Part 3 (2/2)
We've both been on the high-and-dry list for a while.”
* 42 *
”Don't you ever think about anything but s.e.x?” Having known the feisty ER nurse for ve years, Keri already knew the answer was a resounding no.
”Why would I? Our jobs are all about life and death. Why waste time waiting for one when you can be enjoying the other?” Pat eyed Keri mischievously and smiled.
They'd met in the ER after a vehicle chase ended in an accident.
Pat was the trauma nurse who'd ashed a tiny penlight in Keri's eyes, asking, ”Can you see me now?” They'd based their subsequent friends.h.i.+p on laughter and complete honesty. Keri knew Pat would understand her feelings about Alex and give her the second opinion she needed. Maybe she was just paranoid where Lieutenant Troy was concerned.
”Mind if we skip the bar tonight? I'd like to run something by you.” Keri unlocked the Jeep and motioned for Pat to get in.
”This must be good if you're pa.s.sing up liquor, laughter, and lesbians. Unless of course this involves another lesbian.” Pat directed a sharp stare at her. ”Oh, my G.o.d, tell me already. The suspense is killing me.”
”Can you get your mind out of your pants for a second? It's not about a woman, it's about a frigging lieutenant who's trying to make my life total and complete h.e.l.l.”
”Just tell me who the b.a.s.t.a.r.d is. I'll have my cousin Frankie and his buddies stump-break his a.s.s.”
”It's not a guy.”
”Aha, so this is about a woman.”
Keri groaned. ”Pat, remember Lieutenant Troy, the one who conducted the use-of-force investigation I was involved in a few years back?”
The laugh lines around Pat's eyes vanished. ”Tough on you-and unfair?”
”You could say that.” Keri swallowed a knot of anger that threatened to choke her. ”She just came on one of my calls tonight and lit into me again. This time it was about of cer safety.”
”I thought you told me she was a.s.signed to Vice/Narcotics now.
What's she doing answering calls in the eld?”
”Recruiting for a Narcotics task force,” Keri answered offhandedly.
”It was a hostage call. I thought I did pretty d.a.m.n good, securing the * 43 *
victim and catching the suspect. She seemed okay with me, then the criticism started.” Keri paused, reevaluating something in her mind.
She could have sworn she saw genuine concern in Alex's eyes for a few seconds, but no way was she giving her the bene t of the doubt.
”Did you get a chance to talk about it at all?”
”Oh, no. She issues decrees from her high perch and rides off into the sunset unconcerned about their effects on her minions.”
Sliding her hand over Keri's on the console, Pat ventured into the hot zone. ”Is it at all possible that your past with this woman is casting everything in a bad light? You obviously still have very strong feelings about that. I'd hate to see that stuff interfere with your career forever.”
She gave Keri's hand a squeeze. ”And how anyone could accuse you of dishonesty, I have no idea, sweetie.”
Knowing Pat would see through anything but the truth, Keri acknowledged, ”I'm not sure what I think, or why, anymore. But I know one thing for sure. I could never work for her, no matter how much I want to be on that task force. I don't trust her.”
”I'm really sorry, Ker. I wish there was something I could do.
Just keep the faith. It'll work out.” Glancing at her watch, Pat opened the Jeep door. ”Wish I could stay and talk because I know you're too wired to sleep, but duty calls. We're meeting in the morning for our run, right?” When Keri nodded, Pat added, ”Get out and give me a hug.”
Keri exited the vehicle and joined Pat in a full-body hug. ”I love you, girl. And thanks for listening.”
Pat hugged Keri tightly. ”I love you, too. And remember another very important thing...never say never.”
At that moment Lieutenant Troy walked through the lot toward a red Corvette parked on the street. She paused, surveyed Keri and Pat with a lingering visual examination worthy of a couple of nudists.
Without a word, she continued to the curb and joined a woman Keri recognized as Sergeant Beth Price.
As the two of cers headed back into the station, Keri cringed. She could just imagine what Alex was thinking. Probably s.l.u.t. Or worse, Unprofessional.
v * 44 *
”So, did you see any good prospects for the task force tonight?”
Beth asked.
Alex bit back the reply that burned on her lips. Did Keri get off making out in public? Her embrace with the dark-haired woman was just another example of her immaturity. At least she wasn't in uniform. Alex decided her response to Keri's behavior was concern for the department's image. Had Keri been a male of cer groping his girlfriend, she'd have had exactly the same reaction.
”That Morgan girl we just saw in the parking lot was impressive on a hostage call, although that display just now wasn't exactly what I'd call appropriate behavior outside the police station.”
”From what I hear, she's a d.a.m.n good of cer.” Beth hesitated.
Alex knew her friend well enough to know there was more to the story. ”But?”
”Nothing about the job. She has a few family issues, like we all do. But you would, too, if your old man throttled you every time you tried to take a liberated breath.”
Alex's body stiffened as though she'd been sted in the gut. How could a parent strike their own child? For that matter, how could anyone hit a person he or she supposedly loved? Her mind ashed to Helen and she forced the memories away immediately, resenting their power to surface.
”How do you know about her father?”
”I overheard one of the guys on her squad talking about it. Keri speaks her mind, and that didn't set well with her father. Her twin brother was apparently the chosen one, always pampered and protected.
He didn't have Keri's adventurous streak.”
Alex tried to make sense of this latest news in the context of what she thought she knew about Keri Morgan. ”But doesn't she still live with her parents?”
”Yeah, she moved back to help out when her mother developed Alzheimer's. Her dad's supposedly mellowed a lot with age, and stopped drinking. He's in poor health now, too. Heart, I believe.”
”I can see why she's always joking around. I had no idea. But how can you live with someone abusive?”
Beth cleared her throat. They both knew the answer to that question and didn't need to revisit it now. ”I think she'd be worth a look for the * 45 *
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