Protect & Serve(44)

My whole world shattered with orgasm after orgasm as he fucked me, a seemingly endless stream of pleasure babbling over me, drowning me in a current of bliss. By the time he finally fell backward, spent, I was lost to the undertow, floundering in the brilliant darkness of my afterglow.

Nathan was mine. I was his.

“Sandra,” he whispered as he lay down beside me. “Tell me this is going to work. Tell me we can leave all this behind and live our lives. Tell me we can be together.”

“Yes, Nathan,” I murmured without hesitation. He smiled, and I returned it. “Oh God, yes.”





14





I was shivering. When I had things under control, I could suppress my fear. Right now, things were very much out of my control.

The plan was simple: let Captain Pierce into the safe room, let him play with the dummy computer Nathan had his tech guys set up, and record the whole thing. Surely, there’d be something on the tapes and computer logs to nail his ass to the wall.

Things had went wrong right from the start.

Nathan had made himself scarce just like we’d planned, but when Captain Pierce arrived, he wasn’t alone. That wasn’t part of the plan. He wasn’t supposed to have company.

Four men climbed out of the squad car, looking uncomfortable in their blues. I stared at the stiff and immaculate uniforms as the captain approached. They were too clean. Too perfectly pressed. They were bullshit.

Brand new uniforms. All of them. Uniforms taken right out of inventory at the station. They were the complete opposite of the rough-looking men wearing them, and that meant these men weren’t cops. They were playing dress-up. Emerald green eyes shined on the face of the closest phony officer as they approached. I tried to stay calm, leaning up against the unmarked black Crown Victoria.

Irish. Fuck.

Nathan was right. Captain Pierce had been working with Mr. Wallace this whole time. Getting Nathan out of his mansion and into protective custody was his way of putting him under his thumb. He was never supposed to testify.

The mansion loomed just at the end of the street, quiet and unguarded. Nathan’s men would be nowhere near this place today. We were taking no chances and definitely didn’t want to spook the Captain. The trouble was that I desperately wished they were here now.

“Detective.”

“Captain,” I replied, nodding toward the other men. They kept their distance, not locking eyes with me.

“Don’t mind them. I needed a few men I could trust on this one. Where’s Nathaniel Hale?” the captain asked.

“He’ll be in Philadelphia for some big charity drive all weekend. His company is investing in a children’s hospital,” I responded, the rehearsed words flowing easily from my lips.

“Smart man, giving himself an alibi as that shipment hits the docks. I take it you’ve got the keys to the castle?”

“Keys, and a disabled security system,” I replied. “He keeps his computer in some kind of safe room just off the kitchen. I’ve taken the liberty of shutting down his video surveillance for the afternoon.”

“Excellent. Move out. I want this done quickly,” the captain said, waving the men toward the house. They started up the path toward the oversized front doors as he turned back to me. “You did good work, Detective.”

Fuck. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

The captain was the one who was supposed to go into that room. He was the one I needed on video, planting evidence. I could hit the panic switch, and he’d be locked in that stupid room until I could hand this whole case over to the boys in Internal Affairs.

“Now walk.”

The Captain’s voice had become gruffer, more stilted. I stared at the hard lines on his face before glancing downward to see his Sig 223 pointed squarely at my stomach, the dark shape both sinister and beautifully engineered.

“Captain… I don’t understand,” I said, staring down at the gun.

“Sandra, I’ve sat across the table from the kinds of criminals that would haunt your fucking nightmares. I’ve seen evil, and I’ve been lied to by some of the best. I’ve made a career on seeing straight through bullshit.”

“Captain,” I started, but he cut me off, jabbing my gut with the barrel of his gun.

“I said, walk. No more lies, no more fucking bullshit you stupid bitch. I’ve had to put up with your ass on my force for all these years, and this is how you repay me? You’ve put my whole fucking family in danger. How much is Nathaniel Hale paying you for your loyalty?”

I stared to move, urged on by the business end of his firearm. The Irish men had reached the house, but clearly they weren’t just walking in the front door. One was moving around the side of the house, quickly finding an electrical box and beginning to work on it.