The Sharps Unleashed Page 6

  Robin and Eric finished searching their original radius of a hundred square miles of mountain side yesterday and had to move north to continue their search. They’ve been driving around for hours, and this is the first real break they’ve had in the case in a week. With the increased number of trucks in the area, it was too hard for anyone to be able to give them reliable information on possible sightings of the trucks they’re looking for. Several people claimed to have seen them parked somewhere, but once they went to the locations, they only found flat beds, and not cargo trucks. They still checked the VIN numbers and tags to be sure, but nothing panned out .

  As they walk into the station to do research on the abandoned saw mills, Andre Brooks and two other officers grab Eric, and cuff him.

  “What the hell are you doing? Get off of him!”

  “Officer Jones, you have the right to remain…”

  “Brooks, don’t you dare read me my rights without telling me what the fuck this is about first!”

  Andre just continues to read him his Miranda Rights, as they march him off to holding. Robin tries to follow, but two officers block her.

  “What the hell is going on?” Both of them glance over their shoulders before looking at her with bewilderment and regret. “We don’t know. The invoice from the crematory came in for the incineration order for those firearms.”

  “And, what about it?”

  “Those trucks were carrying four thousand, five hundred, and twenty-six weapons. The crematory invoice only reported less than half of that, and they claim only one truck arrived.”

  “Why is Jones being arrested? What does he have to do with it?”

  “He signed the release form with the truck drivers.”

  “Have the drivers been brought in?”

  “One is missing.”

  “Let me guess – the one driving the missing truck?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have the Gleasons been brought in yet?”

  “We have three teams out looking for them and a car stationed on their farm waiting for them.”

  “Who ordered the arrest for Jones?”

  “The captain. ”

  Robin storms off and marches straight to the captain’s office. Without knocking, she opens the door and walks in, slamming the door behind herself.

  “For fucks sake, Sharp! Listen…”

  “No, you listen. Jones is being set up and you fucking know it. He was asked to help with the observation of the transfer when you called me in here to give me this goose hunt case from Homeland Security. He was not originally assigned that responsibility. The officers you should be scrutinizing are the ones originally assigned the post and who asked for his help. Who the hell was supposed to oversee the transfer and incineration at the crematory? Why are we just now finding out only one truck arrived?”

  “Sit down.”

  “No, get him out of processing, now!”

  “Sit the fuck down, Sharp, or hand over your badge and gun!”

  Robin’s anger flares and her fists clench. She reaches for her side arm and badge, and he releases a hard exhale as he rubs a hand over his face, scratching his scruffy graying dark brown stubble on his chubby cheeks before running a hand over the balding top of his head. He looks overwhelmed and very stressed. His stress creased forehead is beaded with sweat and oil, even though the office is cool from his open window.

  Before Robin fully removes her badge from her left breast pocket, and her sidearm from her right hip, he motions to the chair across from him, and says, “Please, just sit down.”

  Robin remains standing but takes a step closer to the desk. Understanding that is the best he’s going to get from her, he leans back in his chair and lights a cigarette.

  “Put that out. I don’t want to breathe that shit in.”

  He takes a long drag and then quickly snuffs the cigarette out in the overflowing ashtray on his desk .

  “I don’t believe for a second that Jones had anything to do with that armored truck going missing.”

  “Then why the hell are you arresting him?”

  “To get him out of the way of whoever is trying to throw him under the bus. We obviously have a traitor or two or three, and I need to figure out who the hell it is. If he’s in the box, they can’t frame him for anything new that develops. The officers assigned to oversee the transfer and destruction of the firearms got caught up in a bad traffic incident and claim they weren’t able to get to the crematory. We have tickets issues, and hospital reports to support their claims.”

  “You do understand that his reputation will still be tarnished when you clear him of all charges when we catch the real traitors, right? Not to mention that you just royally screwed me by taking my partner away during a major investigation. We found one of the missing trucks, and there is possible fertilizer residue in its cargo hold.”

  “Goddamn it.”

  He lifts his cigarette to light, but Robin smacks it out of his hand. He releases a hard exhale and pushes back in his chair to stand up. He pulls a bottle of whiskey from his filing cabinet and pours himself a large tumbler.

  “Want a drink?”

  “No, I want my partner released.”

  “Not happening. Not yet.”

  “Why didn’t the security company report the truck missing? Why don’t we have guys following its GPS and getting it back here?”

  “Well, either the route supervisor is a moron or is involved. They had the truck listed in their system as being in a repair shop, not on this assignment. And, of course, the GPS beacons for the truck were deleted from their database, so they have no way of tracking the goddamn thing. Tell me more about this truck you found.”

  Robin fills him in on everything that happened and the saw dust clue. She pulls the truck title from her pocket and hands it over for him to review.

  “Well, that’s a fake, but a good one. There’s no way those stupid Gleason’s were able to make this. They can barely fill in a simple form, let alone create one.”

  “Exactly. They’re just pawns in whatever is going on. That truck was found past the Hollis and Grander Hills intersection, but the tags weren’t picked up by the cameras. That means someone knew about the cameras, and they skirted around them on side streets. Out of towners wouldn’t know about those cameras to be able to avoid them. Whether someone on the force is involved or not, someone from the area is definitely involved in all of this. I need my partner to bring this operation down. I’m not trusting anyone else out there to work with a different officer.”

  “And what do you expect me to do if they plant evidence – just ignore it?”

  “Yes.”

  “For fucks sake, Sharp, are you trying to show all our cards? If we have a traitor in our midst, they’re going to know we’re onto them if I just ignore the evidence against him.”

  “Let them sweat. It will make them reckless and help us to pin them down that much faster.”

  “Give me a couple days to think things over. You keep working the case alone till I figure out what to do.”

  “No. He leaves here a free and clear man today, or I quit.”

  “Look, I know the shit that happened with your old partner…”

  “Don’t fucking talk about that. ”

  “Sharp, cool your head. You need to separate what happened back then from this. I’m not trying to use him or make him take the rap for something I know he didn’t do. I’m trying to protect him and our investigation.”

  “I want to see him.”

  “No. Go home, cool off, and we’ll talk again tomorrow. I know you’re way over qualified for this job, and you’re way more qualified for my job than I am, but I need you to just trust me.”

  Without a word, Robin storms out of his office, throwing the door open. The door slams into the wall, and the opaque glass window shatters to the floor.

  “Goddamn it, Sharp!”

  Robin doesn’t even stop to look back and doesn’t meet anyone’s eyes as they stand and stare in shock at her angered departure. When she’s within a few yards of the exit, Andre walks out of processing with a smug smile and tries to step in front of her.

  “So, your boy toy is in…”

  Robin slams her forearm into his chest and shoves him against the wall.

  “Stay the fuck out of my face.”

  “You know, I really think you two are fucking.”

  “I promise you, if you did this, I’m going to destroy you.”

  Robin releases him, and he roughly grabs her arm, trying to stop her. Robin spins back and lands a hard punch on his jaw, sending his head slamming back into the wall with a stomach churning crack. His head lulls on his shoulders, and he slides down the wall unconscious.

  “Sharp, what the fuck?”

  “Get the hell out of my way, Bradley.”

  “Hey, honey, uh… ”

  “Judy, not now.”

  Robin storms out of the building, and speeds away from the station with her lights and sirens on so she can get through traffic faster to get home.

  Chapter Eight

  Grace quickly jumps out of her car and pulls her pistol out. She looks in Robin’s open police cruiser, with its lights and siren on. She looks around the front yard, and sprints forward to pick up Robin’s patrol jacket. She checks it for blood, she but doesn’t see any. A gunshot sounds in the backyard, and she quickly spins around and sprints along the side of the house with her gun up and ready to fire. She stops at the corner of the house as another shot goes off, and she slowly peeks out from the side.

  She exhales hard in relief and returns her pistol to her shoulder holster under her left arm and walks back to the front of the house. She turns the lights and sirens off and pulls the keys out of the ignition of Robin’s police cruiser. She shoulders her briefcase, grabs Robin’s patrol-jacket off of the ground, and returns to the backyard. Robin is standing in the center of the lawn in just her uniform pants, boots, and a sports bra. She looks up from loading her magazine to continue target practice, and as her eyes lock with Grace’s, her anger turns to sorrow.

  Seeing the sadness wash over her wife, Grace drops her arm load and sprints out to Robin, pulling her into her arms.

  “Babe, what happened?”

  Robin takes a deep breath and runs her hands up Grace’s back, pulling her in hard against her body, and then combs her fingers through her wife’s soft straight brown hair. She kisses Grace’s smooth slender almond cream neck, and slowly lifts her head from her shoulder.

  “Jones was set up and was arrested. I broke the window out of Captain Dobrowsky’s office door, and I knocked out Andre Brooks, after telling him I’m going to destroy him if he did this, all in front of nearly the entire force.”

  “Wow, ok. Why was Eric arrested?”

  Robin pulls her over to sit on a glider on the back porch and fills her in on their investigation and everything they’ve learned, and the new developments today.

  “Are you going to keep your meeting with Hodgins tomorrow?” Robin’s anger flares and she stands up. “My partner is arrested, I’m in the middle of a major investigation of a possible major homegrown terrorism operation in the area, and you ask me if I’m keeping that stupid meeting?”

  Grace stands up and pulls Robin back to sit down with her. She caresses Robin’s cheek and kisses her lips.

  “Yes, because this case is way out of league for the police department. You don’t have the support you need to break this case and make all of those arrests. You need better resources and backup, especially since you don’t have a partner right now.”

  “I’m tired of being so angry all the time.” Robin leans forward with her elbows on her knees, and Grace rubs her strong bareback and shoulders. “I know, babe. I think you need a big victory. Breaking this case could be that big victory you need to break out of that anger you’ve been struggling with.”

  “I’ll keep the meeting. I’m sorry I snapped on you. Seeing another one of my partners going down like this has me feeling very…ballistic. I’m just so angry. I just can’t get this intense need to destroy something out of me. I just feel like I ne ed to take a wrecking ball to that police station or something.”

  “Do you remember the day we met? We had cases that overlapped and had to start working together. I could not stop looking at you. I mean, you’re fucking hot.” Robin releases a small laugh, making Grace smile. “But you also had this intense calm about you that was so sexy. We kept coming up against one bad lead after another and failed interrogation after another, and when we came together to collaborate, the rest of us were fed up. We were angry, frustrated beyond belief, and we wanted to throw a wrecking ball at the entire world. Not you, though – you were so calm and the voice of reason that brought our tempers down and made us really focus. You’ve always been like that. You handle everything as if completely unaffected by it. You’ve been through some really dangerous situations and cracked some really complex cases, but you have never lost your cool like today.”

  “I know. I hate feeling like this and that I can’t seem to conquer myself. You still think I’m hot and sexy, even though I’m angry?” Grace releases a small laugh and pulls Robin into her arms. She gives her wife a firm kiss on her lips, and while she looks in her beautiful blue eyes, she says, “Yes, you’re incredibly hot and sexy. We’re going to get through this. We’re going to get Eric out of jail and clear his name. And we’re going to figure out what the hell is going on around here and bring the assholes to justice. I’ll help you, even if Hodgins won’t give us the resources we need.”

  “Thanks, babe. Come here.”

  Robin pulls Grace into a kiss and smiles as Grace glides her hand down her chest to rest against her clenched ab muscles. After a few minutes, Grace pulls back breathing hard, and firmly kisses Robin’s forehead.

  “Let’s go make dinner. ”

  After Robin collects her pistol and discarded shirt and patrol jacket, and Grace grabs her briefcase, they walk in the backdoor. Grace pulls her blazer off, and as she’s about to remove her shoulder gun holster, Robin wraps her arms around her from behind. Robin kisses the side of her neck, and palms her hands up Grace’s torso, over her stomach and breasts, and then glides down to rest on her hips.

  “You are very hot and sexy.”

  Grace releases a small happy laugh and turns in Robin’s arms. She gives her wife a kiss on the lips, and playfully flicks the tip of her tongue in the bottom dip of her bottom lip once.

  “Thank you.”

  They share a brief kiss and then go to the kitchen. After washing their hands, they pull ingredients out of the fridge and cabinets to make Cajun chicken fettucine alfredo with steamed broccoli and tossed salad.

  While Robin is cutting the chicken into thin cutlets, Grace gets the alfredo sauce heating in a small pot and works on the salad.

  “What do you call a road traveled by bears?” Robin looks up at Grace confused, and Grace smiles and nudges her in the ribs. “Come on, think about it.”

  “Is this one of your corny ‘dad jokes’?” Grace laughs and nods. “I don’t know. What do you call it?”

  “Bear tracks.” Robin releases a small laugh and shakes her head. “That was terrible, babe.” Grace laughs and kisses Robin’s cheek. “Yeah, I know. Ok, what do you get when an apple and a lemon make a baby?”

  “A scary ass miracle. Where the hell are their reproductive parts so I can avoid those when I eat fruit?” Grace laughs hard, making Robin’s face spread into a huge smile. “What’s the real answer? ”

  “Apple tart.” Robin laughs hard and shakes her head again. “That was even worse. Where the hell do you get these things?”

  “Hey, I work very hard on crafting those jokes for your enjoyment.” Robin laughs and leans over to kiss Grace on the cheek. “You’re adorable. Ok, tell me another one.”

  “What do you call a hundred pounds of milk in a blender?”

  “A giant ass blender.” Grace laughs and shakes her head. “Heavy whipping cream.” Robin gives her a genuine laugh of appreciation and nods. “That was good.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Ok, let me try. What do you call a robin with grace?” Grace smiles really big and leans her side against the counter to look at Robin full on. “Tell me.”

  “A happy wife.” Grace’s smile widens and she pulls Robin into a passionate kiss. “I love you, babe.”

  “I love you too. Ok, the chicken is ready to sear.”

  “Ok, I’ll get the pasta going. Hey, isn’t your police ball coming up soon?”

  “It’s next month, but with the new developments today, I don’t know if that will be happening or if I’ll be willing to go.”

  “We’ll have our victory before then. I want to go to the ball with you.”

  “If I go back to my post with the bureau, I might not be able to attend the ball.”

  Grace pouts and wraps her arms around Robin from behind while Robin places the seasoned chicken breasts in a hot skillet with a pair of tongs.

  “But I want to dance with you.”

  “I can dance with you anywhere. ”

  “I want to dance with you at a ball. I want everyone to look at us and think, ‘damn they’re hot together’. I want to be the one with the hottest dance partner in the whole dance hall.”

  “Well, that’s without saying. I mean, I’m smoking hot, babe.” Grace giggles and kisses her neck. “Yes, you are.”

  “But I think they’ll all be drooling over you. You are a level above hot. You’re the highest level of attractiveness.”

  Grace hums against Robin’s neck and ear, and gently nibbles Robin’s ear for a moment.

  “Are you trying to butter me up so I’ll make us a dessert?” Robin laughs a little and shakes her head. “No, but a dessert sounds good.”

  “Ok, I’ll make a pie.”

  “Mmm…Pie.”

  Grace gives her another nibble on her neck, and then turns to start pulling ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. While Robin keeps an eye on their dinner, she watches Grace make a chocolate mousse pie.

  “That looks delicious.” Grace smiles and offers Robin a fingertip dipped in the mousse. Robin slowly sucks it off and savors the rich silky chocolate on her tongue. “That’s amazing.”