CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“You can use my office,” Tory said to Reese as the small group proceeded down the central hallway of her clinic toward the X-ray room at the rear. “Just help me get Allie up onto the table so I can get these films.”

Reese, Bri, and Ashley Walker left the small radiology room and crossed the hall diagonally to Tory’s office.

“Sit down, please, Ms. Walker,” Reese instructed while pointing to one of the two chairs in front of Tory’s large wood desk. She leaned her hips against it, but remained standing. Bri stood a few feet away also, off to Ashley’s right. “I want to know exactly what you’re investigating.”

After a moment’s deliberation, Ashley Walker nodded slightly. “I’m looking for a man named Stanley Morris. He was a claims investigator for the company which hired me.”

“The insurance company?”

“Yes,” she said. “Six months ago he was forced into leaving, ostensibly due to downsizing. Shortly thereafter, the first of what would turn out to be a series of fires occurred in buildings that are insured by the company.”

“Some kind of retribution?” Bri asked.

“That’s what we think. Morris’s area of specialty was fire investigation, and the timing seemed right. But the company didn’t have any proof.”

“So they hired you,” Reese surmised.

“I worked Missing Persons when I was a cop in Providence,” Ashley informed them. “But, I haven’t been able to find him, although it seems like I’m always close.”

“Can you place him anywhere around here?” Reese asked.

Ashley shook her head. “No. The last place I can put him is in Falls River six weeks ago. But that doesn’t mean he’s not here on the Cape, paying with cash and lying low.”

“All right. We’ll get an APB out to the other divisions on the Cape today,” Reese said. “Is there anything else we should know about this guy?”

“When he lost his job, his wife left him. He’s angry, and I’m not sure he’s entirely stable. I would consider him violent and recommend caution if he is to be apprehended.” She hesitated. “I’m not sure it’s relevant, but he was an explosives expert in the Army.”

“So noted.” Reese pushed off from the desk and glanced at her watch. “I’ll get this out on the wire as soon as we square Officer Tremont away. Are you going to be staying around for awhile?”

“I’m planning on it.” Ashley stood as well. “Maybe he’s coming undone. I might as well stay here until I can pick up some trace of him.”

The three of them walked back to the radiology suite, where they found Tory placing a soft cast on Allie Tremont’s left lower leg. Tory looked up when the others walked in.

“There’s a very small chip fracture of the distal fibula. It shouldn’t be a problem long term, but it needs to be immobilized for three or four weeks.”

“Great.” Allie looked frustrated as well as worn out. “I don’t even have any way to get home.”

“I can take you,” Bri said quietly.

“Why don’t I do it,” Ashley Walker volunteered. “I’m sure that you have work to finish up here, Officer Parker.”

Bri looked at Ashley in surprise, but she didn’t argue. “Okay. Fine.”

“And I should take you home, Dr. King,” Reese said quietly.

For a brief instant, Tory thought about protesting, but she didn’t argue because she couldn’t deny that she was exhausted. At the very least, she needed a shower and something to eat. Nodding her head tiredly, she said, “All right, Sheriff.”

“Tory, love. We’re home.” Reese gently shook her lover’s shoulder. “Time for you to get some sleep.”

“Time for me to take a shower. God, I’m grimy.”

Reese got out and walked around the front of her SUV and opened Tory’s door. She extended a hand and said, “I’ve got an even better idea.”

“Oh?” Tory asked, raising an eyebrow. “I love you beyond imagination, Sheriff. But I couldn’t make love right now if my life depended upon it.”

“Really?” Reese said as she slipped her arm around Tory’s waist. “Actually, I had something else in mind.”

Five minutes later, Tory, clad only in an old T-shirt of Reese’s, since hers no longer fit comfortably, was tiredly brushing her teeth in front of the bathroom mirror. Reese came in behind her, lifted the hair at the back of her neck with one hand, and kissed her on the ultrasensitive spot just below her hairline.

“Mmm,” Tory murmured, closing her eyes. “God, that feels good.”

“Just wait.” Reese whispered. She nuzzled Tory’s ear before moving away.

The next moment, Tory heard the bath water running and turned as Reese began to strip. She rested her hips against the counter and watched as Reese unsnapped her jeans and pushed them off. Reese was halfway through the buttons on her shirt when Tory murmured huskily, “You are so gorgeous.”

“No sex, remember?” Naked now, Reese reached down to test the water temperature and then opened a small bottle that rested on a ledge on one side of the tub. She poured the vanilla scented essential oils into the water, capped the bottle, and replaced it. Turning with a smile, she held out her hand. “Your bath awaits, my lady.”

With an appreciative groan, Tory steadied herself on Reese’s shoulder and stepped into the tub. As she lowered herself into the soothing heat, Reese pulled the shades and quickly lit several candles that stood on the bathroom counter. Then, she sat on the edge of the tub and reached for the shampoo. “Wet your hair.”

Lids half closed, Tory tilted her head back until her hair was below the surface of the water. When she pushed herself up, Reese leaned forward and massaged the shampoo into her hair.

“You have the best hands,” Tory murmured, closing her eyes completely.

Reese took her time, smoothing the lather down the back of Tory’s neck and over her shoulders, massaging the tense muscles. Eventually, she directed softly, “Go ahead and rinse.”

Once again, when Tory lifted herself from the water, Reese was waiting, this time with a body sponge which she used to spread a fragrant bath gel over Tory’s back. When she’d finished massaging her from shoulders to hips, Reese stepped into the tub behind Tory and settled down with a leg extended on either side of her lover’s body .

“Lean back,” Reese whispered in Tory’s ear.

The tub was deep, and the water came to just above Tory’s breasts as she reclined in Reese’s embrace. Allowing her head to fall back against Reese’s shoulder, she closed her eyes.

Tenderly, Reese reached around and spread the soothing lotion over Tory’s upper chest and down the swell of her breasts. Tory groaned faintly and lifted her breasts into Reese’s palms.

“Remember,” Reese murmured, “no sex.”

“God, you’re evil,” Tory muttered, even as she realized that she wouldn’t be able to follow through with the distant pulse of desire in her depths. The sensation of want was pleasant, nevertheless.

When Tory opened her eyes again, she realized that she had been asleep, cushioned within the curve of Reese’s body. Astonishingly the water was still warm.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“About twenty minutes,” Reese said quietly. She was resting with her back against the wall and her chin on the top of Tory’s head. “I’ve been turning the water on now and then to keep it warm. You didn’t even realize when I recycled it.”

“I can’t remember the last time I was this out of it,” Tory said with a sigh.

“Let’s go to bed now, love. I thought I’d lie down with you for a while,” Reese said, hoping that would entice Tory to stay home from the clinic.

“You know that’s an offer I can’t refuse, don’t you?”

Smiling to herself, Reese kissed the top of Tory’s head. “That’s what I was hoping.”

An hour later, Reese slipped from the bed, quietly dressed, and walked downstairs. Bri was sitting at the kitchen counter, drinking orange juice and eating a bowl of cereal.

Halfway around the counter toward the kitchen, Reese stopped, turned, and walked back to Bri’s side. “You’ve got a pretty big burn on the side of your neck.”

“I just realized it,” Bri replied. “I guess that happened when that drape caught on fire as we were going out the window.”

“You did a fine job back there.”

Tears stung Bri’s eyes as she murmured huskily, “Thanks. And thanks for coming after us. I’m not sure I could’ve gotten him out of there.”

“You could have,” Reese said with certainty. “As soon as you’re done eating, report to the clinic and have that looked at.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Reese watched Bri jump from the stool, grab her motorcycle jacket, and hurry out. Smiling, she shook her head and tried not to think about how close she had come to losing not one, but two, cadets earlier that day.

When Bri returned to the house an hour and a half later, she grabbed the portable phone from its cradle on the breakfast counter and took it with her into her small room. Holding her breath, she punched a number and waited. A minute later, the familiar voice answered. “Carre?”

“Bri?” Almost as if she could hear something in Bri’s voice, Caroline added anxiously, “What’s wrong?”

“I know you asked me not to call, but I…”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, not really. Just a little bit of a burn.”

Caroline took a deep breath. “There was a fire?”

“In Truro. A big one.” Bri hesitated, then said very softly, “I love you, babe. I miss you so much.”

“Something happened, didn’t it,” Caroline said, the concern still sharp in her tone. “Tell me what happened.”

“Nothing,” Bri said quickly. “It was crazy for a little while, and we almost got trapped in this burning room, but we went out the window…”

“And you got burned,” Caroline said in an unnaturally calm tone of voice. “Where?”

“Just the side of my neck and a little bit on my shoulder.”

“Has Tory looked at it?”

“She’s upstairs asleep. Her associate checked it. I’m okay.”

There were a few seconds of silence as they listened to one another breathe.

“If something happens to you, Bri, I’m not going to be able to stand it,” Caroline said softly. I still haven’t forgotten the first time you were hurt.

“Nothing is going to happen,” Bri said just as quietly. “It’s just…I thought about you when, for a minute there…” Bri took a long breath. “I just wanted you to know that you’re the only girl I’ve ever loved. And the only one I want.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise.” Bri closed her eyes. I promise never to hurt you again. I promise to love you forever. Please let me.

“I’ll see you soon, baby,” Caroline whispered.

“Okay.”

When the dial tone signaled that Carre was gone, Bri pushed the off button and curled onto her side with the phone still in her hand, falling asleep with the image of Carre in her mind.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

June, Provincetown, MA

“I can’t believe how much she’s moving,” Reese whispered to Tory. She was sitting at the head of the exam table, her cheek resting against the top of Tory’s head, and they were both watching the ultrasound image as Wendy Deutsch moved the probe over Tory’s abdomen. “Can you feel all that?”

“Mmm.” Reese’s arm rested around Tory’s body, just below her breasts, and Tory had laced the fingers of her left hand with those of Reese’s right. “Most of the time.”

“Fetal size and movement look excellent,” Wendy commented. “You’re both doing beautifully.”

Reese kissed the top of Tory’s head, her eyes still watching the image on the screen.

Wendy removed the probe and set it aside. “Come on back to my office when you’re ready.”

A few minutes later, Reese and Tory were once again seated in front of Wendy’s desk.

“Everything seems fine with the baby at this point,” Wendy reiterated. She held Tory’s gaze and said quietly, “We need to talk about your blood pressure.”

“I know.”

“The elevation is persistent and substantial, although still in a range that I would consider mild hypertension. We have to consider this preeclampsia.”

“Yes.” Tory’s voice was very calm.

Reese’s heart plummeted but she managed to sit absolutely still.

“Most experts agree that at your stage, the only management is expectant.” Wendy shrugged. “Salt restriction and plenty of rest can’t hurt. I don’t ordinarily treat my patients with anti-hypertensives because they haven’t been shown to be of any value in terms of the outcome.”

“I’ve read the same thing,” Tory said. In fact, she’d been searching the literature for the last few weeks, ever since she had first noticed the slow progression of her gestational hypertension. She probably knew as much as Wendy about preeclampsia at this point.