Mission Undercover

She gasped. Corrupt cops? How did he know? Jimmy had suspected as much before he died. In fact, he’d been looking into acts of corruption by his partner, according to the journal she’d discovered. Mason had seemed to have no fear of reprimand in his behavior tonight. But was the entire department really so corrupt that they could ignore attempted murder?

“So if we’re not going to the police, where are we going?”

“We need to get out of town fast, out of their jurisdiction.”

Getting to the next town was a sensible idea. They could sort this all out once they were there. She noticed the spot on his shirt growing larger. “You’ll never make it. You’re bleeding too badly. My friend Marcy’s apartment is a few blocks over. I know where she hides the emergency key. We should go there first so I can take a look at your wound.”

He shook his head. “That’s not a good idea.”

“You’re going to bleed out before we hit the town line and it’s at least five miles before we’ll find a place to get supplies. Marcy’s a nurse, too. She’ll have bandages there.”

“I don’t want to put anyone else in danger.”

She shook her head. “Neither Marcy or her roommate are at home now. They both went on duty as I was getting off.”

He grimaced at the pain then nodded his agreement. “We can’t stay long.”

She directed him to the apartment and he parked behind the building. “In case he drives by,” he explained.

When they got out, Holly noticed him holding his hand over his wound. He looked pale and she wondered if he could even make it up the stairs. “It’s on the second floor. I’ll help you up.”

He waved away her offer of assistance. “I’ll make it.” He leaned on the handrail and followed her up the steps.

Looking at the blood on his shirt and hands, she didn’t know how he was standing and suspected his wound was more than a graze. She hoped he didn’t have a bullet lodged in his abdomen or damage to his internal organs. She wouldn’t know until she could examine the wound.

Holly found the emergency key under a planter and used it to unlock the door. She ushered Blake inside. “Have a seat on the couch. I’ll go get the first-aid kit.”

“Is there a phone here?”

She shook her head. “No landline. Marcy and her roommate use their cell phones.”

She hurried down the hall to the bathroom and grabbed the kit and a stack of towels, stopping to catch her breath before returning to the living room. This was all happening so fast and now her protector, the man who’d saved her, might be seriously injured. She had to help him.

He was stretched out on the couch when she returned, his long legs hanging over one end and his gun now on the table inches from his hand. She was struck by his long, muscular frame and a pang of envy rushed through her as she remembered the ring inside his wallet.

He reached out and touched her arm, a soft, gentle touch that sent a spark of electricity through her. “Are you okay?”

She smiled, realizing he was the one hurt and yet was concerned about her. What would it be like to have a brave, handsome man like Blake in her life? She knew the answer to that. She’d had one...and she’d lost him in the line of duty. She’d hardly given romance a second thought since Jimmy’s death. But now, as she realized how close she’d come to her life ending, she acknowledged the deep longing ache in her heart for someone to share her life with. Her husband’s death had ended her dream, but she was still young and many of her friends had pressed her to start dating again.

“I’m fine,” she said, determined not to let her vulnerability show and convinced the trauma of the past hour was causing her emotions to go wacky.

She knelt beside him and shifted into nurse mode. She lifted his shirt, wiping away blood so she could see the wound. Thankfully, he’d been right. The gash wasn’t big enough for the bullet to have gone in. “It must have grazed you. It’s not even that deep.”

“Why is it bleeding so much?”

“Because you’re moving around and because of where the wound is. You could probably use some stitches, but we’ll have to make do.” She cleaned him off then taped a bandage over it. “You’re fortunate it was only a flesh wound. It could have been much worse.”

“I know. He took me by surprise. He meant to kill me.” He sat up and stared at her, his blue eyes piercing as he looked her in the eye. “He meant to kill us both.”

She nodded, realizing he was right. Mason wanted her dead. The thought shook her. She was used to seeing the effects of violence in her job as an ER nurse, but this was different. This was personal. “You still haven’t told me why he wants you dead.”

She picked up discarded bandage wrappers as he pulled down his shirt and sat up. “He found out I’ve been investigating him. There’s a major drug operation happening in Northshore. I believe Mason and several other officers are involved in it. Mason said someone high up was involved.”

“How high up?”

“High enough to pay off the coroner so he’d classify our deaths as a murder/suicide after Mason killed us.”

She gasped, stunned by his bravado. “He really said that?”

He nodded then stood and walked to the window, glancing out. “The thing is, I don’t know who to trust on the force. Everyone is suspect.”

“Do you really believe there’s that much corruption?”

“It’s a small-town force. Most of these boys grew up here and have known one another since birth. They’re wary of outsiders. There are only a handful from out of town and that was only after Mayor Banks ran on the platform of improving police procedures. She wanted college graduates with more criminal justice education and insisted the city offer them leadership positions. Only two of us are still around. The others got fed up with small-town politics and left.”

She nodded, remembering the mayor’s platform. Jimmy had been taking night classes to finish his degree and he’d hoped to nab one of those supervisory spots. But he’d been killed before finishing. And she wasn’t surprised so many had gotten fed up and left. “Why would so many accept a job in Northshore?”

He turned to look at her and she thought she saw pain flash through his eyes. “Some like the idea of joining the force with some influence. Some who’ve worked in the big city are looking for the slower-paced life. Others just needed a change.”

His expression told her instinctively he’d been one of the ones who’d needed a change. Something had happened to him, something that had wounded him deeply. Did it have something to do with that ring he carried around?

Blake’s investigation into corruption among his fellow officers showed he had integrity. She respected that he’d made a vow to this town and this police force to clean it up and he was following through.

“I need to change my clothes,” she said, getting up and walking down the hallway toward the bedroom. She shut the door and leaned against it, closing her eyes and wishing this all away. She discarded her scrubs and slipped into a pair of Marcy’s jeans and a blouse she borrowed from her closet. Thankfully, they wore the same size. She moved to the bathroom and leaned into the sink as anger pulsed through her.

Only a few days after the funeral, Mason and a few other officers had come to their house and toted away boxes of information they’d claimed were part of an investigation. She hadn’t realized it at the time, but now she knew that Mason had been at the center of Jimmy’s investigation. And she’d let him walk out with her husband’s work. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was now trying to kill her. And she was trapped with a man she didn’t even know. He claimed to be one of the good guys and he seemed to have the same mission her husband had had—ferreting out corruption among the police—but she didn’t know Blake Michaels and had no idea if she could trust him or not.

“What should I do?” She whispered the question to Jimmy. When no apparent answer presented itself, she moved from the bathroom to the bedroom door and cracked it open. She could see Blake standing guard at the window.

Her instincts said she could trust Blake, and she had little choice right now. She would go with him and let the state police worry about who was corrupt and who wasn’t.

She walked into the living room and he turned from the window.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, his eyes sincere and full of concern.

“I’m fine. Everything is just happening so fast.”

“I know. It’s a lot to take in.”

She handed him a clean shirt. “I found this in Marcy’s closet. It’s probably her boyfriend’s shirt, but it should fit you and it’s clean. You can change in the bathroom.”

“Thank you.” He disappeared down the hall then returned a moment later having discarded the blood soaked shirt and buttoning up the one she’d given him.

She couldn’t help noticing the nice lines of his shoulders and felt herself blush. Yet before she could even chide herself for noticing, a noise outside stopped her. Blake hurried back to the window and his jaw clenched.

“It’s Mason.”

She ran to the window. “What? How did he know we were here?”