Chapter 8
Regan inhaled the familiar scent, his scent, a combination of musk and sunshine. Indecision tore at her soul and for the first time, fear that they wouldn’t be able to recover from this separation stole through her body.
“When can I see you again?” he asked.
“I don’t know. We need to be careful not to get caught.”
“Getting caught is not going to happen. You said you saw the video. Do you have any leads on who set me up?”
She shook her head.
“If I come up with a list of officers who I think might not like me, would that help you?”
A sick feeling welled in her stomach. It was all too much pressure. How was she going to clear him of the charges? She wished he could do some of the dirty work. “I said I’d help you, but I have to be careful what I search for. I can’t afford to lose my job,” she said. She had to look out for herself, now that she had no one else to support her.
“I know.” He leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll get you the list anyway. Did you get a throw away cell phone so we can call each other without it being traced?”
She shook her head again. “I haven’t had time. Look, Colin, I’ve got to go.” Glancing down at her watch, which she couldn’t see in the dark anyway, she pushed the door open and went into dispatch.
“You’re late,” Sheila scolded.
“I was here. I just needed to meet with someone as a follow up for a call I took yesterday.”
“Fine, but try to be on time from now on. When you’re late, the people you’re replacing get out of work late. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”
“No, Sheila. I hear you.” More than she wanted to. Dispatch was one of those jobs she enjoyed doing, then she enjoyed going home at the end of the day. She cared about the officers on the streets and her job mattered, but she didn’t want to take her work home. If she broadcasted the wrong address over the radio, someone could get hurt, civilian or officer. If she forgot the procedure for a choking victim, then someone could die before the ambulance arrived on the scene. There was enough pressure. She didn’t need guilt from her supervisor, messing up her conscience, which was already compromised with her lies to cover for Colin.
~ ~ ~
Colin stayed in the closet for a few more minutes. Trying to get his head on straight was proving to be a challenge. He desperately missed her. He’d always promised that he’d have her back, but now she had to have his. She had access to the department mainframe and could attempt to find out information about the video—things like who picked it up from the bridge office, where was the controller who operated the draw bridge for tankers and sailboats, and who had access to the video in transit.
He’d attempt to find the information himself, but at work he was being watched. They monitored his computer use, who he emailed, which websites he visited, and who he spoke with. The Sergeant in Internal Affairs told him as much when he met with him a few weeks ago.
He’d tried to repair his relationship with Jack, but his best friend was pushing him away. Jack hadn’t asked him to move out again, but it was only a matter of time, Colin figured. Punching Jack hadn’t been one of the brightest things he’d ever done. Regan was right. Anything he said or did could be used against him. Jack could testify that in a fit of rage Colin had decked him. Oh crap.
Peeking out of the closet and seeing no one, Colin stepped out of the dark and into the well-lit hallway. He glanced into the dispatch office, until he heard the elevator ding, then he hurried away from that end of the hall.
“Officer Rourke.” He recognized the female officer’s voice.
“Hi.”
“It’s Rebecca.” She smiled and waited for him to join her at her end of the hallway. “Did you notice that we never learn one another’s first names?” She shook her head, her blonde ponytail twisting from side to side.
“No, we don’t,” he agreed. “I’m Colin.”
She turned to face him, obviously in no hurry to get where she was going. “I’ve only been here a few months, and I’m still trying to figure out where everything is.”
He smiled. “In the station or in Port City?”
“Both.” She grinned back at him. Pretty wasn’t how he would describe her. In her own way she was good looking, though the bullet-proof vest probably didn’t help her figure, nor did the duty belt. He found himself checking it out, seeing what she found important enough to carry on her small belt: her sidearm, handcuffs, pepper spray, gloves, an extra magazine, and a collapsible baton.
The next thing to come out of his mouth happened before he could stop himself. “If you’d like, I could take you on a tour of the city. I’ve been working here a while and know my way around pretty well.”
“That would be great.” She gave him a mega-watt smile.
“How about if I pick you up at six tonight? If you’re not busy, I mean.” Was he nervous? He hadn’t thought about it, but being seen with someone socially would help cement the divorce charade. He didn’t mind taking Rebecca on a tour of the town, but she wasn’t Regan, and his heart recognized that more than anything else in his body.
“Sure. I don’t have anything to do. Ever.” She smiled at him again. “Dinner will be my treat,” she added.
“You’re on. One tour guide coming up.” He reached out his hand to shake on it.
The elevator doors slid open again and Jack stepped out. “Colin.”
“What’s up?” Colin asked, innocently. He was doing nothing wrong and he hated that Jack looked at him like he was a philandering whore.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Jack asked, eyeing Colin’s and Rebecca’s hands still clasped together.
Colin released her hand and stepped back. “Rebecca’s new in town and wanted to have a tour of the city. I told her I could do that for her.”
Jack narrowed his eyes. “So it’s like a date.”
“Yes,” Rebecca said.
“No,” Colin said at the same time.
Jack smiled. “Sounds like someone has his signals crossed.”
“Piss off,” Colin told Jack. Then, turning to Rebecca, he said, “See you tonight.” He climbed into the elevator and prayed for the doors to close quickly.
His luck wasn’t good these days, and Sheila from dispatch waddled down the hall toward the elevators. “Hold the doors!” she hollered.
Rolling his eyes, he pushed the hold button. He had never cared for Sheila. She was a first-class busybody, who was happy only at the expense of others’ misery.
“Was that Rebecca Holmes?” Sheila asked, out of breath.
The department had programs to help its employees get into shape, not that he’d say anything to her. “It was.”
“She hasn’t been here that long. You should stay away from her. We wouldn’t want your bad luck and habits rubbing off on her.”
Colin dropped his chin to stare at the woman. He couldn’t believe she had the audacity to say that to his face. “Excuse me?”
“You know this incident is bringing you down. First your wife divorced you and now you’re embroiled in this trial. Nasty business.”
He had no idea what the polite way to tell her to fuck off was. He felt his blood pressure rise. Suddenly, the space in the elevator seemed too tiny for both of them. He hit the second-floor button and the elevator shuddered to a stop. As soon as the doors opened, he was out of there without another word to Sheila. Was this the type of stuff Regan dealt with at work? If Sheila was lecturing her the way she spoke to him, he felt bad for his former wife.
Tomorrow was jury selection for the civil trial. Both lawyers would question potential jurors who would hear the case and make a decision. Colin got to be there, too. The least he could do was keep people he’d arrested off the jury. For tonight, he was going to be Colin Rourke, tour-guide-extraordinaire. It had been so long since he’d looked at another woman that he wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to act with her. He was slightly concerned that she had more in mind than just a tour of the city from him, but he brushed off the feeling. Having a good time was top on his list for the evening. It had been too long since he’d felt he could hang out and relax.
He took the stairs to the first floor and assumed his post at the front desk for his eight hours. His front desk mate was out sick, so he was flying solo, which also meant he had to answer phones as well as push the little button to let people in.
Having something to look forward to made his day brighter than usual. He answered the phone without growling at anyone and took three citizen complaints. He was getting used to working the desk, although he hoped he wasn’t getting soft. Fighting crime was where his passion was. Out on the streets with the dangerous criminals was where the real action took place, not here where people called to complain.
He wondered how Regan could stand to take phone calls all day. Granted, some of those were exciting and she was able to help with real police work, but talking to people who were only wasting time by calling 911 to report a cat in a tree had to be frustrating. How did she not tell them to call the fire department’s non-emergency number for silly things like animals climbing things?
Colin leaned back in his chair, hands clasped together behind his head. He wasn’t an intolerant person, usually. Most times he was patient with the community, but this lawsuit was making him short-tempered and judgmental.
When his replacement arrived right on time, Colin smiled—actually gave a toothy grin—at the guy before grabbing his gear bag and heading for the locker room to change. He thought about heading home first to shower before meeting Rebecca. He’d looked up her address while he was working. It was in a neighborhood he knew well. It was where he and Regan had lived before they got married and bought the house Regan now lived in alone.
He checked out his appearance in the mirror. His hair was okay. He didn’t have a specific style, more messed and pushed off his forehead. He ran his hand through it, then checked his pits. He decided to add some deodorant, which also acted as cologne, before putting on the dress shirt he kept in his locker for cases where he couldn’t get home before a dinner meeting.
Before this, the dates had always been with Regan and he felt guilty that this time he was going out with another woman, regardless of the reason. He buttoned up his shirt and checked his fly on the pants he’d slipped on. It wasn’t going to get any better, besides, he didn’t want Rebecca to think he’d gone to any trouble for her. At least he wouldn’t have to run into Sheila. Her shift was over an hour ago, as was Regan’s.
He wasn’t going to think about Regan anymore tonight, he told himself. Rebecca deserved his full attention while he was showing her around. Finding his car parked in the parking garage, he nodded to the officers he passed coming and going during the shift change.
“Hey, Rourke, I hear you’re going out with Holmes tonight,” Neil Waters, an officer who’d been in Colin’s academy class, said.
“Is nothing sacred around here?” Colin asked.
“You’re big news these days. Every fart you make is news.” Neil clapped him on the back. “Good luck with her. I hear she’s a tough egg to crack.”
“I’m just showing her around the city. She’s new, said she needed some pointers.”
They headed toward the garage. “Dude, open your eyes. There are maps of this city all over the place. Everyone has GPS, and she has a computer in her car. She wants you, man.”
He’d hoped she was interested in a tour of the city, not a tour of Colin Rourke. When he’d spoken with her, she hadn’t seemed sexually interested in him, but he’d watch from now on. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
“No prob. Let me know how it goes.”
Colin flexed his biceps to release some pent-up tension. What the hell was he doing? He had no interest in taking on some woman who was hot for him. Maybe he’d call and cancel. Checking his watch, he realized that he only had ten minutes left before he was supposed to pick her up. Too late.
Besides, he didn’t want to cancel. He needed a fun night out, and since he couldn’t be seen with Regan, Rebecca would have to do.
He eased the car up to the curb in front of Rebecca’s house. His heart was thumping abnormally fast for him. There was a sick feeling in his stomach, like he was cheating. He reminded himself, this wasn’t infidelity. It was a friend helping out another friend. He would spend all night justifying it if he had to.
She opened the door just as he raised his fist to knock. “Hi.” She grinned.
He did a double take. She wasn’t the same woman he’d seen in the hallway at the station. Under the vest and the hat, she was all female. She had on a low-cut, short-sleeved shirt in a teal color and tight jeans. Her black high-heeled boots completed the outfit for him. “Wow!”
“Do you want to come in or just get going?” she asked, pushing the door all the way open.
“This your place? All of it?”
She gestured inside and he went. The old Victorian house had been split into two apartments, one upstairs and one down.
“I haven’t owned the place long. The upstairs apartment looks similar, but is decorated much more manly, since the man who lives up there came with the place. I guess he’s lived here for ten years or more. I’ve only seen him a few times since I moved in.”
“It’s nice. Thanks for the tour. You ready to see Port City?”
“Whatever you want, Officer Rourke.” She gave a little salute, a saucy smile, then picked up her purse and sauntered out the door.
He followed, watching her hips with fascination, surprised that some randy guy at the department hadn’t tried to hook up with her. He found it hard to fathom that she was hard up for dates or tour guides. Maybe what Neil had said was true.
Opening the door for her, he caught a whiff of her light perfume. In his book, perfume suggested she was trying to impress or entice him. He smiled down at her when she looked back, no sense being rude. He shut the door and shook his head once she was again facing the street. He was heading for trouble with this officer.
Hitting the gas, he burned rubber as they headed into the big city.
~ ~ ~
Regan kicked the door to her house open while grasping her groceries in her arms. When the phone started ringing, she wanted to chuck everything and hide in her closet. It had been a rough day. Most of the department had heard that now she was divorced and that Colin was single. While only three women asked if she would be okay with them dating Colin, she knew some were going to go after him anyway. This pissed her off. She’d come close to standing up in the hushed dispatch office and telling the whole staff to cut the shit and stop going after Colin. He wasn’t the only single officer at the police department. Hit on someone else. But, she didn’t. Having grown up with her proper parents and then in the foster system, she learned that keeping her mouth closed would usually get her further than telling people what she actually thought of them.
The phone continued to ring. Why wasn’t the answering machine picking up? She dropped the groceries on the counter then grabbed the phone from its charger.
“Hello?” she asked impatiently.
“Regan? Everything okay?”
Jack. “Yeah. Fine. What’s up?”
“You don’t sound happy. Are you sure you’re okay?”
She wasn’t up for playing this game. “You called me for something?”
He paused, probably to judge if he should allow her to change the subject.
She let him think about it.
“I called to see if you wanted to do dinner tonight.”
It was her turn to pause. She looked at her bags of groceries and the cold stove, clean counter, and empty sink. Messing that up, then cleaning it again, didn’t sound like much fun, so she agreed. “Do you have a place in mind?”
“There’s this new place on Commercial Ave. I thought it might be worth a try. I can pick you up in half-an-hour, if that gives you enough time.”
She agreed to the thirty minutes. In that time she put the food away, changed into something a bit dressier, then put on makeup and did her hair, not that it took long to do that. She brushed her shoulder-length brown hair and added mousse to it for some volume. There was no way she wanted Jack to think she was trying hard to please him, but then again, she didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to get out of her house, with supervision, in case her stalker showed up.