Page 122 of D for Dead

Amy was no fool. She knew the police dealt with dangerous situations on a daily basis. She’d written about a fictitious cop. But hearing this first-hand drove it home how dangerous the job was.

‘What happened?’

‘I made a split-second decision, pulled the trigger. I don’t know if he sensed I was going to, but Corbin moved. The bullet hit Denny in the chest. I killed my partner.’

‘Jesus.’ Amy hadn’t been expecting that. She’d forced Sullivan to tell her and now she understood why he hadn’t wanted to. ‘It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.’

‘Yeah, so a dozen sessions with the police shrink told me. I’ve dealt with it, but it doesn’t stop it being wrong. If we’d followed procedure it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.’

‘What happened to Corbin?’

‘After I put a bullet in Denny, I put one in him. He still had his weapon and was about to take me down. The wound wasn’t fatal and he stood trial for Loretta’s murder. He was found guilty and is serving time. I got a rap on the knuckles, had to face a disciplinary hearing, but they let me stay on the job. It was around that time I started thinking about a career change and maybe buying the ranch.’

‘You didn’t, though.’

‘No, I didn’t. I love the job. It was hard for a while and I had a lot of guilt riding on my shoulders. I worked with the shrink, used the guilt to try and make myself a better cop. I made detective, worked a couple of big homicide cases, but it was still hard to shake off the memories of Denny. That’s why I put in for the transfer, so I could make a fresh start. I moved here with my girlfriend, Lara, and the shrink back in Atlanta referred me to Shinnick, said if I ever wanted to talk through stuff, he was the man. I did a few times in the first year. If I hit a rough patch, felt I’d made a bad decision, he helped me get past it. We kept in touch.’

‘And what happened to Lara?’ Amy kept the question light.

Sullivan had told her he wasn’t married, but he’d never said he wasn’t in a relationship. She’d seen no trace of the woman in his apartment and this was the first time he’d ever mentioned her, but still, she couldn’t be certain.

The way he looked at her, dark eyes narrowing, had her squirming a little. She was being nosy and for personal reasons, and he understood that. Her cheeks started to burn.

You can’t help yourself, can you, Amy?

‘We broke up.’ He left it at that, letting go of her hand and sitting back in the chair. ‘Okay, Amy. So now you know everything there is to know about me and why I saw Shinnick. I’ve held up my part of the bargain. Tomorrow you go back to see the doc. Deal?’

She wasn’t happy about it, but he was right, he had held up his end of the deal and she felt pretty crappy for making him relive what had happened. She would have to go.

‘Sure, deal.’

She got up, set about clearing the table, taking their plates and her wine glass through to the kitchen. While she ran hot soapy water in the sink, Sullivan went out through the patio doors, Huckleberry at his side.

She guessed he wanted a moment alone. Okay, so she shouldn’t have asked, she knew that, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret it either. Now she knew and she felt she understood him a little better. Turning off the faucet, she dumped the plates and glass in the sink, left them there to soak and went out to join him.

He had his back to her, shoulders broad, the light breeze playing with his hair as he leant against the balcony wall, looking out over the parkland where the trees were silhouetted by the moonlight. Stars littered the clear night sky. It was pretty, it was peaceful and it was a brief lull in the storm they were riding.

Tentatively she touched his shoulder. He still wore his work suit but had discarded the jacket and tie, and the warmth of his skin heated the thin material of his shirt. This was wrong and she had promised Detective Angell nothing was going to happen, but at this moment in time Amy didn’t care. She ran her hand over his collar, her fingers into his hair, felt him stiffen slightly.

He straightened, turning to face her, and her hand fell away.

‘We can’t do this, Amy.’

By way of response she took hold of both his hands, stepped forward and lightly brushed her lips against his. When he stilled, she edged back an inch and smiled. ‘We just did.’

Sullivan was silent for a moment, dark eyes locked on hers, the air charged with tension, then without warning he had hold of her, crushing his mouth against hers. Amy hugged him to her, her hands working their way back up his neck and into his hair as he kissed her deeply, held her hard against him so she was left in no doubt how much he wanted her.

She caught her breath, laced her arms around his neck as he cupped his hands over her ass, lifting her slightly, pinning her against the wall. Wrapping her legs around him she held on tight.

God she wanted this. She wanted him so bad.

Yes, it was wrong, but everything happening around them was wrong. She’d had her cut of bad luck recently. Why shouldn’t she have this one little thing?

Sullivan pulled back, looked at her. He was breathing hard. And then she saw the change in his expression, saw him take the control back. He eased her down; still kept his arms linked around her and leant his forehead against hers.

‘We can’t do this.’

‘Why?’ She hadn’t meant the word to sound sharp, but it did. It was the frustration.