Forbidden With Me - Leigh Lennon Page 0,40

was how I understood I crossed the line. It doesn’t take much, mind you.

“Actually, Detective, it’s not necessary.” Vanessa’s boss answers for her. “That’s why we are prepared to have a shadow in plain clothes.” He pauses, clearing his throat, avoiding Vanessa’s glare. “And because this is a very extraordinary situation, you’ll be in the custody of Detective Shanahan and Detective Higgins at night.”

“Like in a safe house?” she asks, and she’s so adorable in her innocence.

Vanessa’s boss snickers at her. “I think you may have watched too many cop shows, my dear.” She blushes, turning her attention away from him. “Oh, honey, I’m not teasing you. In this situation, we’ll have you under the protection of these two fine men.”

“Wait?” She stands, and I lose my touch with Malia. “You’re telling me I have to uproot from my dorm room and stay at someone else’s house?”

Vanessa thwarts my attempt to calm her. “Or you can just do what I suggested, and then you’re able to do whatever the hell you want.”

Malia’s hands pound the desk in front of her. Vanessa and Mal are staring at one another. “You’ve been nothing but a bitch to me since I’ve walked into this office, Captain, and I, for one, am growing tired of it.” Vanessa opens her mouth, but Malia puts her index finger in front of Vanessa’s lips. “No, you don’t get to speak. The woman whose life has been turned upside down by a serial killer gets to speak. Get off your fucking high horse and maybe start solving this fucking murder case instead of sitting in your castle judging everyone.”

Vanessa’s boss is behind her, and I’m behind Malia, but I’m quietly rooting her on. “Okay,” the upper brass boss man starts, “I think we all know what we’re doing. Detective Shanahan, why don’t you get Ms. Strickland settled, get the patrolmen of your choice on a rotation, and if you need anything, my office is open.”

Hot fucking dog! Her boss just told me to bypass Satan and come to him. I walk out, my hand settling in a protective fashion on the small of her back. “Hell, Rocky, next time, I’m getting you some boxing gloves, and you can take care of her the right way.”

Chapter 14

Malia

Higgins brings me a cup of coffee, sitting in Wells’s seat while my drill sergeant is downstairs arranging escorts for me. Higgins, or Higgie as Wells refers to him, is young, closer to my age than Wells, and he’s the pretty kind of cute. “I just made it, so hopefully it doesn’t suck too much,” he teases, but I don’t care. I take the first sip, hoping this may calm my nerves. I don’t think Valium at this point can still my racing mind of the past seven days.

“It’s not bad,” I say.

He begins to chuckle, and when he does, the largest dimples form perfectly smack dab in the middle of his cheeks. Damn, I’m a dimples girl.

“But it’s not great, either,” he counters. I tip my head as a simple way of agreeing with him.

“So, Detective Higgins—” I’m about to ask a question, and he cuts me off.

“Stewart, please call me Stewart.”

“Okay, then, Stewart, what is the deal? Where am I going to sleep tonight? I mean, will it be here?”

A small smile peeks through his full lips, and his eyes shine like emeralds. “No, we’ll be at Wells’s house. I have a dumpy apartment.”

“What if I didn’t know Wells?”

There are scuff marks behind me, and Higgins almost jumps from his seat. “But you do, so there’s that.”

This can’t be in the rules, and it dawns on me. That bitch was jealous of her ex, and now I want to prance around the precinct like a peacock fluttering my feathers. Though a peacock is a boy and those birds are nasty as they come.

“But this can’t be protocol, Wells?” Then another thought occurs to me. “How many other witnesses have you had at your house?”

Both he and Higgins laugh at me this time, and I’m not amused. My face reddens, and I feel its heat all over my cheeks. “Oh, don’t worry, sweetheart,” Wells begins, “you’re the only one.” Did I sense his voice change? Was there a hint of flirting?

“So, here’s the deal. I can’t get escorts for you until tomorrow, so you’re stuck with us for the day.”

I look around the dingy station. The linoleum tile and the dust on the windows look out to an old supermarket that looks