When You're With Me (21 page)

Balthazar continued to laugh at Drew. “Your old lady can’t save your lousy hide,” he cackled. “You’ll be dead by morning. I hope she looks good in black. Maybe I’ll stop by for another dance.”

Drew wanted to beat the hell out of Balthazar. What had he done to Jude? Knowing Jude had ever given Tiny private dances soured Drew’s stomach.

A black and white vision of Jude wiggling her hips for Balthazar invaded his mind. Dressed only in a thong, Jude fondled and caressed herself while the dealer placed money at her feet. Drew wanted to scream her name. Private dances were part of the job, yes, but that knowledge didn’t make the visual in his head any easier to take.

Thwack
!

Drew’s temple burned. Balthazar’s voice broke him from the nightmare. “Who is your partner? Nester isn’t here. Tell me if you want any chance of living through this… I
will
use Judy Blue Eyes against you. She’s a decent piece of ass—not great, but decent and she’ll look absolutely fucking fantastic in the compactor with Astra and Slade.”

Drew’s facial expression stayed as blank as possible with a broken jaw and a black eye. The tape remained in place, reducing his ability to answer. Inside, he seethed. Drew closed his eyes and tried to shake the feeling of disgust. He didn’t want to think of Jude dancing for anyone but him. She wasn’t a toy for sharing—she was
his
Jude and much more than a so-called decent piece of ass to be killed because Balthazar demanded blood.
Damn it
.

Drew wanted to scream. He wanted to fight. He wanted Jude.

Balthazar stopped laughing long enough to study Drew. “Alwyn, you know, we aren’t that different. We both take scum off the street. Mine are junkies and yours are strippers. Maybe you should’ve quit the force to work for me. You two could’ve been very happy together without risking your jobs.” He kicked Drew once more, leaving him in a crumpled ball on the floor.

“Spend your next few hours praying. God’s the only one who can save your fucking soul now,” Balthazar thundered and locked the door.

Drew fought the urge to sleep. Irrational thoughts moved into his brain. He pictured Jude laughing and lounging with Balthazar. The taste of iron in his mouth brought Drew back to reality. Jude wouldn’t want anything to do with the dealer.

I need to stay alert.

Drew tried like hell to remain vigilant, but his injuries were too extensive and he succumbed to sleep. His last thoughts were of Jude.

I love you, babe…

* * * *

Drew awoke to voices. He didn’t know where they were coming from, only that they were growing louder. How long had he been out this time? Bits and pieces of the conversation sounded like plans. Drew strained to comprehend the words, thankful to be alive. Or was it an argument? He wasn’t sure.

“Shit. They’re storming the joint. Knock off the fucker. They won’t mess with us if we knock him off.”

“I’m not having a cop-killing on my record.”

“He ain’t no cop.”

Drew’s ears perked up and his head throbbed.

“I’m not taking him out.”

“He ain’t worth the needle.”

Seconds passed in silence. Someone was in the process of planning his execution. Drew saw nothing in the dark. Seconds turned into silent minutes filled with dread. Had Jude helped? Did she know about Balthazar? Had they killed Jude?
God…Jude
.

For a split second, Drew forgot what Jude looked like and that scared him the most.

The sound of gunshots rang in his ears. Garbled voices sounded like surrender, but Drew couldn’t be sure. A loud crack against the one wall sent debris crashing down on his nearly prone body. Drew strained to hear more gunshots and shouting. Were they giving up? Did Balthazar have Jude? He prayed they wouldn’t hurt Jude.

The gunfire wasn’t in his room, but getting closer.

At that instant, Jude’s face came into sharp focus. Relief washed over his body. If Drew was about to die, at least his last thoughts would be of her.

More gunfire thundered around him.
Who’s shooting?
He prayed the bullets wouldn’t hit him—he needed to get home to Jude. Moments later, Drew saw a shaft of light under the door. “You check in there! He’s gotta be around here somewhere! Come on—I can’t lose him like this. I won’t!”

Drew recognised the voice. Mateo. His mind whirled. Was Jude far behind? Was she safe? Was she dead?

A clunk on the door increased the light in the room. Figures piled into the small space. Mateo began to fling debris around the room. His face lost all colour when he saw Drew. “Get in here! We got an officer down,” he screamed. “Drew? Drew, talk to me.”

Drew wanted to reply. With his jaw broken and tape sealing his mouth, it was impossible. Instead, he lifted his head and the room span. Nausea washed over his body. It was all too much, too soon. Once outside and properly medicated, Drew would gladly spill his guts. Right now he wanted out of the house and into Jude’s arms.

“Officer down! Officer down. He’s still alive,” Mateo screamed and knelt next to Drew. He untied the cord from Drew’s wrists and gently unpeeled the silver tape. “I don’t know how you got through this, but I’m proud of you, buddy. They got Balthazar in custody. He gave up after a bullet to the right shoulder, courtesy of yours truly.”

Drew took a deep, ragged breath while Mateo continued his questions. “How did you get to her? She said a text… You loved her or some shit. Where’s the phone?”

Weakly, Drew opened his coat. The cracked device dropped to the floor with a clunk. He grunted a reply and leaned his head on the floor. It hurt to breathe. Everything hurt.

Mateo grinned. “It was damn stupid, but it got you out. I applaud you for it.”

As Mateo spoke, the stretcher arrived with Lieutenant Wallace in tow.

“Good job, officer. Good job, both of you. Get him out to the ambulance,” Wallace instructed as the paramedics entered the room.

Drew’s head lolled on his shoulders. If he died from the damned beating, he wanted to see Jude first.

Outside, Jude paced next to the ambulance. The urge to scream caught in her throat. An armed officer stood guard next to her. Time ticked by so slowly, she felt things reverted to slow motion. She knew there was nothing she could contribute and the desire to help riddled her with nervous energy.
She shoved her shaky fingers through her dishevelled hair, then scrubbed them over her face.

Please let him be okay. God, please save him.
Then she’d kick his butt.

What seemed like an eternity passed before she saw any movement outside the house. Police officers escorted fifteen or so men and women in handcuffs out of the establishment. Jude wondered if it was over. She looked for Drew among the upright individuals.

A barrage of gunshots split the air. Her heart twisted in her chest and her breathing stopped. Were they shooting at Drew? Was he shooting at them?

Jude sank to the floor of the vehicle. He was dead—she was sure of it.

Lights flashed and sirens blared. Through the chaos, she saw a large man with an enormous tattoo on his scalp leave the premises in handcuffs. He looked familiar.

That tattoo…a tribal design with a biochemical style monogram…

Oh, God
. Her boss, Tiny Balthazar, drug lord extraordinaire. He’d tried to kill Drew.

“Stop pushing me,” a woman screamed. Jude knew that voice too—it was Carlie. “You can’t arrest me. I’m one of the cops. Those drugs weren’t mine.”

Through the ambulance window, Jude watched a scruffy man stuff Carlie into the back of a waiting cruiser. When the man saw Jude, a grin brightened his face. He crossed over to her position and tugged her out of the vehicle.

She hardly recognised him and shied back. He didn’t look like the blond barrel of a man she knew. “Jude, it’s okay. I’m James Mateo, Drew’s partner. It’s safe,” Mateo said and hugged her. “You were brave to make that call to nine-one-one. Because of you, we upped the ante on the sting op and found Drew in time. We were able to arrest Balthazar, not only for the drug charges, but also the assault of a police officer, and the alleged murders of Sergeant Randall McCall and Astra Devlin. Drew was next on his hit parade.”

Jude rocked back on her feet. Relief washed over her body, followed by a pang of fear as she further processed Mateo’s statements. Someone would pay for the deaths of her friends.

“Next on what? Where’s Drew?” She clutched Mateo’s arm. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. “How bad is he hurt, James? Is he…dead?”

“It’s not pretty, but he should manage. I assume you’ll provide some ‘special’ nursing to get him up and running,” Mateo said and dug his elbow into her ribs. He turned and nodded to the arriving stretcher. “Over there…”

Jude glanced in the direction of Mateo’s nod. She nearly fainted. Drew’s body was broken and bloody. His face swelled from the injuries, not to mention the matted, bloody hair and cuts marring his skin. A crash-test dummy looked more life-like.

Drew grinned weakly. He couldn’t even raise his arm to wave. Her heart broke.

“You can ride in the ambulance along with us,” the EMT said and helped her into the vehicle.

Jude nodded. She had to force her feet to move. Seeing Drew in such a bloody mess was devastating, but at least he was alive. As she climbed into the ambulance, Drew’s faint grin gave her strength. If he could deal, then so could she.

She sat at Drew’s feet and massaged his calf. In her mind, she thanked God for bringing him home. Though swollen and purple, he smiled. She knew this wouldn’t be the last time he went undercover. He’d eventually be in another dangerous position—police work wasn’t exactly secure in every situation. She thanked God that Drew had come home. She could be strong without him, but preferred to be strong together. She loved him too much to go it alone.

With the tip of his boot, Drew rubbed her thigh.

Jude smiled through her tears. At least he was alive and safe.

Chapter Twelve

Jude sat on the edge of the bed and flipped through her magazine. Drew glanced over at her, reading one of the headlines. The words ‘hump’, ‘dance’ and ‘get his attention’ certainly grabbed
his
attention. “Babe?” He bumped her shoulder. “What are you reading?”

He’d been out of the hospital for more than a week and his strength increased with each passing day, but man, the weight of recovery wore on him sometimes. His ribs ached and, when they didn’t, his head throbbed. Getting beaten up sucked ass.

“Garbage. The magazine is garbage.” She tossed the magazine aside. “The doctor told me to wait until you were back in the pink to antagonise you.”

He crooked one brow and squeezed her thigh. “He’s being cautious. Why?”

“There’s a few things we need to iron out.” Jude folded her hands and stared him in the eye. “Things that are crucial to the future.”

The future. He sighed. Jude never ceased to surprise him. Normally her quirks didn’t shock him to the core, but after seeing death head-on, well, he wasn’t going to brush her off. “And you mean…”

“So, how
did
you hook up with Officer Carlie Kenworth?” Jude turned to face him, sitting cross-legged across from him. “I mean, a man of high standards, such as you should’ve known when to be on guard and with whom. We aren’t all fine, upstanding citizens. She oozed trouble from every pore.”

Drew sighed and reached out to caress Jude’s thigh. “You’d be surprised.”

Jude crossed her smooth legs over his and rested her head on his shoulder. “So?”

“The truth is that she looked like my ex-wife, Nat,” Drew confessed finally. “I thought I needed someone to fill her place in my life. I was wrong.”

“I see…” she said and trailed off. Jude smoothed her fingers along the slender silky patch of hair on his bare chest. The bruises were slowly fading, but the tenderness remained. She touched the outline of his ribs gingerly.

 
“It wasn’t my brightest move, I’ll agree. When we weren’t arguing, we had… Well, it wasn’t a good time. Actually, it was pretty awful dating a fellow officer. I guess I was too weak to walk away and she liked the attention. I met her at a bar. Martin introduced us.”

Jude raised a brow and turned to look at him. “Was that before or after you two split?”

Drew snorted. “After.”

Jude licked her lips and her eyes flashed. He could see the wheels in her mind turning overtime. What went through that beautiful mind of hers, this time?

A smile drifted across her lips.

“What?” Drew shifted uncomfortably. Jude knew every button and pushed with all her sexual might. He was up to her challenge, if he could figure out what she was up to and could move in a way to incur the least amount of pain.

Jude’s smile increased a thousand watts, making him squirm even more. “You won’t make that mistake again,” she purred and slid onto his lap. She shifted to rub her body on his growing heat.

Drew reached up to cup her face in his hands. “Absolutely not,” he replied and brought her lips to his. What was meant to be a quick taste lingered into complete consumption—she tasted too damn good to turn away.