In the Shadow of the Shield (Secret Lives Series Book 2) (9 page)

“I suppose her loss will be another lucky woman’s gain.”

“I’m not so sure any woman would like to marry an old, cynical cop like me.”

“You’d be surprised. Some women are really good at loving old, cynical cops.”

“That’s what I’m banking on,” Carter said.

Suddenly feeling hot, Diana opened the window and let the cool air rush over her face. It had been a lifetime since any man had flirted with her. It was amazing and unnerving all at once.

They left the interstate at the Lynnhaven exit. Carter took Lynnhaven Parkway across Virginia Beach Boulevard, and into one of the neighborhoods. At the end of a dead end street, he stopped in front of a small ranch house with a detached garage. The windows were boarded up, and
‘
No Trespassing’
signs were plastered randomly to the front of the structure. Brown, overgrown weeds blew gently in the chill breeze, and the bushes beneath a large picture window were wild and ragged. The whole property gave off an eerie vibe.

“This is the house Donnie went to? If it was a meth lab, why is it still standing?”

“Once the city cleared it, they told the owner to knock it down, but the owner refuses. He insists if the city wants it gone, they should take it down, and he shouldn’t have to foot the bill. They are tied up in court over it currently.”

“Was he the one cooking?”

“No, it was a rental. We aren’t sure who was in there.” Carter pulled away from the curb and turned his truck around. They drove about a block before he pulled down a side street and shut the truck off. He turned to her. “You ready? We’re going to hike it a little bit. I’m parking down here, so no one sees my truck and associates it with the house.”

She nodded. “I’ve got this. No more acting like a big baby.”

Carter jumped down from the truck and jogged around the front to meet her as she opened her door. Without giving Diana a chance to exit the truck, Carter reached in and lifted her down. The feminist in her wanted to complain about the presumptuous act, but the rest of her burned for the close contact as he set her on her feet.

“You didn’t need to do that.”

“I know,” he replied with a wink. “I wanted to.”

“Oh. Okay.” Her mastery of the English language was downright terrible when Carter looked at her like that. “Wait! I need my bag.” She reached in and grabbed her purse off the seat.

“What do you need a purse for?”

It was her turn to flirt a little. “You never know. A girl’s gotta be prepared for whatever comes her way.”

Carter led the way back to the dead end, and then down the rutted driveway to the back of the house. “This door is the one that was open yesterday.” He indicated a back door as they climbed the steps of the small deck. As they walked to the door, Diana tested each board carefully. The entire deck seemed ready to collapse at a moment’s notice.

“When was the last time anyone actually lived in this dump?”

“About a year ago.” Carter pulled on some black latex gloves and tried the knob. It wouldn’t turn. “Damn it. The door is locked. Who the hell would come here and lock the door?”

“It doesn’t matter, I can get us in. Do you have another pair of gloves?”

He looked at her, his expression questioning, but pulled a second pair of gloves from his jacket pocket. She pulled them on, then dug into her bag for the little packet of lock pick tools Donnie had given to her shortly after they moved into their house.

“What are—hey, are those lock-picking tools?”

Diana giggled as she started to work on the lock. “Yeah. I used to lock myself out of the house so much, Donnie bought them as a gag gift a long time ago. I took it upon myself to learn how to use them. I figured a girl’s gotta have skills, you know?”

“I have a feeling you are full of all kinds of surprises.”

“Officer, you have only begun to navigate the surface of the waters that make up Diana Massey.”

“Hmmm…is that an offer to swim deeper? I like a good challenge.”

The tumbler inside the lock clicked, and the door opened. “After you, Officer.”

Diana stowed her toolkit in her bag and followed Carter inside the small house. The lingering scent of bleach caught her nostrils. “Why do I smell bleach?”

“I don’t know. Bleach is not what they usually use to decontaminate a meth lab.”

“Well, someone decontaminated something, because that’s a lot of bleach.” They stood in the kitchen. Nothing looked amiss. An old table with a couple of mismatched chairs sat by a plywood-covered window. A couple of grimy plates were in the sink, and a funky smell emanated from the trash can.

“Follow me,” Carter said. “Damn, I should’ve grabbed my flashlight out of the truck.”

“No worries.” Diana dug into her bag and pulled out two penlights.

“You carry two flashlights?”

“What if one dies?”

Carter shook his head. “You are either the best Girl Scout ever, or you have a serious case of obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

“Or, and this is the best option, I was married to a man that liked to be prepared for anything. I might have picked up a tip or two.”

“A lot of the veteran cops talk about being prepared a lot. Mills, especially.”

She chuckled as she followed him into the next room. “So, you know Jason, huh?”

“Yeah. All I can say is—his poor wife! I hear she can’t leave the house without a bodyguard these days.”

“Cyndi does okay. Jason’s not that bad—well, okay, maybe he is—but he is a really good guy.”

“How’s she doing after being kidnapped and almost sold into the slave trade, anyway?”

“About as good as can be expected. Cyndi is tough. She recovered well.”

“The boys say she can really work a pole. Too bad I wasn’t on the case that night.”

“If you like that adorable smile of yours, I wouldn’t say that to Jason Mills.”

He grinned at her over his shoulder. “You think I’m adorable?”

Diana shoved him in the shoulder. “Just do your job, cop man, this place is giving me the willies. And that bleach smell—oh, man.”

They were standing in the living room. An old sofa was shoved against one wall. A small television, complete with a set of rabbit ear antennae, sat in front of it. That was it for furniture. The wood boards of the floor were damaged and stained, particularly in one corner of the room.

“Look over there.” Diana pointed to the corner. “The floor looks wet.”

Carter aimed his flashlight in the direction she indicated, and illuminated the large dark spot. “Hmm…” He walked toward it, and Diana followed. By the time they stood over the patch, the bleach smell had become unbearable.

“Someone poured a bottle of bleach here.” Diana pinched her nose between two fingers. “I can actually taste it.”

“Why would someone dump cleaning products in the corner of a living room?” Carter flashed his light around. Nothing else seemed to be disturbed. As he brought the light around and back to the wet spot, Diana caught sight of something. Shining her own light on the wood floor close to the wall, she illuminated the perfect impression of a shoe in the dust.

“Did you enter the house yesterday when you were here?”

“What? No. I checked the door, and then went to your place. It was way too dark, and I didn’t want anyone to see my flashlight.”

She pointed toward the print. “Someone has been in here recently.”

Carter pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and snapped a few pictures of the footprint and the wet spot on the floor. The back door opened, and then closed. Diana froze, and Carter put a finger to his lips, silently telling her to be quiet. Footsteps and muted voices filtered in from the kitchen. He pointed to the front door, and she nodded, understanding. They made their way along the wall silently. Diana held her breath as Carter slowly flipped the lock and turned the knob, inching the door open.

“Stop right there!” Diana and Carter froze. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

They both raised their hands and slowly turned to face the voice. Diana found herself looking down the barrel of a shotgun.

“Morgan? What the hell are you doing?”

“Ryan? What are you doing here? And who’s that?” He motioned to Diana with the shotgun.

“What’s goin’ on in there, Morgan?” A second man stepped into the room.

“Bassett?” Carter dropped his hands. “Will you put that thing away, Morgan?”

“What the hell, Ryan?” The man called Bassett cursed.

“I should say the same. Where do you two get off?”

“We got a call that someone broke into the place, and then we find you here. What are you two up to?”

“This is Diana Massey.”

“Massey?” Morgan said, understanding registering in his eyes. “
Oh
. Massey’s widow.”

She grimaced, and Morgan shot her a look of apology. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“It’s still hard to think of myself as a widow.”

“Your husband was a good guy,” Bassett said. “I’m real sorry for your loss.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you two are poking around in here,” Morgan said.

“Mrs. Massey wanted to see the place where her husband last was. This being his one year and all, I thought I would oblige her and give her a chance at some closure.”

Bassett nodded. “I get it, but you know you should have cleared it with the sergeant. This place has no trespassing signs all over it. You coulda been shot—or worse.”

“No one broke in. The door was open when I checked it.” She wasn’t sure why he was lying, but Diana kept her mouth shut. Morgan and Bassett shared a quick look before Morgan turned his attention back to them.

“Well, no harm, no foul, then. Ma’am, again, I’m very sorry ‘bout Massey. I hope seeing the place has helped you to put him to rest. Have a good day now.”

With that, he dismissed them. She expected Carter to push the issue, find out more about why they were there, but he didn’t. He took her by the hand, and led her out the front door and to his truck. When they were a safe distance from the house, she asked him about it.

“Why did we leave so quickly?”

“I’m not sure. Something didn’t feel quite right.”

She breathed in deeply. “I’m just happy to get some fresh air. That bleach was sickening.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Do you think the two of them are somehow involved?”

Carter didn’t answer right away. She was about to repeat herself when he spoke. “I don’t think so. They were on duty, and they let us see them there.”

They were passing by some tall bushes at the edge of someone’s yard. The leaves beside her rustled a little, and she peered inside, looking for a bird or a squirrel. Seeing nothing, Diana started walking again, until something grabbed her arm and yanked it. Diana screamed, and everything went black.

Chapter Nine

“Diana?”

Her eyes blinked open so that she looked straight into the worried face of Carter. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

Carter grinned. “I don’t know. I sort of like you in my lap.”

She reached up and socked him on the arm. “What happened?”

“You fainted.” She tried to sit up, but Carter held her head still in his lap. “Give it a second before you start moving around.”

“What happened?” she asked again.

Carter nodded at the unkempt young man sitting on the curb, his hands cuffed behind his back. “Says his name’s Lookie Louie. He was spying on us and grabbed your arm. It scared you.”

Right. She remembered. Something had grabbed her when they passed some bushes. She struggled to sit up and this time Carter helped her. “Why did you grab me?”

“Hey, man I wasn’ tryn’a hurt no one. I jus’ wanna get yo’ attention.”

“You forget how to speak English when you stopped bathing?” Carter snapped.

“Hey, man, donna be so harsh. How ‘bout removin’ these here han’cuffs?”

“How about you shut the hell up? Changed my mind. Why don’t you tell me why you are scaring the crap out of my lady friend?”

He called her his lady friend. She kind of liked the sound of that.

“I saw ya’ll comin’ outta the smoke house o’er there.”

“Smoke house?” Carter asked.

“Yeah. It be where the smoke used ta come outta at night.”

“Seriously, man, is that the best you can do with the words? How about I tighten those cuffs. Maybe they will straighten out your vocabulary.”

“What’cha got against me, man? I’s jus’ tryna help.”

“So far, you haven’t helped at all. Let me call in for a patrol car to pick you up for loitering.”

“All right. All
right
! Don’t do that.”

“Look, Diana, Louie here
is
capable of forming whole words.”

“What’s your problem, man?”

“My problem? How about a homeless drug addict sneaking up on us and grabbing my friend here through the trees? That’s a good start.”

She had preferred
lady friend.

Louie scooted himself around so he faced Carter and Diana. “The name’s Louie, for real. I sometimes crash in the abandoned house at night when it’s cold. Last night I tried to get in, but there were a bunch of guys in there already. I think some of them might have been cops.”

“Why do you think they were cops?”

“They had guns and used words like
evidence
and
crime scene.”

“Criminals carry guns too,” Carter snapped.

“Yeah, I know that. These guys were too smart or something. I could tell they were up to no good. I wanted to call the good cops, but I was high. When I saw you two coming, I knew you were a cop, and you didn’t look like any of the guys last night. I wanted to report what I saw.”

“How did you know I was a cop?’

“Come on, man. You scream po-po. The way you walk like you got all that shit on around your waist, and how you are constantly looking everywhere, like you suspect everyone of being dirty.”

Louie was pretty perceptive, for a junkie.

“So you can string together words in a complete sentence. Surprise, surprise,” Carter said.

“Hey, man, I got an education. UVA class of ‘08. I ain’t always been a junkie, you know.”

“Why talk like a kindergarten drop-out, then?”

“Here, I got a persona to maintain. The streets are rough, man.”

“Did you smell bleach when you were there last night, Louie?” Diana asked. She was totally hung up on that bleach, and she had no idea why.

“No. But I smelled blood.”

“Blood?” Diana repeated. “How do you smell blood?”

“You’d be surprised, Di.” Carter replied. “Donnie never talked to you about stuff?”

“We talked. I don’t think he ever mentioned the smell of blood.”

“What else, Louie?”

“That’s all I can remember. Except for the screaming. Someone had a real brutal sounding scream.”

“You okay to stand now?” Carter asked her. She nodded, so he stood up and pulled Diana to her feet.

“On your feet, Louie.”

“Can you give me a hand? I got a bum knee. Old football injury.”

Carter looked at him with surprise. “Louis Simpson? Are
you
Louis Simpson? Hands down the best quarterback UVA’s ever had. Are you
that
Louis Simpson?”

Louie turned a deep shade of crimson. “Yeah, that’s me. Or, it was. Don’t tell anyone. I’m not that dude anymore.”

“You went from college football star to pot junkie?”

“I told you. I got a bum knee. It’s medical marijuana.”

“Right, and I suppose you’ve got a little medical meth on you too?”

“Don’t do that shit, man. That shit’ll fry your brain.”

“Right. But not pot.”

“Hey, it’s scientific fact pot ain’t addictive. I can quit anytime I want. I just don’t want to.”

Carter leaned down and grabbed Louie by the elbows, pulling him to his feet. “Where do you hang out, Louie? I mean, when you aren’t crashing in the house?”

“Mostly under the overpass back that way.” He nodded toward Virginia Beach Boulevard.

“How would you like a night in a motel? Hot shower, hot meal, and a clean shirt?”

“Aw, man, there’d be no words.”

“I got a job for you, then.”

“What kinda job?”

“You make your way back to the house and hang around outside.” Carter reached in a pocket and pulled out a small cell phone. “Take this phone and call me if anyone comes or goes right after we leave. Take pictures if you can. You do that, and I’ll see you get the room and a reward. What do you think?”

“I’ll do it,” Louie answered without hesitation. “Hell, I’d have done it for a Mountain Dew and a Snickers bar.”

“You get me something good, and I’ll throw those in as a bonus.”

“Got it, man.” He turned to Diana. “Sorry ‘bout scaring you.”

She offered up a small smile. “Try not to do it again.”

“No problem. I gotta hit the stones now, dude. Got a job to do.”

“Don’t forget to take pictures,” Carter reminded him as Louie sauntered away.

“Things keep getting more and more interesting, hanging out with you,” Diana teased Carter as they continued on to Carter’s truck. He took her hand and tucked it in the crook of his arm.

“I hope the trend continues.”

“Just with a few less accidents,” Diana replied.

They laughed together. Diana felt so relaxed, she almost felt guilty to be so comfortable with a man who wasn’t her husband.

“Do you always carry around an extra cell phone?”

“It’s my backup phone. Like you, I have a tendency to want to be prepared.”

“I guess Jason Mills has rubbed off on you some, huh?”

“I guess you could say that.”

When they were in the truck and back on the road, Diana asked the question that had been on her mind since talking to Louie.

“What do you think Louie was talking about when he said he smelled blood?”

“I wish I knew. It would explain the bleach smell, though.”

“How?”

“People often try to clean up or disguise blood by cleaning it up with bleach. They believe it destroys the evidence.”

“Destroys the evidence?”

“Bleach can denature DNA so it can’t be tested, but it doesn’t necessarily hide blood stains,” Carter said as he pulled onto the interstate.

“So someone was bleeding heavily, and they tried to clean it with bleach.”

“It would appear so. I hate to think who was bleeding—or why.”

“Louie said he thought there were cops at the house last night.”

“I know.”

“Why do you think they were there?”

“I have no idea. But I intend to find out.” He sounded determined; the way Donnie used to, when he was focused on a case. It was always her cue to leave him alone and let him work out whatever was on his mind. They rode the rest of the way to her house in silence.

“Do you want to come inside?” she asked when Carter had parked in the driveway. “I’ll make you a sandwich. It’s lunch time.”

“Okay. A sandwich actually sounds really good.”

They exited the truck, and Diana let them into the house. Carter followed her into the kitchen, where he perched on a stool and watched as she pulled cold cuts and other sandwich fixings from the refrigerator. Neither of them spoke while she sliced tomatoes and chopped lettuce. She was spreading mayonnaise on slices of bread when Carter reached out and took the knife from her hand. He placed the knife on the counter and pulled her toward him. With his hands at her waist, he looked at her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing. Why would you think something was wrong?”

“Because you look like you are about to cry.”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m just thinking how nice it must be for Jackson to grow up with a mom who loves him so much she chops lettuce before she puts it on his sandwich.” He removed his hands from her waist and took hold of her hands, bringing one to his lips and pressing a kiss to the back of it.

She pulled one hand away and used it to push a stray lock of hair back from Carter’s eyes. “I’m not really sure of what I am about say here, so bear with me, okay?”

He nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“Aside from nearly dying in a car wreck, the last few days have been some of the best I have had in a year. I am lonely, and I have been missing Donnie terribly, but meeting you has sort of changed that a little. Okay, a lot. I feel like I have a reason to get out of bed now.” She paused, and tried to read his expression, but the man either had no thoughts, or he was one hell of a poker player. She decided to forge on, and fools be damned if she made a complete ass of herself. “I enjoy your company. You make me laugh, being with you makes me happy, and the things that happen to my body when you touch me, no matter how insignificant the contact, are mind-blowing. I want to thank you for making me feel alive again.”

Carter stood up and pulled her to his chest. His arms wrapped around her, and his breath was hot on her ear as he spoke. “Diana, I want to make you feel a whole lot more than alive.”

His lips found hers before she could speak. The instant heat melted every last one of her cells, until she couldn’t even form a coherent thought, let alone a sentence.

Diana closed her eyes and forgot about the terrible bruises all over her face. She dismissed thoughts of funerals and bleach and junkies with cell phones, letting her entire body be consumed with the energy that emanated from his body to hers.

“Oh, Diana. I have wanted to do this since the day we met.” He moaned as his kisses burned a trail along her jaw line before returning to her lips and deepening the kiss. Diana pushed him back onto the bar stool and climbed onto his lap, never once breaking their kiss. She knew what she wanted, and she was not afraid to take it. Apparently there were advantages to being the older woman. Carter’s arms wrapped around her tightly, holding her close. All those months of being alone melted away.

The front door slammed shut.

“Oh, crap! Jackson.” She jumped off of Carter’s lap, tumbling to the kitchen floor in the process. Carter reached down and pulled her to her feet.

“Mom! You home? Whose truck…?” Jackson entered the kitchen as Diana was straightening her clothes. Her cheeks flamed as blood rushed to her face.

“Why are you here?” her son demanded of Carter.

“Jackson! Don’t be rude!”

He ignored her as he eyed Carter up and down. “I said, why are you here?”

“Jackson,” she said, issuing a warning with her voice, but Jackson acted like she wasn’t even in the room as he tried to stare Carter down.

He put a hand on her arm. “It’s okay, Diana. If I were him, I’d ask the same thing.” To Jackson, he said, “Just checking up on your mom.”

“You don’t need to check on her. That’s what I am here for,” Jackson snapped.

“Why exactly are you home so early, anyway?” Diana asked her son. Her face had finally returned to its normal temperature.

“I cut my last two classes to come home and make sure you were all right. I guess you are pretty fine with Mr. Cop Man here
checking up on you
.”

“What’s your problem, Jackson?” Diana was furious at her son for acting like such a jackass. She had no idea why he seemed to hate Carter so much.

“Nothing.” He glared at Carter. “You can leave now. I’ll stay with my mother.”