Ice stepped in so close, she could feel the heat of his body. Her mouth had gone dry, knowing he was going to kiss her.
Ice wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, pressing his cock against her thighs.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I’ve got to get away from him.
Just as he was leaning down to press his lips to hers, Carla appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“I think it’s time for Dawn to go. Isn’t it, Dawnie?” Carla said in her raspy voice. “It was nice going down memory lane with you. But that’s the thing with memories—they’re better left buried.”
Dawn nodded like a bobblehead doll. She couldn’t speak. A little girl was on the other side of that door, and she’d blown it. Saying anything now could get them both killed.
Ice gave a frustrated groan as she began to pull away from him. Leaning down, he whispered, “We should finish what we started.”
Suppressing her gag reflex, she gave him a weak smile and yanked herself out of his arms.
She brushed passed Carla, standing at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips and glaring at her. Rushing up the stairs, she made a beeline for the door and ran as fast as she could, not looking back.
She ran until she got home. Tears rolled down her cheeks. What the hell am I going to do now?
* * *
Craig Butts was no fool. So when he walked into the precinct and saw Fierro chatting it up with Morrow and Griffin, the two detectives assigned to the Richardson case, he knew he had to put a stop to it. He’d assigned his two worst detectives to the case, and he didn’t want anyone else nosing around. Morrow and Griffin were good guys, but they tended to be lazy and didn’t investigate as deeply as they should, exactly the way he liked it.
Butts had counted on that in the past when he himself was connected to a crime, and it had worked every time. But that was before Fierro showed up. And now he was asking too many questions.
“I really admire what you guys do,” Fierro said. “I want to see you in action. Would you mind if I just hang out with you today?”
“On your day off?” Morrow glanced at Griffin. “Hey, this kid wants to work on his off day. What do you think about that?”
“I think he’s a rookie, and by this time next year, he’ll be in bed sound asleep at 9:00 a.m. on his day off,” Griffin said and chuckled.
“Look, kid, this is, what…your second week on the job?” Morrow crossed his arms. “Why not just do what everyone else does? Keep your head down, and learn how to be a cop before thinking you’re a detective.”
“Morrow is right.” Butts stepped up to the trio. The pipsqueak glanced at him and straightened. “One thing at a time, Fierro.”
“Sorry, Sarge.” The pretty boy visibly swallowed. “I was just killing some time before I had to pick up my suit for my brother’s wedding.”
“Well, instead of bothering these two good men and keeping them from doing their jobs, why don’t you go home and get dolled up for that wedding?” Butts slapped Fierro on the shoulder and gestured with his head to step into the hall. “Fierro won’t be bothering you two again.”
In the hallway, Butts took his most imposing stance, feet planted wide apart, leaning forward with his hand resting on his gun, and glared at the rookie. Fierro was maybe three inches shorter than him. At six three, Butts was big and imposing, and he never failed to use it to intimidate. “I hear you already approached Morrow and Griffin once before.”
“Yes, sir, I was just trying to help.”
The kid looked nervous, and that was how he liked these anxious-to-please newbies. “Well, I let the first time go, but I’m gonna write you up this time. It’s going in your file. Fair warning. Don’t do it again.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I didn’t think it was against protocol to ask questions, and I want to learn. I thought that was what we were supposed to do.”
Shit, this kid is a piece of work. Butts glared at Fierro, wondering how he was going to get through to the Goody Two-shoes without making him suspicious. He decided on righteous anger. “You know, for every upstart kid like you who goes to college and thinks he knows everything because he’s taken Criminology 101 and written a term paper about Ted Bundy, I have a dozen cops like Morrow and Griffin who worked their way up the old-fashioned way and know a hell of a lot more than you could read in a textbook.” He shoved his finger in Fierro’s face for good measure. “So don’t ‘with all due respect’ me. I know a brownnoser when I see one. And if you think Captain Moore is gonna be impressed by your Boy Scout charm, you’ve got another think comin’. I’ll be writing you up, and you better understand something—I don’t condone smart-asses. So shape up or ship out.”
“My apologies, sir.” Fierro stood up straight and stiff as a pole. “I promise not to overstep again.”
“Good.” Butts sneered. “Now get the hell out. I don’t want to see you ever nosing around here on your day off again.”
“Yes, sir.”
Butts nodded in satisfaction. And watched Fierro turn and walk out the door. He should have amped up that Taser to full throttle. But if he’d really hurt the bastard, there would have been an investigation. He just couldn’t help thinking that this kid was fucking his daughter, and she thought he was so stupid he couldn’t figure it out. He was a cop, for God’s sake. He’d followed her to see who she was meeting at the so-called library.
No, he’d have to be careful. He’d have to make it look like an accident, an on-the-job thing. Maybe set up a robbery and a fire at Keene Street Convenience. He could off Carla, Fierro, and those two buffoons guarding the kid, then get rid of her himself, niece or no niece. He’d worked too hard for the money he’d never make on the job to get caught now.
