CHAPTER ONE

Three years later County Task Force HQ, vice squad office

"I ask for one lousy female and I get another grunt dug up out of who the hell knows where!" Lieutenant Ty Jamerson slammed down the file he held on the nearest surface, which happened to be his desk. Glaring at Jase, who'd had the misfortune to hand him the file, Ty grunted in male understanding. He wouldn't kill the messenger. After years of working together, Jase knew it, too. He grinned back good-naturedly.

"Maybe we can dress him in drag," Jase offered. "Get him some falsies and get him up onstage." He laughed heartily. "Now that'll draw every creep outta the woodwork."

Ty ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair. He'd be glad when this assignment was over. The last three years in vice had taken its toll on him and his team. They needed to come up for air soon, or they'd morph into the seedy underworld counterparts they sought to put away.

"Serious up, Jase," Ty chastised. "We've lost one of our own. It's balls to the walls now." The high energy in the room accelerated.

"She's just missing," Reese said.

Ty glanced across the room at Reese, another brother in blue and his longtime point man.

Ty slammed his hands down on the desk. "Just missing? Just missing for two weeks? What about the other two, the ones who've been missing for months? I'll bet my retirement those ladies are either dead or worse. Shipped off to some third-world sheik for his amusement."

Ty stalked the short space of the stuffy room, his frustration nearly out of control. He spun around and stopped, glaring at both of his men. "I told those brass assholes we needed an experienced officer, not some fresh-faced male rookie six months out of the academy." He looked down at the scattered file on the desk. "Now they can't even bother to read my request form. I need this"—he grabbed the file and looked at the name tab—"Phil Zorn like I need another one of you dickheads."

As he turned away he stopped in his tracks, realization dawning, then grabbed the file and opened it. His eyes scanned the information. "Shit!"

He tossed the file back onto the table, and the door to the small office opened. Three sets of eyes widened, and one set narrowed.

Philamina's heart plummeted to her knees. This was a mistake, she thought. Not even close to what she'd put in for. Two men she did not recognize smiled—no, leered—the other, the one who she hadn't stopped thinking of the past three years, scowled.

She felt like a sacrificial lamb who had just walked into a den of hungry wolves. She swallowed and steeled her nerves. Her last three years in IA hadn't taught her to shrivel up and die. No, she'd learned a few things about survival, even among these beasts.

Phil contemplated Ty's tall muscular frame, his long dark hair, and the severe cut of his short goatee. He looked every bit the hard-ass he'd sold to the grunge underworld of vice. Her heart picked up an unsteady pace. No way was she going to let him see how he affected her. She smiled, exuding confidence. "So, you made lieutenant. I thought for sure you would be hosing down kennels at the pound by now."

"I thought for sure you would be riding a meter cart handing out unwarranted parking tickets." Ty's cock twinged. He admired her tall slender form. Couldn't help it. She still came across prim and proper in a sleek navy pantsuit, but now experience, and no doubt anxiety, gave her soft features some depth. Her eyes, that unusual shade of dark blue, no longer held that hungry, I-want-to-get-the-bad-cop gleam. No, something else replaced that first flush of bravado he'd found so disconcerting three years ago. She'd grown up some, and the new mature lady cop before him unnerved him more than the innocent firebrand.

"What's the rat squad want with vice?" Despite the hum his body produced at her entrance, he wanted her out of his office and out of his life. He had no room in either for a distraction like her.

"Officer Zorn reporting for duty, sir."

Ty swore under his breath. Neither Jase nor Reese wasted a minute in welcoming what Ty had specifically asked for, an experienced female officer to go undercover. In their zeal to welcome her, they bumped into each other.

"Sergeant Reese Bronson at your service."

Ty scowled when Bronson kissed her hand.

"Knock it off, Bronson, she's a cop, not the frickin' queen of England." He moved in and pushed Bronson aside. "You're mistaken, Zorn, your services are no longer required here."

Copyright © 2006 by Karin Tabke.