Wolves of Haven: Lone (2 page)

Everyone knew that Sergeant
Detective Akia de Wolfe didn’t drink, didn’t go out with coworkers,
and…honestly, they weren’t entirely sure what she did. The woman
was complicated, but at the same time she appeared so simplistic
that it was insulting. She was never late to work, her paperwork
and reports were impeccable, she had a sixth sense when it came to
lying, and had a perfect arrest record. The only other person on
the force that could boast such was Captain Nikas, and that, what
the others assumed, was his problem with the self-contained
Sergeant Detective.

“I’ll think about it, but I make no
promises,” Akia said. That was what she always said, and instead of
telling her partner yes or no to drinks, she’ll just disappear for
the night. “Are you excited to start with the HTU?” she asked,
changing the subject.

Marcia knew what Akia was doing,
but she didn’t expect anything less from her soon to be former
partner. “I guess. Took me long enough to get there, and my mom is
overly excited about it. My old man still thinks I should be
answering phones, but whatever. Have they told you who’ll replace
me yet? Ooh, how about that sexy blond that transferred from I.A.?
He’s hot, and recently divorced from what I heard.”

“Baggage I don’t do,” Akia reminded
her. “And I don’t do cops. I don’t do co-workers. And I don’t do
blondes. Next?” she mused with a chuckle.

Before the annoying Detective that
apparently moonlighted as a matchmaker from Hell could say
anything, Police Superintendent Manning and Captain Nikas took the
stage and asked for the audience’s attention.

Manning smiled, his aged face was
animated and warm, and it was one of the things that Akia liked
most about the perpetually optimistic man. “I’m glad to see such a
wonderful turnout tonight,” he said, fidgeting with his note cards
at the podium. “In my opinion this overlooking of one of Boston’s
finest is inexcusable.”

Captain Nikas’ top lip quivered as
he fought keep from snarling, the only sign of any type of loss of
composure the man had; his back was ramrod straight, shoulders
back, head held high with a sense of pride, face hard and as
unreadable as stone, and eyes focused on the
Superintendent.

Manning chuckled, shaking his head.
“It wasn’t as if the honoree of the hour was overly excited about
the idea either,” he added and everyone shouted their
agreement.

Akia groaned, wishing that she
could crawl into a dark hole somewhere and hide: she hated
attention.

“Sergeant Detective de Wolfe, join
us,” he said, waving her up there.

“I’d rather not, Sir,” Akia called
out, getting many chuckles from her coworkers in return.

Captain Nikas leaned into the
microphone. “Sergeant Detective, get up here,” he said, his tone
left no room for argument.

“Oooh,” the crowd mocked; they were
well aware that the Captain wasn’t overly fond of the attention shy
woman.

Akia huffed then weaved her way
through the crowd and up on the stage, purposely standing as far
away from the podium and spotlight as possible.

Manning looked to Captain Nikas.
“Is she always this difficult?” he asked with a chuckle; already
well aware of the answer.

“Yes,” was Captain Nikas’ curt
response.

“Very well,” Manning said with a
chuckle then opened up the velvet medal box in front of him. “Seven
years ago I met the shy woman trying to hide in the shadows. A flip
of the coin, a gamble of chance, call it Fate if you will, set into
motion nearly a year of pie ala mode that started an impressive
career. The instructors at the Academy had nothing but glowing
things to say about Akia…and a few melee instructors would have if
their jaws weren’t wired shut, I’m sure.”

The audience laughed; Akia was one
of the best at hand to hand combat at the precinct.

She groaned and blushed; only
Superintendent Manning called her Akia on the force, everyone else
called her de Wolfe or Detective.

“As a beat cop, Akia singlehandedly
got more drugs off of the street and had more felony arrests than
any other traffic cop on record… Even broke your record, Damian,”
he mused, giving the Captain a look. “Quickly Akia advanced to the
Special Operations Unit, was the lead on SWAT for two years, and
did a stint in the Family Justice Division before moving to
Homicide. The awards and citations that decorate Akia are very
impressive and should have accelerated her through the ranks, and
yet she refused and felt most useful in Homicide. As much as I wish
I could have argued with her-”

“That didn’t stop you,” she
amusingly added, and the audience laughed.

Manning smiled. “Yes, I know, I
said it daily, but your most recent case only iterated that you
were correct and Homicide needed you.” He turned back to the
audience. “Akia was able to, as if it was a sixth sense, connect
seven cold cases with a recent homicide, securing a guilty verdict
without a plea deal off for the serial killer we didn’t even know
was prowling our streets. With a perfect arrest record, Akia has
gone one for one against the previous record holder, and at this
rate she’ll have her own precinct in record time.”

No thanks,
Akia silently grumbled.

“It gives me great pleasure
to present one of Boston’s highest honors it can bestow upon an
Officer of the law, the Medal of Valor, to
Lieutenant
Akia de Wolfe,” he said
with a smile, and the audience applauded.

Stunned, which didn’t happen often,
Akia shook the Superintendent’s hand then took the box containing
the medal.

“Congratulations,” Captain Nikas
grumbled under his breath, and she absently nodded.

“Speech! Speech! Speech!” the
audience chanted, well aware that Akia wanted to turn and run from
the stage.

Manning pulled her up to the
microphone.

She cleared her throat a few times,
her attention on the medal in a bed of velvet in her
hands.

The room quieted down and her
colleagues eagerly waited to hear what she had to say, especially
since she was a woman of very few words unless in an interrogation
or court room.

Akia leaned into the microphone
more. “Thank you,” was all she said before leaning back then headed
off stage.

After many handshakes and
congratulations, and those that forced her to come being noticeably
absent at the moment, Akia excused herself to use the restroom then
ducked out an emergency exit so she could go home before someone
tried pulling her out onto the dance floor; she didn’t
dance.

Boston had been home to Akia for
the past eight years. After waiting tables for a few months in
order to make ends meet, the diner she worked at was held up by a
crackhead that was looking to get cash for his next fix. Not so
lucky for him, the coroner was the one that came to collect the
body once the police were done questioning her. One of those
supervisors that came to the scene was the then Captain Manning. He
told her that the police academy might be a good fit for her and
that he had some pull and could get the tuition waved for her. He
even offered to get her the needed equipment for the twenty-week
program.

Suspicious, she turned his offer
down. No one in their right mind would just give a complete
stranger, a paranoid mess like her, three-grand for tuition then
another grand for equipment, not to mention room and board. It
didn’t make sense to her in the least. But Captain Manning was
relentless, and every night after work for over a year he’d stop by
the diner for coffee and pie, and each time he’d tell her about the
cases his Detectives were stuck on, and some of the amusing
arrests. He talked, and she listened as she wiped down tables and
refilled his coffee. Then, one night, she sat down and asked him
pointblank why he was doing this to her.

Captain Manning simply smiled and
said it was Fate.

Fate wasn’t something Akia was
interested in. Fate had done nothing but bring her heartache and
pain, so doing something because it was Fate was the very last
thing she ever intended to do. But, at the same time, she was
curious about each case and arrests that Captain Manning told her
about. There was something about a mystery that always piqued her
interest—Sherlock Holmes’ books were her favorite when younger—so
she offered him a compromise. Since he said it was Fate, she would
let Fate decide.

They flipped a coin.

Heads she’d take his offer, tails
he’d never bother her again.

It was the best flip of the coin
Akia had ever made.

There was something about law
enforcement that she loved, and it gave her life a sense of purpose
when she honestly didn’t have one. Boston was only supposed to be a
stopping point on her journey to nowhere, but she found herself
calling it home before she realized it. Captain Manning leased her
a rent controlled apartment in a building designated for senior
citizens—it belonged to his mother who passed away, and he
inherited it—and she paid him back, to his dismay for everything,
but Akia wouldn’t hear of being indebted to anyone, especially a
superior. Keeping business and personal life separate was something
that she put nearly as much effort into as she did her job. Where
most say that it’s a very fine line between business and pleasure,
Akia made it a habit to have a canyon between the two in order to
prevent complications and misunderstandings. She had worked much
too hard, overcoming more than anyone could possibly imagine, to
risk it by crossing that line.

And that was exactly how she liked
it.

Akia slid the front door key into
the lock, and it easily disengaged before she pushed the door open.
Her attention was on the medal in her hand; the promotion was a
complete surprise, and the look on Captain Nikas’ face hadn’t
hinted of a promotion being in her future in the least; the
stubborn man was very frustrating. Absently she kicked the door
shut behind her before locking it, and when she did, the smell of
lilacs and cotton became much more potent, and it caused her eyes
to snap up.

The hallway leading from the
entryway was adorned with candles that swayed as she walked down
the rose petal littered hallway. When Joni Mitchell started
singing, she smiled—he knew it was her favorite—and walked into the
open loft space. The metal and wood dining room table was set;
tall, lit, tapered candles marked the center of the table setting,
more rose petals were sprinkled around the surface of the table, a
silver bucket of ice housed a bottle of champagne waiting to be
opened with two crystal flutes, a bowl of fresh strawberries sat
next to a chilled bowl of whipped cream and a plate of peach
slices, and laying across the expertly folded napkin marking her
seat was a long stem rose with a small jewelry box and folded white
cardstock.

Despite her irritation, a smile
filled her face and tears flooded her eyes; only he could turn her
from a strong, confident Officer to a smiling, tearful young woman
without a care in the world. She set the velvet box housing her
medal down on the table then picked up the rose and inhaled its
soft, floral scent, the velvety texture caressed her nose, and it
caused a moan to build in her chest.

Akia opened the card and
smiled; it simply read
Proud of
you.
She hastily wiped away the tear that
had rolled down her cheek.

“I am.”

She nodded and inhaled the rose’s
velvety petals again, not turning to regard him as he watched her
from the base of the suspended staircase on the side wall behind
her.

“It was suggested,” he started,
taking his time to join her, his eyes moving over her figure from
behind appreciatively; toned legs, gentle swell of the hips and
slightly rounded backside, long back, arms and feminine neck, and
slightly curly hair rolling midway down her back like a silken
curtain of brown-ribboned-hazelnut. Never had she looked more
feminine and beautiful than she did that night, and it had taken
self-control that he didn’t know he was capable of to keep from
handcuffing her to the bed instead of allowing her out of the house
looking so breathtaking.

“Yes?” Akia purred, prompting him
to continue.

He stepped up behind her then
wrapped his strong arms around her waist and pulled the woman he
loved into him, and held her tight. “That those with an amazing ass
and look this good are either all gay or assholes,” he
mused.

Akia smiled. “You forgot that they
apparently have their short hairs in a twist,” she amusingly
added.

He rolled his eyes. “For being the
walking embodiment of femininity at the moment, you truly sound
like one of the guys,” he complained.

“And yet your impressive cock is
fully hard and apparently trying to check to see if I wore panties
this evening,” she purred, tilting her head to the side some,
making eye contact with him. “In case you forgot: I
didn’t.”

Softly he growled under his breath.
“Yes, I am well aware you didn’t. And that fact wasn’t missed by
any of those disgusting, vile pieces of shit that were undressing
you with their eyes,” he venomously reminded her.