Authors: Kassanna
“Why did you have to shoot her?” someone screamed.
Shit was definitely escalating out of control. He disengaged the connection before holstering his weapon and stomping forward. He ignored the people around him and approached the prone woman.
Finally, the backup he had been waiting for arrived. Police officers shouldered through the group, breaking them up and cordoning off the scene. Rick looked up to see his old friend, Sergeant Jeffries, gazing down at him as he locked zip ties around the assailant’s wrists.
“Why am I not surprised to find you in the middle of this madness?” Sarge waved a hand in question.
Rick rose. “It was a domestic dispute, and she had a weapon. I made a call. You need to find the guy. He was pretty beat up, so that shouldn’t be hard. I’ll write up my report and forward it to you.”
“I thought you wanted to get away from these types of calls. Isn’t that why you transferred to the DA’s office?” Jeffries scratched his chin.
“Something like that. But you’re here now, so have at it.” Rick turned and met the anxious gaze of the child that had been trying to reach the couple.
“I called Aunty Di, Daddy was high. She was the only person I could think of that would be able to protect us,” the kid sobbed. “Please let her go.” Tears streamed down her small oval face as she released the kid next to her and grasped Rick’s fingers.
He gently tugged his hand free and watched as paramedics crossed the tape and hurried toward the woman. Digging those barbs out was going to hurt.
Guilt welled up within him, making him uncomfortable. He exhaled and returned his focus to the little girl. “That’s out of my hands.”
He moved past the little girl and glanced over his shoulder one more time at the woman. Her braids were fanned out around her head and she still gripped the bat.
Later, he would get hold of Jeffries and find out what really happened. After all, there were always three sides to every story: suspect one, suspect two, and the truth. He guessed she had one hell of a tale to tell.
Why was he so interested?
He shook his head and stalked to his car. There were other cases that needed his attention.
Chapter Two
Papers littered the tiny desk. Indiana tapped the keyboard and stared at the flat screen monitor. Indelible Ink—the tattoo parlor she ran with Marty—was at least making enough to pay them and keep the keep the shop open.
The lines on the spreadsheet blurred, and she closed her tired eyes to rub them. Another month’s worth of bills paid. Personally, she would have to do a little creative juggling now that she had another lawyer to pay off. It took all of her savings to cover his retainer. Between the criminal attorney and the family law attorney, she was in serious debt.
Kevin even contacted her from the county jail, looking for her to bail him out again. Yeah, like that was going to happen.
Indiana snorted; at least, the cop was fair and arrested her brother, too. Calista and Caivin were staying with her at the moment, but that could change if she was found guilty of the assault charges. The only family the children knew beside their parents was her, and the last place she wanted to see them was in a flawed foster system. And that was a serious possibility, because she hadn’t seen Marva since the altercation.
Living with their mother was only marginally better, but she didn’t believe that Marva would hurt them. She had back-to-back court dates. The judge might throw out the case, based on the circumstances, or she might get a few hundred hours or so community service. Worst case scenario; she would do jail time, and that would really screw her up in family court.
She opened her eyes and glanced at the calendar nailed to the wall. Who was she kidding? Her life was based on bad shit happening, so her best bet was to plan for the worst and hope for the best. She needed to come up with contingency plans B, C, and D. Indiana skimmed her palm along her braids and patted the spot that was itching.
Marty filled the doorway, bracing his arms against the jamb. He raised a brow in her direction.
“What do you want now?” She looked him up and down. He was a good-looking man, tatted and bald and when he wasn’t in the shop, he was at the gym. She often wondered what kind of lover he would make and chuckled at her train of thought. Marty wouldn’t be interested in her. He was in a committed relationship with a male bodybuilder that could break her in two.
“Your two o’clock is here. Want to let me in on the joke?” Marty waggled his brows.
“Not really. Brice might hurt me.” She leaned forward and braced her chin in her hand.
“Uh-uh, he loves you. I think he might even switch sides for you. By the way, I asked him to pick up the kids from school and daycare. I have a two-thirty I couldn’t reschedule.”
“Thanks for that. I appreciate you two helping me out with Calista and Caivin.” She rose. “I’m still keeping my thoughts to myself. Bills are paid, so all that’s left is to collect our salary.”
“Wonderful. I might be able to afford to take my man out for dinner.” Marty rolled his eyes. “Speaking of which, your next appointment is smoking hot and if he wasn’t so adamant about having you, I would definitely try to claim him.”
“Then Brice would kill you and when he went to trial, I would back up his fake alibi ’cause, yeah, I want to live.” She squeezed around the desk. “See? Your errant thoughts could lead us to a very dark place, so get your mind out of the gutter.” She stood in front of her partner and wiggled her fingers. “Well, it’s time to put these moneymakers to work, because Mama’s gotta make that cash.”
“Go get it, Dirty.” Marty snapped his fingers in an arch and eased out of the way. “Show ’em what you working with.”
“Don’t do that. You just killed the manly image I had of you.” Indiana shook her head and ambled down the hall toward her cubbyhole.
“Hi, I’m Indiana.” She rounded the corner and stopped to stare at the man filling her small space.
The cop who’d tased her circled the room, peering at the framed images hanging on the walls. He glanced her way and nodded in acknowledgement.
The guy didn’t look like a policeman, but more like a grungy roadie for a rock band. He wore dark jeans and a T-shirt with the name of a local rock band splashed across the front. The muscular lines of his body were easily defined by the way his clothes clung to his body. His black hair was combed back and curled around the collar of his shirt. His shield hung around his neck, swinging gently with every move he made. The guy was hot, or she was horny and had waited way too long to satisfy her needs.
“Did you draw all these?” He twisted around and gazed at her through vivid green eyes
“I did.” She crossed her arms under her breasts and focused on the machinery beyond his hand. “What do you want?”
“I want another tattoo and you came highly recommended.” He reached behind him and yanked his shirt off. “I was thinking, something right here.” He pointed to his shoulder area.
Phew, sexy was an understatement. The man was seriously cut; she counted his abs. One…two…
screw that
. Following the lines of his body down would only lead her to the Promised Land and she really didn’t want to go there right then. Her mouth went dry. She needed to get out of his company.
Fast
.
“My partner Marty is a wonderful artist. I’m sure he can accommodate you.” She pointed a thumb behind her. “I’ll just go get him.
He stepped forward, entering her personal space. “If I wanted him to work on my body, I would have requested
him
.”
And he smelled good. A man shouldn’t smell so damn good. “Look, Mister…”
“Just Richard but my friends call me Rick.” His smile changed the contours of his face. He went from looking like a hard-ass to a totally kissable one.
Whoa
.
“Aunty Di, guess what?” Calista’s footsteps echoed in the hall.
Indiana gazed over her shoulder and smiled. “Hey sweetpea, can we talk about your day later? I’m with a client.”
“There’s a field trip at school.” Her niece pressed on, scooted around her leg and stopped. “It’s
you
.” Calista pursed her lips before speaking. “You should say you’re sorry for hurting my aunty.” The child pressed her lips together in a firm line.
Rick cocked his head, gazing at Calista. His lips turned down at the corners. “It wasn’t my intention to hurt you or your aunt. I saw a situation and made a call. That’s my job.” He kept his tone soft, and then lifted his chin. “I came by to check and see how she was doing.”
Indiana wrapped her palms around her niece’s slim shoulder. “I have to work now, sweetheart. I bet Uncle Marty would love to hear all about your day.”
Calista nodded, and backed up.
“Wait. Did you thank Uncle Brice for picking you up?” Indiana widened her eyes and tilted her head.
“Yes, ma’am.” Calista skipped down the hall toward the office.
“You’re taking care of the kids now?” Rick watched the child leave.
“Given my brother’s situation, I should have taken the children some time ago. Not that it’s any of your business.” Indiana commented dryly.
Admitting her mistake opened the flood gates to her guilt. She knew what was happening and she kept hoping Kevin would get better about cleaning up and take more responsibility for his children. She’d been horribly wrong, and Calista had suffered for her error in judgement.
Dick interrupted her thoughts. “So I was thinking I want something Zen, maybe a Buddha with thunderclouds and lighting bolts in the background.” He splayed a hand around his shoulder. “About yay big.”
She had enough trouble. There were too many reasons to count why doing a tat for him was a bad idea. Beside the fact that he was a cop, had she met him at any other time in her life she would have taken him home and rode him like she was trying to break a bronco.
“I think its best you find another artist.” She would not get pulled into working with him. Indiana sucked her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Don’t do that,” he muttered with a groan, and sat in her chair.
She snapped her head in his direction. “Listen, Dick…”
“Rick.”
“Whatever. Why are you really here? I can’t imagine after our last meeting you would have any reason to seek me out. So what’s really going on?”
He wasn’t budging and she couldn’t understand why. More importantly, she was encouraging him by talking to him instead of putting his ass out of her shop.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Ever since I met you, I’ve been thinking about you a lot.” He leaned back and braced his feet on the steel rod beneath the chair. “Why does everyone around here except your niece call you Dirty?”
“You’re not leaving, are you?” A thread of awareness sent a shiver down her spine. Goose bumps rose up her arms. She sighed.
“Nope, but I will make your time worthwhile. What do you charge for a tat like the one I described?”
“For the size and scope, eight fifty.” She shrugged, she’d inflated the price by a few hundred dollars. Maybe he would think it too expensive, and move on.
“Deal. When do you want to get started?” He leaned forward and set his elbows on his knees.
Fuck, she should have asked for more.
****
Beads of sweat rolled down his temple into his hair. His biceps strained under the burden of the weight he pressed up. Slowly he lowered the bar and hefted it up again, setting it on the rack.
“What’s up, Rick? You’re slow today. That’s only two reps of twenty.” Andersen leaned across the bar over him. “Tell ol’ Andy what’s on your mind?”
Rick sat straight up and snatched the towel off his knee to blot his face. “There’s nothing to talk about. Work keeps me busy, life is good, and all that bullshit we like to spout at each other.” He tossed the towel around his neck and glanced at the man that had been his partner for several years before he transferred to the DA’s office.
“You’re just full of sunshine today aren’t you?” Andersen walked along the bench to stop next to him. “Come on, Ricky-poo, tell Uncle Andy what’s really going on.”
“Let’s call it a day. I need to follow up on a few things.” Rick exhaled. He couldn’t explain exactly why he wanted to keep Indiana to himself. She had a way about her, a determination that caught his interest. Until that day a few weeks ago, she’d had a few minor run-ins with the law when she was a teen, like shoplifting, but nothing major.
On the other hand, her brother had a long rap sheet. He’d worked his way up from petty thefts and soon graduated to stolen cars and drug possession with intent to distribute. It seemed the guy’s sister bailed him out every single time. To him, that spoke volumes.
“Rick, did you hear me?” Andy clutched his shoulder, squeezing the fresh tattoo and gave him a shake.
An ache radiated down his arm. “Yeah, yeah, I was thinking about the situation I got caught up in a few days ago.”
“That wouldn’t happen to have involved a sexy little number in tight jeans with full tatted sleeves? Jeffries mentioned her when we were changing shifts a couple days ago. Something about a domestic that involved a baseball bat and your taser.”
“It was unusual.” Rick rose up. Staring at Andy, he decided to minimize what had actually happened. “And at the time I had no choice. It was a hard call to make. I wasn’t sure who was who.” He exhaled.
“Dude, sounds like it. Sarge said the woman went down hard and had the weapon in an iron grip.” A thoughtful expression flitted across his old partner’s face. Brackets framed his mouth. “So where did you get the sweet ink? I got a fresh design in mind.”
“That place on Fifth, opened up about eight months ago.” Rick rolled his shoulders. The direction of their conversation was making him uncomfortable. He didn’t even want Andy to know where to find Indiana. How the hell did one small woman get so deeply embedded under his skin?
“I’ll have to check it out. You still meeting us at the bar tonight?”
“Oh yeah, that’s the plan. I have an afternoon appointment, but my evening is clear. We still on for the same time?”
His neck muscles relaxed in relief. He wasn’t sure what was going on between him and the woman. Every time he was within touching distance, he felt a current of energy surge between them, like fingers kneading his skin. When she was working on his tat, every touch was sweet torture. It was as if the slight brushes had a direct line to his cock. His erection grew like a puppet guided by a master. She would have finished the work a week ago if he hadn’t kept squirming in the chair. Indiana would gaze at him through narrowed eyes. His shaft hardened as he continued to think about the way her hands felt on his skin.
Men snickered around them.
“Guy, you were my partner for years and I will happily take a bullet for you, but I think you know I don’t swing that way.” Andy dipped his head up and down in an exaggerated motion.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Rick grumbled as he nonchalantly adjusted his rod. “You’re too ugly to make my dick hard.” He turned away quickly to hide his embarrassment.
“Get the fuck out of here. Must be something about me you like,” Andy called after him. Rick half-twisted around and Andy struck a pose. He stuck out a leg and wiggled his ass, then puckered his mouth and touched his bottom lip with his index finger. Gently he swung his head back and forth. “You know you want this ass. I’m the best you’ll ever have…”