Chapter Eleven

 

Roberta was just leaving the chief’s office with her partner Tom, Sergeant Johns, and three other officers, when she received a call on her cell phone from Ric.

 

“I’m being shot at – running trail twelve along the river – three miles from my apart…” She heard a round of shots and the line went dead.

 

Jumping up, she relayed the message as she and her partner ran through the building, heading for their car. As she ran she tried to call him, but it went to his voice mail, so she texted him in hopes that he would see it.

 

“Be there in two minutes – stay down – stay alive -Rob.”

 

She broke every speed record she could to get there, to get to him. When she pulled the squad car up onto the dirt trail, she saw Ric sitting on a bench surrounded by a half dozen people in bright running suits.

 

The paramedics pulled in behind her as she sprinted from the car and ran towards him. When she got closer, she saw the blood on him and her concern tripled.

 

“I’m okay,” he said holding up his hand as she approached. “It’s just a graze. Dr. Kim here,” he nodded to an elderly Asian man, who was decked out in a bright orange running suit, “has taken a look and assured me it’s just a graze. He doesn’t even think I’ll need stitches… this time.” She could tell he was trying to calm himself down and noticed he wasn’t doing a good job at it. She saw that his hands were shaking as he held his bloodied tee-shirt against the wound that no doubt would need just some cleaning.

 

Squatting down next to him, she looked into his face, he was paler than his normal tan glow. His hands were still shaking and she could tell he was pissed.

 

“Tell me what happened,” she said as the paramedics started to check him out.

 

“Well, there I was, enjoying my first run in over a week, when, bam, someone shot at me.” She knew he was trying to use humor to mask the fear. “And they didn’t stop, they unloaded several rounds trying to get to me.”

 

“I’ve never seen a man move so fast.” Dr. Kim piped in. “If my running team hadn’t been around the corner and heard it all, I think Mr. Derby here would have been a goner.”

 

“What do you mean?” Rob asked, looking up at the man.

 

“Well, the shooter was reloading his gun when we came running across the bridge and I guess we must have scared him off. The man was calmly walking to where Mr. Derby was hiding behind that tree.” Dr. Kim pointed to a large oak. From where Rob was kneeling she could see the trunk had been sprayed with bullets.

 

“Tom, would you take Dr. Kim and his group’s statements. I’ll take Mr. Derby’s.” Rob didn’t take her eyes off Ric’s face.

 

“Sure thing Rob. Dr. Kim, did you get a good look…” she tuned her partner’s questions out.

 

“Are you okay?” She’d seen the large gash across his left ribs that marked where a bullet had been inches away from going straight through his side.

 

“I had just taken my earbuds out, if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have heard and reacted so quickly.” He looked down as the EMT was placing a large bandage over the opened wound. “This was personal, it felt personal.”

 

“We’re all done here,” the EMT interrupted, “You’ll need to make sure that stays clean. Maybe take something over the counter for any pain. If you see any swelling or signs of infection, see your doctor.”

 

As Ric stood, she watched him test himself. His face was still paler than normal. His shirt was a complete loss. Grabbing his arm, she said, “Hang on a minute.” When he nodded, she walked over to her partner.

 

“Tom, I’m going to drive Mr. Derby back to his apartment. Can you get a ride from…” she looked around and saw two other cops from their unit and nodded towards the pair.

 

“Sure thing Rob, don’t worry about me. I’ll write this up, help them pull evidence, and have it on your desk.”

 

“Thanks,” she walked to where Ric stood, looking down at his blood covered hands.

 

A memory flashed in her mind of her standing, looking down at her own bloody hands, and something shifted inside her.

 

“Come on, let’s go get you cleaned up.”

 

Sitting in Rob’s car as she drove him the short distance back to his place, Ric’s mind played over the scene several times.

 

She’d given him some wipes so he could clean up. He looked down and was glad to see his hands clean of all the blood.

 

When he was laying behind the tree, escaping the bullets, his mind kept flashing to Roberta’s face. Looking over at her now, he could see the worry in her eyes. He’d seen pure fear there when she’d sprinted towards him on the running path.

 

Smiling, he realized she’d been truly afraid. Did it mean that she had feelings for him? Watching her drive, he smiled even more realizing he had feelings for her. What kind of feelings exactly, he didn’t quite know yet. But, he was willing to try and figure them out. After all, he had time.

 

“Keep looking at me like that and I’ll start shooting at you myself.” She said, stealing a quick glance at him.

 

He laughed, as they pulled into his parking garage.

 

“I’ll walk you up.”

 

He looked at her, raising his eye brows in question.

 

She explained, “I need to officially take your statement.”

 

He thought he saw her cheeks turning pink, so he just nodded.

 

The car ride had been bad enough, but it seemed to him that all the air had been sucked out of the elevator. The short trip up to his floor seemed to take longer than usual. He stood across the small space and just looked at her. Her eyes were glued to his bare chest and arms.

 

He could see her desire plainly written in her eyes and most likely his mirrored hers. Finally, the doors slid open and she walked out slowly. He followed and watched the way she walked, the way her hips swayed, in the light tan slacks that she wore today. She had on a dark blue button up blouse, and he wondered what was underneath it all.

 

When he opened his door to his apartment, he watched her walk in first. When she stopped just inside the door, he pushed the door closed with his foot, not taking his eyes off her. Then, she was on him, pushing his back to the cool wood of the door. Her hot mouth was on his, her hands fisted in his hair. He lost all ability to think. She was a wild cat, her lips and hands traveled all over his face and arms.

 

He fisted his hands on her hips and pushed her until their positions were reversed. Pulling her shirt free, he ran his hands up until he cupped her silky breast.

 

Releasing a low moan, she continued running kisses over his face and neck while her fingernails bit softly into his shoulders.

 

He ran his hands up her neck and tugged her hair free from the large clip. He enjoyed running his hands through the long, dark tresses.

 

She arched her neck, exposing her soft skin for him to rain kisses along her jaw line. His hands were back under her shirt, playing with the soft skin underneath. He could feel her nipples straining against the silk of her bra. He wanted to taste her, wanted to take her, there against his door. Hard, fast, now.

 

He started to reach around and pull her upwards towards him, when his hands ran into her holster, and her weapon. It was like a large bucket of ice water had just hit him square in the chest.

 

Pulling back, he watched her face as she realized it herself. She took a large breath and closed her eyes, then leaned her head back on the door.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said.

 

“No, don’t be sorry.” Pulling her face into his hands, he held her until she opened her eyes and looked at him.

 

“We will finish this,” he didn’t know if he was promising her or warning her.

 

She looked at him and just nodded her head. He stepped back and watched her tuck her shirt back into her belt.

 

“Did your sister leave?” She looked around.

 

“Yeah,” he picked up his ruined shirt and tossed it in the trash. “She headed to Mexico to be with her friends.” He watched her walk around the large room and thought she might be trying to get under control. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was pacing his living area, she looked like she was stalling.

 

“What do you want Detective?”

 

She spun around quickly and looked at him.

 

“What do you want to drink?” He held up a bottle of water and noticed that something flashed in her eyes.

 

“No, nothing. I’m fine.” She continued her pacing of the room.

 

Taking a large swig of water, he walked over to stop her nervous walking by grabbing onto her shoulders. Looking into her eyes, he saw her raw emotions.

Pulling her close, he held on tight as she went into his arms.

 

“Thank you,” he said.

 

“Why are you thanking me?” She leaned back and looked up into his eyes. He took advantage and leaned down to claim her mouth softly.

 

“Thank you for being there for me.”

 

“I should have gotten there faster. It wasn’t me that saved you, it was Dr. Kim and his running group.”

 

“You were there. When I was hiding behind that tree, all I could think of was you.” He looked into her eyes and saw shock.

 

“I don’t know what to do with this information. Do you expect me to…”

 

“Shh, I don’t expect anything. Just know that I thought of you.”

 

He pulled her into another light hug.

 

“You know, since I’ve met you, I seem to always end up bloody and bruised.”

 

She laughed and he enjoyed the sweet sound and vowed to hear it again and as often as possible.

 

“Are you going to take my,” he cleared his throat, “statement?” She smiled up at him.

 

What a waste of time! And even more of a waste of money. He was just glad he hadn’t actually paid the man yet. He had sat in his car, across from the jogging trail, and watched for himself. The man he’d hired couldn’t shoot a large stationary target on the side of a barn, let alone an unarmed man jogging alone. Now, he was sure that his hired hand had been seen by no less than half a dozen people. Something had to be done.

 

He knew that some pawns had to be sacrificed in order to get to the queen. Looking across the table at the skinny man who looked a little too self-confident, he thought of how he would accomplish the task. Maybe there was a way to play this where he would get what he wanted and get rid of his employee at the same time.

Smiling, he leaned back in his chair and told the man exactly what he wanted him to do.

 

It had taken Roberta two days to track down the identification of the shooter. Dr. Kim and his running group had been invaluable to the search. When Tom had shown everyone the line up, each had pointed to his picture. IDing the perp had been easy, finding the man was a different matter.

 

Ricky Scoles had been in and out of jail for the past fifteen years. His rap sheet was long and went back years to include his juvenile records where he’d been tried as an adult for a botched robbery in which two store clerks had been gunned down. He’d gotten off easy since he’d only been the driver that night. Word on the street was he was a hired hand now. Taking odd jobs, working for a few of the local gangs, drug lords, even some of the hookers that still worked the East side. The low-life scum-bucket had been a quick hire for someone. The question now was, who had hired him to kill Ric and why?

 

“I’m clocking out, Tom.” She threw the last of her paperwork on her desk and decided the rest could wait until the morning.

 

She had her class later that night, but figured maybe a quick stop by Ric’s couldn’t hurt. Texting him as she walked out to the parking garage, she knew he would be leaving the gallery soon. She had a couple of black and whites driving by his place every hour to make sure everything was going smooth. Not to mention she’d made him promise to text every hour. He’d talked her into every other hour.

 

“Wanna grab some grub?” She waited for his reply.

 

“Sure, meet you at Barb’s in twenty?”

 

“I’ll be there.”

 

She pushed her phone into her back pocket and reached for her keys. The first blow came out of no where. Her ears were ringing as she was grabbed and spun around. She got a quick glimpse of him. Tall, about one-seventy, jet black hair, Ricky Scoles. Then, she was being thrown against her car, one of his hands went over her mouth. The other was reaching frantically for her hands.

 

“You’re coming with me bitch, my boss wants you.” His voice was husky and laced with anger.

 

He was trying to trap her hands in his. But, she fought back, pushing his hands away. She could smell his sweat and fear.

 

She’d trained for this her whole life. Her instincts kicked in and it took her only a second to react. When he pulled his arm back to take another swing at her, she pushed, ducked, and kicked out catching him off guard.

 

Her vision was fading from the blow to the side of her head and she was worried she might black out. Quickly dodging his next blow, she saw the moment he reached behind him to where he would keep a gun.

 

By the time his hands returned with the weapon, her shots rang out in the empty parking garage.