Karma Patrol (29 page)

“Water now, coffee after breakfast,” she decided, getting up from where she was sitting and pointing him firmly in the direction of the couch. “Go sit down. You aren’t getting any coffee until I check the instructions on the meds the hospital gave you to make sure it’s safe, and even I can’t screw up two glasses of water.”

He acquiesced, not wanting to admit that his left arm was throbbing like someone had taken a hot poker to it, and watched as Jade rummaged around in the kitchen and came up with a couple of glasses. When she returned, she also brought the pill bottles he’d requested and then promptly forgotten about. He took the bottle of antibiotics with a nod of thanks but ignored the painkillers she tried to hand him.

“Don’t be a stoic idiot,” she told him, shaking the bottle of narcotics at him. “I know you’re in pain.”

“I’m not going to get stoned on pain meds while there’s someone out there trying to kill you,” he argued, and she rolled her eyes.

“I don’t carry that Walther just for show,” she informed him tartly. “I can put a .380 hollow point round through an approaching attacker’s heart at twenty yards. It’s not much use against a sniper, but anyone who tries to break into this apartment is going to have to do it while being pumped full of lead.”

He took a bite of his breakfast, watching Jade thoughtfully as he chewed and swallowed. “That’s very sexy,” he said finally, reaching for the painkillers. “You know that, right?”

“Of course I do,” she replied, watching with satisfaction as he took two of the white tablets. “It’s half the reason I learned in the first place. Southerners place a high value on a woman’s ability to participate in traditional outdoor activities. Since I don’t like hunting and I refuse to go camping, I learned how to target shoot.”

“You care a lot about what people think of you.” It was an observation, not an accusation, but when the words left his mouth he realized how easily they could be construed as offensive. Jade didn’t seem particularly bothered, though, which surprised him based on how easily offended she’d seemed to be up to this point.

“It has a lot to do with how I grew up,” she replied as she polished off the granola bar. “My parents were wealthy, and there was a lot of pressure for me to fit in with the other children in my social strata. It was hard; not because I wasn’t interested in the same things they were, but because I was already in training to become a karmic account enforcer.”

“Even as a kid?” Luke asked, surprised, and she nodded.

“We’re born with the ability to see karmic paths. Technically speaking, you don’t have to enter training until you finish high school, but once you’re old enough to understand what you’re seeing and why, it’s almost impossible to keep from meddling. Karma Division acknowledges that, so they offer training for children as young as six in order to keep them from meddling in a way that would make things worse.”

“Overachiever that you are, I’m guessing you started training on your sixth birthday,” he told her, and she laughed.

“Oh, my father was training me under the table from the time I was four,” she admitted. “By the time I hit the official training program at six, I was a star. And because I love being an overachiever and so much of my identity is tied into being good at this job, I worked harder at that than I ever did at anything else. It’ll probably surprise you to know that my grades in school were only average. I would have worked harder at school if it had been important, but I knew from an early age that this was all I was ever going to want out of life, so I didn’t bother much with the other stuff.” She paused, collecting her thoughts from the tangent they’d diverged on, and added, “Anyway, that’s why it was tough for me to fit in with my peers. The only thing I really cared about was something I couldn’t talk about.”

“That’s tough,” he said, in all seriousness. Her childhood hadn’t been nearly as traumatic as his, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t acknowledge that it had to have been hard for Jade, who was bright and bubbly and loved a captive audience, to keep her real life a secret from everyone she knew throughout her entire childhood.

Jade shrugged. “The alternative would’ve been to be born normal like everyone else, and I would have hated being a Normal. I learned how to fake it, though. The easiest way was to buy the same brands of clothes and purses as the other girls and do my hair and makeup like they did. Over time, I figured out all of that superficial stuff actually made my enforcement work easier. People responded better to me, and they were more likely to do what I asked even if it seemed silly to them.”

“You certainly look the part, and I’ll be the first guy to admit I find that stuff attractive. Except for the hideous floral scarves,” he added, drawing a laugh from her. “But seriously, Jade, if you ever decide you don’t want to fake it anymore, it won’t matter to me. You can wear my old t-shirts and sweats every day and it won’t make me any less attracted to you.”

“That’s the thing,” she replied, shaking her head. “I’m not faking it. After all those years of telling myself I had to like the bright colors and floral patterns and spending an eternity on my hair in the mornings, it just sort of sank in. Now it’s part of who I am.”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Luke grabbed for his gun as he stood, cursing as his vision went momentarily gray. Apparently the narcotics had been stronger than he’d expected.

“Calm down,” Jade told him, kissing his cheek as she stepped around him to grab her purse and retrieve her own handgun. “The imminent danger alert hasn’t gone off. It’s probably just our police detail wondering if we’re still alive in here.”

She went over to the door, peering through the peephole before turning back to him with a reassuring smile. “You can relax. It’s Shannon and your partner,” she informed him, unlocking the chain and deadbolt to let them in.

It was a toss-up as to whose knowing smirk was bigger, Shannon’s or Aaron’s. Jade resisted the urge to run her fingers through her hair in a vain effort to straighten it.

“Good morning,” she said, stepping aside so the two of them could enter. Aaron winked at her and went over to the couch to talk with his partner. Shannon stayed beside Jade, and as she shut the door, Shannon leaned in to murmur in her ear.

“How was your night?” she asked, repressed laughter in her tone.

Jade raised an eyebrow at her. “I could ask you the same question,” she replied. “I notice you and Aaron showed up together.”

Shannon waved a hand airily. “I spent the night with him and his boyfriend in Queens.”

“Oh,” Jade said, embarrassed for her friend. “I didn’t realize he was taken. I would have warned you.”

Shannon grinned. “No need for a warning. The three of us had a
lovely
time. Aaron said his boyfriend had a problem with sharing, but it turns out he shares just fine.”

It was obvious what she was insinuating, and Jade rolled her eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Me?” Shannon replied, her gaze flicking briefly over her friend’s appearance. “Judging by the lack of hickeys and the fact that you’re currently wearing sweatpants, am I safe in assuming that you did not spend the entire night making sweet, sweet love to your long-awaited soulmate?”

“It’s not like that,” Jade hissed, hyper-aware of the two men sitting just a few feet away from them. “We talked.”

“You talked.” Shannon gave her a critical look. “You spent the night with that man and his pecs and all you did was talk? And you say
I’m
unbelievable?”

Jade blushed, searching desperately for a way to change the subject. “What’s with the bag?” she asked, noticing the duffel slung over Shannon’s shoulder. A moment later, she realized that she recognized the bag’s pink floral pattern. “Is that mine?”

Shannon handed the duffel to her with a look on her face that suggested she knew Jade was trying to change the subject and they weren’t finished with this conversation. “Aaron got me into your place before we came over here. The lobby is still roped off, but he flashed his badge at the cops downstairs and I used my spare key to get into your apartment. I figured you’d need a few things.”

“Like clothes?” Jade asked, unzipping the bag, and Shannon smirked.

“Like condoms,” she retorted, poking her friend’s arm before heading over to chat with the guys. Jade set the duffel bag on top of the waist-high bookcase by the front door, occupying herself with digging through its contents while she waited for the heat in her cheeks to subside. True to Shannon’s word, there was a box of condoms on top of the pile of stuff in the bag, which meant she’d made a special trip to the drugstore to purchase them since she certainly hadn’t found them in Jade’s apartment. There were also a couple of Jade’s dresses, a pair of black fleece-lined leggings, socks to go under her soft suede boots, and a handful of the sexiest pairs of panties she owned.

Beneath the clothing, at the bottom of the bag, were her blow dryer and curling iron, as well as the plastic travel bag she always kept in this duffel in case of spontaneous road trips. The bag held makeup and hair styling products as well as a couple of cheap strands of fake pearls for jewelry emergencies.

“Are you satisfied with your haul?” Shannon called over to her from where she sat on the coffee table, and Jade gave her friend a genuine smile.

“Completely. I could kiss you.”

“We’d be happy to watch,” Aaron volunteered, and then winced when Luke smacked his arm. “Ow. Kidding.”

“You can go ahead and keep your eyes off my girlfriend,” Luke informed his partner, who grinned at him.

“So that’s official, huh? I figured that after she spent the night at your place, she’d either fall for you or shoot you.” Aaron nodded toward the gun that was tucked into the waistband of Jade’s borrowed sweatpants. “Is that yours, by the way, or did Luke loan you part of his arsenal?”

“Mine, complete with concealed weapons permit,” she assured him, shouldering the duffel bag. “I know it’s antisocial of me, but would anyone mind if I took a quick shower?”

“You wouldn’t know a quick shower if it bit you on the ass,” Shannon rejoined with a laugh. “Go ahead, Jade. Aaron and I can entertain ourselves while your man sleeps off the massive dose of narcotics you must have given him.”

Luke was visibly fatigued now, slumping on the couch, and Aaron shook his head in amusement as he set his partner’s service weapon down on the coffee table and hauled him bodily to his feet.

“Let’s get you into bed,” Aaron told Luke as Jade headed into the bathroom, intent on finally getting herself cleaned up. “Before you start drooling on the couch.”

y the time Jade was showered, dressed, and ready to rejoin the rest of the world, Luke was fast asleep. When she came out into the living room, Aaron sat alone on the couch, and he offered her a smile in greeting.

“Shannon said she had to get to work, but you can call her if you need anything,” he told her. “What does she do, anyway?”

“She’s a matchmaker. She works for a dating service.” Jade gave him a knowing look. “I guess the topic of work didn’t come up last night.”

Aaron snorted. “We had better things to talk about,” he replied. “Speaking of which, I think you and I need to have a little chat.”