Black Heart (11 page)

yet. I need you to take over his typing, help him with any of his office needs, drive him to

appointments and anywhere else he needs to go.”

“I can drive, Hank,” Tristan cut in.

Hank merely shook his head, “You’re not currently covered to come back. Right now

you’re not allowed to drive. So, Marty will do that for you until the doctors say otherwise,

which means that you are not going to be responding to any calls since she is not an

officer.”

Tristan cursed inventively at that piece of news as Marty cleared her throat. “So, basically

I’m his chauffer and assistant?”

Hank nodded. “Among other things. We can’t afford to be down by one detective and

his injury isn’t so extensive that I would request another detective to come here only to ask

him to leave in a matter of weeks. So, since I have other things that I need you to do and I

need him back, I’m going to combine your workloads so that I have my lead detective back

full time, you get your training, and I get some help.”

Marty looked thoughtful as she took it all in. Hank turned his attention back to Tristan,

who looked ready to kill someone. “You’re to go to all of your appointments. If I find out

that you missed one single physical therapy, doctor’s, or therapist session, then you will be

back on full medical,” Hank promised.

Tristan ground his jaw, but nodded. He didn’t like this one bit, but he would suck it up if

it meant that he was working again.

“Good. Now, I expect you both back here bright and early tomorrow morning ready to

work,” Hank said, sounding completely pleased with himself as he stood up and left the

room.

Marty looked up to find Tristan glaring at her. “Well, it’s good to know that you’ll never

have to lift a finger as long as nepotism is still alive and thriving,” Tristan bit out coldly as

he stood to leave.

She scoffed. “Yeah, you would know.”

Tristan paused by the door. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Marty turned in her chair to face him. “Like you don’t know.”

He closed the door behind him and folded his arms across his chest. “Why don’t you

enlighten me since you seem to know it all.”

“Fine,” she said, pushing to her feet. She walked over to the desk and leaned back

against it, never taking her eyes away from him. “How do you think you got this job?”

“Because I’ve earned it.”

She chuckled with forced humor. “Puhlease.”

He took a menacing step towards her. “Listen, sweetheart, I’ve been busting my ass since

I was fourteen taking summer and evening courses. I had my first bachelors degree by

eighteen and my masters by twenty-one. I graduated in the top position at the academy and

had the highest scores. I’ve earned my place on the SWAT team and I’ve earned this, baby,

so don’t try insinuating anything else.”

She hadn't known all that, but that wasn’t going to slow her down. She knew that she

was given this part of her job and first dibs at her new position because of her father, but

having it thrown in her face by him was not happening. So of course, she had to keep

pushing him.

“You don’t find it odd that you’re only twenty-nine, but you’re in charge of two

detectives? One of them is fifteen years older than you and has been on the job longer?
And

you have your own office?”

He took several more steps until she found him nose to nose with her, but she wouldn’t

back off. If she did he would know that he could push her around and she wasn’t having

that.

“You don’t know shit. I’m lead detective because I have the highest rate of solved cases,

the most education, and I put more hours in than the two other detectives combined. I also

have my own office,
Princess
, as you will soon find out, because I am, without any regret,

the biggest asshole you will ever meet. I give you a week before you go begging
Daddy
for

a new desk.”

She squared her shoulders even though inside she was trembling. From his anger? She

didn’t think so, and she most certainly didn’t want to examine the reasons any further. “I

give you a week before you give up and go back to full medical. If you think you’re going

to push me around like everyone else, then you have another thing coming. So, you better

cut the shit and stop trying to push me or I’ll push back until you leave here crying for your

mommy to lick your wounds,
Mama’s boy
.”

Oh….crap. Perhaps she’d went just a tad too far with the “mama’s boy” comment

judging by the homicidal glare he was sending her. She opened her mouth to backtrack

when he leaned in, placing his mouth next to her ear.

“Better get a change of panties and a box of tissues, sweetheart, because you’ll be leaving

here in the same fashion as your predecessor,” he whispered harshly in her ear, sending a

tremor throughout her body that had nothing to do with fear.

Chapter
7

You can do this,
she repeated in her head as she walked through the station on Monday

morning. Her arms were filled with boxes of pastries and donuts, making walking through

the pit difficult. She’d picked them up on a whim on her way into work. She thought it

would be a nice gesture on her first day, but she was also nervous, very nervous and when

she was nervous, she ate. Usually when she got this nervous she snacked away on her

favorite fruit, but she ran out of apples over the weekend and hadn’t had a chance to go to

the market to get more. She really should have bought more. The idea of working with

Tristan was enough to give her an aneurism.

She really hoped that he'd calmed down by now. When he’d stormed out of the office

yesterday after their little spat, she had a feeling that she’d just stepped into hell.

Unfortunately that feeling only increased overnight. Now she was on the verge of

hyperventilating. Maybe an apple fritter would calm him down? She could only hope. If

they did she was running out and buying ten dozen for him. She’d do anything to keep that

side of Tristan hidden from her.

For years she’d heard people bitch and whine about him. Never once had she truly

believed any of it. It was just gossip, she'd thought. That is until the past couple of run-ins

she’d had with him changed her mind. Now she had to wonder how he’d managed to keep

that side of him hidden from her all those years ago. The man truly was the biggest prick

that everyone claimed him to be and she was stuck with him.

Just great.

“Good morning, Marty!” Rosemary, her father’s secretary, said cheerfully as Marty

entered the pit. She didn’t know much about the woman other than she was a busybody.

The older woman came around her desk and walked towards her.

“Oh, aren’t you a sweetheart! Here let me give you a hand with all of that,” she said. Her

“hand” was gesturing Marty towards the break room and standing back while Marty

struggled to place the boxes down without dropping any of them.

Marty stepped back as the woman began searching through the bags. “Oh, the boys will

love you for this!” she said as she helped herself to several pastries.

“I’m glad. Um, listen is Detective Black in yet?” she asked, trying not to sound nervous,

but failing miserably.

Rosemary
tsked
around a mouthful of bear claw. “I still cannot believe that your father

did that to you. I told him that he should keep Detective Black on medical leave and give

the rest of us a break, but would he listen? No,” she said, sounding absolutely disgusted as

she shoved another bite of pastry in her mouth.

“And now you’re stuck with him, you poor thing,” she said, shooting Marty a look of

pity before she turned her attention back to the pastry boxes. “I think your father should at

least assign a uniformed officer to drive him around. There’s really no need for you to be

stuck with him all the time. Not when you have so much to do.”

“I don’t mind,” Marty responded, wondering again what exactly she was supposed to do.

She had a vague idea, but she’d feel more comfortable knowing exactly what was expected

of her. “Did my father leave instructions for me?” she asked, knowing that her father

wouldn’t be around today or tomorrow to show her. He was going to be stuck in

conferences for the next couple of days up in Manchester.

Rosemary studied her for a moment. “He didn’t tell you?”

“Well, not all the details,” she admitted with a shrug.

“Hmmmmm.” Rosemary looked back towards the door and then at her. “Well, I believe

you’re taking your turn to watch over the administrative phones while the secretaries take

their lunch. You also need to log in some reports that came in over the weekend into the

computer. It’s really not that bad. That is, when you’re not with Detective Black,” the

woman explained as she smiled sweetly at Marty.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Marty agreed.

Rosemary’s smile brightened considerably. “Good, um, your turn to watch over the

phones is at eleven-thirty and goes to…I believe one.”

“Okay,” Marty agreed, not afraid of a little work even if it was boring.

“I’m so excited that you’re here with us, Marty!”

“I just bet you are,” Tristan drawled from the doorway.

Rosemary’s smile disappeared and was soon replaced by a scowl. “Good morning,

Detective Black,” Rosemary said tightly.

Tristan ignored her. He had only eyes for Marty. “Are you ready or do you need a nap

before we get to work?”

“I’m ready,” Marty said evenly.

“Good, we have a call,” he said before he turned around and walked away, obviously

expecting her to follow.

She was sorely tempted to make him wait, but she couldn’t do that. Technically he was

her superior. Damn it. So, she found herself throwing one last look of longing at the

pastries, knowing that she would be forced to skip breakfast since there was no way that she

could drive and eat at the same. Well, there was, but Tristan made her nervous enough.

-
-
-

“I’m supposed to be driving,” Marty said through clenched teeth as Tristan cut through

traffic with the emergency lights flaring and sirens blaring. “And we’re not supposed to be

responding to any calls,” she said, holding onto the sides of her seat with a death grip.

“Uh huh, that’s nice,” Tristan said absently. Obviously he wasn’t going to listen to her

father. She wondered not for the first time, if her time with him was going to be pointless.

“Detective Black, what’s your ETA?”
the dispatcher asked over the radio.

He shut down the lights and siren as he pulled into what appeared to be a quiet

middleclass neighborhood. “I’m less than a minute out. Do you still have the boy on the

line?” he asked into the CB radio handset.

“Yes, he said he’s hiding in his sister’s room, in the closet. He also said that he doesn’t

think that he can keep the baby quiet any longer and they’re getting closer to his location.

He also reports that his older sister stopped screaming a minute ago.”

“Tell him to stay where he is. I’m coming in.”

“Received, Detective Black. I also have two patrol cars heading to your location.”

“Received,” Tristan said as he pulled over and parked the car.

Marty shifted nervously in her seat as she watched him pull on a bulletproof vest and

grab a shotgun.

“W-what do you want me to do?” she asked, trying to stay calm.

“Stay here and out of my way,” he said without looking at her as he climbed out of the

car, staying low. He ducked as he ran towards a small one-story brick house. He gestured

for curious neighbors to return to their homes. Marty watched as he carefully peeked into

side windows and then the front windows.

“Detective Black, the baby is starting to cry. The little boy can hear the men running

towards them now,”
the dispatcher announced, making Marty even more nervous.

She watched as Tristan kicked open the front door and ducked inside the house. Her

stomach clenched into tight knots as she watched him disappear. A minute later the quiet

neighborhood was disturbed by a series of gunshots.

-
-
-

Tristan slowly walked into the house. A small noise to his right caught his attention. He

looked down to find a teenage girl bound and gagged with duct tape, cowering on the floor.

Never taking his eyes away from the doorways, he wound his arm around the girl's waist.

Clenching his jaw tightly against the pain in his shoulder, he carried her to a small closet in

the living room and quietly shut the door.

He heard several large men running along the hallway to his left and the sounds of a baby