Murders & Romance, page 10
Pete smiled at her. “All those self-defense and kickboxing classes are paying off, Rocky. My prized pupil.”
He punched the air like a prize fighter, and Sidney grinned at him.
“What happened then?” the officer asked.
“Then I grabbed my gun from my purse and pointed it at him, and he stopped fighting. That’s when I told Julie to call you guys.”
“You pulled a gun on him?”
“Yes.”
“And that gun is registered to you?”
“Yes.”
“Of course, it is, Hamilton.” Ike sounded irritated, and Sidney lightly squeezed his hand. “I taught her to shoot myself. Hell, I bought her the gun. She got her Concealed Weapons Permit a month ago. Working here, I figured she needed it.”
“You know I have to check, Detective. What happened next?”
Sidney sighed. “He got scared when I pulled my gun and we called the police. He got up and ran out. That’s everything.”
“And when we find him, do you wish to press charges for assault?”
Ike answered before she could.
“Yes, she does.”
The officer looked at Sidney to confirm, and she nodded her agreement.
“Okay.” He put his notepad and pen away. “I’m going to go see if my partner’s done with the other witness.”
“Is Sid free to go?” Ike asked.
“Sure.”
The officer nodded and left the room, and Sidney slumped against Isaac.
“I’m so glad you’re here.”
He pulled her closer to him. “How you doing, slugger?”
“I feel drained. And my face hurts.”
“I’ll bet it does. I swear, if I ever get my hands on the bastard that hit you, I’ll kill him myself.” He gently kissed her forehead. “Come on. Let’s go home and put some ice on that beautiful face.”
“Okay.”
They stood, and he took her hand. As they left the room, Sidney could see Lance watching them from the corner of her eye, but she refused to turn and acknowledge him. She grabbed her purse and her cellphone from the table in the entryway on the way out the door.
Outside, the fresh air made her throbbing face tingle. She winced and watched Isaac toss his keys to Pete.
“Pick me up in the morning.”
Pete shot a mischievous grin at him. “The keys to the Stang? Sweet! I’m going joyriding tonight.”
“My car better be in one piece tomorrow, or I will make work a living hell for you.”
“I might have her back from Tijuana by then.”
“Pete.”
“Calm down. Like I could drive all the way to Mexico in one night. Now, Atlantic City… ”
“You’re not funny, Vega.”
“Opposite direction,” Pete said, ignoring the warning in Ike’s tone. “But I got a better chance of making it.”
“Better chance of catching my foot up your ass too.”
Isaac opened the passenger side door of her car, and Sidney smiled at their banter as she slid in.
“Ooh.”
Her hand flew to her cheek and she regretted the smiling.
When Isaac got behind the wheel of her car, he adjusted the seat for his 6 foot 4 inch frame, and Sidney leaned her head back and watched him.
He glanced over at her as he drove.
“You okay over there?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure? You don’t sound okay, darlin’.”
Sidney hesitated, thinking back over the events of the last hour and a half. And she wiped the silent tears from her cheeks, hoping that he wouldn’t notice them as he drove.
“When that drunk jerk backhanded me…”
She paused, still trying to understand her own emotions.
“I wasn’t afraid anymore. All I felt was… rage. Burning anger. In the moment, I didn’t know where it had come from. But now I think I do.”
“And where’s that?”
“Grief. I’m angry that our baby is gone. And I’m angry at myself for being so damn angry.”
She burst into tears and lowered her face to her hands. Sobs wracked her body and the tears just kept coming.
She felt Isaac unlatch her seatbelt and pull her closer, and she grabbed hold of his shirt and buried her face in his chest. The scent of leather and sage, with just a hint of citrus filled her senses and eased her sorrow like a balm.
It was the scent of Isaac.
The scent of home.
His arms held her tight for what seemed like the longest time, and she listened to his soothing voice whispering out words of encouragement and love.
He didn’t offer any advice. He didn’t try to push any kind of counseling, or therapy. He simply held her and let her cry. Like he’d done for days now. He held her and allowed her to slowly pull herself back together.
When she finally looked up and glanced around, she frowned.
“Where are we?”
“Dave’s Market parking lot.”
Sidney looked at him and smiled. Then they both started to laugh.
“Why are we here?”
“Well, I had to pull in somewhere so that I could properly comfort you.”
He reached out and wiped a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb.
“I’m sorry for falling apart on you.”
“Hey. What’d I tell you before, hmm? You don’t ever need to apologize for your pain. And you don’t need to hide it from me either.”
“I didn’t even know I wanted a baby until I lost ours. How fucked up is that?”
“It’s not. Not at all. ’Cause the same thing happened to me.”
Sidney wiped her nose and stared at him.
“What?”
Ike reached into his pocket and pulled out a fading light purple bandana-style handkerchief and handed it to her.
“I didn’t know I wanted to be a father before the miscarriage, darlin’. Yet here I am, wishing it were so.”
Sidney felt the tears sting her eyes again.
“Really?”
Ike nodded. “Really.”
Sidney stifled another sob, then she wiped her eyes and blew her nose.
Somehow, the knowledge that they were in this — the sorrow, and the heartbreak and the love — together made her feel like maybe everything would be okay.
She clutched the handkerchief to her chest as she maneuvered back into her seat and strapped on her seatbelt.
Isaac took hold of her hand and held it tight all the way home.
Once they got home, Sidney headed straight for the shower.
While she busied herself in there, Isaac went into the home office and fired up the desktop computer. Seated in front of the screen he glanced at the door. He could hear the water running in the bathroom, so he knew he had a few minutes. He placed a video call to his grandfather, Sterling Taylor.
“Isaac!”
The smile on the older man’s face seemed to radiate light, and Isaac wondered if his grandfather ever got truly good and angry at anyone. Somehow, he couldn’t imagine it.
“It’s so good to hear from you.”
“Hey, Grandad. How you doing?”
“Well, I’m doing just fine. How’s everything up there in Ohio?”
Isaac grinned when his thick Tennessee accent made the state sound like Ohi-ya.
“Things here are okay.” He hoped his voice sounded more convincing than he felt, but he had his doubts.
“And that beautiful future granddaughter-in-law of mine? I trust she’s okay after the loss?”
Isaac stared at his grandfather, mouth hanging wide open.
“Grandad, how…”
His voice trailed off and he let that question dangle in the wind because he already knew the answer.
“You saw that? But when?”
Sterling smiled. “Oh, I saw it a while back. Back before you ever came to visit me. In fact, I imagine that I saw Sidney long before you ever did.”
Isaac was dumbfounded.
There were suddenly so many questions he wanted to ask. So many that had nothing to do with the reason he’d reached out.
“I don’t understand. How could you see something about Sidney before you’d even met her?”
“Well, actually, what I saw was more about you than it was about her.”
Isaac sat with that for a moment, trying to work it out. But he’d come to his grandfather for a specific reason, and he had to stay focused.
But first…
“That first visit. You implied that, um…well, that there would be an actual baby at some point.”
Isaac’s voice was loaded with trepidation and uncertainty, and he took a tentative glance at his grandfather’s face on the screen.
“Did I?” Sterling sounded amused.
Isaac gave him a look. The kind that came with begging.
“Come on, Grandad. Don’t play games. Not about this. Not now.”
The amusement in Sterling’s eyes softened to genuine love and concern.
“Is that why you’re calling, son? For assurances?”
Isaac’s shoulders slumped on a sigh, and he looked down for a second. Sidney’s tearful confession on their drive home had rattled him. And yeah… he supposed he needed a little reassuring.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Very well, then.” Sterling’s voice was steady and matter-of-fact. “You and your delightful fiancée will have a beautiful family, Isaac. All in due time.”
The sudden and unmanly knot in his throat surprised him, and Isaac turned away from the screen to try and get his emotions under control.
“Sidney will be all right,” Sterling continued. “And so will you. And the babies will be beautiful. Trust me. I’ve already seen them.”
Isaac wiped his face and sniffed before he dared look at the screen again. When he finally did, he shook his head.
“I wish to God that I’d had you in my life while I was growing up.”
Sterling’s sad smile nearly did him in.
“I know. But we can’t go back and change it. All we can do now is move forward. And I’m here whenever you need me.”
Isaac nodded. “I was actually planning to call to get your help on something work related. I didn’t even know I needed to talk to you about personal stuff. Not tonight anyway.”
“Oh, well, I’ll be happy to try my hand at police work if you want me to!” Sterling grinned. “Lay it on me.”
Isaac laughed. “I think I’ve got the police work under control.”
“Oh, shoot.” Sterling snapped his fingers.
“My question is about touching someone. You know how you said that I can choose whether to see the past or the future when I touch someone?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Can you teach me how?”
“Why, it would be my absolute pleasure.”
They stayed on their call for another thirty minutes. By the time Isaac finished up his conversation and lesson with his grandfather, Sidney was out of the shower and curled up on top of the covers. He joined her in their bedroom, holding two Ibuprofen and a bottle of water in one hand, and a fully loaded ice pack for her face in the other. He handed her the pills and water.
She sat up and swallowed them down, and then softly whimpered when she placed the ice pack against her face.
Isaac sat on the edge of the bed, facing her and fuming.
“Pisses me off. I swear, when they pick this guy up, I’m going to…”
“Do nothing!” Sidney cut him off.
“Like hell! Once they’ve got him in a jail cell, I’m going to go down there and…”
“Isaac, please. I don’t want you getting in trouble over this jerk. He’s not worth it. And my face is going to be fine. The swelling will go down, the bruises will fade, and I’ll be good as new. But if you jeopardize your job just to beat this guy down in revenge…”
“The only one in jeopardy is going to be him. Trust me!”
Sidney sighed, and he could hear the mounting aggravation behind it. So he let it drop and changed the subject.
“How about I put a frozen pizza in the oven? Maybe toss some more lettuce into the leftover salad from yesterday? That way you don’t have to worry about cooking.”
“Throw in a few cookies for dessert, and some extra cuddle time, and you’ve got a deal.”
“Done.”
He stood and leaned down to kiss her lips. Then he headed for the kitchen.
She screamed his name, and Gavin had never felt more like a man in his life.
Her body moved above him, vibrating from her orgasm and still riding him like he was a wild stallion she was determined to break.
His hands moved, groping her shapely thighs, her tiny waist, her full breasts.
Gerri Miller was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen — deep ebony skin, bright and soulful dark brown eyes, high cheekbones and full, perfect lips. And not an ounce of fat to be found on her toned body.
Her black hair was soft and straight, and hung just past her shoulders. At the station, Gavin had only seen it pulled back into a severe ponytail that left her model-like features on full display. Now, he sat up — ripping another scream from her lips and sending her into a second orgasm — and ran both his hands through her hair, drawing her in to lock his mouth onto hers.
Their fiery kiss robbed the breath from his lungs, making his own release that much more intense.
“Ahh!”
Gavin let out a loud cry and then flopped back onto the pillows in slow motion.
Gerri climbed off of him and rolled over.
Panting and heavy breathing were the only sounds in the room for the longest time, and Gavin stared at the ceiling. He didn’t remember sex with his ex-wife being this energetic.
Or this good.
Or this spontaneous and adventurous, for that matter.
When he’d walked through the door of her apartment an hour ago, Gerri had surprised the shit out of him by stripping off her clothes and demanding he treat her body like a popsicle. Right there on the kitchen island.
So he had.
But that wasn’t what he’d come back here for. He removed the spent condom and tied it off, dropping it to the floor. Then he turned his head and looked at her.
“How are you?”
“What?”
Her tone told him she thought it was an odd question to ask.
“I came here after work to check in on you. Not to fuck you. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. But… how are you?”
Gerri chuckled, and Gavin thought he could hear the roll of her eyes in the sound.
“It’s okay, Lieutenant. I’d much rather have the genuine fuck than the obligatory concern.”
Her words were like a slap to his face, and he stared at her.
“Is that what you think this is? That I’m showing concern because I’m obligated to as your boss?”
Gerri glanced at him and shrugged a shoulder before turning her gaze back to the ceiling.
“Partly. I know you’re here for the sex, but I mean… I’m pretty sure you think I’m a mess since Curt died. And you’re right. I am. My partner bled out on the street like a dog, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.”
“But you did stop it,” Gavin insisted. “You heard the doctor that night in the ER. He said that your applying pressure to Curt’s wound kept him alive for as long as it possibly could have. You kept him alive until the paramedics got him to the hospital.”
“Yeah, for all the good it did.”
Gavin propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her.
“But you made the effort, Gerri. You tried your damnedest to save his life. No one can fault you for that. Curt knows what you tried to do. He knows that his partner never left his side.”
She wiped a tear from her cheek and leaned up and kissed him. Then she raised her leg, attempting to mount him again. Gavin took hold of her shoulders and gently pushed her back.
“Gerri, stop.”
“What? This is why you’re here, remember? For the sex.”
She tried to kiss him again, but Gavin moved, rolling them over so that he pinned her to the mattress. He stared down into her beautiful, troubled eyes.
“I am not here for the sex. I’m here for you. Because I can’t stop thinking about you. And because no matter how hard I fight it… I can’t stay away from you. Not when I know you’re hurting. I’m here because I care about you, Gerri. Much more than I know I should.”
She stared back at him, seeming to search his eyes for the truth.
“Do you mean that?”
Her voice was small and shaky, and he could hear the hope hiding there. The sound of it squeezed his heart.
“I don’t say it if I don’t mean it. I spent 20 years being lied to by the woman I loved. The woman I thought loved me.” Gavin shook his head. “The one thing I will not do is lie to you.”
“But you did lie. For months, you lied every time you pushed me away.”
“No. That is simply not true. I never said that I wasn’t interested, or that I didn’t want you. I said it wasn’t a good idea.”
“So why now? What’s changed?”
Gavin sighed, and swallowed down all of his reservations. She deserved the truth.
“What’s changed is that I finally got a taste of you. I finally held you in my arms and made love to you.” He trailed his thumb down her cheek in a sweet caress. “There’s no way I’d walk away now.”
She took a breath and studied his eyes, and Gavin watched her eyes swell with tears.
Oh, God.
“Are you sure? Because I love you, Gavin. And I know it’s way too soon in this relationship for me to say that. But what you don’t understand is that I have loved you for so long. And now that you’re here in my arms, I don’t want to waste a single minute playing games. We have dangerous jobs, no matter what precautions we take; and I don’t want to miss my opportunity to tell you how I feel about you.”
The tears were flowing freely now, and her words had him speechless.
“But I know you have some kind of hang ups about our ages and our positions at the PD. So if you don’t think you can do this and really be with me, then I need to know that before my heart gets in any deeper. Please.”
Gavin stared into her tear-filled eyes, reeling from her rawness.
“Gerri, I…”
