“Thanks.”

Allie walked Bri to the side door, waved good-bye, and headed back into the bullpen.

“Well, fuck me,” she muttered to herself. Ash Walker was sitting at her desk.

v

Ash stood up quickly as Allie, doing a pretty decent impression of a thundercloud, stomped toward her. Allie obviously wasn’t looking forward to seeing her, not that she expected anything different.

“I just stopped by to go through those files,” Ash said.

• 90 •

RetuRning tides

Allie pointed to a stack on the corner of her desk. “Those are all open—mostly alleged vandalism, breakins, or arsons. We still have to sort out what’s storm damage and what isn’t. The ones with the red stickers have not yet been cleared to enter by the fire marshal. Those you can’t investigate yet.”

“I am certified for fire investigation, Allie,” Ash said quietly.

“Oh, I know your qualifications. You were evaluating a fire claim the first time you blew in.”

“If you’ve got a spare desk somewhere, I’ll go through these files and cross-reference them with my list.” Ash was too tired and too queasy for a fight. She’d only been partially right the night before. When she got home, she’d stripped and immediately climbed into the shower to wash away the sex sweat and try to clear some of the alcohol from her brain. With the hot water beating down on her neck and shoulders, she’d closed her eyes and tried to blank her mind. No luck. All she’d been able to see was Allie—not Allie in a bar with a stranger’s hands all over her, but Allie lying under her, teasing her with light kisses and taunting her with whispered dares. I dare you not to come while you’re fucking me. I dare you not to come when I go down on you. I dare you not to come when I fuck you. I dare you, baby. I dare you.

The pressure in her pelvis got so bad she’d tried to get off, picturing Allie’s teasing smile, hearing Allie dare her not to come in her mouth while she sucked her. She wanted to come, but she couldn’t.

She got close a couple times, so close she kept trying, but she couldn’t hold on to the feel of Allie’s lips long enough to push herself over. She worked at it until the water ran cold and her legs wouldn’t hold her up anymore, and then she stumbled into the kitchen, found the bottle of Johnny Walker, and took a slug. Thirty minutes later she was still awake, tossing and turning and working up another kind of sweat.

Fatigue and frustration and futility. She drank a bit more and finally her body just quit on her, and she slept. When she woke a few hours later, she felt like crap. Another shower, a cold one this time, cleared her head some but didn’t do much for her stomach.

Allie cocked her hip and folded her arms beneath her breasts. “You look like total shit, Walker. And you’ve got fucking teeth marks all over your neck. Did you even get to sleep or did you come here straight from spending the whole night fucking that blonde with the big tits?”

“Don’t, Allie,” Ash whispered.

• 91 •

RAdCLY fFe

“You know what? You’re right. It doesn’t matter at all,” Allie said coldly. “Give me your list. I’ll do the cross checks. You’re not fit to work. Go home and get some sleep.”

Ash stiffened. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll come by and pick you up at noon.” Allie held out her hand.

“Give me your goddamned list.”

Ash would have argued, but Reese stood in the doorway of her office watching them. If she put up a fight, Allie would get caught in the middle and she didn’t want that. She opened her briefcase, found the folder with the local cases, and handed it to Allie. The papers shook in her trembling hand. “I’d like to start in the West End where the damage is the worst. It will help me set up an assessment scale for the area.”

“Fine. I’ll see you at noon.”

“Okay.” Ash turned, nodded to Reese, and quickly left.

Allie watched her go, thinking now she knew where Ash had been the night before. She’d gotten it on with the blonde she was pawing on the dance floor at the Pied. From the looks of her neck, they’d been going at it hard. While she hadn’t even been able to let a sweet, hot, sexy woman make love to her, Ash had spent the night fucking her brains out. Nice.

And stupid for you to care, she muttered . Really stupid, Allie.

v

“Nita,” Tory said when Nita came out of one of the examining rooms. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Nita finished making a note in the chart and left it in the file holder next to the door. “Sure.”

Tory led the way back to her office and closed the door behind them. She gestured to one of the chairs in front of her desk and took the other one. Facing Nita, she said, “Reese is on her way over. I’d like you to examine her for me.”

“Of course. What’s the problem?”

“That’s just the thing. I’m not sure there’s anything wrong.”

Tory told Nita about Reese’s episode the night before. “She looked disoriented. Her eyes were unfocused. She said she had trouble seeing.

It was all very quick. Anyone else might not even have noticed.” Tory

• 92 •

RetuRning tides

sighed. “The thing that bothers me is that it’s happened more than once.”

“What exactly were the extent of her combat injuries?” Nita asked quietly.

“She was in a firefight. Their convoy was hit in the middle of the night with rocket fire. Several of the trucks exploded. She doesn’t remember all of the details, but she had a forehead laceration from being struck with a rifle butt. Shrapnel in her leg. Her clavicle was broken. Burns to her…” Tory stopped, her throat closing.

“I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me.”

Tory shook her head. “No. It’s necessary. I keep thinking I’m past it. She’s home. She’s fine. But when I think of what happened, how close she came to not coming home…” Tory smiled unsteadily.

“I’m just thankful she’s not going to be deployed ever again. Because honestly, I don’t think I could stand it.”

Nita squeezed Tory’s hand. “You could stand whatever you had to stand. But I’m glad she’s home for good too.”

“What else…” Tory forced her mind into doctor mode. “She was captured, beaten. She can’t remember if she was unconscious or for how long, but I’m certain that she had some head trauma.”

“And how has she been since she’s been home?”

“About how you would expect. From all the reports I’ve seen, more than two-thirds of returning troops have signs of PTSD, even the ones who weren’t injured in combat. She’s had trouble sleeping, nightmares, hypervigilance—some hyperreactivity.”

“Depression?”

“No. Reese is a Marine. She’s incredibly strong, psychologically.

She’s trained for what she went through. It’s the things that she can’t control that have been the biggest problem.”

“Aggression?” Nita asked gently.

“No,” Tory said, her gaze steady on Nita’s. “Never.”

“Okay,” Nita said briskly. “Let me know as soon as she gets here.

Do you want to observe?”

Tory laughed. “Of course I do. But I think it will be better if I don’t. Reese might be more comfortable. She might tell you something that she doesn’t want me to know. And I never think it’s a good idea for us to treat family.”

• 93 •

RAdCLY fFe

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t mind telling you, I’m scared.” Tory hesitated. “There’s something else too. I told her this morning, right before she had this episode, that I wanted to have another baby.”

Nita’s eyebrows rose, then she smiled broadly. “Really! That’s terrific.”

“My timing was probably terrible, but…” Tory grinned ruefully.

“I’m almost forty-one years old. I don’t have any more time. I’d like Regina to have a sibling by the time she’s two.”

“What did Reese say?”

“Nothing. When I told her I had something I wanted to talk to her about she jumped to the conclusion that something was wrong, and then she had the reaction.”

“Immediately? So you think it was triggered by stress? Fear?”

“Maybe. An adrenaline surge could have produced those symptoms.” Tory stood and started to pace. “God, I hadn’t thought about that. Nita! What if it’s endocrine? An adrenal tumor or…”

“Whoa. Whoa. Remember, you’re not Dr. King right now. You’re Tory, Reese’s partner. And my advice to you is to wait and not play what-if. Okay? Is that a deal?”

“Yes. Yes. Deal.” Tory slumped into the chair. “Lord, I’m a mess.”

Nita smiled fondly. “You love her. That’s messy sometimes, but wonderful.”

The phone rang on Tory’s desk, and she leaned over to answer it.

“Yes?”

“Reese is here to see you,” Randy said. “I already told her you’re double booked the entire day.”

“It’s okay, Randy, send her back. And would you bring Reese’s chart to Nita.”

“Certainly,” Randy said immediately, his voice sobering. “Right away.”

Nita rose and brushed Tory’s shoulder with her fingertips. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.”

“Thanks.” Tory schooled her features to hide her anxiety. She didn’t want Reese to know how frightened she was. Rationally she knew her worst fears were probably unfounded, but that didn’t help calm her frayed nerves. Reese was everything to her. Everything.

• 94 •

RetuRning tides

chapteR ten

Allie parked the patrol car halfway up on the sidewalk in front of the Crown, got out, and followed the winding flagstone path, flanked with the last valiant flowers of the season, through the side gate to Ash’s suite. The blinds were drawn and the room was silent.

She tapped on the door.

“Walker,” she said, “it’s me.” She waited a minute and knocked again. She didn’t try the knob. She didn’t want a repeat of yesterday’s unexpected view of Ash naked. Especially not after knowing what Ash had been doing all night. The last thing she wanted to feel was even a reflex attraction to her. She was about to walk away when the door opened. Ash didn’t look much better than she had earlier. Her white shirt was rumpled and her eyes red rimmed. Allie’s stomach twisted with an unexpected surge of concern and, whipping her gaze to a point past Ash’s shoulder, she said, “You ready?”