Arrested By Love (17 page)

"I'm currently workin' on a case with a guy who likes puttin' razor blades up inside ladies where the sun don't shine, and they're too scared to say who did it to 'em. He's gotten five that way already. None of 'em died, but all of 'em required surgery to correct what this pervert did, and I can't get one of 'em to say a peep about who hurt 'em.

"Kelly didn't say exactly what happened to her, but I'm hopin' she wasn't hurt as bad as these latest victims, since her scarrin' could also be a result of corrective surgery. Although it would certainly explain why she's so scared at the thought of this guy findin' her again. I'm gonna go see her and see if I can make a connection to my case."

"You want police back up?"

"A neighborly patrol probably wouldn't hurt, but until I know more, I can't request anythin' official." He clapped Kyle on the shoulder. "I'll let you know what I find out." With that, Jim strode off leaving Kyle something new to worry about.

Although he didn't say anything directly, Kyle suspected Jim was fighting his feelings for Kelly in the same way Kyle had fought his feelings for Tiffany. Kyle definitely wasn't fighting those feelings any more, he just wanted a way to express them.

Although Kyle was pleased for Jim and Kelly and hoped they could work out whatever problems they had, he wasn't feeling quite so positive about his own situation. But not totally despondent, either.

Arriving back at his apartment, Kyle collected his mail and found a FedEx envelope waiting for him. Hurrying up to his place he ripped open the package to find Tiffany's engagement ring returned to him in an envelope along with his first card--unopened.

Throwing them both on his sofa he paced his apartment. If he couldn't get any sort of message through to her, how would they ever work this out? Deciding he had no choice but to stick with his current plan, Kyle sent another card and left a voice mail message for Tiffany, figuring her dad will probably just listen to it and delete it without Tiffany ever even knowing about it. But he was running out of options, and didn't know what else to do.

Tuesday morning Kyle was still brooding about the returned engagement ring when he saw Jim wave at him. Putting aside his own problems for a moment, he focused on Jim and Kelly's far greater trouble dealing with a potential rapist and abuser.

"How's Kelly?" he asked, trying to sound concerned, but not worried.

"Fine," Jim answered easily enough, though his expression indicated he wasn't all that confident about Kelly's current state of mind. "We've got her under protective surveillance now. I've a feelin' the bastard who'd fucked her up inside is the same fucker we're lookin' for now. Nothin' new on that front, I'm afraid to say. But hey, bud, what's happened between you and Tiffany? Here I am goin' on and on about my issues, and I haven't even asked you about yours."

Kyle shrugged. Though he didn't want to talk about it, he knew word would get out sooner or later. "She won't see me. Her father basically asked me to leave her alone and just let her heal."

"Gee, that's a bummer. I was hopin' you guys had a fun 'n frisky weekend together at least."

Kyle shook his head, then asked, "So, have you and Kelly got things straightened out finally?"

Jim gave out a mixed signal that looked like something between a nod and a shake of his head, then admitted, "We're workin' on it. I need to loosen up a bit more, and she needs to learn to come to heel a bit quicker. It's not easy, but I think we'll find our way. Right now, I just want to catch the bastard who's cuttin' up those girls. I don't want to hear of anymore young ladies havin' to go through surgery because of what that pervert is doin' to 'em."

The realization that Kelly may have suffered more abuse than he'd ever imagined made Kyle a little sick to his stomach. As her Dom, he should have known. Attempting to hide his self-loathing under a veneer of professionalism, he asked, "So, are you really thinking Kelly may have been one of your perp's earlier victims?"

"Yeah, I do. It makes me sick to think how she must have suffered under that creep. I have to give her credit, though. She's a lot stronger than I sometimes believed her capable of bein'. I'm sorry she stayed with him as long as she did, but she deserves kudos for survivin' the torment he put her through, and gettin' away."

Kyle felt the same way, and a little worse as guilt ate a hole in his gut. Had he determined Mike had hurt Kelly earlier, he could have possibly prevented this current rash of mutilations. But Kelly never told him anything, and he hadn't asked. "Did she actually admit that Mike had hurt her?"

"Sort of. She had to go through some surgery herself, since I'm pretty sure she was bleedin' heavily when she finally ran away from him. From what she said they wasted no time getting' her into the operatin' room."

Unable to bear the guilt anymore, Kyle admitted, "I can't believe I never knew something like that had happened to her."

Jim gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up, bud. She tried to lie to me about it, and I don't think I would have discovered the truth for quite awhile if she hadn't gotten that phone call. It sorta sped things up a bit."

"Well let me know if I can do anything."

"Will do. See you later."

That evening Kyle thought long and hard about the role he'd played in both Kelly and Tiffany's lives. True, he'd never been in love with Kelly, but as her Dom, he had been responsible for her welfare. And he'd been absolutely clueless. That made him worry about Tiffany, and whether she might have suffered mishandling from any other dickwads she'd dated, like the one he'd decked. She'd never told him of any misadventures, and she was definitely a virgin the first time they made love, so he had to believe nothing bad had ever happened to her. All the same it made him realize that unless he specifically asked the question, Tiffany would have no reason to confess a past incident.

On Wednesday, Kyle discovered Jim was on a mandatory administrative leave after Tuesday's shoot out, in which the suspect was shot in the leg. Even though the perp hadn't been killed, department regulations stated that all officers involved in a shooting incident were suspended from normal duty pending an investigation.

This was probably a good thing, since Kyle figured that Kelly would be in need of a lot of Jim's special attention right now, given that the arrested perp was indeed Mike. From what Kyle had heard, Mike hadn't confessed yet to any of the attacks, but the guys were convinced they had gotten their man, which was a good thing. Another good thing happening that day was Tiffany's scheduled appointment with the doctor to discuss alternate birth control. Certain she couldn't avoid him there, Kyle showed up at the doctor's office in plenty of time to meet with her, only to learn that she'd cancelled the appointment on Monday.

By Friday, one week after their breakup, Kyle was beginning to wonder just how long Tiffany planned to keep him in the dog house. He wasn't exactly a patient man, but to his way of thinking Tiffany was better protected than Fort Knox. So, he was almost relieved when Jim asked if he could pick up Kelly at her office and take her back to his house. It wasn't truly police business, but Kyle could justify it since Kelly had recently been a witness in one of their cases. Besides, it would give him a chance to see how she was doing after her close call with Mike. It also wouldn't hurt him to get another woman's perspective on Tiffany's behavior, and perhaps some helpful advice. Lord knew, he needed it.

"Kyle!" Kelly said when she noticed he was her driver. "Okay if I sit up front with you?"

"It's not really encouraged, but I'll let you do it this time," he answered, giving her a careful once over as she slipped in beside him and fastened her seat belt. The Dom in him noticed she looked a little thinner, but healthier. "How are you doing, Kelly? Are things okay between you and Jim now?"

"Now?" she asked, her curiosity clearly aroused.

Kyle nodded as he pulled out of the employee parking lot. "Jim looked more than a little worried Wednesday, and I thought something may have happened between the two of you."

Kelly gave a small grimace and sighed. "Yeah. It's fine now. I managed to get into a bit of trouble over breakfast," she admitted, and Kyle suspected she'd done something Jim took a firm exception to. "So, we talked it over, and I think we're making progress. He did ask me to marry him. Well, he didn't ask, precisely. He more like told me we were getting married, and sort of agreed to an early October wedding. We'd love to have you and Tiffany join our party."

Smiling, Kyle gave a non-committal nod. Though he was pleased for Kelly and Jim, he didn't want to attend a wedding without Tiffany. Unfortunately, the chances of them getting together, even by October, wasn't looking very promising.

"So, how're things going between you and Tiffany?" Kelly asked quietly.

Kyle just shook his head.

"She's still not willing to see you?" The note of dismay in her voice was obvious even to him.

"Apparently not," Kyle answered, casting a glance back at Kelly who was worriedly teething her bottom lip. Figuring she was still feeling guilty about her part in his and Tiffany's break-up, he attempted to soothe her by seeking advice. "I've tried just about everything I can think of to get a message through to her, but all of my attempts have been instantly rebuffed. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them."

Reaching out, Kelly clasped his arm. "I'm sorry, Kyle," she said, with genuine regret. "You're a nice guy. Tiffany should at least give you the chance to explain, but I don't know her well-enough to offer you any advice."

"Thanks, anyway," he answered.

After a few minutes of silence, Kelly said, "I've been meaning to ask you something. What made you decide to give me to Jim last week?"

Kyle glanced back at her. "He did."

Kelly's eyebrows drew together in a frown. "What do you mean?"

"He saw you at the station earlier that day, and thought you might be in trouble for it."

"He did?"

Kyle nodded.

"And he wanted to protect me from you?"

Kyle laughed. "Not exactly. I think he wanted to do the honors of punishing you himself."

"Really," Kelly said, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest in a fair imitation of Jim.

Kyle smiled at her pique, adding, "I got the feeling, although he never directly admitted it, that he'd seen you at the club before, and really liked what he saw. I'd had no idea, or I would have recommended he get together with you a lot sooner. Though I was a bit concerned when I first saw how he treated you."

"You were concerned? Try being at the other end of that scowl and see how you feel then."

Kyle chuckled. "Yeah, I know he can be a little intimidating at times."

"A little? At times? Try a lot, always."

"Even still, you didn't seem all that terrified of him last Thursday. At least not when he...."

Blushing, Kelly held up her hand to stop him. "Yeah, I remember. Even then he had me right on the edge, exactly where he wanted me. He can be as sexy as sin when he wants to be, and worse than a Victorian school master when he's teaching a lesson he means to ensure you won't be forgetting any time soon." Turning in her seat she faced him. "I mean you were strict at times, Kyle. Not often, but occasionally. However, with Jim? I think his middle name is 'corporal punishment' and he gets off on it."

Unable to hide his smile at her aggrieved tone, he said, "He's been a Dom much longer than I have, Kelly. And practice makes perfect."

Kelly laughed at that. "Yeah, he's an expert at it all right. He can make me quiver with excitement and uncertainty all at the same time just by crooking his index finger."

"Well, here you are, ma'am. Take care of yourself, will you, Kelly?"

"You know I will," she answered, leaning over to give him a kiss.

Though they'd had their problems, Kelly had always been very affectionate both in bed and out. They'd been lovers, so her kiss was intimate without being overly passionate. Afterwards, she just held his face and they looked at each other.

The sound of the passenger door opening made them both jump apart guiltily. Jim gave Kyle a nod, then reaching in he unbuckled Kelly and assisted her out of the car.

"I thought you were going to be held up at work today," Kelly said to him, her voice a little breathless.

Jim arched an eyebrow at her. "Obviously."

Blushing, she started to move away, but he clamped his hand at her waist to hold her by his side as he leaned forward to say good-bye to Kyle. "See you on Monday, bud. Thanks for taking care of my girl."

Kyle saluted as Jim shut the door. "Anytime, Jim. Anytime."

Though he doubted Jim intended the words for anyone but himself, Kyle heard him mutter, "Yeah. That's what I was afraid of."

Smiling at his friend's jealousy, Kyle left and went back on patrol.

One week later Kyle was wondering how it was that Tiffany kept turning up in various places, before they were engaged, where he would catch her doing things she shouldn't be doing. And now that he was actually looking for her, she'd virtually disappeared. That or she never left her house.

By Friday, July first, which Kyle had taken off from work, he was pacing his apartment like a caged panther. Everyone at the station was giving him breathing room now, probably because, as Jim said, he was being about as social as a mountain lion with a tooth ache. It didn't help matters any that among this day's mail Kyle received a large envelope from the Morgan's, with Patrick Morgan's name listed on the return address. Torn between hope and heartburn, Kyle tore it open.

Patrick was returning at least a week's worth of Kyle's cards that he'd even mailed from another city with a friend's return address. Included in the package was a polite, but firm note requesting Kyle stop mailing things. "You're wasting your money, Kyle," Patrick wrote. "Tiffany refuses to even look at anything that's been sent from you. And we recognize your handwriting all-too-well by now, son, so I'm returning these cards unopened." He signed it "with deep regret" Patrick Morgan.