Chapter 15
“I’d like to see those IDs, please,” the cop said again as he stood in front of us. He held his hand out.
Dane reached into his back pocket slowly and pulled out his leather wallet. “Is this necessary? I’ll just take my new bride out. We’re sorry about the mistake.”
Wind blew heavily in the tops of the trees. The hanging Spanish moss gave off creepier vibes now that we were about to be in federal prison.
The cop took his license and turned to me. “I’m having a hard time believing you just happened to miss the gate and find yourself here,” he paused, “in all black.”
I glanced down at my black leggings and thin long sleeve shirt. “It’s almost Halloween.”
“In three weeks. Now I’m going to need that ID, little lady.” He seemed pretty serious.
This was not going to go well.
I groaned and gave Dane a grimace. He’d never let me live this down. “I don’t have mine on me.”
Why did Dane have his on him? You didn’t bring an ID to a crime scene, and we were about to make this place a place of interest. He was supposed to be the smart one. I couldn’t handle every aspect of this crime spree.
“You don’t have it on you?” he asked skeptically.
I raised my hands. “No pockets.”
Did he see a purse on my side? Or pockets in my skin-tight leggings? Where was I supposed to put it?
“Really, princess?” Dane asked, sounding just as unbelieving.
Men.
Who did they think they were?
I shrugged. “Where would I put it, Dane?”
“Okay,” the officer said, waving toward his car. “I’m going to need both of you to step into my police car while I run this information.”
If we got into that cop car, we were so going to jail.
“You have a problem with that, miss?” he asked when he sensed my hesitation.
“Um,” I fumbled an answer. Another cop car pulled onto the oak-filled street. They parked behind the first car but didn’t get out.
Dane stepped in front of me. “She’s scared of small spaces, but I’ll keep her calm.”
“Right. Small spaces.” Those and jail. But mainly jail.
The moon highlighted Dane’s features as he slid into the back of the cop car first. The officer closed the door on us once we were both in and I’d given him my social security number, address, and a convenient story of why Dane and I—a pair of newlyweds—didn’t live in the same state as one another.
“I can’t believe we just got in here willingly,” I whispered to Dane. In case they were recording us. “We’re going to jail.”
“Relax, princess.”
I stared out the window trying to find the moon while in the cop car, but the angle was wrong. “I could cry. Do you think crying will help?”
Dane chuckled, but he didn’t say no.
If we depended on my ability to break out the waterworks, we were screwed.
My chest tightened. I rubbed my open palm over it. “I’m having a heart attack.”
Dane said nothing.
“I’m too young to die.” Or go to jail.
At the second cop car, the officer had the passenger’s side door open as he talked on his radio. The other officer maintained his spot in the driver’s seat. He kept his attention on us, and I tried to look freaked out. It wasn’t hard since I was freaking out.
Another horrible thought came to mind.
“I’m going to get fired.” There’s no way they’d keep a criminal on staff. It would make the podcast look horrible if the news got out. “How did you let this happen?”
Dane placed his hand on my knee. “You’re going to be fine, princess.”
His reassurance annoyed me.
Also his calmness. Why was he so calm?
He had his head thrown back, resting it on the back of the seat with his eyes closed.
My thoughts were running a mile a minute, but Dane looked like he was waiting for us to go on a nice Sunday drive. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Do you want a list?” he asked, opening only one eye. His smile grew.
I adjusted in the seat, getting fidgety. “Why are you so calm?”
“It’s going to be fine.”
That was even more annoying.
My eye twitched. “I never got my cat.”
“You have a cat?” he asked, both eyes now open.
That’s not what I said.
“No.” I tapped the window, still searching for the moon. For some reason, it felt like if I could see the moon everything might be okay. “I’m waiting for the universe to give me one.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Yes, it does.” His reassurance that everything would be fine was the issue. Mine made total sense. “It’s called the cat distribution system.”
“What?”
“It’s on TikTok.” There were always people just finding cats and kittens. That’s how I determined I’d get mine. And it hadn’t happened yet. Which meant I couldn’t go to jail.
“Just wait.”
Ugh!
“I’m going to be fired, Dane,” I yelled and twisted toward him.
His gaze met mine and held. “Just wait, princess.”
“We didn’t even solve the case. I’ll be fired, jailed, and not even a case solver.” Coming to Charleston was a horrible idea.
“Delaney, just wait.”
“Stop saying that!” I wanted to shake him.
My nerves were rising and rising. They were bubbling toward the top of my head, ready to explode. He laid his head against the seat rest and closed his eyes, looking as if he was minutes away from falling asleep. “It’s going to be fine.”
I twisted away from him, determined to ignore his presence. If he wasn’t going to freak out with me, he could just sit there by himself.
Five minutes of pure panic passed before the cop slid from the seat of his coworker’s cop car and approached us.
Here we go. He’d come back to take us to jail. “Do we run now?” I asked Dane.
Once the cop opened our door, I could push him down and we could make a break for it. Dane had to be trained in ways to take out the second cop.
“If you run, I’m going to be so pissed,” Dane said, finally opening both his eyes.
Could I take the cop out by myself? No, not both of them. Also, if they caught us—and they had all my information, so it wouldn’t be hard—there’s no way I could handle both cops.
The officer sauntered toward the police car. He smiled as he opened the door.
How sick? What kind of cop smiled like that at people he was about to arrest?
“I’m terribly sorry about this, Agent. You and the misses are free to go,” he said. “I hope you won’t hold this matter against the great city of Charleston.”
Dane pushed on my shoulder when I didn’t move right away. My mouth hung open, but my brain was full of questions. The ground met my feet quicker than I thought, and I wobbled. Dane grabbed my hips to steady me as he exited the car.
“No problem, Officer. We understand you were just doing your job. Right, princess?” Dane said as he stood behind me with his arm around my middle.
“If it’s okay with you, Johnson and I will follow you back to the main street,” he said, his hand no longer on his gun like it had been earlier. “Then you two can get back to that honeymoon of yours.”
Did he just wink?
We agreed and started toward the front of the oak-lined roadway, two cop cars trailing behind us. Neither of us said a word. Dane waved to the officers as they left us at the edge of the street.
“What the hell was that?” I asked as they drove away. “What just happened?”
Dane smiled as he grabbed my hand and twisted my fingers into his. It was oddly soothing. “Spencer is good at his job.”
Did he think that answered my question?
“But how?”
He pulled me close under a streetlight that bathed us both in its glow. “I’ll always take care of you, princess.”
Along the walkway of the sidewalk, Dane backed me against a warm brick wall. His hands braced themselves up on either side of me. Our eyes locked.
Was he going to kiss me?
Tension grew between us and then snapped like a live wire. He dipped his head, caught my mouth with his, and gave me a kiss full of heat and hunger. There was no hesitation. No holding back.
I met him with just as much force and emotion.
My fingers grabbed his black shirt, pulling him closer to me as his tongue teased mine.
He wanted possession of my body, and I wanted to give it.
I’d been thinking of this kiss for hours.
Days. Weeks. Months. Since the first time he knocked on my hotel room door after arriving late to our first case together.
My world blurred until it was just us. The press of his body against mine, and the fire that curled its way in my stomach. But it wasn’t enough. After what just happened, I needed more.
I broke the kiss first. Pulling free from him, breathless. He stared without words, waiting to hear why I’d made us quit. A hint of fear flashed in his eyes as I stared at him.
“We need to get back to your place,” I said.