Force of Attraction (15 page)

Cole waited several seconds while her canine partner gazed at her in stubborn resistance. And then she moved ahead of him, calling out,
“Hier, Hugo!”
Running, she wove her way through the remaining poles with Hugo in close pursuit.

When they had completed the obstacle together, he barked loudly and triumphantly.

Cole paused and ordered him down.
“Platz.”

He had dropped to the prone position at her feet.

“Blieb.”
After giving the command to stay, she moved a few feet away and put the orange snowman on the ground at the end of the Weave obstacle. She pointed.
“Lass es.”

Leaving it alone was the last thing Hugo wanted. He stretched up his front paws and groaned in frustration but remained prone.

Cole began walking back to the beginning of the obstacle.
“Hier.”
Hugo fell quickly into step behind her. Only then did she glance over at Yardley, who had been watching them near the first pole with a fist propped on each hip.

Yardley waited until Cole reached her. “Teamwork between the dog and handler is the main objective of canine competition. Hugo adores you. Will do anything for you. Make him earn your approval.” She cocked her head to one side. “While you're at it, take a second and feel nice about yourself. You're doing better than you think. Then get the hell back to work.”

Cole watched Yardley walk away. “She likes me. She really likes me.”

She looked down, expecting Hugo to be staring at her in all his doggy admiration. Instead, he was intently staring down the poles at the orange Pillsbury Doughboy. So much for handler adoration.

Right. Back to work.

*   *   *

Cole ate dinner alone. She had carried her plate back from the general mess hall to the bunkhouse she shared with Scott, though he wasn't here. He was working late with the Harmonie Kennels drug detection team to bring Izzy up to speed on the latest detection-avoidance techniques and how to get around them.

Hugo was so tired from their own efforts of the afternoon that he lay sprawled on his back at her feet snoring like it was 2
A.M.
He hadn't won the orange beehive—she really did need to settle on a name for his new toy—but he certainly knew now what the goal was, and the prize that lay at the end of it.

She reached for her iced tea and walked out to the porch to watch as the last of the gold of the setting sun slipped down behind the western hills. For the moment, she didn't think about anything. She couldn't afford to think about what the night would bring. Couldn't afford to recall the night before or anything related to the past.

This was the first peaceful evening she'd had since she arrived. It felt, in a way, as if she'd dropped off the face of the earth as she knew it. That's what happened when routine was scrambled all to hell.

She sat on the top step and pulled out her phone to make a call. “Hey, sis. How are you?”

“I'm fine. But I haven't heard from you all week.” Becca sounded peeved. “Where are you?”

“In Virginia.”

“You left the state without even telling me?”

“Aren't you supposed to be psychic about things like where I am?”

“It would be a whole lot simpler if you just told me. Are you, you know, doing that thing we talked about?”

“I don't think anyone's tapped my cell, if that's what's bothering you. It's not that kind of operation. And, yes, and no to your question. I'm here for training.”

“What kind of training? Are they teaching you how to raid crack houses?” Her sister's voice dropped to a whisper. “Defuse bombs?”

“My partner's a dog, remember? We don't do SWAT. We do search, apprehension, and rescue.” Cole heard an engine in the distance. “So tell me, how's it feel being pregnant?”

“Like I'm on a rowboat in the middle of a hurricane. Any and everything makes me want to hurl. I can't believe I once liked bacon or tuna fish. Do you know how nasty over-easy eggs are? It's scrambled or nothing from now on.”

“Yep, sounds like you're preggers.” Headlights of a truck swung onto the gravel lane that led to the barracks. It was moving fast, when it braked suddenly and gravel went flying. The door opened and Scott leaped out with Izzy at his heels. He stopped short when he noticed Cole.

“Oh. Sorry. I got to pack.”

Cole stood up. “Why? What's wrong?”

Scott kept walking past her into the barracks.

“Who is that?” Becca's voice could be heard clearly though Cole had lowered the phone from her ear. “Is that Scott? That sounds like Scott.”

“Sorry, Becca, I have to go.” She pressed the end button and went after him.

She paused at the threshold of his room. He was cursing and tossing things into a backpack. “Scott, what's going on? You can tell me. Maybe I can help.”

He wasn't listening. “Have you seen my shield? I took it off my wallet. Fuck. It should be here.” He grabbed up his pack and headed straight for the door.

Only she was blocking it. She braced herself for impact.

He didn't touch her but his snort of hot breath in her face would have been enough to back off a smart mortal. Cole set her jaw and glanced up into his face.

He was looking beyond her with a fierce don't-fuck-with-me expression. But she wasn't about to back down.

She gripped his biceps, digging her thumbs into the muscles until she knew she must be hurting him but he didn't even blink. “Scott?”

It took him a full three seconds more to focus. When he was looking down at her panic grabbed her by the throat. The truth was there in his eyes. Something awful had happened.

She'd seen that look on his face only once before, after the phone call telling him Gabe was dead. “Scott?”

“My mom called. There was a break-in at home. Dad's in the hospital. They say he had a heart attack.”

Hearing the anguish in his voice, Cole felt as if her own heart had been stepped on. But she shoved those feelings aside in favor of the law-enforcement training that kept her on track in crisis. “Okay. You're ready. I'm coming with you.”

He shook his head. “Don't have time.” He shook off her touch and tried to push past her.

She stepped in front of him and grabbed his chin in her hand to jerk his face back to hers. “I'm coming. Don't give me any bullshit.”

He didn't glance at her again but after a second he nodded once.

When she ran to get her purse, Hugo appeared. He moved in close to Scott and butted his shaggy head under Scott's dangling hand.

Scott reached down to absently pat Hugo and felt metal press into his palm. Hugo had Scott's DEA badge in his mouth.

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

They rode to New Jersey in silence. Izzy was in back, in her crate, while Hugo rode up front, wedged between them. Not ideal, but neither of them wanted to have to stop and break up a dogfight if their partners decided they didn't want to share a crate.

For once, Hugo ignored Scott. In sleep, he even stretched out and leaned his big head against Scott's thigh. Cole noticed that, when Scott thought she was sleeping, he reached out under the cover of darkness and stroked Hugo a couple of times.

They made the two-hundred-plus-mile drive in under three hours. Scott had always had a heavy foot. This time it was concrete. Yet she knew he was in complete control, all emotions shut down to get the job at hand done.

When he stopped for gas, Cole had offered to call his mother and check on his dad. The look Scott sent her way made her back off. She suspected what he was afraid to say aloud. He didn't want to know if he would get there too late.

Having grown up in New Brunswick, he knew the way to the hospital. The fact that he parked his car in the emergency lane was the only betrayal of his state of mind.

She trailed behind him through the emergency door, figuring that no one was going to tow a truck with two dogs wearing collars emblazoned with the word
POLICE
.

Scott flashed his badge at the desk. “John Lucca. Heart attack.”

The receptionist nodded. “Let me check.”

Scott watched her make a call with laser-focused attention, while Cole scanned the waiting room. She didn't see his mother there. Enough time had passed since her call that perhaps Scott's father had been admitted. Best-case scenario.

“He's still in Emergency Intensive Care. If you'd like to wait over there.” She pointed to an area filled with families and friends, and those patients not lucky enough to yet be seen.

“What I want is to see my father. Now.” Scott's voice hadn't risen but the menace in it sent the tension in the emergency room skyrocketing. Even the hospital guard's head twitched in their direction.

Cole didn't touch him but she slid in beside Scott and addressed the receptionist. “Can you locate Mrs. Lucca for us? We're worried about his mom, too.”

“Sure.” The receptionist didn't glance at Scott again. This time she got a more positive response. “She'll be right out. You can wait—”

Scott wasn't in the mood to be told what he could do. He walked over to the doors that opened to the emergency room ward and stood there, his stance braced for anything.

Cole hung back, not certain now that she was here what if any part she had to play. She just couldn't allow him to drive for hours back, alone, especially if the news wasn't going to be good.

The doors opened with a whoosh. Cathy Lucca was already in motion. She looked much as Cole remembered her, dark hair cut into a sophisticated bob and well dressed for the evening out she'd shared with her husband earlier.

“Scott, you're here. Thank God.” She plowed into her son at full force, wrapping her arms about him and hugging him tight.

Cole saw the spasm of anguish on Scott's face as he briefly shut his eyes and hugged his mom back. He was a head taller than she was, making her seem almost frail by comparison.

Finally his mother released him to reach up to touch her son's face. “Your father will be so glad to know you're here.”

“He's alive?” The wonder in Scott's voice surprised Cole.

“Yes, he's awake and complaining.” Cathy smiled and patted her son's cheek. “You're exactly alike, you know.”

Scott shrugged. “So, he's going to be okay?”

A cloud appeared in Cathy's attractive face. “We're waiting for tests. They said something about—Nicole?” She had turned to lead Scott away from the doorway when she noticed Cole. “Oh, my goodness. That
is
you.”

Cathy left Scott's side to rush over to hug her. The hug was so huge and long Cole reeled a bit. “Whatever are you doing here?”

The question might have been directed at Cole but Scott's mother turned almost immediately to him. “I'm so glad you brought her with you.” She smiled at Cole. “We can talk later. Come with me.”

They followed Mrs. Lucca back through the emergency room doors to a private waiting room just inside. “I'm expecting the doctor any minute. They had to do some tests and said someone would be in shortly to talk with me about what comes next.”

“So, Dad's going to be okay?” Scott asked in doubt.

“Oh, Scott, I hope so. He was fine earlier. No hint of a problem. We had gone out to dinner. I had a coupon for two-for-one pricing if we ordered before six. So then we decided to take in a movie. We went to see that—”

“Mom.” Scott raked a hand through his hair in irritation.

Cole saw his mother's face crumple and didn't know who she felt sorrier for, her or his son. Cathy's lip began to quiver. “I'm so sorry, Scott. I don't know why I'm rambling on about a stupid movie. It was just so awful. So awful. We walked in and … and…”

“Mom, Mom, it's okay.” Scott reached for her and again she collapsed against him. This time he directed her to a chair and made her sit as his hands continued to support her.

“I'm so sorry. I didn't know what to do. We walked into the—the destruction of everything. Your father's face turned this awful shade and then his legs buckled. I called 911 and told them to send the police, the ambulance, everyone.”

“You did exactly right.” Cole located a box of tissues and plucked one for her. “Your fast thinking is the reason John's getting the attention he needs right now.”

Scott made eye contact with her over his mother's bowed head. There was a hollowness there she had seen only once before. She reached out and laid her hand over one of his cradling his mother's and squeezed briefly.

“How about I find us all some coffee and maybe a few of those bad-for-you items in the vending machines? This could take a while.”

Cole rose quickly to her feet. She wasn't the least bit hungry but she knew they needed a few minutes alone. This wasn't her family anymore.

“Come back.”

Cole looked over her shoulder. It was Scott who had spoken. She smiled. “Absolutely.”

*   *   *

“Angioplasty and a possibility of stents.” Scott had pulled Cole out into the hallway when she returned with coffee. His mother was keeping his dad company while they waited. “They are just waiting for a room.”

“That's good news, isn't it?”

Scott nodded but yet his eyes were hollow and the stubble shadowing his lower jaw seemed to weigh down his face.

“Something else is wrong, isn't it?”

He didn't answer directly. “I need to go and secure my parents' house. Can you stay here and wait with my mother?”

“Of course. If you think she'd like that.”

A ghost of a smile flickered in his expression. “I think she might be happier to see you than me. I'm certain my father will be.”

“Don't.” Cole moved in close to him. When he didn't respond, she leaned her head against his chest. After a moment, his arms came up around her, tightening until she was having trouble breathing but she didn't complain. His crushing embrace told her all he could not say.