Fractured Read online

  Most criminals didn’t check for a pulse on their victims. But unless she missed her guess, her attacker or somebody else did last night. He knew exactly where to check and he relayed the information to somebody else.

  But who? And why?

  She snuggled deeper under the covers and tried to fall back to sleep hoping that maybe she could remember something more. After about ten minutes, she gave up. Besides, she had to go to the bathroom, and her headache had returned with a vengeance.

  Forgetting about Landry sleeping in the bed next to her, she yanked off the covers and padded to the bathroom. On her way back she took two more painkillers, chasing them down with water and a couple of crackers for sustenance.

  Landry was sitting up in bed when she came back. Even though she’d never admit it to him, he looked sexy with his morning beard and ruffled appearance. With considerable effort, she tamped down feelings she didn’t want to surface.

  He was being a good friend when she needed him. That’s it. Sure there was that chemistry between them, but that kind of thing was short-lived, wasn’t it? And, even if it lasted three years so far, it was bound to wane sooner or later.

  “You feeling okay?” His gravelly voice turned up the sexy factor even more, which didn’t make her happy.

  “Just dandy. Now go on back to sleep.”

  When she walked past, he brushed her leg with his fingertip which is when she recognized she had on a lot less clothes than she had last evening when she’d hit the bed. Her bra and panties were on, but nothing else.

  “Did you undress me?” She tried to sound mad, but couldn’t quite manage to pull it off especially when the idea that he’d touched her intimately revved up her hormones.

  He nodded sheepishly. “You were tossing and turning and didn’t look at all comfortable.”

  “Convenient.”

  He held his hand to his chest but smiled. “Me? I’d never take advantage.”

  She shrugged. “When I feel better I’m going to kick your butt for that.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  “Pervert.” She went back to the bed. It couldn’t have taken longer than ten seconds before she was fast asleep once again.

  * * *

  By the time she awoke for the second time, she heard the shower and glanced at the clock. It was close to two. She’d slept the day away. If she ever hoped to get to the bottom of this, she couldn’t be wasting time like this.

  Even if her head still pounded, she had to get on with this investigation. With or without Landry, she was sneaking into her house tonight, if for no other reason than the principle of it. Malone had no viable reason to keep her from her home for all this time except because he could. Thinking about him made her angry which was good because right now she felt like she needed a good kick to get moving.

  She put on her clothes and re-wrapped the bandage on her arm. Next she needed to find her shoes. For some reason she couldn’t quite explain, she wanted to be fully dressed when Landry emerged.

  She found one shoe by the side of the bed but couldn’t find the other. Despite the cautionary voice in her head, she bent down to peer under the bed. Landry wasn’t the best housekeeper. God only knew what she’d find down there.

  “There.” She spotted it lying on its side next to a sliver of pink. “That’s weird.” Maneuvering with her bum arm took her a few additional seconds, but she finally grabbed her shoe and slipped it on. Somehow she couldn’t help but be curious about that thing-that-would-be-pink.

  She bent back down to peer under the bed. Amidst the dust motes, she spotted the pink object and secured it in her fingertips. Then gasped.

  Some other woman’s underwear.

  A thong, yet.

  Something that felt like jealousy shot through her. But that couldn’t be. She didn’t have a jealous bone in her body. But after yesterday, she felt raw and sore and more vulnerable than she had in a very long time. That had to be it.

  Besides, she was on heavy-duty pain medication. That could be another explanation for these disturbing feelings sliding up and down her spine.

  As if that weren’t bad enough, suddenly tears dotted her lashes. Isabella Sanchez did not cry, especially over some underwear that wasn’t hers.

  While she was trying to make sense of these unwanted feelings, the shower shut off. She needed to get her act together. Straightening her back, she wiped the telltale residue from her cheeks and sucked in a deep breath.

  She forced the sensation of betrayal to the back of her mind. She and Landry weren’t married, engaged, or even a couple. That rationale lasted only seconds. When he came out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and a smile on his face, she was seething.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve taken up cross-dressing.” As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep the edge out of her voice. Instead of sounding flirty and funny as she’d intended, she sounded angry and bitter.

  His gaze traveled from her face to her fingertips before his expression changed. “Hey, you and I weren’t together for six months. What did you expect me to do adopt a celibacy vow?”

  Foreign emotions bubbled inside her. She didn’t do jealousy. But this stabbing sensation in her chest made her suspect that’s what it was. What was the matter with her?

  Frustrated, she threw the offending panties into the corner. Once again she tried unsuccessfully to fold her arms in front of her chest only to remember her injury.

  “I expected you not to take up with somebody who wears a pink thong bikini from Victoria’s Secret. How cliché is that?” Even though it sounded silly and childish, she felt better.

  “You’re jealous.” He snorted. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

  “I am so not jealous.” She couldn’t be. If she were, that would mean there was an emotional connection between her and Landry; that was clearly a figment of his imagination, not hers.

  “You sure are. And for the record, you broke up with me. What was I supposed to do, sit around and mope, hoping you’d come to your senses?”

  She shook her head. “That isn’t how I remember it. The break-up was mutual. I did not do the breaking.”

  “Oh, yes you did.” He folded his arms across his chest and rocked back on his heels in the eternal male gesture of superiority.

  As much as she wanted to push at his chest, she feared what might happen if she touched him. Nothing good could happen from getting physical with Landry Taylor.

  “Only after you backed me into a corner.” Why could she stand toe-to-toe with the degenerates of Chicago, but Landry could get her talking in circles and whining like a five-year-old within seconds?

  “Semantics. Admit it. You ran away like a scared little girl. Then you avoided me like the plague.”

  “I did not avoid you.” Well, at least not much. Only when she thought she might be too weak and give in. “I was busy.” She planted her good hand on her hip. He was standing in front of her nearly naked. She could not let him intimidate her. “And don’t make this about me.”

  “But it is. I was perfectly happy with our relationship as it was, then you had to go and freak out.” He remained calm, cool and collected.

  Whereas she was losing it big time if the whininess to her tone was any indication. “You’re the one who had to mention the ‘L’ word.”

  “I know. Crazy, aren’t I?” He shrugged, slipped off his towel and began to dress. “Far be it from me to express my feelings when yours are bottled up so tight they might explode any minute.”

  “How dare you try to psychoanalyze me?” Her heart pounded like a bass drum inside her chest. It hurt even to breathe.

  “Wait a minute, aren’t you the one who went out with that loser, Chad from homicide first?”

  “For the record, Chad and I only went out for drinks, nothing more. I didn’t sleep with him. Not that it’s any of your business.” Even though sleeping with Chad was her original intent. At the time she’d hoped to erase all traces of Landry from her skin. But that hadn�
�t worked like she’d planned. While at the office Chad was funny and intelligent, on a date he morphed into a total braggart. He was obnoxious and boring to boot. “You’ve got nerve bringing Chad up considering the evidence.” She pointed to the offending pink object, hoping to further her point. “There’s a difference. I have scruples. I didn’t yank some guy off the street to get laid.”

  “Why are you assuming it was somebody I met at a bar, or picked up off the street? Maybe the thong belongs to somebody you know.” He smirked.

  This was exactly what she’d feared all along. She wanted it to be some random stranger he’d plucked off the street because of the woman’s long legs or easy smile—neither being characteristics Isabella possessed. Now she had to rationalize her overwhelming compulsion to find out the name of the mystery woman. Even though deep inside she knew it was more than idle curiosity.

  “Don’t even tell me it was Eve? That slut has slept with half the department.” What had gotten into her? She never had a nonsensical tirade like this with any man.

  Stop. Stop. Stop.

  He shook his head. “It wasn’t Eve.”

  “Darla? Tanya? Gretchen?” She was on a weird kind of mission, one that made her sad and insanely—okay, she’d admit it to herself but never to him—jealous at the same time.

  He folded his arms across his chest. “Nope.”

  She sucked in a breath. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” She realized that no matter what, he’d never give up a name. Which was probably just as well. She’d never be able to look at whoever the mystery woman was without thinking about the pink thong panties and seething.

  Maddeningly, he chuckled. “I can’t believe you’re this jealous.”

  “For the record, I’m not jealous. I’m…hmm…curious.”

  “Yeah, right.” He nodded and headed for the kitchen. For him it seemed that the discussion was over.

  For her, it burned like a red-hot poker to her chest, sending searing pain throughout her body.

  “What do you want for lunch? We have leftover pizza, but I’ll warn you it might be past its prime by now. There’s also some kind of frozen lasagna thing, or frozen sirloin beef tips that don’t taste much like beef at all, or—” he turned to look in her direction.

  After the blast of anger, she felt like a balloon somebody had popped with a pin, slowly deflating until there was nothing left but a wilted blob. “I’m not really hungry right now.”

  “You should eat.”

  “Don’t mother me.”

  “If you want to feel better, you need to fuel your body, simple nutrition.” He grabbed his keys from the counter. “How about I get you the Cantonese shrimp that you like so much from the place around the corner?”

  Despite stubbornness, her stomach grumbled. She knew he heard the noise when he smiled. “I guess I could manage a half order.”

  “No problem. I’ll be back in a few.”

  Even though she didn’t like it, for the time being, she’d be at Landry’s mercy. But after that, she’d make her break and be more independent.

  And alone.

  Just how she liked it.

  Right?

  Chapter Ten

  Landry tried not to smile as he walked inside the apartment. Never in a million years would he have believed Isabella would go off like that about another woman. Knowing her like he did, he figured she’d managed to retreat into her unemotional shell during his short absence. That’s where she was most comfortable.

  “Food’s here.”

  She avoided looking at him as she walked into the kitchen, grabbed two bottles of water and sat down at the table. “I’m hungrier than I thought.” She glanced at the writing on the top of the cartons before sliding one in front of her and opening it up. Reaching inside with a set of chopsticks, she secured a piece of shrimp and popped it into her mouth. “Hmmm. This is better than I remembered. It’s been a long time.”

  He reserved comment, instead digging into his own food. “Did I tell you I found Leo?” Landry asked as he picked through his moo shu pork.

  She finally looked at him. “Ah, no. Kind of a big thing to forget to mention.”

  “You were too busy going off on your jealous rampage. I forgot.” He smirked before taking a sip of water. “I got the call while you were sleeping. He got arrested last night for vagrancy.”

  “Nobody gets arrested for vagrancy unless they’re taking a wiz on the mayor’s lawn or something.”

  “I guess he must have jacked with the wrong cop because they hauled him in last night.” It seemed like an odd coincidence to Landry as well, but the last thing he wanted to do right now was feed into her paranoia.

  “Is he still in custody?”

  Landry shook his head. “He was released this morning.”

  “If I go back to Wells and North he should be there.” She spouted out the information as if thinking out loud rather than to him.

  “Doubt it. From what I hear they told him to lay low for a couple of days or he’d get pulled back in.”

  * * *

  Jonas was driving, so Landry kept watch on their surroundings. They worked one of the roughest areas in the city. Letting your guard down here could literally mean life and death.

  He never knew from one moment to the next what he’d be doing. He could be writing a speeding ticket or being first on the scene of a drive-by shooting. For his rookie year and the first couple of years thereafter, he’d been able to push back the discontent with the occasional adrenaline rush. But even family tradition and loyalty had its limits.

  While he’d never regretted joining CPD, he knew all along it wasn’t enough which is why he never followed through with the promotion to detective. He knew his time there was limited. Change was hard, especially when the road was paved with uncertainty. But still in many ways he felt like he was living a lie.

  Telling his family of his decision would be hard. It was ironic how both he and Isabella had difficulties with their families, but for opposing reasons. She had a disconnect with hers, while he had too much of a connection.

  Isabella. While he urged her to trust him and encouraged her to let him in emotionally, he’d held back as well.

  “Will you look at that?” Jonas interrupted his thoughts and pointed out the window.

  Instinctively, Landry glanced in that direction. “Why do you suppose those two are getting so friendly?” The Kings and Aces were rival street gangs, but they stood together talking without the usual macho posturing, and not a weapon in sight.

  “Maybe they need a little police protection to make sure they stay friendly.” Jonas pulled to the curb, doing a short whoop of the siren as he did so.

  The group glanced in their direction but kept talking. Landry exited the passenger side and walked toward them. “Good to see you guys can play nice when you need to.” He placed his hands on his hips and examined their faces. A nervous kind of energy seemed to emanate from all of them. Something was up. Something big. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing much. Like you said, we’re playing nice.”

  “Yeah, right.” Jonas gave them the fierce stare he’d perfected over his years on the force.

  When they did the good cop, bad cop routine, Jonas always played the bad cop despite the fact he was about four inches shorter and fifty pounds lighter. He was older, and more of the father figure most of these kids never had. But with hardcore types, who’d been indoctrinated into the lifestyle, anything they tried had little effect. Their life, their loyalty belonged to the gang.

  “Hey Paco, you seen Ramirez lately?” Landry thought he might float the idea out there. Ramirez had been MIA since he’d gotten out of jail a couple of weeks ago. Not knowing what the guy was up to was starting to make him nervous.

  Paco shook his head a little too vehemently. “Nope. I think that bitch cop scared him and he left town.” His comment caused a chorus of guffaws from the other boys at the corner.

  Despite the fact Landry wanted to grab the k
id and knock some sense into him, he bit back the anger. “That’s right. I think you mentioned Ramirez was a bit of a sissy boy last time I brought you in.”

  Paco glanced from one guy to the other. “Hey, I never said that.”

  “Hmm, maybe it was you, Carlos. Or was it Jerome?” He let them all question each other for a few moments before he shrugged. “What does it matter, he’s not around, right? I guess that means somebody new is taking over.” He glanced at Jonas. “Who do you figure that will be?”

  Jonas shrugged. “They’re all a bunch of knuckleheads if you ask me.” He started to laugh and turned back toward the squad car.

  “You guys let us know when you come up with somebody.” Landry walked back and got into the passenger side door. As soon as he settled in, he glanced at Jonas. “What’s that all about?”

  “I don’t know, but somehow I don’t think we’re going to like it.”

  Seconds later, his cell phone rang. “Taylor.”

  “Your girlfriend is putting a lot of pressure on the powers that be about moving back into her place,” Malone said.

  “I’m not surprised.” Landry knew there’d be repercussions from the thong incident. After her jealous display, no doubt she’d want to put some distance between them once again.

  “I’m going to give the okay to let her back in. Do you think you can coerce her into letting you stay at her place?” He didn’t let Landry answer before he continued. “I wish she’d stay by you. It’s much more secure. Anybody I put on her, she’s probably going to make quickly. And with the alley behind her, that makes her twice as vulnerable.”

  “I’ll do what I can on my end, but chances are your guys are going to have to take over at least for a couple of days.” Landry suppressed the shudder. “And this time don’t screw it up.”

  He hung up the phone and stared absently out the window. There wasn’t a chance Isabella would ask him to stay with her. Even when they were hot and heavy, she had a two-day sleepover limit. No doubt she’d be hyper-vigilant about maintaining her space now.

  “Who was that on the phone?” Jonas’s question brought back his focus.