Kill Shot (31 page)
She tried to draw away as he touched her breast, but Oz pulled her cuffed hands over his head and behind his neck causing her to be stretched against him.
Oz tilted her chin up and lowered his lips to hers.
“I’m not going to kiss you. You two timing man-whore.” She jerked her face to one side, only to have Oz kiss her ear. “No,” she moaned. “Stop kissing me.”
“We need to talk, Micki.” His voice was gravelly and his breath warm against her neck.
“I don’t want to talk to you,” she howled as a tear started down one cheek. She brushed it off against Oz’ tee shirt.
“Okay, then listen.” He lifted her in his arms and sat down on the bench lining the inside of the gazebo, settling her into his lap. “I’m sorry that I lied to you about Fawn, but you’ve got to believe me, nothing happened between us.”
She made a scoffing noise in the back of her throat.
“I promise you. Nothing happened.”
“So why sneak out in the middle of the night and why lie to me about it?”
“I felt guilty for hurting her. I went to help her out of some trouble. I left her with Vinnie. He’ll tell you.”
Micki let out a less than ladylike snarl. “Vinnie would give you a kidney,” she accused. “Why do you think I would believe anything he says?”
“Because he knows how much I love you and that I’d never do anything to endanger this relationship.”
“If you didn’t have anything to hide, why did you lie to me?”
“Probably the same reason you lied about Phillip Luka.”
She felt her back teeth grit together. Yeah, Luka.
“I found the card he gave you. Why didn’t you tell me that he wanted more from you?”
Micki felt a blush creep up from her neck. “I didn’t want to upset you.”
“And, I didn’t want to upset you by telling you that I went out in the middle of the night to help an ex-girlfriend. Isn’t that the same thing?”
“No,” she insisted. “You told an out and out lie. I just failed to mention some things.”
Oz quirked his one sided smile at her. “Yeah, I can see how my actions were much worse than yours.”
“Jerk,” Micki said. “I didn’t go to him. He came to me. I wouldn’t spit on Luka if he was on fire.”
“So, you aren’t rushing to meet him in a lover’s rendezvous somewhere?”
“Don’t be an idiot. Luka kills people.”
“Is that the only reason you aren’t with him?” Oz asked.
“How did I fall in love with such a complete moron?” Micki did an elaborate eye roll.
“Can you forgive me?”
Micki let out a deep breath. The look on Oz’s face made it impossible to hold onto her anger. “Don’t lie to me ever again and...I’ll tell you the whole truth, no matter how pissed it makes you.”
“Deal,” he said. “Would you kiss me now?”
Micki leaned in for a kiss, allowing his mouth to seduce her into a languorous state.
After removing the handcuffs, he held her and kissed her over and over again. “Let’s go home, Micki. I’ll follow you.”
“Oz, I’m not going home.” She gazed into his disbelieving eyes. “I’ve never had an opportunity to see what’s out there. I’m going to drive to wherever the road takes me and see everything along the way.”
“I don’t understand,” he said, a slight frown forming on his fine features.
“Oz, it’s something I have to do. I’m going to take a little time for myself and figure out what I want.”
Micki, I can’t just let you drive off.”
“Because?” A flicker of anger reignited inside her. “You don’t think I can take care of myself. You think I can’t survive without you.”
“Micki, it’s not safe for women to be traveling by themselves. There are really bad people out there who prey on lone female travelers.”
“Oz, this isn’t your decision.”
“If you want to take a trip, I can take some time off and we’ll go anywhere you want.”
“That sounds great, Oz. Last week it would have been enough, but right now, I have to do this by myself. I hope you understand.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you have to get away from me to be happy?”
“That’s not it,” she said. “I was angry with you when I set out on this trip, but I realized it wasn’t about you. It’s about me. I need to discover something about myself.”
Oz stared at her, disbelievingly. “You want me to get in my car and drive back to the city?”
She nodded vigorously. “That’s exactly what I want you to do.”
#
Oz watched her drive away. A sick feeling in his gut told him he might not ever see her again.
She’d promised to answer her cell and to let him know where she was staying. She had assured him that she would take precautions and not stop in isolated places where she might be victimized, like lonely bird sanctuaries.
He had given her his back-up gun.
She’d promised to keep it on her and to call him when she’d locked herself safely inside her hotel.
Wherever that happened to be.
He couldn’t ever recall another instance in which he’d felt so helpless. If he could recall such an instance, he was certain that Micki Vermillion had somehow been involved.
He climbed into his car and slammed the heel of his hand onto the steering wheel. Sucking in a deep breath, he blew it out forcefully, then turned the key in the ignition and headed to the city with a grim set to his jaw. Even when she’d dumped him, he’d felt more in control than this.
Micki was having an adventure and Oz was developing an ulcer.
He drove straight back to his apartment and called Vinnie who came over with a twelve pack of his favorite beer.
“Hey, man,” Vinnie said. “What are we doing?”
“I told you.” Oz accepted a beer and stowed the rest in the refrigerator. “We’re going to hang out, eat some pizza and watch television.”
“We could go down to Eddie’s,” Vinnie said. “Play some darts. Watch Ultimate Fighter on the wide screen.”
“I can’t afford to get into any trouble.”
Vinnie grinned at him. “You are so whipped.”
Oz grinned and lobbed a sofa cushion at Vinnie. “You’re just jealous.”
“I could be,” Vinnie said. “Micki’s a hot babe, but...”
“But what?” Oz popped the top on his beer.
“Micki’s a girl with issues,” Vinnie said.
“Issues?” Oz chuckled. “If only you knew.”
“She’s too smart for her own good,” Vinnie said. “You remember how she was always smart in school? Now she’s doin’ this photography thing. Most of the girls we went to school with would’ve been thrilled to marry you and make a family. You know, clean the house, wash your socks.”
Oz grinned at him. “That’s what I thought when I was in high school. Now, I’m still trying to figure out what she really wants.”
“Hey, Oz,” Vinnie said. “What do you really want? Isn’t that important, too?”
“I want Micki. I’d have been happy with the house in the neighborhood and a couple of little Osmonds running around, but Micki wants more.” He took a sip of beer. “You know, when I decided to become a cop, I didn’t even discuss it with her. I never considered how it would affect her and you know what else? I don’t think she’s all that cool with me being a cop.”
“But, you are a cop, and you’re a good one.”
“Yeah, but shouldn’t Micki get to do what she really wants to do?”
“Speakin’ of which, where is the mighty midget?”
“She’s not that short, Vinnie.”
Vinnie chuckled. “I know, but she looks like a runt standing next to you, man.” Vinnie chuckled and sipped his beer. “So, where is she?”
The pizza arrived and Oz paid the delivery man. He set the box on the coffee table and met Vinnie’s questioning gaze.
“Micki isn’t here,” Oz said. “She thought she’d take a little trip...by herself, just to sort things out.”
Vinnie looked puzzled.
“She took a drive up the coast, through Connecticut. She was taking some photos, just enjoying herself.”
“I don’t understand,” Vinnie said. “Shouldn’t you be goin’ with her?”
“I thought so, too,” Oz said. “But she wanted to go by herself.”
“Okay, man. I mean, . . . Whatever. Let’s watch the fights.”
Micki called Oz later and he took the call in his bedroom.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“I checked into a little motel in a town called Mystic. It’s very picturesque. I thought I could get some interesting shots of the fishing fleet going out in the morning.”
There was a long silence while Oz fought back things he wanted to say.
“Oz? Are you still there?”
“Yeah, Micki. I’m here.”
“I love you, Oz. Thanks for understanding about this trip. It means a lot to me.”
“Yeah, I understand. I love you too.” He managed to hang up without a list of admonitions and warnings.
The beer helped him fall asleep, but he woke up early Sunday morning and called her cell.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.”
He envisioned Micki, curled up in bed with her hair tousled. “Do you?” he asked, holding his breath until she answered.
“Of course I do, Oz. Don’t you know how much I love you?”
“Yesterday, you wanted to kill me,” he said.
“Yesterday, you told me I was under arrest and handcuffed me.”
“But I failed to give you the body cavity search.”
“I feel so neglected,” she said.
“I’ll owe you one,” he said. “Where are you heading today?”
“I’m following the coastline,” she said. “I’ll drive into Rhode Island today. I’ve never been there.”
“Me neither.”
There was a long silence on the other end. “I know you really don’t understand, but thanks for pretending like you do.”
“No problem,” he said. “You do what you need to do, but Micki...”
“Yes, Oz?”
“Don’t forget that I’m the guy who loves you.”
He took a shower and went in to the station. He couldn’t sit alone in the apartment waiting for Micki’s next call.
He opened the file containing the case against Hobart Jobe. It was listed as a closed case because Jobe had confessed to the murder of Jason Best.
Oz was puzzled by Laurel Jobe’s turnaround. For a woman who admitted to frequent affairs, she’d been acting like a devoted wife since Oz showed up on her doorstep to arrest her husband. He was willing to bet that Laurel’s hysterical breakdown hadn’t been faked. Then she’d come to the station with all Hobart’s medications, insisting that they be administered.
Oz ran a copy of Jobe’s meds and blacked out his name with a marker. He took the list to a pharmacy a couple of blocks from the station. When he conferred with the pharmacist, the man let out a low whistle.
“Heavy pain meds here,” he said. “This person is battling major pain. He has Rheumatoid Arthritis and he’s taking a long-acting morphine as well as anti-inflammatory drugs.”
“Morphine?” Oz asked. “How could someone function, especially in a high profile position, when he’s on morphine?”
The Pharmacist shook his head. “You’re thinking of someone taking morphine to get high. When morphine is used by a person in extreme pain, the morphine works on the pain receptors and the user’s pain is relieved.”
“Extreme pain?” Oz asked.
“RA is excruciating without treatment. With the right combination of drugs, a man could live a good life.”
Oz walked back to the station. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together.
#
Micki ordered breakfast at a local restaurant after she’d taken pictures of the fishing fleet motoring out into the sunrise, to fish the Atlantic.
She ate pancakes at the counter, thinking how much she hated to eat by herself, but the waitress was friendly and chatted between customers. She ordered a sandwich to go, so she wouldn’t have to stop again until she holed up for the night.
Filling the car tank with gas, she purchased a small ice chest and soft drinks at a convenience store and headed for the highway again. Micki Vermillion was on her way, to what destination, she didn’t know. But wasn’t it better than sitting still?
