Page 18 of Lay Down the Law

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You got a death wish or something?” he asked.

“That’s a ridiculous question.”

“Maybe you’re trying to make up for something you did or didn’t do in that warehouse six months ago.”

Her entire body jolted. “Go to hell.”

Before he realized he was going to touch her, Nick took her arm and guided her to the truck, away from the curious eyes of his deputies and the crowd that had gathered in front of the bar. “You weren’t straight with me.”

“I never lied to you.”

“Don’t spew semantics at me. Your head being screwed up over that shooting was bad enough. But your little penchant for taking risks is a disaster waiting to happen.”

“You’re overreacting—”

“I always overreact when someone lies to me. It ticks me off!”

“I reacted like a cop, Nick. I did what I thought was right.”

“Did you even bother to think that we didn’t have backup? That you didn’t have cuffs? That the suspect could have had another weapon in his freaking sock? That a civilian could have been shot in that scuffle?”

“Of course I did! I considered all those things.”

Nick stopped when they reached the truck. “When I tell you to do something, you’d better do it. And I mean down to the letter. You got that?”

“I disarmed two dangerous suspects. I backed you up.”

“You walked into a dangerous situation half-cocked. If we’re going to work together, I’ve got to be able to trust you, McNeal. As it is now, I don’t. I sure as hell don’t trust your judgment.”

“My judgment bagged two suspects—”

“You’re not ready to return to the field!” Nick’s hands shook with rage. He was unreasonably angry. He saw it clearly, but couldn’t stop. He didn’t want to analyze the reaction she’d unleashed inside him. He didn’t want to name its source. But it hit close to home, and he felt it like a bad piece of meat stuck in his gullet, rotting him from the inside out.

He stared at her, the only sounds coming from their labored breathing and the traffic on Commerce Street. The realization of what she was struck him like a blow. Erin was a risk taker. An adrenaline junkie. After the way she’d put herself on the line just now, he wouldn’t be far off the mark if he called her reckless. Nick couldn’t deal with recklessness. Not after Rita. Not after the havoc her death had wreaked on his life and the life of his little girl.

Releasing Erin abruptly, he stepped back, stunned by the depth of his rage. “I want a full report on my desk, then I want you to clean out your locker.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a smart woman. You figure it out.”

Incredulity filled her gaze. “You can’t fire me.”

“I just did.”

She stared at him, her breasts rising and falling beneath her uniform as she sucked in oxygen.

“If you want to get yourself killed, do it on someone else’s time, because I won’t have any part in it. I don’t care whose niece you are.” Without giving her time to respond, he turned on his heel and stalked away.

* * *

Erin was still shaking when she opened the door to her apartment and let herself in. She told herself she wasn’t upset. That Nick’s harsh words hadn’t shaken her. That she didn’t need this job. She sure didn’t need Nick Ryan.

She couldn’t believe he’d fired her!

He’d overreacted, she assured herself. He couldn’t handle the reality of a woman in a dangerous job. Just like Assistant District Attorney Warren Prentice all those years ago—a man Erin had given her heart to, only to have him hand it back to her in shreds because he couldn’t accept her being a cop. The parallel left a rank taste in her mouth.