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  Missez

  Sherryl D. Hancock

  Copyright © Sherryl D. Hancock 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any person or persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Vulpine Press in the United Kingdom in 2018

  ISBN 978-1-912701-13-1

  Cover by Claire Wood

  www.vulpine-press.com

  Thanks to all the hair bands of the eighties, you helped me make it through my teen years! Rock on!

  Also in the Wild Irish Silence series:

  Sparks

  In the Fast Lane

  Hitz

  ♫

  One ♫

  The day Jerith and Nicolette were to leave to go to Hawaii, a vacation Jerith had arranged for them, Nicolette had a retirement luncheon to attend. She told Jerith it was important for her to go, since the man retiring had been one of her training sergeants when she first started with the department. Jerith asked if it would be out of line for him to go with her.

  “I don’t see why it would be,” Nicolette said.

  So Jerith went. He was surprised by Nicolette’s friends at the department. They seemed very wary of him—about which he wasn’t surprised—but they seemed to accept him when Nicolette told them they were going to Hawaii that evening. It was as if her being serious enough about him to go on a vacation with him meant he must be okay.

  Jerith observed the easy interaction between the officers. There was a lot of joking and ribbing going on, and Nicolette took some of it. She also received a lot of congratulations on the incident she’d been involved with.

  One of the officers said, “Good guys one, bad guys one less,” while patting her on the back. There were no jeering comments, which Nicolette told him in a whisper was rare. The man retiring, Sergeant Rick Dumas, came over and gave Nicolette a hug. Nicolette introduced him to Jerith, and they shook hands.

  “That was a good shoot the other day, Collie. Don’t let those assholes at IA try and tell you different. Textbook, is what it was—textbook,” he said, his hands on her shoulders, his expression serious. “Hell, he even shot first, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, Sarge, he shot first,” Nicolette said, grinning. “I got the bruises to prove it.”

  “Take video!” Dumas said. “That’s all anyone’s convinced by anymore!” With that he moved on to his other guests, and Nicolette turned back to Jerith. He was giving her a strange look.

  “What?” she asked, smiling at him, as they walked over to their seats at the table.

  He grinned. “Collie?”

  “Oh. Yeah, Dumas has always called me that. I always thought it was kind of cute.”

  “It is,” Jerith said. “Is it because of the red hair? Or just a play on your name?”

  “Kinda both, and he said I was true and loyal like Lassie.”

  “Huh?” Jerith was confused now.

  Nicolette shook her head. “It’s a long story.”

  “I got nowhere to go—tell me,” Jerith said, interested in everything about this woman.

  “Okay… Well, Dumas was my training sergeant when I first got out of the academy. I told you that, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We rode together for my first six months, and we had an incident about five months into the ride. He was accused of assaulting this woman. Well, the truth was, she was one of those women who thought her looks and a flash of cleavage would get her out of a ticket. When Dumas asked her to step out of the car, because he was sure she’d been drinking, she got rude. She got out and started cussing at him. I’d just finished checking out the passenger side of the car and found a bottle right on the front seat. Anyway, she got panicky when she saw me hold up the bottle and tried to run. One of her high heels got caught in a crack in the pavement, and she started to fall. Dumas made a grab to keep her becoming intimately acquainted with the blacktop, but in the process got a handful of hair to make the save. But she started to struggle to get away from him. He tried to put her back on her feet, and she tried to wrench way, and since he’s so tall, one of the points on his badge got her on the cheek. She screamed bloody murder, but we hauled her in for a Breathalyzer. She was way over the limit and we booked her and got her cheek looked at.

  “Well, two weeks later Dumas gets a notice to appear—the woman was suing him for assault under the color of authority. Dumas has always been a ladies’ man, and a lot of people outside the department, mostly the media, believed her. There was a lot of pressure from the top to settle the case, and they kept threatening Dumas that if it went to trial he wouldn’t have a job anymore. The department didn’t want to be in the public eye on this one. Anyway, I stood by him, and so did a lot of other cops. But I testified on his behalf. I saw it as my job; he saw it as a true act of loyalty.” Nicolette shrugged. “I’ve never been able to convince him of anything different. But that’s when he started calling me Collie.” She said the last with a grin.

  “Hmmm,” Jerith said, looking contemplative. “It is an interesting variation on your name…”

  “Try it and you’re dead,” Nicolette said, grinning widely.

  Jerith held up his hands defensively. “Threats, Ms. Harris?”

  “That’s Mrs. Harris,” someone said from behind him. Nicolette looked up to see John’s father, her father-in-law.

  “Dennis,” Nicolette said, as if at a loss for words. She looked from the older man to Jerith and then back at John’s father. “Hi… I… uh, Dennis, this is Jerith Michaels. Jerith, this is Dennis Harris, Ryan’s grandfather.”

  Jerith looked stunned, but he managed to turn and shake the older man’s hand.

  “How are you, Nicolette?” Dennis asked, moving to sit beside Jerith after a not-too-friendly handshake. Jerith turned to look at Nicolette, wondering what he should do or say to this man. It was obvious Dennis Harris was not fond of the idea that Nicolette apparently had someone other than his son now.

  “Fine, Dennis, fine,” Nicolette said, her eyes flicking to Jerith as if trying to tell him something. Jerith wasn’t sure what, but he assumed she didn’t want him to say much. Jerith nodded slowly, suddenly finding something interesting about the tablecloth as he stared at it intently. There was a very tense silence.

  “So,” Dennis said, his deep baritone breaking the quiet. “Mr. Michaels, what is it you do?” His tone was derogatory, as if he assumed it couldn’t be much. Jerith suspected correctly it had a lot to do with his long hair.

  “I’m a musician,” he said simply, glancing back at the older man and then over to Nicolette. She looked embarrassed about Dennis’s question, and Jerith could detect a hint of anger in her green eyes as well.

  “A musician…” Dennis said, his tone still critical. “I see. And you’re seeing my daughter-in-law?”

  “Apparently,” Jerith replied evenly.

  “Uh-huh.” Dennis didn’t sound taken aback at all. “And how long has that been for?” he asked, but he was looking at Nicolette now.

  “Dennis,” she said, sighing. “Don’t start, okay? What I do now is no longer your concern, so let’s just drop the third degree.”

  “The types of influences my grandson comes into contact with are still my concern, young lady,” Dennis snapped.

  “Well, maybe you should have thought about that fifteen years ago,” Jerith said, half under his breath.

  “What?” Dennis said, his vo
ice low and threatening.

  Jerith turned to give the older man a brazen stare. “I think you heard me.”

  “What the hell do you know!” Dennis said, his face growing red.

  “I know that instead of making your son do the right thing by Nicky, you hauled him off, giving him the break you must have thought he deserved.”

  “You listen to me,” Dennis said, standing. Jerith followed suit. “You don’t know shit about me or my son, and if you think I’m going to stand by and let some drugged-out lowlife hang around my son’s wife and son, you got another think comin’!”

  Jerith didn’t say anything. He just shook his head, his face a mask of calm. He was waiting for the man to throw a punch. He could feel it coming, and he hated like hell to have to fight back, but he would if he had to. Fortunately, other officers had come over, many of them in Nicolette’s unit. They cajoled and dragged Dennis away from Jerith, but Jerith’s eyes stayed fixed on the man as the officers moved him away, and Dennis watched him as well.

  When Harris was out of sight, Jerith sat down heavily in the chair next to Nicolette. She was watching him.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, reaching out to touch his hand.

  “No,” Jerith said. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I lost my cool. I just didn’t like the way the guy was acting, like his son was so innocent in all this, you know?” His tone was beseeching, and Nicolette appreciated his faithfulness.

  “Yes. I’m just sorry it got to that—I didn’t warn you that John’s father is a cop too, and that he might be here.”

  “Well, no, you didn’t, but I’m a big boy and I can handle myself in just about any schoolyard, even one as tough as yours.”

  “That’s right, you’re from Jersey. I almost forgot,” Nicolette said, smiling.

  Jerith leaned back in his chair and nodded. “There you go.”

  The rest of the luncheon was thankfully incident free. Nicolette’s shooting was mentioned a number of times, especially by Rick Dumas in his speech.

  “You see,” Dumas said at one point, “that’s why being a training sergeant was important to me. That little girl”—he pointed down the table at Nicolette—“could have died less than a week ago, but I’d like to think that some of the training I gave her saved her life.” Nicolette nodded seriously. “Not only did she keep herself from being killed, but she saved a fellow officer, and got the bad guy too. As we like to say, tried, convicted, and sentence carried out in a fraction of a second. The shoot was clean; Collie walked away for the most part unharmed.” His smile was benevolent as he gave her a cavalier wink. “But she did good, and that’s the important thing. And it’s gonna take IA a hell of a lot of twisting to get her on this one. No matter what the fucking press is saying. Anyway, I know retiring as a sergeant isn’t real glamorous, but I’ve been a part of a lot of you guys’ and gals’ training, and I was happy to do it. Thanks for thirty great years.”

  There were tears in the sergeant’s eyes when he sat down, and in a lot of other officers’ eyes as well, including Nicolette’s. Jerith saw it and reached out to take her hand, squeezing supportively. She nodded, smiling.

  On the plane to Hawaii, Nicolette was taken aback by the first-class cabin. She’d never been in first class before, and she really hadn’t relished the idea of the five-hour flight in a tiny little space. As she glanced around, she looked a bit shell-shocked.

  “You okay?” Jerith said, smiling slyly.

  “This is just… wow, Jerith. This is so nice. Thank you.”

  His blue eyes sparkled. “We could do this all the time, you know.”

  “Aww, I think I need to stay a bit grounded in reality,” she said, smiling to take the sting from her words.

  Jerith nodded as the flight attendant came by, telling them to fasten their seatbelts and smiling widely at Jerith, her hand lingering on his arm a bit longer than necessary.

  He glanced over at Nicolette as he took his seat on the aisle. He could see she was amused by the attendant’s extra attention.

  “What?” he asked, his smile bright.

  She laughed. “You know what.”

  Jerith was relieved that she didn’t seem to be the jealous type at all. He’d been with women who’d thrown fits when another woman paid too much attention to him. Nicolette was definitely not that type of woman.

  They’d just taken off when Jerith looked over at her. “Nicky?”

  “Yes?” she replied, looking out the window, her mind on other things.

  “This shooting review thing…”

  She turned to look at him. “Uh-huh.”

  “It’s more serious than you’re letting on, isn’t it?”

  Nicolette didn’t answer at first. Finally she nodded. “Yes, it is.”

  “How serious?”

  “Serious enough it could end my career real quick,” Nicolette said, her tone forcibly light.

  “Jesus…” Jerith breathed. “But everybody said you were justified. Dumas said it was textbook…”

  “That doesn’t always matter. Not everything is tried in court, or in these hearings—a lot of time they’re tried in the media.” She shrugged. Jerith knew what the press had been saying. “If there’s enough pressure, they could just decide I’m not worth keeping.”

  Ever since the night of the raid, the press had been flooding Sacramento’s residents with reports about how the “victim” had been a father of three, a businessman. They claimed he was trying to protect his kids and that he hadn’t understood the police officer busting into his home. The press hadn’t mentioned, except in a minor note, the $80,000 they’d found in a safe in the home. They made a big deal about the fact that no drugs were found, though. Nicolette had told him she hadn’t expected to find drugs, that the man had been the money guy for the drug organization, and that the product never entered his home, just the cash from the sales.

  “But that’s ridiculous, Nick,” Jerith said in a harsh whisper. “The guy shot you!”

  “I know,” she said tiredly. “Like I said, that doesn’t always end up mattering in the end. If the man was trying to defend his family, he’d have been justified in trying to shoot an ‘intruder.’”

  “But you wear stuff that identifies you as the police, don’t you?” he asked, having seen enough of Cops to know that much.

  Nicolette nodded. “Big yellow letters. He knew who we were, Jerith. There’s no question in my mind—it’s the board I have to convince.”

  “This has been a big stress on you this week, hasn’t it?” Jerith said, eyeing her closely.

  “It’s been a factor, yes.”

  “And you didn’t tell me anything.” Jerith sat back in his seat, looking aggrieved.

  “I’m sorry, Jerith,” Nicolette said, sounding like she was. “I just didn’t think you’d understand. I guess I’m a little narrow-minded when it comes to cop stuff, you know?”

  “Yeah. Next time at least try me, okay?”

  “Let’s hope there isn’t a next time,” Nicolette said, grinning.

  “I mean on other stuff too.”

  “Yes, dear,” Nicolette said, grinning still.

  “You’re hopeless,” Jerith said, the beginnings of a smile on his face. He reached over then, touching her under the chin and lifting her face to his. He kissed her, and she felt her whole body light up. They hadn’t made love all week—he’d refused to take a chance on hurting her—so his deep kiss affected her a little bit more than it would have normally. She felt like a kid again, like they were making out in the backseat of his car. She didn’t know everyone in first class was watching them.

  They made a striking couple, with her deep auburn hair and petite frame, and his blond good looks and obvious presence. Many people had watched them from the moment they’d stepped onto the plane. Now, as they kissed, wives elbowed their husbands, telling them they wished someone would kiss them like that. One of the saltier men replied, “If you looked like her, I’d want to ravish you too.”

  Jerith and N
icolette heard that comment, since the couple was sitting right behind them. Nicolette started to laugh first, then Jerith did too. They spent the next four and a half hours getting to know the people in first class. Some passengers recognized Jerith and asked for autographs, and he obliged happily.

  Nicolette watched him associate with the passengers and saw how easily he was able to charm them. He moved among them like he was just anyone else. It was very obvious that his stardom meant very little to him. She watched him charm a little girl, and then an old lady. She saw him shake hands with an older man and give a simple, “cool” nod to a younger one. Jerith knew how to deal with people; he didn’t offend anyone. He was polite and sweet to the ladies, charming but polite to the girls. He was courteous to the older men and joked with the younger ones. By the time they landed, Nicolette had seen yet another side of Jerith Michaels, and in her opinion it was a very endearing one. He even let a little girl who was traveling alone sit with them on the landing, because she was afraid. He held her hand the entire time, while her big blue eyes stared up at him adoringly. Jerith glanced over at Nicolette, now sitting on the other side of him—the little girl got the window. Nicolette smiled at him, and he returned it with a brilliant smile of his own.

  When they got off the plane they were met by a limousine. Nicolette gave Jerith a narrowed look, knowing he had gone all out because she’d let him. He’d questioned her the week before as to where she wanted to go, and she had told him that anywhere was fine with her. He had made all of the arrangements, and she had given him free rein. The limousine took them to the Hyatt Waikoloa, one of the most beautiful hotels on the island. They had landed on the “big island” of Hawaii—Jerith had told her that it was the best one to relax on. Nicolette believed him, having never been anywhere other than San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico.

  They were quickly shown to their room, a large, luxurious suite with a fair-sized private balcony overlooking the ocean. Nicolette stood there looking out while Jerith tipped the bellhop. He walked out and stood behind her, putting his arms around her waist.