Partners (2 page)

Not being a
gambler in a city where people lived and breathed gambling might seem strange.
But there was one sure thing she’d roll the dice on. As soon as she found him,
he’d be going down. And she would find him. Others had told her she had a
one-track mind. And the track she now fixated on had Earl Rhonda waiting at the
end.

All of a sudden
the door swung open and the person who’d been the focus of her thoughts
appeared wearing a snug maternity t-shirt and black tights.

“Hey partner, you
still annoyed at me?” Debbie, glowing, wore a cheeky grin.

Aurora quickly hid
her welcoming grin and played at being the caustic cop who everyone recognized.
“Slumming today, Mrs. Ashton?” She stood up and approached the very pregnant
blonde who waited with apprehension showing clearly in her expression.

The yearning on
Deb’s face, her need for reassurance, forced Aurora’s arms to open seemingly of
their own power. Hugging, an action that didn’t come easily to Aurora began
before she could put on the breaks. And Debbie took full advantage. She moved
in close and clung.

After a quick
squeeze, Aurora backed away. The familiar musky perfume fed the previous
sadness and had Aurora blink quickly to stem the threatening moisture. God she
wished things were the same as before, when the two of them shared the joined
desks and worked as a unit. But it wasn’t to be. Instead she’d be having a new
partner, and Debbie would be having a baby.

Seconds of rethinking
made her inner bitch smile.
I guess if I had my druthers, getting a new
partner isn’t so bad.

She’d felt the
protrusion of Debbie’s big belly against hers and a silly yearning started up
again from deep within. It’d been that way since the baby had been obvious.
During every moment spent with a radiant Debbie, strange feelings had surfaced
and were getting harder to hide, especially from herself.

Not in a million
years could she ever imagine being in that condition. Then why the hell was she
mooning over every baby that came into her sight? She had to get over this
shit.

“Enough with all
this girlie stuff. You’ll have the department thinking I’m getting soft instead
of the badass they’re used to.”

Debbie’s quirky
grin appeared “Face it my friend, we all know you’re a marshm—”

“Don’t say it or
I’ll have to hurt you. Even for me, hitting pregnant ladies goes against the
grain.”

“Yeah! Yeah!”
Debbie used Aurora’s favorite comeback against her and then laughed until the
restraint Aurora fought against melted and she chuckled also.

“Seriously, what
brings you to this dungeon now that you’re a free woman?”

“Have to pick up
Cory. He promised me a night out, and I’m holding him to it. You’re welcome to
join us.”

Since the day her
pregnancy had been revealed, Cory had moved in on Debbie and claimed his
rights. Their romance had flared, and they’d pulled off a Vegas wedding only a
few weeks ago.

“Thanks, but I’ll
take you up on that another time. I’ve got some good leads I’m working on and
need to keep searching.” She pointed at the computer screen as if it gave
credence to her refusal. No way did she want to play third party in a dinner
date between her boss and old partner. When those two were in the same space
with each other the lovey-dovey crap was nauseating.

Romantic— just
like the stories in the books that Aurora secreted all over her house. Mind
you, only through torture, would she ever admit to reading them.

Debbie accepted
her refusal. “Okay, if you’re sure. What’re you working on now?”

Aurora sped behind
the desk and quickly closed the page. “Sorry, Ma’am. This is for department
eyes only.”

Instantly, the big
belly shifted as Debbie’s stance took on attitude. Thankfully, before she could
utter the swear words hovering on her lips, her husband came up from behind,
wrapped his arms around her big belly and hugged.

The smile that lit
up her friend’s face was a thing of beauty. It swelled the gladness that Aurora
felt every time she saw them together.

“Hey Aurora, did
Debbie invite you to come with us tonight?

“I did
but…surprise!! She refused.”

“Go, shoo! Working
here!” Aurora held open the door.

“You’re sure?” The
two lovebirds spoke as one.

“Oh yeah. Go have
some fun.” Aurora waved them away, then watched as the two moved towards the
elevators, holding hands. The familiar ache raised its ugly head. She couldn’t
call it jealousy because she cared about her friend too much to resort to being
that low. More like envy, or craving, or just the desire to know that for once
in her life a man cared about her in the same way.

The stupid sigh
she couldn’t help grabbed her attention and she shook off the silliness.
Get
your ass back to work and stop mooning around
. The familiar mantra
clamoring in her head grounded her and she moved back behind the desk.

The screen lit up
again as soon as she jiggled the mouse, and she brought up the earlier page.
Her eyes scanned the details she’d collated.

Missing—Earl
Rhondo, scum of the earth, a hundred and seventy-five pounds and six feet of
muscle, fat and meanness.
 
The man who’d
waited in Debbie’s apartment on the night of July fourth and almost got away
with rape. Even though she’d managed to stop the assault in time, her partner
had suffered terribly. Broken wrist, lacerations and contusions, bruises
everywhere and a heart that took months to mend.

Only Aurora saw
the shadow behind her friend’s smile, noticed the nervous habits that were new
to a girl who’d always been steady as a rock. The chewed nails and lying
‘tells’ that she’d been trained to see. Even with her, a wall had risen after
that night. Debbie lived on one side and the world on the other. No one would
get close without an invitation, and they weren’t forthcoming.

Aurora had tried
to climb over the partition and even dig under. Unfortunately, Debbie had more
strength in her little finger than other women had in their entire body. That’s
why they’d made such a good team.
 

Only since she’d
stopped working had the woman loosened her restraints and showed signs of
neediness. Phone calls were constant, texts and displays of affection never
before shared seemed necessary. Her nerves showed the wear and tear of a person
dealing with hell, and Aurora might be the only one who knew her well enough to
see that clearly.

Could be that
until the sick prick Rhondo was behind bars where he belonged, her old partner
would continue to sleep with her gun within reach and her nerves on high alert.

That’s why Aurora
had worked so hard to catch the slimeball. Spending hours of her free time
trying to dig him out from the hole he’d crawled into. She’d used every
resource and all her connections, but so far, the man played ghost.

“Hey, Morelli,
call came in for you from your guy. At least he gave the code words, ‘May the
force be with you’. Idiot wouldn’t say a word until I answered ‘and with you’.”
Hampton shook his gray head sadly, the sour look making his bushy eyebrows meet
above the glaring eyes.

“Humor him. He’s a
good snitch. Just has this thing about Star Wars. What’d he say?”

“Wants you to meet
him in the alley.”

Aurora’s chair
smashed against the wall. She reached in the desk drawer for her gun, checked
the chamber and put it in the side holster on her waist. Her tone changed from
conversational to confrontational in the time it took her to close down the
screen. “What else?”

“Nothing. That’s
it. You want me to go with you?”

“Thanks Ham, but
he’s harmless. I’ll go alone.”

The other
detective held her arm as she moved to pass. “Then why do you look so pissed
off?”

“The alley is
behind Debbie and Cory’s apartment. Remember, he moved in with her cause she’d
just found the new place and fixed it up. We used it for a meeting place when
we were after the Mexican street gangs. Just don’t know what the hell Luke’s
doing there now. I’ll call in if there’s any trouble, don’t worry.”

“Okay. Just be
cool.”

“Yeah, yeah!”
Aurora felt a ringing in her ears that only ever happened because of two
situations. Either the noise would pre-empt her passing out from the sight of
her own blood…or that of someone she loved.
 
Or it would drive her mental when something wasn’t right. Mind you, this
time it wasn’t a loud ring. Just a soft pinging that forewarned.

Good thing her own
car was still in the garage after her last high-speed chase and she had to use
the squad car. Gave her the cover to drive like a maniac and get to Luke before
he took off. He didn’t like to be kept waiting. She’d pulled that trick once
too often, and he’d paid her back, left and hadn’t surfaced for weeks.

Skidding around
the corner, she pulled up behind the apartment building. Sure as hell the
lights were burnt out and the alley was black as the devil’s heart. Leaving the
car, she strode over to where she knew he’d be waiting. He leaned against the
bricks with his long hair straggling over his shoulders and a glowing Star Wars
t-shirt hanging almost to his bony knees.

Only eighteen, the
kid had more savvy than many officers she knew, and a certain respect had built
up between them after she saved his ass from a stepfather who liked to kick it.

Luke, as he called
himself now, worked in a sleazy bar where a lot of lowlifes hung out. His
ability to blend into the background helped him gain all kinds of information.
Information she gladly paid him for—a win-win situation for them both.

“What’s up?” She
spoke softly. “And why are we here at Debbie’s place?” This question had her
tone hardening.

“Chill, Lady. I
have the information your partner’s offered me good money for, and like, she’s
not around, so I figured your money is just as good. You know what I mean?”

The ringing in her
ears grew loud enough for Aurora to give her head a shake. She moved next to
him, angled her back against the wall, and shifted till their shoulders were
only inches apart. “What you got for her?”

“She promised me a
hundred bucks.”

“What the hell!
You found out the combination to a bank safe—”

“Don’t try and
play me Lady. Just pay up, and I’ll give you what she’s been after for months,
been riding me like I’m a racehorse for Christ sake. Glad to be rid of her
busting my chops all the time.”

Okay, the pinging
had switched to a constant ring. No more games. She reached into her wallet and
pulled one of the hundreds she kept tucked away for this kind of
situation.
 

“Fine, I’ll give
it to you. But only on one condition.” She held the money away from his
reaching hand. “If I’m paying, it’s my info, mine alone. If she asks, you know
nothing. You got that?” She moved in threateningly.

“Deal.” He
straightened and stepped back.

Since she hardly
ever used that tone with him, she saw the effect and was satisfied. He’d never
lied to her yet.

“Tell me.”

“It’s about that
Rhondo jerk, the guy who disappeared from the planet eight months ago. Well his
buddy, Johnny Ross, just showed up, the one he hung with before he left. The
dude’s back and bragging up a storm about how him and his friends are gonna
score big-time with some new shit they’re putting on the streets.”

Her head felt like
it would blow apart from the inner noise. “Let me get this straight. This Ross
character is Rhondo’s friend? How did Debbie know about him?”

“That’s easy. She
asked me. I told her.”

“And you didn’t
think to tell me?” Anger hardened her voice.

“Hell Lady, you
never asked!" Cocky at first, he tempered his tone with the truth.
“Anyway, I thought you two were partners?”

“Yeah, I thought
so too. Okay, where can I find this Ross character?”

“He’s in an
apartment over on Alexander, the one beside the Chinese restaurant. I heard him
say the food is great and he goes to sleep at night smelling chow mien and
flied lice. Thinks he’s funny.”

“He’s a hoot!
Okay, scram and remember our deal.”

The look said it
all. Luke was a snitch with morals.

“Ham, you busy?”
Aurora sat in the car around the corner from the Chinese restaurant, her phone
held to her ear.

“Not if you need
me.”

“I’ve just run
across a known peddler who’s been lippin off about some new shit on the
streets. Luke says he’s tight with Rhondo. Thought I’d bring him in, ask him a
few questions. You up for it?”

“I’m your guy.
Give me an address and hold the fort. I’ll be there pronto.”

She gave him what
he asked for and went back to the computer on her car dash that provided access
to information on Johnny Ross. He wasn’t a big player, but he did have a record
for misdemeanors a mile long. And he likely knew where she could catch up with
her main prey. If for no other reason than that, she wanted this guy. Real bad!