Chapter Seventeen
She’d never seen so many cops in her life. They lined the hallway and crowded the waiting room, all drinking coffee and quietly talking amongst themselves. A few kept casting curious glances her way, and she heard the whispers. Not disrespectful, but they were definitely talking. Elias sat beside her, fielding questions and deflecting anyone who approached like a guard dog. She was holding it together until Vicki Connagher came racing in with her young man. Without hesitation, Vicki wrapped her arms around her and suddenly Mal couldn’t hold the waterworks in any longer.
She hated to cry. She couldn’t even recall the last time she’d broken down like this. But the thought of Colby lying hurt and bleeding…
Her friends crowded closer. Elias, Vicki and Jesse, shielding her from the curious prying eyes of the other cops. Then Victor and Shiloh were there too. Someone passed her a pack of tissues.
“It’s all right,” Vicki whispered, rubbing soothing circles on her back. “He’s going to be fine.”
Mal sniffed and wiped her eyes, pulling herself back together enough to talk. “Sorry. You’re right. He’s in good hands. We got him here quickly.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. This is my worst nightmare.” Vicki shuddered and Elias’s arms came around her, Jesse pressing against her back, offering comfort. “If it was Elias in there, I’d be out here wailing at the top of my lungs.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” Elias said in a gruff voice, though he squeezed her tighter. “You’d be too busy yelling at me to stop bleeding.”
“Reyes,” an older man with silvered hair called from several feet away.
Elias nodded. “Our lieutenant. Excuse me a moment.”
The two talked quietly and then approached the group.
“Mal, this is Lieutenant Greaves. He’d like to ask you a few questions while everything’s fresh in your mind.”
“Sure.”
Another officer joined them, taking notes as she told them what had happened. Though she couldn’t say much. It’d all happened so quickly. She hadn’t even gotten a good look at the SUV before Colby had shut the door behind her.
“Do you remember how many shots you heard?”
She couldn’t help but shudder at the memory. “First there was a lot all fast, together, like Fourth of July fireworks going off at the same time.”
“AK-47,” Elias said grimly. “Colby said it had a fancy silver stock, likely custom.”
“Then two, no three shots. Tires squealing, and then nothing. I ran back and found him collapsed against the door.”
“Did you see anything that might help us track down the shooters?”
She pictured the SUV in her mind as it rolled up, window slowly sliding down. There had been a man in the window. It was dark, and he’d had on dark clothing. But something… She closed her eyes, letting the image build. A flash of silver, the gun probably. His hand lifting it into position. “A red triangle. On the back of his hand.”
Opening her eyes, she looked from Elias to the other men. That red triangle was significant. Though they all had that closed-mouth blank cop look on their faces. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”
Elias met his lieutenant’s gaze. “Guess we hit a little too close to home.”
“Does that mean you’re in danger too?” Vicki retorted.
“Thank you, ma’am.” Lieutenant Graves took Mal’s hand in his. “If you need anything, you let us know. Detective Reyes is at your disposal and will contact me at once with any change in Detective Wade’s condition. I’ve already notified his family. Sounds like they’re on their way now but it’ll take them a couple of hours to get here.”
The two cops walked off, voices low. Others met them at the door, took their orders, and immediately cleared the room, leaving just Elias and her friends.
“Well?” Vicki planted her fists on her hips and glared at Elias.
“Let’s just say every cop in the narcotics division just went on high alert.” He waited while Vicki exploded into a fit of cursing and pacing back and forth. “That red triangle belongs to one of the cartels we’ve been investigating. That tells us which one needs to be hit hardest first before this entire city takes a blood bath.”
“And what about you?”
He drew her back into his arms, dropping his chin on her head. “Aw, Vic, don’t worry about me, babe. I’m in the safest place in the world, right here by your side.”
A doctor stepped into the room and everybody immediately turned to him, eager for news. “The detective is stable. He lost a lot of blood, and we’re taking him back for surgery now to repair the damage. I won’t know the extent until we get in there, but I’m suspecting at least some small bowel damage. Nothing we can’t repair though.”
“So he’s going to be okay?” Mal asked, pleased her voice didn’t shake.
“It’s early, but I’m sure he’ll have a very good prognosis.”
Her knees weakened and she sat down quickly before she embarrassed herself. “Thank you, doctor.”
“Might as well get comfortable,” Victor said. “It’s going to be a long night. Mal, can I get you some coffee?”
She nodded, suddenly too tired to even speak. She allowed the back of her head to touch the wall.
Vicki sat beside her and took her hand in hers. “You heard the doctor. Colby’s going to be okay.”
“I know.” But the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach didn’t go away. In fact, it grew, a cold ball of lead that would crush the life out of her. This was a cop’s life. Every time he went out the door, he might be shot at, stabbed, killed in a car chase. She’d known he had a dangerous job from the beginning. But the reality…
Sucked. Big time.
Because she didn’t want him to be in danger. She wanted him safe. Happy. Whole. Not unable to sleep or eat, killing himself with guilt and responsibility for her, his partner, everybody in the entire fucking city.
“How do you do this?” She asked Vicki softly, hoping that Elias wouldn’t hear. She didn’t want to appear weak, or make him think she’d try and force Colby to quit with an ultimatum. Even though that was exactly what she wanted to do.
“I don’t,” Vicki whispered back, squeezing her hand. “I’m terrified. All. The. Time. Once, when we had a fight, he wouldn’t pick up when I called him. Then we heard on the news that a cop had been gunned down. I swear, I lost at least ten years off my life until we got him on the phone and knew he was all right.”
“Did you kick his ass?”
Vicki snorted. “More or less. He promised he’d never do that again. If I called, he’d answer. Period. That way I knew when he was in danger, even if he was pissed at me. He promised that once he gets promoted that he’ll ask for a transfer to a less dangerous division. With my luck, he’ll probably end up on some super secret intelligence squad and he won’t be able to tell me anything about where he is or what he’s doing.”
“Someone offered Colby a job today.”
“Oh?” Elias overheard that bit and went on full alert. “Who?”
“I don’t know. Some Special Agent.”
“Humph. I bet it was someone in the DEA. That’d be a good fit for him.”
“He turned her down.”
“Interesting.” Elias gave her a look that she couldn’t decipher. “He hasn’t said what he plans to do next?”
“Nope.”
“And you haven’t put the screws to him, trying to make him quit?”
She gave him a look of disdain that he’d have no difficulty deciphering. “Oh, I’ve put screws to him, but I haven’t said a single word about trying to get him to quit.”
“You don’t like this.”
“Well, fuck, no, I don’t, Detective Reyes.” She stood slowly, narrowing her eyes and focusing her will on him. He bristled, jaw jutting out, showing his alpha dog side. “But that doesn’t mean I’d try and make him quit his job if that’s what he wants to do.”
Jesse, of all people, stepped closer to Elias and put a hand on his shoulder, whispering something to him. Jesse might be one of the most submissive men Mal had ever seen, but he had no fear approaching his Domme’s other lover, even when Elias was starting to show teeth. In fact, Elias immediately acquiesced. He even fucking apologized.
“I’m sorry, Mal. I’ve got no right to question you. I’m worried about him and snapping at you won’t help anybody, least of all him.”
“I want him to quit, yeah” she replied quietly. “But I’ll never ask it of him. If he chooses to walk away, it’s on him and him alone.”
“And you’ll fucking celebrate if he chooses to leave,” Vicki said in a firm, no nonsense voice that made Jesse soften and Elias stiffen, though he nodded. “We’ll all celebrate. Because he’s alive and happy and doing what he wants.”
“Damn right,” Mal said. Please, let it be soon. Let him be all right.
A few moments went by and the tension in the room settled a bit. Everyone breathed easier, knowing that Colby was likely going to be okay. But Mal noticed that Jesse still had a hand on Elias’s shoulder, and even more interesting, the cop didn’t seem to mind. She glanced at Vicki, noting the soft look of overwhelming affection in her eyes. “Colby asked me to the Policeman’s Ball.”
Vicki jerked her attention to Mal, with a brilliant smile to match the dazzle in her eyes. “Oh! A new dress!”
“Will you have time?”
She dug into her purse and pulled out a small sketchbook and pencil. “That’s a silly question. This is the perfect way to pass the time. Let’s see…”
And she was right. The soft scratch of lead on paper, watching a fanciful dress unfold, was the perfect distraction. Mal lost track of time, watching her friend sketch out several dresses, page after page. But one in particular caught her eye. “Go back. Yeah. That one.”
Vicki gave her a Cheshire cat smile. “I thought you might like it the most.”
Mal tilted her head a bit, letting the vision unfold in her mind. Vicki’s notes said antique cream with heritage lace. Lace wasn’t usually Mal’s taste, but the long, elegant lines of the dress were enhanced by soft falls of lace. It looked old fashioned, vintage, and yet perfectly her. Except for one thing. “It seems very… bridal.”
Vicki laughed as she wrapped an arm around Mal’s shoulders and hugged her. “Exactly.”
Marriage wasn’t something she’d thought about, not for a very long time. The Mistress of Dallas flirted as she wished, breaking submissive hearts left and right. It’d been fun, a long reign of play and casual relationships that had been exactly what she needed as she established her career at VCONN. Whips and chains, latex and collars, the club life had made her into the Mistress she was today. The Mistress who’d been ready and able to help a mentally wounded soldier overcome his issues. The woman who couldn’t wait to take her wounded cop home and help him heal once and for all.
Whether he wore her collar or not, Colby was hers.