“You realize, Lieutenant, that these are extremely serious times for you. The videotapes of you having—”

she stopped here, sniffed as if smelling an exceptionally foul turd “—having relations with your fellow officer are one thing. We’re going to have to deal with these charges separately. What’s most germane to this particular discussion is the video of you shooting your fellow officer. In cold blood, I might add. This is looking very bad for you, my girl.”

God, the woman’s ridiculous enunciation and emphasis made Taylor want to scream. Instead, she spit, “Oh, sure, let’s just skip over the fact that we all know that isn’t the truth and that I shot David Martin Judas Kiss

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in self-defense. He was trying to kill me. Might I add the grand jury agreed with that assessment, as did your office?”

“Taylor,” Price warned.

Taylor clenched her teeth together. When she didn’t speak, the Oompa jumped in.

“Well, Lieutenant, I must say that the video is quite damning.”

Taylor didn’t ungrit her teeth. “The video has obviously been doctored.”

“So you claim, Lieutenant, so you claim. But that’s not such an easy thing, now is it? Stepping on your peers on your way up the ladder wasn’t enough for you?”

“What?” Taylor swung her gaze to Price, who was sputtering with indignation.

“Captain Norris, I resent that implication. Lieutenant Jackson’s record is spotless, she earned her way into the position. You are completely out-of-bounds here.”

“Am I, Mitchell? You’ve had this girl’s back covered for years. Perhaps it’s time to let her stand on her own, spread her wings, and see if she can actually fly.”

“I don’t see that this is the time for metaphor, Delores. We’re talking about the career of one of the most decorated officers in the department, a woman who has the respect of the troops and her management.”

There was no question of the implication of Price’s statement, and Taylor fought to keep the smile off her face as the Oompa’s head began to explode. The painfully proper elocution vanished.

“How dare you imply that I don’t have the respect 266

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of the troopsss! Why, I’ll have you know that I’ve been commended no lessss than four times for my devotion to this department—”

“Delores.” Price leaned forward, his eyes narrowed.

“I’m not implying anything about your career path. I’m just saying that in addition to being an excellent officer, Lieutenant Jackson has forged the respect of her peers through exemplary fieldwork, as well as years of investigative practice. She’s an asset to this organization. She tells me that the video was doctored, that she did not shoot Detective Martin in cold blood, and I believe her. I’ll fight you to the death on this one, Delores. Trust me on that.” Price’s fury was barely contained. He ran a hand over his bald head, where beads of sweat were starting to form.

Taylor was shocked. She couldn’t remember ever hearing her boss tell a superior to fuck off, but he’d just done it. And the Oompa knew it. She darkened to an unhealthy puce and returned her red glasses to her face to cover her discomfiture. She finally cleared her throat and looked at Taylor again.

“Well, my girl, that was an impassioned plea on your behalf. Suppose you tell us what happened that night.” She flipped on a tape recorder that sat at her elbow. “For the record, of course.” The Oompa smiled, and it was a nasty thing to behold. Still four shades of angry, she looked like a possessed Potato Head doll. The Mister version, not the Missus.

Taylor shook that image from her head and looked to Price, who was frowning, obviously still upset. He nodded, twisted a finger through his thick mustache.

“Taylor, tell us exactly what happened. Don’t leave anything out.”

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Taylor sat back in her chair and blew out a breath. She had a few choice things to say to Delores Norris, but she’d have to bite her tongue. No sense getting into a pissing match with the woman who had a say in her eventual sentence. She nodded at Price, took another deep breath, and began.

“Okay. Trust me, every single detail of that night is etched on my brain. It’s not like I could forget.” Taylor brought up that evening from her memories, forehead creased as she recited the story.

“I was trying to decide how to tell Captain Price what I’d discovered. I must have picked up the phone ten times in ten minutes. I knew how bad this looked, knew it was going to ruin careers. But it had to be stopped.”

Taylor hit redial, heard the call connect and start ringing, then clicked the off button and returned the phone to her lap. If she made this call, there was no going back. Being right wouldn’t make her the golden girl. If she were wrong… well, she didn’t want to think about what could happen. Losing her job would be the least of her worries. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.

She set the phone on the pool table and went down the stairs of the cabin. Stepping into the kitchen, she opened the door to the refrigerator and pulled out a Diet Coke. She laughed to herself. Like more caffeine would give her the courage to make the call. She should try a shot of whisky. That always worked in the movies. She snapped open the tab and stood staring out of her kitchen window. It had been dark for hours, the moon was gone and the inky blackness outside her 268

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window was impenetrable, but in an hour the skies would lighten. She would have to make a decision by then.

Taylor turned away from the window, eyes unfocused. There was no other way. She couldn’t, wouldn’t compromise herself for that fool. An unfamiliar sound brought her back to the moment. It sounded like the transformer at the base of her driveway, a deep electronic humming. A fraction of a second later there was a loud crack, then the lights went out. Her heart pounded and she chided herself. Silly girl, she thought. In this section of Bellevue, the lights blew out all the time. Nashville Electric Service had a crew on call for this area twenty-four hours a day. It sounded like a simple power surge had caused the lights to blow. Now stop being jittery. You’re a grown woman, you’re not afraid of the dark.

She reached into her junk drawer and groped for a flashlight. Thumbing the switch, she cursed softly when the light didn’t shine. Batteries, where were the batteries?

She froze when she heard a different, softer noise. She went on alert, all of her senses going into overdrive. She strained her ears, trying to hear it again. Yes, there it was. A scrape, just off the back porch. She took a deep breath and sidled out of the kitchen, keeping close to the wall, moving lightly toward the back door. Her hand went to her hip and found nothing. Damn it. She’d left her gun upstairs.

The tinkle of breaking glass brought her up short. The French doors that led into the backyard had been breached. It was too late to head upstairs and get the gun. She would have to walk right through the living Judas Kiss

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room to get to the stairs. Whoever had just broken through her back door was not going to let her stroll on by. She started edging back toward the kitchen, holding her breath, as if that would help her not make any noise.

She didn’t see the fist, only felt it crack against her jaw. Her eyes swelled with tears and before she could react, the fist connected again. This time, her teeth exploded into her mouth and blood sprayed from her lips. She spun and hit the wall face-first. The impact knocked her breath out. She felt the intruder grab her as she started to slide down the wall.