To Protect And Serve Part 6

"Do you think this loss could interfere with your ability to remain focused and objective if you're chosen for this a.s.signment?"

"Absolutely not. I want justice, not revenge."

"That's good. Revenge can be a powerful motivator but it can also lead to poor judgment." Alex paused. "Stacey Chambers worked for me as an intern. I've never met a young person as dedicated to her work or as unlikely to do drugs. So I understand how you feel. The truth is that we may be dealing with the killer of both our friends, but we can't make that a.s.sumption without proof. So my next question is very simple. Are you interested in working on this task force and getting the proof we need to put Sonny Davis where he belongs?"

The fact was, Keri Morgan had earned the task force position and so far she'd said nothing that offered a valid reason to sideline her. The only hope Alex had was that Keri would decline. Her insides uttered with a mixture of excitement and old-fas.h.i.+oned fear. Her gaze slipped from the le in front of her to the white b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt that clung to Keri's b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The fabric rose and fell unevenly, keeping time with her breathing. Alex feared her own erratic breaths would betray the desire spreading through her system.

Keri was silent. She had expected a little more preamble before having to answer the question directly. More information, that's what she needed. The decision was too important.

"I think you already know that I like drug work, but I'm a little vague on the speci cs of this a.s.signment. I need more information.

Like who'll be supervising the team, and how we're supposed to get evidence on Davis. What are we going to do that hasn't already been done?"

Alex studied Keri's gorgeous face, impressed that she wasn't rus.h.i.+ng into a decision, pro or con, at least she was willing to listen. "Fair enough. This will be a case based predominately on doc.u.mentation, following the money trail, surveillance, and controlled buys with a reliable informant. There is always the potential for violence of some * 61 *

sort where Davis is concerned. He's very unpredictable and surrounds himself with a whole posse of unstable individuals."

"And the team leader?" Keri prompted.

"Sergeant Beth Price. She has previous narcotics experience and knows the legal and departmental protocols for this kind of operation.

We can hit the ground running with her."

"How do you envision your own role in this investigation, Lieutenant?" Keri knew the question was a little cheeky, but she had a right to know. Lead of cers ran their teams differently. Some were hands-on. Others kept more distance. She met Alex's eyes and saw a slight twitch at their corners followed by a foreboding darkening.

Alex's insides clenched as she surveyed the woman beside her.

There it was, the issue that loomed between them like an elephant in a wading pool. Keri might as well have said she didn't want Alex anywhere near her own of cers as they worked. The discomfort between them was obvious but Keri was proceeding with calm and con dence.

Rattled, Alex replied, "The chief wants all my attention focused on this case. In that capacity I will be reviewing every piece of intelligence gathered and every report submitted, and approving every operational plan proposed for execution. It's my job to compile a solid, leakproof case against Sonny Davis. Is that speci c enough?"

Keri's heart sank. She already knew the answer to her next inquiry, but had to ask, "And what about the day-to-day operations?"

"My presence will be much more evident in this case than any other, since it is my only focus. And to be perfectly honest, operational involvement isn't out of the question. However, my intent is to let Sergeant Price handle that as much as possible."

"I see." Keri only hesitated for a few seconds. "I'm not sure I'm the right person for this job, Lieutenant."

The rebuff caught Alex off guard and she fought to keep the simultaneous ashes of relief and disappointment from registering on her face. She had seriously doubted that Keri might turn down the a.s.signment. If she did, Alex would be in the clear with the chief. She should be thrilled.

Before she could stop herself Alex said, "You might want to give some serious thought to your future, Morgan. This case can make or break a career."

There it is, Keri thought, her motivation. She's de nitely bucking * 62 *

for another promotion. And that had to spell trouble for anyone in her path. "I'll have to think about it-in light of everything we've discussed.

Can you give me some time?"

"Time is short." Alex's voice was suddenly terse and unfriendly.

She was obviously annoyed, probably not used to being turned down.

"I'll need an answer by the end of business tomorrow, at the latest."

Keri's legs shook as she stood and followed her to the door. She didn't care what Alex thought; she wasn't about to jump into this hotbed of political land mines without careful consideration of all the facts.

"Thank you for your time, Lieutenant, and for considering me. I know it couldn't have been easy for you."

Alex noticed the almost imperceptible tightening at the corners of Keri's mouth and the focused stare of her cobalt blue eyes. The anger was still there, carefully contained, but present nonetheless.

Maybe it was best if Keri declined the offer. Without giving her time to respond, Keri turned and exited the of ce, leaving Alex speechless in the doorway.

As Keri walked away, she replayed the conversation and weighed her decision carefully.

Over the past few days, she'd glimpsed a softer, more personal side of the woman behind the badge, even hints of actual compa.s.sion.

But she'd also seen the sharp edges of her ambition rise to the surface again, and Keri had a feeling if she got too close to that edge she'd be ripped apart, just as she was three years ago. Her first instinct was to take the a.s.signment. But she wasn't the same impulsive person she'd been a few years ago, and she would never allow Alex Troy to compromise her again. If she joined the task force, she would make sure to watch her back.

v Keri ended her s.h.i.+ft with a sense of anticlimax. She'd made her decision but when she tried to nd Alex to tell her, the lieutenant had already left. Looking forward to releasing some tension, she strode into the women's locker room and was instantly a.s.saulted by the odor of wet towels and perspiration. The beige concrete walls displayed a collection of dirty handprints and scuff marks from neoprene police shoes. As she sat on the narrow bench that ran the length of the tall * 63 *

metal lockers, her waning enthusiasm was mimicked by a ickering uorescent tube that threatened to go out permanently.

She changed from jeans to a pair of white running shorts she kept in her locker for such occasions. She didn't have another T-s.h.i.+rt, so the white, rain-splotched one she had on under her vest would have to do. The sudden torrent of rain had soaked her through on her last call and her body shook. Raking her ngers through her curly wet hair, she opened the gym door and froze.

"Jesus, Alex, I'm dying here. Can you slow down a little?" Beth panted from the center of the room. She and Alex were on a worn, gray oor mat doing synchronized push-ups to a rapid count. Alex's well-muscled body glistened with perspiration and moved gracefully beside Beth's more compact version.

"You never could keep up with me."

"Maybe not in the gym, but I kept you sweating..." Hearing the gym door slam, the two collapsed on the mat, faces frozen, as if caught in an inappropriate moment.

Alex looked stunning in body-hugging bike shorts, tank top, and a headband just below the hairline. Keri never imagined just how exquisite the body was that hid beneath Alex's tailored clothes. Beth wore a black police-issue sweatsuit. Both women stared at Keri so hard she almost turned around and walked back out. She was suddenly self-conscious about her almost transparent white shorts and wet T-s.h.i.+rt, nipples cold and erect underneath.

Beth broke the uncomfortable silence. "d.a.m.n, what happened?

You look a little sh.e.l.l-shocked."

"Nothing, really. Got caught in the rain coming in, that's all."

Alex's eyes still appraising her body, Keri felt her face grow warm. She watched a deep shade of scarlet spread across Alex's cheeks. Their eyes locked and held until Alex nally diverted her gaze and reached for a towel thrown across the weight bench.

"I'm going to take off. We're almost done here anyway."

"No, please. Don't go," Keri said, surprised by the urgency of her tone. She stared down at her shoes, puzzled that she could feel such intense anger toward Alex one minute and strong attraction the next.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your workout. Please nish. I just needed to have a run."

* 64 *

"Are you sure you should be running?" Beth moved to her side and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. "You look a bit shaky."

"Thanks, Sergeant Price, but I'm really ne."

"Whatever you say." Beth shrugged her shoulders and returned to Alex. "Okay, Alex, name your pain." Under her breath, she whispered, "Has she decided about the a.s.signment yet?"

Alex shook her head and waved Beth off. "I'll work my way through the machines and meet you at the bench press in about half an hour." She avoided looking at Keri again. For some reason the easy way she and Beth had just connected bothered her. She envied Beth's ease with physical intimacy and wished she could have reached out to Keri herself. She looked so disheveled and anxious. Alex wondered if the task force decision was the only cause. Every time she'd thought about Keri lately, her mind and libido had been at war, and for the first time, she could see signs of the same internal con ict in Keri. She hadn't imagined the s.e.xual tension between them just moments ago, and she knew Keri was equally aware of it.

Alex cursed beneath her breath as she headed for the lat machine.

As if the situation wasn't complicated enough, would she now be working with a subordinate she had the hots for?

The next thirty minutes dragged. Keri punched the treadmill speed up to six and easily kept pace. Every time she looked at Alex her mind reeled from the possibilities of what could happen between them if she accepted the task force a.s.signment. Maybe Alex would give her a second chance. Or perhaps she'd just prejudge her again. Or maybe they'd become friends bonded by professional necessity. And it was even possible that they could become involved with each other. Keri's legs weakened at the visual her mind played and she momentarily lost her rhythm. Alex was certainly attractive and Keri's body responded to her readily. But Alex was her superior and nothing could ever change that. Their relations.h.i.+p was and always would be professional.

Keri adjusted the treadmill speed, stumbling to remain vertical.

A strange tension mingled with the rising heat in the room. With only an occasional grunt or moan of exertion, the other two women worked silently through the exercise machines that lined the gray gym walls.

Beth offered occasional thumbs-up of encouragement in Keri's direction and some not-too-subtle glances at her small bouncing b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

* 65 *

Alex hadn't looked at her since she started her run. An infrequent word of motivation or a brief consultation about weight or technique was the only conversation that pa.s.sed between Alex and Beth, unlike the friendly banter she'd witnessed upon entering the gym. She felt as if she'd interrupted something private then.

Keri mashed the treadmill Stop b.u.t.ton and stepped off, wet clothes clinging to her body. She pulled a towel from the storage rack and wiped her face and neck. Beads of perspiration trickled down between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She raised her s.h.i.+rt and captured the moisture in the ribbed cotton material. Eyes closed, enjoying the rough-textured fabric on her skin, she wiped the at surface of her stomach to the top of her shorts just below the navel. With an exhausted sigh, she opened her eyes and noticed Alex look quickly away.

"Are you ready to spot me?" Alex asked Beth.

"I've got a few more leg presses first."

"I'd be glad to help out," Keri said.

"No, I wouldn't want to impose." Alex was unwilling to encourage a closer proximity of their bodies. "I can wait for Beth to nish."

"Oh, let her spot you, Alex. I'll be on this a few more minutes."

Reluctantly, Alex agreed. "If you're sure it's no bother."

Keri admired Alex's uid movements as she positioned herself on the bench, long legs up, feet resting on the edge of the seat. Placing her gloved hands equal distance from the weights on either side, she wrapped her slender ngers around the bar, stared straight up at the ceiling, and began the exercise.

Veins bulged in her neck and hands as she pumped the weight up and down. Perspiration dotted her forehead and rolled away from the headband. Keri observed the rhythmic rise and fall of Alex's toned chest muscles, the dip of her stomach, and marveled at the beauty of a well-formed female body, clearly visible under the clingy out t.

"Set," Alex said, placing the weights back on the rack. As she let go of the bar and withdrew her hands, a wet strand of hair fell across her face. Without a thought, Keri reached to push it aside.

Alex saw Keri's hand moving in slow motion toward her face. She wanted that touch more than she realized but simultaneously feared it.

She turned her head to avert the connection and rose from the bench.

"Please, don't."

Keri thought Alex's voice sounded deliberately polite but strangely * 66 *

cool. "Sorry. I didn't mean anything." The warning in Alex's eyes had been clear. "Write me up for an invasion of PBS." She tried to laugh off the encounter.

Beth was instantly at Alex's side. "How about violating my personal body s.p.a.ce? I could use a good ma.s.sage."

Alex grabbed her towel off the bench. "I'm going to head out.

Thanks for the workout, Beth...and the spot, Morgan."

Keri stood motionless, watching Alex's retreating back. When the locker room door closed behind her, she turned to Beth. "What was that?"

"That's just Alex. She's a private person and that's how she likes to keep things."

"Fine with me." Keri ipped the thin gym towel over her shoulder.

"Good night, Sergeant, and thanks for your concern." She headed for the locker room fully expecting Alex Troy to be long gone. But when she opened the door, Alex stood in front of her opened locker as if waiting.

Keri spoke without invitation. She had to strike before her courage waned. "Lieutenant, I'm sorry-"

"Morgan, I didn't mean-"

"No, please, let me." Keri stepped within touching distance of Alex and felt the heat radiating from her body. A misty sheen of perspiration glistened over muscles straining with tension. Keri's breath caught in her throat as she struggled to speak. "I'm sorry if I overstepped. It was just a re ex." And what about this urge you have to touch her right now? Is that a re ex? Keri wondered.

Alex's gaze hadn't left Keri's mouth since she entered the room.

It was as if she watched the words form on her lips but never heard the sounds. Wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, she responded, "Don't worry about it. I'm just not very good with being touched."

Keri watched the pulse along Alex's neck quicken and her body posture tighten as she spoke. "I don't know who did that to you, but I'm so sorry."

Alex's eyes grew wide with disbelief. "I didn't say anyone-"

"It's okay. I've been on the receiving end of an out-of-control loved one and I know the look." Keri moved carefully toward Alex and in slow motion raised her hand to Alex's face. "Touch is meant to be loving and healing. Don't accept any that isn't."

* 67 *

She cupped Alex's cheek in her palm and felt Alex lean into her.

The simultaneous warmth of her face and the lean hardness of her body red jolts of desire through Keri's system. Maybe she was oxygen deprived after the vigorous run. She'd never felt this excited, and there had to be a logical reason. Arousal spiraled from her core. Her muscles trembled with an unfamiliar need. Moisture ooded the suddenly aching folds of her s.e.x. What is happening to me?

Alex lightly touched Keri's arms and slid her hands tentatively upward. She raked her ngers through the damp curls at Keri's temples and teasingly dragged her index nger across Keri's bottom lip. The pink tip of her tongue appeared between her lips and left a moistened trail. Keri felt herself moving closer to those inviting lips, unsure if the advance was hers or Alex's. Brown eyes, hazy and hooded with desire, bored into her soul. Hot breath caressed her face. She closed her eyes and lightly parted her lips in surrender.

Suddenly the room around Keri turned cold.

"I can't do this." Alex backed away from her as if she were poison.

"I apologize. This is wrong on so many levels." She grabbed her gym bag, slammed her locker, and raced toward the exit without a backward glance.

"But what about the task force? I've made a decision." Keri couldn't believe what she'd said. It wasn't until she touched Alex that she realized why she'd made the decision that felt so uneasy earlier that day. The last thing she wanted to talk about was the d.a.m.n job, but she thought that might stop Alex's hasty retreat. The slamming of the locker room door was her only answer.

Miserable and depressed, Keri changed clothes and thought about what just happened. Had she really almost kissed the woman who'd tried to destroy her credibility? She had strong feelings about Alex but they weren't s.e.xual. Or were they? She and Alex had almost kissed, of that she was certain. But why did Alex stop? Was she really so concerned about professional propriety? Her eyes said she wanted that kiss. Her body de nitely wanted that kiss. So what could possibly elicit such an obvious withdrawal from simple human touch?