Danger Signals

Tears stung her eyes. The dog continued to regard her with what seemed to be utter disdain as she fondled his long silky ears and murmured dopey endearments.

'Unbelievable,' Wade said.

Tierney looked up and her heart performed an impossible maneuver.

He was freshly shaven and showered, dressed in tan slacks and a light blue shirt open, as always, at the neck. A navy-blue blazer was slung over one shoulder, hanging from a crooked finger. His eyes were so vivid a blue it made her own eyes smart to look into them.

'This is the sweetest dog.' she said, hiding her shakiness with laughter. 'Is he yours?'

'Sweet. You're kidding, right?' He snorted. 'The mutt smells like a rancid landfill. On a hot day.'

'Oh, he does not.' She looked down at the dog. who had turned his head to stare haughtily at Wade over one shoulder. 'What's his name?'

'Bruno. And if he hasn't gassed you out yet, give him a minute. He prefers sneak attacks. He's my landlords' dog, and the bane of my existence. I would have caught me a stalker the other night if it hadn't been for this lazy-'

'He's got a nervous stomach.' Tierney informed him as she got to her feet, brushing off her jeans. She gave Wade an accusing look. 'You make him nervous, actually. He knows you don't like him.'

'Unbelievable,' he breathed, gazing at her in wonderment. 'I leave you alone for ten minutes and you become a dog whisperer.'

He'd done some whispering with himself during those ten minutes, a good part of which had been spent staring at his own countenance in the mirror. What he'd seen there hadn't made him happy. He was used to thinking of himself as one of the good guys, and didn't much care for the complete and total jackass looking back at him.

The first thing he'd reminded himself was that, whatever was going on with Tierney. it wasn't in any way. shape or form her fault. As far as the job and the case went, she was doing what she'd been called on to do. Doing it even though it was causing her a considerable amount of pain and suffering, and even though she had enough on her plate already just trying to look after a grandmother with Alzheimer's. And as for what happened between them last night…well, no matter what she said, he knew that was on him.

The second thing? Completely aside from what had happened between them last night, she was first and foremost his partner. She should be able to trust him to look out for her. And she definitely deserved better than she'd gotten from him so far.

Well-not counting the sex. He didn't see how he was ever going to top last night in that department. Assuming he ever got a chance to try.

Yeah, he told himself, gazing down into her radiant face and shimmering eyes, this is the way to go. Partners. Keep things on a strictly professional basis between us. Until we get this other thing figured out, anyway…

At least it looked like she'd gotten over being mad at him. or whatever it was that had been bothering her.

'You want me to take you to pick up your car before we head out to the suspect's place?' he asked as he fished his keys out of his pocket.

Her eyes followed Bruno as he went ambling off toward his favorite shady spot under the rhododendrons. Then she gave Wade a distracted smile that faded as he watched, and murmured. 'I'd rather go with you-if that's okay.'

She's dreading this, he thought. And then, in mild surprise, Man, I 'm getting pretty good at this empathy thing.

He reached out one arm. hooked it around her neck and drew her close, allowing himself one brief moment, no more. Partners…

He closed his eyes, exhaled, then kissed the top of her head and let her go. When he did, something kicked him painfully under his ribs.

Partners? Who am I kidding?

'Mind if I ask who this person is-and how you found him?' Tierney asked.

'Traffic tickets.' Wade smiled darkly, aware that at the moment they were speeding through considerably more traffic than there'd been earlier this morning and he was in some danger of receiving a citation himself. He didn't want to use his stick-on lights and siren on the way to meet SWAT on the off chance their suspect was in the vicinity, after all.

'Traffic tickets?' He felt her eyes on him as she waited for his explanation.

He glanced in his mirrors and executed an illegal lane change before giving her one.

'Yeah…since Officer Williams was a traffic cop, we figured maybe this creep targeted her because she'd given him one recently. Came up with a whole slew of possibles based on age and gender, then searched those for backgrounds that fit the profile you gave us. That knocked the list all the way down to seven. Interviews made it three-a small enough number that we were able to get warrants to search phone and credit card records. That's where we hit paydirt. Phone records were a bust, but turns out one of our candidates-fellow by the name of James Jeffry Larson, known in his checkered past as J.J.-had some expense items that dovetailed nicely with several of the murders.' He paused for a tire squeal and leaned into a high-speed turn. When the car had stopped fishtailing, he smiled grimly at the mirrors and then at the street ahead. 'Now I guess we'll see if those were just coincidences, or if this is our guy.'

There was no immediate response from his passenger, but he could tell she was looking at him. He risked a glance and found something in those blue eyes of hers that made a jolt of purely masculine elation go shooting through him-probably an unnecessary boost to the adrenaline already there.

'What?' he said, and braced for her usual evasive reply.

It didn't come. 'It's pretty amazing, what you do.' she said as she shifted her gaze to the front again. 'The police work, I mean. In fact, I really don't know why you needed me.'

He gave her another quick look, wondering if she was regretting the circumstances that had brought them together. Maybe wishing they hadn't happened?

'Just basic detective work, Miss Tee. A whole lot of man-hours, most of them not mine, by the way. The kind of eye-crossingly boring stuff you don't get to see on those TV cop shows. And yeah, we probably would have gotten here eventually without you. But not before who knows how many other women had to die unspeakable deaths. Die in terror and pain.' He pulled his car into the parking area where the SWAT van and other members of his team had gathered, waiting for him. He cut the motor, pulled the keys and turned in the seat to face her.

'You shut him down, Tierney,' he said quietly. 'I know it cost you. But those women the slime bag didn't get to kill? That's on you.'

He watched her eyes fill and knew he didn't dare touch her. He felt a weakening in his muscles and a cold knot in the pit of his stomach. Pure fear. What was the woman doing to him?

She looked away from him…he saw her swallow, and blink her vision clear as she stared through the windshield. Then she went sheet-white.

'Wade-this is-'

'The park where the next-to-last victim was found. Your first. Yeah,' he said with a grim smile, 'that's one of those little things that might be coincidence-or not. The guy, J. J. Larson, lives just five blocks from here.'

He told her to stay put, then got out of the car and went to confer with the other members of the task force.

Ed Francks came to meet him, stopped him a short distance from the rest of the take-down team and handed him a vest. 'Hey, partner, where's your cryst-'

Wade cut him off right there. 'Don't say it, Ed. Not you, too. I swear to God-' He gave it up. exhaled and pointed with a head jerk. 'She's with me. In the car.'

'Got one of these for her, too. Want me to-'

'I'll take it.'

He looked up from what he was doing, strapping on the vest, getting his weapon and badge squared away. 'What're you laughin' at?'

'Me? I ain't laughin'. Who's laughing?'

'Grinnin' like a fool, then.'