Twenty-Two
He had called me and told me to wait at work for him, so I was still there at seven thirty when he walked in and collapsed onto the overstuffed love seat in the corner of my office.
I stood there looking at him, watching as he raked his hands through his hair and slowly let his head roll to the side to look at me.
“Talk to me,” I said gently, walking around my desk to sit on the edge of it.
“Jesus, what a weird day.”
I was hesitant because I knew what he had been up against—the end of his partnership. “It was hard, huh?”
“You could say that,” he breathed out. “You could also say surreal.”
I stared at him. “Can you explain?”
Heavy sigh as he stretched out his long body, his fingers laced behind his head, his feet out in front of him.
“Well, for starters, this morning I went right in to talk to my captain and ask him for a new partner, but before I could even explain why, before I could even get a word out about you, he makes a call and I have to go meet with IAD.”
“What’s—”
“Internal Affairs Division. They check out cops. That’s their deal.”
“Okay. So what’d they want with you? Surely Dom didn’t tell them about—”
He shook his head. “No, love. They weren’t interested in me. They wanted me to tell them everything I knew about Dom.”
I stared at him.
“And really, I had nothing to say because I had no idea what they were talking about.”
I thought about Dom’s beautiful house then, but remained silent.
“But then they explained,” he said with a sigh. “Turns out, from what they ended up telling me, that Dom’s been on the take since day one. He’s probably the leak in the department, but they don’t know what he’s said or who he’s said it to.”
“Oh shit,” I gasped, moving to the love seat and taking a seat beside him.
“Oh shit is right.” He looked absolutely wrecked. “That little home invasion he had—you remember, you were there.”
“I do remember.” It was the night I lost Sam, how could I forget?
“Well, it turns out that was the work of one of the guys who pays Dom off, wanting to send him a message.”
“By doing what? Killing him?”
“I have no idea. I just know now, from meeting with IAD, who they were.”
“Is Dom still working?”
“No, he’s been put on leave pending a full-scale investigation.”
“What did your captain say?”
He exhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a long minute before opening them, only to stare at the ceiling “It was so weird… I mean, he was just so thrilled I asked for a new partner today. I guess he’s been telling IAD I was clean this whole time, and they came to the same conclusion, but because I was still his partner, not cutting myself off from him, they figured I was either the most unobservant motherfucker in history, or that maybe they just hadn’t dug down deep enough to find what I was tangled up in. ”
I stared at his profile. “When you said earlier that he’s been on the take from day one, what did you mean?”
“Someone has been paying Dom off for information since he was a rookie.”
“Oh, honey,” I said softly, slipping my hand into his. “I’m so sorry.”
He squeezed my hand for a moment, then lifted it to kiss my palm.
“But Dom is a good detective, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. He worked his way up by himself, but nobody’s gonna care about that anymore,” he said, holding my hand in both of his, needing to touch me. I felt like his lifeline.
“So they were going to keep investigating Dom, and therefore you, but today you asked for a new partner, and now what?”
“Now IAD is moving forward with their case and I get left out of the charges they’re gonna bring against Dom. They believe I had no idea what he was into.”
“Which you didn’t.”
“Which doesn’t look great,” he muttered.
“Stop.” I moved so I was leaning against him. “Why would you be on constant lookout for your partner doing something wrong? How could that ever foster trust?”
He put his arm around me and tucked me close.
“The fact that you didn’t is a good thing.”
“Well, the way it’s shaken out, I’m basically on the outside and I can’t talk to Dom. He’s under investigation and they pulled him in, so he knows, and Jesus, what a day.”
“Did everyone look at you like you were a narc?”
“No. I was his partner, everybody’s lookin’ at me like I knew he was dirty but I was loyal to him.
They figure it finally got to be too much, so I requested the change, nothing else.
From the way I got looked at today, by everyone, they think I was good for keeping his secret, just wanting out, ya know? I’m getting hero treatment.”
“Why do you not sound pleased?”
“Because it shouldn’t be like that. We should all be about rooting out corruption, no matter who’s responsible. Like I said before, they should be disgusted with me because I’m oblivious or stupid.”
“You’re neither of those things,” I assured him. “Again, Dom was your partner.”
He nodded.
“But where does all of this leave you?”
“It leaves me in a pretty good place. Anything Dominic did isn’t on me, and tomorrow I get my new partner, Teo de Silva. He’s moving over from homicide.”
“You know him?”
“I know of him and he’s a good cop. We talked today and he said he’s excited to work with me. I’ll bring him by here tomorrow to meet you.”
“Why?”
“Because if he’s got a problem with me and you, I need to know right off. You have to be a hundred percent honest with your partner. I made the mistake of not telling Dom what was going on with me, and that was wrong. I regret that, and I won’t ever do it again.”
I wanted to comfort him. “I’m sorry you—”
“And I got to have lunch with Dane.”
Time stopped.
He grinned at me. “Didja hear me?”
Obviously not. “I’m sorry, what?”
He chuckled dryly. “You heard me. I had lunch with the big man.”
“You did?” I croaked out as he moved me sideways, into his lap, my legs folded on either side of his thighs, straddling him.
He patted my ass before he settled his hands on my hips. “Yes, I did, love, and it was grueling, lemme tell you. Only for you would I sit through that shit.”
“Why? What?”
“He’s good, ya know? I give him credit. I might ask him to sit in next time I question a witness.”
“Oh.” I sympathized, so I cupped his face in my hands, lifting his chin up so I could bend and kiss him.
He parted his lips for me and I slipped my tongue inside his mouth, tasting him.
“God, yes,” he groaned. “I so deserve this after the fuckin’ day I’ve had.” I smiled against his mouth as he pulled back to look up at me. “We get to have dinner with him tomorrow.”
“With Dane?”
“Yep.”
“I’m so sorry.” I chuckled, kissing his eyes, the bridge of his nose, his brows, his cheeks, and his lips as he smiled wickedly.
“It’s okay, baby.” He sighed heavily. “You and him, it’s a packaged deal. I don’t get you without him, and since I’m keeping you, I gotta deal with your brother.”
“You sound so thrilled.”
“He’s an arrogant sonofabitch. And he’s fuckin’ possessive and protective and today he was just… He’s so worried I’m gonna hurt you and he…he threatened me and I just felt like—”
“You wanted to kill him?”
“I wanted to thank him.” He smiled up at me. “Because he takes such good care of you.”
“Awww, Sam.” I kissed him again. “That was nice.”
“He’s gonna sell the apartment for you, J, and give you the money. He said it was yours.”
“We’ll see. I’ll talk to him about—”
“You can get it all straightened out tomorrow.”
“Why couldn’t we see him tonight?”
“Tonight he’s going to see Carmen. Is she hot?”
I smiled at him. “It’s an opera.”
He pinched my ass hard. “I know that, jerk. I’m not a total idiot.”
I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder. “I love you.”
“I know,” he said, clutching me tight, his hands smoothing up and down my back. “This is the only thing that kept me going all day.”
I drew back to look down into his face.
“Knowing I’d have you at the end of it.”
The words that came out of his mouth were amazing.
“You’re vibrating.” He smiled at me with that lopsided grin I loved, the one that short-circuited my brain.
“What?”
“Your phone, dingus.”
I grunted, sliding out of his lap. “Nice.”
“Come back.” He reached for me.
I turned away and answered. “Hello?”
“Coward.”
“What?”
“Sending that poor man here alone to eat with me and discuss his intended future with you. Tsk-tsk.”
“I didn’t send anyone anywhere,” I told Dane. “I would have gone with him.”
“That would not have been advisable. It would have been impossible for me to keep my objectivity had you come along.”
“Like you were objective.”
“I was.”
I smiled into the phone. “He says it was brutal.”
“I was polite.”
“I just want you to know that it means everything, and he—I—”
“You love him, I know.”
“Is this where you tell me if it goes bad, the next time you’re not gonna be there to help me out?”
“I don’t care how many times things go wrong, I will be there.”
Everybody in my life was amazing today. “Yeah?”
“I would, however, like you to consider the wear and tear on your heart. You don’t have to act like an idiot simply because you are one.”
“That makes no sense and you’re being kind of an ass right now.”
He grunted.
“Dane, I—”
“Listen,” he sighed. “Tomorrow the Reids are in town from Texas. I expect you, with the detective or without, to be at my apartment at seven sharp. We’re having drinks and then we’re going to dinner at the Dancing Bull at eight.”
“Okay.”
“Repeat what I said.”
“Oh for crissakes, I heard what you—”
“Did you?”
“I’m not five, Dane. I heard you and I was actually paying attention.”
He grunted like he didn’t believe me.
“I was,” I said defensively. “Drinks at seven, dinner at eight. I got it. Dancing Bull, so I know what to wear.”
“Wear one of the suits I bought you at Christmas.”
“I’m not a Ken doll, ya know.”
He laughed at me. “Oh, the hell you’re not. Make sure the detective wears a suit as well.”
“I will.”
“Does he own a suit?”
“God, you’re a snob.”
“No, I just want to know what to expect.”
“We’ll both be properly attired,” I assured him.
“Excellent.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s all.”
“Hey, did you get lucky the other night after the art walk?”
“That question is both crude and obnoxious.”