SWAT Team One and the Social Worker (10 page)

looked at him in challenge.

“I’ve known Sam for about a year. She recently helped me out in

a case I had. Some lowlife beat his wife to near death then went after the kids. She helped get them to a safe house, had even spent the

weekends babysitting the little ones, so the mom could work. Sam

found her a job, gave her money. She’s a gem.”

Adam held his gaze.

“Detective Parker, your partner needs a hand in here.” The nurse

called him, and Jerry gave her a wave then turned to Adam.

“Listen, I mean no disrespect, man. Shit, I know your team’s

reputation and all, so I’ll just spit it out. I care for Sam a lot. I’ve always stood up for her when some bonehead tried to harass her or

make her feel uncomfortable. Although that woman can sure handle

things herself. Anyway, just don’t fuck with her head. She’s a good

woman, and my wife would kill me if she knew I met you and didn’t

give you a warning.”

Before Adam could respond, Jerry headed into the office.

* * * *

Adam thought about what Jerry had said as well as his assumption

that Adam and Sam were a couple. The thought affected him. So

much that he felt a little weird, or as if it made him weak because he was connected to Sam in such a way. That was strange for him. Adam

had been a soldier in the war just like his brothers. They all dealt with heavy shit, and just because they were wolves didn’t mean that death

and violence didn’t affect them. They sought out the help and support

of each other and the gods to get them through things. Now, when he

had bad thoughts or felt stressed and angry, he sought out Sam. He

cherished the times they shared a beer after work at one of the cop

bars downtown or when they went jogging together. Now he knew

what she was up to those weekends when she disappeared on a Friday

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after work. She was always helping people out. It was part of who she

was, and as much as it scared him, he had to accept it. His brothers were a different story, especially Dustin and Kyle. Even Donny was

going to be hard to deal with. He chuckled to himself as he thought

about the way the guys in the office looked at Sam when she came in.

If Dustin, Kyle, or Donny were here, they would have made a scene.

Trey and himself were the calmest, and their personalities helped to

calm their brothers’ intensity. Well, maybe Donny did calm better

than him when it came to intense situations. Adam liked to think of

himself as in control of his emotions, but lately he felt on edge and fearful. It was Sam. He worried about her constantly.

Adam’s phone beeped, and he glanced down at the caller ID.

“Shit!” They were called into work. It was the one major negative

in being in SWAT. When duty called, they had to drop everything and

leave. He thought about Sam and how she would get back home.

Maybe this would only take a few hours. Lots of times the calls didn’t turn into much. Immediately his phone rang. It was Dustin.

“Yeah?”

“Bring Sam with you.”

“What?”

“She can’t be left alone, and we need to move. There’s a hostage

situation three blocks from where you are.”

“She’s in with the doctor. But I just met a friend of hers. Maybe

he can bring her to the forty-sixth, and she can hang there and wait for us.”

“What friend?”

Adam heard his brother’s jealous tone. Shit, he could practically

feel it through their link. He couldn’t waste any more time talking on the phone. So he did it telepathically as he explained who Jerry was

and while he talked to the nurse.

She let him in the room where Sam was.

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73

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but the team’s been called in, Sam. Your

friend Jerry can give you a ride to the precinct. One of us will pick

you up there.”

“Oh…okay, no problem.”

He walked closer to her and eyed the doctor. “You take good care

of her. She’s special,” he stated then kissed Sam on the cheek.

He winked and then left the room. On his way out he saw Jerry

and asked him to give Sam a ride. He accepted, and Adam hurried out

of the building and three blocks over.

* * * *

Sam felt bad that Jerry had waited for her. He actually called

another officer to pick up his partner and bring him home. The doctor

had wanted to do X-rays to ensure that there wasn’t further damage to

her cheekbone. She tried to refuse, but he told her he wasn’t taking any chances, especially after getting a glimpse of her boyfriend. She of course chuckled. Adam would have gotten a kick out of that. She

felt weird not correcting the doctor and telling him that, in fact, Adam was just a good friend, but something stopped her.

She would never admit it to Adam or the others, but she pretended

for that short period of time in the office that Adam was her

boyfriend. The man was easy to read despite his attempt at putting up

a front. She could see his compassion in his dark brown eyes. He

thought he was calm and able to hide his emotions, but he was quite

the opposite. He was antsy, constantly having to keep busy, and he

was somewhat of a control freak.

She smirked to herself. When she had first met the men, it was

difficult to decipher who was who. Then she watched them every

opportunity she had and learned their differences and their

personalities. Donny and Kyle had to be difficult at times. Even their green eyes were not as emerald green as Dustin’s. Trey, with his

adorable dimples, was the clown of the bunch. He drew a crowd

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wherever he was hanging out. She had witnessed his humor and

ability to gain attention in an instant. His good looks just added to his appeal.

A few months ago when they were hanging out at Riley’s Pub and

Bar downtown, he caused quite a ruckus. Sam remembered the crowd

of women hanging all over him as he told some crazy story. She had

been jealous as all hell watching the women rub their bodies against

his muscles and touch him with their fake nails. It had become so

nauseating that she was about to leave when some guys came over to

her from the antidrug task force and began hitting on her. One of the

guys apparently had dated the one woman who was all over Trey.

They were very attractive as well but pompous. They began bragging

about their drug busts and staring danger in the eye. She knew they

were trying to impress her. But when they began playing with her

hair, she lost her patience. She had told them to stop it and to go

away. She insisted that she wasn’t interested. Just as one of the guys was about to get rough, Trey walked over, pulled her up and into his

arms, before shoving her behind him. She protested, of course. She

thought she could handle the situation, but then one look at the other guys and she noticed their eyes changed. That’s when she realized

that they were wolves and apparently not friends of Trey and his

brothers. In a flash, the others had these wolves surrounded.

Thankfully, Dustin appeared and calmed the situation down. One look

from him to the other wolves and they were retreating. Of course, she

decided it was time to go home, and the brothers insisted upon leaving with her.

She looked over their shoulder and saw the many women waiting

for the brothers’ return.

“Go on and stay. I’ll be fine,” she told them.

“No. We should follow you home,” Donny insisted.

“I’ll be fine, guys. You know that. Plus, those women were all

over you. Don’t let me stand in the way of you having a good time.

I’ll see you on Monday.”

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She recalled their facial expressions as she basically told them to

go have sex with the other women. The words had eaten at her heart,

but she had to resist. She could never have any of them, and she could never choose one over the others.

She went home, and as she drove she noticed the SUV following

many cars behind her. They didn’t stay after all but instead followed

her home.

* * * *

It was nearly four thirty in the afternoon by the time she arrived at

the precinct and to her department on the third floor where she took

the anti-inflammatory pills the doctor gave her. She applied the warm

washcloth to ease the pain and the swelling from the small infection as he recommended. In between she chatted with some of the officers

and other social workers who came in and out of the office. The

doctor also gave her medicated eyedrops and something to help her

sleep. He told her that she appeared to have a high tolerance for pain.

Maybe that’s why she had such bad luck.

She peeked at her phone a dozen times, wondering when one of

the guys would call her. She heard through the commander that they

were deeply involved in a hostage situation, and the gunman shot two

security guards and had over twenty people inside the building.

Something like this could take all night, and she debated about

heading home. She could take mass transit then connect with a

commuter bus and finally a taxi home, or she could catch a ride with

one of the other cops who lived in the suburbs. She thought about

who was working and cringed at some of the prospects. Just then her

cell phone buzzed. It was Adam.

We’re going to be a while. Hang tight. We’ll call again, and if we
need to, we’ll get you a ride home. Adam

Great. Now she was stuck in the city for a while longer. She still

hadn’t heard back from her friend who ran the safe house. But she did

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get the opportunity to talk with Sienna and her mom. They were

holding up, but they were scared. As soon as Sam’s friend called, she

would have the guys bring her by the apartment to see Sienna and her

family.

She decided to go outside and walk around the block a bit. Get

some fresh air and see what was happening around the corner at the

small deli. The owners made wicked delicious sandwiches. Maybe

she’d grab a coffee and something to snack on. As she headed outside

through the back parking lot, she saw two cops she knew, Eric and

Dave.

“Hey, where you off to?”

“Hi, Sam! How are you? Man, that’s some nasty bruise you got,”

Dave stated.

“Yeah, but I heard the bad guy looks worse. You went to town on

him, huh?” Eric added with a smile and a wink. They were both really

nice guys and good cops.

“Yeah, well, I wish I had seen it coming and ducked.”

They laughed then opened the car door to the cruiser.

“What are you doing around here on a Saturday?” Dave asked.

“I was seeing the doctor, caught a ride with Adam and his

brothers, and they got called in for a job.”

“Oh, shit, that’s the hostage situation we just heard about.”

“Yeah, well, I’m stuck around here until Adam shows up. I was

just going to go grab a cup of coffee.”

“Why don’t you come along with us? We’ll grab coffee on the

way.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure. It’s not like you don’t know the routine. If something goes

down, just stay in the car. It’s been pretty quiet all day today. I think since the heat wave is over and it’s cooling down, the people are

calmer,” David added, and they all got into the patrol car.

* * * *

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77

Thirty minutes later and they were talking about football and the

fact that David knew someone with season tickets.

“Hey, Sam, I’ll take you with me the next time I have an extra

ticket. Usually I take Eric because my girlfriend hates football.”

“Sounds great,” she replied then instantly thought about the men.

They wouldn’t approve of her going to a football game with David.

Why it even mattered what the men thought was strange to her. She

always just did what she wanted to do, but for some odd reason, their

opinion, their approval mattered to her. She didn’t feel this way

before having sex with Dustin.

Instantly, the radio blurted out a report from dispatch. There had

been shots fired and an officer down.

“Shit! That’s the exact location where you and that family were

held hostage, Sam. That’s a really bad neighborhood,” David replied

as he pulled a quick U-turn and headed downtown.

“Oh, my God, what happened? What’s the address?” Sam asked

as she held on while David weaved through traffic.

When Eric asked the address again, her heart nearly pounded from

her chest. That was Brandy and the kids’ apartment.

Suddenly, three separate texts went through her phone. As David

drove, she read the texts.

They were from Adam, Dustin, and the commander. They were

informing her that they wrapped things up and were on their way back

to the department to get her. The commander was making her aware

of a situation with Brandy. He was trying to locate Sam.

She responded back with a mass text message explaining that she

was with David and Eric and they were on their way to the scene at

Brandy’s apartment.

Just as they pulled up the side street, they saw the chaos. Sam’s