Keller County Cops Book Seven: Code of Vengeance (24 page)

"I know it will, but your campaign--"

"It's okay." He dropped her fingers, cupped her chin, and kissed her softly. "Trust me."

"I-I do trust you." She flashed him a tiny, cautious smile.

He matched it with a luminescent grin that lit up his entire face. "Then come to bed with me and let me show you how much I want you. What you do to me."

"I can see what I do to you." She dropped her gaze to his bulging crotch. Her face heated.

He smirked. "Yeah? Well, you can touch me again if you want."

"I can?" She bit her lip and peeked up at him. She'd been so embarrassed when she'd had to tuck him into his pants at the hospital. Absolutely mortified. Now, however... oh, how she longed to press her hand to that taut bulge, to cup him and make him gasp. Instead, she took his hand and let a shy smile steal over her mouth. "Then by all means, Rick. Take me to bed."

*****

"Henry Maillet."

"Yes, this is Mindy." The man's obsequious tone, even when answering the phone, made her stomach roil. She longed to end the call and throw her phone across the room, and yet she knew better than to hang up before filling him in on the latest development. "Be sure to watch our six o'clock news broadcast."

"Why? Are you airing a story about Blaylock?"

"Yes and no." Her gut ached just thinking about it. "It's more about Keegan Riley, but the sheriff is involved."

"How, pray tell?"

"Well, today while I was sitting on Keegan's front porch waiting for her to come home so I could hit her up for an interview--" Mindy broke off, drew in a deep breath, and then went on to tell him about Paul following Keegan to Blaylock's house and Keegan hiding her car in the sheriff's garage.

Maillet guffawed. "Hot damn, girl. That's priceless. I knew those two were gettin' it on, just didn't have any way to prove it 'til now."

"There's more." She went on to explain about knocking on the door and talking to both Keegan and Blaylock. "She forked over the best info -- against Blaylock's wishes, I might add -- and gave me enough for a juicy story. It's still mostly speculation, but it ought to do the trick."

"You'd better believe it will. A report about him carrying on with a witness in a homicide investigation is exactly what I wanted. Hell, it's more than enough to smear his reputation." Maillet again chortled with glee. "You say you plan to air it this evening at six?"

"Yes."
Unfortunately.
Mindy blew out a frustrated sigh. She hated dirtying up a good man, but she'd sell her soul to keep Maillet from telling the world about her stripper past. She'd spent two long years masquerading as
Cherry Delight
at a little dive over in Biloxi to make enough money to put herself through college, and that decision had come back to bite her in the ass yet again. She'd hated herself for years for stooping to that level, and yet she'd eventually made peace with it. Until now, thanks to Henry fucking Maillet. He'd brought all that self-loathing back to the surface, and now she hated herself more than she ever had.

He complimented her on a job well done. "And hey, if you're not busy once you get off the air tonight, why don't you drop by my place? I'd love to thank you in person... if you know what I mean,
Cherry.
I've got a hard on just thinking about that story airing."

"Don't
ever
call me that," she snapped, sickened by his addressing her by that disgusting name. Her flesh crawled. "I mean it, damn it."

"Fine." He put up both hands. "But will you come over?"

"Of course not."
No way in hell.
Fury ripped through her. "I have an early call tomorrow, so I need to get some sleep. One of our anchors is going on vacation, and I'm filling in for him on the early morning newscast."

"I see." He paused. "Well, in that case, I'll be happy to come see
you."

"I've already told you no." She gritted her teeth. "I need my beauty rest, meaning I need a full night's sleep, not a booty call. Please understand."

"Oh, believe me... I do," he snapped, his glee switching to irritation in record time.

She sucked in a fortifying breath. "I'm sorry, Mr. Maillet, but I need to go. My producer's beeping in."

"That's probably not all he's doing."

"Excuse me?" Had he really just said that? She leaned back in her chair and let her mouth fall open. He was
such
a total dirt bag.

He laughed, and his self-deprecating tone didn't fool her one bit. "Never mind, honey."

"I'm not carrying on with Phil or anyone else here at the station. I'm not seeing anyone at all right now."

"And yet you won't spend a little time with me," he growled. "I know what you did on the side when you worked at the strip joint, so that really doesn't make any sense."

"You don't know a damned thing about me," she snapped, unable to contain her fury a moment longer. "You have no idea what I did between sets. I might have flirted with the customers to please my boss, but I
never
prostituted myself."

"Bullshit. Every girl at that place moonlights on her back. It's part of their contract."

"Wasn't part of mine. You can ask Coleman."

"Oh, believe me, honey. I will."

"Do whatever the hell you have to do. Once this story airs, I'm done." She hung up and turned off her phone before he could demand she do something else to further his campaign. He could call and text her all he wanted, but until she was off the air tonight, she wasn't going to even look at her cell phone.

She brushed away a tear. Damn. If only she could find a way to bring
him
down and help Sheriff Blaylock's soon-to-be-sullied reputation in the process.

She tossed her phone onto the desk and covered her face with both hands.

Think, Mindy. For God's Sake. You have to find a way.

*****

Rick opened his eyes and stared up at the bedroom ceiling. Once he and Keegan had finished making love, she'd draped herself across his chest like a human blanket, all warm, soft skin and lush curves. He hadn't been with a woman in what seemed like forever, and having her sink onto him had been like coming home. He hadn't known her for very long, but the connection between them sizzled like lightning. His breathing had finally slowed, but his heart still whump-thumped like crazy. Best. Sex. Ever.

She stirred, tightened her hold on him, and pressed herself closer to his sated body.

"You okay?" he murmured, raising his good hand and sifting his fingers through her silky hair. He still had the sling on his other arm, and his shoulder ached. Not too much, but enough to remind him he'd been shot. If only he could roll her over and sink into her again.

Keegan grazed her thumb along his ribs. "Oh, yeah. I'm good."

"You certainly are." He couldn't stop the wide smile that spread over his face.

She laughed. "You're not so bad yourself, you know."

"Maybe not, but I am out of practice."

"You could've fooled me." She grinned, planted her forearms on his ribcage, and kissed him soundly. "I like the way you move, Sheriff, sling and all."

"Glad to know it." He ran his hand up and down her back. Her smooth skin was now damp with sweat. He tugged the sheet over both of them so they wouldn't get too cool. "Do you like adventure between the sheets? Or do you prefer to keep things kind of vanilla?"

"Ooh... adventure, definitely. Once you get well." She cupped his cheek and ran her thumb beneath his eye. "It's a little early in our relationship -- if that's what we're doing here --but I've been thinking that since you're the sheriff, at least for now, you might try slapping the cuffs on me again. I mean, I've been a bad girl, and I could probably use an attitude adjustment."

"As a matter of fact... yes, you could." He grinned and kissed her hard, his tongue parting her lips and delving inside her mouth. Then he pulled back and chuckled. "You've been a
very
bad girl. I'll have to think up an appropriate punishment."

"Sounds delicious. Just not tonight, okay?" She bit her lip. "I don't think your shoulder is quite ready for anything that exciting. Plus, we have to watch the news in a little while."

"Right." He grimaced. Mindy Ravens was going to be the death of him. Why was she so damned intent on making him appear to be unqualified for the job? She had to have a stake in it somehow, because most of what she'd dredged up was circumstantial. He had no doubt she'd take what she'd learned and paint a vivid picture of him as a man unfit to act as sheriff.

Keegan rolled over and eyed his alarm clock. "We don't have too long to wait."

"I have an idea how to kill those two hours." He grinned.
"If
you're ready for round two."

"Sounds good to me, Sheriff." Her eyes twinkled, and she tugged the sheet up over her breasts. "If
you're
up for another round."

"Well, as far as being
up--"
The bleat of Rick's cell phone cut him off.

She blushed. "Better get that. It might be important."

"Yeah, okay." With a frustrated groan, he fished the phone off the nightstand and accepted the call. "This is Blaylock."

"Sheriff, this is C.J. Sorry to bother you since you just got home, but I thought you might like to know we got him."

"Got who?"

"Kevin Simpson. The guy who murdered Dirk Woodward."

"You got an ID?"

"Sure did." The detective's broad grin came through in his voice. "The tech unit was able to enhance the surveillance video enough for us to get a pretty good screen cap. Jonah took the picture to the club late last night and showed it around. Several of the employees knew the guy, said he'd caused trouble there several times before. He seems to have a major green streak when it comes to women he's dating."

"That's probably what caused him to kill Woodward."

"Yep. We talked to his current squeeze, a blonde named Janet Wade, and she said she was with him that night. He bragged about the murder after they left the club and told her she'd better stop talking to other men or she'd pay like Woodward did. Scared the shit out of her."

"I'm not surprised, since he went after Woodward for just talking to his woman." Rick grabbed Keegan's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Sounds like a real piece of work."

"Yeah. His girlfriend told us he works down at Beach Automotive, right here in Hunter's Bayou, so we went down there and picked him up. Wasn't easy, 'cause he ran. But we got him. Once we got back to the station, didn't take him long to spill. Jonah worked him like a pro."

"He's good at that. Both of you did a stellar job." He threw off the covers. "Keep him in interrogation. I'm on my way."

"Too late, sir. We've already booked him and sent him down to lockup."

"Damn it, C.J.--"

"Sheriff, I know for a fact you're not supposed to come back to work until your shoulder heals. We've got this. I just called to let you know about the arrest so you won't worry about the case. We've got it all under control."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks." He dragged the covers back over his lower body. "You're right, and I do appreciate it. You have no idea how much."

"No problem, sir. We're just doing our jobs."

"That's why the county pays you every month." Rick grinned. "Oh, and C.J. -- call Mindy Ravens down at WHBZ and give her the exclusive. Be sure to let her know we got the guy thanks to the surveillance video, and not because Keegan Riley picked him out of a lineup. I want her out of it. Got that?"

"Excuse me, Sheriff?"

"You heard what I said. Now do it."

"Yes, sir." The detective paused. "May I ask why?"

"You can, but it won't do you a damned bit of good."

"All right, then. Consider it done."

Rick thanked him again and ended the call. Elated by the news, he dropped his phone back onto the nightstand.

"What was that about?" Keegan tugged on his hand. "If it's okay for you to tell me, that is. I don't want to make things any worse for you."

"You won't." He quirked his mouth. "This was actually good news for a change. Two of my guys picked up the loser who killed Dirk. His name is Kevin Simpson."

"They were able to identify him?"

"Yep. From the surveillance video." He pulled her close and kissed her. "That means you're off the hook."

"Really?" she said with a gasp. "What about Mindy's story?"

"I asked C.J. to contact her, but knowing her, she'll still air it. Won't matter. I'll push this one through as fast as I can so we can at least take Simpson's case to the grand jury before the election. If we get an indictment, it'll definitely help my chances on election day."

"Oh, I hope so."

"Me, too." He sat back against the headboard and pulled her close to his side. "Even so, we probably should keep our distance from each other for a while."

"Until after the election?" Keegan searched his eyes.

He wet his lips. Oh, how he longed to kiss her again, to lay her out beneath him and sink back into her moist heat. And why not? Why couldn't they at least have today?

She touched his cheek. "Rick? Is that what you mean?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. Unless--" He swallowed back the urge to ask her to pack a bag and run away with him, to go anywhere they could be together and forget about the election, and instead focused on what he knew they had to do. "I don't want to have to stay away from you, but it would probably be for the best -- especially if Mindy follows through with that report."

"Even though you probably won't need my testimony after all?"

"Probably so. Let's just wait and see, okay?"

"Sure. I'll do whatever you need me to do, even though I don't want to stay away from you either. What about now, though?" she asked with a grin, running her fingertips through the stubble lining his jaw. "We still have over an hour before the WHBZ six o'clock news, so maybe we can stock up for the time we'll have to be apart."

"Stock up, you say?" His body responded to her suggestion with gusto.

She grinned, straddled his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You heard me, Sheriff, and you know exactly what I mean."