Seal It With A Kiss (McClellan Trilogy) (20 page)

“I couldn’t. What would I do with my house? I can’t just leave it empty and I’m not ready to sell it.”

“Rent it out. I’ll help you screen candidates.”

“You have all the answers—don’t you?”

“The only answer I don’t have is the yes from you.” He pointed out.

“Then I guess I have to say yes!”

Walking into the house Charlie nearly attacked Holly. He jumped into her arms and when she set him down he kept weaving in and out of her legs. “You missed me didn’t you Charlie?”

Brock came up behind Holly pulling her into a hug and spoke into her ear, “No more than I did.”

Supper with Brock’s parents went well—they adored Holly, which is exactly what Brock thought would happen. On the drive home, Holly told Brock that she needed to stop by her house to pick up some clothes for the next day. “I packed a bag for you when you were in the shower this morning. It’s waiting for you in the bedroom.”

With a shocked look on her face, “You were pretty confident that I would say yes—weren’t you?”

“No, it’s only enough for tomorrow—it’s not like I packed your whole closet or anything.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Brock woke Monday morning to find that Holly had already showered and fixed breakfast. He wasn’t surprised, but he wished that she had woken him so that he could have held her for a while before getting up. This whole ‘living together’ experience was all new to him. First of all he never let anyone sleep over as he hated the awkwardness that the morning brought with it, and secondly he never wanted anyone to live with him before Holly came along. He felt a sense of completeness when it came to her. Like a kindred spirit of sorts. When he wasn’t with her, he was thinking about her and trying to hold onto the memory of her scent, how she felt in his arms, the way she was so passionate when they made love. She completed him—plain and simple.

“Hey? Are you getting up today?”

Brock didn’t realize that Holly had even entered the room, “Yeah, sorry guess I was daydreaming a bit.”

“Really? About what?”

“Not about what, about whom?”

“All right, then
whom
were you daydreaming about?”

“Come back to bed and I’ll show you.” He said as he pulled the covers back in an invitation.

“Can’t—we need to get moving. The arraignment is at nine this morning and I want to be there.”

Brock quickly showered, dressed, and grabbed what he could take along to eat on the ride into work. “I think we need to tell Captain Lewiston about us.” He suggested.

“What do you think will happen?”

“I don’t know. He may reassign us, but whatever the outcome, I think we need to tell him.”

Brock stopped at the break room and grabbed a cup of coffee before he and Holly knocked on the captain’s door. “Enter.”

Brock greeted him, “Good morning Cap.”

“Detective Cavanaugh—Detective McClellan. Are you here to discuss the arraignment?”

“No sir, it is more of a personal nature.”

“Personal huh? Okay, what is it then?”

“Captain, I wanted to let you know that Detective Cavanaugh—Holly and I, well, we are pursuing a personal relationship.”

“Making it official then are you?”

“Excuse me sir?”

“Detective McClellan, I wasn’t born yesterday. I could see the sparks and all the tension that hung around you two like a thick fog since I paired you up. I didn’t say anything because I wanted to see if you both could work through it and to see how effective you would be on this case. I have to say that early on, I didn’t think it was going to work at all, but I am happy to see that you have not only captured the serial rapist, but you have all the makings of a great team.”

Brock and Holly glanced at one another in shock. “Thank you Captain.”

“Don’t go thanking me yet. If I see that it starts to become a problem, I will split you two up, and if I have to send one of you to another precinct, I will. Now if there isn’t anything further, I expect you two to attend that arraignment. The prosecuting attorney is Jared Holt. He is fairly new in the DA’s office, but from what I hear he is ruthless. Now get out of here.”

“Yes sir.” They said in unison.

“Oh, one more thing.”

“Yes sir?” Brock said.

“Keep this relationship on your own time. Let me be clearer—I don’t want to see any PDAs here at the office. Do you understand me?”

“Absolutely Captain.” They said in unison.

When Brock and Holly entered the courtroom, the defendant was already seated with his attorney at the front of the courtroom. They made their way to the second row and sat down. The judge listened to the charges against the defendant and Attorney Holt’s recommendation to remand him into custody until DNA results came back with no bail. The defense attorney stood and pleaded his client’s case, stating that the subpoena to discover scratch marks on his client’s body was unfounded, and that he had no priors up to these current charges. He requested that the judge grant bail stating that his client was not a flight risk as he had family locally.

After consideration, the judge sided with the defense attorney and set bail at $50,000.00 and ordered the defendant to not leave town. The defendant rose, stared directly at Holly and grinned, mouthing the words, “See you soon peaches.”

Brock jumped off the bench with the intent of attacking him when Holly grabbed his arm and held him back with all her strength. “I’ll kill him—let me go.” He growled.

“No, he is provoking you. This is the reaction he wants. Don’t let him win.” Holly said putting her hand on his chest.

“That son of a bitch touches you, and I swear to God—he’s dead.”

“I handled myself just fine once already and I will do it again if I need to.”

“He’ll be ready for you next time—being prepared won’t be enough. He knows what he is up against now, and since you took him down, he’s going to make this personal.”

He followed the prosecutor out of the courtroom and grabbed his arm. “How the fuck did that just happen? I thought you were supposed to be tough—I sure as hell didn’t see that today.”

“Calm down detective—as soon as the DNA results can confirm he is our man, he will be behind bars the rest of his life.”

“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down, he didn’t attack anyone close to you. Did you see what he did when he stood up just now? He is coming after Detective Cavanaugh—I can guarantee it.”

“I can talk to the judge and get a restraining order if you would like.”

“You might as well wipe your ass with a restraining order. I know how those damn things work.”

“It’s only going to be a day or two at the most. As soon as the results come back, you’ll be the first to know.” Attorney Holt pointed out.

“I’ll be fine detective. I told you—I can defend myself.” Holly interjected.

Brock looked at Attorney Holt with rage in his eyes, “If he comes near her or touches just one hair on her, he will never have his day in court because he will be a dead man.”

“I wouldn’t be making those declarations in public if I was you Detective.”

“Do you think I really care?” Brock looked towards Holly, “I will be your second skin until we get those results back and that son of a bitch back where he belongs—behind bars. You won’t go anywhere without me. Do you understand?”

“I don’t appreciate this possessive caveman attitude you’re displaying.” Holly said as she stomped off down the hallway and got into the elevator.

Brock ran after her just missing the door as it closed so he hit the stairs at a run. When the elevator door opened, he was standing there waiting for her. “Don’t do that again.”

“What I said didn’t sink in I see.” Holly said angrily.

“Damn it Holly—this isn’t a joke.”

“No, it’s not. I understand that. I also understand that you feel a need to protect me, but I can and will defend myself, if and when I need to.”

Brock reached for Holly’s hand and pulled her aside for privacy. “I’m sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to come across like that, but I just don’t want anything to happen to you—I can’t let anything happen to you. I wouldn’t be able to handle losing another partner.”

“Partner? That’s all I am to you?”

“NO! You know what I meant. Holly, you are more than my partner—I am in love with you. I want to marry you.”

Holly stared at him not knowing if her ears were working properly or not. “Did you hear me Holly?”

“I don’t know. Was there a question somewhere in there?” She asked.

“Shit Holly—this isn’t at all how I rehearsed this in my head. I wanted to get your dad’s approval this weekend and then surprise you next week.”

“You were? That’s why you wanted to meet my parents?”

“Yes, that and the fact that I really wanted to meet them to thank them for raising such a strong, amazing, beautiful, woman.”

“You did?”

“Yes. So what do you say?”

“Oh, no you don’t. First of all, I didn’t hear a proper question and secondly my dad would be extremely hurt if you didn’t get his approval first.”

“Does that mean you will say yes then when the time comes?”

“I guess you will have to wait and see.”

“Damn it Holly.”

She grinned at him as she placed her hand in his, “I think we had better get back to the precinct and see what our next case is.”

Captain Lewiston met them outside of his office and motioned them in. “I hear court didn’t go the way we had hoped it would.”

“That’s an understatement sir.” Brock responded.

“I had a feeling that Judge Walker would rule that way. He tends to like all the evidence to be in order before an arrest.”

“That’s a bullshit way to run a courtroom. He let a rapist and murderer go free today.”

“Until he has the proof in his hands, he doesn’t think so.” Captain Lewiston pointed out.

“He had better hope nothing happens in the next few days then.” Brock warned.

“Here’s your next case.” He said handing a stack of folders to Brock.

“What is it?” Holly asked.

“A series of high-end home invasions—artwork, jewelry, and silver are the top items taken. These homes have pretty sophisticated security systems, but the perp or perps seem to be able to disarm them. They are usually in and out in under ten minutes. It has to be an inside job of some kind, but we haven’t been able to connect any dots between the homeowners. The homes seem to be in different subdivisions and on opposite ends of town. There have been four in all with the last one occurring three weeks ago. Are you two up for it?”

“Absolutely Captain.” Holly responded.

“Great. You can get started on it immediately.”

Wednesday morning Brock received a call from Attorney Holt. “The DNA matched up with our perp with a 99.9% probability.”

“That’s great news! I’ll have a couple of officers go pick him up right away.”

Brock hung up and dialed O’Malley to tell him to pick up Todd Jenkins. “We’ve got him now!” He said to Holly. “DNA is a match. O’Malley is heading out to pick him up as we speak.”

“Then it’s over?”

“Yes—it’s over.”

Holly and Brock packed Friday morning for their flight to Tampa later in the day before heading to work. The day was a blur to Holly as she was worried about getting to the airport on time and making their flight. Once they were settled in their seats, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you sure you’re ready to meet my parents?”

“If they are anything like you, I will love them.”

“Then you Detective McClellan, are going to be in for a surprise!” Holly said with a grin.

“What the heck does that mean?”

“You will see soon enough!” With that, Holly put in ear buds and began listening to music.

In just over two hours, the plane was landing in Tampa. They got to the lobby of the airport when Brock heard an audible scream and a man and woman were waving their arms and running towards them. Holly took a deep breath, squeezed Brock’s hand and said, “Ready or not, here they come!”

Her mom wrapped her arms around Holly before kissing her on the cheek, “We’re so glad you came to visit for the weekend and when we heard that you were bringing someone with you, well that just thrilled us even more honey.”

Brock surveyed Holly’s parents noticing that her mom wore spandex pants with an oversized floral top, her hair was long and wavy, and she wore sunglasses that appeared to be three sizes larger than they should have been. Her dad on the other hand could have walked back into the sixties and not looked out of place. He reminded him of John Lennon. Her dad extended a hand to Brock, “In case you missed it, we’re Holly’s parents. I’m Steve Cavanaugh and this here’s my wife Gladys. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

When he didn’t let go of Brock’s hand, Brock returned the greeting, “Nice to meet you. I’m Brock McClellan…”

“OH! You’re the fella that called asking if we were in an accident almost a month ago!” Gladys exclaimed.

Looking at Holly, “Now why would you have told him that? I just don’t understand.”

“Mom—dad—can we just not do this here? I’d like to get to the house and get settled in. It’s been a really long day.”

They headed out to the parking area, placed their luggage into the trunk of the car and headed out onto the freeway towards their house. Brock and Holly were sitting in the backseat when she leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Are you okay?”

He nodded, “You really should have warned me.”

“What? And miss the expression on your face?”

Brock and Holly’s parents spent the next day and a half getting to know each other better, and Brock found that he really did like her parents—quirkiness and all—he even saw a little bit of that in Holly in the way she talked to Charlie like he was human. Now he knew where she got it from and it all made sense to him. He chuckled at the thought. It was almost time to head back to the airport and he had yet to ask her dad for his approval to marry Holly. He saw an opportunity and he took it. “Mr. Cavanaugh?”

“I thought I told you to call me Steve.”

“Sorry—Steve, can I have a moment to speak with you alone?”

“Sure, how about we grab an iced tea and head out to the patio.”

Iced tea in hand, they sat down at the patio table. “Seems you have something on your mind, Brock.”