NY State Trooper- The Complete Box Set

by Jen Talty

  He just laughed, shaking his head, then grabbed their overnight bags.

  “What’s the girlfriend’s name?” Ryan asked. Why she wanted to impress these people was beyond her. She’d probably never see them again.

  “His name is Brad Gloshen, and her name is Wendy something.”

  “Have you met her?” She slipped into the car, then Jared pulled out of the parking area and across the street to the Hensman Pub, a local hot spot. Looking down the street as the car zoomed across, she had to admit the town was quaint, but it wasn’t Lake George.

  “I just met him last month. Didn’t even know he had a girlfriend until I told him you were coming.”

  “Oh.” She stepped out of the car and headed toward the restaurant.

  Jared pushed open the door into the noisy restaurant and bar. “He’s kind of my superior, so when he suggested we go out, I couldn’t say no, now could I. There he is.”

  She squinted across the crowded room, eyeing a very handsome older gentleman. He had grayish hair, but it offset his gorgeous eyes. His body wasn’t too shabby to look at either. “Are all troopers hot?” she said, half to herself.

  “I wouldn’t know,” Jared said with a chuckle. “But his girlfriend is a looker.”

  Ryan shifted her gaze to the tall brunette standing next to Brad. She didn’t look old, but Ryan guessed her to be at least thirty-five. “She’s too old for you.”

  “Breasts too big, too,” Jared whispered. “I like mine a bit smaller.” He patted her butt.

  “Like I said, a Neanderthal.”

  “Jared, so glad you could make it. I know it’s a long ride home. This is Wendy Brooks.” Brad guided them to a table in the other room, where it was a little quieter.

  “Wendy, nice to meet you. This is my friend Ryan O’Connor,” Jared said.

  Ryan nodded, shaking Wendy’s hand, then Brad’s, feeling a little annoyed at being introduced as a friend. But what did she expect? That’s what she was, and introducing her as his friend that he just had sex with wouldn’t be very appropriate.

  Once seated, the small talk began, and Ryan found herself enjoying the company. Wendy was a successful lawyer and one of the most interesting women Ryan had ever met. Not to mention Brad was just adorable, and very smitten with Wendy.

  Ryan listened to Brad and Jared talk about the job, and she had to admit, it worried her. His new job sounded very dangerous.

  Her stomach fluttered when the waitress put their dinner plates on the table. Usually she loved the smell of sizzling steaks and piping hot potatoes loaded with sour cream, but at this moment, her stomach churned. Must have been the green tea.

  She swallowed and fiddled with her food, hoping it looked like she was eating. She smiled and nodded a lot and tried to add to the conversation. Finally, she just couldn’t stand it anymore, and she pushed her plate away.

  “You okay?” Jared asked, leaning closer to her. His hand rested on the back of her neck while his thumb stroked the skin at the base of her head.

  “I think I’m just tired,” she said, forcing a smile.

  “You can climb in the back and sleep on the way home.”

  Brad waved the waitress over, asking for the check. “We should let you guys hit the road. I hope I’ll have the pleasure of your company again, Ryan.”

  “I did enjoy myself, thank you,” she said, slipping out of the booth. “Just need to hit the little girls’ room.”

  “I’ll join you,” Wendy said.

  Ryan pushed back the door. She felt a little better, but her stomach was still queasy. An overwhelming fear loomed in the back of her mind. She could be pregnant.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Wendy asked.

  “I think I had too much green tea at the spa today.” Ryan smiled politely, then splashed cool water on her face. “Not used to being waited on. Maybe all that aromatherapy has gone to my head.”

  “Hardworking girl, huh?” Wendy joined Ryan at the sink, rinsing her hands. “I spent the last ten years of my life making it big and let the rest of the world pass me by. Not this time. I’m landing that guy once and for all.”

  “You look good together.” Ryan turned, leaning her hip on the sink.

  “He wanted to marry me ten years ago. I turned him down, so he married someone else.”

  “Excuse me?” Ryan’s eyes widened.

  “He’s divorced now, but I’m not letting him go, not this time. He’s being a little wishy-washy, afraid I’ll change my mind, my career and all. But I want kids, and I’m not getting any younger. Neither is he.”

  “Good to know what you want,” Ryan said, holding her stomach as it did another flip. Just nerves, she told herself.

  “What do you want?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know.”

  “I think you do, you’re just afraid to ask for it,” Wendy said. “But sometimes we have to learn the hard way. Come on.” She pushed back the bathroom door. “You’ve got a long drive and a lot of thinking to do.”

  Ryan swallowed. Thinking would get her into trouble. The only thing she needed was for the psycho to be caught and Jared to move.

  16

  Jared stepped out of the restaurant into the spring air. He missed the cool lake breeze, but he liked Rochester. Or at least he knew he’d like it. What wasn’t to like? His job sounded exciting. The guys he’d be working with seemed like decent men. Okay, so he’d miss Harmon.

  “She plan on moving with you?” Brad asked. A beaming smile spread across his face.

  Jared’s gut twisted as though he’d been sucker punched. “We’re just friends.”

  “You certainly don’t act like ‘just’ friends,” Brad said, his smile not fading, and that just annoyed Jared.

  “You could say we have a temporary thing going. We’ve got a long history, but her life is there, and mine is here. End of story. It’s nothing, really.” A noise from behind him caught his attention.

  “Ready?” Ryan asked, with a sarcastic grin.

  He knew she’d heard him. But she had no right to be mad. It was the truth, and she knew it.

  “Thanks for dinner. I really had a great time,” Ryan said, giving Wendy a hug, then kissing Brad on the cheek. “If you’re ever in Lake George, look me up. My brother’s got a great restaurant, and I’d love to return the favor.”

  “You are so on, girlfriend.” Wendy gave Jared the evil eye.

  What the hell had he done? Heck, he’d never understand women. You give them what they want, and somehow you ended up the bad guy. “Take care. It was nice meeting you, Wendy.” Jared opened the car door, letting Ryan get settled before jogging around the front of the car and slipping into the driver’s seat. “See you next week.” He waved, then slammed the door and drove off.

  Once on the highway, he glanced over at Ryan. Her eyes were closed, and her head was propped against the window. She was probably faking sleep, but he didn’t feel like talking.

  He didn’t want to feel anything. But try as he might, no matter how he looked at it, leaving her would be hard. But he had to do it. Not just because he’d never be able to give her what she deserved, but because this job meant the world to him. Meant more to him than she did, didn’t it?

  He pushed down on the gas pedal. If he got pulled over, so be it. She could be mad all she wanted. Might even make things easier if she was pissed off enough to leave him alone.

  His cell phone rang out. She jumped.

  “Sorry, forgot to put it on vibrate,” he muttered, glancing at the number.

  “Harmon?”

  “I hope you’re on your way home,” Harmon said.

  “What’s going on?” Jared glanced at Ryan. She sat up and looked at him with wide eyes.

  “Nick picked up Rudy an hour ago,” Harmon said.

  “For what?” Jared glanced at the speedometer, then pressed the pedal so he’d reach ninety. “Alert everyone I’m flying down the thruway just past Utica, and I’m getting off at exit twenty-eight. Tell them to leave me alone.”<
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  “I can handle the troopers, but the locals on the back roads, you’re on your own, man.”

  “I know, now tell me about Rudy.”

  “The guy was lurking around your house. Your friend Rory called it in, and we got him on trespassing. Nick was able to search his car, and guess what he found.”

  “Underwear,” Jared said under his breath.

  “Jared, you just drove past a cop,” Ryan said looking over her shoulder.

  He glanced in the rearview mirror, and the trooper pulled out. “Crap. Frank, got a cop on my tail. Call it in.” Jared moved over to the right lane, but didn’t slow down. “Ryan, grab my badge from my pocket.” He shifted, giving her better access. “Take the phone for a minute.”

  The trooper pulled up next to him, and Jared waved, flashing his badge. The trooper held his radio in his hands, then nodded and flicked his lights on, giving Jared an escort. “Give me the phone back.” He pushed down on the accelerator. “You got your seat belt on?”

  “What’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

  He squeezed her leg. “Don’t be scared. Nick picked up Rudy, and it looks like we got our man. I just need to get home, okay?”

  “Home works for me,” she said, keeping her eyes on the road.

  “You feeling okay?”

  “Speed makes me a little dizzy.”

  “Put your head between your legs if you have to.” He grabbed the phone from her hands. “Frank, you still there?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I need you to find Penny Swartz and have her meet us at my place.” He glanced at Ryan. “I need to go to the station and figure out what’s happening, and I don’t think you should be alone, okay?” He pleaded with her.

  She nodded, then looked back at the road.

  “Anything else, boss?” Frank asked.

  “Are you at the sheriff’s office?”

  “That I am, sir.”

  Jared smiled. “You stick to Nick like a fly on shit, okay? I want to know everything, you got it?”

  “Oh, I got it, and I’ll enjoy it, sir.”

  Jared laughed. “I’m sure you will.”

  “Oh, and Jared?”

  Since when did Frank call him by his first name? “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “The glowing recommendation to the scuba unit.”

  Jared smiled. “I’m sure you’ll like it.”

  “Smitty said you set some swimming record in college. Why haven’t you gone through the training?”

  Why indeed? Jared glanced over at Ryan. Her hands gripped the armrests and her eyes locked on the darkness ahead. “See you shortly.” He closed his phone, unable to think about the scuba unit. While the post would be demanding and challenging, it could mean staying in Lake George, since he already did lake patrol. Not going to happen. He needed a change.

  Once on the back roads, he slowed to a normal speed, having lost his escort. He’d picked up a lot of time, but his pulse still raced. The adrenaline pumped out of control. Not being there to see and question Rudy was driving him nuts.

  Okay, so he was a control freak.

  “Almost there, babe.”

  She shook out her hands. “I don’t think you ever have to worry about me getting a ticket.”

  “You know to just drop my name, right?”

  She laughed. “I’ve never been pulled over and never plan on it.”

  “Well, if you do, just ask them if they know me; most likely you won’t get a ticket.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  They remained quiet for the rest of the ride. He kept glancing at her, wondering what she was thinking, but he didn’t dare ask. If what Harmon said was true, he’d be packing most of his clothes and heading out, saying goodbye.

  His heart paused for a moment before pounding wildly against his chest. He told himself it was just the anticipation of catching the bad guy. It wasn’t the pain his heart felt for having to let go of Ryan, but wanting to give her something he couldn’t.

  “We’ll be fine, Jared,” Ryan said, practically pushing him out the door. “Now go and take care of business.”

  “Lock the doors,” he said, looking over her shoulder.

  “Is he always this paranoid?” Penny asked.

  “I’m not paranoid.”

  “Yeah, right. Okay, now scoot,” Ryan said.

  “You always this controlling?” He smiled.

  “Yes,” she said, fighting the urge to grab him and kiss him passionately. Sometimes his controlling ways really weren’t so controlling. She had to admit he did care for her, on some level. And that felt good, even though she didn’t want it to.

  She clicked the lock on the door, then watched him jog down the path and hop in his pickup. He waved before backing up. She turned and dropped her gaze to the floor, unable to face Penny’s scrutinizing glare.

  “You’re in love with the big goof.” Penny’s voice echoed in Ryan’s ears.

  “Am not.” Ryan pushed passed Penny, making her way into the family room.

  “And I’m not pregnant. Mind if I raid the refrigerator?”

  “Help yourself.” Ryan paused, then turned. “Then again, it’s not my refrigerator.”

  “Whatever.” Penny waved her off, ducking her head into the icebox.

  Ryan rubbed her eyes and plopped herself down on the couch. One minute she was listening to Jared reduce their affair to an understanding, the next she wanted to kiss him for being there for her. She didn’t understand. If this was love, she wanted nothing to do with it. It reminded her too much of a roller coaster ride, which generally made her want to toss her cookies.

  “Want some?” Penny sat down next to her with a huge bowl of chocolate chip ice cream. “I so wish I had morning sickness. I’m going to be fat by the time I get married.” Penny shoved the ice cream in Ryan’s face.

  “No.” Ryan shoved it aside, her stomach flipping again. “I had way too much to eat earlier. Jared treated me to a bunch of spa treatments, and they had all these decadent chocolates and stuff.” Ryan had eaten a lot of stuff she’d been offered during her day at the spa, but she knew that hadn’t caused her upset stomach.

  Not knowing if this Rudy guy was behind the bizarre things that were happening to her had caused her stomach to churn. She found herself mentally counting the days of the month again. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized she wasn’t late. Tomorrow. She’d get her period tomorrow and all would be well in the world.

  Well, not really. “Can you take a few days off next week?”

  Penny shrugged. “Probably. I’m thinking about going part-time anyway.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Ryan felt her eyes go wide.

  “Trudy, another girl at work, just had a baby and she hates working full-time. We’re trying to see if we can work out a job share thing.”

  “Does Chuck want you to stay at home?” Ryan had a hard time believing career-minded Penny would consider giving up her marketing job. “Do you want to stay at home?”

  “I’m not quitting my job, just shifting things a little. The worst is, I’ve got a lot of vacation time saved up, but he doesn’t. We’ll only be taking a long weekend for our honeymoon.”

  “That sucks,” Ryan said.

  Penny shoved a large hunk of ice cream in her mouth, then tried to talk, but gave up when she didn’t make any sense. “As I was saying, he wants to save the time for when the baby’s born and take a couple of weeks then. Or maybe take some time off when I go back to work.”

  Ryan shook her head. Never in a million years did she think she’d be seeing a grownup Penny, making life altering decisions. “Wow,” she muttered.

  “What?”

  “I’m blown away.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. When did we grow up?”

  “Speak for yourself, honey.” Penny stuck out her tongue, then licked her spoon, before scooping another oversized bite. “Tell me, why am I
asking for time off on such short notice?”

  “Because Jared plans on packing up and hitting the road next Friday, and I don’t want to be around when he does. I thought we’d go on that camping trip a few weeks early.”

  Penny looked to the ceiling, still licking her spoon. “I could take off Thursday and Friday, but if we do this, the trip ends Saturday so I can have the rest of the weekend with Chuck.”

  “Deal, but let’s wait to finalize the plans until I know for sure the bad guy is behind bars.”

  “Probably a good idea. So, when do you plan on telling Mr. So-Interested-In-You that you love him?”

  “On the twelfth of never.”

  Penny set aside the empty bowl, then placed a firm hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “You have to tell him.”

  “Why? So he can feel guilty, then consider giving up the best thing that’s ever happened to him, for me? Out of guilt? No way.”

  “I don’t think you’re giving the man enough credit. I saw how he looked at you tonight.”

  “You’re killing me, Pen. First you tell me to go for it, then to drop it because you don’t think I can handle it, and now you think I should tell him how I really feel?” Ryan blinked, forcing back the tears. Admitting to herself she loved him was hard enough, but to tell even Penny hurt like hell.

  Penny scooted closer, putting a sisterly arm around her. “If you don’t take that risk, you’ll never know.”

  “If I tell him, he might turn down that job, and I can’t do that to him again.”

  “Again? What does that mean?”

  “He was offered that job six years ago, but turned it down because of George’s trial. Because he felt like he had to stay and take care of me. I was only seventeen when the trial started, and he felt obligated. I don’t want to pressure him in any way, because then I’d always wonder.” Tears rolled down her face. She brushed them away, but it didn’t stop them from coming.

  “Oh, Ry. I understand how you feel, really I do. But what’s the worst thing that could happen if you told him?”