Hope Flames

Chapter 22

LUKE WAS FRUSTRATED as hell, and tired of working on a case that was going nowhere.

Typically, he closed cases the same day they broke, but this rash of break-ins was scaring the people of his town.

He couldn’t blame them. Who knew where the perpetrator—or perpetrators—would strike next. Just because they’d only been hitting local businesses so far didn’t mean they wouldn’t start breaking and entering people’s homes next.

No avenue they’d explored had turned up any leads. The perps had left no prints, and there was no video on whoever had been hitting these businesses. Any recent parolees or those with drug-related crimes in their backgrounds had all alibied out.

Which left them at square one. And the suspect hadn’t struck again in over a week. Luke supposed that was a good thing, but if they could flush this guy out, they’d have a chance at nabbing him.

Which gave him an idea. Since he was on patrol and close to the precinct, he drove to the station and went into his captain’s office. Pete was at his desk on the phone but motioned for Luke to come in and take a seat. He waited, looking at the awards and certificates on Pete’s wall.

Luke supposed this is what he should aspire to someday—being a captain, leading a team. But he enjoyed being out on the street with Boomer, chasing down perps. This just seemed like a damn lot of paperwork and sitting behind the desk. Maybe his priorities would change several years down the road, when he was tired of walking a beat. He’d like to be a detective someday. But a desk job? He didn’t see that ever appealing to him.

The captain hung up so Luke focused his attention.

“What’s up, McCormack? Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol?”

“Yes, sir. But I had an idea about these drug burglaries and wanted to run it by you.”

Pete slid back in his chair. “Okay, hit me.”

“They’ve targeted places that are well stocked. What if we set them up?”

“Set them up, how?”

“Get one of the local pharmacies to agree to a massive drug restocking. If someone’s casing these places, they’ll know, and it’ll be a prime target. We wait inside and catch them when they come in to snatch the drugs.”

Pete leaned forward and steepled his fingers. “Your idea has merit, but you realize there’s no guarantee they’ll bust in for the drugs just because a place has been recently stocked.”

“I know, sir, but we have no leads at this point, and I think it’s worth a shot.”

His captain seemed to consider the idea, mainly by staring intently at Luke. “All right. I’ll make some calls and let you know what we can work out. Get back on the street.”

“Yes, sir.”

Feeling better now that he’d suggested a plan, Luke headed back out to the parking lot.

“Hey, McCormack. What are you doing here?”

He walked past Evan Ashbrook and Steve Fortran, a couple of his fellow cops. “Hey. Just stopped to talk to the captain about something. You guys coming on duty or getting off?”

“Coming off working a double, just like you,” Steve said. “This whole burglary thing is chapping my ass. And it’s making my wife cranky.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah, I can imagine she’s not happy.”

“Not with three kids at home who miss their dad, and her having to juggle her job plus day care and the kids at night. There’s going to be hell to pay if we don’t find this asshole soon.”

“Have you got anything?” Evan asked.

“Nothing. No leads have panned out yet.”

“Shit.” Steve raked his fingers through his hair. “I keep hoping I’m going to come on duty and the captain’s going to tell me they caught him, and we can go back to life as normal.”

“This guy can’t be that fucking smart,” Ev said to them. “We’ll corner his ass soon enough.”

Luke nodded. “I agree.”

“Speaking of asses, we’d better get inside before the captain has ours. I have reports to file. See you, Luke,” Steve said.

“Later, guys.” Luke headed out to his vehicle and let Boomer out of the backseat, taking him for a walk around the property. There was a park right next to the precinct, so Boomer got to stretch his legs. After about fifteen minutes, he and Boomer got back in the cruiser.

He checked his watch. It was Thursday, the night Emma kept the clinic open late so people could bring their animals in after work. He could stop by, see how she was doing. He hadn’t seen her in a while.

Or he could just go do his damn job and stop thinking about Emma. She was busy, and so was he.

He drove by the clinic and her parking lot was full, so he went past. He’d call her later.

He got called to the scene of an accident, and he forgot all about Emma as he worked the two-car rear-end vehicle collision. The girl who’d hit the minivan had been texting, and when he’d come on the scene she was sobbing, complaining that her dad was going to kill her since he’d already lectured her once about messing with her phone while driving.

Luke didn’t have much sympathy because he saw plenty of people texting and sending e-mails instead of paying attention to the road like they should. The girl was lucky the woman driving the minivan was on her way to pick up her kids and only had a sore neck, and that her children hadn’t been in the car, which was exactly what he’d told Missy Davis, teenage texter.

“You don’t understand,” she said, tears still streaming down her face. “My dad will take my keys away. I won’t have wheels ever again. He’ll probably even take my phone.”

The last two words were spoken at a high decibel level, followed by another round of racking sobs. One would think Missy’s entire life was over. Of course being seventeen, she probably thought it was.

When Missy’s father arrived at the scene, the girl’s eyes widened. Dad didn’t look happy at all.

“Officer, I’m Howard Davis, Missy’s father. Can you tell me what happened?”

Luke explained the accident, and Mr. Davis’s face grew more grim the further Luke got into his recounting of the scene.

“I see. Thank you.” Mr. Davis turned and headed toward his daughter, who appeared to have shrunk several inches as she leaned against the car. Luke kept an eye on the two of them to make sure no violence broke out. But all Mr. Davis did was hold out his hand. Missy dropped her car keys into it. He said a few more words, Missy opened her mouth as if to object, but then gave Mr. Davis her phone and dejectedly headed over to her dad’s car.

Maybe she’d learn a lesson from this. Luke hoped, anyway.

By the time the wrecker came and removed both vehicles from the scene, it was past eight and Luke was dragging. He stopped at the local convenience store for a cup of coffee, then headed down the main town highway to do a patrol.

That’s when his radio started squawking. The dispatcher came on with a burglary-in-progress code, the location not too far from where he was. He got on his radio and indicated he’d be heading there, one minute out. He hit his sirens and stepped on the gas.

It was the urgent care center, just across the parking lot from Emma’s vet clinic. A quick glance at the time showed that Emma should be just closing up. He hoped she and her staff were still inside. And safe.

He was the first car to arrive and reported his arrival, then slid on his bulletproof jacket and grabbed his rifle.

No alarms were going off, at least not audibly, which didn’t mean a silent alarm hadn’t been triggered. Backup was due to arrive in less than a minute. He hauled ass out of his car, opening the back door for Boomer. He gave Boomer the appropriate commands, indicating they were in search-and-stealth mode. Boomer stayed right by his side. The dog knew his job.

The front door of the clinic was locked since they closed at seven, so he hurried down the sidewalk of the shopping center so he could head around the back.

He could see Emma’s clinic from where he stood at the side of the shopping center. And just as he shifted around the corner, she came outside, by herself, no doubt locking up.

Something must have caught her eye, at the same time Luke heard a sound from the back. Emma’s gaze tracked the sound and Boomer emitted a low growl.

Luke gave him the command to silence. Now Luke hesitated, warring between wanting to shout out to Emma to go back inside and lock her door or staying quiet so he could continue to stalk the perp. Emma’s safety was paramount. She stood frozen to the spot, and that’s when Luke spotted the dark figure darting into the woods behind the shopping center.

He gave the Go signal to Boomer, who tore past him and into the woods at high speed. Luke called in that he was in pursuit, gave his location, and headed out after Boomer. He held up his hand, waving at Emma to go back inside. When he was sure she was going to follow direction, he took off after Boomer and the suspect.

He heard the sirens pull up at the front of the urgent care center, communicated his location as he entered the thick wooded area. Boomer barked, as he was trained, giving Luke the ability to track his whereabouts. Left, about fifty yards ahead. Breathing heavily, sweating under his Kevlar jacket as he ran like hell, Luke pushed through the dense brush, not wanting to use his flashlight in case the suspect had doubled back.

“Location, McCormack.”

It was one of his fellow officers; Luke gave his best guess as to where he was. “I’m not using my flashlight. Keep an eye out in case the perp doubles back out of this brush. I have Boomer in here with me. I sent him in when we saw the guy make a break for the woods.”

An hour later, there was no sign of the suspect. Luke, Boomer, and several of the Hope police force had combed the area, to no avail. The perp either had a foolproof escape plan or a car hidden nearby. Hell, maybe he’d hopped into the river and taken a boat. With all of them tramping through the woods, forensics likely wouldn’t be able to get decent shoe impressions.

His captain had shown up to review the scene, inside and out. This time the perp had set off the silent alarm. With the rash of burglaries lately, the urgent care center had beefed up its security, and cutting the outside alarm system had set off a backup. So when he broke in, the silent alarm had gone off.

They’d also wired in additional video surveillance, so they’d finally have something to look at, once the tech guys were able to download it.

In the meantime, Luke told his captain about Emma standing there watching the whole thing go down.

“A potential witness?” Pete asked.

“And a former victim of this dickhead.”

“Go talk to her.”

Luke nodded and headed across the parking lot. He pulled on the door, which Emma had wisely locked, so he knocked. Daisy came running to the door first, followed by Emma, who unlocked the door and let him in.

She was wide-eyed and pale, just like that night when she’d been burglarized. He wanted to put his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be all right, but he was on duty and there were other cops milling about outside who could see them.

“Are you all right?” he asked as she led him into her office.

She nodded, took a seat in one of the chairs across from her desk. “Yes. How about you? I saw you and Boomer run like crazy into the woods after that guy. Did you catch him?”

He shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. But we’re closing in. This is the first time we’ve gotten close enough to him to catch him in the act.”

“Except that one time he actually burglarized my place while I was here,” she reminded him.

“Yes. There was that. Too bad you’re not a cop.”

She laughed, clasping her hands together.

“You’re shaking.” He took a seat and put his hands over hers. “It’s going to be all right, Emma.”

She looked down at their hands, then back up at him. “I saw the guy, you know.”

Luke’s gut tightened. “How well did you see him?”

“Not all that well. He was wearing black pants or sweats, and a black hoodie pulled up over his head. I know he had blond hair, or maybe white hair. He paused for a fraction of a second, like maybe he heard something, and he looked my way. He saw me looking at him. Then he took off like he was running for his life and disappeared into the woods.”

Luke let go of her hands and pulled his notepad out of his pocket. “Okay, let’s go over this from the beginning so I can make this a part of my official report.”

Emma took a deep breath and tried to quell the shaking that had seemed to settle in every bone, every nerve ending of her body, from the moment she’d stepped outside to lock up. It was when she’d turned around that she’d caught a glance, a flash of someone coming out from the back of the shopping center in the other parking lot.

And then she’d seen Luke and Boomer hugging the side of the building, illuminated in the lights. She’d known immediately what was happening. Someone was burglarizing the urgent care center, the only facility in that center that carried drugs. Her gaze immediately tracked back to the burglar.

In that split second, she’d seen him, and he’d seen her watching him. It had only taken a few seconds at most, but the image, what had happened, was burned into her memory like it had all happened in slow motion.

“He was wearing jeans, now that I think about it. Very dark jeans. Tennis shoes, I think, though I can’t be positive about that. A black hoodie that he wore over his head, and he had gloves on. He carried a backpack, a black one. It was slung over his back. His hair was blond, kind of a yellow-blond, not a normal color, but maybe from some kit that bleaches hair.”

She lifted her gaze to Luke’s. “You have to remember this was from a distance, maybe forty or fifty yards away, so I can’t be certain of anything, but he looked fairly young. Not teenager young. I’d say early twenties. Anyway, when he froze after seeing me, it was like instinct kicked in because he must have seen me slide my gaze over to you. Then he started running for the woods.”

“You didn’t see anyone else with him,” Luke asked.

Emma shook her head. “No. Just him.”

“Did you get a close enough look that you could identify him?”

“I doubt it. It was mostly a blur, and the only reason I could see hair color was because it was so yellow-blond, so unusual. But no facial features.”

“Was he tall or short?”

She pondered the guy’s height, stacking him up against Luke. “Tall. And slender, but not skinny like he wasn’t eating. Just . . . lean, like maybe he was a runner. But his clothes were baggy, so I could be off a bit on build.”

“Race?”

“I could definitely see that he was Caucasian.”

“Anything else you can think of?”

She shook her head. “I think that’s it.”

He slipped his notebook into his pocket and squeezed her hand. “You did good, Emma. Really good. Most witnesses are so frozen with fear they can’t remember anything. You did a remarkable job.”

“Did I? I hope so. I want you to catch this guy.”

“I want to catch him, too. You helped. This is more than we’ve ever had before.”

She stood. “I guess I should get the dogs home.”

He walked outside with her and helped her put the dogs in her truck, then radioed for one of the cruisers to come around. “Listen. I need to file this report. But I’m going to have one of our officers escort you home.”

“That’s not necessary. I’m fine.”

“I know you are. But I’d feel a lot better if someone went with you.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Luke. Your suspect doesn’t know where I live.”

“No, he doesn’t. But we don’t know how he got away, or if he had a vehicle nearby. And he doesn’t know how much of him you saw, so until I’m sure you’re safe, I’m going to come stay with you.”

She cocked a brow. “Inviting yourself over to my house?”

“You got a problem with that?”

She had missed him. A lot. And if she were honest with herself, she was more than a little freaked out that she’d had a stare-down with the crazy guy who’d been stealing drugs from several businesses. Who knew whether he was high or not? And people on drugs did desperate things sometimes. “Okay. I’ll wait up for you.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

She so wanted to touch him, but there were still police cars everywhere. And the sheriff’s department, and now the news crews. Poor Luke had his hands full.

“I know I don’t need to wait up. I want to.”

A police car pulled up alongside Emma’s. Luke went over and talked to the officer inside, who nodded and waved to Emma.

“Then I’ll see you in a few hours,” Luke said.

“All right.” She locked up the clinic and climbed into her truck.

Luke was already walking across the parking lot toward the crime scene. Emma so wanted to stay there with him, but she also had a lot to do at home, and the dogs needed to be fed and let outside. They were wound up from all the activity.

She needed to do a little unwinding herself. The officer, whose name was Bill, followed her home. He even came inside with her and did a check of her house, something she thought was totally unnecessary, though she was secretly grateful. He told her he’d drive around her neighborhood a few times to make sure she was okay. She thanked him and closed the door, went into the bedroom, and changed clothes.

A part of her wanted to fall into bed and obliterate this day by falling asleep, but she had some paperwork to do. So she took some chicken out of the freezer, defrosted it, sliced some vegetables and started a pot of chicken noodle soup. She let the dogs outside to play after they ate, while she sat down at the table and worked on paying bills.

She periodically checked the simmering soup while dealing with her paperwork.

When the doorbell rang, she glanced down at her phone to check the time, not realizing so much time had passed since she’d been home. She shoved the pen in her hair and got up from the table to answer the door.

Luke was there, looking as worn out as she felt.

“How did it go?” she asked, petting Boomer when the dog came up to shove his head under her hand.

Luke dropped his duffle bag at the front door. “It went okay. Video surveillance didn’t show much more than what you said. He kept his head down and his hoodie covered his face, so we didn’t get any facial recognition. Since he wore gloves, we won’t have any prints, either, but there are still some leads. Oh, God, what’s that smell?”

“I figured you probably hadn’t eaten a decent homemade meal in a while, save what you can grab at Bert’s. I made chicken noodle soup. Are you hungry?”

“I’m starving,” he said as he followed her into the kitchen. “Have you eaten?”

“Actually, no. I got involved paying bills, then caught up on some paperwork. I kind of lost track of time, so I’ll eat with you.”

While Boomer hustled off to play with Daisy and Annie, Emma got out a couple of bowls and a plate for the bread she’d made the other day. As she was reaching into the cabinet for the plates, Luke slipped his arm around her waist and turned her around.

He tipped her chin up with his fingers and pressed a long, slow kiss to her lips that made her forget how hungry she was—for food, anyway. She slid her fingers into his hair and held on, breathing in his scent, grabbing onto the work-solid feel of his shoulders as he pinned her against the counter with his body.

She moaned against his lips as he deepened the kiss, another hunger taking over when he lifted up her tank top and covered her breast with his hand. He drew the cup of her bra down and found her nipple, making her gasp as he teased and tormented her until she wrapped one leg around him to draw him closer to her.

And when he lifted her and placed her on the counter, she shoved the dishes out of the way, no longer caring about food.

“You mind waiting for dinner?” he asked.

She was breathing so hard she felt dizzy. “No. There are other parts of me hungry right now.”

A low growl tore from his throat as he gathered her hair in his hand and tilted her head back, his mouth ravaging her neck in a series of hot kisses that tore her apart. And when he made his way back to her lips, he seared her with a bone-melting kiss that left her weak and needy.

“Yeah, I need to be fed, too, Emma. But it’s not soup I want right now.”

He drew her shorts and panties down her legs. Her legs trembled as he ran his fingers over her skin.

“I’ve been thinking about you every day, about touching you, kissing you, hearing the sounds you make when you come.”

Nearly out of her mind with desire, she unashamedly spread for him, leaning back as he put his mouth on her sex. She cried out, so close to orgasm she was almost embarrassed by her need for him. But he’d been all she thought about since their weekend. The way he touched her, kissed her, the way he’d broken through her defenses and made her feel his touch, made her remember what it felt like to be a woman again.

She was a woman in desperate need of an orgasm right now. And Luke was the only man who could give her exactly what she needed.

He was relentless in his pursuit of her pleasure, fixing his tongue and his mouth on every spot that was guaranteed to send her right over the edge. Not that it would take much, since she’d been pining away for him—for this—every night she lay alone in her bed, thinking about him. And when she hovered so close her whole body quaked, he gave her just what she needed. She tightened, and fell, with a cry so loud she shook with her climax.

And when he moved up her body, kissing her hipbone and her belly button to give her time to come down off that high, she lifted up on her elbows to smile at him.

He helped her off the counter, and she slung an arm around his neck to bring him in for a kiss, wanting him to feel as unraveled as she was, needing him to come apart in the same way.

So she dropped to her knees and reached for the belt buckle of his jeans.

“Oh, Em. I don’t think that’s a—”

She lifted her gaze to his and smiled. “You’re no longer in charge here, officer. So just shut up and enjoy the ride.”

Luke swallowed, hard, his throat gone dry at the sight of Emma, her hair disheveled after her wild orgasm, her tank top hanging half off, on her knees and unzipping his pants. It was every man’s dream, and his undoing.

She jerked his pants to his knees and freed his cock, taking it into her soft hands. He practically vibrated as she put her mouth on him.

It had been too long since he’d touched and tasted her, since he’d been inside her. He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t admit she was all he’d thought about through all those grueling double shifts.

He hadn’t come there to have sex with her, though he was hoping they could end the night together in bed. He’d missed her touch and the way she tasted. Never in his wildest dreams did he picture her on her knees, her mouth a wet, hot haven, taking him to hell and back while he tried so damn hard not to let go.

But Emma was relentless, determined to drive him to the very brink.

And damn, she was good, her mouth a vortex of deep, dark pleasure. He swept his hand over her hair and mentally prayed for mercy, and when he was sure he couldn’t hold back any longer, he whispered her name as a warning.

“Em.”

She ignored him, and gave him even more than he thought he could take, wrapping her sweet lips around him and taking him all the way to the edge.

He hovered there, watching her sweet mouth, wishing he could last, but when she lifted those sweet, beautiful eyes to his, he let go with a wild groan and an explosive shudder that made him grasp the counter for balance, sure his knees were going to buckle as his climax ripped through him.

Emma held him tight, refusing to let go until he gave her everything.

Only then, when he was spent and his legs were shaking, did she let him pull her up and kiss her, stroke her back and hold her in his trembling arms.

“You blew the goddamn top off my head,” he whispered in her ear.

“Yes. I know that feeling. I’m pretty sure my brains were leaking out of my ears when I climaxed.”

He grinned. “Good to know. Now how about some soup? I have a feeling I’m going to need some energy before round two.”

She pulled away and leveled a saucy grin at him. “Yes, you’re definitely going to need food.”

After they cleaned up and righted their clothing, Luke ate two giant bowls of some of the best-tasting homemade chicken noodle soup he’d ever had, and he was pretty sure he ate at least half a loaf of bread.

“Are you sure you’re eating during these double shifts?” Emma asked.

“When I can. We’ve been pretty busy. I’m hoping this latest break-in will yield some leads.”

“I hope so, too.”

“You helped with your description of the suspect.”

“Did I? That’s good.”

She looked away. Luke could tell she was still nervous about that guy spotting her. “You’re worried about it. About him.”

She shrugged. “Not really. I mean, yes. I’m not stupid. I’d like to buy a gun.”

Luke pushed his bowl to the side. “Do you know how to use a gun?”

“Some. I’ve fired them in the past, but haven’t for a while. I looked into the licensing classes to carry a weapon. I think I’ll sign up for one.”

“They don’t give you a lot of practice time.”

“I know.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about her having a gun, but she was an adult and it was her call to make. What he could be sure about was that she knew how to handle herself with one.

“I’ll take you shooting.”

Her gaze met his. “You would? I know you’re busy, and you don’t really have time for that.”

“I’ll make time for you, Emma. You’re important.”

His words crept right into her heart and warmed her from the inside out. “Thank you.”

After they finished eating, Luke helped Emma clean up the dishes. They sat on the sofa for a while to watch a movie. It was late and Emma was going to pay for this in the morning when she had to drag herself out of bed, but since they’d eaten late, she couldn’t go to bed on a full stomach.

It didn’t take more than twenty minutes, though, for her to realize Luke was sound asleep. She smiled and poked at him.

“Hey,” she said.

He shot up. “What’s wrong?”

“How about we go to bed and get some sleep?”

He blinked sleepy eyes at her. “I was going to ravage you.”

“We’ll save the ravaging for when you’ve caught up on your sleep.”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “I’ll go let the dogs out and meet you upstairs.”

She sighed as he went to the back door, realizing she could get very used to having Luke in her life, and in her house.

Which was a very dangerous thing.