Debra Burroughs - Paradise Valley 04.5 - The Color of Lies (3 page)

“I guess a soda or two wouldn’t hurt—as long as they’re diet.” She shrugged and took a sip of coffee, grinning back at him. “All right, you’ve convinced me.”

“Need a ride?”

Chapter 4

“Sounds like she had a close call there,” Ernie said.

Colin stood and stretched, remembering her knack for getting in harm’s way. “It was. She had a few of them.”

“But you two weren’t dating yet, were you?”

“No, it took me awhile to get her to break her rule.”

“The no-dating-cops rule?” Ernie asked.

“Yep, that’s the one.” Colin took his seat again.

~*~

In the weeks that followed, Miranda and Colin had worked together and hung out with friends after work. Colin had asked her out alone on several occasions, but she’d always shot him down. Over time, though, Miranda began to soften on her stance to never date a cop, specifically him, and she’d finally said yes.

“Don’t make me regret breaking my rule, Detective Andrews.”

“I’ll do my best, Officer Cruz. Pick you up at eight?”

They went out, and as the weeks turned into months, Colin and Miranda spent more and more time together—dinner at Tarantino’s on Fisherman’s Wharf, picnics in Golden Gate Park, walks along the beach, hiking in the hills on Angel Island—and their romance blossomed.

After six months of dating, he took Miranda to meet his parents. His mom insisted on making lunch and serving it on the deck. The sun was shining high in the sky, peeking between puffy white clouds, and their deck had a partial view of the bay.

While his dad was doing his best to entertain Miranda out on the deck, Colin went to the kitchen to help his mother carry the food outside.

“What do you think of her?” Colin asked, stepping beside his mother as she tossed the green salad.

“She’s beautiful, honey. Seems very nice.”

“I’m glad you like her, Mom. I think I’m falling in love with her.”

“Oh, dear. That worries me, Colin.”

He looked at her and noticed worry lines around her eyes. “Why?” He picked up the platter of grilled fish with one hand.

His mother turned to face him. “I worry enough about you, hon. I know how dangerous your job can be. And Miranda’s a cop, too, right?”

“Yes…” he said slowly. What was she getting at?

“Well, dear, if you marry this girl, you’ll both be out there,” she waved her hand toward the window over the sink, “putting your lives on the line every single day. What about the children?”

“What children?” Colin grabbed the serving bowl of rice pilaf with his other hand.

“My grandchildren,” she said, poking him in the chest with her index finger.

He frowned. “Oh.” He hadn’t thought that far ahead. He and Miranda hadn’t even talked about getting married yet, let alone kids.

“Exactly.”

~*~

Ernie leaned forward in the chair, resting his hands on his knees. “I remember your mom and dad mentioning you dating Miranda—and they liked her. But you’re right, your mom did say it made her nervous knowing you were dating another cop.”

Colin nodded. “You know moms, they drop little thoughts into your head and,
bam
, before you know it you can’t stop thinking about what they said.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, after that, when Miranda would be in the field with me, I found myself trying to protect her, giving her the safest positions.”

“You loved her. You wanted to keep her safe. That’s understandable.”

Colin shook his head. “It was unprofessional of me. The other officers’ lives were just as important—or least they were supposed to be.”

~*~

Colin pointed at a house up ahead. “There’s the address,” he said to his partner, who was behind the wheel of their unmarked car. “Pull over.”

They had learned that their suspect, Antonio Jones, was visiting his girlfriend in a rundown flat. Going to the door and knocking, they announced themselves.

A young black woman, looking like she had just gotten out of bed, answered the door. “Whatchu want?” she asked, scowling at the men.

“I’m Detective Andrews, this is Detective Spencer. We’re looking for Antonio Jones. Is he here?”

“Whatchu want wit’ him?”

“Just want to talk to him, ma’am,” Colin said.

“He ain’t here. He was, but he’s gone now.” She started to close the door when Charlie forced his hand out to stop it.

“Mind if we look around?” Charlie asked.

The woman glared at him. “You got a warrant?”

“How about we arrest you as an accessory to murder?” Charlie countered.

“Murder?” the woman shrieked. Her eyes grew big. “Lordy, lordy, what’s that fool gone and done now?” She shook her head. “I’m not goin’ to jail for that piece of—”

“We need to look around, make sure he’s not here, ma’am,” Colin said. “Because, if you’re lying to the police—”

“Well, you can save yourselves some time, boys. He ain’t here.” The woman poked her head out and glanced up and down the street, then lowered her voice, as if she was afraid of being overheard. “He’s over at Winston Hardaway’s place, but you can’t tell him I told you that.”

Colin and Charlie exchanged a glance, then Colin returned his gaze to the woman. “Winston Hardaway? The drug dealer?”

“Yeah, that’s him, but I’m good as dead if he knows I told you cops anythin’.”

“We won’t tell him. Promise,” Charlie said as he pulled a small notepad and pen out of his coat pocket. “What’s the address?”

The woman gave them Winston’s address, along with cursory directions.

“If you’re lying and Antonio is here,” Colin warned, “we’ll be back with that warrant, and you’ll be the one who gets hauled to jail.”

“I ain’t lyin’. Check it out,” she said, pointing at the address on the notepad. “Just don’t go tellin’ him you heard it from me.”

Colin and Charlie climbed back in their car.

“What do you think?” Charlie asked.

“Let’s get some backup. If that woman’s right, we could be walking into a dangerous situation.”

“I agree. Call it in.”

Colin phoned the station and asked for six uniforms to meet them out front. He gave the address and instructions to congregate half a block north of the property.

“You got your vest on under that dress shirt?” Charlie asked.

“Always. You?”

“Yup.”

~*~

Charlie and Colin met with the officers, explaining the plan and where each of them should go. One of those officers happened to be Miranda. As Colin spoke, his gaze met hers and he thought again about what his mother had said.

“Cruz, you and Humphries stay out front on the sidewalk. Watch for any runners.”

Counting on the element of surprise, Colin and the others gingerly climbed the steps to the porch. Colin motioned with his hand for two of the officers to go around back. As soon as they were around the side of the house and out of sight, he kicked the front door open. With guns drawn, he and Charlie rushed inside, followed by the two remaining officers.

Several men scrambled around the living room, guns blazing, firing at the police as they dove for cover. One ran down the hallway and Charlie pursued.

Colin pulled back behind the entry wall and quickly glanced out the front window. Humphries appeared to be just below the porch and Miranda was standing on the sidewalk, their guns leveled, prepared for any action spilling out of the front of the house. A bullet whizzed past Colin’s head and he returned fire.

Another perp made a run for it toward the bedrooms and Colin followed under cover fire from one of the other officers. The gunfire in the living room had stopped, when he heard what sounded like a shot fired out in front of the house. In the hallway, he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Adamson, back here!” Colin hollered, and the officer came running from the direction of the living room.

“I have to go out front. One of the gang members ran into the bedroom. Check it out, then find Charlie.”

Colin burst out the front door, his gun raised. Antonio Jones had grabbed Miranda from behind and was holding a gun to her neck. Colin looked around for Humphries and found him splayed on the walkway, blood pooling beneath his head.

“Let her go, Jones!” Colin yelled.

“Hell no! She’s my ticket outta here.”

Colin kept his weapon zeroed in on the man as he descended the porch steps. He shot another quick glance at the officer on the ground. “I had intended to take you in alive, Mr. Jones, but now you leave me no choice.” Colin’s voice had turned steely cold.

“I got the girl. Whatchu gonna do?” he asked, taunting Colin. “You shoot me, I’ll shoot her.”

“You know how it works, man. You kill a cop and there’s no place you can hide.”

“I ain’t goin’ back to jail,” Jones said, the nose of his gun pushing into the soft skin under the right side of Miranda’s jaw.

Colin looked from Antonio to Miranda, and she signaled with her eyes that she would pull to the left. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod.

“One last chance, Antonio,” Colin said, his gun raised and aimed. He paused for a second, waiting for a reply. “No?”

Miranda thrust her head to the left and Colin took the shot, nailing her captor in the forehead.

He stumbled backward and fell to the sidewalk, dead.

“Are you okay?” Colin asked, exhaling loudly.

Miranda scooped up her weapon and holstered it as she ran to him. He put an arm around her briefly. She was shaking, but he couldn’t comfort her long—he had to check on Officer Humphries, who, having taken a gunshot to the head, was either dead or clinging to life, thanks to Jones.

They both dashed over. Colin put two fingers to his neck. “There’s a pulse, but it’s weak. Radio it in.”

Miranda placed a hand on Humphries’ shoulder. “Hang in there, buddy.” She quickly rose to her feet and used her radio, reporting an officer was down, calling for an ambulance and a transport vehicle before giving the address and cross streets.

Colin glanced up briefly as Charlie and the other officers hustled a couple of remaining gang members out of the house in cuffs.

Charlie looked down at Colin, still hunched over Humphries in the walkway, then over at Miranda. “What the hell happened out here?”

“Jones snuck up behind me,” she explained. “I don’t know where he came from.”

“He must have climbed out the bedroom window,” Colin said, rising.

“Humphries was facing the front door,” she said, “and Jones shot him as he was turning back toward me.”

“Where’s Jones now?” Charlie asked, glancing at Miranda again, then back over to his partner.

Colin pointed across the yard to the sidewalk where Jones lay. “He gave me no choice. I had to take the shot.”

~*~

Ernie sat back and crossed his arms. “Sounds like you saved Miranda’s life, Colin.”

“I did my best to keep her out of harm’s way.” Colin lightly stroked Emily’s limp hand with his fingers. “All she had to do was keep watch.”

“Sometimes things are beyond our control, son, no matter what we do.”

Chapter 5

“After the incident with Antonio Jones, I was put on desk duty,” Colin said, “while the shooting was investigated.”

“Sounds typical.” Ernie nodded. “They have to make sure it was a righteous shoot.”

“Yeah, I get that, but it was hard to watch my partner and the others out working the streets and solving cases.” Colin pressed his back against the chair and looked directly at Ernie. “At least it gave me time to think about my relationship with Miranda, and where we were headed.”

“You mean marriage?”

“Yes, marriage, children—you know, all that.”

Ernie grinned. “I remember when I proposed to Martha. I was scared spitless.”

“It’s a scary thing. You want to get it right. So, one night I phoned my dad and talked to him about Miranda, marriage, the whole nine yards. I even asked him if he thought she would marry me if I proposed.”

~*~

“Son, the only way you’ll know is to ask the girl,” his dad said.

So, Colin decided he would take Miranda to a nice dinner, then they would go to his favorite spot with a spectacular view of the Golden Gate bridge.

The next evening, after he had made dinner for her at his apartment, they snuggled on the sofa.

“Did you realize it’s been nearly a year since we started dating?” she said.

“That long, huh?”

She jabbed him playfully with her elbow. “Yes, that long.”

He smiled down at her and she raised her face, her lips full and soft as he kissed her, his fingers weaving into her long, dark hair. “I love you, Miranda.”

“I love you, too.” She kissed his neck and nuzzled there. “Thanks for keeping your promise.”

“My promise?” He pulled back a little and gazed down into her warm brown eyes.

She sat up and her lips curved into a seductive smile. “Yes, to not make me sorry I broke my dating rule.”

“Well, if we’ve been dating for a year, then we should do something to celebrate. Why don’t you let me take you out for a fancy dinner this Saturday night?”

“Sounds wonderful.” She slid her hands behind his neck and pulled him into a long, deep kiss, and he was all too happy to comply.

~*~

“Is everything all right, Colin?” Miranda asked, as they finished dinner at Tarantino’s. “You’ve been kind of fidgety all night. You nervous about something?”

“Nervous? No, I’m fine,” he said, smiling across the candlelit table at her, hoping she didn’t notice his hands trembling. He wiped a thin film of sweat off his forehead. “It feels a little stuffy in here. How about we get out of this place?”

“All right, if you’re sure everything’s okay.”

Colin took care of the check and escorted Miranda out into the moonlight. The salty sea air was refreshing. “Let’s walk a little.”

They strolled around Pier 39. The shops had closed and the crab vendors were packing up, leaving only a few people milling around the area.

Colin led Miranda down the wooden path that surrounded Tarantino’s to the boat docks that were nearly full with sailboats and a few small yachts berthed there. Lights twinkled around the bay and the view of the Golden Gate Bridge was breathtaking.

They stood against the railing, his arm draped around her shoulders, taking in the beauty of it all.