The Bad Ass Brigade (15 page)

“Tell me about American Dream Homes.”

Gratified at the Baker’s harsh gasp and the shock in Corcoran’s eyes, Annika pressed.

“Another smart move. You’re partners, right? You’re in it
to-geth-er
, correct? Just the two of you. Buddies to the end. That’s why you formed the shell company. Whose idea was it to buy a $5 million key man insurance policy? Yours, Sergeant? Hmm, unlikely. No, it was Brennan’s idea, who as we know is an expert in scamming insurance companies. Did you read the policy, Garrett? I did. If one of you dies, the company is the beneficiary. And since the ‘company’ is just the two of you—the surviving partner makes off like a bandit.” She breathed slow, easy, deep. Almost… ready.

“Smart, devious, and guess who wins? You, Sergeant? No, I’m confident that after you set this next fire, and Fred and I are killed, you’re going to have an accident. My guess is a car accident. Drunk driving most likely. You are drinking a lot, aren’t you, Sergeant? Such an easy accident to arrange. And poof! When you are gone, guess who’s the surviving partner in American Dream Homes—and $5 million richer?”

At Baker’s shocked gasp, Annika made her move. In the seconds that followed, she jerked to the side and hit the ground; the Kimber from her boot flew to her hand. The roar of the bullet and Baker’s scream confirmed she’d hit her mark. But in the timeless space before she fired, too late, she saw the flash of steel in Corcoran’s hand. Where the volley of gunshots came from she didn’t know. All she heard was Corcoran’s scream—and hers, before blessed darkness blotted out the blinding pain.

Chapter 15

“She’s fine, Commander. All of her vitals are within normal range. She’s lost a lot of blood, but as soon as we get her to the hospital we’ll transfuse her.”

Annika tried to tell them she didn’t need to go to the hospital, but her lips felt numb. In the blur she heard the sirens, the shouts of the men, the squeal of the squads. Somewhere in the distance she heard Nate shouting out commands and saw Connor’s pale face lined with concern. But next to her, his unique smell comforting her, was Sam. He was holding her hand. Murmuring comforting words. Telling her she was safe. That she’d soon be fine.

With an effort she spit out the words.

“Blood. Makes me sick. “

Sam involuntarily choked out a rough laugh. “Be glad there’s only blood, Princess. A couple inches to the left and the bullet that grazed you would have been in your chest. That son of a bitch, Corcoran. Thank God his shot went wide.”

In the fog Annika heard Nate’s rough voice. “Thanks to
you
hotshot. Christ, Sam. I’ve never seen anyone make a shot like that. You had Baker in your sights, and in a split second you flipped to Corcoran. Fuck, man. I didn’t see his gun until you blew it away—and most of his hand with it. Jesus, Sam. You changed targets in a fraction of a second, and then got them both.”

“I couldn’t have done it without Annika. She’s the hero.” A hitch in Sam’s voice and his tight grip on her hand betrayed his distress. When he spoke again, his voice was laced with pain. “Damn, Annika, I don’t know how many lifetimes it will take to forget the sight of you standing there with a police-grade Glock pressed against your skull. By a veteran cop, no less. But you never lost your cool, Princess. You took a chance and goaded them. And it paid off.”

Nate shook his head and grimaced. “Yeah, it did. She’s as brave as her fucking attitude is outrageous. But, together, you were a great team.”

Even in her drugged state, Annika heard Nate’s underlying message.

Annika gripped Sam’s hand. Through the fog in her brain she understood what Nate was saying. If they hadn’t come, if they hadn’t tracked her down… she could have been killed. Sam saved her life. But as hard as she tried to tell him that she was sorry, the words wouldn’t come. They couldn’t make it past her numb lips.

Sam leaned over brushing her hair off her face. “It’s okay, Princess. Don’t try to talk. Mitch, the EMT guy here, put a painkiller in that drip. Rest, baby. Go to sleep. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

~~~

The baby-faced physician assumed a calm, reassuring manner. “We don’t want to take any chances, Lieutenant Nilsson. You lost a lot of blood. And you hit the edge of something hard enough to break the skin on the back of your head. I’ve instructed the nurses not to give you more pain medication unless you ask for it. I want to be sure you don’t have a concussion.”

Annika had tried to tell them that she didn’t need to spend the night in the hospital, but nobody listened. The earnest young physician didn’t fool her, but she couldn’t blame him. The two grim-faced cops glaring at him didn’t look like men you’d want to mess with. She’d even stopped arguing with them. She expected Nate to try to boss her around. She could have ignored him. But when Sam pinned her with a hard stare and a quiet voice laced with steel, she knew it was useless to argue. “
One
night, Princess. If the doctors say you’re fine in the morning, I’ll take you home.” And that was the end of the discussion.

Not that she had to worry about being lonely. Sam never left her side in the ambulance, and Nate had met them when they got to the emergency room. When they moved her to a private room, Erin and Connor were waiting for them. Annika realized she hadn’t cried throughout the ordeal until she saw the tears streaming down Erin’s lovely face. And the soft-hearted Connor looked as though he might join them.

She learned that Fred Dalton was in critical condition, but that he was expected to live. He’d lost a lot of blood and been unconscious long enough for the neurologists to be concerned about residual brain damage. But it could certainly have been worse. Once again, if Sam and Nate hadn’t arrived when they did, it was likely that Fred as well as Annika would be dead.

In answer to her questions, Nate told her that both Baker and Corcoran would make it. Annika’s shot caught Baker in the chest, just missing his heart. A second hit from Sam’s rifle shattered Baker’s shoulder. Sam’s crack shot, the one likely to go down in police annals, took most of Corcoran’s hand. The remainder was amputated in a life-saving measure.

Nate added wryly, “Don’t know if Corcoran likes the idea of being Captain Hook but I’m gonna make sure that’s the only prosthesis that bastard gets—at least at public expense.”

There was a rustle of activity in the hallway. In what was surely overkill, Nate had stationed two beat cops at the door. Annika heard their respectful voices call out in greeting. To her surprise, Police Chief Roberts and Fire Chief Halloran, entered the room.

Chief Roberts spoke first.

“I don’t have to tell you, Lt. Nilsson, how proud I am of your heroic actions. Not only your bravery this afternoon, but also the way you cracked this case. I’ve been on the telephone with those scoundrels Nunn and Wiese and they are singing your praises. Said they’ve never worked with a smarter cop. They admitted they never would have found the shell corporation those bastards Baker and Corcoran formed if you hadn’t put them on to it. Congratulations. By the way, when you’re up to it, give Rolfson a call. That son of a bitch damn near shattered my phone screaming that I’d almost had his best cop killed.”

Looking over at Sam, a grim smile crossed the chief’s stern face.

“Congratulations, Commander. Not only did you save a minimum of two lives today, one cop and one firefighter, but you achieved what I’ve always considered to be an impossible task. You humbled an un-humbleable man, the one and only Detective Stryker.”

The chief waited until the laughter died down, then turned back to Sam. “Nate said in all his life, including his six years in special ops, he never saw a more spectacular shot than the one you took today. I’m impressed, Sam. We all know your reputation. We’ve seen your resume. Not that you had anything to prove, but today you showed all of us how you earned that reputation.”

Sam accepted the applause that followed with a nod and soft smile. “Thank you. Let’s just say that the miracle is that my hand was steady.” He glanced at Annika. “Usually I just have to look at this woman and I start to shake.”

After several minutes of laughter and congratulations, Sam spoke up again.

“Sorry, folks. I hate to pull reverse rank on not one, but two, chiefs
and
my boss, but we’re going to have to call it a night. Nate and I browbeat Lt. Nilsson into spending the night in the hospital. We wanted to be sure she was okay. I think what she needs now is sleep.”

After the group left, Annika gave into the fatigue swirling over her.

Sam came up next to her bed. He leaned over and stroked her cheek.

“You look exhausted, Princess. Give in. Go to sleep, baby.”

Surprised by the tears that burned the back of her eyelids, Annika swallowed hard.

“Sam… I… I’m sorry.”

Sam’s jaw firmed. “Yeah, Princess. We have some things to discuss. But they can wait. Tonight you need to sleep.”

Annika breathed out a deep sigh.

“Will you… stay—”

He interrupted. “Will I stay here tonight? Honey, there isn’t a force strong enough to get me to leave your side tonight. My problem is going to be sitting in this chair rather than crawling in beside you where I want to be.”

~~~

The next morning, Sam drove Annika to her apartment and insisted that she get in bed.

“Look, Princess. Listen up. I know you don’t like following orders but this time you don’t have a choice. It’s just you and me, Annika. And for the next couple of days, I’m the boss.”

Without the ever present noise of the busy hospital ward, Annika gave into the blessed quiet of her apartment and gratefully crawled into the big bed. The knowledge that Sam was beside her, and that he wouldn’t leave, no matter what she said or did, was a comforting thought.

She woke four hours later. Without her asking, Sam rigged up a plastic covering for her bandage so that she could take a shower. After drying her hair and putting on a very revealing pair of satin tap pants and matching halter that Sam had found in one of her drawers, she felt like a new woman. They had a quiet lunch, with both of them avoiding the more challenging conversation lurking in the background.

At her computer, it took Annika more than fifteen minutes to work her way through the dozens of e-mails and text messages from cops and firefighters in Chicadia Falls and Minneapolis. She was overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection from people she’d thought barely knew her.

One message stopped her cold. It was buried in the ones responding to the incident at Lakeside. It was posted two days ago but she’d missed it in craziness of yesterday. Reading then rereading the message, Annika didn’t know how to deal with the conflicting emotions she was feeling. She chalked it up to the shock of seeing it when she least expected it.

“What’s wrong, Annika?” She looked up to see Sam staring at her with a concerned frown.

Annika struggled to respond, instead turned her computer to show him the message from the ATF.

“God, Annika! You did it, Princess.” He picked her up and swung her in a dizzying circle. Settling her back in her chair, he kissed her cheek.

“You beautiful woman you, are going to be an ATF agent. Not that I ever doubted it, but this is wonderful news. Congratulations, Princess. When do you start?”

Annika managed a shaky smile.

“Um… Monday. Five days from now.”

~~~

The next five days were a blur. Sam refused to let her consider leaving until she had an all-clear from the doctors. Finally, convinced that most of her initial training wouldn’t involve strenuous physical activity, the medical personnel signed off. When Sam walked her to the gate in the Minneapolis airport, Annika was surprised at the emotions flooding her. She was excited of course, but she couldn’t let go of Sam’s arm. He obviously felt the same way because when he didn’t have his arm around her shoulders, he was holding her hand. They’d agreed after lengthy discussions that they wouldn’t see each other until she finished the course. Because of her prior training, she would be on an expedited schedule that would be physically and intellectually grueling. With tears streaming down her face when Sam kissed her one more time at the gate, she decided the most grueling part would be missing Sam.

To her astonishment, the three months sped by. She’d never worked harder in her life. Twelve to fifteen hour days were the norm. But every evening she could look forward to some kind of communication from Sam. Often it was a quick text, but many times it was a longer e-mail filled with news. The messages always ended with the same tender closing.
I miss you, Princess. Take care
.
Sam
. Each week that passed she received a gift. Sometimes it was flowers, other times a box of cookies or candy. Annika wondered if this is what Sam had experienced when he was away from home. Did all parents or sweethearts do this? She wouldn’t know. It was the first time it had happened to her. Her fellow classmates started teasing her. Wanting to know what her “lover” had sent that week. Annika just smiled and refused to answer. Sam hardly seemed real to her. She was afraid to acknowledge him publically or he might disappear in a whiff of smoke.

She was stunned by her dreams. Never having thought of herself as a passionate person, Annika was startled by the erotic dreams that intruded on more of her days than she wanted to admit and virtually all of her nights. Small wonder, she chided herself. In the short time that she and Sam had been lovers she’d collected a lifetime of memorable blush-worthy experiences. Rather than quieting her emotions, replaying them only made her hungry for more.

But Annika was a realist. She knew that as exciting as their affair was, it couldn’t last. Men like Sam didn’t settle for one woman. Why would they? Everywhere they turned, eager women chased them. Sam was thirty-six. If he’d ever intended to settle down, he would have by now.

They’d agreed to spend a week on the North Shore of Minnesota to celebrate her graduation. She wanted to see all of her friends from Chicadia Falls before she decided which of the many offers she’d received she would accept. She was surprised and thrilled when she earned the highest grades of any of the trainees in the program. At the ceremony, the Master Sergeant detailed her accomplishment to a cheering audience of trainees and their families.