Fire and Ice (15 page)

Nate shook his head and grimaced. “Yeah, it did. She’s as brave as her fucking attitude is outrageous. But, together, you were a great team.”

Even in her drugged state, Annika heard Nate’s underlying message.

Annika gripped Sam’s hand. Through the fog in her brain she understood what Nate was saying. If they hadn’t come, if they hadn’t tracked her down… she could have been killed. Sam saved her life. But as hard as she tried to tell him that she was sorry, the words wouldn’t come. They couldn’t make it past her numb lips.

Sam leaned over brushing her hair off her face. “It’s okay, Princess. Don’t try to talk. Mitch, the EMT guy here, put a painkiller in that drip. Rest, baby. Go to sleep. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

~~~

The baby-faced physician assumed a calm, reassuring manner. “We don’t want to take any chances, Lieutenant Nilsson. You lost a lot of blood. And you hit the edge of something hard enough to break the skin on the back of your head. I’ve instructed the nurses not to give you more pain medication unless you ask for it. I want to be sure you don’t have a concussion.”

Annika had tried to tell them that she didn’t need to spend the night in the hospital, but nobody listened. The earnest young physician didn’t fool her, but she couldn’t blame him. The two grim-faced cops glaring at him didn’t look like men you’d want to mess with. She’d even stopped arguing with them. She expected Nate to try to boss her around. She could have ignored him. But when Sam pinned her with a hard stare and a quiet voice laced with steel, she knew it was useless to argue. “
One
night, Princess. If the doctors say you’re fine in the morning, I’ll take you home.” And that was the end of the discussion.

Not that she had to worry about being lonely. Sam never left her side in the ambulance, and Nate had met them when they got to the emergency room. When they moved her to a private room, Erin and Connor were waiting for them. Annika realized she hadn’t cried throughout the ordeal until she saw the tears streaming down Erin’s lovely face. And the soft-hearted Connor looked as though he might join them.

She learned that Fred Dalton was in critical condition, but that he was expected to live. He’d lost a lot of blood and been unconscious long enough for the neurologists to be concerned about residual brain damage. But it could certainly have been worse. Once again, if Sam and Nate hadn’t arrived when they did, it was likely that Fred as well as Annika would be dead.

In answer to her questions, Nate told her that both Baker and Corcoran would make it. Annika’s shot caught Baker in the chest, just missing his heart. A second hit from Sam’s rifle shattered Baker’s shoulder. Sam’s crack shot, the one likely to go down in police annals, took most of Corcoran’s hand. The remainder was amputated in a life-saving measure.

Nate added wryly, “Don’t know if Corcoran likes the idea of being Captain Hook but I’m gonna make sure that’s the only prosthesis that bastard gets—at least at public expense.”

There was a rustle of activity in the hallway. In what was surely overkill, Nate had stationed two beat cops at the door. Annika heard their respectful voices call out in greeting. To her surprise, Police Chief Roberts and Fire Chief Halloran, entered the room.

Chief Roberts spoke first.

“I don’t have to tell you, Lt. Nilsson, how proud I am of your heroic actions. Not only your bravery this afternoon, but also the way you cracked this case. I’ve been on the telephone with those scoundrels Nunn and Wiese and they are singing your praises. Said they’ve never worked with a smarter cop. They admitted they never would have found the shell corporation those bastards Baker and Corcoran formed if you hadn’t put them on to it. Congratulations. By the way, when you’re up to it, give Rolfson a call. That son of a bitch damn near shattered my phone screaming that I’d almost had his best cop killed.”

Looking over at Sam, a grim smile crossed the chief’s stern face.

“Congratulations, Commander. Not only did you save a minimum of two lives today, one cop and one firefighter, but you achieved what I’ve always considered to be an impossible task. You humbled an un-humbleable man, the one and only Detective Stryker.”

The chief waited until the laughter died down, then turned back to Sam. “Nate said in all his life, including his six years in special ops, he never saw a more spectacular shot than the one you took today. I’m impressed, Sam. We all know your reputation. We’ve seen your resume. Not that you had anything to prove, but today you showed all of us how you earned that reputation.”

Sam accepted the applause that followed with a nod and soft smile. “Thank you. Let’s just say that the miracle is that my hand was steady.” He glanced at Annika. “Usually I just have to look at this woman and I start to shake.”

After several minutes of laughter and congratulations, Sam spoke up again.

“Sorry, folks. I hate to pull reverse rank on not one, but two, chiefs
and
my boss, but we’re going to have to call it a night. Nate and I browbeat Lt. Nilsson into spending the night in the hospital. We wanted to be sure she was okay. I think what she needs now is sleep.”

After the group left, Annika gave into the fatigue swirling over her.

Sam came up next to her bed. He leaned over and stroked her cheek.

“You look exhausted, Princess. Give in. Go to sleep, baby.”

Surprised by the tears that burned the back of her eyelids, Annika swallowed hard.

“Sam… I… I’m sorry.”

Sam’s jaw firmed. “Yeah, Princess. We have some things to discuss. But they can wait. Tonight you need to sleep.”

Annika breathed out a deep sigh.

“Will you… stay—”

He interrupted. “Will I stay here tonight? Honey, there isn’t a force strong enough to get me to leave your side tonight. My problem is going to be sitting in this chair rather than crawling in beside you where I want to be.”

~~~

The next morning, Sam drove Annika to her apartment and insisted that she get in bed.

“Look, Princess. Listen up. I know you don’t like following orders but this time you don’t have a choice. It’s just you and me, Annika. And for the next couple of days, I’m the boss.”

Without the ever present noise of the busy hospital ward, Annika gave into the blessed quiet of her apartment and gratefully crawled into the big bed. The knowledge that Sam was beside her, and that he wouldn’t leave, no matter what she said or did, was a comforting thought.

She woke four hours later. Without her asking, Sam rigged up a plastic covering for her bandage so that she could take a shower. After drying her hair and putting on a very revealing pair of satin tap pants and matching halter that Sam had found in one of her drawers, she felt like a new woman. They had a quiet lunch, with both of them avoiding the more challenging conversation lurking in the background.

At her computer, it took Annika more than fifteen minutes to work her way through the dozens of e-mails and text messages from cops and firefighters in Chicadia Falls and Minneapolis. She was overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection from people she’d thought barely knew her.

One message stopped her cold. It was buried in the ones responding to the incident at Lakeside. It was posted two days ago but she’d missed it in craziness of yesterday. Reading then rereading the message, Annika didn’t know how to deal with the conflicting emotions she was feeling. She chalked it up to the shock of seeing it when she least expected it.

“What’s wrong, Annika?” She looked up to see Sam staring at her with a concerned frown.

Annika struggled to respond, instead turned her computer to show him the message from the ATF.

“God, Annika! You did it, Princess.” He picked her up and swung her in a dizzying circle. Settling her back in her chair, he kissed her cheek.

“You beautiful woman you, are going to be an ATF agent. Not that I ever doubted it, but this is wonderful news. Congratulations, Princess. When do you start?”

Annika managed a shaky smile.

“Um… Monday. Five days from now.”

~~~

The next five days were a blur. Sam refused to let her consider leaving until she had an all-clear from the doctors. Finally, convinced that most of her initial training wouldn’t involve strenuous physical activity, the medical personnel signed off. When Sam walked her to the gate in the Minneapolis airport, Annika was surprised at the emotions flooding her. She was excited of course, but she couldn’t let go of Sam’s arm. He obviously felt the same way because when he didn’t have his arm around her shoulders, he was holding her hand. They’d agreed after lengthy discussions that they wouldn’t see each other until she finished the course. Because of her prior training, she would be on an expedited schedule that would be physically and intellectually grueling. With tears streaming down her face when Sam kissed her one more time at the gate, she decided the most grueling part would be missing Sam.

To her astonishment, the three months sped by. She’d never worked harder in her life. Twelve to fifteen hour days were the norm. But every evening she could look forward to some kind of communication from Sam. Often it was a quick text, but many times it was a longer e-mail filled with news. The messages always ended with the same tender closing.
I miss you, Princess. Take care
.
Sam
. Each week that passed she received a gift. Sometimes it was flowers, other times a box of cookies or candy. Annika wondered if this is what Sam had experienced when he was away from home. Did all parents or sweethearts do this? She wouldn’t know. It was the first time it had happened to her. Her fellow classmates started teasing her. Wanting to know what her “lover” had sent that week. Annika just smiled and refused to answer. Sam hardly seemed real to her. She was afraid to acknowledge him publically or he might disappear in a whiff of smoke.

She was stunned by her dreams. Never having thought of herself as a passionate person, Annika was startled by the erotic dreams that intruded on more of her days than she wanted to admit and virtually all of her nights. Small wonder, she chided herself. In the short time that she and Sam had been lovers she’d collected a lifetime of memorable blush-worthy experiences. Rather than quieting her emotions, replaying them only made her hungry for more.

But Annika was a realist. She knew that as exciting as their affair was, it couldn’t last. Men like Sam didn’t settle for one woman. Why would they? Everywhere they turned, eager women chased them. Sam was thirty-six. If he’d ever intended to settle down, he would have by now.

They’d agreed to spend a week on the North Shore of Minnesota to celebrate her graduation. She wanted to see all of her friends from Chicadia Falls before she decided which of the many offers she’d received she would accept. She was surprised and thrilled when she earned the highest grades of any of the trainees in the program. At the ceremony, the Master Sergeant detailed her accomplishment to a cheering audience of trainees and their families.

Thanking yet another of her classmates for what had to be the tenth invitation she had to join them for dinner, she heard a familiar voice.

“I hope you will understand why Agent Nilsson can’t accept your invitation. After three long months of not seeing her, I’m not willing to share.”

Chapter 16

Annika blamed it on the wine. Having overcome her shock at seeing him, it was as though they’d never been apart. They laughed and talked like the oldest of friends and the newest of lovers. All through dinner, Sam didn’t take his eyes off of her and she couldn’t stop staring at him. Annika had forgotten how gorgeous he was. Her dreams were filled with images of him that could have graced any men’s fitness magazine. But Sam in the flesh outdid her wildest fantasies.

After several hours and two bottles of champagne, Sam sat back in his chair and pinned her with that undecipherable gaze that never failed to send a tsunami of sensation ricocheting through her sex-starved body.

“Do you know what day it is, Special Agent?”

Annika frowned. “Um, Friday?”

“Yes, Friday the 13
th
to be precise. Do you know what day comes after Friday the 13
th
?”

“Is this a quiz, Commander? If so, I’ll be brave and take a leap. Is it Saturday the 14
th
?”

Sam smiled. “Almost correct. It actually is Saturday, October 14
th
, precisely four months until Valentine’s Day.”

It took Annika a moment to grasp Sam’s meaning. The small velvet box he put on the table in front of her, helped to explain the riddle.

An icy sensation crept across her chest, squeezing her heart in a vise-like grip that made it impossible for her to take a deep breath. It wasn’t until she saw the box that she faced the truth about their relationship. It wasn’t Sam who wasn’t ready to commit to a relationship; she didn’t think that
she
could. And now Sam was outing her, calling her on her duplicity.

Screwing up her courage, she faced him, preparing for the worst. She was surprised to see a big grin on his face.

“Hang on, Princess. I’m not the grim reaper about to force you into a lifetime of servitude.” Pointing to the box, he said. “This isn’t what you think it is, Annika. You can breathe now.”

She bit her lip, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

“Open it, Princess. I promise it won’t bite.”

Annika swallowed hard and carefully untied the silver ribbon and opened the small jewelry box. She gasped when she saw a beautiful red stone surrounded by what looked like diamonds.

Sam answered her unasked question.

“It’s a ruby, Annika, surrounded by a smattering of diamonds. In case you didn’t guess, it’s meant to be symbolic. Fire and Ice.”

“Sam, I—”

“What Annika? You’re not ready? It’s too soon to declare our love publically? I know that, Princess. But how about we declare it privately? If you’ll notice this little bauble has an unusual setting.”

Annika picked up the stunning jeweled piece and looked at the back. With a flash she understood. For a moment she was struck dumb. She couldn’t believe what she saw. Seeing the laughter in Sam’s eyes, she knew she was right. She couldn’t hold back her giggle.