Page 49 of Tough Justice

He shook his head. “I never arrested this guy. Lakewood PD did, more than five years ago. I remember reading about it in a bulletin. It was big news. He got busted for dealing heroin and cocaine. Sentenced to five years in Sheridan. But we never crossed paths.”

She frowned. “Then why did he try to kill us?” You? None of this made sense.

Deck nodded. “That’s the $64,000 question. One only T-Lo knows the answer to.”

“And he’s still out there.” He could try to kill Deck again.

“He doesn’t know I just ID’d him. Once that warrant is issued, every police officer in the state will be looking for him. As soon as I take Tori home,” he said to Rivera, “I’ll get a team together and start looking for this guy.”

“Aside from taking Dr. Sampson home, you’ll do nothing.” ASAC Rivera folded the sheet of paper in his hand and stuffed it into his back pocket. “You’re the only agent—let alone one on the rubber gun squad—who ever managed to get involved in two shootings within five days.”

“Yes, sir.” Deck scrunched up his face, looking so much like a little boy whose father had just lit into him. How such a big, tough man could look adorable she didn’t know. But he does.

“Get your ass in the office first thing tomorrow morning,” his boss ordered. “I know you want to go and kick in some doors, but rest assured, we will put together a team to find this guy. You, however, won’t be on it.”

Deck ground his jaw so hard, she could swear his teeth squeaked.

“We just got this in.” Detective Ruiz handed a sheet of paper to Deck. “Arvada FD is putting out a car fire as we speak. Vehicle fits the general description of the one you gave us. It was reported stolen a week ago.”

Deck looked up from the document. “Any chance of pulling prints?”

“Doubtful. By the time the FD got there, it was fully engulfed.”

“What do you think the connection is between you and T-Lo?” Evan asked.

“Dunno,” Deck answered, frowning. “You know as well as I do that K-9 units usually supplement an investigation, not take point on one. The only case I’ve been working lately involves gray death. That’s gotta be the connection. T-Lo’s got a history that fits. If he’s the one supplying the drug to all these dealers, we’ll get him.”

“You and Thor have been on just about every opioid warrant since this case started,” Rivera pointed out. “Everyone remembers the K-9s. Could be you made yourself a target.”

He shrugged, as if this kind of thing happened every day. “Comes with the territory.”

“The territory?” She slid off the desk. “Seriously? How can you be so cavalier? Someone just tried to kill you.”

Three weeks ago, it wouldn’t have bothered her to know how difficult and dangerous his job was. Then she’d only viewed him as someone who’d destroyed her and her family’s lives. Now that she saw him as a caring person who was just trying to do good in the world, the idea of waking up to hear that he’d been shot dead in the middle of the night was too much. She blinked back the tears then spun and stalked into the hallway.

Heavy footsteps followed, and she knew without looking behind her it was Deck.

“Tori, wait.” He caught her arm, forcing her to turn and look at him.

“What?” she snapped, feeling as if her emotions were about to bubble out the top of her head.

Gently, he gripped her shoulders, his gaze dipping to her mouth as he leaned in. Her heart ticked faster, totally erratic now. Would he really kiss her in the middle of a police station?

Voices drifted down the hallway. He released her shoulders, straightening then nodding to several uniformed police officers as they walked past them, continuing down the corridor before exiting out a door.

Oh, lord. What did she want him to do? Hold her? Kiss her? Tell her that it was okay to have feelings for a man who lived an incredibly dangerous life?

She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward. Yes. That was exactly what she wanted. All of it.

The admission scared her to death.

Chapter Seventeen

Tori set the terrarium in the bay window, turning it first one way then the other to make sure the plants were properly seated. This one had taken her an entire week’s worth of evenings, and she was thankful for the distraction. It had given her something else to think about besides Deck.

She hadn’t heard from him since last Saturday night when he’d taken her home. Not that she had a reason to expect him to, exactly. Oh, bull. She’d stupidly thought he’d at least say something about staying in touch. He’d merely walked her to the door and said good night. He’d seemed even more aloof than ever. Then again, he was number one on a drug-dealing hitman’s list, so maybe she was being too hard on him.

She was no longer accompanying him on warrants, so their only possible interaction would be if another OD victim came into the ER. Chances were high that would happen again, and soon. Miraculously, over the last week, it hadn’t. Possibly because of the raids. Maybe all the dealers were laying low until things cooled off. Hopefully, things would never cool off.