Shield of Justice Read Free Page B

haven’t had a chance to talk with her yet.” Rebecca didn’t add that she hadn’t had the heart to question the young woman who had arrived to see Janet Ryan. She had been clearly distraught and probably didn’t know anything anyway. There’d be time enough to talk to her once she’d had a chance to see her girlfriend.
    Jeff looked at his watch again and groaned. “Shit. Shelley’s gonna have my balls if I don’t get home before dawn again tonight.”
    They’d officially been off duty six hours ago, even though neither of them watched the clock when they were working a fresh scene. Still, he knew if he waited for his partner to call it a night, he’d never get to bed. She didn’t seem to notice how late they worked, and she never seemed to have anywhere else to be except at work. If he kept her kind of hours, his wife
would
kick his ass.
    Rebecca stretched, trying to ignore how tired she was. “Why don’t you go ahead? I want to see what the shrink gets, but there’s no sense in us both sitting around. You can write up what we’ve got so far in the morning…deal?”
    Jeff grinned happily, all vestiges of fatigue gone. He wished for the thousandth time that he was as tall as his good-looking partner. He never let on that it bothered him that she was an inch or two taller, and he couldn’t help noticing the admiring glances she got, from men
and
women. She never seemed to notice, though. Oh, well, his wife thought his body was spectacular, so what the hell. He thumped her affectionately on the arm again and sprinted for the elevator before something else turned up to delay them. “I got the best part of this deal,” he added over his shoulder.
    Rebecca didn’t doubt it. There was no one waiting for her at home, and there hadn’t been for a long time. She had forgotten what it felt like to open her door to anything other than the cold welcome of her empty apartment, and she didn’t want to remember now. She sat back down, closed her eyes on the thought, and adjusted her long frame into a more comfortable position for the inevitable wait. She fell asleep with the image of Janet Ryan’s battered face in her mind.

Chapter Four

    Catherine wearily pushed open the doors of the intensive care unit and stepped out into the quiet corridor. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness after the bright lights inside, and when she could see again, she noted Rebecca Frye asleep on a visitor chair.
    Even in repose, the detective didn’t appear relaxed. Her right hand twitched slightly as it rested against her thigh. Her jacket lay abandoned on the chair beside her. The silk shirt she wore was stretched tight by the slash of a leather weapon harness encircling her shoulders, the muscles of her arms and the swell of firm breasts clearly outlined by the tautly drawn fabric. Catherine’s pulse quickened as her eyes wandered from Rebecca’s chiseled face down the sensuous planes of her body. She smiled slightly at the unbidden physical response, wondering yet again at the body’s remarkable will of its own. She didn’t need to remind herself why they were both there; she simply ignored the pull of her autonomic nervous system.
    “Detective,” she called gently as she approached.
    Rebecca sat up immediately, rubbing her face briskly with both hands, and looked up at the psychiatrist, who somehow managed to look fresh despite the hour. Rebecca grinned a little sheepishly, taken off guard by the welcoming softness in Catherine’s eyes. “Sorry.”
    “No, I’m sorry,” Catherine said with a smile. “I seem to keep waking you up.”
    “No problem. I tend to fall asleep wherever I can.”
    Catherine laughed. “I know what you mean. When I was a resident, we had a saying, ‘See a chair, sit in it; see a bed, lie in it; see food, eat it.’ And we did exactly that.”
    Rebecca stood, stretching to her full six feet. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I know it’s late, but I have to talk with you.