All Kinds of Tied Down (19 page)

“Okay.”

“I guess it’s at some lodge where he’ll have a place to run and do whatever.”

“You’re not afraid someone will mistake him for a real wolf and shoot his furry ass?”

“With a big lime-green collar?”

Kowalski shrugged. “I guess. At least he doesn’t have one of those douchey bandanas.”

I chuckled.

“So that’s why you were late getting over here, ’cause you had to drop off the dog.”

“Right.”

“Has Doyle’s wolf been with you for the whole two months?”

“Yeah.”

“Gee, Jones, I wish I had a nice boyfriend like you too.”

I slammed on the brakes, which made his seatbelt tighten fast, catching him sharp and tight across the chest.

“Fuck!”

“Seatbelts work,” I said drolly, rolling my head to look at him.

“The problem with you is you’re way too fuckin’ sensitive.”

I waited.

“Fine, sorry, whatever, can we go?”

I gave him the silent treatment as we sat in traffic.

“I know you miss him,” Kowalski said out of the blue.

“What’re you talking about?”

“Doyle,” he explained. “You miss your partner. I’d miss Kohn, if he took off too. Only your partner really knows you.”

Since grown men did not whimper with pent-up need, I just cleared my throat and agreed with him. When my phone rang, I was going to answer it, but Kowalski slapped my hand.

“Where’s your earpiece?”

“Probably in the other car,” I snapped, answering on the second ring.

“Hey,” Aruna said on the other end. “Dogs can’t have chocolate, can they?”

“No.”

“How ’bout yogurt?”

“Listen to me: do not feed that dog people food. I told you that before.”

The tsk of displeasure was not lost on me.

“Lemme talk to your husband.”

Quick huff and then, “Hey.” Liam Duffy’s baritone swirled over the line. “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to thank you again for doing this for me.”

“Are you kidding?” he said happily. “He’s always so good when you bring him over, and now I have someone to run with while I’m up there, and to help look out for Aruna.”

It was true. Chickie had a protective instinct when it came to women and a weird herding thing he did with kids. He was always trying to corral Aruna and put himself between her and other people. She praised him for it, and he wriggled with joy.

“I think you left me too much dog food, though.”

“It’s funny that you think that thirty-five pound bag will last.”

“Really?” He sounded surprised. “For three days?”

I cackled before I hung up.

“Seriously, Jones,” Kowalski said quickly. “Where’s your earpiece?”

He was so by-the-book, which made sense, because Kohn was very similar to him. Ian was not a stickler for the rules and had worn me down in some areas so that I, too, disregarded them.

“So what’s it like, trying to keep Kohn’s women straight?”

“What’s it like having all your bones broken following around Captain America?”

“I actually break things and get shot all on my own now.”

He had no witty comeback.

We were silent for the rest of the drive in, and I made sure to pull up in front of our building so he could get out and not have to go to the garage with me.

“What?”

“You can get out, I—”

“No, man, park the car. Don’t be so fuckin’ sensitive.”

Turning to him, the mountain of muscle in the passenger seat beside me
—
his biceps were bigger than my thighs, his neck nonexistent
—
I waited.

“Yeah, okay,” he snarled. “I shouldn’t give you any grief about Doyle since you’re moonin’ over him and all.”

My eyebrows lifted, and he swore under his breath.

“Just—why don’t we go to Starbucks and get some fruity coffee you like.”

I snorted out a laugh, because it was only getting worse.

“Fuck you, Jones!”

Letting him off the hook, I peeled out, which he liked, and drove to the parking structure. As we walked together after I parked, I stopped and checked my boots.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just don’t wanna get these wet. The bottoms are leather.”

He rolled his eyes. “Jesus. You and Kohn, why do you wear your good shit to work?”

It was a very good question.

I
WAS
at my desk later in the day finishing up paperwork to close the Tolliver case, when my phone rang. I picked it up without checking the display, preoccupied with looking for my mouse, at a loss as to where it could be. I started rifling through my desk drawers.

“M?”

I froze. “Ian?” After close to two months, he sounded really good.

“Yeah.”

“Hey, buddy,” I said, smiling stupidly, I was sure. God, I was so happy to hear from him. “Are you safe?”

“Yeah.”

“All in one piece?”

“I am.”

“S’good to hear you.” It was like I could suddenly breathe, up from the deep drowning place where I’d been struggling for air since he’d left. “Back to civilization, huh?”

“Almost. I’m in Honolulu and I’m on the next flight out for Chicago in like half an hour. I’ll be there sometime in the morning, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You should sleep in, rest up.” I sighed. “Me and Becker are flying out to Tennessee tomorrow to drive a prisoner back.”

“Oh, so you’re working this weekend.”

“Yeah, and because your old man is out of town, I sent your dog to the mountains with some friends of mine.”

“Well, he’ll love that. Who’s got him?”

“My friend Aruna and her husband. You’ve met them a ton of times.”

“Yeah, sure, they’re real nice.”

Something was wrong. “You sound weird. You okay?”

“Yeah, no, just tired.”

“Okay,” I said, relieved, exhaling my worry. “Well, I’m bummed I won’t get to see you sooner, but it’ll give you time to sink back into your life a little. I can give you Aruna’s number if you want to go get Chickie before I get—”

“No, that’s okay. You can bring him on Monday.”

“Okay, good.” I couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

“You missed me, huh,” he said, like, of course I had. He was so arrogant.

“I did,” I confessed, because that was my place in the partnership. I said it so he didn’t have to. It was how we worked. “I really did.” It was so good to hear his voice, to be able to talk to him whenever I wanted. “You think you’ll have to go again right away?”

“I hope not.”

There were no guarantees with Ian. “Okay.”

He cleared his throat. “So, you do anything more exciting than leaping off balconies while I was gone?”

“Actually,” I said playfully, “I’m saving that for you. We can do that again when you get home.”

Silence.

“Did I lose you?” He was in Hawaii, after all, maybe some hot girl in a bikini had walked by and he bailed on me.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“What?”

“You said you’re saving that for me?”

Oh, he
was
listening. “For us, yeah. I think it should be our thing now. I’m sure the boss’ll be thrilled.”

“Yeah, no. That should not be our thing,” he said, all serious.

“Hey, so you know, White’s okay too.”

“Pardon?”

“Well, ’cause he was in a coma.”

“He was—what?”

“I, however, was not in a coma, merely sleeping. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”

“I’m—you were… what?”

“What’re you doing?” Kowalski asked as he rolled his chair over to me. “You need to get that done so we can go pick up our witness.”

“I can’t find my mouse.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Kowalski,” I answered Ian.

“Who’s that?”

“Doyle,” I answered Kowalski.

Kowalski motioned for me to give him the phone, and I handed it off as I checked my wastebasket. Why the mouse was in there, sitting on top of the paper, I had no idea.

“Who keeps fuckin’ around at my desk?” I yelled out to the room.

The denials came fast and furious. A whole room of people who’d never even sat in my chair. Right.

“Shot,” Kowalski said gruffly. “Twice. Yeah, him and White. Ching too, but you know Wes. You’d have to, like, run him over or something. He was out of the hospital while your boy and White were still in surgery.”

I got the page I needed opened and started to type while Kowalski kept talking to Ian.

“He lost a fuckton of blood but he saved the witness. I think all four of them—what? Oh, yeah, Kohn, too, he was good with the diversion, gave Jones time to get the witness out.”

“What was the name of the auto shop Nina and I ran into?” I asked Kowalski.

“Like I would know. Look it up.”

Silence.

“What?” He was still talking to Ian. “Yeah, he’s good, all in one piece except for his boots, apparently. I swear to God, Kohn’s the same fuckin’ way. How do you deal with all the whining about the clothes?”

I snickered as he passed me my phone and rolled away. “Hey, so—”

“Shot?” He sounded like he was going to hyperventilate. “You got shot? Again?”

“Yeah I—”

“Were you wearing your vest?”

I nearly choked. “Me? Of course I was wea—”

“Why didn’t somebody call me?”

“Uhm,” I began, chuckling, “how were they supposed to do that, Mr. Green Beret, sir?”

“Fuck!”

“It’s fine, I’m fine, all is well with the world, except, ya know, I was stuck at home for a week and then riding my desk the next, but in all that time, I still haven’t finished this paperwork. Don’t get shot, it’s a fuckin’ nightmare.”

“Miro—”

“And before that I had to go out to Elgin and—”

“You had to go see Hartley?”

“Yeah.”

“When was this?”

“Before I got shot,” I repeated. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, I’m—did anyone go with you?” He sounded pained.

“No.”

“Shit.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s not.”

“Ian—”

“Have you lost your fuckin’ mind?”

I was so confused. “Sorry?”

“Do you or do you not need me there?”

I couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see me, and so there was the possibility that we were talking about two completely different things. Like maybe I was trying to make him feel better about not being there, and all he wanted to hear was that I missed him and wanted him home. Without looking into his beautiful eyes, it was difficult to guess. “Yeah,” I husked, letting the wave of aching, devouring need infuse my voice for a moment. “I need you here.”

He sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, so I gotta go get on the plane, but, uhm, I’ll see you in the morning, all right?”

“Ian, don’t do—”

“I wanna see you!”

It took a bit for his words to sink in. He wanted to see me?

“Okay? Is that fine?” he snapped irritably.

It was so much more than fine. “Yeah, that’s good.”

We were both quiet a moment.

“It was weird.”

“What was?” I prodded, wanting to hear whatever he was thinking about. Whenever he opened up about anything, I wanted to know.

“I kept looking at the guys that were with me and thinking: if Miro was here, he would’ve done this or said that or whatever.”

“Oh yeah? I’m easy to anticipate, am I?” I laughed softly.

“Yeah. Yeah, you are.”

“What can I say, I’m a simple guy.”

“I guess.”

“Hey,” I said cheerfully. “My cast is off, so I can throw you around.”

“What?” he gasped.

“When we square off during practice,” I teased. “You had the advantage when you left, man, but I can hold you down again.”

His breath hitched, and I heard it even over the phone line.

“E?” I said, shortening his name to its first syllable, which I barely ever did, but he was scaring me all of a sudden. “You didn’t get hurt or something, did you?”

“No, I—”

“Remember that time you got paralyzed and they weren’t sure how long it was gonna last and you—”

“That was two years ago, Miro. I barely knew you.”

“Do you remember or not?” I demanded, my voice rising.

“Of course I remember—why you always gotta bring that up?”

“Because you lied to me,” I pointed out.

“And I apologized!”

“Well, is this like that time or not?” I asked, my voice rising.

“Not!” he barked. “It’s not like that at all.”

“Okay, that’s all you had to say.”

He had lied about where he was, and I’d tracked him to a VA hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. I had been so angry at him for pushing me away, thinking that he had to be by himself until he either got better or didn’t. I was livid that he’d thought he had to handle everything alone. He was my partner and I deserved to be thought of better. He should have known that whatever it was, I would be there. I always had his back. There should never have been any doubt in his mind.

“M?”

I coughed. “Sorry, I was just thinking about the last time you were in the hospital.”

“Well, I’m sorry I wasn’t there when the roles were reversed.”

“It’s fine,” I said dismissively. “But you’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I swear, I’m in way better shape than you.”

“I’m in great shape,” I defended myself.

“Except for your shoes,” Kowalski chimed in with a laugh.

“What’s wrong with your shoes?” Ian wanted to know.

“They’re getting wet from the snow.”

He sighed heavily. “What’d I tell you about that?”

“Yeah, I know, me and Kohn both shouldn’t be wearing our good stuff to the job.”

He was quiet.

“You still there?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so—”

“Miro?”

“I’m fine, I promise.”

“Where were you shot?”

“Once in the right shoulder and another in my left collarbone,” I reported. “But nothing serious or life threatening was hit either time. There was just a lotta blood.”

“You’re sure?”

“Listen,” I said gently. “I’m fine, E. Cross my heart. Get your ass home and you can check for yourself, all right?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, all right.”

“So I’ll see ya when I get home from picking up—” I had to check the paperwork on my desk. “—Drake Ford.”