A Dozen Deadly Roses (4 page)

Afraid to be late for Roll Call again, like a shot, she changed into her uniform and was seated just before Lieutenant Lasko and the sergeants arrived to start Roll Call.

Mac was sitting in his spot in the front row when she came in.  He nodded to her, but said nothing.  Her stomach rolled in response.  Yesterday she’d felt as though she was on probation all over again.  Mac had watched her every move.  She knew he was just waiting to criticize.  She kept reminding herself he was the one on probation.

Were the butterflies in her stomach something more?  There was no doubt Mac Stryker looked fantastic on the outside.  His healthy appearance emphasized the fact he was no longer a vulnerable widower grieving over the deaths of his wife and daughter.  A muscular body and take-charge attitude replaced the haggard raw pain that touched her heart years ago.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Lasko began reading off the car assignments.

“15A21, Donovan and Stryker.”

The smirk on Lasko’s face paired with an intense stare were a challenge to Jade to complain about being partnered with Mac again today.

Screw you, Jade thought, I’ll work with him all month – whether he’s sober or drunk; but you’re not going to get a rise out of me again.

After roll call she met her partner outside the kit room.  Mac handed her a set of car keys and a camera.  He held the shotgun and Taser.  They both wore bright yellow, waterproof jackets over their uniforms.  His was long, almost like a cowboy’s duster.  Hers was shorter and was equipped with a hood.  Each plastic garment had a cutout that left their pistols exposed and available.

“You look tired.  Did the storm keep you awake?”  Mac asked.  “Those dark circles under your eyes make you look like you got popped in the face.”

“Thanks a lot,” she replied.  “Yeah, it must have been the storm that kept me up.”

There was no way she’d reveal she’d tossed and turned all night in a cycle of nightmares where an intruder broke down the door to her apartment.  Sometimes the invader was Mac, and sometimes the attacker was a faceless beast.  In each vision, Jade was unprepared to defend herself and Donnie.  She’d force herself awake just as the assailant reached for her son.  Shaking off the memory of the frightening thoughts, she got back to the business at hand.

“We probably won’t have many radio calls because of the rain.  But I hope you have lots of traffic collision report forms.  People in L.A. just don’t know how to drive in the rain.  They looked like bumper cars on my way to work.”

He smiled at her and nodded.  “I know.  I almost got creamed by some moron in a Mercedes.”

As they dashed through the raindrops to their patrol car, Mac was glad she seemed more at ease with him today.  The tension between them yesterday had been rough.  He’d thought about it last night and realized she probably felt somewhat threatened.  After all, he had more experience in the field than she had time on the job.  He made the decision to let her do the leading.

Jade wasn’t the only one who’d had trouble sleeping last night.  Recurring images had haunted him on and off for the past five years.  The dream always started the same way.

He’d been at a party and had too much to drink.  Jade was there and offered to drive him home.  He was in no shape to drive, so he let her.  When they got to his house, she helped him inside.  Then he started crying over the deaths of Susan and Ashley.

In the dream, Jade wrapped her arms around him and comforted him.  Before he knew it, he was kissing her.  Unrestrained hunger surged as he deepened the kiss, his hands filtered through her hair. He picked her up and moved down the hall, being careful she didn’t hit her head.  As he walked, he lowered his face to hers and found her lips.  He was like a drowning man searching for air.  He couldn’t get enough.

He maneuvered into a bedroom where he laid her gently on the bed.  She opened her arms to him.  In a heartbeat he was beside her, nibbling her face, her neck…and more. It wasn’t long before he had her out of her clothes.

With one quick movement he entered her. Their excitement built, causing a rasping moan to escape her lips as spasms shot through their bodies.  A cry of victory spilled from Mac’s mouth.  Then he collapsed upon her
.

The dream, as always, scared him.  Did it mean he wanted to drink again?  Did it mean, after all the years of therapy, he still wasn’t over the death of his wife and child?  Or did it reflect the most basic instinct of a male/female partnership - he simply wanted to nail his partner?

Forcing his thoughts back to prepping the black and white for the day, they made quick work of the vehicle inspection and, before long, were on their way.  The police radio crackled with numerous reports of traffic collisions, but they weren’t assigned any of the calls.

They each wrote traffic citations to drivers who, despite the rain, drove well above the posted speed limit.  They’d just released a driver that Mac had cited when they got their first radio call of the morning.

“15 Adam 21, see the security officer holding a 484 suspect at Billingsley’s Stop ‘N Shop, 7629 Lankershim Blvd.  Handle the call Code-2.”

Mac keyed the microphone.  “15 Adam 21, roger.  En route.”

“Good,” said Jade. “This shoplifter will keep us out of the weather for awhile.”

A few minutes later they arrived at their call.  After taking the thief into custody from the security officer and getting all the information needed, they returned to the station.

“I’ll book him and write the reports,” Mac said, knowing probationary officers were expected to do everything themselves.

“Nice offer,” Jade replied, ignoring an inner voice whispering that Mac thought her incompetent, “but you’re not a typical boot.  You already know how to do that stuff.  You write the reports and I’ll book him.  Maybe after we’re done, we can grab something to eat.”

After an hour of joint effort, they were back in their patrol car en route to lunch.  The coffee shop Jade picked was famous for their chicken tortilla soup and corn bread.

“Mmmmm. Doesn’t it smell wonderful in here?” she asked, inhaling.

Mac shrugged.  The place was warm, dry, and they had fresh coffee.  That’s all he cared about right now.

Their server came to take their requests.  While Jade ordered the popular soup, he studied her.  He remembered her as being attractive, but the truth was she was beautiful.  There were a few laugh lines around her striking green eyes, but the faint creases didn’t detract from her delicate features.  Guilt washed over him as the memory of his wife filled his mind.  Yes, Jade was pretty, but he loved Susan.

Mac ordered a burger along with some fruit instead of French fries.

“So,” Jade said, eyeing the watermelon and cantaloupe on his plate, “now I know how you lost the weight.”  She blew on her soup.  “How is it you’re back with the LAPD?”

She already knew about his weaknesses.  He might as well start repairing his reputation - beginning with his partner.

“The city needs good cops.  I’m a cop.”  His explanation was the simple truth.  He wanted to be a cop again.  He was sure his former therapist would have all kinds of “touchy feely” theories about his return to the LAPD, but beyond all that, he was a cop.

“Don’t you read the papers?  The city is broke.  There’s talk they’re going to cut our pensions, and you can forget about a raise.”  She jabbed a straw into the soda the server had set down.  Mac frowned.  “But other departments aren’t the Los Angeles Police Department,” he said.  “They don’t have the pride or tradition of being the best police department in the country. And with the way things are going today, I’m thankful to have a job.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” she said.  “I’m proud to be an L.A. cop, but other agencies don’t get beat up by the press every other day like we do. I just want you to know it’s not the same department you left.”

They held their conversation as their food arrived.

Mac reached for the ketchup.  “The Rampart Scandal and the May Day incident were certainly a black eye for the department, but we’re still the best police department in the country.  And I don’t care if my views are popular, or not.  One of the things I learned while I was gone was I had to be true to myself and my beliefs.”  He took a bite of his burger.  “So tell me about our Captain.  What’s his name?  Kincaid?”

Jade’s heart lurched.  Why would Mac be asking about the Captain?  Did he know something?  “What do you mean?” she asked.

He wiped his mouth with his napkin.  “With all my time in the department, I’ve never heard of him,” Mac said easily.  “Is he a hard-ass or what?”

Jade sighed and tried to force herself to keep her face neutral.  If Mac only knew.

“What?  Is he tough?”

Jade thought about how she should answer.  Certainly not with the truth.  “I haven’t had much contact with him.  I’ve heard from some of the other guys he did most of his early career in the south end of town.  Then he made sergeant and went to Metro Division.  Couple of years later he was in charge of SWAT.”

“So why the look?”

“What look,” she asked.

“You got a funny look on your face when I asked about the captain.”

She shrugged.  “I didn’t know I did.  Maybe I hiccupped or something.”  His eyes told her he knew she was lying, but that was her story and she was sticking to it.  Purposely looking at her watch, she said, “We’d better get back out there.”

The radio traffic was fairly slow, with traffic collisions being the majority of calls assigned.

The windshield wipers slapped a steady rhythm while sluicing water off the glass.  Jade drove the car slowly down a major boulevard.

“How do you like being a training officer?” Mac asked.

Jade smiled.  “I like it a lot.  It’s best when I get a good probationer and I don’t have to tell them what to do every second.  Like you, you’re easy.”

Mac snapped his fingers and gave her a big grin.  “Darn.  I was hoping that particular secret wouldn’t get out so soon.  You aren’t going to write my name on the wall in the ladies locker room, are you?”

A warmth rose in Jade’s cheeks as her mind immediately returned to her memories of the night Donnie was conceived.  Thank goodness he couldn’t read her thoughts.

“Since you’re blushing, does it mean you’ve already written my name in the ladies room?” he asked, his eyes wide and teasing.

“Of course not,” she replied, “and you know that isn’t what I meant.”

Mac twisted in his seat to take a second look at something outside a convenience store.  Jade looked too.  Seeing a teenage group just hanging out, he turned his attention back to her.

“So how did you manage to keep from getting hitched in the last five years?” he asked.

Jade snorted.  “Who’s got time?  Between work and D-,” she cut herself off.  Donnie was none of his business.  “I don’t have the time or desire to date.”

A light on the computer indicated they had a message.  Mac pushed a button and information appeared on the screen.

“We’re being called to the Watch Commander’s office.  They have a rape victim requesting to speak to a female officer, and you’re the only female in the division available.”

Jade turned the car toward the station while Mac typed back to the station that they were on their way.

With rain coming down as though someone held a garden hose over their car, Jade drove with caution.  The windshield wipers were having a hard time keeping up with the onslaught.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement.  She slowed the cruiser to get a better look.  At the same time, Mac rolled down his window to get a sharper view of a commotion along the flood-control channel, which paralleled the street.

A golden retriever, soaked to the skin, barked frantically while running back and forth along the gravel utility road above the churning river of water cascading down the concrete canal.

“Something’s not right.  Stop the car,” Mac ordered, opening his door.

Jade keyed the mic clipped to her uniform shirt and told the dispatcher their location and that they were out for investigation, of unknown trouble.

Mac ran to the dog, who continued to bark, pace and look toward the raging water.

Jade got there seconds behind Mac.  Through the torrential rain they saw the problem.  A small boy had fallen or climbed down the steep cement walls of the channel.  He dangled in the water, clinging onto one of the metal footholds used by workers to enter and exit the channel for clean-up duties.

“15 Adam 21,” Jade yelled into her radio above the noise of the fast-moving water, “Officer needs assistance.  We have a male, approximately nine years old, in the flood control channel at Sherman Way and Tujunga.  I need the fire department swift water rescue here code three!”

The dispatcher’s voice remained calm, but an intense undercurrent could be heard as she repeated Jade’s frantic call for help.   “15 Adam 21, is the child floating down the channel?” the dispatcher asked.  “If so, at approximately what speed, and do you still have the child in sight?”

“15 Adam 21, the boy is hanging onto a metal bar used as a step.  Get an air unit.  Do you have an ETA for the fire department?  Tell them to hurry.  He can’t hang on much longer.”

As she answered, Jade heard Mac yelling at the boy to hang on.

Jade looked up and saw Mac strip off his raincoat, Sam Browne duty belt, shirt, and body armor.  He moved in front of her and started down the metal bars that were used as a ladder for ingress and egress from the channel.

“Stryker, you can’t go down there.  I’ve got water rescue on the way,” she yelled.

Mac didn’t acknowledge her.  He continued shouting something to the child, who cried and begged for help while being buffeted in the agitating water.  Mac got within three feet of the boy when the child lost his grip on the foothold.  The juvenile was sucked immediately into the raging current.

Just as fast, Mac leapt from his position on the ladder into the murky turbulence.

CHAPTER 3

“Oh my God, Mac!” Jade yelled.  Another surge of adrenaline ripped through her body.