Chapter 2
I never drank. Well, correction… I rarely drank.
Four, no, make that five… five drinks and I was feeling it.
The guys were looking at me funny.
I knew they were looking at me funny, but I was pretending I didn't notice. I was keeping mum about my run in with Frankie… Frankie… That really fucking sexy Frankie. I groaned and shook my head.
A smug Tony asked, "Could the ever-elusive Matthew Elliott be having girl trouble?"
"Know what?" I pointed my beer at him. "Fuck you." I swigged at my beer proudly.
Tony laughed. "Oh, I think it might be."
"Yeah, come on," Kurt said too-cheerfully. "First you take a beating from the new trainer guy, then you hit the beer? Spill the details, Elliott."
I downed the last of my drink, and when I pushed off my stool, the room tilted. I tried to reach for the table, but it was somehow not as close as I thought. Then the room tilted again, and Mitch had hold of me.
Mitch.
The best partner a cop could have.
I told him this, of course, and he laughed.
"Get him home," someone said. Kurt. Kurt said that.
12
Point of No Return
NR Walker
I told him, very seriously, "I can get myself home, thank you, Detective Webber."
Kurt and Tony laughed. They were laughing at me, and it should've bothered me. Actually, it did bother me, but Mitch was pushing me out the door.
Ah, Mitch. My partner. "Haven't you got a dinner date tonight with Anna?" I asked.
He looked at his watch. "Plenty of time," he said.
"It's not even eight."
Fuck. It wasn't even eight, and I was smashed. The air outside the bar seemed to make me drunker.
I looked at Mitch. "Whose idea was it to have beer?"
"Mine," he said with a laugh. "But it was your idea to have bourbon."
Ugh. Bourbon. I hated bourbon.
"Oh, here's Frankie."
No. No, no more Frankie.
Mitch was mumbling about his jacket, and I turned around and was looking at dark, almond-shaped eyes and perfect lips. Then the sidewalk tilted.
Fuck.
"Here, hold him up," Mitch said. "I left my jacket inside."
13
Point of No Return
NR Walker
Then big hands were on me. Strange hands,
unfamiliar hands…
Warm, strong hands.
I watched Mitch walk away and looked at this
Frankie guy. "It's your fault," I told him. Because it was his fault.
"What's my fault?" he asked with a smile.
"That smile," I groaned. "It's too beautiful."
So he smiled again. Of course he did.
Didn't he know what he was doing to me when he smiled? Didn't he understand at all? "You'll give me away."
I leaned in so I could whisper. "No one knows about me, okay? No one knows."
"No one knows what?" Mitch's voice came from behind me.
Spinning around to face him, I joked, "How fucking good I am."
"Yeah, right," Mitch laughed at me. "We all know how good you are." He looked over my shoulder to this Frankie. "Hey thanks, man."
"No worries," Frankie said, then his hands weren't on me anymore. "I just finished up at the gym and was heading to the parking lot," he explained. "You gonna be all right with him?"
14
Point of No Return
NR Walker
"Yeah," Mitch laughed, close to my ear. "This is what three beers and two bourbons will do to someone who doesn't drink."
"Doesn't drink, huh?" Frankie asked, looking at me.
His dark eyes were all glimmery, and he smiled that fucking beautiful smile. "Looks like he managed okay."
Mitch laughed again. "It's been a big week, but something got under his skin today."
"Is that so?" Frankie laughed. "And he's gonna be sick tomorrow."
They were talking about me like I wasn't even there.
Well, fuck them. I just wanted go home. I patted down my pockets. "Where's my keys?"
Mitch laughed again. "You're not driving
anywhere."
"I can drive just fine," I told him. Then I looked at the road. It looked wobbly. "If the road would just stay still."
Laughing, Mitch put his arm around me, and we
started to walk. "What about my car?"
He shook his head at me. "Your car can have a sleepover," he told me. "I'll pick you up in the morning."
Ugh. The morning. I was gonna be sick in the
morning.
15
Point of No Return
NR Walker
Mitch laughed. "I know you're gonna be sick in the morning."
Mmm. I must have said that out loud. I tried not to say anything, in case I said the wrong thing and drunkenly stumbled out of the closet. I'd never been so rattled by anyone before.
I looked around. "Where's that Frankie guy?"
"He left while we were still on the sidewalk." Mitch laughed at me again. "Jeez, how drunk are you?"
I had to think about that. "I'm pretty fucking drunk."
Then I told him, "I let him beat me."
Mitch propped me up against a car, his car, and he looked at me. "I know you did. It cost me twenty bucks."
I laughed, but then I remembered that I was trying not to talk, in case I said too much. "Ssh, it's a secret," I told him, locking my lips and throwing away the key.
"You gonna tell me why you let him beat you?"
I shook my head and pressed my lips together.
"Mm-mm."
He laughed, shook his head at me and stuffed me into his car. When we got to my place, he hauled me up the front steps, bitching the whole way, and when he finally got me inside, he threw me on the couch.
"My bed," I said, hearing myself slur. Fuck, I was drunk.
16
Point of No Return
NR Walker
Mitch slapped my face. Twice. Then he laughed. "I don't love you that much."
"Fuck you," I said, though it sounded a bit mumbled.
He laughed again. "I'll be here at seven-thirty in the morning to get you. You'd better be ready."
The last thing I remembered was hearing the click of my front door, and the only way I could stop the room from spinning was to close my eyes.
* * * *
When Mitch arrived at seven-thirty in the morning, I was dressed and ready for work.
And very hung over.
"You in the land of the living?" he asked too damn loudly, as he handed me a coffee.
"Barely."
He laughed at me, shaking his head. "Come on.
We've got a mountain of paperwork to get through."
Ugh.
So with a thumping head and queasy stomach, I
spent the next too-many hours buried in paperwork.
"Oh, hell," Mitch said, distracting me from my thoughts. "You've got that look."
17
Point of No Return
NR Walker
"What look?"
"That 'something's not right' look you get when you think we've missed something."
"What is it this time?" Kurt intervened, looking up from his desk.
I threw the file I was holding onto my desk and sighed. "He didn't work alone."
Mitch, Kurt, and Tony all groaned. They knew who I was talking about.
I sighed again. "I'm telling you, he couldn't have done this on his own."
"We've been through this," Tony said. "There wasn't anyone else. Tomic acted alone."
Kurt's brow creased. "Matt, we checked this out.
There was nothing."
I sighed. I knew. I knew we'd been through this.
We'd checked it out, but something just didn't add up.
Something was missing. I was rarely wrong on things like this, but I had no proof.
"Well, you've got about four months to prove it,"
Mitch said with a patient sigh. "Hard, damning, physical evidence kind of proof."
Mitch got up from his desk and threw two case files on my desk and clapped his hands on my shoulders. "So while you're working on that, have some new cases with
18
Point of No Return
NR Walker
new bad guys to go over in your spare time," he said with a smirk.
"Mmm," I huffed, knowing any hope of constructive argument was over. Resigned, I closed the Tomic file for now and picked up a new case file.
New case. New bad guy.
Report after report. It never fucking ended.
I found myself absorbed with intel on a new
possible drug ring, and after a while, Mitch threw his pen onto his desk. Closing the folder in front of him, he looked at me. "It's five o'clock, Matt. Gym and bar?"
I shook my head and rubbed my stomach. "Not me.
Not tonight."
"Oh, come on," he whined. "It's Friday. Not very often we get Friday nights off."
"I'm not up for it tonight," I told him.
Tony scoffed. "Not up for bourbon? Or not up for another ass-kicking from what's-his-name?"
Frankie.
Fuck.
I hadn't thought of him all day.
I laughed them off, but they weren't letting me out of it. Mitch grinned. "The workout will do you good."
"No beer, no bourbon," Kurt added with a laugh.
19
Point of No Return
NR Walker
I groaned. It really would be less painful if I just went along with it.
"No boxing," Mitch said seriously. "I can't afford it."
No, neither can I. Considering I didn't have a boxing appointment, I should be safely able to stay away from the new trainer. With a bit of luck, he wouldn't even be there.
I stood up. "Even hung over, I could kick your asses on the treadmill."
Mitch chuckled, grinning at me. "There he is! The smug, self-righteous son-of-a-bitch we all love."
Twenty minutes later, we were at the gym. There was no sign of Frankie, and we were all back to good. We were running it out, laughing and joking. Kurt and Mitch both had something on with their girlfriends this weekend, and Tony had a dinner with his in-laws.
I laughed at them. "Glad to be single."
"Yeah well," Kurt snorted. "When do we get to meet the girl who got you all bent out of shape last night?"
"What?"
"Oh, come on," Tony huffed. "To see you get your ass beat on the mats…" He gave a pointed nod to the boxing room. "And then get drunk? It's gotta be a woman."
I hit stop on my treadmill, slowing to a walk.
20
Point of No Return
NR Walker
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
As part of the straight game I played with these guys, I just smiled at him and said nothing, letting them assume what they wanted.
I'd never lied outright to them. I'd never said he or she. I'd always kept it vague. They were the ones who assumed.
I jumped off the treadmill and wiped my face with my towel.
"Told ya," Tony puffed to the other two. "It's gotta be girl trouble. Playboy Matt Elliott's got himself a girlfriend."
I rolled my eyes at him and, needing to put an end to this conversation, walked into the boxing room.
Thankfully, it was empty. I strapped my hands and spent a good twenty minutes punching the bag.
I could feel the sweat pouring out of me. The stress unknotted in my shoulders and last night's alcohol-induced funk did too.
I unloaded on the bag, having missed my usual
workout bout because I was so distracted by the new trainer. I unleashed jab punch combinations, relishing the feel of power, the de-stressing, and the burn in my muscles.
"I knew you were holding back," a smooth voice said behind me.
21
Point of No Return
NR Walker
I spun around, though I already knew who I'd find.
He grinned at me, and my chest tightened.
"You feel okay today?" he asked. "You were a little unsteady on your feet last night outside the bar."
Oh, fuck.
I'd forgotten about that. I spoke to him… Shit. I ran my hands through my sweat-soaked hair. "Last night is a bit of a blur," I admitted quietly. "I'm sorry if I said…
anything…" I finished quietly. "I don't normally drink."
He chuckled. "You might have said something."
Ugh. I groaned.
"Don't worry," he said with a smile. "You made some things pretty clear."
I stared at him, trying to remember what I said. He pulled out some mats and pads, throwing them on the floor.
"You told me no one knows," he said quietly, but seriously.
He picked up my towel, and I was unable to move—frozen in place. He walked up to me, and handed me my towel.
And quietly, so only I could hear, he said, "And you think I have a beautiful smile."
It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
Fuck. I made my legs move and took a step back from him.
I could feel the blood draining from my face, and my heart was beating double time. I tried to tell him he was wrong. I
22
Point of No Return
NR Walker
wouldn't have said that. I wouldn't have let my guard down, no matter how beautiful I thought he was.
"Hey," he said softly with his hands up, palms forward. "No one knows. I get it. I won't tell anyone." His dark eyes were staring straight into mine. I knew enough about reading people to know he was telling me the truth.
"I wish I could say the same about your smile," he said almost wistfully, looking at me with those goddamn beautiful eyes. "But I've yet to see it. I'd really like to see you smile."
I tried to swallow, but I couldn't. My mouth was suddenly too dry. So I nodded instead.
The door swung open behind us, and it propelled my legs into motion. I stepped away from him, toward the door, where a woman stood.
"Ah," Frankie said behind me. "My six o'clock."
The girl, though I wasn't sure who she was, nodded and addressed me with a curt nod. "Detective Elliott."
I wiped the towel over my face as I walked toward the door.
"Matthew?"
I spun around at the sound of his voice saying my name.
He grinned. "Your next appointment with me is Monday. See you then."
23
Point of No Return
NR Walker
I nodded, almost bolting out the door. Shit. My next appointment… I had two, sometimes three, boxing sessions a week. Which meant, if anything, I'd get to see him at least twice a week. That thought alone filled me with a little bit of dread. But I could feel something else settle into my stomach. Something I didn't want to admit… something that might have been anticipation.
24
Point of No Return
NR Walker