damned skittish for that. For now, he’d show her.
Cal pulled her down on the bed and shifted so she lay under him. She let out an appreciative hum and he lowered his mouth to hers. He loved that when he kissed her, he felt that immediate response of her kissing back with just as much passion and heat as he gave. She matched him in every way. When he thrust his erection against her, she pushed back and lifted one leg to wrap around his hips and pull him closer. There wouldn’t ever be any half measures with this woman. It was all or nothing, and he was ready for all.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Eve felt like she might burst from the heat and need tumbling through her. She needed skin against skin, needed to feel Cal inside her, feel them come together in the way they’d wanted for so long. The decision to come to him had been easier than she’d thought it might be. When she realized she didn’t need to let her career or society or whatever it was rule her choices, the decision became a simple one.
She’d spent her whole career being careful, worrying about what others would think of her. She was finished with that. She’d earned the right to worry about herself for once. And she didn’t owe anyone a damned thing if they didn’t like the decisions she made in her personal life.
She pulled at his shirt, letting out a frustrated sound. When he tugged it over his head, she started on his pants, glad to find she didn’t have to deal with the button. He was halfway ready for her. Her move brought a wicked grin from him. “Impatient much, Agent Sands?”
“Now.” She didn’t bother with a whole lot of words. She pushed him back and came up to pull his boxers off, then pulled off the shirt she wore.
Cal let out a low oath and she had a few choice words of her own whipping around in her head, but there wasn’t time for that. She reached out her hand, grasping the hard length of his erection, silk over steel.
“God. Eve. If you don’t slow down, I’ll be as impressive as a teenager his first time.”
She let out a laugh, and moved her hands to his shoulders, letting him move her beneath him again. She liked the feel of his weight over her, the feel of his body pinning hers to the bed. There was an eroticism in it she hadn’t felt with other me
n. When his mouth traveled over her body, stopping to tease first one breast, then the other, before moving south, she thought she might lose her mind.
She was wet and swollen and so damned ready for him. She laced her hands in his hair and held on as his mouth did wicked things to her, but when he began to travel north again, she didn’t object. She wanted to see his eyes when he moved inside her for the first time. To watch him as they came together.
There was the momentary loss of his body while he put on a condom, but then he was right back with her.
“You’re so damned beautiful, Eve. So sexy.”
His words did almost as much to her as his body did when he slid inside her, filling her, stretching her to fit him. They moved together, slick skin against slick skin, and Eve felt her orgasm build deeply, slowly.
When it hit her, she cried out, clamping her legs around Cal’s waist and raising her hips to try to take him deeper. She wanted more of him, all of him.
He answered by plunging harder, deeper, again and again before he ground out her name through clenched teeth and she felt him come. Another orgasm flowed over her, or maybe it was the same one. She didn’t know. All she knew was she felt incredible as they came together.
Cal held himself above her while they fought to catch their breath, but Eve pulled him down.
“I’ll hurt you,” he said.
“You’re an idiot,” she answered. “I won’t break.”
Cal let his weight fall on her at that, with a laugh, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Why did she love the feeling of his weight on her so much?
They lay like that for a few minutes, her running her hands over his shoulders, letting the feel of his skin soothe her. When he rolled to the side of the bed to remove the condom, she immediately wanted him back.
“I knew that would be amazing,” he said, coming to her side and pulling her against him again. She snuggled in deep, letting one leg drape over his. They fit together well, she thought.
