Touching Silver (10 page)

The others started to scramble, clearing Olivia’s path. The office door opened before she reached it, and Rico’s eyes widened when he saw her approaching.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

“Gabriel.”

“We need to get everybody out of here.”

Olivia shook her head. “He’s out there right now.” A gun shot echoed outside. The rifle again.
Isaac. Oh God.
“Does this place have a basement?”

Rico nodded. “We use it for storage now.”

She held up her badge. “Listen up, everybody. We all need to get down to the basement.” Nobody moved. “
Now
.”

More shots, though these were from the quick retort of a revolver. People started moving, pushing and jostling as they raced for the safety of the lower level. Olivia took up the rear, her attention jumping from person to person, back to the front door, then back to Rico and his pinched face.

Another rifle shot, loud enough to make the glass in the windows vibrate.

She wanted to go back outside and cover Isaac’s back. Back-up would be here any second, if they weren’t already, but the thought of him out there alone was killing her. It didn’t matter, though. Her number one priority was keeping Rico and the members of his church safe.

“What’s going on?” somebody screamed, once they were all secure in the basement.

Before she could answer, the front door slammed. “Stay here,” she ordered. “Nobody move until I come down and get you.”

Holding her gun ready, she crept back upstairs. The breath she had been holding escaped her lungs in a rush when she saw Isaac’s familiar dark hair.

“Is he here?” His long strides brought him to the basement in a matter of seconds, and he peered past her shoulder into the yawning darkness of the stairs. “There aren’t any casualties, are there?”

“Rico’s here,” she assured him. “Everybody is safe. What about you? Are you okay?”

“I’ll live. He got off a couple shots, but as soon as back-up showed, he took off. We need to get Rico into a safe house and the others out of here.”

“It’s all clear out here, McGuire!” a voice shouted from the street.

Isaac turned and shouted out thanks, but Olivia barely heard it. With his left side now facing her, she had a clear view of the torn fabric on his coat and the blood seeping out of his bicep to stain it.

She pushed him to the nearest chair, catching him off-guard. He sat down without resistance, though as soon as his ass hit the seat, he tried to stand again. She put a hand on his uninjured shoulder and forced him back down.

“You’re bleeding, Isaac. Take off your coat.”

“We don’t have time for this,” he complained, but he shrugged it off anyway.

Though he tried to hide it, he winced slightly as the fabric scraped over his arm. Blood oozed from a graze where a bullet had nearly gone through the muscle, and the skin was red and angry where it was peeling away.

“It’s just a scratch, Olivia. I’ve had worse.”

“No, we don’t have time for you to be hospitalized with a staph infection because of your male pride.” It was hard to keep her voice even, because her heart was hammering and her fingers were trembling. He’d gotten lucky.

Very, very lucky.

She looked around and spotted a pile of laundry nearby. Grabbing a towel from the top, she began carefully wiping the blood away from his arm. She wasn’t surprised when she exposed more scars.

When she risked a glance up at him through her lashes, Olivia caught something glinting in the dark depths of his eyes. It wasn’t anger, and it wasn’t pain, but it was solemn and hard-hitting enough to make her stomach lurch.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I should’ve anticipated Gabriel trying to take Butron out.”

“It’s not your fault. I didn’t anticipate it, either.” Her lips thinned. The laundry list of things they should’ve done differently was a mile long. Securing Rico and Stacy in a safe house would have been number one. She refocused on his arm. “At least there were no other casualties.”

“Not yet. We need to get Stacy moved. Now.”

She pressed a second towel against his arm. “Hold this until the bleeding stops. I was planning to move Stacy tomorrow, so I’ve already got a place set up for her. I’ll do that tonight, instead. You take care of Rico.”

Isaac folded his hand over hers on the terry, trapping her long enough to say, “Be careful.”

She nodded. “I’ll call you as soon as I have Stacy settled.” He released her, but she didn’t walk away immediately. “And Isaac, get somebody to look at that arm. Please.”

His eyes were inscrutable, but the corner of his mouth lifted. “Anything you say, Detective.”

She squeezed his hand, and then hurried out the door. A dozen cops already scanned the neighborhood for their sniper. The knowledge that he was long gone, that he’d nearly killed Isaac, that he had killed their only link to Gabriel, was enough to make her feel like she was walking in molasses.

But she wasn’t going to be discouraged. The thing about working cold cases…a cop learned about taking the bad with the good. Setbacks happened. She’d certainly dealt with worse. So had Isaac. Gabriel couldn’t stop both of them.

The sounds of Olivia bustling around in the kitchen should have been comforting—the water from the tap as she filled the coffee machine, the hiss when the water first hit the heated glass pot, the opening and closing of the refrigerator and cupboards as she threw together the sandwiches she insisted they have. The sounds reminded him of home or friends, and maybe any other time it would have worked.

Not tonight.

His arm ached, more from the shot the EMT had insisted he get than from the actual graze. His head pounded with the memory of chasing after Nando and failing, chasing after the sniper and failing, chasing again after the RX-7 and failing. His eyes burned from staring at the files of Gabriel’s men for hours after he’d returned to the station, trying to figure out which one of them could have been driving the car. He wanted to go to bed and sleep away the night’s defeats, but Isaac knew as soon as he closed his eyes all he would see would be Tomas Butron’s brains painting the parking lot.

Another lead gone. But their primary witness was still safe, and their best informant was hidden behind so many church officials God himself would have a hard time tracking him down. Too bad Gabriel had a better infrastructure than the Big Man upstairs.

Sitting on the floor in front of him, Tiberius thumped his tail against the hardwood floor, trying to get Isaac’s attention. Absently, he stretched and scratched the dog’s head, smiling a little when Tiberius pushed even closer.

“Could be worse, I guess. I could be stuck at my place all on my own.”

“Give Tiberius some of your sandwich and he’ll be your best friend for life.” Olivia came out of the kitchen carrying a tray. She had changed out of her work clothes and now wore a UCLA T-shirt and black sweats. She set the tray on the coffee table and gently kicked at Tiberius. He responded by lowering his stomach to the floor and stretching out. “Do you want some painkillers while I’m up?”

“Nah, the ones I took at the station are still going.” A lie, but it was better than watching Olivia wait on him. He knew it was ridiculous, but he felt responsible for losing their best leads to Gabriel. He didn’t want to add insult to injury by letting her play nursemaid when she’d already done so much. “Sit down. You haven’t relaxed since we left the station.”

Olivia sat beside him on the sofa, tucking one foot beneath her. “Usually food helps me relax, but…” She eyed the sandwiches on the tray. “I don’t really feel like eating. And I’m too tired to sleep.”

She’d just given voice to exactly what had been going through his head. Reaching down, Isaac grasped her free foot and lifted it onto his lap, forcing Olivia to shift her position slightly. “Now you know why I don’t sleep very much.” He massaged her arch. “And why I subscribe to the best cable package I can get. Otherwise, I’m stuck watching Nick at Nite or infomercials at two in the morning.”

Olivia sighed as he pushed his thumb firmly against her foot. “You’re almost as good at that as you are at kissing. I don’t have cable, but I have more DVDs than any person really ought to.”

“Did you want to watch something?”

“No. I think you’re more interesting.”

Her words made his fingers pause. “I’m not sure I’m going to be very good company tonight.”

“I still think you’re more interesting. But I can put something mindless on if you’d like.”

She regarded him without guile. Isaac resumed his massage, keeping her leg firmly on his lap. “Well, if we’re going for mindless, that might as well be me.”

She didn’t smile at his joke. “You’re not mindless. But you’re probably the sort that beats himself up every time a mistake is made, right?”

With a tired sigh, he dropped his gaze to her feet. She had pale pink polish on her toenails.
Pretty toes.
He almost said it out loud.

“I don’t like it when things get out of control. It always feels like I should have done something differently in order to keep it from spiraling like that.”

“Nobody here expects you to be perfect,” she murmured. “Or psychic. And nobody is going to blame you for what happened tonight.”

It didn’t matter if nobody else did. He was fully prepared to take all the blame for himself, regardless of what she said. She didn’t know the full story. She hadn’t been there when he’d watched Susanna slit his best friend’s throat. She didn’t know what it felt like to know you’d failed the one person you swore to protect with your life.

“Are you feeling better?” Her frown meant he had turned the conversation in a direction she hadn’t anticipated. “I haven’t heard you cough all day.”

“I’m fine. Nothing some hot tea and a good night’s sleep couldn’t take care of. But I appreciate that you cared enough to stick around. Even if you did steal a kiss.”

This was better. Easier. Thinking of kissing Olivia was infinitely more enjoyable than reflecting on how badly he’d fucked up.

His hand cupped her ankle, pulling her closer so that he could slide his other beneath the leg of her sweats. “It’s only stealing if I don’t give it back.” Gently, he worked the taut muscle of her calf, letting his fingertips occasionally tickle the back of her knee. “I have every intention of doing so.”

Olivia shifted, putting her other foot on his lap and reclining against the couch’s arm. Exhaustion marked her eyes and mouth, but it couldn’t mask her smile or the light in her eyes. “I hope you don’t have every intention of giving it back tonight. I think I might be too tired to accept it.”

“So, too tired to sleep, too tired to do…” his lips twitched, “…other stuff. What are you not too tired to do?”

“Apparently I’m not too tired to lay here and let you rub my feet.” She snorted. “If you told me five nights ago that I would let you touch me, much less invite you into my house, I would have hurt myself laughing.”

“Aw, I wasn’t that bad.”

“Yes. You were. Your former partner makes a much better first impression.” She ran her foot along his thigh, her toe brushing against his cock. “I’m glad you make a better third and fourth.”

Even that slight contact spread heat through his groin and down his legs. “You weren’t so keen on Nathan when you saw him and Remy joined at the lips. What made you change your mind about him?”

“The way he treated Stacy. He was willing to bring up memories that were obviously painful to him so she would come out of her shell. It takes courage to do something like that…and compassion. I was impressed.”

Isaac swallowed. He had suspected Nathan used that tactic to reach Stacy. It would’ve hurt, though maybe not as much as it would have a year before. Before Remy. He’d told the story to her, too, talking about it for the first time since everything had happened. Nathan’s surprising revelation had been Isaac’s first clue Remy meant something more to Nathan than just a casual fling. Susanna was a door into everything dark about either of them.

“So you know about Susanna, then. More than what I told you?”

Olivia never took her eyes from his face, watching intently as she answered. “I know she was somebody he loved and I know what she did to him. I also know it took him a long time to recover, physically and emotionally. But I have a feeling Nathan left a lot out. He only mentioned the bits Stacy might find useful.”

He hadn’t talked about any of this at all since it had happened, not even with Nathan. There were the occasional comments and the admission of its place in their lives, but beyond that, dissecting everything that had gone wrong felt like a waste of time. It wouldn’t change anything. It certainly wouldn’t give Nathan back what Susanna had stolen.

For some reason, though, he had no qualms talking about this with Olivia. “Did he mention it’s my fault she slit his throat?”

She frowned and sat up, pulling her feet away. She rested her cheek against his shoulder, her arm sneaking around his. Though his arm touched her breast, and her hair was close enough to smell, and if he wanted to kiss her again, he could, the position didn’t seem sexual—not completely.

“No, he didn’t say anything like that. In fact, I think he told her he wouldn’t have survived the trauma if it wasn’t for you.”

He yielded to the urge to rest his cheek on the top of her head, letting his eyes shut. “He closed off afterward. It wasn’t just the actual not being able to talk. He disappeared into himself. When he got out of the hospital, I made him come stay with me because it was the only way to hold onto him enough so that he didn’t disappear completely.” He sighed, and her hair tickled his nose. “He loved her. More than I’d ever seen him love anybody. More than I thought it was possible to love someone.”

“I don’t understand why it’s your fault she betrayed him.”

“Because I should’ve seen it coming.” He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. Keeping them closed called forth ghosts of willowy blondes and long knives that made him yearn for something hard to drown himself in. “I should’ve seen something was up. But I didn’t. Because she only had to look at me and I’d go all dumb. I fell for her act, too, you know. And I’ve hated that I let her get to me so badly that it almost cost me something I can never replace.”

“How long do you plan to punish yourself for that mistake?”

“What makes you think I’m punishing myself?”

“How many partners have you had since Nathan retired? How many girlfriends? How many times have you finished a meal, or taken a night off, or done something fun? You’ve exiled yourself, Isaac, and tried to fill the void with work.”

Each word stabbed a little deeper, but only because they were honed in truth. There had been occasions in the past six months—ever since Remy had come into Nathan’s life and given him hope again—when Nathan had hinted at the same thing.

You’re only alone because you choose to be. It’s time to move on.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” he said in a last ditch attempt to make it sound not quite so bad. “I get credit for that, don’t I?”

“You might get credit for good taste. But only if it’s a sign you’re going to stop punishing yourself.”

Gently, Isaac pushed her away, forcing Olivia to sit up and turn around to face him. He searched her face for a sign of…anything, really. Something that would make all of this make sense. “Why? Why do you care?”

“I care because I care about you. I like you, Isaac. More than I’ve liked anybody in a long time. But I’m not even going to think about going down that road for somebody who isn’t interested or available.”

That was the Olivia he was coming to know, the one he was coming to care for. He slid his hands down her arms, stopping when he reached her bare skin. His slow caresses brought goose bumps visibly to her flesh. “You’re the first woman in years who’s made me think twice. Last night when I found you…I was already thinking of you as something more. Realizing how much it was going to hurt if something happened to you just cemented it.”

A smile tugged on her lips. “Does this mean you’re going to get all caveman on me any time I’m in danger?”

He smiled back. “Or I could get all caveman on you when you’re not in danger. That might be more fun.”

“As long as you don’t drag me anywhere by my hair.” She cupped the back of his neck, her fingertips stroking his skin, and drew him closer. “I think you owe me a kiss.”

Isaac slid his hands beneath her ass in order to pull her onto his lap. “What happened to being too tired?” Their mouths were just a fraction of an inch apart, and the scent of her skin mingling with her perfume filled his nose. “God, you smell good.”

“I guess I’ve caught my second wind.” She opened to him almost immediately, allowing him to trace her lips with the tip of his tongue before pushing deeper into her mouth. She moaned as their tongues touched, pressing her body closer to his.

His muscles were still languid, exhaustion and frustration and blame weighing him down, but Olivia’s added heat and his growing desire gave him energy to respond with more than a kiss. Tightening his fingers into the soft flesh of her bottom, Isaac urged her legs to straddle his hips, the warmth that had settled in his groin during her massage washing through him. How he’d gone the entire day without kissing her again, he had no idea.

Olivia fit against his body perfectly, not hesitant or self-conscious, unbelievably soft—her lips on his, her breath on his skin, the tips of her hair brushing against his hand. She eased back enough to fit her hands between their bodies, her fingers toying with the buttons of his shirt. She freed the top two, exposing the column of his throat to her lips.

His head tipped back, his breathing shallow as the tip of her tongue traced along his neck. Nothing had felt this good in a very,
very
long time. “Olivia…” he murmured, but she didn’t stop, simply continuing the slow exploration of his skin. He swallowed hard, trying to remember what he wanted to ask her. She had a way of making the rest of the world disappear.

He barely felt her teeth—she seemed intent on simply tasting him, fluttering over the hollow of his throat, the tip of his ear, the ridge of his jaw. She followed her tongue with her lips, occasionally pursing them to blow warm air across his damp skin. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and chills rolled down his back each time.

“I’ve been thinking about this,” she admitted without lifting her head. “Wondering what it would be like to kiss you like this.”

Sliding his hand up her back, feeling every ridge of her spine, the way she undulated against him, Isaac tangled his fingers in her hair as soon as he reached it. “Are you really going to make me sleep on the couch again? Because all I’ve been thinking about is what it would feel like to wake up in bed, curled up around you.”

Olivia leaned back so she could meet his eyes. “Is that all you want to do in my bed tonight?”

Frankly, he was so tired it hadn’t occurred to him to expect anything else. “Our first time should be when we’re both awake enough to appreciate it.” He grinned. “I’d like to think when you pass out afterward that it’s because of how good it was, not because you’re exhausted.”

She returned his grin. “You make a good point, Detective.” She disentangled herself from him and held out her hand. “Come on. Let’s try to get some sleep.”