ONE SMALL VICTORY (21 page)

She pulled back, and he stopped in the middle
of the floor with the oddest expression. He studied her face for
what seemed like an eternity, and she wondered what thoughts were
spinning through his mind. Then he shifted his gaze. “Maybe you’re
right. We should go.”

Well. That was certainly abrupt. She tried to
figure out what might be driving him as he led them back to the
table. Did he think she was coming on to him like that ditzy lady
in the lounge? Or was he embarrassed about having a physical
reaction to her? Perhaps worried about what she thought?

Not giving her time to ponder that for more
than two seconds, he dropped some bills on the table. “I’ll walk
you out.”

He was two steps ahead of her as she slipped
into her jacket and followed, part of her still shell-shocked and
another part getting angry. Talk about the bum’s rush.

She finally managed to catch up to him just
outside the door. She grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong?

”

“Nothing.” He shrugged out of her grasp.

“It was only a dance.”

He stopped but didn’t turn around. “Yeah. But
for a moment...”

He started walking again, and Jenny had to
hustle to keep up.
For a moment… what
?

He stopped again. “Where’s your car.”

“Over there.” She pointed to a far corner
where her Taurus reflected the lights strung around the perimeter
of the lot. “I can find my own way.”

She took a step forward and he touched her
arm. “Listen. I’m sorry.”

Turning, she met his gaze and wondered what
exactly he was sorry for. The dance? That moment of awareness they
had felt? The breach of professionalism?

He took off his hat and ran his fingers
through his hair. “Sometimes I forget that you’re...”

“What? A woman?”

“Oh, no. I don’t ever forget that.” He
glanced at her quickly, then averted his gaze. “We can’t afford to
complicate things, Jenny.”

Of course he was right. But they couldn’t
undo what was done. And when her mind wasn’t clouded with grief and
anxiety, she recognized a comfort level that had settled between
them that went beyond the ease of working together. It wasn’t
really chemistry, not the kind that had first drawn her to Ralph a
hundred years ago, but something connected between them each time
they met. She’d been aware of it even that very first time when
he’d been so kind about Michael.

If only they could get past this minor little
issue of professional ethics.

Suddenly he leaned forward and brushed her
lips with his, the contact so light she wasn’t sure for a moment
that it was real. Then he kissed her again. This time there was no
doubt, and Jenny responded with an intensity that surprised
her.

When he pulled back, he held her gaze for an
eternity, then lightly caressed her cheek. “This never
happened.”

Breathless, she could hardly speak.
“Uh...right.”

“Go on.” He motioned toward her car. “I’ll
wait until you get in.”

“Steve, we should—”

“We can’t.”

“—talk.”

“Not now.” He shoved his hands deep into the
pockets of his jeans. “Go.”

Jenny walked to her car, her mind whirling.
What on earth had that all been about? And how was she supposed to
act now? Pretend it didn’t happen?

Just before getting in the car, she glanced
back and saw him still standing there, backlit by the lights. The
silhouette effect caught her up short, and she suddenly understood
the appeal of all the cowboy heroes in the popular romance
novels.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Steve knocked on the door and heard Gonzales
call, “Come in.”

He stepped through the doorway, noticing a
pronounced haggard look about the Chief who was elbow-deep in
papers strewn across his desk. The room smelled of stale coffee and
sweat with a hint of onion from the take-out bag on top of the
bulging trashcan.

“Sit down.” Gonzales motioned to the
visitor’s chair and leaned back in his own.

Steve paused with a hand on the back of the
chair. “You look like shit.”

“Isn’t that insubordination?”

Steve laughed. “Want me to get fresh
coffee?”

“I’m fine. Sit.”

He did, crossing his legs at the ankles and
waiting. He knew his boss would get to the purpose of this
impromptu meeting soon enough.

“Heard from Burroughs.”

Steve didn’t like the somber tone of that
statement. “And?”

“Seems like this Chico guy wasn’t the only
one to go missing.”

“Shit.”

“My sentiments exactly.” Gonzales took a swig
of the sludge in his coffee mug, then made a face. “There’s been
another change of command in Denton.”

“You mean since that first guy
disappeared?”

“Yeah. And it’s only been, what? A little
over a month?”

Steve uncrossed his legs and sat forward.
“What is Burroughs thinking?”

“He’s not sure. There’d been problems in
Denton for a while now. Has a pretty reliable snitch who said
there’d been some skimming going on. But Burroughs thought that was
only with the first guy. It was no surprise when he took a walk.
Possibly to nowhere.”

“The snitch say the skimming is still
happening?”

“He doesn’t know.” Gonzales bounced a pencil
on the edge of his desk in a rhythmic tap, tap, tap. “That whole
operation out there seems to be too loose. Lots of distrust and
quick tempers. No telling what’s behind it.”

Steve rubbed a hand across the stubble of
late-afternoon beard and considered the implications of the unrest.
Nothing that came to mind was good; especially not for their
operation. There was a good chance Chico was dead. And probably
those other dealers, too. How much risk did that create for
Jenny?

“I’m worried about our lady.” Gonzales
putting words to the concerns made them unavoidable. “Maybe we
should’ve paid attention to the bad karma from the get-go.”

Every time the Chief referred to karma, Steve
was seized with a wild impulse to laugh, but he knew better than to
even entertain the thought. Gonzales was dead serious. His wife, a
practicing Hindu, was big into the spiritual discipline of Yoga and
through fifteen years of marriage a lot of it had rubbed off. And
as Steve had reminded Linda some time back, except for the
terminology, it wasn’t so different from the standard ‘gut
instinct’ most cops operated on.

“It hasn’t been all bad,” Steve countered.
“And we always worry when things go too smoothly.”

“I’d take smooth over three guys disappearing
like that.” Gonzales leaned back in his chair. “Maybe we should
pull the plug.”

For a moment, Steve felt a surge of relief at
the thought. It would be nice not to have to worry about Jenny
anymore. At least not the worry associated with guns and drugs and
unpredictable dealers. Then he could turn his attention to that
personal thing that seemed to be trying to develop between them. He
was still kicking himself for overstepping the bounds the other
night.

“What are you thinking?” Gonzales asked.

Steve felt the warmth of a flush start on his
neck, and he hoped his boss didn’t notice. He mentally scrambled
for something innocuous to say before the silence betrayed him.
“Doing the pro and con list.”

Gonzales studied him a moment, then asked.
“Which side is winning?”

With sudden clarity, Steve realized there’d
be no personal thing with Jenny if he didn’t fight for her right to
finish this. Not to mention the possible risks should she suddenly
drop out of the business. This was a small town. They’d find
her.

“We passed the point of no return a long time
ago,” Steve said. “There’s no safety net either way.”

“We could offer witness protection.”

Steve didn’t resist the laugh this time. “You
got an hour? I could tell you all the reasons she won’t go for
that.”

Gonzales didn’t respond, so Steve continued.
“We could at least get her thoughts on it all. And input from
Burroughs before we make a move.”

“Okay. Set it up.” Gonzales stood and
stretched, and Steve heard the crunch of a couple of bones
popping.

Recognizing all the signs of dismissal, Steve
rose and adjusted the crease of his jeans. After stepping into the
hall and closing the office door, he allowed the flicker of anxiety
that had hovered at the edge of his consciousness for the last half
hour to gain strength. He’d worried all along that Jenny was in way
too deep and questioned his motives for championing her cause. And
now there was no doubt that the line between professional and
personal had blurred when he wasn’t even looking.

But there was no undoing that, either.

He shook his head and strode down toward his
office. Maybe he should consider a whole new identity in a whole
new place.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

After lunch, Jenny settled at the little desk
in the back room with her coffee and the accounts payable book. She
thought Mitchell was busy in the front and was shocked when he
walked in and grabbed the ledger out of her hands. She frowned.
“What are you doing?”

“Have you shopped for Christmas?”

“What?”

“It’s a simple question. I don’t think it
needs interpretation.”

Jenny tried to grab the book back, but he
held it away from her. “Let me finish the paperwork,” he said.
“I’ll even make the deliveries. And you can go to the mall.”

“Last time I checked, I was still the boss
here.”

He smiled. “Yeah. But I’m one of your best
friends, so I can get away with a lot of shit.”

She laughed. “But what if I don’t want to go
shopping?”

Mitchell touched her on the shoulder, a
serious expression replacing his smile. “You need to go shopping.
You have two other children and Christmas is just three weeks
away.”

Turning so he couldn’t see the pain in her
eyes, Jenny tried to think of a good reason she couldn’t leave, but
whatever she thought of, he’d shoot down. He was good at that.

She sighed. Damn. He’s right, but I really
don’t want to do this.

“Just go. Do what you can. It’ll get easier
after this first time.”

“Promise?”

His expression told her that he’d love to do
anything that would make life easier for her.

She stood and touched his cheek. “If you ever
decide to switch sides, let me know.”

He laughed and pushed her away.

~*~

The strings of colored lights at the
Stonebriar Mall reminded Jenny of the lights at Billy Bob’s and
that last evening with Steve, and she was seized with a wild idea.
She’d buy a present for him. She spent some time in a tobacco shop,
before realizing nothing there would be appropriate. Then she moved
on to a store called His Place.

She fingered some golf towels, considered a
boxed set of playing cards, finally realizing she had no idea what
he might like.

“Shopping for your hubby?” a voice asked at
her side.

She turned to see a short man with graying
hair. He was a bit rotund and his suit matched his hair. He offered
a broad smile.

“What are his hobbies?” the man asked.

“Uh...” Short of being rude, Jenny wasn’t
sure how to extricate herself from his interest. She glanced at her
watch. “Oh, my gosh. It’s late. I need to go.”

She rushed out of the store, glancing back
once to see the man watching with a puzzled expression. She moved
down the walkway, then sat on a bench, feeling like she was trapped
on some unknown planet.

What on earth had she been thinking? Or not
thinking might be more like it. How could she even have considered
buying a present for Steve?

She took a deep breath and tried to focus on
the reality of people bustling through the mall. They were loaded
with packages, smiles, and good cheer. Would she ever get to that
place again?

Fragments of Holiday music drifted from the
overhead sound system, and she remembered a Christmas past when the
boys were toddlers. Michael had asked her to play Frosty The
Snowman so many times she’d almost worn out the tape.

It had been a good year. Even Ralph had been
a decent husband and father.

Jenny looked around at the lights twinkling
in store windows, hoping that something would connect her to the
good feelings of those early years, but she felt empty. Even the
tree that stood in decorated glory at the end of the walkway left
her flat.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there lost
in some weird emotional place, but she finally shook herself free
and stood up. Just go buy one thing.

The nearest store was a Gap for Kids, so she
walked in and browsed, not even sure if anything was registering in
her numb mind. She was about to say screw it when she spotted a
suede vest with fringe. Alicia would love it. Okay, good. Pay for
it and you’re out of here. Maybe Mitchell is right and it’ll be
easier next time.

At home, Jenny walked in the back door,
relieved when she found the kitchen empty. She hurried to her room
and looked for a place to hide the package with the vest. It had
long been a tradition for the kids to hunt for Christmas presents,
although she doubted that she had to worry about Scott. He seemed
to have less Holiday spirit than she did. But Alicia was doing her
damndest to put on a happy face. She might snoop just to have a
connection to the tradition.

Rooting on the top shelf of her closet,
Jenny’s fingers touched the security box with the guns and she
shuddered. She should give them back, but truth be told, she was
avoiding Carol. There was still that unresolved issue with George.
Jenny wasn’t sure she could be in the same room with her friend and
not give something away. They’d been too good at reading each other
for too long for subterfuge to work.

She stashed Alicia’s present, then closed the
closet door. She was halfway across the room when the phone rang.
She turned and grabbed the receiver, sinking to the edge of her
bed. “Hello.”