by Mia Taylor
“You really don’t need to spell it out for me, Stark. I am a detective. I figured it out.”
His tone seemed to hurt her but as quickly as the look flashed over her face, it disappeared.
“Okay,” she said shortly. “Should I just wait for you in the squad, then?”
“Yeah,” August sighed. “But I’m driving today.”
She bit on her lower lip and nodded, seeming shamed as she turned away.
“Stark.”
Melissa glanced over her shoulder at him.
“My job is to keep you safe,” he said gruffly, not meeting her eyes. “And I take my job seriously. Do you understand?”
She stared at him silently before nodding slowly.
“I won’t give you cause to worry again,” she promised, her voice barely a whisper.
August sighed and watched her hurry away.
Did I ever lie to Amber, he thought, shaking his head in disbelief. She’s not pretty at all. She’s fucking beautiful.
August shoved the realization out of his thoughts and collected himself for the upcoming day.
Beautiful or not, she’s off limits for more reason than one.
Chapter Five
Crossroads and Crosshairs
The second day was much different than their first together. The tension in the patrol car was almost tangible but Melissa didn’t know what to say or do to ease it.
So she remained silent and said nothing even though she wanted to say so much to him.
They addressed several small calls, two homeless men fighting in Rogers Park and a report of teens selling drugs on the corner, but nothing led to an arrest and Melissa found herself exhaling when the shift finally came to a close in the late afternoon.
“You did well today, Stark,” her T.O. told her when they arrived back at the 22nd. “Better than yesterday.”
Instinctively, Melissa’s neck stiffened. She’d been anticipating the lecture all day and she instantly went to defensive mode.
“I didn’t do anything wrong yesterday,” she muttered before she could shut her mouth. Silas paused and looked at her with wide eyes.
“You really still believe that, don’t you?” he replied slowly. “Even though you blatantly disregarded my orders to stay put.”
There was a look of amazement on his face and Melissa was instantly defensive.
“I’m just saying that I wouldn’t have put the others in danger—”
“I know you’re fresh out of the academy and you think you know everything…”
Silas inhaled and stopped himself from finishing his thought.
“What are you doing right now?” he asked, instead of completing what he was going to say. “Can I take you for a drink?”
Her brow furrowed. “What?” she asked dumbly.
Did I just hear him right?
“A drink. Can I take you for a drink?” he repeated.
A wave of dizziness flowed through her.
Is he asking me out after ignoring me all day?
She tried her best not to read too much into what he was saying. After all, they couldn’t be involved romantically, could they?
Does he even look at me like that?
Melissa realized he was still staring at her, waiting for an answer.
“I… uh, no,” she said stupidly and more perplexity colored his face.
“No, I can’t take you for a drink?” He sounded stunned at her refusal.
“No! Yes! I mean, yes, you can. No, I don’t have anywhere to be.”
Could I sound any more pathetic? “No, Detective. I have no life. I was hoping you’d ask me out.”
The shadow lifted from Silas’ face and he nodded shortly.
“Get changed and meet me out front in fifteen,” he instructed, striding toward the building, and suddenly, Melissa wasn’t sure she’d been asked out on a date at all.
~ ~ ~
This is definitely not a date.
The bar was three blocks from the station and filled with cops who all seemed to know August.
More than know him. They seem to respect him.
It was odd that a man so young could inspire so much acknowledgement when it was clear there were others with more experience inside the establishment.
“Hey, Silas! Got yourself a girlfriend worthy of introducing finally?” a half-intoxicated man of about twenty-five slurred at him from the far end of the bar.
August’s face darkened. “Why don’t you watch your mouth around fellow officers, Haden,” Silas snapped at him. “This is Officer Stark.”
Haden seemed taken aback that the lovely blonde could be a cop and straightened, a smirk on his lips.
“Well…” he snickered. “Being the leader really does have its perks, doesn’t it? How come I never get partnered with cops like Officer Stark? I really need to do more to earn my stripes, right?”
The leader of what? Detective, he means?
“Ignore Haden,” Silas told her, leading her away from the bar and Melissa was happy to do just that. They ended up at a remote table near the kitchen and August signaled the bartender for a round.
“Is this your bar?” she asked when August didn’t speak. His eyes darted around, taking in the patrons as if he was looking for someone.
“This is one of the bars we come to at the 22nd,” he replied with some evasiveness. “But this caters to a certain type.”
The bartender appeared, placing two bottles of domestic beer before them.
“I hope you’re a beer drinker,” August said as an afterthought. He seemed embarrassed that he had assumed but Melissa nodded.
“Of course,” she said, thanking the bartender. The burly woman paused to look at her for a long moment.
“You seem familiar to me,” she said quietly. “Do we know you?”
It was the odd phrasing again which caused Melissa to return her stare.
Do “we” know you? Like “does the department know me” or “do we at this hole called Paddy’s know you?”
August cleared his throat rudely before Melissa could make sense of the question.
“Stark doesn’t know anyone or anything.”
The woman nodded and lowered her gaze but Melissa glowered at her boss in anger. She left them alone but she was barely out of earshot when Melissa unleashed.
“I don’t know anything?” she hissed. “Did you bring me here to humiliate me in front of everyone for my insubordination? Because you could have done that in the squad room.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Silas growled. “You’re going to need to grow thicker skin if you want to be a cop.”
“I am a cop, Detective. I wish you’d stop saying ‘if I want to be one.’ I may not have your experience but I have a badge. I did my training.”
August sighed heavily and leaned forward, his eyes catching hers.
“Melissa,” he said gruffly and she felt a frisson of pleasure slide through her, despite her anger. It was the first time he’d used her first name.
“I’m not your enemy. I brought you here because I wanted you to meet someone, but I don’t think he’s here tonight.”
“Who?” she asked curiously, her initial indignation fading. August nodded and pressed the bottle to his lips.
“It doesn’t much matter now,” he sighed. “I just wanted to introduce you to my former T.O. He’s retired now but he still comes here most nights.”
Melissa snickered. “You wanted me to learn how a proper trainee is supposed to act?” she offered, shaking her head with annoyance. “To show me the error of my ways.”
“Are you always such a pain in the ass?” Silas asked conversationally.
She smiled sarcastically. “Maybe you just bring out the best in me,” she retorted, suddenly unsure of what to do. She didn’t fully understand what August wanted from her and the attraction she felt toward him was confusing at best.
Does he hate me or is he trying to teach me?
Melissa confessed that she hoped he wanted mor
e than that but she knew she couldn’t entertain it.
“Melissa, we’re going to be working together for a long time and I wanted to show you that we’re not that different. As my sister reminded me last night, my first day on the job, I actually did endanger myself and my T.O.”
Melissa’s eyes were huge and she fell forward onto the table on her forearms. She wasn’t sure if she was more intrigued by the idea that he had been a rebel or that he had spoken of her with his sister.
“What happened?” she asked.
“We got a call for a convenience store robbery. Central told us there was one perp and I took the back. My T.O. told me not to draw my weapon unless I saw a weapon but I was new and I was scared…”
He inhaled sharply, the memory obviously troubling him greatly.
“I had my weapon pulled as the perp tried to escape. He was just a kid, Stark, and he was messed up, on meth or something. He was just looking for his next score. He hadn’t hurt anyone and he probably wouldn’t have if I’d used my mouth instead of waving my gun at him.”
Melissa felt a shiver course through her, the hairs on her arms rising.
“Did you shoot him?”
“No,” Silas sighed. “His partner shot at my T.O. He also panicked and we ended up killing that kid who was just as scared as I was.”
“There was another kid?”
August looked down at the table.
“He didn’t die,” Silas rushed on, swallowing the bitter aftertaste of his words with a swig of beer. “But I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t have a healthy respect of law enforcement after that.”
“His partner might have shot at you anyway,” Melissa offered lamely. “You can’t know—”
“I know I didn’t listen to a more seasoned, better-trained detective and that kid would not have been riddled with bullets. It’s a miracle he survived.”
“You’ve been beating yourself up about this for what, ten years?” Melissa asked quietly.
“I’m not beating myself up!” Silas snapped at her, sitting back to fold his arms over his chest, but Melissa could see he was lying. “I’m telling you that I’m not perfect. We all make mistakes but we need to learn from them if we want to succeed or else we’ll just keep breeding generations of bad cops.”
She nodded slowly, swallowing the protests that threatened to bubble in her throat.
We can keep fighting or I can accept that he’s trying to do right by me.
Her heart swelled slightly and she nodded, shooting her gaze down again.
“I promise that I’ll heed your advice,” she said and he laughed.
“I’m not asking you to jump when I snap,” he told Melissa with more gentleness than she’d ever heard him use. “I’m just asking you to accept that I know more about these things.”
“I do,” she conceded quickly. “And I’m grateful for everything you’ve done already.”
A slow smile formed on August’s mouth and he leaned forward over the table, his blue eyes glittering.
“I think we’ll be fine going—”
“Hey! Can I sit here?” Haden’s drunken body flopped at the table beside them on a chair, his rear almost missing the seat altogether.
Melissa looked at August, expecting him to dismiss the young officer, but to her surprise, he didn’t.
“Are you off, Haden?” August asked, pulling his body back as if he just realized how close he was to Melissa.
“Of course!” the man laughed. “You don’t think I’d be drinking and copping, do you?”
“I don’t know what you do sometimes, Greg.” There was a chill to August’s words, one that Haden seemed to hear easily despite his inebriation.
“Not everyone has the luxury of being as together as you, fearless leader,” Haden spat.
There’s that word again. Leader.
The men’s gazes clashed and slowly, a chilling smile formed over August’s face.
“I think it’s time for you to go home now.”
“Why?” Haden protested. “You just got here. I want to know the fresh meat!”
In a flash of movement, Haden was on the floor, his back still firmly pressed to the back of the chair as his feet raised in the air.
August straddled him and as Melissa stared at him in shock, his features seemed to distort somehow.
“Get off me!” Haden hissed but August pressed his nose against the younger man’s and held his gaze.
“It’s time to go home,” he said again, his tone even and dull. “Don’t make me tell you again.”
Melissa watched in amazement as fear seemed to cloud Haden’s eyes and he nodded as much as his position would permit him.
“I-I’m going, August. I-I’m sorry.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” August told him pleasantly, slowly releasing the drunken officer. Melissa’s eyes darted up and she noticed that no one was paying them any mind whatsoever.
What is going on here? she thought, shaking her head at the surreal quality of the scene.
“Apologize to Officer Stark,” August said, reclaiming his seat. “She’s new to the force and she has no idea what’s going on.”
Another slither of alarm floated through Melissa as Haden groveled for her forgiveness.
“I-I didn’t mean any disrespect,” he mumbled. “I-I misread the situation.”
He stumbled toward the door before Melissa could say a word.
Okay. That was weird. All of it. There’s something more going on here, something I don’t understand in the least.
“Am I missing something?” Melissa finally asked, unsure of what else to say. “What just happened there?”
August didn’t meet her eyes. “He just had too much to drink,” he replied dismissively, turning his attention toward the bar menu. “I’m starving. Want to order something to share?”
And Melissa could do little else but nod and go with the flow.
Chapter Six
How Can That Be?
Amber laughed, dabbing the tears in the corners of her eyes as she shook her dark head of hair in disbelief.
“Are you completely out of your mind?” she demanded when she caught her breath. “You brought her to the bear bar? The bear cop bar? Are you insane?”
She burst out into another round of laughter and August glared at her, waiting for her to finish with her hysterics.
“What’s the big deal? Lots of regular cops go there,” he protested in his own defense.
“Lots of cops who know about us, Auggy. Not rookies who have no idea what runs through the streets of Chicago. Are you trying to get her to run screaming from the city?”
Amber abruptly stopped laughing and stared at him.
“You really like her, huh?”
“She’s in my charge—”
“Don’t give me your BS. You brought her to the sleuth and Haden, bless his drunken, idiot soul, almost ratted you out. To a civilian. You’re not usually so careless, August. Why did you do that?”
He stared at her, a dozen excuses ready to spring from his lips, but he truly had no real reason for what he’d done. He hadn’t thought it through, certainly, but he’d wanted to bring Melissa into his fold.
But how can that be? I don’t know her. She’s a civilian, as Amber said.
“I need to meet this woman,” Amber said suddenly. “Bring her over for dinner.”
August snorted. “Bring her over for dinner?” he repeated. “Do you actually live here now?”
“August, is she a civilian? Or is she something more?”
“She’s my partner now,” he said firmly, looking away. He could feel Amber’s eyes burning into him.
“No,” she said softly. “She’s more than that. Is she your mate, August?”
“That’s impossible,” he snapped, whirling away from his sister. “She can’t be.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense for how you’re acting,” Amber insisted.
“How can that be?” he barked back. “She’
s not a shifter.”
“Maybe she is and doesn’t know it,” Amber replied quietly and August inhaled.
“She’s in her twenties, Amber. If she was a shifter, she’d know it by now.”
“No,” she countered. “Not necessarily.”
August turned to look at her again, his mind racing. He couldn’t understand why his desire to protect Melissa far outweighed anything he’d ever known. What Amber was suggesting certainly made sense—that his behavior was being governed by his primitive brain.
But only if Melissa really is my mate.
“I don’t need this right now,” he griped, refusing to think about it.
“So what are you going to do, then? See her every day and ignore the fact that you’re in love with her?”
“I can’t be in love with her,” he retorted. “That’s absurd. She’s not a shifter.”
“And yet you’re behaving like she’s your mate.”
The siblings eyed one another and August knew Amber was being the voice of reason but he couldn’t wrap his mind around what was happening.
“Amber, I don’t think she knows anything about us,” he told her urgently. “I’m not going to be the one to break it to her.”
“Someone better,” Amber scoffed. “I can’t imagine what it would be like not to know. I mean, how does that even happen?”
Suddenly, the echo of Melissa’s voice played through his mind and he realized exactly how it had.
Assuming that our theory is correct.
In his mind’s eye, he heard her plaintively explaining how her mother had shifted them around her entire childhood, running from an abusive father.
What if her mother knew all along and was trying to hide the truth from Melissa?
“Shit…” he muttered, not noticing he’d spoken aloud.
“So, you gonna invite her over for dinner?” Amber asked nonchalantly, the jeer in her voice evident.
“Shit,” he said again, this time audibly. “I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
~ ~ ~
At lunch on Wednesday, August did his best to keep his calm as he searched Melissa’s face for signs of being a shifter.
Not that I would know what to look for in a woman. If she hadn’t been raised among a sleuth, she has probably never shifted.
