Linda Castillo - Cops and…Lovers?

"Of course I can. And I plan to. Very, very slowly."

"Give me your word you won't hurt her."

Something flashed in the depths of his reptilian gaze. Something cold and lifeless that sent a chill to the depths of her soul. "I want you to know what it feels like to lose something precious."

Panic gripped her, twisted her insides into knots. Erin struggled openly against her bonds. The wire cut into her wrists, but she didn't care about the pain. All she could think of was Stephanie, and the father who loved her.

Awkwardly, she struggled to her feet. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you."

Cold amusement sparked in his eyes. "You're in no position to threaten me, Officer McNeal."

"No, I'm not. But I'm here. I kept my part of the deal. My hands are tied. I'm yours, DiCarlo. I'm a cop, and I shot your only son. Do with me as you please, but let that little girl go. Let her go, and I'll play your twisted game with you."

"You don't have a choice."

"Let her go." Her voice was low and hoarse. "Please."

Shaking his head as if she'd offended him, he said, "Ah, but I'm not a child killer."

Erin wasn't sure why, but she believed him. She believed that if DiCarlo had planned to kill Stephanie, he would have done so in front of her just to make some sort of twisted point. Just to make her suffer before he killed her. The realization made her sag with relief.

He looked at the thug on her right. "Put the child in the car." DiCarlo's eyes shifted to the other man. "I'll meet you back at the chopper when I'm finished here."

The two men stepped back, then retreated, leaving her alone with DiCarlo. For the first time, Erin considered the very real possibility that she would die at the hands of this man. The possibility that she would never see Nick again. Never hear her name on his lips. Never see him smile. She would hurt him one final time, she realized. Just as he'd feared she would. The irony made her want to sob.

Another corner of her mind, the part that thought like a cop, wondered if he'd found the recording. If he was on his way. If she could somehow get her hands on the revolver in her ankle holster.

"Get down on the ground, Officer McNeal."

He's going to kill me , she thought with an odd sense of calm. Execution style. His trademark. The realization made her nauseous.

"Get on the ground, or I'll kill you where you stand."

She stared at him, unable to move, unable to believe it had come to this. "Don't do it," she said, starkly aware of the holster pressing against her right ankle.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't like killing, Officer McNeal. Particularly women. But I'm a firm believer in an eye for an eye. Besides, I've got an image to maintain. So, if you don't mind, get down on the ground and let's get this nasty business over with."

Nick took out the last thug just as he was getting into the limousine. Using his billy club for silence, Nick put him down with a single blow. The thug fell into the mud like a sack of flour. After disarming him, Nick cuffed him to the undercarriage of the car and left him in the rain.

Praying he would find his daughter in the limo, he swung open the door. Stephanie cried out, the sound going through Nick like his lifeblood. Dropping to his knees in the mud, he gathered her into his arms and held her tight while tears burned his eyes and waves of relief shook him through and through.

"Sweetheart." He kissed her cheek, her forehead, the top of her head. "Hey, are you okay?" His voice broke as he closed his eyes and took in her sweet little-girl scent.

"Daddy." She sobbed in his arms. "Daddy, I'm scared."

"It's okay, honeybunch. I'm here. You're safe." He tightened his arms around her. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, but those men were mean. They said a bunch of bad words."

Clenching his jaw against the emotion gripping him, he eased her to arm's length. "Where's Erin?"

"She's in the big building with another man. I think he's bad, too. They tied her up, but Erin wasn't even scared."

"I've got to go help her. I'm going to take you into the cornfield to hide. I want you to stay there until I come for you, okay?"

Wiping her nose on her sleeve, Stephanie nodded. "I'm still scared, Daddy."

"Everything's going to be fine. I promise." Loath to leave her alone, but knowing he didn't have a choice, Nick worked off his jacket and slipped her arms into it. "Here's my jacket so you don't get wet."

"'Kay."

Scooping her into his arms, he started toward the cornfield a dozen yards away. Several rows in he stopped and set her gently on the ground. His heart broke when she looked up at him.

"Don't leave me, Daddy," she whispered. "I'm scared."

Nick dropped to his knees, pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. "I love you, honeybunch. You stay put for me now, all right? No matter what happens, you stay right here. I'll come back for you."

"You promise?"

Because he couldn't speak, Nick nodded, praying he'd be able to keep his promise.

Slipping his service revolver from his holster, he broke through the rows of corn and started toward the wide entrance of the grain elevator at a dead run.

Erin stared down the barrel of DiCarlo's pistol. She couldn't believe it had come to this. She couldn't believe she was going to die.

Oh, God, Nick, I'm sorry I hurt you.

Oh, how she'd wanted to spend the rest of her life loving him. The thought ripped through her heart. He might not love her in return, but there was no doubt in her mind he cared for her. She'd seen it in his eyes. She'd felt it in his touch. Now, just as he'd feared, she was going to get herself killed.

"Get on the ground, Officer McNeal. I'll do us both a favor and make this quick for you. It wasn't the way I had it planned, but I like you-you've got guts. I have no desire to hear your screams." DiCarlo's voice rose over the drone of rain on the roof overhead. Cold. Surreal. More frightening than the gun in his hand.

He raised the pistol. "Do it now."

Her heart hammering out of control, Erin got down on her knees. Her mind rebelled against what would happen the instant she lay down. She tried not to think of everything she would leave behind. Nick. Stephanie. The dreams that would never be. She tried not to imagine the pain of a bullet. Whether her death would come quickly, or if DiCarlo would leave her to die slowly despite his words.

Gathering what little emotional strength she had left, Erin forced her gaze to his. "I'm not going to lie down for you. If you're going to kill me in cold blood, you're going to do it while I'm looking you in the eye, DiCarlo."

Her voice shook, but she didn't care. Her spirit cried out to defy him, and bound as she was, at his mercy, this was the only way she could.

"I have no compunction about shooting you this very moment. Most people don't like to see it coming."

Nausea rose into her throat, mingling with the fear in a cold, bitter mass. "I'm going to be sick," she said.

He made a sound of annoyance. "How does it feel to be so afraid? To know you're going to die? Those are all the things my son felt when you put a bullet in his chest."

"I warned your son. He shot me first."

"Liar."

"Your son didn't give me a choice."

DiCarlo stared at her as if she were a piece of cheap furniture. "You never knew that Danny Perrine was expecting my people in the warehouse that night, did you?"

Shock speared through her fear, tangling her thoughts. "You're lying-"

"He was our target that night, Officer McNeal. Not you. He'd asked for more money. It always annoys me when cops want more than they're worth. He got his just rewards, didn't he?"

Her brain couldn't digest the information. After six months of guilt, six months of blaming herself, to learn her partner had been dealing with the devil all along was too much to absorb. The sense of betrayal was bitter and acute.