LYING COP Read online

  “Oh nothing.” She put her hand back down and smiled at him. “Hope all this commotion about my brother isn’t freaking you out?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “I better go back in.”

  Colt followed, his line of vision glued to her hips swinging back and forth. He can’t tell her he’s a cop, one of them—not now. He had to find out what that long enough was all about?

  *****

  Alaska could have patted herself on the back for her stately performance, except for that little blunder of saying too much to Colt. No big deal. In a short period of time her life had taken a drastic turn for the better. Blade was out, Whip was alive, and a good-looking man who bulged in all the right places seemed to have taken an interest in her. She could use him, in more ways than one. But she had to play her cards right. She held a good hand, guarding her words was imperative.

  Breakfast was over and while she stood at the far end of the dining room checking tables for crumbs, Stormy popped up in front of her and bluntly asked, “So you were with Hunk-O over there last night, huh?”

  “His name is Colt.” Alaska glanced at him, glad he was out of ear shot. He winked at her again, one of half a dozen times since he sat back down and had a second breakfast.

  “Where did you meet him?” Stormy cocked her head.

  “Here.”

  “Where was I?”

  “I don’t know, around.”

  “I think I would have noticed him.”

  “I don’t know about that, sometimes you flit around here like a drunken hummingbird.”

  “There’s something you’re not telling me?”

  “I’m having a meeting this afternoon after lunch, go tell everybody.”

  Alaska brushed against her to pass, almost knocking her over. Then she sashayed over to the black board and picked up a chalk to write the day’s lunch special down. Colt got up with his check. She snatched it out of his hand. “This is on the house.”

  “Can I take you out to dinner tonight?” he asked, standing an inch away from her, revving up her hormones.

  She fixed her eyes on his curvy lips, wanting to pounce on them with her own. “I should stay home tonight, in case they find Blade and they need to get hold of me, so how about dinner at my house?”

  “Where do you live?”

  *****

  Colt strolled on air through the parking lot, climbed into the comfort of his Cadillac, and slipped in a country CD. He was not going anywhere. That was a down right lie what she told the sheriff, he just knew it. She sent him on a wild goose chase.

  He contemplated informing his captain of the circumstances, but they would be all over her and she would tell them no more than what she already had. And her brother could slip away in the process, better to let things unfold.

  Could be she did pick him up at the Skid-N-Go and brought him back home to the mountains, which was why her truck was caked with mud. The café closed at three and maybe she planned on bringing him some food before their dinner date. He moved his car out of the parking lot and parked down the road under a tree.

  Spending the afternoon with his windows down, he listened to music, and called his parents. He explained everything to his dad and promised to call him if he needed assistance. And then he told his mom that maybe he would be bringing the owner of the café over to the cabins for dinner sometime soon, if she didn’t get arrested.

  *****

  Alaska sighed relief after locking the door behind the last employee, inflating her cheeks. The meeting had gone well. She told them what she told the sheriff, plus she was going to go look for Blade, in the swamps of Louisiana. Thankfully, Stormy kept her mouth shut about her belief that she was with someone the night before. Everyone added suggestions as to how they could help keep the café running efficiently while she was away.

  Leaving plenty of cash in the register for the next day, she figured she’d go to the bank to get more money to bring with her, not knowing how long she’d be in Missouri hunting down Whip; she didn’t want to use her credit or debit card for food and hotel rooms in case they started searching for her. Then she went to the walk-in to collect leftovers for supper that night, brainstorming a plan that involved Colt.

  Pausing to look around the dining room before leaving, she predicted that before she saw the place again, she would have kissed Colt, captured Whip, and had the process started to exonerate Blade’s prison term. She would be happy again, the way she was before Earl’s lies and her brother’s arrest. She drove seven miles to the bank then stopped at the car wash where she rinsed the dried mud off her truck.

  It was going on five o’clock when she turned down the road that led to her house. The rear-view mirror in her truck reflected a black car trailing her. Only she and Blade lived down there. Who the hell was that? Probably some hotshot detective.

  Glaring at a blue and white state police car parked underneath the giant oak, she pulled into her front yard. Shit. Now what? No way did they find Blade at the cave.

  She opened the Ford’s door, determined to act normal. There was no need to conjure up a fib. She’ll tell the trooper exactly what she told everybody else. The black car pulled up next to her, its tinted windows too dark for her to make out the face inside.

  Slipping her purse strap over her shoulder, she stepped out of the truck, turned to gather up the food that was on the seat next to her, backed up, and kicked the door closed. Then she saw her date coming toward her. “Colt,” she sang out.

  “Hope you don’t mind I’m early.”

  “No, not at all.” She smiled. “I thought you were some undercover cop following me.”

  “Oh, you didn’t know my car?”

  She shook her head. “Nope.”

  Colt reached for a pan. “Here let me help you with that.”

  “It’s our supper,” she said, examining the squad car. The trooper behind the wheel was on the radio and paying them no mind. “I wonder what he’s yapping about.”

  “Do you want me to go ask him?”

  Alaska giggled. “No, that’s okay, we’ll just ignore him.” She turned and headed toward the house.

  She bounded up the porch steps, pulled open the screen door, shoved her key in the knob and turned. She entered the kitchen and placed the cornbread on the countertop. Colt came from behind her and put down the pans he carried. He peeled back aluminum foil and bent over the Salisbury steak. “Smells good.”

  “I bet they searched my house.” Alaska stepped into the living room. “Blade’s trailer’s down the road at the dead end.” There were shoe prints all over the thick carpet, dried mud too. Crap! “Yeah, they’ve been in here.” She glanced at her entertainment center. Everything was still there, TV, stereo, DVD’s, and CD’s. But the African violet appeared crushed as if someone had punched it.

  She went into the bedroom. Her computer was still on the desk in the corner and there was a pile of her underwear on the dresser. What the hell. She didn’t do that last night in her frantic rush out of the house to get Blade. She cringed, had to be Deputy Haggard, rifling through her drawers and playing with her panties with his slimy fingers. Gross. She pulled back the curtain that substituted for a closet door and peered inside. Everything was still there in its place. Then she heard Colt speaking to someone so she headed back to the kitchen, glaring at the footprints as she passed through the living room.

  The trooper stood in the open doorway. “Miss Roper, I’ve received news about your brother.”

  Alaska’s knees weakened. They found him? How could they?

  The distinguished looking officer continued, “He was spotted in Louisiana, entering deep swamp in a stolen airboat. The authorities down there are on top of it, they expect that he’ll be apprehended shortly. We’ll contact you immediately when he’s in custody.”

  “Oh…thanks for stopping by and letting me know.” Alaska sucked in part of her lower lip.

  The officer pivoted and headed back toward his patrol car.

 
Colt closed the door and stared at her.

  A surge of laughter threatened to explode out of her. She turned away from him, stepped into the living room, and bit her knuckle.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  A peep escaped from her mouth.

  He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and leaned his warm body against her back. “I’m sorry about your brother,” he said, sounding all soft and cuddly. “I know what it’s like to have a loved one on the run. It can be very upsetting knowing they are in danger of being shot, possibly on sight.”

  She held her breath, squeezing her eyes closed. Success, the laugh had been contained and the labor involved had created tears in her eyes as if she had sliced an onion. If Colt hadn’t of been there she would have jumped up and down in victory. It worked. Her story went over better than she expected and she couldn’t wait to tell Blade that the law went after some sucker down there who just happened to steal an airboat. She hoped the thief knew the swamp well so he could keep them at bay.

  Colt slipped his arm around her neck, and rested the side of his face against her hair. “I know you want him to find a safe place, somewhere that he has access to food and drink, a dry place to sleep, out of the elements, you know…torrential rains, water moccasins, twelve feet alligators, blood thirsty mosquitoes so vicious they—”

  She twirled around and faced him. “I want him to run, as fast as he can, and go as far as he can go!”

  “And he will.” The intensity in his brown eyes scorched her soul, shattering her guard.

  They were alone, no cops, no customers, and no employees. She did not want to wait, not for another moment. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled herself up to him. Her mouth opened and she slipped her tongue through lips that she had fantasized kissing all afternoon.

  He accepted her, generating a warm commotion that raced downward, turning her on like a hundred watt light bulb.

  Clinging to him, she pressed her breasts up against his chest. He was magnificent, and single too, she trusted. She wanted him. Her pelvis began gyrate.

  The kiss deepened, tongues thrusting, breathing escalating.

  A moan vibrated in her throat.

  Jarringly, Colt pulled back, releasing her.

  She expected him to lead her to the couch or to the bedroom, or start stripping her clothes off. But he stood woodenly.

  Okay, maybe shy, maybe a gentleman, but no matter. She took his hand.

  Chapter 5

  Colt had detected a smile on Alaska’s face before she turned away from him. Did she think it was humorous that law enforcement was actually after someone down there? His compassion was meant to break her. He intended for her to blurt out that Blade was indeed safe and not suffering the horrors of a dreaded swamp. But she came on to him like a wildcat.

  Making love to her, not going to happen, not when she thought he’s a construction worker. “I don’t think we should,” he said.

  Her hand dropped. “Oh, I have a condom.”

  “No, it’s not that. I um…”

  “Never mind.” She stomped off to the bedroom.

  He started to follow, so he could explain sincere feelings without having to mention the fact that he was a cop out to get information from her, but he stopped. Not in the bedroom. Her standing next to a bed that she slept in night after night, gazing at him with captivating eyes, and speaking to him with lustful lips, would break him.

  As he lingered in the living room, his dick threatened to commit mutiny against his brain. He looked around for something to focus on, anything to help him stay in control of his ship.

  Long lavender curtains parted in front of sliding glass doors, boasting a view of distant ripples of shrubbery dotted with yellow and white wild flowers. An old wood burning stove stood in the corner. Dark purple colored the carpet, and on a square coffee table sat a scattered pile of mail. A large picture of a winter landscape hung over the sofa. He planted himself in front of it.

  The photo sparkled of brilliant hues of blue and white. He stared at it, and then it was as if he had stepped inside. His lungs sucked in air that was seventeen-degrees and he expelled it in thick plumes of vapor. The soft tinkling of snow hit the ground, and a frozen waterfall twinkled. A bowing tree branch cracked like the pop of a pistol. He spun around.

  Nobody stood behind him.

  He peeked into the bedroom. Alaska slammed a drawer closed. A pile of clothes sat on top of the dresser. He backed off.

  Had she gone mad?

  *****

  Alaska couldn’t stand the thought of that creepy deputy’s hands in her drawers. Everything had to be washed. She tossed all the clothes on the dresser into a laundry basket, pulled the vacuum out of the closet, and then headed out into the living room but stopped short. Colt stood with his arms crossed and eyebrows arched.

  “Are you still here?” she asked, staring at his tanned biceps.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He chuckled. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m a little freaked out. Someone’s been in my house.”

  “Is anything missing?”

  “No, but look,” she said, pointing to the African violet. She swiped at the dirt on the shelf. “And,” she flung her hand towards the bedroom, “someone’s been messing around with my clothes, especially my underwear.”

  “Maybe it was your brother?”

  “No, it wasn’t Blade.” She plugged the cord in and started vacuuming.

  When she finished she put it back up, went into the bathroom, and splashed cold water on her face. Then she changed into fresh jeans from the closet and yanked a pink tank top off a hanger. She slipped it on after taking her bra off.

  As she passed through the living room, headed toward the kitchen, she noticed Colt standing out back next to her rick of firewood, talking on his cell.

  She put the pans of food in the oven and set the table that was against the wall under the window. And she decided to proceed with her plan. She was going to tell Colt everything. But first, she wanted to know why he didn’t want to have sex with her. Maybe something was wrong with him, or he had a girlfriend back in Little Rock. Or maybe he simply had good morals. After all, they just met. She had to make sure he liked her enough to keep what she was about to tell him a secret.

  “I was talking to my brother,” Colt announced as he entered the kitchen. He pulled a chair out and sat.

  “Your brother?”

  “Yeah, he might come up here next week, hasn’t seen my mom for a while.”

  “Oh that’s right. Your parents have some cabins.”

  “They have twelve of them out by the river, rundown too. And what with me being in construction and vacation time, well here I am. I love it out here, might not go back. I’ve been thinking about it anyway.”

  She made two glasses of sweet tea and set one before him. “So how long have you been in construction?”

  He looked past her. “Ever since I got out of high school.”

  “Oh, it’s been a few years.”

  He chuckled and made eye contact. “I’m twenty-eight so it’d be about ten years. And what about you, how long have you owned the café?”

  “Three years.” She sat across from him. “I bought it when I was twenty-one.”

  “How’d you manage that being so young, inheritance?”

  “No. I was a waitress there when the owner died. He was real old, neglected the place for a long time. It was in shambles, tables and chairs were falling apart. And the food was bad. I had some money saved and made an offer to his wife, and she took it.”

  “You’ve done an incredible job with it.”

  “Thanks.”

  She studied his ring finger as he picked up the salt shaker. She’d confiscated the old thing with a dented cap from the café. Already knowing there was no ring, she searched for a hint of a white band that would tell her he’d had one. But the mark did not appear to be there.

  After looking at the shaker for a few moments, he set
it down. “Did your brother help with the café?”

  “Yes he did, him and a couple other guys built the back deck. After that, he mostly came in to eat. He had his own work to do fixing cars.” She got up and opened the oven. Figuring the food to be hot enough she reached for the potholders, and asked without glancing at him, “So is there a girlfriend back in Little Rock?”

  “No.”

  She lifted the pan of au-gratin potatoes to the top of the stove.

  “My last girlfriend relocated to New York,” he added. “But that was okay, I wasn’t in love with her.”

  That last statement took Alaska by surprise. She hesitated before bending over to get another pan. She was going to glance at him first to see if he was still looking at her, or if he was staring off into space. She turned her head.

  His gaze connected with hers, sending a cluster of butterflies loose within her. She smiled before turning back to get the last pan.

  The conversation during supper centered on movies and music. When they both finished eating, she decided to come right out and ask him. “Why didn’t you want to, you know, with me earlier?”

  Chapter 6

  Colt looked away from her. The unexpected question threw him off guard. He did want her, his dick been pointing at her like a divining rod from the moment they met.

  Yellow kitchen curtains waved over the un-cleared table and the scent of honeysuckle replaced the aroma of food.

  He cleared his throat and stared into her green eyes. “Umm, I want you to get to know me. I need to make sure you really like me and that I’m not just a boy-toy.” He folded his arms on the table and flexed his muscles.

  Alaska glanced at his biceps and giggled. “Are you serious?”

  “Well yeah, I’ve had women pass the time with me, but that’s not what I’m looking for. I want a girlfriend, a serious relationship.”

  “So what are you saying?” She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “You don’t think you like me enough for a relationship?”