Dream Huntress (A Dreamseeker novel) (Entangled Ignite) (24 page)

“Baby, we both passed easy and peaceful a long time ago. You think I don’t love you enough to stand by you? If you’re standing here telling me you’re psychic but can’t even understand what I feel for you, you’re not nearly as good as you think you are.”

He dropped his hands. The emptiness of losing contact with him rolled across her.

“I think it’s not me who has a problem with the dreams,” he said. “It’s not me who’s too scared to accept things as they are and give us a try. It’s you. Quit hiding behind the dreams.”

Her bottom lip quivered. Her throat tightened.

“McGee,” one of Bahan’s agents called out to Ty. “Bahan wants you inside.”

“Go,” she said.

“
Fuck
,” Ty mumbled. “I love you. I do. I’ve never been with anyone who’s made me feel like this. I want every part of you, even the parts that dream.” His lips curved. “Especially the parts that see a gun aimed at me before I do.”

He held her head and brushed his lips against hers so softly it stole her breath. And for the first time since she’d been a child, the universe straightened and everything was infinitely less complicated. He loved her. Even with the dreams, he loved her. Because of her dreams, he loved her.

“You. Go. Nowhere,” he said with a warning glare. He started to walk toward the diner, then turned back to her, pointing a finger. “We’re not done. Stay right here.”

“No,” she repeated as he turned. “We’re not done.”

He jogged to the door of the diner.

Once again, she had to admire the sinful perfection of his ass. What were the odds of bronzing those damn blue jeans? And while she appreciated his very masculine form, she wondered why men always thought they were in charge.

She had no intentions of standing around in a parking lot, and she certainly wasn’t wasting another minute of her life on Arlo and Warren Buck.

She meant what she’d said—they weren’t done, not by a long shot. But now it was her turn to step up. Ty was right; she’d hidden behind the dreams long enough. She may not have been a genius, but she wasn’t a total idiot, either. He loved her. She loved him. All the rest was just the messy details they’d have to sort through.

Plus, Ty didn’t realize he’d given her something just as meaningful as his love. He’d given her a whole new perspective. Until he pointed it out, she’d completely dismissed the fact that she’d been able to save him because of a dream.

She saved someone she loved because of her gift.

Maybe she hadn’t been able to save her family, but she saved Ty. And that, she knew, was worth every dream she’d ever lived through.

He’d made the first move, putting himself out there, risking his heart. He claimed he’d could live with the strangeness that was her life.

Now she’d risk something, too. Her sanity, for starters. Checking her watch, she calculated how much time she had. Ten minutes to get to her apartment. Thirty minutes to shower and pack a suitcase. Ten minutes for the return trip. She’d be back before Ty realized she was gone.

But just to be sure, she’d call him and let him know what she was planning. Then, she decided, they’d be even. Staying in Titus would be damn near as big a sacrifice as suffering through a few random dreams. At least the way she figured it, it was. But if she was going to start a life with Ty, she wasn’t going to do it in the grandma garb she was wearing. Nor would she do it in the cocktail-waitress get-ups she had at Ty’s place.

The only way she’d stay in Titus would be as Jordan Delany.

Woman. Cop. And dreamer.

Chapter Twenty-four

“Well, that’s just great.”

Jordan called Ty four times on the way back to her apartment. He wasn’t picking up. She knew it was chaos at the diner—Bahan and the other Feds were no doubt drilling him—but if he saw it was her number, why wasn’t he answering?

Maybe she needed to call Bahan, see if he could get a message to Ty. Although avoiding Bahan felt like a better plan. Not really avoiding
him
per se, but the next few weeks would be an endless myriad of reports, interviews, and briefings. She needed just a little time to get her head on straight. Her job had been her only concern for way too long. Tonight, Ty had to be the priority.

She was thirsty, hungry, and bone tired, but she powered through a shower and threw on jeans and a blouse. Glancing around the apartment with a surprising amount of affection, she decided she might just miss one or two of the silly roosters. As crazy as it sounded, they’d become weird little friends who had watched her and Ty fall in love.

It only took a few minutes to throw her clothes into the suitcase. She was struggling with the zipper when someone pounded on the door. Bahan had probably sent someone to check on her and hurry her back to the crime scene.

As soon as the turn of the doorknob clicked in her hand, Ty charged across the threshold like an angry bull.

“What are you doing here? I figured you’d be tied up for quite a while,” she said.

He pivoted and pinned her with a look so full of anger, her heart tripped. “Are you okay?” A pang of concern shot through her. “Did something else happen? Did someone else get hurt?”

Fury leapt off of him. He looked like a bomb seconds before detonation. “You mean before or after you took off?”

It took a couple of seconds for the meaning of his words to register, but then she got it.
He hadn’t listened to his messages
. He didn’t think she was coming back.

“Thought you had just enough time to pack a bag and disappear before I could catch up, didn’t you?” he said in an angry growl. “Well, think again.” He marched across the room but marched back just as quickly. Ran his hand through his hair. “Do I need to use your own cuffs on you to lock you in place for five minutes?”

She raised a brow. As if
that
would ever happen. “Calm down. I tried to call you. Left a message—”

“Quiet.” The harsh bark of the word silenced her. “I’m talking, and for once in your life, you’re going to be silent and listen.”

He’d misunderstood and was going to feel like an idiot when he finally heard his messages, but still, her eyes narrowed at his Neanderthal tone. “Ty, look. You don’t understand. I just wanted to get—”

“Do you know how many times I’ve tried to call you since you left?”

Yeah, she knew. He’d made it very clear earlier. Twenty-seven calls and thirteen text messages. But it seemed like maybe more of a rhetorical question, so she kept her mouth shut.

“All I asked was for you to wait for me. Just a little while until Bahan was done with me so we could talk. But you took off.
Again!
”

Jordan moved closer and could feel the hurt radiating from him. She’d become adept at blocking the feelings most people emitted, but with Ty, she just didn’t know how to guard against them. “Okay, I get it.” She spoke calmly, determined to set him straight. “You’re upset because I left. If you’d stop interrupting every time I open my mouth—”

“How can you not want to fight for what we have? I’m sorry for every wrong thing I said, but nothing that happened between us was so big that it can’t be fixed. I mean, come on.”

To shut him up, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled his lips firmly against hers.

He stood stiff, shocked, then his lips softened.

Her tongue eased into the familiar, glorious heat of his mouth, and she poured everything she had into that one drugging kiss.

His arms tightened around her. He groaned and shuddered. “I don’t want to lose you. I can’t,” he whispered, “just
can’t
lose you.”

Emotions hung thick and heavy in the air, but they had changed, morphed into something less angry but more desperate. “Look,” she said, “I know you’re tired and upset, but why didn’t you listen to the messages I left for you?”

He moved his hands to her face. “Because I wasn’t about to let you run away with a simple
goodbye
on my phone.”

“I mean it, Ty.” She smoothed her fingers against the front of his jeans. When she felt his phone, she dug it out of his pocket and handed it to him. “Listen to your messages.”

“Damn it, Jordan. I’m tired of playing games.” Irritated, he snatched the phone from her, punched in the numbers, and held it to his ear. “Oh,” he said when the reality hit him. “You were coming back?”

She smiled and nodded.

“You were packing a suitcase so you could stay with me? In Titus?”

“Yes.”

“But you hate Titus.”

“So imagine how much I must love you.”

A deep, coiled tension seemed to rush from his body on a giant exhale. Frankly, he looked like he might pass out. “Thank God,” he whispered.

She tugged him toward the couch. “Maybe you should sit.”

He dropped down onto the cushions.

Lowering herself next to him, she shifted to make sure she had his full attention. “I love you, Ty. More than you know. More than I’m comfortable with. A whole lot more than I thought it was possible for me to love someone.”

“Baby, I love you, too. It almost killed me when I thought you’d left again.” He pulled her tight and brushed his lips against hers. “I know we have to go back to the diner, but for a little while, can we please stay just like this?”

She nodded as he tugged her against his shoulder. Exhausted, they settled against the back of the big, old sofa, snugly wrapped in each other’s arms.

“You know,” Ty finally said, eyes still closed, “this thing is uglier than homemade soup, but Christ, it’s comfortable.”

Jordan laughed. “I know, right? I’m really going to miss it. I love to sleep on it.” She nuzzled into his neck. “But I love to have sex on it even more.”

He groaned, and not in the good way. “Great. Now I have to figure out how to buy the damn thing.”

New emotions filled the room. Better emotions. In fact, Jordan couldn’t remember anything in her life feeling this close to perfection.

After several minutes of quiet, Ty asked, “When exactly did you decide, you know, that you couldn’t live without me?”

She smiled against his chest. “The night Lewis kicked me, and you followed me out to Buck’s picnic table, you had me weak-kneed. But by the time you took me back to your parents’ house and took care of me, I was a goner.”

“Is that so?”

“Pretty much.” She found his hand and laced her fingers with his. “But the night that Warren—”

“Shhh, It’s okay, I get it.” He touched a finger to her lips. “You don’t have to talk about that night.”

“No, actually I do. I saw my dad that night, and I think he saved me. He told me that he was sorry for all the mistakes he made. Even after all these years, it helped. Him taking responsibility helped me understand that I wasn’t the only one to blame for what happened to my family that night. He said it was time to forgive and learn to make connections again. I think he might be right.”

Emotion overtook her voice. Ty grabbed her hand and kissed it.

“He also said that you loved me and would find me and take care of me. And just like that, I slipped from his arms into yours.”

“He sounds like a wise man,” Ty said, pulling her close. “I will most definitely always take care of you.” He gently touched his lips to hers and kissed her as though he was kissing her soul. At that moment, she knew her father had been right. There was a lot to be said for connection. Especially when those connections came in the form of Tyler McGee.

There would be more police work and there would be more dreams, but the one truth she finally understood was that she no longer needed to dream alone.

Epilogue

Two months later

St. Louis County Police Chief, Ronald Hyde, gripped the microphone on the podium and began to wind down his speech with a theatrical flair.

“These officers are a shining example of what can be accomplished when local, state, and federal agencies work together. I’m convinced the St. Louis Interagency Drug Enforcement Team is the most valuable cooperative effort Missouri has in place to fight drugs in our state.”

Jordan made the mistake of glancing at Bahan. He pinned her with an accusing look as Chief Hide waxed on about the importance of working as a team. Hindsight truly was 20/20. She was lucky to be alive. Lucky she’d kept her badge. And damn lucky Bahan had the authority and inclination to report her strengths and smooth over her less than professional behavior.

Guilt made her break eye contact with Bahan and look at Ty. The stony expression carved on his face made her heart ache. The commendations she and Ty received today would never be associated with a victory, but rather a painful reminder of what had been lost.

The way she figured it, they both needed a nice long stretch of sipping tropical drinks and dozing on a warm beach. She hoped that was exactly what Ty had planned for their two weeks off. She’d given him free rein to schedule their vacation anywhere he liked, but God help him if he missed the less than subtle hints about blue Caribbean water lapping at her feet.

Chief Hyde continued on.

“Operation China White confiscated over thirty pounds of heroin. By the time it’s cut with additives, that’s over a million dollars’ worth of drugs off the streets. It was quite a bust.”

Yeah,
Jordan thought as a final applause spread through city hall, it
was
quite a bust.

Not only had they gotten a substantial amount of drugs off the streets, four drug runners for the Delago Cartel had also been arrested. One of the runners had been offered immunity for turning evidence against the cartel. They’d gotten a lot of good information out of him, but unfortunately, not the one piece of information Jordan had wanted most: the names of the men who’d killed officers Lee and Benson.

Today, the families of the fallen officers had been given posthumous commendations. Quite honestly, Jordan found it agonizing to maintain eye contact during that part of the ceremony. Their families had been handed medals in lieu of justice, and the sting of it sliced wide and deep. Every cop knew the risks, particularly working inside the drug world. But you at least had hope that another cop would have your back, catch the asshole who’d gotten the drop on you. Jordan felt the failure of not providing that justice in every breath.

But despite the fact that this case had almost broken both her and Ty, the knowledge that Arlo and Warren Buck were sitting in cells somewhere felt good. It’d feel even better with a margarita in one hand and Ty’s sunbaked biceps under the other. It was finally over, and she was more than ready to get the heck out of Dodge.

Later, back in her office, she packed up her laptop and edited her phone greeting to basically say:
Don’t call me, I’ll call you.
All she needed now was one hunky Longdale cop in a swimsuit, and frankly, the swimsuit was optional.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Ty said, walking into her office. “Kiss me now or lose me forever.”

She raised an eyebrow and leveled a grin at him. “Well, then, front and center, officer.”

Sauntering toward her, he backed her up as though he was closing in on prey. She quickly became wedged between her desk and a very tempting wall of muscle. He yanked a folder from her hand, tossed it to the desk, and peered down at her. “Is that a direct order, detective? ’Cause my front to your center
is
one of my favorite positions.”

He leaned in and kissed her. A sweet, sweet wave of pleasure took her breath away. He tugged at the pins that held her hair in her standard professional bun and then caressed her scalp as her hair fluttered free.

Her eyes closed, and her head tipped back into his hands. “That feels
so
good.” She practically purred the words, and his fingers stilled. Her eyes blinked open, and she immediately clicked into his hungry, lust-filled stare.

Wiggling out of his arms, she shook her finger at him. “Nice try. How many times have I told you no hanky-panky in my office?” She made a good pretense of scolding him, but inwardly, she smiled, knowing that if they’d been anywhere but her office…

“Pack it up then, woman. If you insist on killing my fantasy, we’re out of here.”

She was intrigued. “You have a fantasy that involves my office?”

“Well, not so much your office, but”—his hands sketched an hourglass figure—“but that uniform, goddamn it.”

She looked down at her dress blues. Standard uniform for all ceremonies and in no conceivable way attractive. “Have you lost your mind?” She snorted. “I’m covered from my chin to my toes.”

“And it’s all very…formfitting.” He blew out a breath and groaned appreciatively.

“Seriously? In Titus, I walked around in a bikini top and cut-offs for days on end. Big hair, lots of makeup. Perfume. Heels. It never fazed you. And you’re saying this”—she flicked a hand up and down her body—“works you up?” She laughed. “You are an incredibly disturbed individual.”

He moved closer, hooked a finger in the collar of her shirt, and tugged her close. “That’s why they call it a fantasy. Now, if there happens to be red lace underneath all that and you took it off real slow—”

A knock sounded on the door, and Bahan poked his head in.

Jordan jumped away from Ty, her face hot with embarrassment.

Bahan rolled his eyes and whispered, “Get a room,” as he stepped inside. “Listen, my new boss would like to meet you. He used to work in St. Louis, then in Kansas City. He’s back and was impressed with our task force. I’m showing him around a bit.”

Knowing Ty was ready to manhandle her out the door, she aimed a warning glare at him.

She turned back to Bahan. “Sure. Bring him in.”

“We’re not ever going to leave, are we?” Ty grumbled when Bahan walked out.

“Shush. You know how much I owe Bahan. Two minutes. They’ll be here; they’ll be gone.”

Bahan walked in, followed by an attractive older man in a crisp blue suit—salt and pepper hair, meticulously groomed, expensive-looking shoes. He was FBI, all right. He held out his hand to Jordan first.

“It’s nice to meet you, detective.”

Bahan jumped in. “Ken, this is Detective Jordan Delany.” He motioned toward Ty. “And Officer Tyler McGee from the Longdale Police Department. Jordan, Ty, this is Special Agent Ken Bellows.”

Bellows turned toward Ty and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, McGee. Congratulations on a job well done.” He turned back to Jordan. “SLIDE is a wonderful unit. I’ll be throwing all my support behind the effort, and I’m proud that our special agents are a part of it.”

“Thank you, sir,” Jordan said.

“It’s exciting to see law enforcement as it should be,” he continued. “When it comes to drugs, we’re in this war together. Whether you’re FBI, DEA, or a city officer, if we don’t work together as a team, shame on us, right?”

“Absolutely,” Jordan said. Her gaze flashed to Bahan’s. He was gonna irritate her about teamwork and cooperation from now until she retired, she just knew it.

There was no anger in his expression this time, however. Instead, Bahan winked at her, and an evil smile spread across his face. “Jordan was just saying the same thing. In fact, she could be our poster child for teamwork. Right, Jordan?”

“Right.” She wondered if Bahan had paid Bellows to set her up that cleanly.

“I understand you’re on leave for the next two weeks,” Bellows said. “Well deserved and well needed, I’m sure. You kids have a nice vacation.” Bellows headed for the door, then stopped and turned back to her. “By the way, Detective Delany, did you have family that worked for the FBI years ago? Is that what brought you to law enforcement?”

Not by a long shot. Knowing her father had been on the
wrong
side of the law was probably the single biggest reason she’d pursued her career. That, however, didn’t seem like information that would endear her to an FBI agent.

“No, sir. No one in my family is in law enforcement. Why?”

“The name Delany clicked with me.” He snapped his fingers. “I worked with a Delany years ago. Good agent. He and his family were killed when his cover was blown. I wondered if maybe you were related.”

His words started spinning in her head. “I don’t think so, sir. I don’t have any living relatives.”

“You have an uncle, don’t you?” Bahan asked.

Yeah, the son of a bitch who’d refused to take her in after her parents had been murdered. Jordan glared at Bahan for mentioning it. “I had an uncle. William Delany. We were never close.”

Bellows paused with his hand on the doorknob. “No, my guy was Jack.”

Jordan’s heart thundered. Jack was her father’s name.

“We were working together one night, chasing after two local dealers,” Bellows said. “We’d been watching them for weeks, finally nailed their operation. We chased them into an empty warehouse and took ’em down. I thought we were clear. With no provocation, and no warning, Delany whipped around and shot a third guy. The asshole was probably thirty feet away, a semiautomatic pointed at us. I never heard a sound, but Delany spun around and nailed the guy like he had eyes in the back of his head.”

Jordan’s gaze darted to Bahan, then to Ty. A roaring rush of blood pounded through her head.

Ty stepped close, hooked an arm around her waist.

A chill sliced through her and almost froze the most important question of her life on her tongue, but she managed to force the words out. “Do you remember what time of year Jack Delany’s family was killed?”

Bellows frowned. “It was horrible. Happened on Thanksgiving weekend. I’ve never been able to smell pumpkin pie or eat turkey without thinking of Jack.”

Jordan inhaled on a gasp. Ty pulled her tighter against his body.

Bellows smiled and shook his head. “I still don’t know how he did it, but he saved my ass that night. I asked him how the hell he pulled it off, but the wiseass never told me, just made a joke. Said he must have seen it in a dream.”

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