Distant Shores Silent Thunder

Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

For Doctor K.T. O’Bannon, a near-fatal tragedy derails a career and disrupts everything she thought she knew about herself and her future. Battered and nearly broken, she turns for solace to the one woman who knows her best, her ex-lover Doctor Tory King. Their unexpected reunion in Provincetown uncovers old wounds, forges new bonds, and awakens long-buried passions. While Tory’s lover Sheriff Reese Conlon struggles to uncover a deadly drug ring and Officer Bri Parker navigates the torturous path between friendship and desire, Tory and K.T.—and those who love them—are forced to examine the boundaries of love, friendship, and the ties that transcend time.

Prologue

Early August, 2002, Boston, Massachusetts

Trauma alert STAT…trauma admitting. Trauma alert STAT…trauma admitting. Trauma alert STAT…

Dr. KT O’Bannon sprinted down the crowded hall toward the trauma bay at Boston Hospital, dodging stretchers, visitors, and hospital personnel with the agility that had made her an All-American hurdler in college, one hand pressing the stethoscope draped around her neck against her chest to prevent it from flying off. The emergency call being broadcast through the overhead speakers was the sixth trauma alert of the day. That often happened on weekends in the summer, especially when the weather was as hot as it was this particular Saturday evening. Drivers were short-tempered and drove too quickly on roads that were too congested for even the normal speed limit. People partied too hard and too often in backyards and bars, becoming victims of accidents and assaults. And of course, there were always those individuals who chose to settle their disputes with knives and guns rather than fists. Regardless of the mechanism of injury vehicular, blunt, or penetrating KT handled them all. And she loved it. Loved the excitement of never knowing what challenge the next crisis might present, the rush of being on the firing line of being the one making the life-and-death calls and the incredible high of beating the odds one more time and snatching another life from the jaws of death.

Security STAT…trauma admitting. Security STAT…trauma admitting. Security STAT…trauma admitting.

KT hesitated for only a second, wondering at the unusual request, before she shouldered through the double doors of the trauma admitting area. Unlike the emergency room proper, which was partitioned into multiple curtained cubicles for the treatment of patients with minor injuries or medical problems of all types, the trauma area was designed as a fully functioning operating room. As such, it consisted of a single forty-by-forty-foot room with several adjustable padded operating tables aligned in the middle of the space beneath huge circular overhead halogen lights. Every available inch along the walls was occupied by bins of supplies, including full surgical packs containing all the instruments required to perform any type of invasive surgery. There was even a power drill to perform a craniotomy the removal of a section of the skull in the event that it was necessary to relieve acute pressure on the brain.

Even though KT did not know what life-threatening problem awaited her, the basic routine, repeated thousands of times over the past fifteen years, was so familiar that the natural surge of anxiety evoked by the disembodied voice over the hospital intercom system was softened to a distant thunder in the background of her consciousness. She did know with absolute certainty that the nurses, residents, EMTs, and trauma techs would already have the resuscitation well underway, functioning efficiently without her direction. Establishing the ABCs of resuscitation airway, breathing, and circulation was second nature to even rank beginners after a few days in the trauma unit. In all likelihood, an endotracheal tube would already have been placed into the trachea to deliver oxygen, IVs started to augment blood volume and support circulation, and drainage tubes inserted into the bladder and stomach to monitor output and control secretions. Her greatest contribution was going to be organizing and prioritizing treatment, including managing the often complicated drug therapy, and performing whatever urgent surgical intervention might be needed to control hemorrhage or maintain an airway.

Mentally gearing herself for battle, KT swept the room with a confident gaze and a split second later realized that something was terribly wrong. A patient did lie on the table in the center of the room a middle-aged Asian male whose short-sleeved, checked shirt was soaked with blood but the usual milling mass of individuals who made up the trauma team and who should have been surrounding him was absent. Instead, three women and two men huddled in a semicircle on the far side of the room facing the door that KT had just barreled through, and they all appeared to be staring at another man, who jittered from foot to foot at the base of the patient’s bed, his back to KT.

“What’s going on?” KT said abruptly as she started forward. She didn’t even have time to flinch away when the man pivoted sharply and slashed her right cheek with a long, thin-bladed knife. Shocked more by the absurdity of the act than the pain, KT jerked to a halt. “What”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the knife arcing back a glinting slice of deadly silver, and this time it was headed for her throat. She did the only thing she could. She blocked the weapon with her open hand. The blade, honed to a razor’s edge, sliced with terrible efficiency across her palm. Someone screamed in the distance.

KT’s vision wavered as blood splattered her face and chest. Her legs were suddenly so weak that she dropped to her knees. The sudden change in position probably saved her life, because the next thrust of the knife passed high over her left shoulder without touching her. Then as she hunched forward, cradling her injured hand against her chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding, the room exploded into pandemonium. Three security guards burst through the doors amidst chaotic shouts and the clatter of instrument trays being knocked to the floor. Kneeling in the center of the room, surrounded by the glittering stainless steel instruments and swatches of blood, KT was unaware of her assailant being subdued and dragged away, oblivious to the blood streaming steadily down her face, soaking into her scrub shirt, and pooling on the floor between her legs, unconscious of the frantic voices calling her name. Her attention was riveted to her hand. Her befuddled mind couldn’t make sense of what she saw in the depths of the wound, but in the core of her being, she knew.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “Oh God, oh God…I can’t move my fingers.”

Chapter One

Four Weeks Later, Provincetown, Massachusetts

“Love? Come here and look at this,” Reese Conlon said with a note of wonder. “She’s following my finger.”

Tory King placed a hand on her lover’s back and looked over Reese’s shoulder at the baby cradled in her arms. Reese, seated in a rocking chair in front of the double glass doors that led out to the deck overlooking Provincetown Harbor, was feeding their infant daughter from a plastic bottle filled with the breast milk that Tory had pumped that morning. Regina’s deep blue eyes were open, and occasionally she blinked as she sucked on the soft plastic nipple in her mouth. Intermittently, Reese held her index finger in the air a few inches above the baby’s face and waved it, “See that? Just then.”

The excitement in Reese’s voice was so endearing that Tory had to catch her bottom lip between her teeth to stifle a laugh, “It’s still a little soon for her to be focusing, honey. It’ll probably be another month or so.”

“Well, she does everything early.” Reese’s tone was only slightly aggrieved. “She showed up almost two months early, then she was ready to come home from the hospital three weeks sooner than the pediatricians predicted, and she already sleeps through the night. Well, most nights. At the rate she’s going, she’ll probably be walking by the time she’s six months old.” Reese turned her head and glanced up at Tory, her generous mouth quirked into a grin that deepened the dimple low on her right cheek. “You have to admit she’s amazing.”

It was hard for Tory to decide which of the two was the more beautiful: Reese with her coal black hair, deep blue eyes, and heart-stoppingly handsome features, or the baby whose eyes were as blue as Reese’s, but whose dark brown hair held hints of red and gold like her own. Together, they stilled the breath in her chest. Afraid that Reese would see the tears that quickly rose to tremble dangerously on her lashes, Tory pressed her cheek to the top of Reese’s head and wrapped both arms around her shoulders from behind. “I love you.”

Reese tilted her head back again and kissed the side of Tory’s neck. “You just love me because I got up at four o’clock the last two nights.”

“Mmm, there is that, I suppose.” Tory’s tone was teasing, but she felt a twinge of guilt knowing that she’d been only dimly aware of the baby fussing and of Reese getting up to see to her. It was hard to admit that she was just recently beginning to regain her strength after the tumultuous emergency Cesarean section that had been necessary when she’d gone into labor prematurely. Precipitous labor and emergency surgery took a toll on anyone, but she was nearing forty, and her recovery had been slower than she would have liked. Although Reese would never complain, Tory knew that her lover had been shouldering more than her share of the household chores as well as the child care while still fulfilling her obligations as Provincetown’s deputy sheriff. “Things should get easier next week when the tourist season is over and the activity quiets down in town. Then you won’t be working quite so hard.”

“I’m fine,” Reese said quickly. And she was. She’d never been happier in her life. She had never expected to fall in love or to have a family. Not because she didn’t believe in those things, but because all she had ever envisioned for herself was a career in the Marine Corps. She’d been raised in a military family, had trained from the time she was a teenager to follow in her father’s footsteps, and had become an exemplary career Marine officer. It wasn’t until four years earlier that she had grown restless, plagued by the persistent sensation that something in her life was missing something that she could not name because she had never thought to seek it. It had taken leaving active duty and traveling across the country to a small fishing village on the very tip of Cape Cod for her to discover that what she longed for was a love of her own. She had that now, with Dr. Victoria King, Provincetown’s resident physician, and their newborn daughter, Regina. “Everything is perfect.”

The words made Tory tremble because she believed them while still fearing, in the deepest recesses of her heart, that happiness might be a transient accident destined to disappear. There was a reason for that fear, but it lay in her past, and she would not allow the past to follow her here. Banishing old disappointments, she tightened her hold on her lover and kissed her neck. “Do you mind watching her while I run over to the clinic?”

“Uh-uh.” Reese turned in the chair and checked the wall clock that hung in the alcove between the large open living room and the adjoining kitchen-dining area. “I have to be at the dojo in two hours. Think you’ll be back by then?”

“Absolutely. I’m sure Dan is swamped. I’ll probably be lucky to catch him free for a few minutes between patients.”

Reese rose, shifting the baby into the crook of her arm, and crossed to the kitchen where she deposited the empty baby bottle on the counter. “Is he definitely leaving next week?”

“I think so.” Tory tried hard to keep the worry from her voice. Dan Riley was a general practitioner from Pennsylvania who had worked for the last few months in the East End Health Clinic, Tory’s medical facility. Tory hadn’t anticipated that Dan would need to shoulder the entire weight of her practice, but Regina’s early arrival had altered those plans. Since the baby’s birth in July, Dan had been doing the work of two doctors. During the summer, when Provincetown’s population swelled to thirty thousand or more, the clinic staff was constantly busy caring for tourists with minor injuries and medical problems in addition to providing routine healthcare to the three thousand year-round residents. Now, an emergency had arisen with Dan’s wife’s family, and he needed to return to Pittsburgh as soon as possible rather than in December, when he had expected to leave. “I managed to get an ad in the Boston papers yesterday, and I’ve got every contact I can think of putting out the word that I’m looking for someone to fill his spot right away.”

“You’ll find someone.”

“Of course.” Tory tried to sound optimistic, but they both knew that Provincetown in the off-season was not the kind of place that people flocked to. The winters were long and cold, and the village was very quiet with almost nothing to offer in the way of entertainment from November to May. Even the cinema and many of the restaurants closed during the off-season. She would be very lucky to find someone to take Dan’s place at this time of year. “I thought I’d talk to Kate later and see if she’d be available to watch Reggie a few more hours every day.”

“I’m sure my mother would be delighted to watch Reggie all day, every day,” Reese said quietly, leaning back against the waist-high breakfast counter and regarding Tory solemnly. “But you’re not thinking about trying to handle the clinic yourself, are you?”

“I know it’s soon, but babies younger than Reggie go to day care without any problems”

“Tor, I’m not talking about Reggie. I’m talking about you.” Reese crossed the room and lifted her free hand to Tory’s cheek, trailing her fingers into the thick hair at the back of Tory’s neck. “You’ve lost weight, you still tire easily, and”

Tory turned her head and pressed her lips to Reese’s palm, then wrapped her arm around Reese’s waist. “I know. But I’m feeling much better every day.”

Reese kissed Tory softly. “Let’s wait and see what happens with the ads.”

“All right,” Tory relented, not wanting to worry Reese any further. She returned the kiss swiftly and forced a smile. “I’m sure something will work out.”

“Me, too.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

“Be careful,” Reese called as Tory gathered her things and started out the door. She tried hard to keep the frustration from her voice, because she knew how seriously Tory took her responsibilities to the community. Still, the only thing that mattered to Reese was that Tory, and now Reggie, were safe and healthy. Provincetown will just have to get along without a full-time doctor if Tory can’t find a replacement.

Tory walked into the busy waiting room at her clinic and felt instantly at home. Two months away, and despite the daily joy of her new daughter, she was starting to seriously miss her medical practice. Randy Schuyler svelte, blond, and almost too pretty to be a man looked up from behind the reception counter, a single frown line marring his otherwise flawless forehead. Beautiful long lashes that made many a woman weep lowered over his liquid brown eyes as he fixed her with a steely stare. “Go away. You’re on maternity leave, and Dan is far too busy to talk to you.”

“Hi, sweetie,” Tory said brightly in passing. She edged around the counter, sidling between the chairs crowded into every inch of floor space. I’m going to need to put on an addition at this rate.

“Tory,” Randy said, a pleading note in his voice now. “Look at the waiting room.”

She didn’t need to. Her practiced eye had already taken in the more than half dozen adults and children waiting to be seen. She stopped and picked up the top chart in the pile by Randy’s left hand.

“Martha?” Tory called.

“Hello, Dr. King,” an elderly woman responded from a seat in the corner. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m wonderful. Come on back, and let’s see how your blood pressure is doing.”

An hour and fifteen minutes later, she’d seen six patients and was sitting behind her desk charting when Dan Riley walked in. Tory smiled. “Hi. Let me just finish this note, and I’ll get out of your way.”

Dan, a solidly built forty-year-old with curly hair just beginning to gray, rimless glasses, and an angelic face, shook his head and flopped into one of the two chairs. “No problem. It’s your desk, after all.”

“How’s it going?” She hadn’t seen him for several days, and he looked thinner than she recalled. Certainly the circles under his eyes were darker. “How’s your wife’s dad?”

“He’s holding his own, but I think it’s going to be a long haul.”

“Listen, Dan, I know it’s hard for both you and your wife with you not being there. As soon as”

“Ruth understands,” Dan said swiftly. “She knows I can’t just leave without someone to cover for me. I’ve talked to all my father-in-law’s doctors about his treatment, and I check in a couple times a day to make sure his condition hasn’t changed.”

“It’s still not the same as being there.” Tory made a decision, the one she should’ve made eight days earlier when Dan’s father-in-law suffered an intracranial hemorrhage from a ruptured aneurysm. “If I don’t have someone to replace you in a day or two, I’ll take over myself so that you can join her. I’m sure the entire family will feel better if you’re there in person to handle things.”

“I thought your obstetrician said you couldn’t go back to work for a full three months after your delivery.”

“It’s been two and I’m doing fine.” In truth, it would be difficult, because she still couldn’t make it through the entire day without a nap in the afternoon. Nevertheless, she could split up the patients between morning and evening hours if she needed to take a break in the middle of the day. At least her leg had improved to the point where she no longer used her cane and only occasionally fell back on the lightweight ankle cast for support. The muscles in her damaged calf would never regenerate, but with steady, persistent training she’d regained enough strength in the surrounding musculature to support her damaged ankle without the heavy, hinged metal brace. Standing all day wouldn’t be as difficult as it had been in the years just after her accident. “I can handle it, especially now that the season is almost over.”

Dan looked skeptical. “Most of the patients I’m seeing every day are regulars. This isn’t a very big town, but you’re the main primary care doctor. The patient load’s not going to get that much lighter, even without the tourists.”

“I’ll manage,” Tory said firmly. She glanced at her watch. “I need to get home so Reese can get to class. Tell your wife that Saturday morning, you’ll be on your way to Pittsburgh.”

“It’s Labor Day weekend! I can’t leave you then.”

Tory simply shook her head. “I mean it, Dan. It’s time for you to go home.” And for me to come back to work.

Reese tied the belt of her hakama over her gi, bowed to the kamiza the ceremonial altar which consisted of a simple shelf of hand-carved wood on which stood a small vase of dried wild flower sand stepped barefoot onto the tatami mats that covered three quarters of the main floor in the Provincetown Martial Arts Center, the dojo that she ran out of a converted garage on the far east end of Bradford Street. Her senior student was already present, sitting on the far end of the mat in seiza knees bent, weight back on her heels, hands resting palms down on her thighs, Bri Parker’s eyes were closed as she readied herself for training. Reese crossed quickly to the center of the room and assumed the same position, facing Bri and the other students who were beginning to line up silently side by side. Reese also closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and slowed her breathing until she was in a state of relaxed readiness. Her mind and body were united, and from that place of harmony, she was prepared to do battle.

Expelling her breath slowly, Reese opened her eyes, bent her forehead to the mat between her steepled hands, and greeted her class in Japanese. The ten students returned her bow and her greeting, and for the next hour, the men and women trained in the art of jujitsu. Reese moved silently between the partners, observing and occasionally stepping in to demonstrate a technique before moving off again. Her classes were traditional in the sense that the students learned by performing and by watching Reese and Bri. Before Tory’s pregnancy had become too advanced, she’d been one of the senior students, although her formal training had been in hapkido, a Korean style similar to the Japanese martial art of aikido. All three styles, however, bore similarities in their use of joint locks, shoulder throws, and defensive blocks and kicks.

After Reese dismissed the class, Bri approached and waited a few feet away. Other than the fact that Reese was an inch taller and thirty pounds of muscle heavier, they were so close in appearance, with the same thick black hair and cobalt blue eyes, that strangers often mistook Bri for Reese’s younger sister. Reese removed her hakama and held it out to Bri. “Thank you.”

“It is an honor, sensei” Bri replied as she always did, for it was customary for the senior student to fold the sensei’s ceremonial outer garment.

Reese nodded in acknowledgment and glanced toward the door, where a petite brunette with whiskey-colored eyes waited, her gaze focused intently on Bri. Allie Tremont was Reese’s newest student as well as the newest member of the sheriff’s department, having just transferred from nearby Wellfleet. The look of unguarded appreciation on Allie’s face took Reese by surprise. Surely Allie knew that Bri was involved. Reese turned at the sound of Bri’s voice.

“Here you are, sensei”

Reese took the folded garment, and the two women walked together to the end of the mat, bowed, and then stepped off.

“The second Sunday in October,” Reese said. “I’ve asked a test board to convene for your black belt test,”

“I…oh wow…I…” Bri’s voice caught and she swallowed. “Yes, sensei. Thank you.”

For the first time, Reese smiled. “No need for thanks.”

“Oh, man. Wait until I tell Carre.” Then, remembering that telling her lover about one of the biggest events in her life was the only way that she would be able to share it with her, a cloud passed across Bri’s face and the light in her eyes dimmed.

“I’m sure she’s going to think it’s great,” Reese said as she clapped Bri on the shoulder.

“Yeah. She will.” Subdued, Bri looked over to where Allie still waited and forced a smile. “Hey,” she said as she started toward the brunette, “guess what?”

Reese waited for them to change and followed them to the door. As she locked up, she watched Allie climb onto the back of Bri’s motorcycle and wrap her arms around the rangy youth’s raid section. A few seconds later, Bri gunned the motorcycle down the driveway and onto the road with Allie pressed tightly to her back.

“Perfect,” Reese muttered to herself as she walked toward her Blazer.

Chapter Two

“Bri and Allie left class together today,” Reese announced as she stripped down in the bedroom in preparation for a shower.

“Hmm?” Tory, who’d just fed the baby and put her down for a nap, sat on the side of the bed buttoning an oversized man’s shirt the only thing she happened to be wearing. Finished, she looked up in time to see Reese, who hadn’t bothered to pull on underwear after changing out of her gi at the dojo, kick out of her jeans. Tory caught her breath, ambushed by the unexpected sight. Whereas her own body, even at the peak of conditioning, rarely looked more than sleekly toned, Reese’s was a study in richly sculpted muscle. How many times have I seen her this way? A thousand? How many times have I touched her? Too many to count. And still she makes my heart stop.

“Your shift starts at four?” Tory’s question was casual but her voice was husky and low. The stirring in her belly was welcome after the long abstinence. They had been carefully intimate a few times since Reggie was born, at least to the extent that Tory was able to caress Reese to a gentle climax or hold her while she brought herself to orgasm. But Tory had been so exhausted from the difficult labor and subsequent surgery and then the demands of a hungry newborn that her own sexual satisfaction hadn’t been high on her list of needs. Suddenly, it was. Out of nowhere, desire flared, hungry and hot not the slow ignition of simmering coals that she might have expected after such a long period of quiescence, but a full-force blast of heat that left her instantly wet and craving Reese’s touch. “You’ve got a while yet before you have to leave for the station, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Reese glanced over and stopped in midmotion. A faint flush rose on her chest when she registered the look on her lover’s face. “Tory, come on.” Her voice held a hint of both warning and plea.

“I’ve missed you touching me.”

“I’ve missed you, too like crazy.” Reese’s eyes darkened with the need she had no desire or ability to hide. She crossed the room quickly, knelt in front of Tory, and rested both hands on Tory’s thighs. The tail of the loose cotton shirt brushed the backs of her hands, gentle as a kiss. “But Wendy said”

“Wendy said,” Tory repeated firmly as she cupped Reese’s breasts and leaned to kiss her, “that I couldn’t have vaginal intercourse for eight weeks. She didn’t say I couldn’t come.” She found Reese’s mouth just as she closed her fingers around the small, erect nipples. As she slid the tip of her tongue teasingly over Reese’s lips, she tugged her nipples to the same tantalizing rhythm.

Groaning, Reese surged against Tory’s body, pressing her breasts hard into Tory’s palms. She smoothed her hands under the shirt, her thumbs stroking the insides of Tory’s thighs.

Tory lifted her mouth away, murmuring throatily, “Oh yes. I’m not the only one who misses it, am I, baby?”

“You know how much it excites me when you touch me.” Reese’s blue eyes had gone nearly black, her breathing reduced to short, swift gasps. Having the baby in their life was a miracle, but it was Tory she lived for. Tory who defined her existence, Tory who gave purpose to her days. “I’m most alive when you have your hands on me. I love it when you make me come.”

“I haven’t been doing enough of that lately, that’s for sure.” Tory stretched out on the bed, grasped Reese’s hand, and drew her down, too. Then she turned on her side and edged a knee between Reese’s thighs. “Going from every other day to once every couple of weeks is a big change.”

Reese laughed softly, insinuating her fingers beneath Tory’s shirt again to stroke her back. “We’ve both been pretty busy with Reggie, and you are recovering from surgery. I haven’t felt neglected in that regard.”

“Neither have I, really,” Tory murmured, trailing her fingers along Reese’s thigh, “Until today.”

“Mmm. I’m not complaining.” Reese caught Tory’s lower lip in her teeth, bit gently. “These are extraordinary circumstances.” She touched her tongue to the spot that she had just nipped. “But I miss touching you. I miss hearing you, reeling you come.”

Moaning softly, Tory smoothed her hand down Reese’s flank and over her hips. “I’m so ready to come for you now.”

Whatever protest Reese might have made was lost on a moan as Tory slid a hand between her legs and squeezed gently. Tory whispered, “Let me come for you, baby.” She squeezed again. “Let me come with you. You want to, don’t you?”

“Oh yes. Yes.” Reese’s vision was hazy, her stomach in knots. Tory. Touching her, loving her. Tory. Needing her, wanting her. “Oh, Tory.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Tory soothed, pressing her fingers into the waiting wetness.

“Don’t touch me yet,” Reese warned breathlessly. “You know I’m no good at holding back. Let me make you feel good for a while first.”

“Good?” Tory’s laugh was shaky. “It can’t get any better. God, I’m so ready now I could burst.”

“Just wait.” Ignoring the steady surge of blood pulsing through her depths and the almost painful need to push into Tory’s palm, to rub against the fingers that she knew could have her rocketing to orgasm in a matter of seconds, Reese rested her forehead against Tory’s and anchored herself in her lover’s eyes. Watching Tory’s eyes grow cloudy with pleasure, she caressed her breasts, swollen and heavy, and squeezed the dark, full nipples. She thrilled to Tory’s soft cry as she smoothed her fingers down the center of her abdomen, still gently rounded with the memory of pregnancy. Tory’s fingers twitched against her clitoris, and she struggled not to come. “Careful,” she whispered urgently.

“Oh God,” Tory sighed, “I love to feel you like this, so hard, so ready for me.” The feel of Reese’s pleasure, hot and wet against her fingertips, made her body soar. “It’s been so long. I need you now, baby. Please don’t make me wait.” Her hips bucked as Reese fondled her. “Oh, I want to come.”

Reese brought her mouth to Tory’s and kissed her deeply, stroking tongue to tongue as her fingers swept up and down the length of Tory’s clitoris, circling harder with each long caress. Tory, caught by surprise by the swift rise of her orgasm, closed her fingers convulsively around Reese, jerking her clitoris spasmodically as her own climax peaked, With a cry, Reese flooded Tory’s hand with her passion.

“Oh my God,” Reese murmured, staring at the ceiling as she waited for her limbs to make their way back to her body. Tory curled against her side, her head on Reese’s shoulder, making small, contented sounds of happiness. Reese threaded shaking fingers through Tory’s hair and caressed the back of her neck. “How is it… that I never remember just how wonderful it is making love with you?”

“It’s some kind of protective biologic mechanism,” Tory advised sleepily. “Like labor. If women had clear memories of giving birth, they’d only do it once.” She rubbed her hand over Reese’s stomach, then indolently rested her ringers between Reese’s legs not to arouse, merely to possess. “And if we really thought about how great making love was, we’d probably never get out of bed. We’d lose our jobs, end up on the streets, and our children would starve.”

“If you don’t move your hand,” Reese growled halfheartedly, “my job is going to be in jeopardy. I’ve got twenty-five minutes before my shift starts, and I still have to shower.”

Tory merely burrowed closer and flung her leg over Reese’s thighs. “Tell me after all those years in the Marines that you can’t be ready in five minutes.”

Reese caught Tory’s hand before she really did forget what she needed to do. “Rolling out of the rack is a little bit different than this.”

“Mmm, I should hope so.” Lazily, Tory nuzzled Reese’s shoulder and bit down on the firm muscle, eliciting a groan that was more pleasure than pain. Then, relenting, she rolled away. “All right. Go now. I won’t be responsible for my actions otherwise.”

With a sigh, Reese swung her legs over the side of the bed, stood, and headed for the bathroom. As she reached in to turn on the shower, she heard Tory behind her in the doorway. She looked over her shoulder at her naked lover. Tory’s face was soft with the aftermath of their lovemaking, her body lush with motherhood.

Reese’s stomach clenched and another flood of wanting coursed through her. “Tor. For God’s sake. Give me a break here.”

The corner of Tory’s mouth lifted with satisfaction. “I was just going to talk to you while you got ready. I won’t touch.”

“Promise?”

“Can I wash your back?”

“No.”

“You’re no fun at all.” Tory pulled a robe off the back of the door and shrugged it on. “Safe enough now?”

“Just stay out there,” Reese said threateningly as she stepped under the spray.

Tory plunked herself down on the closed toilet lid as the bathroom filled with warm steam. “What were you saying earlier about Bri?”

Reese stuck her head out of the water. “Huh?”

“Bri. You said something about Bri and Allie before.”

“Oh yeah,” Reese shouted above the sound of drumming water. “They left together after class today on Bri’s bike.”

Tory waited until Reese finished her shower and stepped out to reply. “What about it?”

“Allie was plastered to her.”

“At the dojo?”

“No,” Reese said testily as she toweled her hair. “On the bike. You know, arms around her waist, pressed up against her back.”

“I think that’s kind of required on a motorcycle.”

Reese tossed the towel into the hamper. “Bri should know better.”

Tory’s expression grew serious. “Honey, it makes sense for them to be friends. They’re the same age, they’re both police officers, they’re both lesbians. It’s probably completely innocent.”

“And what if it isn’t?”

“Bri is pretty young still, and so is Caroline, for that matter. Caroline being in Paris for most of this school year is going to test their relationship, perhaps even more than it can withstand.” Tory rose, reached for another towel, and stepped around to dry Reese’s back. Then, appreciating her lover’s worry by the stiff set of her back, she threaded both arms around her waist and rested her cheek between Reese’s shoulder blades. She could hear Reese’s heartbeat, steady and strong and sure. That sound and everything it represented was what she counted on; that was what she had built her hopes and dreams and future upon the solid surety of Reese’s love. She turned her face and kissed Reese’s back. “Remember that Bri worships you. No matter what happens, she’s going to need you on her side.”

“I know.” Reese covered Tory’s hands with her own and sighed. “I just don’t want her to do anything stupid.”

“Try to trust her…and be there for her if she stumbles.” With another kiss between Reese’s shoulder blades, Tory stepped away. “You should get dressed. I can’t seem to keep my hands off you this afternoon, and I know you need to go,”

“I didn’t ask you about how things went at the clinic this morning,” Reese added as she combed her hair.

Tory hesitated, then kissed the tip of Reese’s chin. “Go to work. I’ll tell you when you get home.”

When Reese reached the station, Bri’s motorcycle was parked in the small side lot. The sheriff’s department on Shank Painter Road was a single-story box of a building with the crowded office space taking up the front half and the rear housing several holding cells that were rarely used. Reese stepped inside and scanned the room. Gladys Martin, the day dispatcher, was just gathering her things in preparation for leaving. An efficient, even-tempered middle-aged woman, she looked up at the sound of the door opening and sketched Reese a wave, Bri, in a crisply pressed uniform, sat behind one desk, and a middle-aged man with thick dark hair, winter gray eyes, and wide, strong features occupied another. The broad planes of his face had been tempered in the more refined lines of his daughter’s, but the resemblance was clear. Nelson Parker was the sheriff, Bri’s father, and Reese’s immediate superior.

“‘Lo, Gladys. Anything happening?” Reese asked as she pushed through the creaky gate in the waist-high dividing partition that separated the tiny waiting area from the space beyond that held the officers’ desks, file cabinets, and an industrial-sized coffeepot.

“The biggest excitement we had all day was when a couple of tourists sank one of Flyers’ rental boats out in the middle of the harbor.”

“Huh. That must have taken work. Everybody okay?”

“The tide was out,” she said derisively. “They could practically walk back to shore.”

“Someone take the report?”

“Ted Lewis.”

“Good enough.” She settled behind a desk piled high with papers. A small, silver-framed photo of Tory and Regina sat next to a pencil holder with the emblem of the United States Marine Corps embossed on its side. “Hey, Bri. Afternoon, Chief.”

“Hi, Reese,” Bri replied.

“Conlon,” Nelson grunted as he set aside the report he’d been reviewing. “When you have time, let’s talk about the duty assignments for the weekend.”

Reese held up a sheet of paper that had been divided into neat columns and rows, the grid meticulously filled in with times and names, “Got it right here.”

“Should have known,” Parker muttered to himself. His second in command was the best officer he had ever worked with, arid he’d slowly turned over the day-to-day running of the department to her. The other officers respected her, she worked tirelessly, and she was professionally above reproach. “It’s the last big push of the summer. The town will be jumping.”

“I doubled the swing and night shifts. That means overtime.”

The big man grimaced as he took the schedule from Reese. “Fine.” He fumbled on his desk for his Turns and chewed one absently. “Who did you assign as Tremont’s training officer?”

Bri’s head came up as she regarded Reese and her father intently.

“Lyons. They’ll work the swing Friday and Saturday,”

“What about me?” Bri asked quietly.

“You’ll ride with me,” Reese replied.

“Yes, ma’am,” Bri said with a smile and went back to her review of the updated firearms manual. She wouldn’t have minded riding with Allie, but she knew Reese would never put two rookies together. Even though technically she wasn’t a rookie. She had a solid three months under her belt and she’d taken fire. Still, if anybody was going to partner with Reese, she wanted it to be her. She pointedly ignored the faint twinge of jealousy she’d felt when she’d thought Reese might take over Allie’s training herself mostly because she didn’t know which one of them she’d been jealous over.

Chapter Three

“Wanna drive?” Reese asked as she and Bri walked to the patrol car after finishing an early dinner of fish and chips at one of the takeout stands on MacMillan Wharf.

“Yes, ma’am!” Grinning, Bri caught the keys one-handed and jumped behind the wheel. “Where to?”

“Let’s take another slow run through town.” Reese fastened her seat belt and angled her back against the door so that she could look out the windshield as well as see Bri. “So, did you get a chance to tell Caroline about your test?”

The corner of Bri’s mouth dipped but she kept her voice light. “Not yet. I called, but the time difference is a killer. Half the time I can’t catch her in or I wake her up.” She sighed. “Plus, even with cheap rates, long distance gets really expensive, and now that I have to pay for the apartment all by myself, we’re trying to be careful. I sent her an e-mail, though.”

Reese nodded sympathetically, eyeing the cluster of scantily clad men clogging Commercial Street in front of the Boatslip. The afternoon tea dance had just let out, and the night’s revelry was about to begin in earnest. Despite the fact that Provincetown in the summer was filled to overflowing with vacationers and day-trippers, there was very little public drunkenness or disorderly conduct. The town didn’t need a very big jail, because crimes requiring detention occurred very rarely. However, crowd control, the increase in drug use among both the town’s youth and tourists, and vehicular accidents kept Reese and the other members of the department busy. As Bri carefully maneuvered through the oblivious throngs, Reese asked, “Is she settling in okay?”

Bri kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, her hands clenched on the wheel. “Yes, as near as I can tell. It hasn’t even been a month yet.” But it feels like forever.

“It’s tough,” Reese remarked, “that she’s so far away. It probably wasn’t as bad earlier this year when she was in Manhattan and you were here.”

“I always knew I could see her if I wanted to. All I needed to do was get on the bike and go. Now…” Bri blew out a breath and consciously forced herself to relax. It’s just that we’ve never been apart, not really, since we were fifteen. Those four months in the spring when I was being a jerk and Carre wasn’t talking to me don’t count. That was just plain hell. This is different; this is something we both agreed would be good for Carre’s art career. So I just have to suck it up. “It’s okay. I knew it would be hard at first. I’ll get used to it.”

“Well, you know…you’re welcome at the house anytime.”

“You must be pretty busy, with Reggie and all.”

“She’s settling in. And you’re like family, too, Bri.”

Bri flushed, “Thanks. I…uh…appreciate it.”

Reese wanted to ask her about Allie but didn’t quite see how she could. She didn’t know that anything was going on between them, and if she were in Bri’s shoes, she wouldn’t want anyone making assumptions or prying into her private business. On the other hand, she didn’t want to wait until there actually was a problem to do something about it As if you could. As if it’s even any of your business. A muscle in Reese’s jaw jumped. If Bri had been a recruit, it wouldn’t have been an issue. She could’ve demanded to know what was going on and would have been well within her rights. A lot of things were easier in the Corps.

Knowing Bri was unhappy and feeling helpless to help her made Reese think of her infant daughter. She decided on the spot that she was completely incapable of being a parent All she wanted to do was keep Reggie in the house, safe and secure, for the next twenty years or so. She certainly didn’t want to think about her getting involved with anyone, male or female, where there was the slightest possibility that she could get her heart broken. However, Reese was certain as well as eternally grateful that Tory would know exactly what to do about any problems that Regina might face.

The radio crackled, flooding Reese with a sense of welcome relief. She wouldn’t have to pursue the conversation with Bri any further at least, not until she had something concrete to discuss. She grabbed the microphone and clicked receive. “Conlon.”

“Passerby reported an abandoned vehicle, late-model Aerostar or similar, dark blue or black, on 6 just west of the turnoff to Race Point,” Paul Smith, the officer assigned as dispatcher, reported.

“We’ll check it out,” Reese advised. “ETA two minutes.” She swiveled to face front, her expression intent. “Go east on Bradford and cut over to 6 at the end of town. Come up on the vehicle slow and park twenty feet behind it so I can check the plates. Keep the engine running.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Bri’s expression and tone were calm and controlled, but her heart was racing. Vehicle stops and domestic disputes were the most dangerous situations a law enforcement officer could face, because the call could be something as routine as a flat tire or as potentially lethal as a psycho with a gun. Bri put the worries from her mind and focused on following orders. After all, she was trained for this. And she was with Reese.

In just over a minute, she pulled up behind a dark green van with tinted windows parked on the sandy shoulder of the double-lane highway. “Tires are okay. The hood’s closed. Doesn’t look like a breakdown.”

“I see that.” Reese strained to see through the dark glass into the interior as she keyed in the license plate number on the remote computer terminal. She waited. There didn’t appear to be any motion inside the vehicle. The relay to the station house was slow, but eventually Smith’s disembodied voice returned.

“Vehicle registered to Thomas Bridger of Chelmsford, Mass. No wants or warrants. The vehicle, however, was reported stolen sometime last night. You need backup?”

“Have Lyons and Tremont swing by,” Reese replied curtly. “Code two.”

“Roger that.”

Reese flicked on the loudspeaker. “Anyone in the vehicle, step out with your hands in the air.”

Five seconds. Ten. Reese repeated the message. When there was no movement in or around the van, she unsnapped her holster, drew her weapon, and opened the patrol car door. “I’m going to have a look inside. Back me up from here stay behind the cruiser door.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Bri eased out, rested her forearms on the top of the open door, and trained her weapon on the rear of the vehicle. The metal door in front of her wasn’t bulletproof, but it afforded her some protection. Reese, on the other hand, was out in the open and vulnerable.

With her weapon at her side, Reese put her back to the driver’s side of the vehicle and inched forward, hesitating for a second to peer through the rear window. She reached out and tried the rear door. Locked. With continued caution, she moved forward and attempted to open the driver’s door. As it swung open, she crouched instinctively and trained her weapon on the interior. A millisecond later, she hastily holstered her weapon and leaned inside.

A boy he didn’t look older than fifteen lay slumped on his side, his legs under the steering wheel, his head leaning toward the passenger seat His eyes were closed, his face gray and sweat coated, and his limbs loose and lifeless. He didn’t appear to be breathing. She would have thought him dead except when she touched his neck, his skin was warm. As she pressed two fingers to his carotid artery, she scanned the rest of the van. Empty. A faint, weak pulse trilled beneath her fingers.

She backed out and straightened, then turned to Bri and waved her forward. “Got a casualty here. Unconscious male.” As Bri rushed to join her, Reese continued, “We need to get him to the clinic.”

“Should I call for the paramedics?”

Reese shook her head. “It’ll be faster if we take him ourselves,”

“Is it okay to move him?”

“It doesn’t appear that the vehicle has been involved in an accident, and he doesn’t show any evidence of trauma. I doubt his neck is at risk.” As she spoke, Reese levered the front seat back carefully and bent over the victim once again. “Just to be sure, I’ll support his head and shoulders and you get his feet.”

“Here come Allie and Jeff,” Bri announced as the second patrol car pulled in front of the van, sandwiching it between the two cruisers.

The four officers easily lifted the boy out and carried him to Reese’s patrol car. Once they had him secured in the backseat, Bri climbed in with him and Reese got behind the wheel. She looked up at Jeff Lyons through the open window. “We can’t be certain he was alone. Check the vehicle for any evidence of illegal substances, and then search the scrub in the immediate area to make sure there isn’t someone else out there in need of help.”

“You got it, boss.”

Reese sped with lights and siren clearing the way toward the East End Health Clinic, hoping that after 8 p.m. on a weeknight, the clinic wouldn’t be too busy. The parking lot was nearly empty when she pulled the cruiser up to the front door and bounded out.

“We need a stretcher out here,” Reese called in Randy’s direction as she stuck her head in the door. Then she hurried back to help Bri lift the youth out. By the time they maneuvered his inert body from the vehicle, Dan and Randy had the collapsible stretcher open and waiting for them. Within a matter of minutes, they were back inside the clinic and heading down the hallway toward the treatment rooms.

At the commotion in the hall, Tory stepped out of her office wearing her white clinic coat and stared at the group. “What’s going on?”

Reese’s face never changed expression, despite her surprise. “Found unresponsive in a car out on 6. He’s barely breathing.”

“Bring him in here,” she directed briskly, leading the way to a treatment room, “Accident?”

“No sign of one,” Reese replied.

Dan steered the stretcher to the side of the examination table and, while Reese and Bri stood out of the way, he and Tory moved the youth and began resuscitation. They worked together efficiently, with very little conversation.

Reese had seen Tory in action many times, but her lover’s focus, skill, and confidence never failed to impress her. Even now, although she was baffled and uncharacteristically angry, Reese was spellbound.

Tory placed her stethoscope against the boy’s chest, frowning as she listened. “Respirations shallow four times a minute.” She reached up and thumbed his right eyelid open. “Pinpoint pupils.”

“Pulse and pressure low,” Dan said tersely.

“Overdose.” Tory turned to an open tackle box that stood on a stainless steel tray next to the examination table. She pulled out a tiny glass ampule, snapped off the top, and filled a syringe with the clear liquid. As she worked, Dan started an intravenous line in the boy’s forearm. Tory passed him the medication. “Amp of Narcan. I’ll push the D50.”

Dan injected the drug intravenously while Tory prepared a bolus of glucose, just in case the problem was a diabetic complication and not a drug overdose. If it was insulin shock, the concentrated sugar solution would bring him around. Within seconds of the injection of antinarcotic, however, the boy’s eyes flew open, and he began to thrash and cough.

Bri stared, then asked in a low, urgent voice, “What’s going on?”

“They just gave him an antidote to a narcotic overdose. It works almost immediately, especially if the narcotic is the only drug he’s taken.”

The boy stared wildly about before lunging upright on the table. Before Dan could restrain him, the patient grabbed Tory’s arm and pulled her off balance, nearly causing her to fall. Reese was at her lover’s side in an instant, grasping the youth’s shoulders and pushing him back down on the table.

“Easy, buddy.” Both her voice and her grip were kind, but her eyes were sharp and hard. “We’re just trying to help you out here,”

“It’s all right,” Tory said quietly. “He’ll settle down in a second.”

“I’ll just stay here until he does.”

Tory recognized the intractability in her lover’s tone and made no reply. Glancing across the boy’s supine figure to her associate, she said, “We should probably put him on a Narcan drip so he doesn’t go out again. I’ll draw blood for a tox screen first if you want to set up the infusion.”

“Sure.”

While Dan was busy mixing the intravenous drip, Reese motioned Bri closer with a tilt of her chin. “Check his pockets for ID, We need to notify family.”

Bri patted him down and pulled a wallet from the voluminous side pocket of his tan canvas cargo shorts. She flipped it open and sorted through the cards inside. “Robert Allen Bridger. Fifteen years old. Same address as the registration,”

“Robert,” Tory said sharply, attempting to get the confused boy’s attention. “Robert, can you hear me? I’m Dr. King. Robert? You’re going to be all right.”

The young patient turned unfocused eyes in her direction and mumbled incoherently.

“He’s going to need to be transported to Hyannis for admission,” Tory informed Reese. “Until we get the labs back, we can’t be certain exactly what he’s taken or what other problems might develop.” She smiled faintly at Reese. “You can let go of him now that Dan has the drip going.”

Reese stepped back, keeping one eye on the restless youth while she spoke to Bri. “Check with Lyons and Tremont to see if they found anything else with the vehicle. Particularly any sign of what he might have ingested. I’ll give his parents a call. Looks like he stole the family car and set off to have a little fun.” She shook her head. “Some fun.”

“I’m on it,” Bri replied and headed for the door.

Tory rested her hand lightly on Reese’s forearm. “Why don’t you use my office to make your calls.”

“Where’s the baby?” Reese asked quietly.

“With her grandmothers.” Tory brushed her fingers over the top of Reese’s hand, noting that her lover made no response. Gently, she repeated, “Go ahead, darling. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Silently, Reese turned and walked away.

Twenty minutes later, Tory slipped into her office just as Reese, who sat with a hip on the corner of the large walnut desk, hung up the phone. “Did you reach his parents?”

“Yes. They’re on their way to the hospital in Hyannis. It will take them a couple of hours to get there.”

Tory nodded. “The EMTs are just leaving. By the time his parents arrive, he’ll probably be settled in.”

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s stable. He’ll bear watching for a day or two, depending on what kinds of drugs he’s been doing. Relapses are not uncommon with some of the popular cocktails nowadays.” Tory crossed the room and stopped a few inches from Reese. “He’s very lucky that you came by when you did. Another ten or fifteen minutes and he would’ve been in full arrest.”

“One of the townspeople noticed that the car had been there all afternoon and called it in.” Reese shrugged. “I didn’t have much to do with it.”

Tory lifted a hand and brushed the dark hair from Reese’s forehead. “You recognized the problem and acted quickly, Sheriff. You saved his life.”

Reese caught Tory’s hand and held it, rubbing her thumb slowly across the top. “What are you doing here?”

“When I stopped by this morning, Dan was really swamped.” Tory sighed. “I kept thinking about it, so I came in to help him out. Kate and Jean said they didn’t mind watching Regina.”

“It seemed pretty quiet when we arrived a while ago.” Reese traced her fingers along Tory’s jaw. “And you look beat. Are you leaving now?”

“In just a little while.” At the look of confusion on Reese’s face, Tory continued quickly, “I need to go over some of the inventory and look at the patient schedules for the next week or so.” She laced her ringers through Reese’s. “I told Dan to go home, Reese, His family needs him, and he needs to be there.”

“Permanently?”

“Most likely, yes.”

“And you’re planning on coming back to work?”

Tory nodded.

“And you decided this already?” Reese spoke quietly, her face composed. “Without talking to me about it?”

“It just came up today, when I was here. I’m sorry. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

Reese stood, nodded once, and settled her brimmed hat low over her brows. “I have to get back to work. If you need me to pick Reggie up later, I can do that.”

“I won’t be here that long, I’ll get her.” Tory placed her palm against Reese’s chest. “Reese”

The radio clipped to Reese’s shoulder crackled.

“Sheriff?”

“Go ahead, Lyons,” Reese replied sharply.

“We’ve got a problem out here.”

Reese’s jaw set. “I’ll be right there.” She brushed her lips over Tory’s forehead. “I’ll see you later.”

Tory watched her lover walk away, wishing she could call her back, wishing she could erase the disappointment she had seen in Reese’s eyes. But Reese had a job to do, as did she. Forcing back the sadness and the small sliver of self-recrimination, she sat down behind her desk and reached for the first chart on the ten-inch-high stack that awaited her.

Chapter Four

After thirty minutes of fruitless effort, Tory realized that she wasn’t going to be able to concentrate enough to efficiently finish her chart work.

“I’ll just have to come in tomorrow morning and do it,” she muttered as she tossed her pen aside and rose from behind her desk. Ten seconds later, the cell phone on her belt vibrated. Hoping it was Reese, she snapped it open. “This is Dr. King.”

“It’s Reese, I need you to come out to the scene on 6.”

Tory tensed. “Another victim?”

There was a beat of silence, then Reese’s voice, flat and low.

“No. ADB.”

In addition to her clinical practice, Tory also acted as the county coroner in those rare instances when it was necessary. It wasn’t unusual in small communities where suspicious or unanticipated deaths were rare for a local physician to perform the basic duties of confirming death, noting the time and circumstances, and signing the death certificate. Thankfully, it wasn’t a responsibility she needed to fulfill often.

“I’ll be right there.”

Reese gave her the directions and signed off. On the short drive to the other end of town, Tory tried not to think about what might be waiting for her. No death was ever easy or routine, but at least there was some small comfort in knowing it was part of the natural cycle of life. But violent and senseless death, so often a result of man’s careless or brutal action, was unforgivably tragic. She saw the line of emergency flares isolating the vehicle from the road and slowed to a halt on the shoulder. In the eerie red-orange glow of the magnesium torches, she could make out the silhouettes of figures moving around the vehicle, stringing crime scene tape.

One of those shadowy forms, she knew, was her lover. Uncertain of her footing in the semidarkness on the soft, shifting sand, Tory moved forward slowly. When she’d almost reached the rear of the vehicle, Reese materialized from the darkness and extended a hand.

“She’s back here in the brush. Here hold on to me. The slope here is tricky.”

There had been a time when Tory would never have accepted assistance, even from someone who loved her. The accident that had occurred in the midst of the Olympic rowing heats over a decade before had nearly cost her her leg, but she’d lost more than her ability to compete. For a very long time, she’d lost her independence as well as her health. Her recovery, both physical and emotional, had been slow and hard-won. Only in the last few years had she regained enough confidence to allow help and enough strength in her damaged leg not to need it under most circumstances. But this was Reese, and the situation was extreme, and she couldn’t risk an injury now merely for the sake of pride. She closed her fingers around Reese’s hand and inched down the steep slope toward the scrub brush that dotted the dunes.

“What have you got?” Tory asked, her voice sounding very loud in the hushed night air.

“A girl looks to be the same age as the boy we brought in. From the position of the body and the condition of the terrain, it looks like she was running from someone.”

Tory’s throat closed. “A homicide?”

Reese shone her Mag-Lite on a narrow sandy path that appeared through the darkness for an instant and then disappeared beyond the semicircle of illumination once again. “I’m not sure yet. She might have been running from the boy. Hell, they might just have been fooling around.” She clamped her jaws tightly, “They certainly look the part to be playing silly kids’ games. Barely more than children.”

“Hide and seek? Win a kiss if you catch me?”

“Could be something as simple as that.” Reese shrugged as much in comment as in an attempt to dispel the melancholy. What a waste.

They walked another twenty yards before Reese slowed. A pair of sandaled feet appeared at the far edge of the spot of light that preceded them, then slim legs came into view, followed by narrow hips in white Capri pants, a bare midriff with a glint of silver at the navel, and small, high breasts beneath a tight, light blue tube top. Tory’s heart plummeted. The soft face beneath short blond hair was smooth and unmarred. An angel’s face. Oh God.

“Have you moved her?” Tory stood at the juncture of light and shadow observing the body in the harsh artificial illumination.

“No. I just felt for a pulse. There wasn’t one.” Reese blew out a breath of frustration. “Allie Tremont found her. For a rookie, she did good. She kept her head and didn’t contaminate the area, but she did check for a heartbeat. According to Allie, there wasn’t one then either.” Reese jammed her hands in her uniform pockets, her feet spread, her shoulders stiff as she stared down at the young girl’s body. “I should’ve checked the area before I left with the boy. Maybe she was alive then. God damn it.”

“If you had waited, he would’ve died.” Tory didn’t touch Reese because she knew that wasn’t what her lover needed. “You made the right call, Sheriff. Now, is it safe for me to move around here?”

“Yes. We took photographs as best we could. We’re not exactly equipped for a high-tech crime scene analysis here. We won’t be able to really map the area and check for trace until daylight.”

“Did you get 360-degree images of the body?” As she spoke, Tory opened the small satchel she kept in her Jeep for just such call-outs and cautiously knelt in the sand. The victim lay partially on her side, one leg drawn up and her body curled in on itself as if sleeping. Tory checked the muscle tone in the left arm, gently flexing and extending the elbow. It was stiff, but not in full rigor. “She’s been dead for less than ten hours, but definitely for more than two.” She looked up at her lover, silhouetted against the night sky. “You couldn’t have helped her.”

“Not in life, perhaps,” Reese said quietly. She squatted down beside Tory, holding the light for her as she worked. “Do you see anything to suggest homicide?”

“Not yet,” Tory replied, gently rolling the body flat onto its back. “But the best I’m going to be able to do here is recognize severe blunt or penetrating trauma. She’ll need a full postmortem, and that’s going to take someone more skilled than me to do it.” She drew out a palm-sized Dictaphone and described the appearance of the body, indicating position, state of the clothing, presence and absence of identifying marks, evidence of trauma, and noted no apparent disruption in the surrounding area to suggest that a struggle had taken place. At least not there. When she’d finished the brief dictation, she removed a long, thin stylet that resembled a stainless steel knitting needle, pushed up the lower border of the clinging tube top, palpated the lower edge of the twelfth rib on the right side, and pushed the transcutaneous thermometer through the skin and into the right lobe of the liver. “The core temperature will give us a much better indication of time of death. The ambient temperature is fortunately still fairly close to body temperature, so we haven’t lost much heat to the environment. Ask Jeff or Allie to get me a precise temperature reading now, please.”

“Eighty-three degrees Fahrenheit.”

Tory nodded, realizing that of course Reese would have already thought to do that. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,”

“Have you identified her?”

“No,” Reese said with a hint of irritation in her voice. “There’s no wallet, no purse, and nothing in the car to indicate who she is. Hopefully, Robert Bridger will be able to tell us.”

“She doesn’t look like a street kid or a prostitute.” Tory lifted one slim hand, staring at the slender fingers curled gently in her palm. “Her nails are clean and manicured. She’s well nourished. Her clothes are expensive but tasteful. My guess is that Robert knows her and didn’t pick her up on the side of the road somewhere.”

“That’s my thought too.” Reese rolled her shoulders. “So far we haven’t found anything useful in the vehicle. If this is an overdose, where are the pills?”

Without thinking, Tory reached out and braced her arm against Reese’s thigh as she pushed herself upright, favoring her weakened leg. She didn’t move away when Reese steadied her with an arm around her waist. Kneeling for extended periods still took a toll on her nerve-damaged calf. “Maybe they took them all?”

“And what, threw the bottles out the window?”

Tory shrugged as they made their way back to the road. “I suppose that’s possible. Perhaps they just grabbed enough for the night and got something stronger than they bargained for.”

“Maybe. But if they didn’t raid the drug cabinet at home, I want to know who supplied them with whatever almost killed them both.”

“I’m sure you’ll find out what happened.” Tory’s tone was far from placating. She spoke with quiet certainty. “Let me make some calls and find out who’s available to do the post. Then we’ll get an ambulance out here to transport her.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry to have to bring you out here for this.”

“Don’t apologize.” Tory lifted a hand and rested her fingers gently against Reese’s cheek. “Try to get home sometime tonight, all right?”

“There’s a fair amount of work to be done out here.” Reese rubbed her face. “And I have to ID this girl. I may need to drive up to the hospital to interview the boy.”

“Don’t do that on no sleep, Reese,” Tory said quietly. “Don’t make me worry all night.”

Reese sighed. “I won’t. But if it gets really late, I might catch an hour or so at the station and then go.”

“I understand. Come home when you can.”

“Tory…I’m sorry about the way I left earlier…”

“It’s all right, darling. You’ve got work to do.” Tory allowed her fingers to trail over Reese’s jaw before drawing away. “We’ll talk soon. I promise. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Reese opened the driver’s door of Tory’s Jeep so her lover could slide in. “Kiss the baby for me.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Bri stood by the side of Allie’s desk, her hands in her pockets, her blue eyes dark with worry. Allie was pale and her hands shook as she filled out paperwork. It was three in the morning and they had both been off shift for over three hours, but Allie needed to document the details of finding the dead girl before leaving and Bri had stayed to finish her report on the boy. Now, she lingered out of concern and sympathy for her friend. She wondered how she would have reacted to coming upon a dead teenager in the brush in the middle of the night.

Allie looked up, dark eyes liquid with pain and fatigue. She forced a smile. “No, I’m okay. Almost done.”

“Sure?”

“Yeah, thanks. You go ahead. It’s late.”

“How about I give you a ride home?”

“I’ve got my car,” Allie said, but her expression belied her efforts to sound composed.

“This whole night has been a bummer,” Bri noted truthfully. “I wouldn’t mind company for a while.”

A smile of thanks flickered on Allie’s face. “Yeah?” At Bri’s solemn nod, she said quickly, “Five minutes.”

Even at the height of the season, the small town was deserted in the middle of the night. The bars closed at one and there was nothing much in the way of entertainment beyond that time. Bri, feeling as if they were the only two people in the world, powered the motorcycle through the twisting, narrow streets with Allie clinging to her back. Somewhere, though, she reminded herself, on the other side of the ocean that she could hear in the background even above the roar of her engine, Caroline was just waking. She missed her so much, especially now, when she hurt inside with feelings she couldn’t put a name to. The warmth of Allie’s body was comforting.

Gunning the engine, she took the bike in a low, sweeping dip around a turn onto the road to Pilgrim’s Heights. Allie tightened her hold, and Bri felt a hand press low against the front of her uniform pants. Surprised, she covered Allie’s fingers with her own before they could move anywhere else. She kept her hand there until she needed both to navigate the sharp turn into Allie’s driveway. She cut the engine and put a leg down on either side of the big bike to steady it “I’ll swing by tomorrow and take you to the station to get your car.”

“Can you come in for a while?” Allie asked, sliding off to stand by Bri’s side. She rested one hand on Bri’s thigh in a casual gesture, but her voice trembled. “I’m wide awake. I could fix us a drink or something to eat.”

Bri heard the plea beneath the invitation and realized that Allie must be more upset than she wanted to let on. “Sure, for a bit. Thanks.” She kicked down the stand and swung her leg over the wide tank, then followed Allie up the winding stone path to the small bungalow. Once inside, she waited while Allie turned on lights and rummaged in the kitchen.

“Here,” Allie said, handing Bri a beer. She gestured to the sofa with her own bottle and the two young officers, both still in uniform, sat down side by side. They drank in silence for a few moments.

“You doing okay, for real?” Bri finally asked.

“I’m not so sure,” Allie confessed in a small voice. She kept her eyes down, staring at the beer bottle that she turned around and around between her clasped hands. “It was weird. When I saw her, I thought she was sleeping. I thought, what a stupid place to sack out. Then it hit me. All at once. And I knew she was dead.”

“That must’ve been hard.” They had been in tough situations together, including a life-threatening fire. Bri had been in a takedown that had resulted in gunshots and death. But she’d never walked up on death alone. Secretly, she was glad.

“You know,” Allie went on, “you always read about cops throwing up or something when they find a body, but I didn’t feel that way. I felt…cold.” She shivered, set her beer bottle down, and moved closer to Bri on the sofa. “I still do.”

When Allie took her hand, Bri closed her fingers around Allie’s in silent comfort.

“Reese and Jeff both said I did okay.” Allie leaned her shoulder against Bri’s and pulled Bri’s hand into her lap, holding it between her own. In a low, tortured voice, she asked, “Don’t you think I should feel something else? Like…maybe there’s something wrong with me because I don’t?”

“No,” Bri said comfortingly. “No. I think you’re tired and stressed and maybe…a little freaked out. I think that’s pretty normal.”

Allie laughed shakily. “Jeez, I don’t feel normal,”

“I think you did great too.” Bri squeezed Allie’s fingers. “I’m sorry you had to go through it, though.”

“Part of the job, right?” Allie shrugged and tried to sound tough.

“Yeah. A really rough part.”

“Thanks.” Allie rested her cheek against Bri’s shoulder. “For bringing me home.”

“Maybe you should call Ashley,” Bri suggested tentatively. “Tell her about it.”

Allie shook her head. “No. We’re sort of…cooling things off for awhile.”

“Why?”

“Oh, you know. Things run hot for a while and then…” She shrugged again.

“So you broke up?” Bri tried to remember the last time she had seen Allie with Ashley Walker, the private investigator with whom they had all worked a case earlier in the summer. She realized that it had been a few weeks at least. She’d thought that they were a couple, or at least headed in that direction.

“Ashley said…oh, fuck…” Allie moved one hand from Bri’s, sat up, and grabbed for her beer bottle. She drained it in one long swallow. “Ashley’s decided that she’s too old for me. Do you believe that?”

“So she broke up with you?” Bri’s voice held a note of incredulity. “For something like that? What is she, ten years older or something?”

“About that. So she’s decided that I’m too young to make a commitment and that we should take things slow” She grunted derisively. “In my book, that means screw other people and forget about each other.”

Bri frowned, recalling the attractive redhead who had not seemed like a woman who would be interested in casual encounters, “Did she say that?”

“She didn’t have to. I got the message.”

“Uh, maybe that’s not what she meant. You know, sometimes, women are hard to figure out.”

Allie regarded Bri with a slow smile. “Is that right? I never noticed that you had much trouble.”

Bri blushed. “Half the time I’m not certain what Carre needs. I’m just happy to get it right whenever I do.”

At the mention of Bri’s girlfriend, Allie’s smile wavered. “You’re pretty crazy about her, huh?”

“Yeah. Totally.”

With a seductive purr, Allie leaned close again, one arm sliding around Bri’s waist and her lips close to Bri’s ear. “But you’re not married, right? I mean, she’s going to be gone a long time.”

When the warm breath tickled her ear and a very practiced hand smoothed over her abdomen and came to rest on her fly, Bri felt a familiar spark of arousal. This wasn’t the first time Allie had touched her, and she remembered exactly how good that had felt. The last time they’d been naked in bed together, and she’d almost come while Allie touched her. Gently, Bri covered Allie’s hand as she had done on the bike and moved it up a safe distance. “I’m not into fooling around. But if I was, I’d be begging at your door.”

Allie grew very still, then after a minute, edged away until she could look into Bri’s face. “That was a really nice thing to say. You’re sweet, you know that?”

“Not really. It’s the truth, what I said about you. You’re hot. But I can’t cheat on my girl.”

Curiously, Allie asked, “Even if she never knew?”

“I’d know. I already don’t deserve her.” Bri shrugged and looked away, embarrassed. “But I’m trying.”

“Will you stay here tonight?”

Bri’s head snapped back. “Huh?”

“Not for sex. I just…I’d just like not to be alone.”

“I can’t sleep in bed with you.” Bri wasn’t crazy enough to think that she could sleep next to a gorgeous, hot woman who wanted her and not be tempted.

“You can take the bed, and I could sleep out here on the couch.”

Bri laughed. “The couch will do me fine. But I’m only staying on one condition.”

“What?” Allie asked playfully.

“You’re making the breakfast.”

“Oh, Officer Parker,” Allie cooed, leaning close and kissing Bri’s cheek. “You are so easy.”

Chapter Five

“Uh-oh,” Nelson Parker muttered.

Reese followed her boss’s gaze down the hospital hallway and saw a woman rise from a chair in the seating area outside the intensive care unit and start toward them. Swiftly, Reese took stock. Nearly her height, but not as muscular. Shoulder-length dark hair, looking as if it had been subtly cut to hold its casual style no matter the wind or weather. Light makeup, clear, pale complexion, hazel eyes gleaming even in the dim light. Piercing eyes hard, unreadable eyes. A faint smile that might have been welcome or warning. At just after four in the morning, the woman, dressed casually in tan slacks and a cream-colored short-sleeved blouse, looked remarkably fresh and alert. She also looked, Reese thought, as if she were enjoying herself. Uh-oh is right.

“You must be here about Robert Bridger,” the woman said in a rich, smooth alto, her eyes moving slowly from Nelson to Reese.

“I’m Chief Nelson Parker and this is Sheriff Reese Conlon,” Nelson said. He held out his hand, which the woman took.

“How do you do? I’m Trey Pelosi, the Bridgers’ attorney.” She smiled again, and turned to Reese with an extended hand. “Sheriff.”

“Counselor,” Reese said quietly, “Vacationing in the area?”

“Why, yes,” Trey answered, her eyes sharpening as she gave Reese an appraising glance. “I have a summer home in Truro.”

“Yours must have been the taillights we saw ahead of us all the way up here.”

Trey laughed. “Actually, I’ve been here a few hours.”

His parents must have called you as soon as I finished talking to them, Reese surmised. You probably got here before Robert arrived. Gives a new meaning to the term ambulance chaser

“We called the boy’s doctors on our way up from Provincetown,” Nelson stated. “They informed us that Robert was awake and could answer some questions. Are his parents here?”

“They are. Yes.” She hadn’t moved and her smile hadn’t wavered. She stood comfortably, but quite obviously, in their path. “The doctors were partially correct. Robert is awake, but I’m afraid he won’t be answering any questions.”

“Is there some reason you don’t want him to talk to us, Counselor?” Reese asked in a steady, even tone.

“Are you charging him with a crime, Sheriff?”

“At the moment, we’re simply trying to find out what happened. He’s the only one who can tell us.”

“And at the moment, Robert isn’t up to being questioned,” Trey responded firmly without raising her voice.

“The doctors said” Nelson began.

“I’m sorry that you both came all the way up here in the middle of the night,” Trey interjected, her tone still reasonable. “However, I’m afraid that at the present time I can’t allow Robert to answer any questions. Sometime tomorrow, I expect that his parents will retain permanent counsel. If you give me your contact information, I’ll be certain that you’re notified.”

“You’re not a criminal attorney, then?” Reese asked

Once again, a smile flickered at the corner of Trey’s mouth and was quickly gone. “No, I’m a corporate attorney. Robert’s mother is…an old friend. I was nearby, and they asked me to serve as temporary counsel.”

“Ms. Pelosi,” Reese said sharply, “I have a dead teenager whose name I don’t know. Somewhere, that girl’s parents are wondering where she is. I need to answer their question, and to do that, I need Robert to tell me who she is. That’s all I want right now.”

Nothing showed in Trey’s eyes now as she met Reese’s not sympathy, not irritation, not anger. Her expression remained remote. “I appreciate your situation, Sheriff. I’m certain that Robert’s attorney will do everything possible to assist you at the appropriate time. But for tonight, Robert is unavailable.”

“Thanks,” Nelson said quickly as he caught the rigid set of Reese’s jaw out of the corner of his eye. She’d been up all night, and although she didn’t look it, he knew she was wrapped pretty tight. He felt a little sick himself, and he hadn’t been the one to find a dead girl in the dunes. When Reese had awoken him to advise him of the situation, the first thing he’d flashed on was the night they’d found Bri out there, beaten and nearly dead. The swift surge of nausea still hadn’t left him, and he could only imagine what the frustration and distress was doing to Reese. Ordinarily, his second in command was the picture of equanimity in a stressful situation, but some things just got to you more than others. And being stonewalled at this point in the investigation was tough to swallow. “Here’s my card. Please tell Robert’s family that we’ll be in touch tomorrow and will need to speak to him.”

“Certainly,” Trey said, taking the card and sliding it into her left breast pocket. She nodded before turning away. “Good night, Officers.”

Reese watched her walk away with a combination of admiration and supreme irritation. It was difficult to be angry with someone who was simply doing her job very well, but at the moment, she was furious. Every minute that passed without her having a name for the girl lying under a white sheet in Tory’s clinic awaiting transfer to the morgue in Barnstable for autopsy added to her sense of helplessness and rage. “Son of a bitch.”

Nelson’s eyebrows arched. Reese rarely cursed in his presence or, to his knowledge, much at all. It wasn’t because she was too proper or too uptight; she was simply too controlled. “I’ll bet she’s hell in a courtroom.”

“I suppose I should just be glad that I’ll never find out,” Reese muttered. Turning away, she rubbed a hand over her face wearily. “God damn it.”

As they walked down the hall toward the elevators, Nelson clapped Reese briefly on the shoulder before putting his hands in his pockets. “Look, it makes sense for her to advise the family not to let him talk. Once we get a better handle on what happened out there get some of the lab reports back, check the scene by daylight, get a little leverage on our side we’ll try again. We might have nothing to charge him with, and even if we do, in all likelihood the state boys will take it over anyhow.”

Reese cut him a look of disgust. “I’m not thinking about the charges, I’m thinking about a dead girl with no name.”

“I know.”

His voice was edged with pain, and Reese sighed as they stepped out into the dawn. “Sorry, Chief.”

“No need to apologize. It pisses me off, too.” He slid into the cruiser and waited while Reese climbed into the passenger side. “I’ll drop you off home.” At her look of protest, he shook his head firmly. “Nothing is going to change in the next few hours, so you might as well get some sleep. If anything comes up, I’ll call you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Are the kids okay?”

She knew what he meant without asking. “Bri’s fine. She handled herself perfectly during the vehicle surveillance and search. Allie, too. She was a little bit shaken up after finding the body, so we’ll need to keep an eye on her for the next day or two. But she was solid in the field.”

“Glad to hear it. Christ, how the hell did I end up with a force that’s half women?” he muttered under his breath.

For the first time in hours, Reese grinned. “Just lucky, I guess, Chief.”

Forty-five minutes later, Reese let herself quietly into her house through the back door. She stopped in the kitchen and made a small pile of her equipment belt, keys, and hat on the breakfast counter. When she slipped as quietly as possible up the stairs, loosening her tie and unbuttoning her shirt as she went, she heard a tiny whimper from the nursery. Moving quickly, she entered the room and leaned over the crib. Reggie, waving one tiny fist in the air, regarded her with solemn eyes and the ghost of a smile.

“Hey, Tiger. You’re awake already, huh?” Reese reached in and lifted her out. Cradling the baby on her left shoulder, she used her right hand to open a fresh diaper on top of the bassinet and arrange the other necessary supplies. Then she laid her daughter down to change her. “So, did you dream about something special last night? You have dreams, right? I bet you do. Exciting ones.” With swift economy, she closed the sticky tabs to hold the diaper in place and maneuvered the baby into a clean one. “Hungry yet? Sure you are. You’re always hungry.”

Reggie made a gurgling sound of assent.

“Okay. Breakfast, then. What do you say we let Mommy sleep and get some of the stored stuff out of the refrigerator?”

“Mommy’s awake,” Tory said from the doorway where she’d been leaning watching her lover take care of their daughter. There were times that she looked at the two of them and feared her heart would burst.

Reese turned with the baby in her arms. “Hey.”

Tory crossed the room and kissed Reese on the mouth. “Hi. Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Just a little tired.”

“Why don’t you get ready for bed, and I’ll take care of her. I’ll be there as soon as she’s settled again.”

“Feed her in bed. I like to watch.”

Tory held out her arms for Reggie. “All right. Go get out of your uniform.”

A few minutes later, Reese crawled under the covers and turned on her side next to Tory and the baby. She propped her head on one hand and rested the other hand on Tory’s abdomen, her fingers just touching the baby’s leg. “She looks so content.”

“She is,” Tory said with a small laugh. She ran the fingers of her free hand through the hair at the back of Reese’s neck. “Want to tell me about last night?”

Reese shook her head. “Not until she’s done. I don’t want to think about anything except how beautiful both of you are.”

Tory drew a sharp breath. “Honey, it’s probably best that I not be aroused in the middle of this.”

“You think she could tell?” Reese asked seriously.

“No,” Tory laughed again, “but I can only handle so many conflicting stimuli at once.”

“Oh.” Reese was quiet for a few seconds. “That’s a pretty sexy thought.”

Tory tugged on Reese’s hair. “I think your daughter isn’t the only one who’s hungry. Can you stay awake long enough?”

“I’m not the slightest bit tired.”

“Give me ten minutes to get her fed and back to bed.”

When Tory returned from the nursery, Reese lay on her back with both arms behind her head, watching Tory with an appreciative expression as she crossed the room. “That was eleven.”

“Was it?” Tory asked as she drew the sheet aside and stretched out on top of Reese. She braced herself with her bent elbows on either side of Reese’s head, once again threading her fingers into Reese’s hair. With her mouth hovering above Reese’s, she murmured, “Then I’ll have to take a little longer doing what I plan on doing to you to make up for it.”

Reese’s moan was lost in the depths of Tory’s mouth as their lips met and Tory settled her hips more closely between Reese’s legs. Their joining was as seamless as two halves of a whole slotting together, their bodies and hearts blending effortlessly. Tory allowed the weight of her body to press into Reese’s firm muscles and soft skin, loving the solid feel of Reese beneath her. Reese so strong, so tender, everything she’d dreamed of, everything she counted on, everything she needed.

“Reese, I love you.”

Almost dizzy with the heat of Tory’s passion against her, inside her mouth, surrounding her, Reese opened her eyes and searched her lover’s. “I need you so much.”

Tory lifted her hips and slid her hand between their bodies, cupping Reese in her palm. Slowly, watching her lover’s face, she slid into her, claiming her as she had been claimed. “I’m here, baby. Always.” She settled her hips once again, her own wetness warming the top of her hand as Reese’s flowed into her palm. When she began to thrust, Reese groaned and her eyelids flickered closed.

“Reese,” Tory gasped, rocking harder, exciting herself as she entered Reese more deeply with each plunge, “watch my face. Watch my face and know how much I love you.”

With supreme effort Reese opened her eyes. “I’ll come just from looking at you.”

“I want you to come watching me love you.” Tory’s voice was throaty and fierce as her hips bucked harder. Reese was everywhere under her, around her, filling her heart to overflowing.

Reese caught Tory’s breast in her hand, squeezing gently to the same rhythm that beat through her blood and her bones as Tory took her higher. Her skin burned, her belly was molten, and her mind filled with shimmering lights. She felt Tory’s fingers inside her, filling her, holding her, owning her. “Slow down. Tor, slow down.”

“No.”

“Please. Come first,” Reese implored. “Let me see you come.”

Stilling her hand, Tory threw her head back and circled her hips faster between Reese’s thighs, rubbing her clitoris harder over the back of her hand. “Oh God, soon.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth and looked down into Reese’s eyes as the first tendrils of orgasm floated free. The love and wonder she saw in their blue depths shot through her just as the orgasm exploded outward, and she crested on the twin peaks of unbearable pleasure. Crying out, she pushed her fingers hard into Reese, who immediately arched her back and came.

“Thank you,” Reese groaned when she could finally talk. She held Tory tightly, cradling her lover’s damp face against her shoulder. She kissed Tory’s forehead and smoothed her hair away from her face. “You’re so beautiful like that. Until Reggie I’d never seen anything that came close to being as beautiful,”

Heart aching, Tory pressed her lips to Reese’s neck. “I would never hurt you intentionally. You know that, don’t you?”

“I know.” Reese continued to stroke Tory’s neck and shoulders as she reached with her free hand to pull the sheet over them. She closed her eyes for a second while she summoned her courage. “I’m afraid. I’m afraid that it will be too much, too soon. I still remember what it felt like riding in that goddamned ambulance the night Reggie was born and being afraid that I would lose you. Lose you both.” Reese pressed her face to Tory’s hair. “I couldn’t stand it, Tor. I couldn’t make it without you.”

Tory gave a small cry and pushed herself up until she could see Reese’s face. “Oh, baby. No. Nothing like that is going to happen. I promise.”

“Sometimes I worry that I won’t be able to take care of you. Christ…” Reese took a long, shaky breath. “The only things I’m good at being a marine, being a cop don’t seem to be enough sometimes.”

“I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Tory said gently. She kissed Reese’s mouth softly. “You are strong and brave and gentle and kind and tender. You love me and you love Reggie and that’s everything. Everything.”

“God, I hope so.” Reese kissed Tory again, deeply, with near-desperate passion. When she drew away, she sighed with a conflicting combination of contentment and concern. “You have to get help at the clinic, Tor. It will be too much otherwise. It was already too much before Reggie was born, and now”

“I will. I’ll find someone. I promise.”

Reese caught Tory’s hand and brought it to her lips, then gently kissed each finger. “Promise that you’ll take care of yourself. It won’t help your patients if you get sick.”

“I’ll take care of myself for you and for Reggie.” Tory slid to Reese’s side and stroked her lover’s neck and chest. “Go to sleep now, honey. Everything is going to work out.”

Reese allowed Tory to gentle her into sleep, needing the strength of her lover’s comfort to dispel the vision of a nameless blond girl who reached out to her through the dark.

Chapter Six

Bri squinted against the bright light dancing on the surface of her eyelids and tried to go back to sleep, but the combination of sun, the stealthy sounds emanating from the kitchen, and the sumptuous smell of coffee were too much to fight. She opened her eyes and rolled onto her side just in time to see Allie walk into the living room from the kitchen carrying two mugs of coffee. The next thing Bri noted was that Allie was wearing a T-shirt that came just to the top of her pale pink bikini panties. Bri rolled over in the other direction and pressed her face to the back of the couch.

“Hey,” Allie said, her voice still thick with sleep. “It’s almost ten. Want some coffee?”

“You can leave it on the table there.” Bri felt the couch sway as Allie settled onto the far end. She heard Allie yawn just before she felt cool fingers drift over her bare calf. She’d taken off her shoes, socks, and uniform when she’d gone to sleep the night before. The only things she had on beside the thin comforter that Allie had provided were briefs and a T-shirt. Still, she was wearing more than Allie.

“As soon as I wake up a little bit,” Allie mumbled, “I’ll make us some breakfast.” She rubbed the top of Bri’s foot absently. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Hungry?”

“Uh-huh.”

Bri felt the couch dip again as Allie shifted. She felt bare skin against the bottom of her foot. Her toes tingled and her stomach did a whirly.

“Is there something wrong?” Allie asked drowsily.

“Uh-huh.”

“Yeah? What?”

“You ‘re practically naked.”

Allie snorted. “Everything is covered.”

“Everything should be covered with more than one layer. Go get dressed.” Bri still lay on her side with her head practically in the crevice between the seat cushions and the back of the couch.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

With a sigh, Bri turned onto her back and opened her eyes again, squinting at the sudden brightness. “Allie. What part don’t you get about me having a girlfriend and”

“I got that, Bri,” Allie said indignantly. “Jeez, you don’t have to keep reminding me.”

Bri’s eyes widened. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Okay. Let me try to explain something.” Bri pushed up on the couch and reached for her coffee, praying that the caffeine would clear her addled brain. She kept the comforter tightly secured around her middle and pulled her bare feet under the bottom edge as well. She could tell from the expression on Allie’s face that Allie was truly confused. “We’re not girlfriends, okay?”

Allie’s eyes narrowed. “I know that, Bri. You and Caroline are girlfriends.”

“No,” Bri said, shaking her head. She took a long sip of coffee and although it burned the roof of her mouth, she was grateful for the pain. She was definitely awake. “Not that kind of girlfriends. Girlfriend girlfriends. You know, the kind of friends where you can walk around the house naked in front of one another.”

“You don’t want to be friends?” There was more than a little hurt in Allie’s voice.

“I didn’t say that.” Bri blew out a breath. Jesus. “Let’s pretend we’re straight.”

“Please”

Bri laughed. “Just bear with me. Let’s pretend we’re straight and I’m a guy and you’re a girl.”

Allie tucked her feet up under her on the couch, her coffee mug cradled in her hands, and eyed Bri with interest. “I’m a straight girl.”

“Right.”

“Gotcha.”

“So,” Bri continued, “I’m a guy and I have a girlfriend. Not you. Some other girl.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“But you and I work together. We like each other. We’re friends.”

“Yeah?”

“So would you walk around the house in your little teeny tiny practically see-through underwear in front of me?”

Allie grinned. “Only if I wanted to give you a great big hard-on and make you suffer for being so noble and refusing to fuck me.”

Bri couldn’t help but grin back. “Well, it’s working.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” Allie’s expression for once was completely serious. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it that way. I’m cool with us being friends. Well, not really cool. But I’d like to try.”

“Me, too. But you have to keep all your clothes on.”

“It’s funny, you know,” Allie mused as she sipped her coffee. “When you grow up having girlfriends who really are girlfriends, and then you find out you’re a lesbian and that you like some of your girlfriends differently, it gets confusing.”

“I never had girlfriend girlfriends.”

“Really?” Allie gave that some thought. “How many girlfriends have you had in bed?”

“Just Carre,” Bri said quietly.

“Holy shit. You’re kidding.”

Bri shook her head. “Nope.”

“And you’re willing to just…I don’t know, settle for that? Like, you never plan on sleeping with another girl?”

“Well, you don’t know Carre.” Bri grinned. “She’s, well, she’s the best.”

“Oh, puh-leeze.” Allie groaned and dropped her head onto the back to the couch. “You are so whipped.”

“Don’t you believe in falling in love forever?”

Allie turned her head, her cheek still resting on the sofa, and regarded Bri solemnly. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. I don’t know any couples like that. My mom and dad divorced when I was eight. My grandparents are still together, but I never got the sense they were really all that fond of one another.”

“There’s Reese and Tory,” Bri said immediately.

“Yeah. They’re cool.” Allie purred and stretched. “And Reese is so hot.”

“Jesus, Allie,” Bri protested indignantly. “Don’t say that about her.”

“Why not? She’s drop-dead gorgeous and built like Xena.”

“Oh, please.” Bri made a choking sound. “Xena is such a girl. Reese would kick Xena’s ass.”

Allie threw a sofa pillow at her. “Would not.”

“Would too.” Bri threw it back. When they stopped laughing, Bri said solemnly, “Reese and Tory are special.”

“I know.” Allie leaned down and set her coffee cup on the table. She regarded Bri solemnly. “I bet you and Caroline will be like them someday. That’s cool. I’m gonna go get dressed.”

“How about I start breakfast?”

“Do you know how?” Allie asked suspiciously.

“Sure.” Bri reached up and caught Allie’s hand, squeezing it gently for a second. “And Allie? Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t burn anything in there, okay?”

“Don’t worry. You can trust me,”

“I know,” Allie said softly as she disappeared into her bedroom and quietly closed the door.

Reese surfaced to the sound of the phone ringing and Tory’s muted voice in the background,

“Oh hi, Dan,” Tory said in a whisper. “No, that’s okay…I was planning on coming in this evening, why…? Really? Who…? Now ? I don’t know. Reese is still asleep and”

“I’m awake, sweetheart,” Reese said as she rolled over and wrapped her arm around Tory’s waist. She opened her eyes and saw that Tory had been sitting up in bed reading with the baby asleep in her lap. She rubbed Reggie’s back and kissed the side of Tory’s breast through the thin tee she wore. “What’s going on?”

Tory covered the receiver with her hand. “Dan says the service left word about someone who wants to interview for the position at the clinic. For some reason he just got the message, and whoever it is wants to come in this morning while they’re in town for another appointment. Can you take Reggie to Kate and Jean’s so I can go over there?”

“Sure.”

“Dan?” Tory said into the phone. “I can be there at noon. Do you have a number for me to contact this person?…A name?… Damn, the answering service gets worse and worse all the time. Never mind, I’ll just come over as soon as I can. Thanks. Bye.”

Tory hung up the phone and stared at Reese. “It looks like there’s someone who’s really hot for the job. I’m sorry I have to rush out,”

“No problem. I should be getting up anyhow.” Reese pushed upright and craned her neck to look at the clock. “Christ! It’s almost eleven. I’ve got to get to work.”

“Honey, you didn’t get to bed until after six.”

“Yeah, but what kept me up until six put me to sleep very nicely.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, grinning down at her lover and their child. “I slept like a rock.” Reese held out her arms. “Here, let me have sleeping beauty, and I’ll get her and all the stuff ready to take to Grandmoms’. You wanna shower first, right?”

“Yes. Thanks, honey.” Tory ran a hand distractedly through her hair as she gathered her clothes, “I wish I had some idea what I was walking into. It’s very strange that someone just shows up for an interview without arranging things first. I hope they remembered to bring a CV.”

“It’s Provincetown. Everything is casual here.” Reese leaned to kiss Tory’s cheek on her way past to the nursery. “Maybe it’s fate. It’s certainly perfect timing.”

“Fate. Yeah, right,” Tory sighed.

At eleven thirty, Tory walked through the front door into the waiting room at the East End Health Clinic, which was crowded as always. Randy sketched her a short wave as he talked on the phone and indicated with a roll of his eyes and a frantic motion of his head that her presence was needed in the back.

“What?” Tory asked sotto voce as she passed by the reception desk.

Annoyed, Randy pressed the mouthpiece of the phone to his shoulder. “In your office. Dr. Impatience has been waiting half an hour.” Then he ignored Tory’s question for details and went back to his call.

“Great,” Tory muttered as she pushed through the dividing door into the clinical area beyond. Her office door was partly closed and as she pushed through, she put on her best professional smile. As her eyes took in the woman standing in profile studying the photographs on the wall, Tory stumbled to a halt and barely managed to suppress a gasp.

“KT? What are you doing here?” Tory was aware that her tone sounded accusatory, and not the slightest bit gracious, but her ex-lover was the last person she’d expected to find in her office. They’d barely seen each other in the nearly seven years since they’d separated, and almost ail of those times had been during a medical crisis. Fortunately, the circumstances of those interactions had prevented them from having any true personal exchange, which was just as well. Tory had nothing to say to the woman with whom she had lived for twelve years, and whom she had loved with all her heart and youthful optimism, and who had betrayed their love and left her shattered.

Slowly, KT turned to face Tory fully. “Hi, Vic.”

“Oh my God.” Tory’s stomach roiled as if she’d been punched, and for one terrifying second she was afraid she might be ill. She took one involuntary step forward, her hand raised as if for a caress, before she jerked to a stop. Her voice wavered as she asked, “What happened? …God, KT.”

“Bit of a dustup in the trauma unit about a month ago, I ran into a crackhead with a knife.” KT shrugged and mustered up a smile. “Looks worse than it is.”

It couldn’t possibly look any worse than it does, Tory screamed inside. A fresh scar, red and faintly angry looking, crossed KT’s right cheek, starting just below her eye and ending at her jaw. It wasn’t the injury itself that Tory found so devastating, but imagining KT having been brutalized that way. But it was even more than the healing laceration that was so terribly upsetting. The physician part of her mind reminded Tory that would probably leave a scar that was only minimally deforming. It was the way KT looked. She was thinner than Tory had ever seen her, even when they had both been residents and KT was working like a madwoman 120 hours a week, barely sleeping and usually forgetting to eat. Tory remembered that young surgery resident, so charged with life, so aggressive and charismatic. The woman who faced her now, hollow-eyed and gaunt, wasn’t even a ghost of that young warrior. Realizing she was staring, Tory forced her gaze away from KT’s haunted eyes and looked down. Then she did cry out. “Oh God, no. Oh, what did he do to you?”

“It’s okay, Vic,” KT said gently. There was no place she could put her left arm to remove it from Tory’s horrified stare. The hand surgeon had taken the cast off only days before, and she wore a molded plastic splint from fingertips to midforearm that kept her damaged fingers protected as well as immobilized with a complicated set of tiny pulleys and bands.

With concerted effort, Tory compelled her mind to rule her emotions. She’d seen every kind of human tragedy and senseless death and loss imaginable. She’d seen far worse than this. It was just the double shock of rinding KT where she’d never expected her to be and seeing her so wounded that had penetrated her defenses before she’d a chance to throw up a shield. She took a breath and when she spoke again, her voice was controlled. “You’d better sit down.”

The corner of KT’s mouth quirked and she nodded wearily. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Tory made her way around behind her desk. Just the act of sitting in the position where she always sat as she performed her professional obligations helped steady her further. “How bad is your hand?”

Tory had never seen KT look away from anything not the horrors of a multicar accident or the guilt when Tory caught her in bed with one of the nurses in an on-call room. The fact that she averted her eyes now told Tory more than anything else possibly could. Once again, Tory’s stomach threatened to rebel. She threaded her fingers together on top of the desk and leaned forward, her eyes never leaving her former lover’s face. “KT?”

“He got the flexors to all four fingers and three of the digital nerves.” KT lifted her left hand and let it fall back into her lap. “It’s pretty useless.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Tory murmured, uttering the old endearment before she realized what she was saying. “I’m so sorry.”

“Well,” KT said briskly. “My hand surgeon assures me that if I’m a good patient and work hard, I might get it all back.” She grinned humorlessly. “Of course, that’s what hand surgeons always say. That way, if you end up with a lousy outcome, they can always blame it on the fact that you didn’t work hard enough in therapy.”

“If working hard is what’s required,” Tory said quietly, “then you’re going to be fine.”

“Absolutely.”

Once more, Tory reined in her distress and soul-deep sympathy for the woman whom she had loved so deeply for so long. “What are you doing here? Do you need something?”

“A job.”

Tory gaped. “You can’t mean here.”

“I can’t operate, Vic. If I sit around doing nothing, I’m going to go crazy. I can still work, and I heard through the grapevine that you had a position open. Your name still carries weight in Boston, especially since you still work in the ER at Boston City part time.”

“It’s impossible,” Tory said with finality.

“Why?” KT posed the question quietly. “Why, Vic?”

“Because…” I ‘m still so angry with you that I can hardly bear to look at you. Because you hurt me so much, and I’ve wanted to hurt you back for so long. Because I can’t stand to see you like this, and I can’t believe that anything about you could still hurt me. Tory merely shook her head resolutely.

For the second time that day, KT did something wholly unexpected. She leaned forward, her pain-filled eyes holding on to Tory’s as if on to a beacon in a raging sea.

“Please, Victoria. I need this chance.”

Why should I care what you need? I needed you. I needed us. You threw it away for a woman you didn’t even love. Do you even remember her name now? Damn you, KT. Damn you . Why did you come here? Why could you possibly think that 1 would care?

Abruptly, Tory rose and walked to the windows at the opposite side of the room. There was nothing to see but sand and scrub. With her back to KT, she said, “I can’t work with you. Besides, I don’t think you can work with only one hand.”

From behind her, Tory heard a small sound that might have been a gasp, or a groan. She turned, instantly regretful. “I’m sorry.”

KT shook her head. “I know what you mean. I can work, though. I can see patients. I can write prescriptions. I can read x-rays. I can do almost anything that needs to be done.” She shuddered as if with a sudden chill. “Except operate. I’d have to have help if someone needed suturing. But with a good medical assistant or a nurse, I could manage. I’d be pretty slow, probably, but”

“Stop,” Tory said softly. There was something that sounded terribly like begging in KT’s voice, and for some reason, that nearly broke her heart.

“Sorry.” KT stood and made a visible effort to straighten. “Well, thanks.”

“What about your hand therapy? How can you work while you’re in therapy?”

“I’ve made some inquiries. One of the nurses in the ER told me about a friend of hers who’s an occupational therapist specializing in hand rehab. Apparently she got tired of living in the city and moved out here a year ago. She works primarily in the hospital in Hyannis, but I think I could set up something for private consults right here in town. Then I could fit my rehab into whatever schedule you needed me to work.” KT gripped the back of the chair in which she had previously been sitting, the knuckles of her right hand white with strain. “You need someone, right? Do you have anyone else you’re considering?”

“I have to think about it. I have to talk to Reese.”

KT blinked. “How is she? And…Regina.”

“They’re fine.” Tory’s expression softened at the memory that it had been KT who had been there for her and Reese and the baby when everything had suddenly gone wrong. And that if it hadn’t been for KT, Regina could very well have suffered. “The baby’s beautiful, KT. Thank you.”

“Yeah, well.” KT smiled. “You’re her mother. Of course she’s beautiful.”

Tory said nothing, torn between so many memories filled with so much happiness and so much pain. “Leave me your number. I’ll call you.”

“I’m ready to start today.”

“I’ll call you.”

Nodding, KT extracted her wallet from the back pocket of her trousers and walked to Tory’s desk. She placed the wallet down on the surface, fumbled it open one-handed, and finally managed to pull out a business card. “Got a pen?”

Silently, Tory handed her one, unable to look at the motionless fingers inside the splint on KT’s left hand. KT turned the card over and scrawled a number on the back, then put down the pen and handed the card to Tory.

“My home number is on the front. I’m not there very often, and I usually can’t remember how to check the answering machine remotely. I wrote my cell on the back. You can always get me on that.”

Tory resolutely avoided thinking about where KT was probably spending her nights if she was rarely at home. “I’ll let you know by tomorrow.”

“Thanks. Goodbye, Vic.”

“Goodbye, KT,” Tory said softly as she watched the stranger whom she once had loved walk out the door.

Chapter Seven

KT walked out the front door of the clinic, stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and waited for the queasiness in her stomach to dissipate. She’d anticipated the difficulty in asking for a job. What she hadn’t expected was how very hard it would be to see Tory again. This was the longest they had been alone together since that afternoon she’d returned home from her interrupted tryst in the on-call room to find Tory waiting in the living room, hollow-eyed and so terribly wounded. The apology she’d intended to make had died on her lips when she was faced with the enormity of Tory’s pain. As had been the case just moments before, on that day she’d simply waited in silence for Tory’s judgment. It had been swift and irrevocable.

“Get out, KT. Get out now and don’t come back.”

Get out, KT. Get out…Get out…

Involuntarily, KT fisted her hands. A river of pain surged in her damaged arm, nearly unbearable. Severed nerves screamed, and inflamed blood vessels pulsed and throbbed. Nausea rose in her already unsettled stomach, and she bit back a moan as she fought to stay upright. Unconsciously, she felt in her right-hand pants pocket for one of the small white tablets and dry swallowed it. Then she took a deep breath and forced herself to focus on her surroundings, relegating her regrets to the past and forcing the pain down to manageable levels.

The parking lot was crowded with patients’ cars and enclosed by scrub pines, low bushes, and sand dunes. Overhead, the sky was clear blue with fluffy white clouds that were so postcard perfect they didn’t seem real. As she watched, a seagull actually coasted by, wings spread, white body gliding on the air. The idyllic picture was a far cry from the bustling, exhaust-fume-sullied streets of

Boston and the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the trauma center. From the turmoil of her life. She’d been on a roller-coaster ride of highs and lows for fifteen years, from the day she’d started her residency in surgery. She’d battled for a place on the team with the big boys, and she’d bested most of them at the high-stakes game of life and death in the trauma ER. Along the way, she’d garnered a reputation for being decisive in a crisis, fast in the OR, and faster with the ladies. The pace and the challenge had suited her need for the adrenaline infusion that came with living on the edge. There was only one thing missing. One huge aching void. Tory.

As if to remind her that there was no going back, a police cruiser pulled into the gravel-and-sand parking lot and slowed to a halt twenty feet away, and Reese Conlon stepped out. The last time KT had seen the sheriff, they’d been standing side by side in the pediatric intensive care unit, gazing down in mutual awe at Tory’s newborn daughter. Reese and Tory’s baby daughter. KT braced herself as she held the gaze of the steely-eyed woman who approached.

“KT,” Reese said evenly as she stopped two feet away. The brim of her hat was pulled low, obscuring her eyes. The rest of her face was unreadable.

“Reese.”

Reese’s gaze traveled from the laceration on KT’s cheek down her body, lingering for a moment on her left arm, and then returning to her shadow-filled eyes. “You doing okay?”

“Managing.” The corner of KT’s mouth turned up in a rueful smile. “You?”

“Things are good. I won’t bore you with the baby pictures.”

KT’s dark eyes flashed, even though Reese’s voice held no hint of victory. “Tory says she’s beautiful.”

“Yes.” Reese considered the earlier phone call and KT’s presence at the clinic, and made the obvious connection. “Just finished your interview?”

“A few minutes ago.” KT scrutinized Reese’s face for some sign of anger or aggression. Nothing. Total control. Impressive. “Problem with that?”

“Not my call.”

“If it was?”

Slowly, Reese shook her head. “It’s not. I need to see Tory for a few minutes. Can I give you a lift somewhere after that?”

“No, thanks. I feel like a walk.”

“Good enough. I’ll see you around, then.”

“Maybe.” KT flashed a grin. “I guess that will be up to Tory.”

Reese said nothing, merely nodding as she turned and walked toward the clinic. KT followed Reese’s powerful form as she took the four stairs up to the front door two at a time, her movements graceful and quick. She was an. imposingly attractive woman. Not the kind of woman KT was interested in bedding, but a worthy opponent, and therefore exciting nonetheless. She tried not to imagine Tory in Reese’s arms as she made her way out to the street and headed toward the center of town.

Forty minutes later, KT realized that a two-mile walk in the middle of the day in early September wasn’t the brightest idea. She was hot and thirsty and light-headed by the time she found the address she was looking for on the far west end of Commercial Street. A white half-Codder with baby blue shutters sat at the far end of a narrow driveway behind a much larger guesthouse that bore a historic sign indicating it was one of the original structures in the Provincetown settlement. At the end of the driveway fronting the street, a discreet, hand-painted wood sign hung from a curved wrought-iron post: Pia Torres, PT, OT, CMT.

KT was halfway to the small cottage before she noticed the woman kneeling by one corner of the small porch, tending a flower bed filled with day lilies and a profusion of brightly colored annuals. A wooden box holding garden tools rested by her side. At the sound of KT’s footsteps, the woman looked up. KT’s immediate impression was one of searching dark eyes, glossy midnight hair that glinted in the bright sunlight, and acres of smooth sienna skin. A sleeveless T-shirt and white boat shorts left her slender, well-toned arms and her shapely legs bare. KT stopped on the sidewalk and nodded in greeting. The answering smile was warm and open.

“Ms. Torres?”

Pia shielded her eyes from the blazing sun with her hand and stared up at the tall, dark stranger. It was hard to make out her features clearly with the sun casting her form in shadow, but the face beneath the thick, dark hair was pale, an unnatural paleness that made the pink scar on her right cheek stand out dramatically. It took only another second for Pia to register the Orthoplast splint with the metacarpal blocks and flexor tendon pulleys on the left hand. Pia stood. “Dr. O’Bannon?”

“Yes. We have an appointment.”

“We do,” Pia confirmed cheerfully as she checked her watch. “You’re just a bit early. Why don’t you come inside and have a drink while I get cleaned up. I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

“Please don’t hurry,” KT said quietly. “I’ll be happy to wait out here.”

Pia wondered if the other woman even realized that she was swaying where she stood. Perhaps it was the undertone of weariness in her voice or her bold facade even in the face of obvious physical pain that put the gentleness in Pia’s tone.

“It’s ninety degrees out here and getting hotter every second. I can offer you a bit of shade and cool refreshment. It will make it easier for us to talk if you’re not suffering from heatstroke.”

KT hesitated, uncomfortable impinging on the woman’s personal space, especially since she had pressured her for an urgent appointment and then arrived early for it. Still, she was feeling the effects of the heat and experienced a sudden urge to sit down. It probably won’t make a very good impression if I fall over in the woman’s yard. “Thank you. Something to drink would be very nice.”

Pia favored her with another blazing smile and started toward the small porch and the front door. “Good. Just follow me.”

The door to Tory’s office was partially open, and Reese-stepped inside. Tory stood at the window on the far side of the room, looking out

“Tor?” Reese said softly.

Startled, Tory jumped and turned quickly, her surprised expression instantly turning to one of pleasure, “Oh! Hello, darling.-I didn’t expect you.”

Reese smiled and started toward her, noting the same dark shadows swirling beneath the welcome in Tory’s eyes that she had seen in KT’s. “I decided to go in to work early, and I wanted to let you know. I just left Reggie at Kate and Jean’s.”

“Good. I need to stay here for a while and take care of some paperwork.” As she spoke, Tory stepped up to Reese and wrapped her arms around Reese’s waist, resting her head on her shoulder. “I’m so g]ad to see you,”

“Mmm. Me too.” Reese kissed the fine, soft hair at Tory’s temple and rubbed her palm over her lover’s back. Tory trembled and Reese pulled her closer. “I saw KT in the parking lot.”

“Yes,” Tory replied softly, not moving away from the solace of Reese’s embrace. “She was the one inquiring about the position.”

“I figured as much.” Reese moved her hand to the back of Tory’s neck and began to massage her gently. “She looked pretty beat up.”

Tory flinched at the memory, and her voice was thick with emotion as she answered. “Someone…hurt her.” She closed her eyes tightly and turned her face to Reese’s neck. “God, Reese. An injury like that…for her? I can’t imagine what she’s going through,”

But you can. And that’s part of what’s causing the pain in your eyes. Reese continued her gentle caresses. “She strikes me as being pretty tough. When she gets her fight back, she’ll be okay.”

“You saw quite a bit out there in the parking lot.” Tory tilted her head back and studied Reese’s face. Her blue eyes were calm and steady. Tory caressed her cheek tenderly. “You’re very special, Sheriff.”

“No.” Reese cupped Tory’s hand in hers and kissed her palm. “You and Regina are everything that matters to me, Tory. Everything.”

“As simple as that?” Tory’s voice held a note of wonder.

“Yes,” Reese affirmed, kissing Tory lightly on the mouth. “Just exactly as simple as that.”

“Oh, I’m so glad.”

Reese looked down to Tory’s eyes. The sight of the sadness there tore at her. “What did you tell KT about the job?”

“I didn’t I told her I’d get back to her about it.” Tory stepped away and ran both hands through her hair, pushing the errant strands away from her face. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?”

Tory leaned her hips against the front edge of her desk and curled her fingers around the dark wood on either side of her body. She kept her eyes on Reese’s face, watching her reactions. “I wanted to know if it would bother you if she were around.”

“It depends,” Reese said quietly.

“On what?” Tory steeled herself for the answer.

“On whether it’s going to hurt you like this every time you see her.”

Tory’s lips parted in surprise and she breathed out slowly. “Me? I’m not hur…”

“Yes, you are.” Reese stood without moving, holding Tory’s gaze. “This time just like all the other times.”

“She stopped mattering to me the day I found her in bed with someone else.” Fury rode just beneath the surface of Tory’s insistent words.

Reese tucked her hands into her pockets, appreciating that anger was a much more acceptable emotion than disappointment and betrayal. “Can she do the job?”

Tory snorted. “She’s one of the best doctors I’ve ever seen.”

“If you weren’t considering her, you would have told her no already,” Reese pointed out reasonably.

“It’s not like I have a lot of options. I have to come back to work. I want to come back to work. But I don’t want to spend any more time away from you and the baby than I absolutely have to.” Tory blew out an exasperated breath. “You’re right. I do need the help. Dan is leaving tomorrow, and we’re busier than we’ve ever been.” She smiled, her eyes bright. “And in case you’ve forgotten, Sheriff, you and I are getting married in a few months.”

Reese grinned. “Oh, I haven’t forgotten.”

“Jean and Kate have been wonderful about handling a lot of the arrangements, but there are still things I’m going to need to do myself. Plus, my parents will be coming in.” Tory shook her head. “God, I can’t think about all of that right now.”

“You know I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

“I know. But the fact remains, with me going back to work now, it’s going to be a strain.”

“And KT is available.”

“Yes.” Tory sighed. “She’s ready to start tomorrow.”

“If it doesn’t work out, there’s no reason you can’t just tell her so.”

“I know.”

“But if she hurts you,” Reese said quietly, “even just by being here, she goes.”

“You’re really all right about it?”

“I want you to have help. She’s here and she’s competent,” Reese shrugged. “Seems like the thing to do.” She didn’t add that it might finally be the opportunity for Tory to truly put that part of her past behind her.

Tory moved away from the desk and back to Reese. She placed her palms flat against Reese’s chest and leaned into her, her thighs pressed to Reese’s as she kissed her. With her lips still close to Reese’s mouth, she murmured, “And if anything about this hurts you, in any way, I’ll send her away.”

Reese slid her arms around Tory’s waist and kissed her forehead, then her eyelids, and finally her lips. “While I have you, nothing can hurt me.”

Pia looked up from the copy of the operative report that KT had provided, her gaze unblinking. While she’d read, her face had revealed none of the compassion or sympathy she’d felt at witnessing the impersonal record of a woman’s destruction. The harm was done; it was her job to undo it. “You haven’t started any physical therapy yet?”

“No,” KT replied. She was sitting at the kitchen table in front of the open back door, sipping iced tea and regarding the hand therapist intently. “I’ve only been out of the cast a few days.”

“How much pain are you having?”

KT shrugged. “It’s tolerable.”

“It’s important that I know,” Pia continued reasonably, “Otherwise, it’s difficult for me to fashion the appropriate treatment plan.”

“Seven out of ten,” KT grudgingly informed her.

Pia nodded, although she was willing to bet that the surgeon was underestimating her level of discomfort. She’d never met a surgeon without a healthy dose of machismo. Sometimes, in situations like this, that turned out to be unhealthy. The worst thing that could happen in the aftermath of this type of injury would be to rapture one of the tendon repairs or avulse one of the reconnected nerves, and that could happen if the patient or the therapist pushed too hard or too fast. Such an event at this point would almost certainly guarantee a permanent loss of function, and for a surgeon, any loss of function was going to prevent her from resuming her career.

“I anticipate that you’re looking at three to six months, possibly longer, of intensive therapy.”

“Understood.” KT planned to make her stay in therapy as short as possible. She’d work the program the therapist designed for her, and she’d work it hard. She didn’t intend to be disabled for very long.

“We’ll need to meet daily for the first six weeks,” Pia added.

Again, KT nodded. “Whatever you say.”

“I can see you here, but the schedule might be slightly erratic depending upon my responsibilities in Hyannis. I don’t work a regular shift there, although I go in nearly every day.”

“As long as I have a few days’ notice, I’ll fit myself into your schedule.” KT hoped she wasn’t being overly optimistic making these arrangements. After all, Tory hadn’t said that she would hire her. Still, she’d seen the look in Tory’s eyes. It wasn’t the sympathy that she cared about or even the anger that she’d seen every other time she’d looked into her former lover’s eyes. It had been that brief moment of tenderness, that precious instant when the past had faded and they had been nothing more than two women who cared about one another. The connection, no matter how fleeting, had felt so strong that it had obliterated the long years of loneliness and confusion. At least for her.

Pia tilted her head and smiled. “Are you always so accommodating, Dr. O’Bannon?”

KT smiled, but her eyes remained flat and without humor. “No.”

“Can you start tomorrow?”

“What’s wrong with today?”

Pia laughed. “Let’s say 9 a.m. Just leave me your number in case something comes up.”

KT provided her with her cell number and then rose. “Thank you.”

“Where are you staying?” Pia asked as she walked KT to the door.

“I’ve got a room at the Crown Point until I can find a condo to rent.”

Pia was about to offer a few suggestions about finding a place, and then thought better of it. It was usually best to keep things on a purely professional level, especially when a woman was as dangerously attractive as this one.

“Good luck. I’ll see you tomorrow, then, Dr. O’Bannon.”

“Please, call me KT.”

“And I’m Pia.”

“Thank you.” KT looked into the deep brown eyes and smiled. “Pia.”

Pia steadfastly ignored the slight flutter of her heart as she watched her newest client walk up the flagstone walkway and disappear down the street. She wasn’t particularly worried about her reaction. She had a heartbeat, and that’s all it would take to find KT O’Bannon attractive. But she’d had quite a few years of practice being attracted without becoming involved, and she had no intention of changing that now.

Chapter Eight

KT walked east on Commercial Street back toward the center of town. It was mid afternoon on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, and she had nowhere to go and nothing to do. Despite her many years in Boston, she’d crossed Cape Cod Bay only rarely to visit the small village that had begun as a thriving Portuguese fishing community, evolved into a center for avant-garde artists in the early twentieth century, and finally emerged as a Mecca for gays and lesbians. She hadn’t visited at all since learning that Tory had settled there after their separation. She’d always expected that Tory would eventually return to Boston, believing that the quiet life of a small-town doctor could not possibly satisfy her for long. They had chosen different specialties, but they’d both been aggressive, determined physicians at the top of their respective fields when they’d shared a life.

Standing in front of Spiritus Pizza, surveying the narrow, crowded streets that teemed with tourists, gay and straight, she was struck by the energy humming in the air and wondered if she might have been wrong about what the tiny town had to offer. Wrong about that, as she had been about so many things. She shook off the questions that she had long since tired of asking, having no answers, and turned toward the sound of music on the opposite side of the street. The heavy beat of dance music emanated from the Pied, which she vaguely recalled had once been called the Pied Piper.

She smiled to herself, appreciating the irony, as she abruptly crossed to the wood deck pathway that led to the front door. When she saw the two young women in white T-shirts and jeans seated at a small table just inside, she grimaced and reached for her wallet. Another fumble-fest. Still, she managed to get the money out with reasonable aplomb and slid a twenty into her front pocket along with the change from her cover charge so that she wouldn’t have to take her wallet out again. Her fingertips brushed the small pills, and she considered taking another one. The heat and the walk with her arm hanging down had caused her fingers to swell and throb viciously. There were only two tablets left out of the six she had counted out that morning. She made her way through the surprisingly large afternoon crowd to the bar and ordered a drink instead.

“Thanks,” KT said with a nod to the stocky butch in the baseball cap behind the bar. She took a long pull on the draft beer, welcoming the slightly bitter aftertaste as the cold brew washed away some of the heat and dust of her morning. Perhaps after another, it would wash away some of the pain as well.

The large rear deck was visible through the oversized open window that connected the far end of the bar to the outside space, allowing those enjoying the sea and the sun to refill their drinks without coming back inside. Briefly, KT considered joining the women for a look at the sailboats on the harbor and the kayakers traversing the inlet in their red and yellow shells. Thinking about the water and the paddlers made her think of Tory and all the meets they’d been to. And then she saw again, as clearly as the day it happened, the final heat that Tory ever raced saw the other scull blindsiding Tory’s and the splintering shell, heard the screams, and relived those few agonizing seconds when she’d feared Tory would never surface. Her stomach clutched, her entire left side erupted into pain, and without even thinking, she reached for one of the two last pills. She washed it down with the beer and decided to stay inside in the cool darkness of the bar, away from the water.

“That looks nasty,” a redhead about KT’s age observed as she leaned against the bar and indicated KT’s arm with a tilt of her chin. “Cut the tendons?”

Surprised, KT studied the newcomer, whose shapely figure was nicely accentuated by a turquoise, scoop-necked, sleeveless top and white hip-hugger Capri slacks. “Yep. A couple of them. How did you know?”

“I’m a carpenter.” The woman held up her left wrist to reveal the jagged scar that extended nearly halfway around. “Table saw three tendons.”

“Ouch.”

The woman laughed. “Fucking ouch is right.”

Now that KT looked more closely, she could see the muscles rippling beneath the smooth skin of her companion’s arms. “It looks like you mended pretty well.”

“Pretty much good as new. I’ve never quite gotten all the strength back, but I can handle my tools.”

KT wondered fleetingly if she would ever again handle her tools, but she pushed the thought away and concentrated on the woman who was appraising her with obvious interest. She held out her hand. “I’m KT.”

“Vicki.”

KT blinked. Thankfully, the woman bore no resemblance to Tory, and she ruthlessly pushed the image of her former lover’s face from her mind. “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Sure. Glenlivet on the rocks.”

“Coming up.” KT signaled the bartender over and ordered the drink along with another draft for herself. The room was filling up now that the afternoon tea dance was about to begin. Vicki moved closer as more people sidled up to the bar and as she did, turned her body so that her legs loosely straddled KT’s thigh. KT could smell her perfume, the dark inviting aroma of rain on the wind. “Are you from around here?”

“No,” Vicki replied, leaning into KT to be heard above the racket of drink orders being shouted from those nearby. Her breast brushed KT’s arm. “Worcester. I’m just here for the weekend.”

Inexplicably, KT felt a surge of relief. She wasn’t certain exactly why, but she didn’t want to spend the night with someone she was going to have to see on a regular basis in the small town where she might be living for an indefinite period of time. And if she was right about the signals she was reading in Vicki’s eyes and the fact that Vicki’s nipple had hardened the instant her breast had brushed KT’s arm, then she didn’t have to spend the night alone if she didn’t want to. And considering the way she was feeling right now, a woman was probably the only thing that would drive away thoughts of past mistakes and future fears, at least for one night. The alcohol and painkillers didn’t seem to be doing it. “Down here with friends?”

Vicki’s smile widened and she placed her hand on KT’s stomach, edging her hips a little tighter against KT’s thigh. “All by myself.”

And is there a woman at home? But that was not her concern, KT reminded herself. The fingers circling slowly over her abdomen felt good, as did the heat of Vicki’s center pressed to her leg as the redhead undulated sensuously to the music in the background. As the arousal built in her depths, the pain in her arm, and in her heart, mercifully receded.

Reese pulled into the parking lot in front of the sheriff’s department just as Bri and Allie roared in behind her on Bri’s big Harley. Reese climbed out of the cruiser and studied the two young women. Bri had on her uniform pants, which looked as if they’d been slept in, and the white T-shirt she usually wore under her uniform shirt. She’d filled out some since she’d been training heavily for her black belt test. The shirt stretched tightly over her small breasts, muscular chest, and ripped arms, accentuating her tapered torso and narrow hips. Allie, who straddled Bri’s body with both arms around her waist and her cheek pressed to the back of Bri’s neck, was in street clothes impossibly tight, almost feloniously low-slung blue jeans and a minuscule, sheer white top that appeared to be suspended over her unrestrained breasts by a thread or two tied at the back of her neck. Considering their attire and the fact that Allie’s car was parked exactly where it had been the day before, it didn’t require much in the way of deductive reasoning to ascertain that Bri had spent the night at Allie’s.

Goddamn it. Reese’s jaw tightened as she leaned back against the patrol car, watching Allie climb off the bike and laughingly shove at Bri’s shoulder. Bri merely grinned and shook her head no. Allie butted her hip against Bri’s thigh and said something that made Bri toss her head back and laugh. They looked like a couple of healthy young animals in the midst of a mating ritual. What the hell is wrong with her?

Watching the pair continue to tease and banter, Reese chastised herself for approving Allie’s transfer to the department.

She’d known that there had been some kind of attraction between the two earlier in the year, but she’d thought it was over. She’d trusted Bri to respect Caroline and her badge, and to keep things purely professional with Allie. Goddamn it. Out of nowhere, Reese looked at Bri and saw another darkly handsome, dangerous woman. One with the same seething, wild energy. KT. Fast on the heels of that inexplicable image, she remembered the shadows in Tory’s eyes that morning and thought of how much greater her lover’s pain had been when they’d met a few years before. Remembered, too, that Tory had withdrawn from everyone because of the hurt and disappointment KT’s betrayal had caused. Reese pushed away from the cruiser and strode across the hard-packed sand lot to where the two young women now stood talking.

“You’re both on duty in less than an hour.”

Bri turned from telling Allie for the fourth time that she couldn’t drive her bike, a smile on her face. “Hey, Reese.”

“You’re out of uniform, Parker. Where’s your weapon and the rest of your gear?”

“In my bike bag, ma’am.” Bri straightened, clearly confused by the tone of Reese’s voice.

“Um” Allie began, sensing that Bri was in trouble but not understanding why.

Reese silenced her with a quick look. “I want you to take personal time until further notice, Officer Tremont.”

Allie straightened, her eyes flashing. “Why, ma’am?”

“Because I ordered” Reese stopped in the middle of dressing down the startled young recruits. They ‘re not recruits. And Bri’s not KT. Christ, what am I doing. She took a breath, slow and controlled, her expression revealing none of her disquiet while she settled herself. She couldn’t ever remember having behaved quite so irrationally. That it had to do with KT was clear, but why, she wasn’t sure. She hadn’t felt any particular animosity toward her when she’d seen her in the parking lot at the clinic, only a wariness that came from knowing that KT was a woman who had once hurt her lover. And knowing with absolute certainty that KT could still hurt Tory. And you ‘re probably not going to be able to stop it. And if you can’t protect her…

“Parker,” Reese snapped.

“Yes, ma’am.” Bri stood at rigid attention, her eyes unwavering, fixed on Reese’s face.

“If you want to wear the uniform, treat it with respect.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Go home and change. Report back for your shift looking like you’re ready to do the job.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Reese shifted her gaze to Allie, “Come inside so we can talk.”

“Respectfully, ma’am,” Allie said, her voice steady. “I’d like to get ready for my shift as well, Could we speak later, ma’am?”

“We’ll do it now. I’ll make adjustments in your shift assignment if necessary.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As Reese turned and headed toward the building with Allie beside her, she heard the roar of Bri’s engine accelerate rapidly and then fade into the distance. She’d come down on Bri hard for reasons that weren’t altogether Bri’s fault. She’d have to make that right.

KT was dizzy, and she didn’t think it was entirely due to the beer. Vicki’s tongue was demanding, probing her mouth insistently, threatening to devour her. It felt unexpectedly good, being taken for a change. But before she completely lost control, she pulled away from Vicki’s mouth and trapped the hand that was inching open her fly. “Hey, baby, slow down. I’m too old to do this standing up in a dark corner,”

Vicki pressed hard with her whole body against KT’s, rocking her hips between KT’s spread thighs, her mouth on KT’s neck, biting lightly. “Mmm, me too, but you’ve got me so hot. God, you’re a great kisser. Tell me you’re not going a little crazy, too,”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” KT said, breathing rapidly as Vicki continued to thrust her hips, working KT’s blood up to a rolling boil. “Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’m going to explode.”

“Oh, yeah. I’d like that.”

The bar was wall-to-wall people, and no one was paying them any attention in the dark corner of the bar where they’d eventually migrated as their superficial conversation had given way to more in-depth physical explorations. Still, as aroused as she was, KT was long past fucking in public places. Vicki felt good in her arms, though, and with her body this turned on, she wasn’t thinking about anything. That was the best part of all.

“Can we go to your room?” KT asked, circling her right hand over the base of Vicki’s spine, matching the roll and thrust of Vicki’s pelvis with her own. She felt teeth on her neck and carefully pulled away. “Easy.”

“Mmm. God, I want to get naked with you.” Vicki managed to get her hand between KT’s thighs and squeezed. “And I want this.”

“Then let’s get out of here,” KT urged, happy to surrender awareness to the pleasant euphoria of alcohol and the consuming burn of passion.

Reese handed Allie a paper cup of coffee and leaned against the counter in the far corner of the squad room. The only other person present was Paul Smith, and he was busy with the phones. “How are you feeling about last night?”

Clearly surprised, Allie shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“Is that the first time you found a victim like that?”

Allie hesitated, trying to decide the best answer. The sheriff never gave any indication of what she was thinking, but Allie knew that she always told the truth. It was something you could count on. Maybe the truth was the only answer. “No.”

Reese sipped her coffee, wondering at the flicker of unease in Allie’s eyes. “But it wasn’t on the job, was it.”

“No. It was my cousin. I was fourteen and he was seventeen.” Allie swallowed around the sudden lump in her throat and put her coffee cup down before meeting Reese’s unwavering gaze. “He OD’ d on heroin. I found him in his room one afternoon after school. We lived next door to each other. We were pretty tight.”

“I’m sorry.” Reese tossed her empty cup into the wastepaper basket. “Last night couldn’t have been easy.”

“I’m not sure what it was,” Allie said quietly. “I didn’t feel a whole lot then and I don’t feel very much now. I feel like I’m okay-to work, though.”

“Sometimes things like last night come back on us when we don’t expect it.”

Allie nodded. “I understand. I had nightmares for a while after Kevin.”

“Provincetown is a small village, and we don’t see a lot of action here. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to be alert.”

“I know.” Allie straightened. “I give you my word if I’m having problems, I’ll tell you. I saw a shrink for a while when I was fifteen. It was okay, it helped. I’ll do it again if I need to.”

“Very well. Report for duty as scheduled, then.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Allie made no move to leave. “Sheriff, about Bri”

“I’ll deal with Officer Parker, Officer Tremont.”

Allie looked as if she wanted to say more, but wisely said nothing. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.”

Reese watched Allie leave with new respect, impressed with her fortitude. She didn’t want to lose her and hoped that she would be able to sort out the situation with Bri.

“You’ll have to make allowances for my performance,” KT said, her breathing irregular and shallow as Vicki slid down the zipper of her fly. She was flat on her back in the middle of a double bed in a small motel room with a single window that faced Long Point, the final curve of sand before Cape Cod disappeared into the ocean. She couldn’t get any further away from her demons if she tried. Vicki knelt naked above her, methodically undressing her. “I’ve only got one good arm here, and I don’t quite know what to do with this contraption on my left.”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Vicki assured her, her full breasts swaying as she worked to open buttons and buckles and zippers. “I’m going to take care of us both,”

Not normally one to give up control under any circumstance, and particularly not in bed, KT felt an uncharacteristic surge of relief. She closed her eyes, distantly aware that her left arm throbbed and her head spun slowly. The breeze from the open window blew across her chest as her shirt was opened and the silk tee beneath was pushed up to expose her breasts. Her nipples hardened in anticipation.

“Lift your hips,” Vicki urged as she pulled down KT’s trousers and underwear. She stopped long enough to tease her fingers along the inside of KT’s thighs until she was rewarded with a faint groan, then she leaned forward to slide an arm behind KT’s shoulders. “Now sit up for just a minute.”

KT pushed herself up with her right arm and helped free herself from the tangle of clothes, carefully drawing the garments down over her splinted left arm. She was no sooner completely bare than Vicki’s hands were on her breasts, fingers closing hard over her nipples. KT groaned again and shivered. “Oh, yeah.” “Lie back, baby. I’m going to make you feel so good.” The light from the single table lamp that Vicki had turned on just inside the door flickered on the ceiling as KT stared upward through half-closed lids, surrendering to sensation. The mouth and hands that stroked and teased and fired the burn in her skin and stoked the hot need deep inside were talented and sure. Before long, the fingers of her right hand were tangled in Vicki’s hair, and she was urging her down as her hips rose and fell with rhythmic urgency.

“Come on, baby,” KT murmured. “I need your mouth.” As warm lips closed over her clitoris, KT sighed and closed her eyes completely. She moaned with relief as the orgasm slowly rose from her distant recesses to steal the last vestiges of thought when her hips bucked with the first spasm, she whispered brokenly, “Oh, Vic. Baby. It’s so good, so good.”

Chapter Nine

When Bri arrived for her shift, Reese merely gestured to a nearby desk. “Settle in for a minute. I need to return a call.”

In a freshly laundered and crisply pressed uniform, Bri sat quietly as directed while Reese spoke on the phone. Her leather equipment belt and silver badge gleamed. She didn’t see Allie, so she figured that she was already out with Lyons on a tour through town. At least she hoped she was. She still didn’t know what had gone down between Reese and Allie earlier that afternoon; in fact, she had no idea what had gone down between herself and Reese. Well. She had some idea. Reese was pissed that she’d been running around town with her uniform in a shambles. But there had been something else, and all through the ride to her apartment, and her shower, and the process of triple-checking her uniform to make sure that everything was in order, she still hadn’t been able to figure out what that something else was.

She’d known Reese for a long time, and she couldn’t remember her flying off the handle before, not ever. Her dad did that, and she was used to it. She knew he didn’t mean anything most of the time when he lost his cool, and if she took the time to think about it, he usually only did it when he was worried about her. But Reese, Reese is different. Reese always has it together. But she didn’t this afternoon. She was pissed. At me.

Bri had to force herself not to fidget. It made her uncomfortable knowing that she’d upset Reese somehow. In fact, it made her feel just a little bit sick.

Reese hung up the phone and reached for her hat. “Let’s go, Parker.”

Bri jumped to her feet. “Yes, ma’am.”

As Bri settled into the passenger seat, Reese buckled up and started the engine. Bri stared straight ahead, her hands open, palms down on her thighs, unconsciously imitating her preparatory position to work out in the dojo. She was trying to settle her mind and banish the queasy feeling in her stomach.

“That was Robert Bridger’s attorney,” Reese said as she headed toward 6 East. “His parents want to talk to me.”

“Huh,” Bri said, forgetting her discomfort for a moment. “Why the turnaround, do you think?” She’d gotten the full story of the stonewalling attorney from her father and Reese late the previous evening when they’d returned empty-handed from Hyannis. She’d known then that Reese was really angry with the attorney and wondered if that had anything to do with Reese’s behavior that afternoon. She fervently hoped so.

“Could be the attorney wants to find out what we know.” Reese kept her eyes on the road, mulling over the possibilities. “Or she might be trying for some damage control by making a preemptive move.”

“Controlling the information flow?”

Reese gave Bri a quick, appreciative grin. “Something like that. At the moment, I don’t care, as long as I get some information. It’s early still, but we haven’t found anyone that matches the dead girl’s description in the missing persons bulletins from any of the counties on the Cape. Leads from the mainland will be slower, because the larger departments don’t disseminate missing persons information that quickly. Someone may already have put her data into the system, but we just haven’t gotten it yet.”

“Man, I hate to think of someone somewhere wondering where she is. Not knowing that she’s…”

“Yeah. Same here.”

They rode in silence another five minutes before Reese spoke again.

“You know, whether you’re in uniform or out, you’re still a peace officer.”

Bri stiffened. “Yes, ma’am.”

“When you walk down the street, when you ride through town, when you go to a party you’re still a peace officer.” Reese spoke quietly, almost contemplatively. “Everyone who knows you, knows that.”

“I know.”

“And do you know what’s the most important thing, the most powerful weapon, that you have as a law enforcement agent?”

Bri took a deep breath. “It’s not my sidearm, I guess.”

The corner of Reese’s mouth flickered into a fleeting grin. “No. But I’m glad you know how to use it.” She turned her head for a second and held Bri’s eyes. “Respect, Bri. The respect of the community and the people you serve, and the respect of those you sometimes need to control.”

“I understand,” Bri said as she colored, embarrassed because Reese wasn’t yelling at her. She wished she were.

“You’re doing something to be proud of, and part of that pride is reflected in the uniform that you wear. I know that you’ll respect it, because you’re a good officer, Parker.”

Bri blinked rapidly, horrified that her eyes had filled with tears. “I’m sorry.”

Reese shook her head. “You don’t need to be. The next time you…don’t have a clean uniform to change into, go straight home.”

“I know I should’ve done that, but Allie wanted to pick up her car” Bri stifled the excuse. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, about Officer Tremont.” Reese’s hands tightened on the wheel but her voice remained conversational. “There’s a reason that we discourage interpersonal relationships among officers. In a crisis situation, you need to be thinking about two things: your own safety, and that of your partner. If everyone does that, everyone lives.”

Bri frowned, shifting in her seat slightly so she could study Reese’s face, intent on understanding the new direction of their conversation. “I know that. But Lyons is Allie’s training officer.”

“Correct. And it’s his responsibility to ensure her safety. My point is that if you were worried about her, too, or vice versa, because you’re…” Reese searched for a word that she could tolerate saying, “…involved, then”

“Involved! You mean like girlfriends?”

“Well, yes.”

“We’re not. Jesus.” At the sight of Reese’s raised eyebrow, Bri hastened to add, “Sorry. I mean, we’re friends. But we’re not., .why did you…?” She suddenly had a mental image of herself and Allie arriving at the station on her motorcycle that afternoon her in the clothes she’d worn the day before, not counting her uniform shirt, which she’d balled up and stuffed into her motorcycle bag, and Allie wrapped around her wearing what she always wore. Skimpy little bits of nothing that Bri had yet to figure out how Allie kept on her body at all. It looked like they’d just crawled out of bed, which they had, except it looked like they’d crawled out of the same bed. Oh fuck me.

Bri had learned something from growing up on the brunt end of her father’s tendency to jump in with both feet, or perhaps she’d merely absorbed it unconsciously. But somewhere, somehow, she’d learned to wait one extra second before saying what was on her mind. She had nowhere near the control that Reese had, but she was trying for it. She took a long, long breath, because after the first wave of acute embarrassment, she was righteously pissed. How could Reese think that I would treat Carre that way? Doesn’t she trust me at all?

Before the bitter words could erupt, Reese spoke into the quiet, dense air of the suddenly crowded space. “I’m sorry. I should’ve known better.”

“I…uh…” Apologies were foreign to Bri, at least in the heat of the moment, and she had no way to answer. “Okay.”

“No, it isn’t,” Reese replied firmly. “If it had been someone else with Allie, other than you, then the conclusion I came to would’ve made sense,” She looked to Bri again, her blue eyes dark with regret. “But it wasn’t someone else. It was you. And I know how much you love Caroline. I’m sorry for forgetting that.”

“Oh man,” Bri muttered and turned her face to the side window, seeing nothing outside. The tears were back, and there were so many reasons for them she wasn’t sure she could handle them all at once. She wanted to cry because she missed Caroline so much. Because Reese cared enough about her, about them, to get angry when she thought Bri was fucking up. Because someone believed in her feelings, believed in how much she loved Caroline. She bit her lip and waited for the tight fist that was squeezing the air from her lungs to relax enough for her to speak. “You know I almost did screw up, with Allie…last spring.”

Reese waited, silent She had a brief image of a much younger Tory and KT and chased it from her mind.

“I slept with her. Sorta. Seeing the way Carre hurt…the way I hurt her,” Bri went on, the words sticking in her throat and finally coming out raspy and raw. She turned anguished eyes to Reese. “I could never do that to her again. Never.”

“I believe you. And I know Caroline does too.” Then, Reese did something she’d never done with a recruit in all her life. She reached across the space between them and rested her hand on Bri’s thigh. She squeezed gently. “You’re doing fine, Bri. I’m proud of you, on all counts.”

Bri stared down at the hand on her leg, her own hands resting on the seat on either side of her body. She didn’t move a muscle. Her voice was barely a whisper. “Thank you.”

Reese put her hand back on the wheel. The tension that had been riding along her spine since she’d seen Allie and Bri together suddenly disappeared. “So, let me tell you about Counselor Trey Pelosi.” She tossed a grin in Bri’s direction. “And look sharp, because this one will kill the weak first.”

KT still lay on her back, still staring at the ceiling, but now Vicki was draped across her body, her head resting on KT’s chest and one leg drawn up over her thighs. The redhead breathed softly, rhythmic excursions that sent soft puffs of warm air chasing across KT’s left nipple. It felt oddly uncomfortable to hold her this way, perhaps because it was much more intimate than the hot-and-heavy sex they’d recently enjoyed. No sooner had KT’s orgasm peaked than Vicki had climbed onto the bed and straddled her stomach, bracing herself with an arm on either side of KT’s shoulders as she rubbed her wet, swollen clitoris over KT’s skin until she’d come. Or perhaps what was the most unsettling was Vicki’s vulnerability as she dozed in the aftermath of the orgasm that had had her crying out in an agonized scream of triumphant pleasure before collapsing on top of KT.

For the first time in longer than she could remember, KT wondered what these last few hours had meant to the woman in her arms. She fervently hoped it had been only pleasure that Vicki had been seeking, because she knew that she had nothing more to give.

“Hey, baby,” KT whispered, running her hand through the thick tresses that spread across her chest in a fiery blanket.

“Mm?”

“I have to go.”

Vicki burrowed her face into the hollow of KT’s throat, kissing her neck as she snuggled closer. “Stay, can’t you? I want you again.”

KT laughed softly. “You might be able to get it up again, but I’m pretty sure I’m done for the night.”

“Oh, I can get it up for both of us,” Vicki murmured as she smoothed her hand down the center of KT’s abdomen, between her legs, and into the waiting wetness. “And I know you’ll like it.”

Despite the fact that her legs tensed and her stomach clutched at the swift surge of pleasure, KT shook her head. “I’m beat. You wasted me.” She kissed Vicki’s forehead and shifted away from the teasing hand. “Plus, I’ve got an early-morning appointment.”

Vicki raised her head and peered across the bed to the clock on the night table. “It’s early. Sleep a little while, and I promise I’ll wake you up nicely.” As if to underscore her promise, she slid her fingers on either side of KT’s clitoris and stroked languorously.

“Jesus,” KT breathed in shocked surprise as she felt herself stiffen. “Keep it up, and I’ll have a heart attack.”

“Better yet, why don’t you let me put you to sleep,” Vicki crooned as she shifted and started to move down the bed. “I know just the thing to relax you.”

KT caught Vicki’s arm and held her back. Suddenly struck by an overwhelming need to leave, to be alone, she said as gently as she could, “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

“You’re serious.”

“Yeah,” KT said softly as she stroked Vicki’s cheek with her good hand. “You were great.”

Vicki smiled, turned her head, and softly bit the base of KT’s thumb. “Uh-huh. So were you.” She sat up and pushed her hair back with both hands, regarding KT intently. “I’ll be here for the rest of the weekend, but something tells me I won’t be sleeping with you again.”

KT held her gaze. “No.”

“Wife back home?”

“No,” KT said with a bitter laugh.

“But there is someone, isn’t there,” It wasn’t a question.

“No,” KT repeated with finality. “There isn’t anyone at all.”

“Hi, Kate.” Tory greeted her mother-in-law with a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry I’m late.”

“No problem,” Kate Mahoney replied as she ushered Tory into the small cottage situated behind her art gallery on Commercial Street. “Jean and I just finished dinner. It’s Jean’s Portuguese stew, and there are plenty of leftovers. Hungry?”

“Come to think of it,” Tory said, “I’m starved.”

Kate raised an eyebrow. “Forget lunch?” She knew that Tory often forgot to eat or simply didn’t have time for a meal while she was working. She’d also known that Tory had been at the clinic, because Reese had told her so when she’d dropped the baby off earlier that day. They hadn’t had much time to talk, but she’d sensed Reese’s worry.

“Busted.” Tory laughed. “How’s the baby?”

“Gorgeous,” Jean Purdy, Kate’s lover, announced as she walked into the living room with Regina in her arms. “And perfect, of course.”

“Is she ready for a feeding?”

“When isn’t she? Ready for a nap again, too.” Laughing, Jean handed the baby to Tory. “Here you go. I’ve got some work to finish in the studio. Don’t forget to say goodbye before you leave.”

“Thanks. I won’t.” Tory took her daughter into the adjacent bedroom to feed her. When Regina had finished, she put her into the baby seat to sleep and joined Kate in the kitchen.

Kate cradled a cup of tea between her large, paint-smeared hands and studied Tory while she ate. There were faint smudges beneath her eyes, and unlike most women who still carried some of their extra pregnancy weight at two months postpartum, Tory was thinner than she had been before she’d become pregnant. It occurred to Kate that her daughter had reason to be worried. “When’s Dan’s last day?”

“Today. In fact, he’s already left for Boston and a late flight out to Pittsburgh tonight,” Tory replied.

“So you’re going back to work,” Kate said carefully.

“Yes.” Tory put down her soup spoon and regarded her mother-in-law. “Did Reese tell you?”

Kate shook her head. “No, but she told me you’d gone into the clinic today because Dan was leaving earlier than expected.”

“I’m trying to find someone to take his place so I won’t have to work full time.”

“Any possibilities?” Kate knew that even part time for Tory would be very nearly a full workload by anyone else’s standards.

Tory picked up the spoon and turned it between her fingers, thinking back to the morning. “KT O’Bannon came over from Boston this morning to interview for the position.” She raised her eyes and met Kate’s. “You remember her, of course, from when Regina was born.”

“Yes. She seemed very capable.” Kate regarded Tory steadily. “You have some history with her, don’t you?”

Tory smiled briefly. “Along with her astonishing good looks, Reese seems to have inherited her ability for understatement from you.”

Kate merely smiled and waited.

“KT and I were lovers when we were young.” Tory gazed past Kate’s shoulder out the window to the harbor. An artist’s palette of purples and pinks and indigo was brushed across the sky by the setting sun. “We didn’t part on good terms.”

“She hurt you,” Kate observed.

Tory brought her eyes back to Kate’s, grateful that there was no sympathy in them, only kindness. “Yes.”

“And how do you feel about her now?”

“I don’t know.” Tory frowned, surprised. “If you had asked me yesterday, I would’ve told you with certainty that I felt nothing whatsoever for her other than anger. Perhaps not even that. She was just someone from the past whom I had left there.”

Kate tilted her head thoughtfully. “And what’s changed?”

“I don’t know that either,” Tory said softly.

“Could you work with her, seeing her every day?”

“I’ve thought about that every minute since she left this morning.” Tory leaned back in the chair, her dinner forgotten. “Actually, I think so. When I’m working, I’m so focused that nothing else really matters. And I’ve worked with her before. We were medical students and residents together. We know each other’s…rhythm.” She looked away, refusing to think about how well they had known one another and just how seamlessly they had fit together for so many years.

“I imagine there would be moments when it would be hard.” Kate placed her hand on Tory’s arm. “Only you can know if it would be too hard.”

“Reese said that she would be okay with it.”

“If she said it, then she means it.”

Tory smiled. “Oh, I know. But still, I don’t want to give her anything else to worry about.”

“If you don’t have help, she’s going to worry a lot more,” Kate said with certainty.

“What do you think?” Tory asked softly.

Kate took her time before answering. “I know you can trust Reese to support you in whatever you decide.”

“She always does.” Tory touched the scrolled gold band on her ring finger. “I love her so much.”

“Yes, I know,” Kate said with great tenderness. She covered Tory’s hand with her own. “I also think that we never really leave the past behind, and the pain follows us until we find a way to forgive the people we used to be.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“None of us does until faced with it.” Kate sighed. “But you said yourself that something’s changed, and maybe that’s all you need to know for now.”

Tory squeezed Kate’s hand in thanks, her mind on the silent plea in KT’s eyes and the answering tug of her own heart. Yes, something has definitely changed For both of us.

Chapter Ten

Trey Pelosi was waiting for Reese and Bri in a small alcove outside the ICU. She stood as they approached, a smile on her face and an appraising glance at Bri.

“Officers,” Trey said.

“Ms. Pelosi.” Reese indicated Bri. “Officer Parker.”

“Ma’am,” Bri said.

Trey nodded to Bri briefly before returning her gaze to Reese. “Thank you for coming. Mr. and Mrs. Bridger want to cooperate in any way they can with your investigation.”

“Excellent,” Reese said evenly. “When can I speak with their son?”

“Well,” Trey said smoothly, “as you can see, he’s still under observation and in no condition to be questioned. However, we might have some information that would assist you.”

Reese raised an eyebrow but said nothing for a moment. She leaned one shoulder against the wall and studied Trey Pelosi, That evening, as on the previous one, she was impeccably dressed in tailored dark slacks, matching low heels, and a burgundy silk blouse with the cuffs rolled casually to midforearm. “Still on the case?”

Trey smiled again. “At this point, I’m here as a family friend and advisor. No charges have been brought, and I ‘m not anticipating that any will be since the boy hasn’t committed any crime.”

Bri shifted slightly, her equipment belt creaking as she moved. Reese shrugged off the first parry. “We’re still gathering information.”

“Yes,” Trey agreed, indicating the tiny lounge behind her with a tip of her chin. “Why don’t we sit down for a few minutes and perhaps I can provide you with some.”

“At some point, Ms. Pelosi,” Reese said without moving, “I’m going to need to speak to Robert Bridger.”

“Since that won’t be this evening, Sheriff, perhaps I’ll do.” Without waiting for an answer, Trey walked back into the lounge and took a seat in the otherwise unoccupied area.

“What do you think, Officer Parker?” Reese asked quietly.

“My guess is she won’t let us talk to him until she’s certain that charges won’t be filed or, if they are, that she knows the specifics so she can protect him.”

“Yes, I agree. I’d do the same thing.”

Bri rarely thought about the fact that Reese was an attorney. It was weird thinking of Reese that way, because she was such a cop’s cop. Everyone who knew her said the same thing. “So, if we can’t talk to him anyhow, what’s the downside of talking with her?”

“If we’re not careful, she’ll know everything we know, and we’ll come away empty.” Reese felt a little thrill of challenge and clapped Bri on the shoulder. “Come on, Officer. Let’s go talk to Counselor Pelosi.”

“There’s a coffee machine down the hall,” Trey said as she watched Reese and Bri approach.

“We’re fine,” Reese said, taking a seat on one side of Trey as Bri moved around to one opposite. “So what is it you’d like us to know?”

“Have you ID’d the young woman who was found near Robert’s vehicle?”

“You mean the young woman who was with him?” Reese asked. Her thrust this time.

“I don’t believe we’ve established that fact yet,” Trey commented, sidestepping neatly.

Reese grinned, but a flicker of irritation hardened her gaze. “Counselor, we could fence all evening. I think it might even be enjoyable under some circumstances. But I’ve got a dead girl in a drawer in the morgue in the basement of this hospital. Right now, I’m assuming that she got into that vehicle voluntarily.” Before Trey could speak, Reese held up her hand. “But if I don’t start getting some answers, I’m going to start thinking maybe she didn’t. Maybe your clients’ son took advantage of a drug-impaired young woman coerced her into the vehicle, drove her out into the dunes, and dragged her off where no one could see them for sex or something rougher. Maybe she resisted. Maybe he thought she would resist and he gave her more drugs to make her compliant. And now she’s dead. And I guarantee we’ll find evidence to support that she was in that vehicle with your clients’ son.”

“There are any number of explanations to account for her body being in the vicinity of the Bridger vehicle,” Trey noted calmly. “It could even be a coincidence.” She held up a hand as Reese started to speak. “Nevertheless, the Bridgers informed me that Rob had been spending this past week with family friends in Chelmsford. When I talked to them this morning, it sounded as if Rob heard about a party here on the Cape from the older brother of the boy he was visiting. We suspect he…borrowed…the family car so he and his buddy could go.”

“They filed a stolen vehicle report,” Bri pointed out.

“Yes, well, it seems that was premature.” Trey smiled at Bri. “A simple miscommunication.”

“Where was the party?” Reese asked.

“We don’t know.”

“What about the girl?” Reese asked sharply. “What do you suspect about her?”

Trey shook her head. “He doesn’t have a steady girlfriend. The boys he was visiting don’t know anything about her. But if you could get me a photo, I’ll show it to his parents and the other family.”

“Let me have the name of the family he was visiting.” Reese took a small spiral notebook from her left breast pocket, along with a pen.

Trey looked apologetic. “Ah, they’ve retained my services, merely to facilitate matters at this point. For the moment, I’d like lo keep their names out of this.”

Facilitator, my ass. Covering their own asses. And their kid’s. Reese’s jaw tightened. “Look, Ms. Pelosi”

“Sheriff,” Trey said quietly, “I’m no happier about an unidentified dead girl than you are. For now, let me see what I can do. The Bridgers really do want to cooperate. Both families do.”

Reese blew out her breath. She didn’t like it, but until she had a clearer picture of what had happened, she couldn’t blame the parents or their attorney for keeping the boy under wraps. “All right. For now.”

Trey smiled, and it was a genuine smile of pleasure, not victory. “Good. When can you get me the picture?”

“It’s a morgue shot,” Reese said as she reached into her shirt pocket again and drew out a Polaroid. She passed it over to Trey and watched her face carefully as the woman looked down at the photo. The attorney’s expression did not change. She may be corporate now, but this isn’t the first dead shot she’s seen.

“Thank you.” Trey met Reese’s eyes. “May I keep this?”

“Go ahead.”

Bri leaned over and murmured to Reese, who nodded assent

“Ms. Pelosi,” Bri said. “When you talk to the boys about the party, ask if it was a candy-bowl party.”

Trey looked at Reese, who shook her head. To Bri she said, “Translation?”

“It’s a party where everybody brings whatever drugs they have, tosses them into a big bowl or just a pile, and everyone samples.” She looked at Reese, whose expression was bland. “The parties move around. Usually in somebody’s house, not a bar.”

“Hard stuff?” Reese asked.

Bri shrugged. “Could be anything. Uppers, downers, crack, coke, sometimes even heroin.”

“Christ.” Reese rubbed her face in frustration. “Is it all. ..bring your own, or are their dealers there?”

“I don’t know.” For a second, Bri looked as if she might say more but did not.

“I’ll see what I can find out,” Trey said as she stood. She extended her hand to Reese and then to Bri. “Thank you for coming. I’ll be in touch.”

“Ms. Pelosi.” Reese stood as well. “I’m not interested in hauling a boy into court on a DUI when he’s already paying for his mistake. If that’s all this turns out to be, we’re not going to have a problem. But if it’s anything more, the next time I come, I’m not standing outside in the hall.”

“You two take care,” Trey said calmly. “Good night, now.”

“Good night, Counselor,” Reese said.

“Jeez,” Bri said so softly that only Reese could hear as she watched the attorney walk away, “I sorta liked her until I figured out she was kicking our asses.”

Reese laughed. “She didn’t kick them too bad. At least now we have a lead to work on.” As they walked down the hall toward the exit, Reese glanced at Bri. “So when’s the last time you were at one of these parties?”

Bri blushed and kept her face forward. “Last year. When I was still in school.”

“Is there anything we need to talk about?”

“No, ma’am. I don’t…partake.” Bri got to the exit door first and held it open until Reese passed through. Walking briskly to catch up, she said, “Sometimes you don’t know it’s going to be that kind of party until you get there and it just sort of happens. Spontaneously. But other times, it’s publicized in advance and an address circulates maybe a day or so ahead of time so you know where to go.”

They settled back into the cruiser and Reese pulled out onto the highway. “And what about dealers?”

“I only went to two of them, and both were by mistake. At the second one, there were definitely guys selling hard street drugs.”

“So,” Reese mused. “We might be looking for a mobile drug party that’s a front for dealers to move their stuff, probably to the kids of vacationing families who have plenty of money to spend. Jesus. Where do we start with that?”

“We have to talk to Robert Bridger or one of his friends to find out how they heard about it, how they got directions, and where it was.”

“Yes,” Reese agreed. “Unless Ms. Pelosi comes through for us.”

“Think she will?”

“I don’t know. She’s too good to give her game away.”

“KT?”

“Yeah,” KT mumbled, rolling over in bed without thinking. She caught her left hand in the covers and gasped sharply. “God damn it.”

“KT? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” KT put her cell phone down, fumbled for the light switch in the unfamiliar room, and blinked into the sudden glare. Even through the haze of confusion, she recognized the voice. She found her phone again. “Vic?”

“I woke you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” KT rubbed her face with the back of her arm and tried desperately to wake up. She’d taken two pain pills to get to sleep, and she was groggy. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was not quite 11 p.m. She’d only been asleep half an hour, “Sorry. Go ahead. What is it?”

“I…uh…wanted to tell you that you’ve got the job. Here at the clinic. If you still want it.”

KT closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “Great. Thank you.”

“I know you probably need time to move your things and settle in, so I was thinking next week would be soo”

“Tomorrow, I can start tomorrow.” KT suddenly felt invigorated. She had work. She had some purpose. “I have a nine o’clock appointment with my therapist. I can start at eleven.”

“I didn’t ask you. Is it Pia Torres?”

“Yes,” KT replied, surprised, although if she’d thought about it, she shouldn’t have been. Provincetown the entire Cape was a small community, and it made sense that Tory would know about other medical professionals.

Tory was quiet for a second, then said, “Good. She’s terrific. Does she know that you’ll be working with me?”

“Not yet. I didn’t know that I would be.”

“No, of course you didn’t.”

Tory’s laughter coming through the phone gave KT such a strong sense of déjà vu that she was nearly dizzy. How many nights had she lain awake in her on-call room down the hall from the trauma unit, talking to Tory on the phone? Hundreds? Thousands? Conversations about nothing. Something on the news. Some bill that needed paying. A movie they planned on seeing the following weekend. The aimless, easy conversations of people whose lives were one. Jesus. How long has it been since anything has felt so right?

“KT? Are you there?”

“Yeah,” KT said quickly. “I told her I’d fit my schedule around hers. I’ll try to get a better idea from her tomorrow about how that will shake out. You just tell me when you need me, and I’ll work out the rest.”

“Tomorrow at eleven will be fine for starters. We’ll work out the rest of the details later.” There were a few seconds of silence. “Good luck in therapy tomorrow. Don’t push too hard, KT.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.”

“Good Night,” Tory said softly.

“Good night, Vic,” KT whispered. She didn’t say what she’d always added at this point. Sweet dreams, sweetheart.

“You’re home right on time tonight,” Tory said with pleasure, putting aside the newest Katherine Forrest mystery as Reese walked into the bedroom only a few minutes after midnight.

Reese leaned down and kissed her. “And you’re up kind of late, aren’t you?”

“I thought I should try keeping regular hours again since I’m going back to work. But I confess Reggie and I took a little nap a bit earlier.”

“Was she good with Kate and Jean?” Reese stripped off her uniform and laid it carefully across a nearby chair in case she needed to get dressed again before morning.

Tory smiled. “Her grandmothers told me that she was quite angelic.”

“Of course she was. She looks like one asleep right now, too.” Reese slid under the covers as Tory snapped off the light. She extended an arm for Tory to snuggle against her chest, threaded her fingers into Tory’s hair, and kissed her forehead. “Hi.”

“How was your night?” Tory tilted her chin up and kissed the corner of Reese’s mouth. “God, you feel good.”

“Mmm, you, too.” Reese stretched and sighed. “Pretty routine. It seems like those kids were at some kind of drug party out here on the Cape somewhere. We’re going to try to chase that down.” She ran her hand down Tory’s arm and back up again. “When will you have something from the pathologist in Hyannis?”

“The middle of the week, probably. I’ll call him to check on Monday. Oh, that’s a holiday. Tuesday, then.”

“Thanks, baby.”

“Reese,” Tory said quietly as she stroked Reese’s abdomen. “I called KT and offered her the job.” She felt the barest flicker of muscles tightening beneath her ringers. “Okay?”

“It seems like a reasonable decision. What did she say?”

“She said yes. She’s going to start tomorrow.” The strange conversation with her former lover was still fresh in her mind. She’d never known KT not to awaken completely alert and totally functional. Of course, it had been a good many years since she’d had occasion to speak to KT in the middle of the night. Or at any other time, for that matter. Still, it had been disconcerting to talk with her at all. After so many years of relegating KT and everything about her to a past that she rarely allowed to taint her present, to talk to her twice in one day and to talk to her at bedtime, the way they’d always done when they’d been together it was so…Tory jerked, realizing that Reese had been talking and that she hadn’t heard a word. “I’m sorry, honey. What did you say?”

“That I hope it works out.”

“Yes,” Tory said quietly. “So do I.”

“But if it doesn’t,” Reese continued, her cheek resting against the top of Tory’s head, “you’ll let it go, won’t you? Let her go?”

Tory tightened her hold on the most important person in her life. She pressed her face to Reese’s neck, savoring her scent and her strength. “Of course. I promise.”

“That’s fine, then. Go to sleep, Tor. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.” Tory kissed her again and closed her eyes.

Reese held her in the darkness, listening to her soft, quiet breathing for a long time, thinking about the things she’d never imagined having and that now, she couldn’t imagine living without.

Chapter Eleven

“Hey, did I wake you?” Bri murmured.

“Hi, baby!” Caroline sounded much more awake than Bri. “Did you just finish a shift?”

“Yeah. What are you doing?” Naked, Bri stretched out under the sheets and closed her eyes. She cradled the phone on the pillow next to her ear and idly drew her fingers up and down the center of her stomach.

“Just getting ready to go out for coffee and something to eat. Then I’m going to the studio later this morning to finish a painting I’ve been working on.”

“Yeah? How’s that going?” Bri tried to envision Caroline in the small studio apartment she’d seen in the pictures that Caroline had e-mailed her. She’d seen photos of the neighborhood too, but she had a hard time really getting a sense of what it was like there. It seemed pretty enough. Just so far away.

“It’s going good. Great, actually. They keep us really busy, and I’m glad.” There were a few seconds of silence broken only by a very faint buzzing. “I miss you so much. When I’m painting, it’s not so bad.”

Bri’s stomach tightened, and she fought a wave of sadness. “I know. I’d rather be at work than doing anything else, I love you.”

“Oh, baby. I love you, too, so much.” Caroline’s smile came through in her words. “Are you in bed?”

“Uh-huh. You?”

“On the sofa not dressed yet. I wish I was there with you. I miss sleeping with you.” Her voice was silky soft as she added, “And other stuff.”

“Jesus, Carre,” Bri groaned as a wash of heat raced over her. “Don’t make me think about that right now, okay? I have to get some sleep. There’s a big weekend coming up, and I might be working a double shift for the next three days.”

“Since when did a little sex ever stop you from sleeping?”

Bri brushed her fingers over the short, tight curls at the base of her belly. “It’s not the same. Not even all that much fun.”

Caroline laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

“Do you…think about me? When you do?”

“Always.” Caroline sighed. “You really okay?”

“No. I’ll probably be begging you for phone sex in another week or so.”

“Any time, baby. I don’t want you to suffer.”

“I’m already suffering.” Bri stroked the inside of her thigh, but she wasn’t really in the mood for anything more. When her body clamored for attention, she took care of it, but it didn’t come anywhere close to making love with Caroline. Not just because Caroline was the hottest, most beautiful girl she’d ever known, but because when they were together that way, Bri felt better than she did at any other time. Even better than when she was working.

“I wasn’t talking about just the physical stuff, you know.” Caroline sighed. “I’m sorry it’s hard for you.”

“No,” Bri said quickly. “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay. But I’m glad you got this chance. I think it’s so cool.”

“I don’t think I could stand being here if I didn’t have you,” Caroline whispered. “I’m really lonely, but when I think about you I feel better. It doesn’t hurt so much to be so far away then.”

“That’s good, baby.” Bri shifted aimlessly, tired, but not wanting to say good night She hated the empty feeling right after she heard the click followed by nothing but empty air. “Reese has set up a date for my black belt test. In October, during Women’s Week.”

“Oh,” Caroline gasped. “Oh, so soon.”

“Yeah. I was surprised, too.”

“And I’m going to miss it. Oh, I’m so sorry, baby.”

“Yeah, well. It’s just a test, you know.”

“It’s not just a test. It’s a very big deal. You’ve been working so long, so hard for this.” Caroline was silent for a moment. “Maybe I-can get a supersaver flight or fly standby or something.”

“No, I don’t want you to do that,” Bri protested, meaning it. “Save your money to come home for the holidays. You have to come home then.”

“Are you ready for your test?” Caroline asked, changing the subject.

“I don’t know. I think so. If Reese thinks so, then I guess I am.” Bri brushed a hand across her chest, toying unconsciously with a nipple. When it hardened beneath her fingers and her stomach clenched again, she moved her hand away. “I’ll be ready by the time the test comes.”

“You’ll tell me when and everything, right?”

“Sure.” Bri stifled a yawn. “I better go, baby. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“You be careful this weekend, you hear?”

“Don’t worry, I’m always careful.”

“Be extra careful. I love you.”

Caroline made a small kissing sound and Bri smiled. “I love you bad, baby. Good night.”

“Good night,” Caroline said softly.

Bri waited for the final click, then set the phone down. She curled on her side, cupped one hand between her thighs, and closed her eyes, imagining Caroline’s face and the sweet sound of her voice as sleep claimed her.

KT stared at the ceiling. Her arm throbbed, her stomach rolled with the faint swell of nausea, and sweat streaked her face. The early September night was hot, and despite the air-conditioning, the room was stuffy. It felt as if a weight sat astride her chest, heavy and dark. It might have been loneliness, or sadness, or merely the fact that she’d awakened with the overwhelming urge for one of the small white pills. She turned her head and glanced at the red numerals on the cheap plastic clock radio by the bedside. 3:41 a.m. In less than six hours, she’d need to be at Pia Torres’s for her first therapy session.

In less than six hours, the pain she was feeling now would double. Physical therapy was a difficult road, and she’d need her pain medication then. She had to wait.

Her mind raced. She tried not to think about the conversation with Tory. At least not beyond the fact that she would have a job. It wasn’t the money she needed, but the sense of being valuable. Of doing something worthwhile. Her entire adult life, even before she could have truly been considered an adult, she had equated achievement with self-worth. The youngest child in a family of notables, she had set out to be the best at her chosen field because anything less would have made her less. In the eyes of her family, in her own eyes. She’d succeeded. In everything. In everything except in her relationship with Tory.

Tory. She’d gone for years barely thinking of her. She’d been so busy with work, and when she wasn’t, she could easily fill the void that Tory had left behind in the arms of some other woman. There was always some other woman. Until she’d gotten to the point where the women became interchangeable and the temporary solace she found in their arms slipped away. Before the interlude with Vicki earlier that afternoon, it had been months since she’d been with anyone.

Tory. When she thought of her now, she remembered the bright-eyed, optimistic young woman she had been. The women they had both been. She thought of their lost dreams Tory’s of Olympic gold, hers of the pair of them taking the medical world by storm, co-chiefs of emergency medicine, battling death and winning. Always winning.

Well, I’m not winning now.

KT pushed herself up with her right arm and swung her legs over the side of the bed. In the tank top and briefs she’d been sleeping in, she crossed the room, opened the sliding glass door, and stepped out onto the deck. The moon was high, the sky clear, and in the distance through the trees she caught a glimmer of the harbor. The water was black, streaked with silver from the running lights of the boats moored on its glassy surface. The faint breeze dried the sweat on her face. She cradled her injured left hand against her chest and tightened the fingers of her right around the wooden railing that edged the deck. Moments of quiet were extraordinarily rare in her hectic life, and even now, surrounded by exquisite beauty, there was no peace.

She thought back to her interview that morning. Tory had obviously been surprised to see her. The anger still simmered in her eyes, but she had managed it well. But it wasn’t the anger or the distance that KT remembered most clearly. What she remembered was that when Tory had mentioned Reese and Regina, she had looked beautiful. Beautiful and happy. KT searched her heart and could not find it there to resent Tory the peace she had so clearly found.

Turning from the soul-wrenching view, KT walked into the bathroom and shook another pill from the small orange plastic container. Even more than she needed sleep, she needed respite from her thoughts.

Pia Torres, dressed casually in a short-sleeved turquoise blouse, tan slacks, and sandals, opened the side door of her cottage at five minutes to nine on Saturday morning. She looked up at the slightly taller woman who leaned against the porch column in a shaft of morning sunlight. Dr. O’Bannon wore jeans and a white oxford shirt, the right cuff rolled to midforearm, the left unbuttoned and hanging loose over the molded splint. Pia couldn’t help but register what a striking picture she made, but noted the shadows beneath her dark eyes and the faintly haunted expression on her face.

“Good morning,” Pia said warmly, “Did you knock?”

KT pushed herself upright and shook her head. “No. Not yet.”

“I don’t stand on ceremony, Dr. O’Bannon. Please, just”

“It’s KT. Remember?”

Pia smiled. “Yes. And the next time, KT, just knock on the door, or better yet, stick your head in and holler.” She pushed wide the screen door and gestured with her head toward the interior. “Please, come in. How are you feeling?”

KT stiffened, then forced herself to answer evenly. “Fine. I’m looking forward to getting started.”

“Yes, I can imagine.” Patients approached physical therapy with very different attitudes. Some resented it, feeling that they could do whatever needed to be done in terms of rehabilitation on their own. Some feared it, especially the possibility of pain. And others, and she suspected that Dr. O’Bannon would be one of those, approached therapy as a battle to be waged and a war to be won. Unfortunately, there was no standard time period for a particular campaign, as every individual needed to progress according to the particulars of their injury, their age, their pain tolerance, and their ultimate goal. A surgeon with a hand injury, like a musician, was one of the most difficult of all patients to treat. It wasn’t just that incomplete recovery would make it difficult for Dr. O’Bannon to return to her profession it would make it impossible. Most skilled laborers could still work with dysfunctional digits, but that was not going to be the case here.

“The treatment room is this way,” Pia said as she led the way down the narrow hall to a large, sunny screened-in porch at the rear. Another garden, more luxurious than the small flower patch in front of the house, filled the entire yard behind the cottage. The flowers, a riotous panoply of color, danced in the breeze beneath the bright, clear sun.

KT didn’t notice the beauty. All she saw were the strain gauges, the neurosensory filaments, and the goniometers arranged on a stand next to a picnic table with benches on either side that apparently was the treatment table.

“Should I take my splint off now?” KT asked as she sat on one side of the long, narrow table. A clear sheet of Plexiglas covered the top.

“In just a minute,” Pia responded. “Let me review your medical history for a few minutes, and then we’ll taut about where we’re headed.”