Without Compromise (10 page)

              Tag nodded, “I’m in.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Josie looked down at her caller i.d. She was more than a little surprised to see that Tag was calling. He had texted earlier to say he was going to miss her hapkido meet because he and the guys had been through a rough call. They were going out to celebrate it ending well. She had texted him back to tell him to have fun and gone on to her meet alone.

              “Hello?”

              “Hi, beautiful,” he sounded strange. “You wanna come meet me for supper?”

              She tried not to be flattered that he called her beautiful, “Not really.”

              “But, Josie, I need you.”

              “Have you been drinking?”

              She had never known him to drink to excess, but there was a good possibility he did so when she wasn’t around.

              “Just a beer.”

              “I’ll bet.”

              “Maybe two,” he admitted.

              She scoffed at that number, “Maybe five.”

              “It’s the empty stomach that does it,” he explained with a laugh. “If I’m eating, I can manage more, but I can’t hold my liquor on an empty stomach.”

              “So sorry to hear that.”

              “Me too. You wanna come down here and eat with me? I think it would help sober me up a bit.”

              “How about you call me when you aren’t drunk, and I’ll consider it.”

              “Nope,” he sounded more than a little tipsy, and she wondered how much Tag had really been drinking. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. I need some . . .some Norwegian courage.”

              “I think you mean Dutch courage, Tag,” she willed herself not to laugh. Intoxication was not funny.

              “Yep. I can’t tell you I love you without it.”

              Josie nearly dropped the phone.

              “You shtill – still there?”

              “Go get some sleep, Tag.”

              “It’s too early. Only eight o’clock.”

              “Okay. Fine. Go get some food and then get some sleep.” She hung up.

              He called her two hours later.

              “I’m sorry for whatever it was I said earlier,” Tag sounded much more clear-sounding. “Jeremy said I was pretty inelegant.”

              “Jeremy was right.”

              “I meant it though.”

              “Which part?”

              “I’m afraid to answer that.”

              She laughed, “Don’t worry about it, Tag. Go to bed.”

              “Can I talk to you?”

              “Sure.”

              “Can you open your door?”

              Josie was not surprised that he was standing outside her apartment.

              She glanced down at her ratty shorts and t-shirt, “Give me a second.”

              She pulled a sweatshirt over her head and opened the door.

              “I’m in love with you, Josie,” he was still standing out in the hall.

              He was sober – mostly – and he said he loved her. Her heart soared for exactly two seconds before it plummeted to the earth and shattered into pieces.

              “You can’t, Tag,” she stepped backwards.

              He followed her into the room, “I can’t
not
, Josie.”

              “You’re not a Christian,” she pointed out the one thing that would most irritate him.

              He frowned, “You never brought God into it before.”

              Josie sat down on the edge of her couch, “I have too. I’ve been telling you since I met you how much Jesus means to me.”

              “But we’ve been friends anyway.”

              “You’re not talking about friendship, Tag. You’re talking about love.”

              He perched on the coffee table and studied her face, “Do you love me, Jo?”

              Josie didn’t’ want to answer that.

              He scooted forward and rested a hand on her knee, “You do, don’t you?”

              She shook her head, trying to force back the tears she knew were coming, “I don’t know, Tag.”

              “Josie,” he sounded dangerously close to tears himself, “don’t throw this away.”

              She leaned back into the cushions, “I’m not throwing anything away. Please, can you just be my friend?”

              He stood up and paced angrily away from her, “Friends.”

              Her stomach clenched when she realized it was going to be all or nothing with him.

              “You are the first woman I’ve wanted a long-term relationship with,” his back was still to her. “Ever.”

              Josie remained silent.

              “I’m not asking you to marry me or even to move in with me,” he held up a hand to silence her as if he knew what she was going to say to that last part.

              “I’d like to continue as we are. We can do that, right?” he turned around, “Except maybe I could hold your hand or give you a kiss at the end of the night.”

              Josie stood up and walked over to him, “I wish I could say yes.”

              He looked down at her, “But you won’t.”

              He waited a moment as if he was waiting for an explanation, but she had none. He shook his head in disgust and left in silence.

              Josie let the tears flow unchecked. She was going to miss him terribly.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Tag tried to avoid Molly as he came and went for the next month. He was certain that she knew the situation between him and Josie, and it was a little embarrassing to him. He wasn’t sure if his neighbor thought he was pathetic or just a jerk, but he didn’t have any intention of looking for the answer.

              “Hi, Tag,” Edna stopped him in the hall.

              “Hello, Edna. How are the grandkids?”

              “Lonny got himself a good job with a law firm. Jennifer is going to have another baby in March, and she’s feeling pretty awful. The rest of them don’t got nothing new going on, but I s’pose they’re all good.”

              “That’s great, Edna,” he heard Molly’s door opening up. “I’ll let you get back to your mail.”

              “I got a letter from my daughter, Bev, in Florida yesterday,” Edna was apparently in a chatty mood today. “She and Don are coming up for a visit for Thanksgiving.”

              Tag tried to put a genuine smile on his face, “That’ll be nice.”

              Edna peered up the stairs, “Hello, dear.”

              Molly cleared her throat and moved around Tag. Apparently, she wasn’t any more excited to see Tag than he was her.

              “You shouldn’t have let that girl go,” Edna offered her words of wisdom as Molly walked out the front door.

              Tag looked back at Edna, “I think she has to be at a catering event, Edna. She was carrying pans out earlier.”

              Edna swatted him on the arm, “Not that girl, you nitwit. Her sister, Josie.”

              Tag should have known the dumb act wouldn’t work on Edna.

              “It wasn’t my decision, Edna.”

              “She’s just as miserable as you are, kiddo. If you want something, sometimes you gotta chase it.”

              Tag wondered how much Edna knew about the situation – obviously more than he had given her credit for.

              He added fuel to the fire, “We don’t share the same religious views.”

              “I’ve noticed,” she waved him off, “but that don’t mean anything.”

              Tag really did not want to stand here and talk about his love life – or lack thereof.

              “You’ve never had any trouble getting the ladies to see things your way before.”

              He afforded her a grin.

              “I guess that’s true, Edna. And,” he called over his shoulder as he went upstairs, “since this one doesn’t want me, I suppose I’ll have to go find someone who does.”

              He could hear Edna’s disgusted response, but he didn’t look back. He knew it wasn’t the truth. He wasn’t going to be looking for a replacement for Josie any time soon.

              The SWAT team wasn’t called out, so Tag spent his shift answering calls with Jacobson. By the end of the day, they had nothing to do but sit in the station, filling out reports.

              “Haven’t seen Josie around much,” Jacobson’s comment didn’t come off as casual as he intended.

              “Probably won’t either,” Tag hoped he did a better job of sounding nonchalant.

              “You two break up?” Jacobson looked up from the forms he was filling.

              Tag kept his eyes on the paper, “We weren’t really dating, so we couldn’t break up.”

              Jacobson was quiet. Tag knew his partner was staring at him, but he refused to look up. After a few minutes of silence, Jacobson decided to speak up again.

              “Did she know you weren’t really dating?” there was a hint of irritation in Jacobson’s voice.

              Tag looked the man in the eye, “What is that supposed to mean?”

              “You’ve had your fun, so you’re on to the next woman.”

              Tag clenched his jaw, “I don’t appreciate that implication, Harry.”

              Harry leaned forward, “You go through women like candy. Has it ever occurred to you that they may have some feelings to consider?”

              “You talking about your sister?”

              Jacobson rolled his eyes, “I know my sister wasn’t any more interested in settling down than you were, but Josie’s different.”

              Tag stood abruptly and left the room. Why did everyone think his relationship with Josie was public business?

              He opted out of going out for a drink with the guys and went home to drink instead.             

              After he polished off his second beer, he set his phone aside in the hopes that he wouldn’t make any drunken calls. He opened a third beer and drank it, lying down on his couch, staring up at the ceiling.

              He woke a couple hours later to a tapping noise.

              Tag sat up, trying to figure out what the sound was. The sudden movement made his head swim, so he tottered into the kitchen to get a drink. The rapping continued.

              Tag went back into the living room. He didn’t think he had finished the third beer, so it wasn’t likely that he was completely drunk. On the other hand, the mysterious tapping seemed to be coming from his window, and that didn’t make any sense.

              He lifted the blinds to find a small form sitting on the window ledge. Surprised, he stumbled backward. There was only one person who would be sitting on his window ledge.

              He unlocked the window and lifted the sash.

              “Took you long enough,” she slid inside and passed through the living room to his front door.

              Tag followed along dumbly, thinking he might have to lay off the beer altogether.

              “Brandon is up at Molly’s,” she looked into the hall through the peephole and then turned back to him, “He was standing in the doorway when I came in. I don’t know how he even got into the building.”

              Tag rubbed at his eyes, “Maybe he just left.”

              “No way did he leave. You met the guy; he’s volatile and possessive. You know he wouldn’t leave.”

              He did not want to get into this right now.

              “Tag,” Josie looked worried, “she’s not answering her phone.”

              He sighed, “I’ll get my gun.”

              She stopped him with a hand to his chest, “You’ve been drinking.”

              Tag grabbed at her hand and pulled her closer to himself, “And your point is?”

              “No gun,” she didn’t pull away.

              He was near enough that he could move just a couple inches and kiss her, but he was sure she wouldn’t appreciate the taste of beer on his breath.

              “Can you just look out the door and see if he’s still in the hall?” her voice was a pained whisper.

              Tag nodded and let go of her, opening his door.

              “He’s not out there,” he closed the door.

              She chewed the inside of her cheek.

              “Why didn’t you just call me to ask me to check?”

              “You didn’t answer your phone,” she opened her cell and dialed a number.

              “Sorry. I was sleeping.”

              “I know,” she frowned as she listened to the message on the other end.

              “She’s still not picking up?”

              “No, and I know she’s home because I called her ten minutes ago and told her I was coming over.”

              Tag opened the door and walked across the hall. He looked back at Josie and knocked on Molly’s door.

              There was no answer.

              “Hey, Molly,” he called through the door, “you ready to go?”

              Josie inched out into the hall. He motioned her back into his apartment as he put his ear to Molly’s door.

              He could hear whispered voices and a soft scraping sound. Tag backed up into his apartment and closed the door.

              “She’s definitely not alone,” he dug through his duffel bag for his cell phone.

              Josie started to move past him, “I’ve got a key,” she reached into her pocket.

              “Don’t do it,” he grabbed her arm. “If he’s in there and you’re right, you’re going to spook him.”

              “So?”

              “You said yourself that he’s volatile. What makes you think he’s not armed?”

              She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

              “Harry,” he spoke when the other man answered, “I have an incident down at my place.”

              “What kind of incident?”

              “Possible hostage situation.”

              Tag heard Josie gasp, but he didn’t look at her.

              “In your building?”

              “My neighbor,” he wasn’t sure if he should say more, but it was going to come out eventually. “It’s Josie’s sister.”

              Jacobson didn’t comment on the last tidbit, “What’s the problem?”

              Tag explained the situation, “So, you can see we’re not really sure if she’s forgiven him or if he’s got her trapped in there.”             

              He turned around to offer Josie an encouraging nod, but she had disappeared.

              “Oh, no,” Tag whispered.

              “What?” Jacobson didn’t miss the softly spoken words.

              “Josie’s gone. She was in here and,” he looked out the window, but she had already disappeared.

              “I gotta go, Harry.”

              “I’ll be there ASAP.”

              Tag tore down the front of the building and around Molly’s side. Sure enough, Josie was on Molly’s window ledge. Thankfully, she wasn’t trying to get in.

              He stood below her.

              “Josie,” he whispered as loudly as he dared. “Get down before he sees you.”

              To his surprise, she did as he said.

              “He’s in there, Tag,” she started speaking before her feet hit the ground. “He has her in the living room.”

              He was about to chastise her for going up there.

              “Tag,” she pulled at his arm, “he has a gun.”

              Tag dialed Harry again as he questioned Josie, “Where is he?”

              “He was sitting on the coffee table, pointing the gun at her.”

              Harry’s phone went to voicemail. Tag assumed he was calling the rest of the team.

              “Could you see her?”

              She nodded, “She was crying, and it sounded like she was saying she would go somewhere if he would just stop.”

              Tag pulled Josie around the front of the building and up the stairs, “Stop what?”

              “I don’t know,” she glared. “Probably pointing the gun at her.”

              He let them into the building and then went to knock on Al’s door.

              “Hey, Josie,” Al smiled. “Long time – no see.”

              Tag quenched his irritation at the man making a pass at Josie, “Did you let a tall dark-haired guy in here?”

              Al rolled his eyes, “You mean Molly’s new boyfriend? No, but I saw Edna did.”

              Tag wondered how he was going to teach the lady to stop doing that.

              “He’s not her boyfriend,” Josie snapped. “He has her trapped in her apartment.”

              Al stepped back in alarm.

              Tag lifted his eyes heavenward.

              “Edna was on her way out to bingo when the boyfr – the guy came in,” Al explained.

              “You have somewhere you can go, Al?” Tag could feel Josie backing up, so he grabbed her wrist.

              Al nodded.

              Tag pulled Josie up the stairs at the same time that Harry called back.

              “We’re on our way. Anything new?”

              Tag explained what Josie had seen as well as the fact that the other two tenants were going to be out of the building.

              Josie was sitting on the couch, face in her hands.

              He pulled a couple water bottles from the fridge and went to sit next to her.

              “What can you tell me about Brandon?”

              She looked up and wiped at her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

              “Um, not much. He’s in advertising. They only dated a few months, and then she broke up with him. He likes fancy restaurants and fast cars.”

              “Can you tell me what he’s wearing?”

              “Black pants – probably Italian – and shoes. He has a grey shirt on, button down, I think.”