************
"Drugs?" Jace asked incredulously. "No...can't do it."
"Listen to me," Brunell said as he sat down next to his partner on the bench outside of Derrigan's Deli. "You need help to get out of your money problems. I need help with my business."
"It's not that simple, Pete. I took an oath."
"We all took that oath. And what do we get for it? Broken marriages, children who grow up without fathers...a fucking cheesy gold retirement watch."
Jace did not answer for a moment while he plucked at the lettuce on his sandwich.
"You have a beautiful, if not headstrong, wife. You have a child on the way. Give them a future, Jace," Pete reasoned.
"And I say no and you kill me?" He looked up into his partner's face.
"No, I wouldn't do that. You're a good man and you've already proven yourself to me. I trust you with my life. If you had wanted to take me down, you would have told McKendry I planted that weapon on that man."
"I won't turn my back on a brother in blue."
"You knew about the coke, too, didn't you?" Pete asked, taking a bite of his corned beef on rye.
"Yes. I knew there were more than four Kees."
"And still you said nothing."
"You're my partner, Pete. I won't betray you," Jace assured.
"But will you help me?"
Jace nodded. "Yes. I will. Colleen and the baby deserve things I can't give them. I don't ever want to fight about money again."
"You'll never have to. I'm working a deal for the coke. In the meantime, there are other businesses to handle," Pete admitted.
"Your ladies?"
"That...among other things. C'mon. Cherry collects the money from the other women. We need to make sure she stays honest," Pete said, smirking.
************
"You okay?"
Shay glanced over at Frank behind the wheel of his Silverado. "Why do you ask?"
"You haven't said two words to me this morning," he said, reaching out to touch her cheek. "And all the makeup in the world won't hide those dark circles."
"Well, thank you very much, Mr. Max Factor," she replied sarcastically.
"Shay? What's with the attitude?"
"Brenna," she hissed. "My name is Brenna. And you are Mike. Mike Richards. And I'm tired. I'm tired of not sleeping the night through. I'm tired of reaching for the man I love and him not being there. I'm tired of not being able to hold my children or tuck them in at night. And ..."
"This isn't easy for either of us."
"Well, until you look like something on the bottom on someone's shoe and I tell you that, Mister...don't tell me how hard you've got it."
He growled harshly and pulled the truck into a parking garage. He did not stop until he found a darkened, relatively unused area. He turned off the ignition, pushed the seat back and tilted the steering wheel up as far as it would go. When he reached out to unbuckle her seatbelt, intent on pulling her over onto his lap, she slapped his hands away.
"Don't touch me."
"Let it out, Shay. We have work to do and you're no good to anyone like this."
"I'm just tired, Frank. It's nothing." She leaned forward and covered her face with her hands. She felt awful from lack of sleep. Before they had left the office the previous day, she heard him and Alisha making plans for dinner this evening. The thought of him seeing another woman, however casually, drove her to distraction and sleep had once again eluded her. Funny, he had yet to mention his plans with Alisha. Maybe there had been more to his previous contact with her?
"Why is it when women say it's nothing, it's always something?" He asked in exasperation.
"Maybe it's because they shouldn't have to say anything at all," she replied irritably. "Just start the damn truck and get me to Miss Cherry Whatshername."
"Not until you tell me what's got your panties twisted."
"Let me spell it out for you, Special Agent Donovan. A. L. I. S. H. A. And that spells...slutpuppy."
Frank laughed. Laughed until he thought he might cry. "You're jealous."
"Ohhh..." she growled and balled up her fist. The urge to strike him was overwhelming.
His eyes narrowed. "Don't even think about it."
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't be upset with the fact that you haven't told me about your date?" she demanded.
"I'll give you two. One...I was going to tell you at lunch after we had seen this Cherry woman. If I had told you yesterday, you'd get all worked up about it."
"And the second reason I shouldn't be upset with you?"
"Because I love you," he said softly.
"Oh, sure. Throw some pretty words at the dumb blonde and she's just gonna melt into your arms." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.
"It's dinner, Shay. Just dinner. Nothing else."
"Say the pretty words again," she insisted, glancing over at him.
He reached over and unbuckled her from the seat. This time she didn't slap his hands away and he pulled her over onto his lap.
"I love you. You. Shay Ashling Donovan. No one else." He watched as a smile played on her lips. "Now, kiss me so we can get back to work."
"Is that an order, Sir?"
"If that's what it takes," he answered playfully.
She sighed in mock resignation. "Very well, then." She pressed her lips to his in what was supposed to be a quick kiss as he requested, but as soon as they touched, reality slipped away and the kiss deepened. Passion, desire, love and loneliness molded the kiss into a promise of fulfillment yet to come and it was several minutes before they forced themselves apart and resumed their journey to see Jameson's sister.
************
Cody watched as Alex began pacing for ...what? ... the millionth time since they had gone on this assignment. Boredom was driving her to madness and she was taking him with her. "Sit down...read something...go work out...go get lunch...just...DO SOMETHING!" he cried irritably.
Alex's head snapped in his direction. "Give me a break, Cody. This just isn't my deal..."
"Hey...I'd give anything if the roles were reversed. Shay's a lot more fun to work with than you are." He was rewarded for his insolence by a pillow thrown at his head.
"I think I will go get our lunch." Alex wandered off to her room to change.
Cody picked up the pillow she had thrown and tossed it back onto the couch just as his cell phone rang. Assuming it was one of the agents in the field he was surprised when he saw the phone number that showed on the Caller ID. "Katie?
"Hello, Caleb."
He heard the sigh in her voice and melted to the sound of it. He wanted to beg her to leave her precious Canyon and stay with him in Chicago, but she had told him she could not find it in her to leave just yet. That was after spending the six weeks worth of vacation she had stored up with him in Chicago just before they had gone off on this assignment. He had not seen her for nearly two months now, and although he called her a few times a week, it did not make the loneliness any easier to bear. He wanted to pour his heart out to her, instead he heard himself saying, "How are things at the Canyon, Kathryn?"
"Fine, just fine," she chirped.
Cody shrunk from the sound of her cheerful voice. She could not possibly be this happy while they were apart. She said she loved him, and that he made her feel beyond special. Like she was the most beautiful, precious jewel in the world. And she was. She should not be this cheerful. "That's great," he said, sounding more cheerful than he felt.
A knock on the door sounded and he yelled, "Alex! Someone's at the door!"
Alex waved to him as she passed and went to the door.
"What was that all about?"
"Just someone at the door," he replied uncaringly.
"Oh? who would be visiting while you're on assignment?" she asked.
"Good question," he replied realizing NO ONE would be visiting them. He turned when he heard someone enter the room and dropped the phone. "Kathryn?"
Katie grinned and picked up his phone and set it on the table. "Last time I checked."
Cody jumped up and swept her up into his arms and kissed her fiercely. "What are you doing here?"
Katie gasped for breath when the kiss broke. She gently traced a finger along his jaw line. "I can't sleep...can't eat...I'm lost without you," she admitted.
"Oh, Good God," Alex said, exasperated. "I'm outtie. I'll be back in an hour." She walked from the room and yelled, "An HOUR, do you hear me!!" The door slammed behind her.
Cody's gaze wandered slowly down the length of Katie's body. He thought the blush that formed on her cheeks charming, even though they had become intimate lovers all those months ago during the team's vacation.
"Caleb..."
"Yes, Kathryn..."
She leaned to whisper something in his ear and giggled when he blushed as crimson as she. "Well?" she asked.
His response was to haul her over his shoulder and practically run to his bedroom with Katie giggling happily along the way.
************
"What the fuck are they doing here?" Brunell asked worriedly.
"Who?"
Brunell slowed the cruiser to a stop several houses back from Cherry's apartment building. "McKendry and her new Watchdog."
Jake looked over in time to see Frank and Shay disappear into the building. "Good question. I have that appointment with them in a couple hours."
"Yeah...and I need to find out what they're doing here. Stay put...I'll be right back."
Brunell left the cruiser quietly and Jake watched as he crept up to the back of the building. Cherry's apartment was on the first floor, toward the back of the building. He was more than likely going to spy through her window. He flipped open his cell phone.
--
Frank rapped firmly on the door and waited patiently for it to open. A sleepy brunette with tousled hair did just that. She stood unashamedly in the doorway wearing a telling red lace nightgown that more than showed her feminine wares. "Well, hello, handsome. You're new here," she purred, moving her hips slowly in invitation.
Shay coughed loudly to make her presence known and received a look of disappointment mixed with irritation from the prostitute. "Sorry...I don't do three-ways. Try Delilah down in 4B."
Shay rolled her eyes at the woman. "Trust me, we're not here for your services. Are you Cherry Jameson?"
"Yes," she replied, annoyed.
"May we speak with you? Your brother sent us to see you."
Cherry's eyes grew large and frightened. At first Frank thought she would slam the door in their faces, but after a moment, she backed into her apartment and they followed her in.
"Why did Mark send you here?"
"We need to confirm what he told us. That Officer Brunell runs your prostitution business. That in order from keeping you from going to jail, your younger brother took the fall for him."
"I...I don't know what you're talking about."
Frank was about to interject when his phone rang. He flipped it open and recognized the number immediately. "Excuse me a moment," he said as he stepped away from the two women.
"Richards."
"Frank...Brunell is outside the building. We were driving up and saw you and Shay enter."
"Very well, Captain. We'll report back immediately." He clicked the phone shut and returned to the women.
"Why protect him Cherry," Shay was saying. "He sent your brother away and he paid with his life. Your other brother is now rotting in prison for being in a position more than likely orchestrated by Brunell."
"I'm tellin' ya, Lady...I don't know what you're talking about."
Frank read the fear and panic in the woman. He took Shay by the elbow and started for the door. If they got her to talk, with Brunell listening, Cherry was as good as dead. "We're sorry to have bothered you, Ma'am."
"Mike, what are you talking about..."
"Let's go, Detective," he insisted as he pulled opened the door and ushered her through it.
When the door closed and they had walked several feet away from the apartment, Shay spoke. "What the hell was that all about?"
"That was Jake on the phone," he whispered. "Brunell was listening in from outside the building. We need her statement and testimony. If Brunell finds out she talked before we take him down...he'll kill her before she can testify."
Shay nodded in agreement as she climbed into the Silverado's passenger seat. "Your fears are justified. She's terrified of the man; it was as plain as the nose on her face. You can't hide that kind of fear of a man...it's something I know all too well."
Frank glanced over to see her gazing blankly out of the side window. He knew she was referring to Jorge Espinosa. To this day she still woke in cold sweats from the nightmare of his touch. He reached for her hand and held it tenderly. Although she never turned his way, he felt the gentle squeeze she gave his hand in a silent thank you for his comfort.
************
To be continued...