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.”