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“I don’t want anything from you.” He paused. “I take that back, there is one thing.”
She’d known it. All men wanted something.
“My name is Alex. Maybe you could see your way to call me that.”
“Yeah, whatever. I have to close my eyes now.” She closed her eyes. She heard the door slam. Her head swam, she opened them again and grabbed the door handle. Head spins. Not good.
She’d messed up bad. If Samuel found out, she would lose her job.
Even worse, her boss would be disappointed in her. So would Daniel. Her head swam as she let it drop into her hands.
She had to help him find Benny. It was the only way to make it up to him.
* * *
Alex watched Deborah’s building, inhaling the smoky scent she’d left behind in the enclosed space of his car. He’d wanted to help her through the parking lot of her apartment complex and lead her up the stairs. She wouldn’t want that. He thumped the wheel a few times, turned the radio, and changed stations until he found some R&B.
What was it about Deborah that drew him to her? Besides the fact that she was gorgeous. He’d never had trouble connecting with beautiful women. It was something else. Sometimes she got this crooked grin on her face, right before she let go a zinger that put some guy in his place for getting a little fresh with her. Sometimes she blew him away with her accurate assessment of a situation or a case. Times like that, he was floored by his attraction to her.
Alex shifted in his seat. What was the matter with him? This wouldn’t work. He ticked off on his fingers the reasons why he shouldn’t be sitting in his car thinking about Detective Deborah Smith. She didn’t like him. She had a drinking problem. She didn’t like him. She was a Christian. She didn’t like him. She was Ray’s partner, and Ray would shoot Alex if he hurt her. Oh, and she didn’t like him.
He considered banging his head on the wheel to knock some sense into himself. This was stupid. He needed to let Daniel know the mission had been accomplished and Deborah was safely home. He pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and punched in Daniel’s cell number. No answer. When voicemail picked up, he disconnected, and blew out air.
Daniel and Samuel both needed to know Deborah was all right. Telling Daniel was one thing, telling Samuel was another. He was Deborah’s boss and her stumble tonight could mean her job. He wavered. She’d never forgive him. On the other hand, Samuel needed to know she was drinking again. For the safety of every officer who worked with her. He closed his eyes, opened them, and dialed Samuel’s number.
“Martinez.” The word was a whisper.
“Sarge, it’s me. Sorry to wake you. I tried to call Daniel, but he didn’t answer.”
“I wasn’t asleep, but Piper is. Hang on a second while I go out in the hallway.”
Alex heard muffled sounds and then Samuel came back on the line. “Daniel said you were looking for Smith. Did you find her?”
“Yeah, delivered her to her apartment about five minutes ago.”
“Is she okay?”
“Well, she’ll have a king-sized headache in the morning, but probably nothing she hasn’t experienced before.”
Samuel muttered something in Spanish Alex didn’t quite catch, and then said, “I’ll have to put her back on medical leave.”
“I’m sure she’ll be mortified in the morning, Sarge. She’ll want to work Benny’s case. She won’t do it again.”
“I can’t take a chance. She’s off the case.”
Alex wanted to argue, but Samuel was the boss. “You gonna tell Ray and Daniel?”
“Tomorrow’s soon enough for that kind of news.” An odd note of hesitation lingered in Samuel’s voice. “We won’t be able to make our next move until Daniel talks to Shawna Garza in the morning. While he makes the trip, we’re going to take an hour and go to church . . you’re welcome to join us.”
Alex was glad his boss couldn’t see his face. He’d gone to church as a young kid. He’d liked it okay. Pretty restful after all the arguing his parents did. He’d never been as an adult. He didn’t know how to respond.
“Alex, you still there?” The hesitation in Samuel’s voice was gone. “It’s not a big deal. The people at Greater Good don’t bite. You don’t even have to get dressed up. Even Deborah goes there.”
Deborah went to Sarge’s church. Now there was a piece of information he hadn’t had before. “She probably won’t be there tomorrow.”
“She’ll be there. I’m calling her AA sponsor as soon as I hang up with you. So, see you there in the morning? The service starts at eight fifteen.”
Ouch. So much for a leisurely pot of coffee and the Sunday funnies. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”
