Dream Caller (20 page)

“It’s a conflict of interest to work with someone you’re sleeping with.” Isobel spat the words as if they left a foul taste in her mouth. “Fix it, or I’ll report you.”

“Then I’ll have no choice but to report you.” Jordan took one small step toward the redhead. “If screwing Ty is grounds for dismissal from this case, then you shouldn’t be here either, should you?”

Isobel glanced up at Ty, no doubt stunned that he’d confessed the truth. And shocked further that she’d been called out on it. Then she turned a hateful glare on Jordan. “I am not screwing him.”

“Only because he said no this time. But you gave it the good old college try, didn’t you? If you want to go down the conflict of interest road, you’ll be answering just as many questions as we will.”

Isobel turned and stomped off.

Jordan looked up at Ty. “It appears I pissed in her Wheaties.”

He was fighting a smile. “I told you to be nice.”

“No, you said don’t be mean. There’s a difference. If I were mean, I’d have pointed out that you actually called
me
after you banged me. But I took the higher road.”

Ty took her hand. “I’m sorry she talked to you that way; she had no right. I’d have never gotten this far without you.”

“You would have. It might have taken a little longer, but you were the one that believed David was innocent all along. I’m supposed to be psychic, and I still got it wrong.”

“I’m going to ask her what the hell her problem is.”

Jordan held on to his hand when he tried to walk away. “No, it’s fine. What’s the point? It’ll just make things harder for you. And we both know what her problem is.” She winked. “It’s impossible to walk away from that McGee black magic.” Jordan reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “In fact, just let it go. Tell her you got rid of me. I’ll head back to town and locate Doyle Benson. He needs to know the truth and that he and David are in danger.”

Ty put his arms around her in a quick hug and kissed her temple. “I’ll have everyone briefed and set to go here inside a half hour. Then I’ll be right behind you.” He stepped back and pinned her with a warning glare. “Do nothing but talk to Benson, you got it? I don’t care what lead you think you come across. No heroics without backup. Take no action without talking to me first.”

She smiled. He was just so damn sexy when he tried to give her orders.

“I mean it, Jordan. You do nothing dangerous without me, are we clear?”

“It’s almost like you’re channeling Bahan.” She backed up a few steps. “It’s kind of cool. And yet somehow very disturbing.” She winked again and crossed her heart. “I’ll be careful.”

It wasn’t a hollow promise. Jordan had nothing more in mind than talking with Doyle Benson. She’d attempted to call him with no success, so she continued to drive to his estate.

But as she approached his home, she watched a sleek Audi R8 speed through the Benson security gates and take off down Highway Z. Doyle Benson was blazing a trail to somewhere in a big hurry.

She stayed well behind him; Ty’s truck wasn’t exactly a subtle trailing vehicle. But if Doyle caught sight of her, he never showed it. She clocked him at well over ninety. What the hell was going on? Could Jeb be luring Doyle Benson into a disastrous fate already?

She dialed Ty. His voicemail came on.

“Hey, don’t be pissed, but I’m tailing Doyle Benson going damn near a hundred miles an hour west on Highway Z. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion Jeb may be behind it. I’ll text you when we stop.”

Doyle slowed and turned into a new condo community under construction. If Jeb was here, the last think she wanted to do was spook him. So she eased off the gas, drove past the entrance by a couple hundred feet, and parked on the shoulder of the highway. Ty was going to have her hide for parking Molly in such a high-traffic area. If his precious truck ended up with so much as a chip on the windshield, she’d never hear the end of it.

She climbed through a tree-lined spot and watched Doyle Benson enter one of the units under construction. She texted Ty.

I think Jeb has lured Doyle Benson into a trap. I’m following Benson inside a condo unit in his Cedar Springs Development off Highway Z. There’s a Bobcat in front of the condo he entered.

It was just before five a.m. on a Saturday morning. The place was a ghost town.

She pulled her gun and opted to step quietly through a window opening in lieu of using the front door. Voices from the next floor caught her attention. She eyed the unfinished stairs and hoped like hell they didn’t creak under her weight.

She crept up the staircase one stair at a time. The voices were louder now. She eased to a stop outside one of the rooms.

“What the hell is going on here?” Doyle Benson demanded. Then he screamed David’s name and a gunshot rang out.

Jordan had no choice but to enter. “Police. Freeze. Put your arms in the air.”

There were two David Bensons all right. It was damn weird seeing them side by side, but she had no problem telling them apart. David dropped to the ground holding his father while Jeb pointed his gun at her.

“Slowly put the gun on the ground. Arms in the air,” she ordered.

“You put it down,” the kid shouted back. Then the little fucker squeezed off a round that narrowly missed her head. She dove behind a stack of plywood as he shot off two more rounds.

“Oh God, Dad. Please help him. Please, Dad, please. Oh God, don’t die.”

Jordan heard the pleas and knew they were David’s tearful cries.

“Jeb, put down the gun,” she called out. “It’s over. Your plan isn’t going to work.”

“Sure it is,” he screamed. “I’m going to be David Benson, the hero. Everyone knows what a greedy bastard Doyle Benson is. When I tell the cops I figured out my dad killed Hailey to keep me from marrying her, they’ll never convict me for shooting him in self defense.”

So the kid did have a plan. Not a great one, but Jeb actually
was
planning to kill David and Doyle and end up with their money.

She heard another keening cry from David.

“Jeb, every officer in the county is on the way here right now. I’m a cop. I’ve been to your trailer. I get how angry you are.”

“You don’t know shit, bitch.” Two more shots fired in her direction.

“Oh God, Dad, please hang on.”

She peeked up over the plywood, saw David putting pressure on his dad’s chest and crying. If Doyle Benson was still alive, he wouldn’t be for long unless she did something soon.

“Come on, Jeb,” she called out. “We know about your mom. About the life you got stuck with. It sucks, I know it does. I had a suck-ass childhood, too. I can help you. I can make them understand you need help, not jail.”

Her kind offer was met with more foul words and another shot. Seven shots total, if she wasn’t mistaken. She hadn’t heard him reload, and she wondered what make of gun he had.

“Jeb, trust me—it’s not worth hurting anyone else. Tell me what you need to make this better.”

“Throw your gun down and come out, and I won’t kill them both.”

She peeked around the stack of plywood and saw Jeb with his gun aimed at David’s head. The walls inside the condo were framed, but not dry-walled. She could see for quite a distance past Jeb. Ty was approaching Jeb’s back like a panther.

“Okay. All right. Move your gun away from David’s head and I’ll throw down my gun and come out.”

“Do it now, bitch.”

Slowly she stood in full view and tossed her gun to the side to keep Jeb’s focus away from Ty. Raising her hands in the air, she took a couple of steps to keep him centered on her movements. “There’s no sense in hurting David, Jeb. If you lose your brother, you’ll regret it forever. Just give us a chance to help you.”

Jeb squeezed off another round. The little shit nailed her in the upper arm. It stung like a son of a bitch.

Ty launched himself across the room and took Jeb down. A scuffle erupted and another shot rang out. A horrible sense of deja vu went through Jordan. Her heart reeled. Memories of Ty wrestling a drug runner to the ground on their last case flashed in her mind. She lunged forward and screamed his name.

Her world had hung in the balance that day, much like it did right now with some half-crazed punk wrapped around Ty’s body.

But thank God, Ty moved, continuing to struggle with Jeb before clocking the troubled kid hard enough to knock him loopy.

Air rushed back into Jordan’s lungs, but the edges of her vision darkened at the same time.

Ty had Jeb in handcuffs before she could think straight again.

When Ty stood, she pointed to David, who knelt in a puddle of blood and still cradled Doyle in his arms. Ty called for an ambulance and stripped off his sweatshirt and pushed it against Doyle’s abdomen. “Keep firm pressure on that until help gets here,” he said to David. Then he moved to Jordan and pointed to her arm. “Damn it, are you hit?”

“Not really,” she said. “Just grazed my arm.”

“Don’t you ever listen?” He started searching her, moving his hands all over her body checking for injuries. “Don’t do anything dangerous, Jordan. No heroics, Jordan. Promise me, Jordan.”

“What about you?” she argued. “Did your academy teach you to jump on every dumb asshole with a gun in his hands? Law of averages says one of these times you’re not going to get back up.”

He got on his phone, spouted off something about another ambulance and officer down.

“I’m not down. I’m nowhere near down.” She stood and turned in a circle just to prove her point. “See? I’ll get checked out, but I’m not going in an ambulance. You know the media eats that shit up.” She dropped back down on the stack of wood when the room spun.

Ty scooped her up, and she relaxed against his chest.

“Might as well be talking to a fucking brick wall. Damn it, woman, just once could you—”

“I love you.” She smiled up at him. “And I can see it now. This is our picture—guns and dreams and bullets and bad guys.”

His brows furrowed as he frowned down at her. “What are you saying, baby? Jesus, how much blood have you lost?”

She smiled. “Our picture. Our life together. The future. The one I could never see in my head,” she rambled. Man, she was really,
really
tired. It was everything she could do to keep focused on his handsome face. “I can see it now. It doesn’t have anything to do with houses, horses, or kids—you were right about that. Nothing else matters, it’s just about us.” She closed her eyes, thought she heard some rustling and movement that might have been the ambulance guys moving in. “Oh, and rockin’ sex. It’s because you’re totally hung, but you and I have rockin’ sex, don’t we?”

“She, uh, has a bullet wound to the arm. She’s lost some blood, apparently not thinking clearly at the moment.” Ty’s voice was all sexy and official-like as he spoke to the paramedics.

It made her giggle.

She wondered if maybe she should be embarrassed about something, but the feeling never really took hold. Being curled against Ty felt too damn good.

She closed her eyes, happy to be able to see the picture of her life with Ty. It wasn’t normal. She wasn’t normal. Their life together was never going to be normal, or glamorous, or a picture anyone else in the world could relate to, but it was their picture. And it was a pretty spectacular picture to drift off to.

The End

Epilogue

Ty decided
surly
was the best way to describe Jordan’s mood. His mood wasn’t much better. Luckily, the shot to her arm from Jeb Williams’ gun was superficial. A few stitches and a sling and she was good to go, but the Dr. had ordered a week of bedrest. Jordan and bedrest mixed like oil and vinegar.

Three days in, and the damn woman was about to drive him out of his mind. He’d taken her on a short trip to the hospital to visit Doyle Benson. David’s father had lost his spleen and undergone a lengthy surgery, but he was expected to fully recover. Unfortunately, David didn’t appear to be doing quite as well.

“You could have at least taken me to Antonio’s for pizza on the way home,” she grumbled as they walked back into the house. “I told you I’m fine. I hate being under house arrest.”

“It’s not house arrest. The doctor said you were supposed to be on bedrest for a week. If you want pizza later, I’ll go get pizza. Christ. I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.”

“Really,” she shot back. “Since when?”

“Since you got a bullet hole put in your arm while helping with my case. Now damn it, you’re supposed to be resting. Are we going to have this argument again?”

His irritation seemed to vaporize hers. She went to him, wrapped her good arm around his neck and kissed his cheek. “Please tell me you’re not still twisted up because I got a little scratch on my arm helping you with a case. You know better than that. I’m a disaster magnet. Trouble follows me closer than my own shadow. What happened was not your fault.”

“Really? Because if I hadn’t dragged you along . . . ” There was no point finishing the sentence. They both knew the truth. If he hadn’t involved her, she wouldn’t be injured right now.

She hooked a finger into his belt loop and pulled him in front of the couch. With a solid shove, she pushed him down, then crawled onto his lap. “Let me ask you something. Do you think you could ever stop being a cop? Because to me, it feels like once that’s what you are, it’s just in your blood. At any moment someone could take my badge, my gun, and my uniform. But no one will ever take my instincts, my curiosity, or my compulsive need to screw with people. So someone’s always going to want to shoot me, and that’s not your fault.”

He smiled in spite of himself. “That may be true. Maybe neither of us will ever be fit to be anything but cops, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hate you were shot helping with my case.”

“Well, look on the bright side, maybe someday you can get shot helping with one of my cases if that makes you feel better,” she teased. “More importantly, David and Doyle Benson are alive and they’re going to be fine. We did a good thing together.”

He grinned. “A lot of what we do together is good.”

“Really,
really
good,” she agreed.

He pulled her head closer and kissed her temple. “You think David will bounce back from this? I could hardly stand to look at him today. He seemed so . . . torn up.”

Beauty wiggled and groaned and laid her muzzle on Ty’s knee.

Jordan reached out and scratched the dog’s ears. “I think in time he’ll come around,” she finally said. “He’s a good kid. He’s had a good life, so hopefully with his dad’s support, he’ll come through it. Still, he lost the love of his life, almost watched his dad die. And on top of it, it was his own brother that wanted to kill him. That’s not a good week by anyone’s standard."

“I know, right? So by comparison, spending a week lounging on the couch and being catered to by me shouldn’t be that bad.” Ty nudged Beauty to the side and turned Jordan until she straddled his lap. “You think you’ll survive it?”

She rolled her eyes and blew out an exaggerated sigh. “Maybe. But you’re going to have to work awfully hard at entertaining me.”

“Yeah?” He thrust his hips up just to tease her. “What did you have in mind?”

She kissed a hot streak up his neck, sucked his earlobe between her teeth, and then whispered, “Antonio’s pizza.”

***

A couple of hours later, Ty had everything under control. Except his heartrate. And his hands were sweaty. He wiped them on his jeans and entered the house through the kitchen door.

Jordan was sitting on the couch reading a magazine. She didn’t bother to look up when he entered. “Cowboy, as far as keeping me entertained, you suck. Where have you been?”

“Antonio’s. My lady wanted pizza, so we’re going to have pizza. I just popped it in the oven to keep in warm.” Trying desperately to pull off calm and casual, he sat on the coffee table in front of her. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. I guess it would drive me crazy to be cooped up in here, too. I don’t think it will hurt for you to get some fresh air before we eat.”

She tossed the magazine and met his gaze. “Really? Where are we going?” She popped up off the couch. “Actually, I don’t even care as long as I get out of the house. I’m going to get my shoes.”

“Why don’t you get your boots?” he said, halting her in her tracks. “It’s a pretty night. Lots of stars. I know how much you like it out by the pond. I thought maybe we could take a walk out there and sit on the swing, get a little fresh air. Then we’ll come back and eat.”

At first, she narrowed her eyes as if she were going to question him, but then she apparently decided not to. She shrugged. “Okay.”

Thank God she didn’t push for details. His nerves were fraying a little more with each minute that went by. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, praying he was doing the right thing. Nothing like a gunshot to get you thinking about your future. Particularly after the doctor pointed out that if Jordan’s wound had been a few inches to the left, the results would have been much different.

“I’m good to go.” Jordan hopped off the last step like a kid going to the fair. “Except I need you to zip my coat over this stupid sling. And I can’t find Beauty’s leash, but she’ll stay with us if we’re just going to the pond.” Finally, she took a breath and looked at him. “What?”

He grinned and shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Nothing as in your completely annoyed with me? Or nothing as in you can’t wait to have sex later? See, I need to know because I might have to go put on a prettier bra.”

He stepped close and zipped her jacket. “Like an ugly bra would ever stop me.”

She giggled. “True. You tend to be the black knight of death as far as my bras go. I’m not sure why I even bother.”

“Hey, braless works for me,” he said tugging her toward the back door. Beauty pranced out in front of them. “You want to walk or ride the four-wheeler to the pond.”

“Walk, if it’s okay with you.”

Ty stuck a flashlight in his pocket and locked up the house. They held hands in silence for most of the way. At the end of the trail, Jordan stopped and turned to him. “I hope you’re not mad at me. I’m sorry I’ve been a bitch, but I don’t need to be under house arrest because of a couple stitches in my arm.”

He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close. “You’re probably right. But being able to keep track of you for a day or so sure made me feel better.” Softly, he touched his lips to hers. She wrapped her good arm around his neck and coaxed that short kiss into a long, greedy tangle of emotion.

When they came up for air, he took her hand and led her to the swing at the edge of the pond. They sat and swayed in the cool night air. Ty tried like hell to think of something clever to say, but this was harder than he thought. Everything he came up with sounded idiotic.

“You’re very quiet tonight. I could be wrong, but I’m sensing something is going on. Something more than my bad attitude.” She put a finger on his chin and urged him to look at her. “Talk to me.”

She was right. He needed to pull it together. It was now or never. He stopped the swing and shifted toward her. “Whenever you get hurt, it reminds me of what we do for a living. Reminds me we don’t wake up and sit at a nice, safe desk job all day. We don’t teach kids or sell real estate. We work with criminals. Sometimes I worry that, you know, something could happen to one of us.”

She was quiet for a long moment. “I know. I worry about that, too. But people die in car accidents every day going to their nice, safe desk jobs. You can’t predict the future, Ty. And maybe sometimes our jobs get a little dangerous, but cop work is also exciting and every day is different. That’s what I love about it. Would you want to sit at a desk? Hell, Ty, I couldn’t even stand to stay inside the house for a week.”

He grinned. “A fact I’m well aware of.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” She poked his arm. “Come on, you don’t want me to quit my job do you?”

“No. That’s not at all what I was getting at.”

“Okay. Then what
are
you getting at?”

Ty stood and turned toward her. “Jesus, this is terrifying.” He took her hand in his but then quickly dropped it. “Oh shit. I forgot something.” He jogged to the edge of the tree line where Trevor had installed the electrical system and flipped a switch.

The trees around the lake lit up like a drive-through Christmas park. The sight of it was fairly spectacular if he did say so himself. Many of the lights twinkled and the beautiful reflection off of the pond was almost breathtaking. It was hard to believe they pulled it off.

He jogged back to Jordan who was now standing with her mouth hanging open.

“Oh my God,” she said, no small amount of wonder in her voice. “When did you have time to do this?”

When he dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box she actually squealed and started to cry. It may have been the most genuinely female thing he’d ever seen her do.

He took her hand and squeezed it. “Jordan Delany. I’ve never loved someone the way I love you. Sometimes I don’t even think what I feel is normal or rational. I don’t want to waste any more time, or take any more chances that something will happen to one of us before you become Mrs. Tyler McGee. I love you, Jordan Delany. Will you marry me?”