Serving Up Trouble Read online

  Then she moved to the window and reached for the shades.

  “No—” He hated having all that bright sunshine pouring in over his shoulder when he was concentrating. “Don’t open—”

  Too late.

  She yanked the string, throwing light into the room. “There. That’s so much better, isn’t it?” She tossed her hair out of her eyes—hair that he couldn’t help but notice was a million different colors, like a doe’s coat, and smelled even better than the flowers she’d just settled.

  She smiled at him. “This is really a bad color for your office walls. Drab gray. It’s not at all conducive to happy work patterns.”

  He’d never even noticed what color the walls were, and didn’t care to now. Nor was he thrilled about noticing her hair color.

  He had work to do.

  “You know, I always had the secret fantasy of going through the police academy,” she said wistfully, looking around. “I had this dream of rounding up all the bad guys and putting them behind bars.”

  The thought of this far too cheerful, happy, bouncy, flowers-carrying woman going through the academy brought a fine sweat to Sam’s brow. “You wouldn’t like it,” he said quickly.

  “Oh, I think I would. Well, except for the shooting part.” She shivered. “I’m not crazy about weapons.” Her smile faded and a shadow flickered across her face. “Give me a paint brush any day.”

  Sam knew she was remembering yesterday, having a flash back to when she’d had the blade of a knife pressed against her slim neck. Damn it, he didn’t want to know this. Didn’t want to know how traumatized she was, or see how badly she was bruised. He searched her with his gaze, but couldn’t see a thing with her halter-top sundress that covered her to the throat. “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, yes. Thanks to you.”

  She was as small as he remembered, barely coming up to his shoulder. But where had all her defenseless vulnerability of yesterday gone? She looked totally, utterly capable of anything, especially ruining his day.

  “You found a spare pair of glasses,” he heard himself say inanely, gesturing to the frames she wore.

  “They’re ancient—oops.” She bit her lower lip to hold back a smile. “Probably shouldn’t tell that to a police officer. I could get a ticket for driving with an old prescription, right?”

  He was relieved to discover she hadn’t just purchased the thick, blue-rimmed, almost horn-shaped glasses. He felt an odd pang at the knowledge she probably couldn’t afford a brand-new pair. He wondered if the bank wouldn’t cover the cost for her, and opened his mouth to suggest some thing to that effect when the curious whispers behind him registered.

  He whirled to the doorway, and found Luke and two rookies leaning in his door, unabashedly eavesdrop ping.

  “Need some thing to do?” he inquired. At his cold voice, the rookies instantly scattered.

  Luke just grinned before slowly straightening and walking away.

  Angie was staring at him with those huge brown eyes. “Wow,” she said, impressed. “That was a pretty scary cop voice. Really fierce. Do you use that on criminals to make them confess?”

  Yeah, or on unwelcome guests to get them to leave. But he found he didn’t have quite the heart to say it. A surprise, and it only worsened his mood.

  He really had a ton of work to do. He wanted—needed—to crack his priority case, and soon, as the suspects were probably right this minute stealing mail or trash, racking up more uncollectible debt by the minute.

  “You know,” Angie said, sizing up his office, the wheels visibly turning in her head. “You could really use a paint job on these walls.”

  “A paint job,” he repeated slowly.

  “Maybe pink? It would most definitely help ease your tension.”

  Oh yeah, that’s what he needed. Pink walls. “I’m not tense.”

  She raised her brow so high it disappeared into her bangs. “Really? Then why is your jaw all tight and bunchy?”

  “It’s not.”

  “I can see the muscle jumping.”

  It jumped some more. “I’m fine.”

  “If this is normal for you, you must go home with a heck of a neck ache. Come here and sit down. I’ll rub it for you.”

  He actually backed up. “I said I’m fine.”

  But she reached for him, pushed him into a chair with surprising strength.

  Even worse, he went. Big, bad, tough Sam O’Brien fell into a chair simply because she’d urged him to.

  Then her fingers touched the bare skin on his neck, and as if he’d been poked by a hot stick, he surged to his feet.

  At his quick movement, a sweet laugh escaped her and she clasped her hands in front of her. “I’m sorry, I’m just so nervous about being here. I have to answer some more questions, and it’s…” She looked away. Swallowed hard. “It’s, um, giving me a bit of a bad time.”

  Ah, hell. “No one is going to push you,” he heard himself say. “They’ll go slow and easy.”

  “I know.” She backed to the door. “Anyway, I’m sorry. Again.” She was sorry because she’d touched him and he nearly bolted right out of the chair as if he’d been goosed.

  She’d turned him on, this woman of the bright yellow sundress, silly blue glasses, sweet smile and expressive eyes. And the shocking jolt of arousal—arousal, for God’s sake—had nearly caused his heart to leap out of his chest.

  He was at work, damn it, and if there was one thing he disliked, it was when some thing distracted him from his work. “I have to get back to my job,” he said, his voice more than a bit strained.

  “Oh! Of course.” But her gaze caught at something on his desk and she went wide-eyed.

  “What is it?”

  Hands over her mouth, she stared at a composite drawing he’d gotten just that morning, of someone he suspected to be deep in the thick of the identity-theft ring he was trying to crack.

  She looked pale. Why had he let her in his office? Why hadn’t he showed her the door two minutes ago? “What’s the matter?” he asked again, hoping she wasn’t really going to tell him, hoping she’d simply take her perky little self and go away. Far away. And take the flowers with her.

  “Is he…wanted?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Well, because I’ve seen him downtown.”

  This particular suspect had laid low all year, hiding out from the best of the best on the force, including himself. They didn’t even know his name, had only his description from his latest victim, whom he’d conned out of his ID with a door-to-door sales scam. Much as he’d like to have her solve his problem by locating the suspect, he’d followed too many dead ends to believe her.

  Angie picked up the picture and studied it carefully, and he studied her just as care fully.

  Her fingernails matched her toenails, he noted, but were chipped and nibbled at. Probably her line of work, he figured, then rolled his eyes at himself.

  He was noticing her nails, for God’s sake.

  Man, he needed a break. A vacation. Yeah, that was it. Maybe Hawaii, with a few bikini-clad babes.

  Too bad he never took vacations.

  “I do know him,” she said.

  “From?”

  “I can’t remember exactly.”

  He took the picture from her hands. “If you think of it, call in.”

  Those expressive eyes stared at him. “You don’t believe me.”

  Maybe that was because she thought his walls should be pink. Or that she had dreamed of being a cop when she was afraid of weapons. But telling her so felt a little like kicking a puppy. “It’s nothing personal. We get hundreds of false leads.”

  She crossed her arms and held her ground, reminding him that while she could look so vulnerable, she was actually tough as hell. “You think I’m a silly little flake.”

  There was no mistaking her hurt now, and he swore at himself. “No—”

  “But you don’t think I’ve seen this guy.”

  “Okay, fine.” He leaned back again
st his desk, the desk now covered in flowers. He was going to smell like a garden. “Where do you know him from? What’s his name? What does he do?”

  “I don’t know.” She took a step back, making him feel like the school-yard bully. “I just know that I’ve seen him coming and going in the used book store next to the café where I work.”

  He studied her a long moment, considering. She seemed genuine enough. “You’re certain.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Those glasses don’t look too reliable.”

  “I can see perfectly.”

  He sighed. “Fine. I’ll check it out.”

  The look she shot him was purely female, purely annoyed. “But you don’t expect to find him, right?”

  “Well…”

  “Truth fully.”

  How to tell her how many false leads he’d followed? How many times people thought they saw one thing but in reality saw another? “Look—”

  “Oh, never mind.” She sent him a smile, completely devoid of the brilliance from before, which for some reason made Sam hurt inside.

  “Angie—”

  “No, really.” She lifted a hand to ward him off. “You’re busy. Don’t give it another thought.” She headed to the door. “I’m going to go answer those questions now.”

  “Yeah. Angie—”

  “Bye, Sam.”

  Then she was gone and he was staring at the door, torn between relief and a self-disgust because he knew he’d been curt and rude.

  Damn, he hated working with people.

  Chapter 3

  Angie got up at the crack of dawn, as always. She drove to work, as always. She figured she’d enter the café fifteen minutes before her shift, then help Elisa prepare for the break fast shift. As always.

  But nothing was as always at all, because with one twist of fate—and a very sharp knife—she could have died, and unexpectedly she was still dealing with the horror of that.

  And then there was Detective Sam O’Brien. He’d both saved her life and changed it forever, because she’d taken a look into those deep, fathomless, brooding eyes and had seen her future. It sounded silly now, in the sharp, glaring light of a new day, and at the memory of how he’d treated her in his office, she blushed. If that was her future, feeling like a ball of unimportant fluff, she didn’t want it, thank you very much. Been there, bought the T-shirt.

  Yes, he’d been sweet and kind during her bank ordeal, and yes, darn it, maybe as a result she’d looked at him with stars in her eyes, but now those stars were so long gone.

  She was better off by herself.

  But she was going to find his suspect. Oh yes, that would be satisfying, if nothing else, just to prove she wasn’t the kind of person who made these things up to get attention.

  She didn’t need attention, not from him. What she needed was to stick to her guns and live her life. She liked the feeling that coursed through her at that thought. This new-lease-on-life-thing felt good. Empowering.

  Yeah. And next time she got held up, she wouldn’t need a hero, she’d save herself.

  As if her karma was in perfect sync, on the walk to work she caught a glimpse of a man striding away from her, down the alley between the café and the used book store.

  She knew that short, dark crew cut. She knew those tennis shoes, that compact, muscle-bound body, as she’d seen him several times now, either loitering in front of the book store where she spent far too many hours and too much of her tips, or as he was now, walking down the alley.

  He was also the man she’d seen in the picture on Sam’s desk.

  He was Sam’s suspect, and visions of proving him wrong and her right danced in her head. So did visions of getting herself killed, but she was too fond of her new life at the moment to let that happen.

  Besides, contrary to popular belief by one stubborn detective, she had a brain. She knew better than to try to stop a wanted man by herself.

  To prove it, she fumbled in her purse for the cell phone she’d won just last month in a mailer sweepstakes. At the time she’d thought she’d much rather have won a year’s supply of groceries, but right now she was grateful for the phone.

  And the fact that for once her battery was fully charged.

  Dialing 911, heart pounding, Angie flattened herself against the wall of the building, holding her breath when the man paused and glanced over his shoulder.

  From nearly fifty feet, their gazes met and locked.

  “Emergency dispatch,” came a female voice in her ear.

  “I need to talk to Sam O’Brien,” Angie whispered, swallowing hard as fear turned her stomach to mush. “He’s a detective with—”

  “Ma’am, you need to dial him direct—this is not an answering service.”

  “It’s an emergency.” This whole calling-a-cop thing looked so much easier on television. “I have one of his suspects in sight right this very minute, and I think he’d want to know.”

  “Where are you and what’s your name?”

  Sam’s suspect stared at her for exactly two more seconds before vanishing around a corner.

  Angie grated her teeth and gave the dispatcher the information, knowing it would be too late. “Tell Sam to hurry, and that if he needs me I’ll be working in the café.” Frustrated, she stood there staring down the alley, wishing she was a police officer so she could go find the guy herself.

  The war between doing just that and staying put wasn’t a hard one to fight. She knew better. And anyway, despite feeling strong and sure, she didn’t have quite enough nerve.

  But she’d give anything to be a big, tough, armed cop at this moment. With one last sigh, she entered the café.

  “About time,” her boss groused as she came into the kitchen.

  Angie hung up her sweater, pulled a hair band out of her pocket and tied up her hair. “Good morning to you, too. And I’m not late. I’m early.”

  “Hmph.” Josephine looked at her and let out a huff. “It should be illegal to look as good as you do wearing that ugly uniform and your hair all piled on top of your head like that.” She continued slicing cantaloupe as she sighed, and on her two-hundred-plus-pound frame, the sound was substantial. “Why aren’t you in bed after your ordeal?”

  “My ordeal was two days ago. Besides, I’d be bored to tears in bed.”

  “Not if you put a man in there first.”

  “Yeah, well…” Angie reached for her apron. A man in her bed had never brought her anything but a vague sense that she was missing some thing. “You should know, there might be some excitement here in a few minutes.”

  “Excitement?”

  The heavy knock at the back door caused Angie to jump. Casually as she could, she opened the door and faced one glowering Sam O’Brien.

  He was imposing, intense, and very unsmiling.

  “You got my message,” she said, amazed and trying not to gape at the oddly thrilling sight of his big, tough body standing there. “I didn’t think the dispatcher would tell you. She thought I was a prank call.”

  “Was it?”

  “Was it what?”

  “A prank call,” he said slowly, through his teeth, towering over her.

  “Of course not.” She had to remind herself that just because he was breath taking didn’t mean he couldn’t be a complete jerk. Although that seemed a bit unfair, because she could remember quite vividly how gently and warmly he’d held her, talking her through the after math of the holdup.

  Where had that man gone?

  “Did you look down the alley?” she asked.

  “Yes. And in the still-closed book store. And in all the neighboring alleys. There’s no one out there, Angie. No one.”

  “He was.”

  He closed his eyes and shoved a hand through his hair. Then he leveled her with a look that made her want to cringe. It was that look, the one that said she didn’t know what she was talking about, and if she did, it probably wasn’t important anyway.

  She was very tired of that look, of feelin
g invisible. It came from being average, she thought, annoyed with herself. All her life she’d been so average most people had never even noticed her.

  And she’d allowed it.

  That would have to change, too. Maybe she’d go blond. No, that would only multiply the ditzy image. Redhead? Hmm, some thing to think about. “I saw him,” she repeated, raising her chin, refusing to let him make her feel stupid again. “And if you lost him, it’s your own fault. You need to respond faster.”

  “I got here in less than five minutes from your original call,” he pointed out, still through his teeth, his huge body practically quivering with temper.

  What was it about her that brought out the worst in people? Another thing she intended to change. Thinking only to soothe, she reached out and put her hand on his arm.

  The considerable amount of muscles beneath his skin jerked, but he con trolled himself with nothing more than pure will power.

  She under stood the effort, if not the reasoning. She too felt an almost physical jolt. Unnerved, she dropped her hand.

  He stared at her for a long moment before pulling a business card from his pocket. “Take this. It’s got my office and cell numbers on it. Call me direct next time.”

  The air whooshed out of her lungs. “You believe me?”

  He put his sun glasses on. “I don’t know.”

  “You believe me.” She grinned, ridiculously relieved, even when his frown returned.

  “But if you’re in danger, call 911. Got that?”

  “Yes. So which number should I call next time I see him?”

  Sam looked pained. “You won’t.”

  “I think I will.”

  “Angie—”

  “I’m not making this up, Sam. He’s out there. I’ll see him again.”

  “No one else has.”

  “Because no one else is out there at this time of morning. I think he’s an early bird.”

  He sighed again, as if she was making his life a living hell on purpose. “You realize this guy is considered dangerous, right? Don’t—”

  “Don’t do anything stupid?” She tried not to care that he thought she would. “I won’t.”