In The Arms Of The Law

He sped up and took the next left, doubling back to the street they’d originally been traveling on. He stopped at the intersection and looked both ways. “Lost him. He must’ve realized we’d made him.” He turned right and raced down the street, but whoever had been tailing them had disappeared from sight.

“Do you have any enemies?” he asked.

She frowned, remembering the bent screen she’d discovered at her house earlier that evening. “None that I’m aware of.” She glanced his way. “But why assume he was after me? He could’ve been following you. We’re in your truck, after all.”

“Maybe. Cops have more enemies than friends. Detectives even more. Has anyone you’ve put behind bars been released lately?”

She searched her mind and could come up with only one name. “Dudley Harris was released three months ago.”

“The wife beater?”

She flattened her lips as she recalled the details of the case. “One and the same. Served six months of a two-year sentence. Got out on good behavior.”

“Do you know where he lives?”

“I know where he used to live. His wife sold their house and moved away not long after he went to prison.”

“Smart lady.”

“Not always. She let him use her for a punching bag for years before we finally persuaded her to press charges.” She shook her head sadly. “She was scared to death of him. Made excuses for him all the time. Claimed it was her fault he knocked her around.”

“That’s not unusual in cases of abuse. Once the cops arrive, the wife usually changes her story and ends up taking the blame for what happened.”

“Yeah,” she agreed bitterly. “Because she knows if she doesn’t, she’ll get a worse beating after the cops leave.”

“Harris probably holds you responsible for him losing his wife and home. Could be he’s looking to even the score.” He pulled up in front of her house and shoved the gearshift into Park. “I’ll go inside and take a look around.”

She reached for the door handle. “If you think I’m afraid to go into my own house alone, you’re wrong. Dudley Harris doesn’t scare me.”

She climbed down, but when she rounded the front of the truck, she found Gabe waiting for her at the end of the sidewalk. “I don’t need your protection,” she informed him. “I can take care of myself.”

He opened his hands. “Who said anything about protecting you? My mother would skin my hide if she knew I’d dumped a lady on the side of the street without properly seeing her to her door.”

Scowling, she pushed past him. “Tell her you did. I’ll back up your story if she questions your honesty.”

He fell into step behind her. “I’d never lie to my mother.”

She shot him a frown over her shoulder.

He lifted his hands. “Even if I tried, she’d see right through the lie. I swear, the woman is a living and breathing lie detector machine. Growing up, she knew I was fibbing before I ever spun the yarn.”

In spite of her frustration with him, Andi had to bite back a smile as she dug in her shoulder bag for her key, imagining Gabe as a young boy. “I’ll bet you were a handful.”

“No more so than my brothers.”

She inserted the key in the lock, then glanced his way. “Brothers? As in plural?”

“Yeah. Five, to be exact.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Five?” At his nod, she released a long breath. “Wow. I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up with that many kids in one house.”

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

“None. I’m an only child.” She turned the key and pushed open the door. When he would have followed her in, she shifted to block his way. “You’ve seen me to my door. Your mother will be proud.”

“Did I mention that she expected me to go inside and check all the windows and doors, and look under the bed?”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Nice try, but if there are any bogeymen waiting for me, I’ll take care of them myself.”

He leaned to peer around her. “Is that your cat?”

She whipped her head around. “I don’t have a—”

Gabe used the distraction to slip by her.

Realizing she’d been duped, she flattened her lips in a scowl. “That trick is as old as I am.”

He started down the hall toward the kitchen. “You fell for it, didn’t you?”

She shut the door and marched after him. “This is ridiculous. I don’t need you to search my house.”

He flipped on the back porch light, then lifted the drape over the window above the sink to peer outside. “You’ve got a message on your answering machine. You might want to check it.”

Andi whipped her gaze to the telephone and was surprised to see that the message light was, in fact, blinking. Frowning, she hit the play button. Ten seconds of recorded silence was followed by a click.

He glanced her way. “Do you get a lot of hang-ups?”

Avoiding his gaze, she punched Delete. “No more than the next person.”

He dropped the drape and turned. “Has the number increased lately?”

“What is this?” she asked impatiently. “An interrogation?”

“Yeah. So do I need to get out the bright lights or are you going to answer my question?”

She sagged her shoulders in defeat. “Okay, so maybe I’ve received a few more than usual, but that doesn’t mean someone is gunning for me.”

He headed for the hallway. Andi charged after him. “Where do you think you’re going now?”

“To your bedroom.”

She stood in tight-lipped silence, watching as he peered under her bed, then opened her closet door. He shoved the hanging clothes to one side and looked in. When he was satisfied that no one was hiding there, he dragged the hangers back into place and started to close the door. He stopped, then reached in and drew something out.

Andi’s cheeks flamed in embarrassment when she saw that he was holding her black teddy.

He held it up by a crooked finger. “Would you mind modeling this for me?”

She snatched it from his hand, then pointed to the door. “Out.”

He shrugged. “Can’t blame a man for trying.”

“Out,” she repeated.

Smiling, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and headed for the hallway. Andi followed to make sure that he left. At the front door, she stopped, watching as he continued down the walk toward his truck.

“If you get scared,” he called over his shoulder, “you know where I live.”

She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

He climbed inside his truck, then rolled down the window and shot her a wink. “Wear that little black thing and I might even let you sleep in my bed.”

Andi stood before Leo’s recliner, eyeing her regular partner critically. “How much weight have you lost?”

“I don’t know. Thirty pounds or so.”

“And your doctor is okay with that?”

Scowling, he turned his gaze to the television screen and punched the remote, changing the channel. “You’re as bad as Myrna. Bunch of hens clucking around me all the time. Can’t even take a leak without somebody tagging along to watch.”

Accustomed to Leo’s grouchiness, Andi bit back a smile. “Where is Myrna, anyway?”

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