“I need you to head to Broyson and pick up the trailer that was supposed to be here earlier.”
“They not coming?”
“No. Apparently there was some
issue
and they can’t bring it.” He rolled his eyes. “We need that backhoe out of here today. Drive down, bring up the trailer and return it with the backhoe then come back.” He paused. “Please.”
Drake readjusted his cap, turning to spit a stream of tobacco juice. “On it, bossman.”
“Thought you weren’t supposed to chew.”
“Don’t rat me out, man!” he called, climbing into his truck.
Tuck waved as the man drove away, passing another one on the way in.
He barely glanced at Daisy who climbed out of his truck. She wore another business suit that he couldn’t find fault with. She opened the back door of the cab where she withdrew two boxes of doughnuts and another box of papers.
He’d not wanted to give her his truck to use but at the moment they were spread thin, assets at three different sites. So when the need to get some things picked up had arisen, he’d handed over his keys.
Tuck had left Ariel’s bed before five and hadn’t talked to her since she left. He checked his phone and frowned when there were no messages from her. Pushing Ariel back from the foremost of his thoughts, he readjusted his hard hat and went to work.
His long day went past seven and he was dragging when he got home. He slumped against the wall of the elevator and dropped his head back, eyes closed.
“You changin’ floors, handsome?”
The voice prompted him to open his eyes. Vanessa Creedy from…the fifth floor?
“Um.”
She ran her gaze hungrily over him and stepped in. “I don’t mind.” Her blue gaze ran blatantly over him. “Not at all. There’s room in my bed.”
He straightened up realising he’d slept past the stop on his floor and gave her a small chuckle. “What about your solider boyfriend? Don’t you think he may object?”
He pressed four then the first floor button and prayed they would arrive swiftly. She was looking at him like a starving animal watching meat. Vanessa dragged her tongue along her lips seductively and trailed a finger between her hoisted breasts. “He’s gone. I won’t tell him.”
The doors slid open and he left hastily. “Sorry, Vanessa.”
“You know where to find me when you change your mind.”
“Right,” he muttered. “That’s not going to happen.”
He was unlocking the door to his apartment when a uniformed officer stepped from Ariel’s. Tuck could see more inside her apartment. The man was on the phone and Tuck strode past him and stood at the apex of the chaos in her home.
He immediately found her. Ariel’s face was dirty, except for the white bandages along her cheek.
What the fuck?
“Ariel?” He repeated himself twice before she heard him and looked in his direction.
Tuck had no idea what response he expected but a head gesture wasn’t it. Words, yes. That? No. He stepped farther into the room, sidestepped two officers talking and approached her. She altered her stance a bit and he saw another bandage around her upper arm.
“What’s going on here?”
Three sets of eyes focused on him. Ariel’s and those of the two detectives she stood with. One in a blue suit and the other in black.
“Who are you?” Blue Suit asked.
“This is my neighbour,” Ariel said.
“And her boyfriend,” Tuck added almost defiantly.
The detectives lifted their brows at that. Then ignored him.
“What happened next?” Black Suit tapped his notebook.
Ariel yawned. “You arrived.”
Black Suit frowned. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“My apartment,” she said. Her words were heavily laden with sarcasm.
“Ariel?” Tuck curled his hand around her neck, needing to have some contact with her. Tired eyes met his. “What’s going on? This have anything to do with leaving early this morning?”
“You could say that.”
“What happened to your arm?”
“Got shot.” She checked her phone and he plucked it from her hand.
“Excuse me?”
She barely held his gaze. “Shot. Bullet to flesh. Shot.”
He needed to calm down but it wasn’t easy. She said it so casually. “And your head?”
“Tang.”
He frowned. “Tang? I have a feeling you’re not talking—”
She took her phone back.
“—the orange drink?”
“Nope. Knives have tangs. One caught me during a hand-to-hand confrontation.”
He didn’t quite understand. “What?” His mind refused to wrap around the words she spoke.
She looked at him, exasperation prevalent. “What, Tuck? I explained—”
“I’m not an idiot, Ariel. I just don’t get how you’re discussing being shot and having a hand-to-hand fight so casually.”
“One, it comes with the job and two, I’m too damn exhausted to do anything else.” She put the phone to her ear with a slight wince. “How is he? Good. Keep me posted.”
He wanted to shake her. “Who’s hurt?”
“Slater.” She rubbed the nape of her neck and he saw numerous cuts on the back of her hand along with some starting up her arm.
Stay calm and let her explain.
So much easier said than done. “Can you tell me what happened?”
She raised one eyebrow. “Haven’t you watched the news?”
“No. At work all day, there’s not a television out there. Then I came home.”
“An underground ring dealing with the procurement and sales of exotic animals was discovered by Slater. He, being the fool he is, went in alone. He was trying to escape when he called. He didn’t.”
She was so matter-of-fact about it.
“So you”—he shrugged—“just went in to get him.”
She held his gaze and blinked once. “Of course.”
He turned away. “Of course, she says. Like I was foolish to ask.” His head was beginning to throb and he rubbed his temple. “Unbelievable. I’m dating a female Rambo, that’s what it is.” He ran his hands through his hair and attempted to reason it out in his mind. Make some sense of the entire situation. It didn’t work.
“So that’s it then.” When he faced her, she wasn’t even looking at him. Tuck checked his watch. He still needed to eat and shower. Especially shower, to get the day’s grime off.
“Would you prefer I was crying?”
Irritated with the whole thing, he nearly snapped ‘yes’ in response. “Of course not… It’s just…a lot to take in.”
A quick, disgusted snort left her. “Right, whatever. You should probably leave before I’m sitting in a way that you can’t handle either.”
He may have been thinking such a thing but it sucked hearing it from Ariel’s lips. Not wanting to argue in front of the others, he swallowed his anger and left. After kicking the door to his place shut with the heel of his foot, he stalked to the bathroom, got in the shower and groaned in relief as hot pellets pounded into his skin.
Twenty minutes later, he stood in a pair of jeans before the microwave as he pulled out his meal. Carrying it to the couch, he put his fork into the Salisbury steak and realised how much he preferred eating with the woman across the hall.
Steve entered and the man looked rough.
“Hey.”
Steve waved and gestured over his shoulder. “What’s going on over there?”
“Something to do with that exotic animal ring that was shut down.”
He whistled. “Wow. I saw part of that on TV. They were hauling one man out of there on a stretcher. Lots of bodies in bags, too. She okay?”
He hadn’t needed to hear that. “She had some cuts.”
And a fuckin’ bullet wound.
“Good.”
Steve walked on and Tuck ate a bit only to put the fork down. Tasted like sawdust. Or cardboard. Perhaps both.
Everything in him wanted to head back over there. Hold her.
He got up and made his way to the door and opened it. Beer dangling from one hand, he stared into her place as it sat wide open. Men he didn’t know, dressed similarly to Ariel, all in black, stood near her. One bent close as the duo whispered.
Tuck was entering her apartment before he realised it and had approached the foursome. All of them looked at him.
“Need something?” Ariel asked.
“Yeah.” He gripped her chin and kissed her. Claimed her before all the men—and women—occupying her place. Her brown eyes sparked at him and he—without looking away from her—said, “Could you give us a minute?”
Each man gave her a fist bump before leaving them in relative privacy.
“Have a need to make a statement,” she said drolly.
“Yes.” He stepped so her legs were between his. “I don’t like so many men around you.”
Her eyes narrowed briefly and he waited for some remark but none was forthcoming. She yawned and he—carefully—cupped the back of her head, pressing her to him.
“Have you eaten?”
“Yesterday with you.” She turned her head, hair gliding along his skin. “Oh, wait. That’s not true. I split a power bar thingy with Connie.”
He furrowed his brow. “Where is Connie?”
“Hospital with Slater waiting for him to wake so she can kick his ass.”
He had so many questions. “How long are they here for?”
She shrugged. “No clue.”
“Who’s in charge?”
Another yawn. “Blue suit. Bald head. Name’s Jack.”
Tuck located him and whispered, “Be right back.”
He waited for the blue-suited, bald man to finish with the officer he spoke with.
“Yes?”
“How much longer is this going to take?”
“Who are you?”
“Her boyfriend.”
He lifted his bushy eyebrows. “We’re in the middle of an investigation.”
“So conduct it at your station. She’s wiped.”
“We’ll be in touch.” Jack whistled. “Let’s go.” He stared at Tuck. “She thinks of anything else, have her contact me.”
“Sure thing.” He helped shoo them out and locked the door behind the last departing person. “Shower and I’ll fix you something to eat.”
She slid off the table and rotated her booted feet. Tuck realised how exhausted she was. He knelt down and unlaced her black boots before removing them.
“Can you handle the rest?”
“Uh-huh.” She stumbled to her room and moments later the shower came on.
He made her a cup of soup. Quick and easy. Not to mention, it wasn’t anything heavy. Ten minutes later, he pushed into her bathroom.
“Ariel?”
“Hmm?”
“You awake?”
“Uh-uh.”
He moved the curtain and the sight of her wet, naked body had him repeating
hands off
through his mind. She leaned in the corner, her eyes closed. Tuck shut off the shower, wrapped a towel around her then assisted her to the kitchen table.
As she sat, he nuked her soup then placed it before her.
“Drink up.”
She didn’t move.
“Drink up, Marine.”
She reached for the cream of chicken and drank it down as he stared at her bandaged arm and face.
“Come on,” he encouraged as she lowered her head to the table.
Eyes barely open, she didn’t protest when he guided her back to her room and put her to bed. She was asleep almost instantly and he sat beside her, just watching her for a while, thinking about how he was going to talk through this because he wasn’t sure he could do it without yelling. He wasn’t sure—correction, he was positive—he didn’t like her in danger.
Chapter Fourteen
Ariel smiled at Connie as they worked together to get the Thanksgiving meal ready. A few people had shown up and they were expecting more to dribble in throughout the morning. They’d set the meal time for one, but most they knew would be there early.
There was a bit of strain between her and Tuck. There was something she’d not told him that still bothered her, aside from the fact he was still upset over what had happened when she and the others had gone after Slater. He’d told her she wasn’t a Marine any longer, she didn’t need to go acting like one. She shook her head—he just didn’t understand. He wanted her to stay behind the desk and do her work that way and it was hard for him to reconcile she did more than he’d first assumed. Regardless, she was looking forward to spending this holiday with him.
Slater was there—Connie told the man he was coming so she could keep an eye on him. Steve was chatting with Slater. Tuck would be arriving later, as would his old boss and mentor.
This morning she and Connie, who’d stayed the night, had moved her living room around to make more seating room. The table had been extended and was set for the meal, the fire-engine red candles in the middle waiting to be lit.
The entire place smelt like heaven and she was having a hard time not swiping more food.
“Good thing you got so many olives,” Connie said.
“I know, I think we’ve eaten an entire container ourselves so far.”
Connie laughed and poured the chocolate filling into the pie shell. “At least one. Maybe one of black and one green.”
“Could be. All I know is they’re tasty and I have no shame.”
“Makes two of us.” She licked the spatula. “Apparently that extends to chocolate as well.”
Ariel chuckled and went back to chopping the rest of the veggies to refill the plate people were snacking from. “Ain’t nothing wrong with that, Connie. What with chocolate being one of the food groups.” She popped in a piece of celery. “At least in my world.”
“I like your world, sounds good to me.” The dish went to the sink and Connie got to work on something else.
“Knock knock!” a man called out.
Ariel looked up and saw an older gentleman in the doorway. She’d left her door open. She wiped her hands and went to meet him. “You must be Richard, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Ariel.”
He took her hand and bent over it. “Thank you so much for inviting an old man you don’t know to dinner.”
“The more the merrier. Come on in. Tuck should be here later.” She took the bottle of wine he offered and led him in. “Everyone, this is Richard.” She passed the gift to Connie who placed it on the counter as introductions were made.
The nearer it got to one, the richer the scents were in the apartment. They were sitting around, drinking wine and laughing when Tuck showed up. Connie nudged her in the side and said, “Who the fuck is that with him?”
Ariel had to pull her gaze from Tuck who stood in the doorway looking too damn good for her own sanity in order to answer Connie’s question.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Standing just slightly behind him was none other than Daisy.