pulled her to his chest. Trapping her arms by her side, he hugged her. She didn’t try to get away. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t think she knew she was crying.
When she relaxed against him, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to his parents’ bedroom. She needed sleep. Solid, uninterrupted sleep. They both did.
But sure as a rooster woke at dawn, he was locking her door to keep himself from coming back.
Darby awoke with a start. She’d been dreaming of cornfields, miniature aliens and dodging bullets. She wanted to forget the strange images her subconscious had conjured. Familiar faces on neon-green monsters, chasing her through a maze of cornstalks that grew higher than she could see.
And through it all, Erren had been by her side, cupping her face with his strong hands, wrapping her hair around his fingers, smoothing away her tears with a soft touch.
A very weird dream.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she searched for a clock in the cabin bedroom. Nothing. No ticking. But she’d heard…
Not ticking, it was scratching.
Wait. Rustling. The sound was real, not a remnant from her dream.
Real and outside.
She must have slept the day away. It was almost dark. Shoes? Gun? Nothing.
Right next to Erren’s on the bookshelf near the kitchen. Exactly where they’d left them during their meal.
Booted feet would have been nice, but barefoot she could creep across the floor silently. She tiptoed through the bathroom to the second bedroom, straining to hear. There it was again. A scrape against the house…or a branch. Then a shadow.
She pushed the door open without a creak and saw and heard Erren’s deep-in-sleep breathing. Her partner’s lap was layered with papers, at his feet a trunk that hadn’t been there previously.
It wasn’t the time to think about him lying there clean-shaven, in swim trunks or that he hadn’t bothered with a shirt. She concentrated on the noise outside, not the body she wanted to gently awaken with her touch.
Someone tromped around the corner of the house. The gate leading to the back porch sighed a heavy, rusty groan. Reflecting the life of something old and little used.
It might be safer to awaken sleeping beauty from his lounger, but he hadn’t awoken easily that morning and he might be noisy. Better to take whoever was sneaking through the back door by surprise. She made it to the kitchen, wanting the cast-iron skillet she’d seen earlier. The doorknob turned. Out of time.
Darby knelt on the floor, sinking below the counter separating her corner from the family room.
One man entered the unlocked door with caution. He took one step, stumbling in the semidarkness against one of the dining chairs.
The snoring stopped. Erren was awake.
The man had his back to her and she leaped to knock whatever he held out of his hand. Police protocol be damned. He wasn’t much competition. Nothing like Erren, who had blocked and dodged her easily. This man was almost bumbling in his awkwardness.
Again she caught the man off guard, threw a right cross and he went down to the floor.
The lights flipped on. Erren was awake.
“Darby,” Erren said from across the room. “Um, I think ADA Thrumburt would like you to get off his chest.”
“Who?” she asked. She looked at the guy she had pinned to the floor. The fifteenth recruit. Perfectly pressed shirt, wimpy arms and a confused look plastered to his face.
“I guess we don’t need to test your fighting skills.” Erren set his gun back on the bookshelf. “Brian, meet Darby O’Malley.”
Darby moved to one side of the assistant district attorney, careful not to put a knee in an embarrassing spot. She picked up his round, wire-framed glasses and held them in one hand while offering her other to help the young man stand. He clumsily took advantage, almost pulling her off her feet in the process.
“My apologies. I thought you… Well, it looked like you had a weapon.” His “gun” turned out to be a flashlight that had rolled to the middle of the room when she’d jumped him from behind.
“Totally my fault. I should have knocked louder, but Erren expressed my need for discretion. He asked me to leave my car up the road. I’m afraid I got turned around and came via a path instead of the drive.” The ADA dusted his suit pants while he spoke. He was still wearing his tie and jacket, which seemed so out of place in the rustic cabin especially as Erren was wearing swim trunks.
It was almost comical how the Dallas ADA looked like a classic geek compared to Erren, who was such a jock. An old smear of an ink stain on the back of Brian’s hand seemed to confirm his clumsiness.
“But you made it,” Erren said casually. “I’ll see if I can dig something up for you to wear, Darby. We need clean clothes for what I have in mind. And you may want a shower.”
He threw the comment over his shoulder as he disappeared into a bedroom. Once again, totally confident in his take-charge attitude, leaving her in the dark. She might just have to
“I know we haven’t met, Ms. O’Malley, but I’m very familiar with your work.”
“That would be my brother.” She assumed he was making the same mistake as the infuriating man who’d just left her alone with instructions to strip and shower.
“Oh, no. I’m familiar with your brother as well. But your interviews in the Dallas Narcotics Division have made my job much easier. You’re very thorough.”
“Thanks.” At least someone appreciated her ability. “I’m at the academy now.”
“Yes. Darn shame if you ask me. You’ve been a tremendous asset.”
“Guess you two finished the introductions,” Erren said, tossing her a shirt and shorts. “Brian, time to get started. Darby…”
Yes, he’d made a thumb motion over his left shoulder, instructing her to hit the shower. Absolutely no way. If he thought she would calmly walk into another room and let him plan the next steps without her… Well, she…
No tantrums.
No arguments.
She took a seat, put the clothes on the table and gestured for their visitor to join her.
Brian sat.
Erren pulled her chair, scooting her away from the table. “Listen, hon.”
“Hon?”
“I need a couple of minutes alone with Brian.” He leaned in close but didn’t lower his voice. “I promise not to keep any secrets.”
“I don’t believe you,” she answered.
Brian looked around the room, “I can wait outside if you need a moment of privacy.”
Erren placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, keeping him in the chair. “That’s not necessary. Darby really needs a…” He sniffed. Loudly. “A shower.”
He’d sniffed her and made a face. He wrinkled up that broken nose of his and implied that she smelled. It didn’t matter if she did or not. She wasn’t leaving.
“I’m sure we’d all be more comfortable if I stepped outside.” Brian tried to rise again.
Erren’s body language changed. Instead of the relaxed jock with fantastic muscles, he became the man who claimed he wasn’t lying. Everything about his demeanor tightened, became edgy. And instead of making her jumpy, she softened, unable to resist the appeal he might actually be telling the truth.
“I need a minute with Brian. What I’m discussing doesn’t concern your brother.” It looked as if he forcibly
