Smokescreen Read Online Free Page A

of an old van? She frowned at the van a moment—it wasn’t one she’d recognized, and though she had the plate memorized to give to her P.I. boss if it became necessary, she already knew it didn’t belong here. The vehicles that parked here regularly, she knew. The ones she didn’t know—customers of this sort or that—never hung around long enough to become noteworthy.
    Please don’t tell me he’s going to take pictures from there.
    She should have let him get into trouble with the pimp earlier in the evening. They didn’t need him here, not when they had the infamous ex-husband spreading threats and intimidation so indiscriminately that he actually had a chance of locating the refuge. This man wasn’t the ex’s style in thugs, but he could still inadvertently put this place on Scalpucci’s radar.
    Oh, things just kept getting better. The Captain’s sturdy silhouette appeared in the first-floor window. She’d spotted the interloper. No doubt she’d seen him earlier, too—once the local pimp had joined in the party, no doubt every one on the block had seen them. Any moment the Captain would be out to deal with Sam’s oblivious if chivalrous interloper, filling her own reputation as a bad-ass lady cop who’d retired young with the cloud of controversy over her head. Excessive force, intimidation, planting evidence…
    None of that was true, but it helped to set the scene. And it spoke of the woman’s dedication to her refuge. Sam’s interloper didn’t have a clue what would soon be headed his way. But it was Sam’s job to spare the Captain this kind of confrontation, especially when she already had her hands full. Sam’s job—her personal commitment—was to keep the impending moment from happening.
    Sam made herself unnoticed—an instant of concentration, a twinge of feeling from deep inside to tell her she’d done it right—and went to intervene. The Captain still lingered at the door and if Sam moved fast enough, she could head off the whole mess.
    She reached the van and grabbed the man’s shirt collar, hauling him back and yanking him off balance so he could only backpedal in an effort to regain his feet. His stifled yelp gave her grim satisfaction; she’d meant to startle him, and she’d succeeded.
    But he recovered more quickly than she ever expected. His back up against the van, he didn’t even give her a chance to speak. “Back the hell off, lady—I’m here for a reason and I’m not leaving.”
    “You’re trying to piss her off?” Sam nodded toward the house. “It hasn’t occurred to you that she must damn well be able to take care of herself or she wouldn’t be living here?”
    “She’s not living here, she’s—”
    Sam scoffed. “Of course she lives there.” And the Captain did. Always on hand to look out for her refugees. “If she sees you she’s going to come out and—”
    His fingers, held to her lips, came as a great surprise. They were too gentle to be part of this confrontation. “Exactly,” he said, and his voice matched the gesture. “This is exactly where I want to be.”
    “No,” Sam said firmly, “it’s not.” Clever. Really clever. That would be sure to convince him. So she backed her words with action, and grabbed him by thearm and got him several steps down the street before he managed to disengage himself.
    “Holy freaking—” something. He muttered it to himself and Sam couldn’t catch the words, but she understood the allusion well enough.
    “Batman?” she said. “I’m trying to save your butt again and you’re quoting Batman at me?”
    He gave her a funny look. Almost a wounded look. “Robin,” he corrected her. “And it wasn’t a quote. It was just…along those lines.”
    “Great,” she said. “Just great.” But she prodded him a few more steps down the street while she was at it. A glance told her that the Captain was on the house stoop, knowing Sam was out here, hesitating long enough to see if she would handle things.