Point of Attraction (23 page)

Georgie watched as Tonie nodded then
cast a glance to Mason and Nick without expression. She offered
Georgie a soft smile before going out the door to the garage. It
was a struggle for Georgie to find a smile in response.

When the door clicked shut behind
Tonie, Roberts turned to Mason. “When do you hear from the Review
Board?” Roberts asked Mason.

“I’m hoping Monday.” Mason rose to his
feet, answering some silent summons from Roberts.

Officer Roberts nodded. As they both
moved toward the door, Georgie noticed a strain on Roberts’ face,
his lips pressing, holding back what words wanted to come out, yet
his seasoned years on the force setting the protocol of
professional courtesy. “Okay,” was all Georgie heard from
Roberts.

Mason leaned into the man and
whispered, “She’s a rookie. Too vocal, at times, I know,
but...”

Roberts offered Georgie a quick glance
before leaning into Mason. “She nearly missed this call tonight,”
he said, through clenched teeth. “Came on duty late, already worked
up about something. She’s a hair from going over the
edge.”

“She’ll get it together.” Mason’s voice
was low with a gentle plea for Roberts to have some empathy
here.

“Sure she will,” Georgie heard Nick
murmur beside her, as the other two men went out the
door.

They were clearly all talking about
Tonie, Georgie thought. She gathered Tonie was having a problem
fitting in. She looked to Nick and he shrugged, his mouth pulling
to the side as he shook his head.

“I’ve seen too many like her,” he said,
“Can’t handle the stress and burn out. Their ashes scatter to the
winds.”

“Is it that bad in sales at Cantell
Electronics too?”

“What? Oh. Sure. It’s that way anywhere
for a woman like Clark.”

“Like Clark. What’s that suppose to
mean?” she asked.

“You know.”

“Enlighten me.” She let sarcasm lay
heavy on each word while her glare acted as back up.

“Oh crap. You know what I’m talking
about. So don’t go all feminist on me, okay? Some women who finally
make the cut push too hard, too quick. They don’t wade in. They
jump in headfirst and hit rocks.” He offered a quick tilt to his
head, raised eyebrows and pursed lips. “Makes it hard for those
around them... including other women. It’s not a pretty sight when
they crash and burn.”

“You are such a hard ass,”
she told him, feeling deep sympathy for Tonie and her brethren.
Even the term implied males.
Sisterhood
. Loses in translation
somehow, she thought, her heart saddening.

“Hey,” Nick defended. “I didn’t create
them. Did you come out of Beauty School and get your own shop right
away? No. You took your knocks and learned, got the crust, the
know-how. Some women don’t do that. The occupation doesn’t matter.
April climbed her ladder easy-like, one rung at a time, right up to
the A-plus top.”

“Okay,” Georgie said. “Spare me. I get
it.”

“You’d better.” He leaned over, kissed
the corner of her forehead. “Cause, Georgie Girl, one bad move on
Tonie’s part, out on a call, could cost you Dudley Do-Right.
Remember that.”

Georgie’s mouth dropped opened, his
words striking a blow to a place she thought could no longer feel
pain. Without further comment, he got up, tapped his finger to the
tip of her nose, and went out to join Mason and Roberts.

Chapter nineteen

Georgie drank the last of her tequila
and orange juice, stared blankly at the bottom of the glass before
getting up to put it in the sink, but the room swayed, her legs
wobbly.

“Oh, is your head going to
smart tomorrow,” she told herself, then remembered,
one round to the right temple
. She set down the glass and rushed to the bathroom. All the
evening’s events and visions came gushing out, over and over, until
she felt as empty as her life was each time she lost someone close
to her. Jeffrey wasn’t
close
to her, but he was a participant in her
existence, and now he was gone.

Cold water on her face helped clear the
cobwebs. After a mouthwash rinsing, she dabbed a towel to dry the
moisture, then stared into the mirror. Odd, she didn’t look any
different. There were no added lines of trauma or shadowed
eyes.

One round to the right
temple
, she thought. Slowly, she placed a
finger-gun to her right temple. She jolted at the one sharp tap on
the door.

“George? You okay?”

“Yes,” she told Mason, looked once more
into the mirror, and sighed. “I’m fine.” Whatever thought had tried
to take root, was gone... just like Jeffrey.

She opened the door to find
Mason had already returned to the kitchen. Fatigue was overtaking
her, making each step more difficult. What time was it? What did it
matter? The clock still tic-ticked and moved on.
How cruel
, she thought,
and entered the kitchen.

“So you’ll be here?” Mason was asking
Nick.

“Yeah. I talked to my supervisor and
told him point blank I wasn’t going anywhere for a
while.”

“You must have some major seniority
clout.”

Nick’s laugh was heavy with cynicism.
“Trust me. They aren’t getting anyone else to go to the cesspools I
go.” With his most hammish theatrical pose, he declared, “It would
take nothing less than a red-phone call from the President himself
for me to leave my Georgie Girl right now. And I sure don’t see any
red phones here.”

Georgie grasped Nick’s shoulder and
smiled. “Good to know I’m more important to you than a
malfunctioning computer chip.”

“Or the sale of a malfunctioning chip,”
Nick added with a light tap to her grip and a nod, then yawned and
rose. “Well, I’m going to bed. Georgie Girl, where’s that blanket
you gave me last night?”

“Linen closet, but for goodness sake,
Nick, why not take the spare bedroom? It’s made, clean sheets, plus
it has an electric blanket.”

“Nope. Comfy bed is too much like an
anchor.” He overacted the body shudder as he entered the hallway.
“The couch is perfect.”

“Lord save some poor woman from that
non-committing man,” Georgie said, making sure Nick could
hear.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nick mumbled down
the hallway.

After a moment, Mason rustled in his
chair. “I should be on my way too. I’ll find out what they
determine about Jeffrey and let you know. It’s Roberts’ case. I’m
sure he’ll keep me in the loop.” He rose and tipped her chin with
his finger. “Get your coat. I don’t want to lose my way going to
the car.”

“Can’t have you lost out
here in the
wild,
” Georgie said with a smile, while slipping into her
coat.

His cell phone went off as they walked
through the garage. Once more she tried to step away to give him
privacy, but his arm about her shoulders refused to let her. He
pulled her even closer and her heart raced. She swallowed and took
the leap into the start of becoming a couple... letting her arms
slip around him while she pressed her cheek to his
chest.

“Yeah, I’m still here. Why?” Mason said
into the phone.

A chill passed over Georgie
when she heard the distinct tones of Tonie’s voice at the other
end. Had they been a
thing
at one time? Georgie wanted to ask, but bit her
lip instead. Had Tonie even been partnered with him long enough for
the attachment? Mason called her a rookie. How long is one a rookie
before the label goes away?

“I hope to hear from the Board on
Monday,” he said into the phone, and Georgie realized, once the
Review Board cleared him of any wrong doing in the hostage
situation shooting he would once more be with Tonie day in, day
out.

He stopped walking and Georgie thought
he was going to move away from her, but he didn’t. Instead, she
felt him tense up, his body hard.

“Roberts is a damn good man,
Tonie.”

He pressed Georgie’s head to him, his
hand warm as he caressed her, and Georgie allowed herself to
tighten her hold in answer.

“I told you when you first started.
Learn to keep your thoughts and emotions to yourself and your
department Shrink.” He sucked in a sharp breath, frustration
clearly present. “No, I don’t think you need the Shrink, and no,
I’m not turning on you.” He jerked his hand over to look at his
watch. “You still have three hours left on your shift. If you’re on
the phone with me, you’re not keeping an eye on your partner’s
back. Do your job.”

The long silence ended when Mason
flip-shut his phone and placed it back in its belt holder. Georgie
sensed his inner battle to hold intact his temper and thoughts with
both the moment and the conversation. In a strange way, she felt
bad for Tonie.

“Roberts might be a good man,” Georgie
said, “but he’s not you. You’re her partner.”

“No!” It was said so
sharply, it startled Georgie. He took a deep breath, drawing in his
outburst, but his tone remained firm. “Her partner right now, this
moment, is Roberts, not me. We aren’t husband and wife, 24/7. We’re
partners on a
job, 9 to
5
, so to speak. Right now, Roberts is that
partner.”

“Would you feel this way if Roberts
were your partner? Or is it because Tonie’s a woman?”

“Oh, do not even go there, Miss
Independence” he said, his mood lighter as he gave her a light
reproachful shrug. “I treat her no different than I was treated as
a rookie, including Roberts when we were partners.”

“You and Roberts were
partners?”

“Two years. Actually, I was his rookie,
then went on to get my own rookie partner and many more after that.
So Tonie...”

“You were
Roberts’
rookie?” She
couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice. Until this minute,
she hadn’t considered Mason’s age. She looked up at him. How old,
or more to the point, how young was he?

“George,” he said, his voice soft with
warning. “Age has nothing to do with us. So let it go now before it
becomes an issue. Can you do that?”

“Do you even know if there’s an age
difference?”

“Nope. Don’t care. I’m where I want to
be. I’m good with that. I want you to be good with it too.” He
guided them on toward his car and stopped. He seemed to think on
something then continued walking, but at a slower pace. “I would
like to ask you one thing,” he said when they reached his 4Runner,
then turned to face her.

“Sure.”

“It’s personal.”

“My life is pretty much an open book
right now, don’t you think?” she said.

“If it’s too personal, just tell me,
okay?” But he didn’t wait for an answer and asked. “How did your
husband die?”

“Car accident. Black ice,” she started
out, and Georgie found the account less painful to tell. But when
she finished, she had to catch her breath, the run of the account
still a mile long for her, and she was tired, wanted to cry, could
feel the tears sting, but wouldn’t let them flow.

For the longest time, Mason remained
silent, a finger pushing aside stray hairs blowing across her
forehead.

After a deep breath he said, “My wife,
Jenny, was back east visiting her parents. They uh... live in
Boston, ‘bout a mile from my parents. She was on her way home and
boarded the plane on the morning of 9/11.”

Georgie could find no words. She
remembered hugging Sam that morning four years ago as they watched
the news reports. A cry of pain became a lump in her throat, and
she swallowed.

“When I got home,” he went on, in a
voice so low Georgie, could barely hear him. “There was a message
on our answering machine from her cell phone on the plane. I saved
it for the longest time. I played it over and over just to hear her
voice. I couldn’t do anything for her, not even find the persons
responsible. Here I am a cop. To serve and protect... and I
couldn’t protect the one closest to me.”

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, but it
sounded so inadequate, she wished she could take it
back.

“The worse part is, I never got the
chance to say...”

“Good-bye,” she finished for him. “I
know.”

“Yeah.” It came out a half whisper. He
started the engine, turned on the heater to defrost his windshield
then got back out. He pulled her to him, opening up his jacket to
draw her in to share his warmth.

“I never thought to ask,” she said. “Do
you have children?”

“No. Jenny couldn’t have any, and
having her was enough for me.” He sucked in air. “And then I didn’t
have her anymore.”

“Don’t know what I would have done if I
hadn’t had those two of mine when I lost Sam.”