Page 69 of Lay Down the Law

“Maybe he doesn’t just want you dead. Maybe he wants to hurt you the way you hurt him. You know his reputation when it comes to cops. If he decides to make an example of you, there won’t be enough of you left to bury.” She started to speak, but Nick silenced her by raising his hand. “Do us both a favor and let the feds handle this.”

Unfolding her legs, she rose quickly and crossed to the other side of the room. “I’m not going to walk away.”

Nick reached down, punched the power button on her laptop and closed the case. “If I have any say in the matter, you will.”

She glared at him. “Don’t let your philosophy on female cops cloud your judgment, Chief.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that misplaced sense of honor of yours that cringes at the thought of me getting into a tight spot with DiCarlo. Admit it, Chief. For all your enlightenment, there’s a part of you that thinks women and police work don’t mix.”

A kick of anger surged through him. “Recklessness and police work is the mix that chafes me.”

She laughed sharply. “Right. That’s why you nearly blew a gasket when I took down those two suspects during the Brass Rail robbery.”

“Your being female has nothing to do with it.”

“Hector would have gotten a pat on the back, a gold star and a free beer. He sure wouldn’t have gotten assigned to the school crosswalk—”

“Hector wouldn’t have risked his life on two small-time bums who would have been picked up by the highway patrol within the hour.”

“I’m not going to run away from DiCarlo just because the thought of me taking him down grates on your male sensibilities.”

Nick’s temper uncoiled. He was across the room, his fingers closing around her arms, before he even realized he had moved. “You want to know what’s wrong with that picture, McNeal?”

She stared at him, surprise and a hefty dose of anger suffusing her face. “Let go of me.”

“DiCarlo isn’t some two-bit hood. He’s cunning and he’s ruthless. He’s got an army of mindless goons just waiting for the chance to cap a cop. Call me a Neanderthal if that makes you feel better and helps you justify your need to make amends with your conscience, but I’m not going to stand by and let you get yourself cut up into little pieces in the name of decorum.”

The color drained from her face, but her expression remained fierce. “I’m a police officer, Nick. I go after the bad guys no matter how scary they are.”

“You’re a powder keg, and you don’t have the good sense to know when you’re out of your league.”

“We’re not going to agree on this.”

“Evidently.”

She took a step back, but Nick went with her. “There’s a difference between courage and taking needless risks just because you’ve got a score to settle with your conscience,” he said.

“You can’t handle my being a cop, and you’ve let that affect your actions when it comes to me.” Erin’s back bumped into the wall with a thud, stopping her backward progression.

“Maybe I can’t handle it. But maybe you can’t, either, McNeal. Maybe you’re in this as deep as I am. Maybe we’re both in so far over our heads that we don’t know up from down.” He stopped just short of touching her with his body. The restraint cost him, but he didn’t let her know it. He desperately needed the upper hand, but knew with the certainty of a sailor watching his ship go down that he was about to lose that as well.

Never taking his eyes from hers, he reached for her hands and drew her to him. “I care about what happens to you, Erin. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want a lot of things to happen when it came to you. But they have. I’m not going to let you go after DiCarlo.”

She was so close he could smell the warm, enticing scent of her, feel the heat coming off her, the electricity jumping from her body to his. Slowly, he eased her hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.

“Don’t,” she said breathlessly.

“Don’t what? Worry about you? Don’t care about you? Don’t kiss you?”

He didn’t miss her quick intake of breath. Her eyes widened when he took her fingertips into his mouth, and Nick knew then he wasn’t the only one hanging on to control by a thread.

“Don’t do something you’re going to regret,” she said.

“I already have.” Reaching out, he trailed a finger down her throat, marveling at the silky feel of her flesh, wondering what it would be like to take the same track with his tongue.

She stared up at him, her cheeks suffused with color. “Funny, Nick, I never had you pegged as a risk taker.”