KCPD Protector (5 page)

Elise quickly slipped by him out the door, but he grabbed her hand as she passed, forcing her to stop and turn. George’s steely eyes silently demanded an explanation, but it was the warm brush of his thumb across her knuckles that almost had her spilling the details about her connection to Alexsandr Titov and the potential threat he represented.

“Good afternoon, Elise.” Courtney Reiter’s gaze had zeroed in on the clasp of hands between boss and assistant.

Telling herself she was glad for the blonde’s dismissive tone, Elise snatched her hand away and hurried back to her desk.

Muttering a curse beneath his breath, George strode into his office. He plucked the file from his ex-wife’s grasp and set it back on the desk. “I thought this conversation was over, Court. You never even liked Ken. Why is this such a big deal?”

Courtney’s voice grew louder as she approached the door. “Ken has been a part of our lives for years. Just because we fight like cats and dogs on occasion doesn’t mean he isn’t my friend, too. In fact...” The blonde waited for Elise to look her way before she smiled sweetly...and closed the door.

Well, that message was clear as crystal.
Stay out of my business.
Though whether the older woman’s warning stemmed from an arrogance that relegated Elise to being the hired help who needed to remember her place, or a more possessive streak of jealousy at seeing George and Elise holding hands, was less clear.

The click of the door left Elise feeling chilled and alone. Could Alexsandr Titov really blame her for his brother’s murder? After all, she’d been Nikolai’s victim. He’d swept her off her feet and she’d fancied herself in love with him. She’d even slept with him because she’d been that desperately lonely and he seemed to care. But once she found out how he’d used her to gain inside information on Quinn Gallagher and GSS, she’d willingly labeled him a criminal and provided a deposition against him.

What would she have done if Courtney Reiter hadn’t laid claim to George’s time and attention? Would Elise have turned into that broad chest? Spilled her guts? Confessed how a previously unacknowledged, forbidden attraction had simmered to the surface with the intensity of the summer heat wave?

Elise folded her hands together in her lap and rubbed the spot where George had held her. The firm clasp of fingers. The gentle stroke of his thumb. She could still feel his touch on her skin. She could vividly remember those brief moments of being sheltered, cared for. She could see herself wanting, needing, falling for the man.

“Please, George. Do this for me,” Courtney pleaded on the other side of the door.

But Elise had no right to make any such demand on his time and caring. Wisely ignoring those tempting ideas, Elise put her hands on her keyboard to update the budget report. Although she didn’t envy the one-sided argument she could hear through the closed door, she was relieved that George’s ex-wife was demanding his attention. Let him solve Courtney’s problems. Let him be a rock for someone else. Elise couldn’t depend on her boss to comfort her or save her or whatever it was she thought he could do for her right now.

If she’d quit getting herself into trouble, she wouldn’t need any man to save her.

Several minutes passed, long enough for Elise to get three pages of new data entered into the budget report. The uncomfortable opportunity to eavesdrop on the room next door went away as the voices quieted into a civilized conversation. George was either able to calm his ex, she was beginning to see reason or both.

Elise had managed to immerse herself in her work again when a man cleared his throat from the hallway door. Looking up, she smiled. “Officer Hale.”

A quick glance at the time and the calendar confirmed the uniformed police officer was here for a scheduled appointment. “Ma’am.”

She circled the desk to shake the officer’s hand and gestured to the seating area of her office. “Could I get you a cup of coffee? Or something cold to drink?”

“Water if you have it.” Denton Hale took a seat once Elise brought him a bottle of water from the minifridge and sat. Although his short-sleeved uniform was neatly pressed, the dark marks at his armpits indicated he was taking a break in the middle of a work shift. He opened the bottle and drank half of it before capping it and thanking her. “That hit the spot. My partner and I recently got our shift transferred to your neighborhood. At least I think it’s your part of town—I saw you walking your dog there.”

“Could be. Spike and I are out every morning and most evenings.”

“The older residential districts seem to be getting hit pretty hard with brownouts and transformers going off-line.” The middle-aged cop toyed with the brim of his hat, as if nervous about coming up with more conversation. “Have you had any power outages yet? Our electricity went out a couple of nights ago. We all ended up sleeping on the screened-in porch.”

“That sounds like a fun adventure.”

“The kids liked it, although the camp cot’s a little hard on my back these days.”

Knowing Denton Hale was here to discuss possible salary freezes and staff cuts—maybe even his own job or that of his friends—with the deputy commissioner, Elise did her best to put him at ease. No sense adding to his stress. “We’ve had a couple of outages, but nothing that lasted for any length of time. I run the air-conditioning just upstairs at night, and turn it on low during the day—enough for my dog to manage the heat. I’m trying to do whatever I can to help conserve energy.”

“Yeah. I guess it’s been pretty rough. We followed one utility worker out on a call this morning. Somebody had vandalized his work truck. Painted a message on it I wouldn’t want to repeat.”

Elise shook her head. “That’s terrible. It’s not like this weather is the city’s fault. I guess tempers are shorter when the temperature is higher.”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s been my experience.” After an awkward pause and another long drink, the police officer pointed toward George’s door. “Is he in?”

Elise took his empty bottle and brought him another water. “Mr. Madigan’s appointment is running a little longer than he anticipated.”

Denton Hale shoved his fingers though his brown hair, finally relaxing a bit, and grinned. “I think I’ve had more conversations with you on this couch, waiting for the commish to talk negotiation strategies, than I have with my wife the past couple of weeks.”

Elise smiled at the joke. “Budget time does that, I think. Lots of meetings, lots of waiting.”

“You’re easy to talk to, I guess.”

“Thanks.”

“I bet you’re putting in extra hours, too. What does your boyfriend think of that?”

“My boyfriend?”

“A pretty lady like you must be taken.” He took another drink before pointing to her. “I didn’t see a ring, though.”

Although she smiled, Elise suddenly wasn’t feeling as welcoming as she had a moment earlier. “No boyfriend. Never married.”

“That’s a shame.” A split second later, Officer Hale’s cheeks reddened and he put up an apologetic hand. “Wait. Girlfriend?”

Shaking her head, Elise stood and checked her watch. She had no problem with small talk to make a visitor more comfortable about waiting for the deputy commissioner. But today wasn’t a good day for her to be the main topic. “If you’ll excuse me a moment, I’ll remind Mr. Madigan that you’re here.”

She picked up the negotiations file from her desk and knocked softly on the black door.

“Come in.”

As soon as George responded, Elise nudged open the door. He was sitting on the front edge of his desk, holding a box of tissues for his ex-wife, who was dabbing at tears. Despite a tug of sympathy, Elise quickly quashed any urge to ask if everything was okay. “Your two o’clock is here, sir. Denton Hale from the officers’ union?” She handed him the file. “Here are the transcripts you wanted.”

George opened the file and stood, flipping through the pages. He frowned. “You have to go now, Court. I have work to do.”

“What else is new?” With another sniffle, she apologized for her sarcasm. “I’m sorry. Of course, you do. You’re an important man.” Courtney rose, tossed the soiled tissues into the trash and smoothed her blond hair into place. She smoothed the skirt and blouse she wore, too, before tilting her red-rimmed eyes up to George. “You’re okay with this? You promise you’ll help me?”

“It doesn’t make much sense to me, but...” He closed the folder and nodded. “I promise. But this is it, Court. I haven’t been your husband for a long time now. You’ve got to learn to stand on your own two feet.”

“I will.” Courtney Reiter stretched up onto her toes and kissed his cheek. She would have kissed his mouth if he hadn’t turned his head at the last moment. “Thank you.”

George groaned as if he’d heard that promise before, and wiped the pink lipstick from his skin as Courtney breezed past Elise and out the door. “We need to talk,” he said to Elise, reaching around her shoulder to push the door shut behind her. He held up the folder between them. “This is the wrong file.”

“What? No, I’m sure I...” She pulled it from his grip and read the label. Budget Notes. “I’m sorry. I must have grabbed the wrong one. It’s a simple mistake.”

“If you made mistakes, it would be. But you don’t.” He held the door firmly in place when she reached down to open it.

Elise held her breath, thinking it was an accident that she’d been caught in the space between the door and George’s chest.

But there were no accidents with this man. He flattened his palm on the wood beside her head and leaned closer, dropping his gaze to match hers. “Talk to me. You’re scaring me, Elise. I don’t like it when I don’t have the answers I need. Tell me what’s going on. Did something else happen?.”

“Something else? No, I... No.” Her breath rushed out as she braced her hand on his chest to push him away. “Denton Hale is waiting. I think he’s on a shift break, so I’m sure he doesn’t have long. And I need to...get the transcripts.”

George’s skin was warm, his muscles firm beneath the crisp ecru cotton. When she felt the strong beat of his heart leaping beneath her palm, Elise realized she was doing more lingering than pushing, but couldn’t seem to break away from the tempting intimacy. He probably didn’t even know how all this closeness and concern was affecting her. Or maybe he did.

He covered her hand with his before she could make herself escape. His fingers splayed over hers, infusing her with warmth from both his body and touch. “We need to discuss this, too.”

The quiet depth in his tone, along with his firm touch, made his message perfectly clear.

“What ‘this’? There is no ‘this.’” There couldn’t be. Knowing he felt something, too, would only make it that much harder to keep a professional distance from him. She hugged the folder to her chest and pulled against his grip. “We’re coworkers, George. Friends, at best. I respect you tremendously, and I’m grateful for the job, but you’re not the kind of man I want to get involved with.”

“What kind of man do you think I am?” His eyes darkened like granite and his hand fell away. “Don’t answer that.” Giving her the space she’d asked for, he retreated to his window overlooking the north edge of the city. “Get me the right file and show Hale in.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to call him back. To tell him none of this was his fault—to admit how easily she could fall for him. She wanted to explain her screwed-up track record with men and how her best line of defense was to avoid giving in to any of this attraction or that need. But Elise knew a smarter plan of action was to overlook the sting of his words, accept his dismissal and scoot on out of the room.

She opened the door to find Denton Hale standing next to the chair behind her desk. He’d been slightly stooped over, but pulled up as soon as he saw her. Odd. Elise crossed the room to roll her chair back into position and reclaim her personal work space. “Did you need something?”

He spun his uniform cap between his hands, nervously covering for whatever he’d been up to. “I was just trying to double-check when my appointment was. I have to report back at three.”

“Sorry for the wait. The deputy commissioner will see you now.”

“Dent?” George called. “Come on in.”

Officer Hale’s brown-eyed gaze danced over her face for a moment before he heaved a sigh. “Sorry. I know I seem a little uptight about gettin’ in to see Madigan. But I need this job. My family depends on me.”

Now why did that apology sound like some kind of threat? Would she ever trust what a man said to her again? “I’m sure they do.”

With a nod, he circled around her desk and closed the door as soon as the two men shook hands.

Squeezing the back of her chair as if she needed its support to stand, Elise warned herself to get a mental grip instead. She dropped the budget file onto the desk and sat down to straighten it. Yes, the appointment calendar had been moved, but so had a couple of other things. And her screen saver was no longer on, meaning Officer Hale had either bumped the mouse in his brief search, or he’d clicked it on purpose to view something on her screen. While she did keep both a written and electronic record of the deputy commissioner’s appointments, the only thing on her screen was the budget report she’d been working on.

Had Denton Hale seen the paragraph about salary freezes pending evaluations for officers with poor performance reviews or reprimands in their files? Was he truly in fear of losing his job? What did Hale’s service record with the department look like?

With suspicion already pumping through her blood, Elise clicked off of the report and brought up the link for KCPD service records. Just as quickly, she backed out of the system. If Denton Hale did have something in his file that targeted him for extra scrutiny and job probation or termination, it wasn’t her business.

After all, she didn’t want KCPD or anyone else looking too closely into her past mistakes, either.

* * *

E
LISE
TURNED
OFF
the motor of her car and reached across the seat to retrieve her purse and the pumps she’d exchanged for tennis socks and walking shoes after work.

Home. The dark red door of the gray-and-white Victorian welcomed her like a familiar sanctuary. She climbed out of her Explorer, but paused for a few moments as the hundred-degree heat and matching humidity crept over her skin, pricking open pores and sapping what energy she had left. She tilted her gaze up to the heat lightning sparking in the distant sky beyond her rooftop. There wasn’t a cloud above or an answering rumble of thunder. So no break in the weather this evening.