Traffic Stop (21 page)

With the onslaught of Ryan’s attentions, it was all Tobi could do to remain standing, much less hold off the impending orgasm.

Tobi moved her hips against Ryan’s thigh, barely registering the knock on the bathroom door.

“Girls?”

They jumped apart, and Tobi hid her face in her hands as Ryan responded breathlessly, “Yeah, Mom?”

“Dinner’s ready.”

“Thanks, we’ll be right down.”

Ryan groaned and pressed her forehead to the wall above Tobi’s shoulder. “Don’t suppose you’d want to finish what we started, would you?”

“Ryan! Your mother is right outside that door. I most certainly will not finish what you started.”

Sighing, Ryan responded, “You’re killing me, Tobi.”

Tobi smiled with a cocky grin. “Guess it’s a good thing there’s a doctor in the house then, huh?”

Ryan chuckled, turned off the water, and opened the curtain.

She stepped out and handed Tobi a towel. Drying quickly, Tobi pulled on her clothes and helped Ryan with hers. She towel dried Ryan’s hair and pulled the comb through it before holding out her hand for Ryan to grasp.

“Let’s go eat, honey.”

Ryan held Tobi’s hand as she grabbed the wet towels to take to the laundry room and flipped the light off on their way out the door.

s the two women left Grace’s house, Victor Santiago slouched down in the seat of the van grumbling to A himself.

“Don’t think you can hide from me, you stupid bitch, ’cause I know everything there is to know about you. Didn’t know that I’ve been following you for days, did you, little girl?”

He watched them back out of the drive and pull away before sitting up straighter and tossing the burger wrapper behind him.

He took a sip of soda and started the van.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Victor shouted in anger, slamming his fist against the steering wheel.

He glared at the Jeep a few cars ahead of him as he shook his stinging hand.

“What gives you the right to go about livin’ your life and being so happy all the time, huh?”

Rocking from side to side, he continued, “It won’t be long before you’ll know what it’s like to really hurt. There won’t be a damned thing you can do about it, either, just like I couldn’t.”

Victor followed as the Jeep turned onto a residential street and sped past when it turned into a driveway. He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the vehicle pull into the garage. Turning at the next street, he yanked the van to the side of the road. He was breathing heavily as he extracted a small envelope from his pocket. He shook two pills into his palm, tossed his head back, and swallowed them down dry. Quivering with the rage inside him, he sat planning his next move until the pills took effect. The pills allowed the anger to dissipate, if only minimally, as he put the van in gear and drove away.

Ryan eased into a kitchen chair and rested her arms along the tabletop. Tobi had driven the Jeep home because Ryan’s side was hurting, and she was not too proud to admit it.

“I’ll be right back, sweetheart,” Tobi said and disappeared into the other room.

Tobi stepped back into the kitchen with several items in her hands. She filled a glass from the cabinet with juice before sitting at the table next to Ryan.

“Here, honey, take these then I’ll wrap your ribs.”

“What are they?” Ryan asked, taking the pills.

“Just a couple of my pain pills. I thought it might help you sleep better tonight.”

“Thanks.” She washed the pills down with a swallow of juice.

She looked at Tobi and smiled as she raised her hand and caressed the side of Tobi’s cheek. Ryan pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and rested her hand on Tobi’s shoulder.

Tobi stood and bent to kiss Ryan’s forehead. “Why don’t you go on upstairs? I’ll lock up and turn the lights out. C’mon,” she said, holding out a hand. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Ryan took her hand and, with Tobi’s help, got to her feet. She kissed her lightly on the lips, turned, and made her way upstairs.

Ryan shuffled into the bedroom and turned the light on beside the bed. Since her shoes had been soaked, she wore home an old pair of Raef’s tennis shoes. They were a couple of sizes too big, but at least they were dry. She placed a hand on the dresser to keep her balance and used her toe to kick them off. She pulled open a dresser drawer and grabbed a T-shirt and some panties.

Going commando for a short time was fine but definitely not something she would do on a regular basis. Ryan pushed the sweatpants off her hips and removed them, as well as her socks.

Tobi watched from the doorway and grimaced in sympathetic pain as Ryan slowly stood upright.

“If you weren’t hurting so much right now, this would be an incredible turn-on.”

“You mean it’s not?” Ryan said, taunting her.

“Honey, fully clothed, you are one hot woman. Half-naked is more than I can stand. My fingers are itching to touch you, but you’re in no condition to do anything tonight.” Holding up her hand to stave off the comment she knew was coming, Tobi added,

“Plus, it won’t be long before those pain pills kick in, and you’ll be out like a light.”

“You’re probably right,” Ryan said, sighing.

Tobi walked over to stand in front of her. She took the clothes from Ryan’s hands and knelt down to help slide the satiny cloth up her legs. Tobi kissed her hip before standing up. She helped Ryan remove the sweatshirt and then raised Ryan’s right arm.

“Hold that up, and I’ll get you trussed up here.” Ryan placed her hand behind her head and watched as Tobi wrapped the
ACE

bandage snugly around her chest.

“Is that too tight?”

“No, it feels about right.”

After pulling the T-shirt on, she sat heavily on the edge of the bed. Studying Ryan’s features, Tobi could see her eyes blinking rapidly and knew she was fighting the pull of the medicine that was forcing her body to shut down.

“Go ahead and crawl under the covers, honey, and I’ll be right back.”

She crossed to the bathroom and glanced back over her shoulder. Ryan hadn’t moved except to rub her eyes like a sleepy child. Tobi smiled affectionately before stepping in and closing the door. Tobi went about her nightly routine and thought back to how sweet Ryan’s mother had been today. She was so attentive but not overly so. Ryan was extremely lucky to have this woman still in her life. Ryan looked a lot like her mother. But the intensity of her eyes was a quality garnered from her father, whose eyes were identical in shape and color. Tobi watched Grace and Ryan together and realized why some of Grace’s hand movements and facial expressions seemed so familiar—like mother, like daughter.

Tobi laid the hairbrush down and opened the door, only to stop in her tracks. Ryan was exactly where she had left her, except she was lying on her back with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed, and she was fast asleep.

Tobi sidled up to Ryan and studied her face. She seemed pale but otherwise peaceful. And her breathing was deep, indicating she wasn’t seriously hurt.
Now that’s a relief!

“Ryan, honey, come on. Let’s get you into bed.”

Ryan mumbled, but hardly moved a muscle. Tobi tried again by lightly patting her cheek.

“Ryan…wake up, sweetie.”

Ryan begrudgingly opened her eyes and tried to focus. .

“What?”

Tobi took her arm and helped her sit up and turn before getting her situated under the covers. She slipped her T-shirt off and crawled into bed herself. After tucking the blankets around Ryan, she turned to shut off the light.

Ryan moved her body closer to Tobi’s and draped an arm across her waist. Rubbing her hand up and down Ryan’s arm, Tobi turned her head and kissed Ryan’s lips.

“I love you,” Ryan said sleepily.

“I love you, too, baby.”

The pain pills that Tobi gave Ryan had effectively knocked her out. She was still wrapped around Tobi and very groggy when she woke up. Ryan was in no hurry to get up, not that Tobi seemed to mind either. From her resting spot against Tobi’s shoulder she had an unobstructed view of smooth creamy breasts and rose-tipped nipples. She slid her hand up over Tobi’s warm stomach and cupped a soft breast in her palm.

“Mmm,” Tobi moaned and then stretched.

Ryan raised her chin so she could look at Tobi’s face.

Sparkling blue eyes captured her own. Ryan smiled, but said nothing.

Tobi rubbed a thumb over Ryan’s cheek and leaned in to kiss her lips.

She kept the kiss simple and then lay back. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Good morning, yourself,” Ryan replied with a croak. She cleared her throat before continuing. “I guess we better get a move on, huh?”

Tobi took a quick peek at the bedside clock before answering.

“Looks like it. How do you feel?”

“Stiff and sore, but I’ll live.”

“Ahuh. Let’s go, tough girl.” Tobi untangled herself from Ryan and stood to help her out of bed.

After the slow start to the morning, Tobi and Ryan finally made their way to Grace’s but not before stopping at Tobi’s place so she could pick up her mail and grab more clothes. When Ryan left, her lover and her mother were engrossed in a conversation over some show on
HG-TV
.

Ryan arrived at the precinct and was surprised to find she was assigned to desk duty for the next couple of days, the result of the scuffle and impromptu swim of the previous day. Normally, this would have put her in a foul mood, but it gave her the opportunity to investigate Mrs. Sylvia Hyde’s background a little more. The search warrant for the phone records should be available, as well.

She had convinced the judge to sign for a search warrant based on a reasonable person standard claiming that the phone records might have information in regards to a suspicious activity.

Ryan rolled her chair over to the database computer and typed in her login information. As she waited for the hourglass to fill and tip and fill again, Ryan blew out a breath of frustration when the page came up “Temporarily Unavailable.”

“Damn.”

She drummed her fingers lightly on the desk patiently waiting before making another attempt. On the second attempt she tapped into the case index to see if Mrs. Hyde had ever made a police report, reported a crime, witnessed a crime, or been arrested by their department. Ryan didn’t find anything there so she moved on to the woman’s driving record, which showed only one incident, and that was a speeding ticket three years ago. After going through CopLink and the National Crime Information Center with no luck, Ryan leaned back thoughtfully in her chair.

Feeling a light thump to the back of her head, she looked up to see Jake standing beside her.

“Hey, Jake.”

“Hey there yourself,” he said, hesitating before speaking again.. “I hope you’re not upset with having desk duty.”

“I’m not angry at all. This just gives me the opportunity to do some more investigating on Sylvia Hyde.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Not yet. The only thing I’ve come up with is a speeding ticket three years ago.”

“Did you check CopLink and
NCIC
already?”

“Yep, came up with zilch.”

“That search warrant you wanted came in,” he said, handing Ryan the paper. “Maybe those phone records will help.”

“Yeah,” she said, slapping the paper against her knee. “Do you think the captain would let me pursue this?”

“I don’t know why not. It’s not like you’re out on patrol. He’s in his office, so why don’t you go talk to him?”

Ryan shifted nervously before standing. She glanced at Jake when he started laughing.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You, that’s what. He’s not an ogre, Ryan. You avoid him at all costs just because he intimidates the hell out of you.”

Ryan glared at him but didn’t respond.

“Ryan?”

“What?” Ryan mumbled.

“Just go talk to him.”

She nodded and walked over to a doorway, knocking lightly before peeking in. Captain Luther Vitrolli waved her in while he finished his phone conversation. Ryan took a seat in front of his desk and studied the awards and certificates on his wall.

Hanging up, he leaned forward in his chair and regarded Ryan for a minute before speaking. “What can I do for you, Sergeant?”

“I…” she took a deep breath and began again. “I wanted to get your permission to follow up on a search warrant I requested on some phone records.”

“Is this concerning the situation involving Dr. Drexler?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Thomas, do you think that maybe you’re a little too close to this case?”

“Sir?”

“Ryan, don’t fuck with me here; you know what I’m talking about.”

“I just want to obtain the records and look through them, Captain. There’s got to be something in them that will give us some clue as to what was going on with Mrs. Hyde. ”

He leaned back in his chair and sighed before responding.

“Okay, get the records and you can look them over, but if you find anything, and I mean anything at all, you need to let me know. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

Captain Vitrolli watched her walk away and smiled as he picked up a folder on his desk. He knew she was one of the best cops in his division, smart as hell, too. He tended to be a little harsher with her than most would expect, but it was because Ryan demanded that of him.
“No special treatment. Push me if you
think I need to be pushed,”
were her exact words the first day on duty. She was destined for bigger and better things whether she knew it or not, and he would be there to support her the whole way.

After obtaining Sylvia Hyde’s cell phone records directly from the service provider, Ryan walked back and sat in the car to look through them. She noticed several numbers that popped up frequently. One Ryan recognized as Sylvia Hyde’s own home phone number. The others she would put into the database and see what name they came up with.

Ryan drove back to the station, pushed through the door, and made her way to her desk. She typed in the numbers from the records and waited. As the results displayed, she printed them off and studied them. The first number was a cell phone number for David Hyde. The second was for a woman named Cynthia Raleigh.
I wonder if that’s the Cindy David referred to.
The last number was for a Geraldo Santiago.