Detective Partners (34 page)

"Nothing happened between us," she said. "That's the truth and-"

"That is a lie!" Judas thundered in her ear. "That is a lie. All this time I thought you were
innocen
kindred spirit. You have made a fool of me. I do not like being made a fool of, Nicole."

"I'm sorry, but I didn't do anything wrong," Nicole said, her heart pounding in her chest.

"I understand that you were upset with the passing of your father," he said more calmly. "You needed comfort, but Detective Maxwell was not the one you should have turned to. You should have turned to our heavenly father. He alone could have comforted you and held you in your darkest hour. I am disappointed in you. You need to be careful, Nicole. You know what I do to people that sin."

His words made her blood run cold. On shaky legs, she moved to the couch and sank down onto it. "I - I swear to you. I didn't do anything wrong. I just stayed at his house."

"Staying under a single man's roof is a sin," Judas hissed.

"I'm s-sorry," Nicole said.

"I am not the one you should be apologizing to," he said coldly. "I will be watching you more closely. Do not disappoint me again."

The line went dead. Nicole hung up the phone. "That was Judas."

"So I gathered." Galen perched on the coffee table in front of her. "It's obvious he upset you. Tell me what he said."

Taking a deep breath, she told him everything. "He has someone watching us."

"Someone has been watching us from the beginning." He loosened his tie. "I don't want you talking to him anymore."

"I don't have a choice," she pointed out. "I have to talk-"

"No!" Galen got to his feet and moved to put some space between them. "You don't have to do anything." He turned to face her. "He more or less told you that if you don't toe the line you're going to end up with your throat slashed and the word '
Peccator
' written on your midriff with your own blood. I don't want you having anything more to do with that son of a bitch." He ran a hand through his hair. "I think I should have a say in this. I am your partner and the man that loves you. Don't my feelings matter to you?"

"Of course, they matter to me." Nicole rose to her feet and moved to stand in front of him, "but if I stop talking to him it's only going to make him angrier."

"So you're going to rearrange your lif
e
watch what you say and do just to please him?"

"If it means catching him then-"

"That's no way to live your life, sweetheart." Galen sighed heavily. "That's no way for us to live." He looked down into her eyes. "If he told you to break up with me would you do it?"

"I don't know what I would do," Nicole murmured.

"Well that's reassuring," he said sarcastically.

"What do you want me to do?" she snapped, her eyes flashing.

"I want you to put you first for a change," Galen growled. "What do
you
want?"

"It doesn't matter what-"

He grabbed her by the arms and gently shook her.
"What you want
matters.
Now tell me what you want."

"I want you!" Nicole shouted. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want Judas to go away and leave us alone. I want everybody to just leave us the hell alone and let us be happy. I'm tired of trying to please everyone and denying myself." The fight going out of her she pressed her forehead to his chest and closed her eyes. "I just want to be with you, love."

"Then we both want the same thing." Galen buried his hands in her hair and tilted her head back so he could see her face. "Marry me, Nicole," he breathed. "I know I don't have a ring and I'm not on one knee, but-" He paused for a moment. "If you say yes I promise I will spend the rest of my life loving you and I will do everything in my power to make you happy. I love you. I want you to be my partner for life."

Tears spilled over, running down her face. She slowly pulled his head down and kissed him with trembling lips. "Yes," she whispered. "I'll marry you."

"I'm going to step away for a while," Nicole told Galen when they arrived at the station. "I need to talk with Strauss."

"Hurry back." He touched her cheek. "I miss you when you're not around."

The look in his eyes made her feel warm all over and had her heart leaping into her throat. "I won't be long." She turned and headed to Parker's office. His door was closed. She knocked and opened the door. He was sitting at his desk.

"Goodwin," Parker said, half rising from his chair. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm coming back to work, sir." Nicole sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked, sitting back down.

"You sound like Galen," she said amused. "I'm ready, sir. Thank you for giving Galen and me a few days off."

"You're welcome," Parker replied. "Is there something you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Yes, there is." Nicole cleared her throat. "I wanted to let you know that I won't be taking any more calls from Judas."

"May I ask why?"

She hesitated. A part of her didn't want to tell him that it was because of Galen and his concern for her. "He uh - called me earlier. Our conversation upset me. I can't deal with him right now, sir. It's too much. I'm sorry. I know I'm disappointing you."

"You are not disappointing me," Parker assured her. "I understand. I'll tell the switchboard operator to direct Judas' call to me from now on. This could anger him so be careful and keep an eye glued on your surroundings at all times. Never go anywhere alone after dark. I don't want you ending up on the victims' list."

"Neither do
I
." Nicole shifted slightly. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to transfer me to a different department." She smiled at him. "I'm fairly certain it's against department policy for a married couple to work together."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Did you and Maxwell run off and get married?"

"We're not married yet," she explained. "He proposed and I said yes."

"Congratulations," Parker said.

"Thank you."

"After we capture Judas, we'll return to this conversation," he told her. "I don't want to bring in someone new while in the middle of a case like this. You know the ins and outs of the case and I'd like you to stay on and keep working it. Is that alright with you?"

"
It's
fine, sir," Nicole said.

"Then if there's nothing more you want to talk about I'll let you get to work."

"Thank you." She stood and left the office.

"What did you and Strauss talk about?" Galen asked when Nicole joined him at his desk.

"I just told him that I won't be taking any more calls from Judas." She sat on the corner of his desk. "He wanted to know why and I told him that Judas was upsetting me and right now I can't deal with him."

"You did it for me, didn't you?" he inquired.

"I did it for us," Nicole declared.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Galen said warmly.

"You're welcome." She smiled. "I also told him that he was going to have to transfer me because you and I are getting married. He wants me to stay on and work the Judas case. He said he'd transfer me after we capture Judas. So you're going to be stuck working with me for a while longer."

"I think I can live with that," he said, his eyes twinkling.

C
hapter  34

Galen pulled into the driveway, parked behind Olivia's car, and turned off the engine. He got out of the car and made his way across the yard. The grass needed to be mowed and he made a mental note to take care of it when he had the time. He let himself into the house and went in search of his mother. He found her in the kitchen. She was sitting at the table looking through her recipes. Charlie was curled up near her feet, asleep and snoring. "Hi, Mom," he said.

She glanced up and smiled at him. "Hello, dear heart. What brings you by?"

Galen bent down and kissed her on the forehead. "I need your help."

"Okay," Olivia said. "I'm listening."

He pulled out a chair and sat down. "I was wondering if you would help me pick out a ring for Nicole."

"Then you've decided to propose sooner rather than later."

"Actually, I already have." Galen scratched his jaw. "I asked her this morning before work."

"I take it she said yes."

"She did." He felt Charlie scratching at his leg. Leaning down, he picked up the dog and received a lick to the face. "Don't do that." He wiped his cheek. "Hard telling where your tongue has been."

"Oh, I know where it's been," Olivia said, her eyes twinkling. "So you proposed to her without a ring and she said yes. Not many women would have said yes without a ring."

"I know, but Nicole is not like other women." Galen stroked Charlie's head. "She's special, which is why I want to find the perfect ring for her."

"Let me get myself together and then we'll go." She pushed back her chair and slowly got to her feet. "You should call her and ask her what her ring size is."

"Alright."
He put the dog down and removed his cell phone from his pocket. Flipping it open, he dialed her number. While he waited for her to come on the line, he brushed dog hair off his clothes.

"Hello?" Nicole said, answering on the fourth ring.

"Hello future wife of mine," Galen said, smiling at the thought. "Would you kindly tell me your ring size?"

"Ah, going ring shopping, are you?"

"That is the plan," he told her. "I should've bought a ring before I proposed."

"It doesn't matter how you proposed, honey," she muttered. "What matters is that you proposed. My ring size is a five."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Galen said quietly. "Charlie and I will stop by around seven."