Buch lesen: «Her Cop Protector»

CHAPTER ONE

WHEN JUNE ENTERED the air-conditioned chill of the North Beach Pet Shop, dozens of colorful birds came to life with raucous squawks. Well, no wonder. She glanced up at the bell rigged to clang whenever the front door opened. An early warning system.

To her left, a tall man in his forties behind the counter nodded at her. Colorful tattoos curled around both of his biceps. Piercings in both ears and his left nostril. “Let me know if I can help you,” he said.

“Just looking,” June said, in her best attempt at portraying a bored browser. She’d gotten good at that.

He returned to reading a magazine. Was this guy the owner or an employee? That would make a huge difference in his reaction in the next few minutes.

She sniffed the air to detect any foul odors. Mostly old cedar chips from the bottom of cages. Not too bad. At least this shop kept the smuggled birds in fairly decent conditions.

June snuck a glance to the rear wall, where the birds continued their noisy protest in floor-to-ceiling cages. A majority of monks. Some yellow-headed amazons and a few macaws. Exactly what the informant had reported. Birds flapped obviously clipped wings in futile attempts at liftoff. A few made it off perches and slammed into the wire barrier blocking their escape with a disappointed shriek.

June bit her bottom lip and looked away. After the initial rush of sympathy, familiar anger mushroomed inside her chest, making her heart rate ramp up. No good, June. Remain calm if you want to help. Inhaling deeply, she lifted a container of dog shampoo from the display next to her and pretended to study the ingredients.

Remember, these birds are the survivors, she reminded herself, allowing the breathing technique time to work. Triple or quadruple this number didn’t survive the journey.

She strolled toward the right side of the store, where an assortment of puppies romped or dozed in five-by-five wire cages stacked one on top of the other. A honey-colored cocker spaniel eyed her hopefully as she approached. When he reared up on his hind legs, she reached through the wire and stroked his soft head. This immediately gained the attention of a feisty Jack Russell terrier who pounced over to nudge the spaniel out of the way.

Too bad she couldn’t save these furry sweeties. Their lives were equally sad, but disgustingly legal, products of puppy mills all over the country. She tested the air again. Definitely less pleasant on this side of the shop, but lingering disinfectant made the smell tolerable.

She glanced back at the clerk. He kept his head down and remained focused on his reading, so she continued toward her target: the birds. She needed evidence. Even from a distance of six feet she could see that their legs were banded, supposed proof of being bred in captivity. But she knew better. The barbarians now created counterfeit bands to thwart the Fish and Wildlife Commission’s attempts to curb smuggling.

As if counterfeit bands could make this group of wild birds appear tame.

Of course, FWC didn’t approve of her unorthodox methods. Even less of her trips to South America with the Tropical Bird Society to stop poachers at the source. Bird smuggling was hardly a high priority to the US government. They were much more worried about drugs. FWC didn’t have enough manpower or budget to stop thousands of birds from being murdered each year.

She reached inside her jeans pocket, fingers tightening around her phone. She needed one good peek at a counterfeit band for confirmation. She’d take photos, enlarge them and she’d have her proof.

The door clanged behind her, signaling the entry of another customer. Her heart tripped into a faster pace again, but maybe this arrival would provide a distraction from her own activities.

The clerk murmured a greeting, and the newcomer, a male, grunted a reply as June leaned closer and peered at the leg of a magnificent scarlet macaw who glared back at her with haughty disdain. The bird stepped away with a short cackle.

“Hold still, my beauty,” June whispered, focusing on the leg band, looking for the telltale signs of the fake markers, a bruised leg and missing scales—yes, there. Definitely bogus. She nodded to herself. But she already knew that.

With another sideways look at the clerk, she raised her phone, positioning her body to hide her actions. The second customer—a man—stepped next to her. She ignored him and raised the camera. You’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, buddy. Sorry.

The customer said something during her first click, but he whispered his words and she couldn’t stop gathering evidence to ask him to repeat himself. She kept clicking, gathering images of as many captives as possible.

“Hey” came a rough shout from behind her. “What the hell you think you’re doing?”

June ignored the clerk. Beside her the new guy spoke again—the inflection sounding like a question—but his words were lost in the resumed squawking of agitated birds roused by the hostility of the clerk hurrying toward her.

“Damn it, lady. Stop taking photographs.”

June didn’t stop until a rough hand closed around her upper left arm and squeezed hard.

“Hey,” she said, trying to pull away. “That hurts.”

“It’s gonna hurt a lot more if you don’t hand over that camera.”

She glared at him—but went still when she met his dark eyes. Fear flared in her belly as the man tightened his grip. This was precisely what Agent Gillis had warned her about. She shouldn’t have come alone when Jared got sick and canceled.

She slid the phone into her pocket. “Let go of me or I’ll file an assault charge.”

“I don’t think so, lady. You just give me your phone.”

“Or what?”

“Or else you’ll be very sorry. These are my birds, and I don’t want you taking photographs.”

So he was the owner. Bad luck, but explained his vigilance. June again tried to wrench out of his grasp, but he only squeezed harder. She swallowed, the pain in her arm now making it difficult to concentrate. She pushed away the stirrings of panic. Would this man really hurt her?

Hell, yes. The jerk’s greed caused the murder of hundreds of smuggled birds.

“I’ll scream,” she said.

“And who do you think will care?”

Before she could answer, a brilliant red bird swooped over her head. She ducked instinctively, as did the shop owner.

“What the—” the owner shouted, finally, blessedly, releasing his grip.

The macaw flapped madly, but clipped wings made it impossible for him to go far.

Rubbing her arm, June turned in time to watch the new customer fling open the last cage and urge its prisoners to flee.

“What are you doing?” the owner shouted.

As if in answer, birds streamed out of confinement. Triumphant screeches resonated through the shop as feathered creatures in hues of green, blue, red and yellow attempted flight, but most only hopped awkwardly around shelves and the filthy floor of the shop.

The front door clanged again, and June focused on the back of the liberator as he rushed outside. A flight-worthy yellow-headed parrot zoomed for the opening. Oh, no. Fearing he’d be crushed by the closing door, she held her breath. But vivid green wings flapped through safely and disappeared into a patch of blue sky, no doubt headed for the closest tree.

“Shit,” the owner moaned.

With a sigh, June withdrew her phone again and called the police.

* * *

DETECTIVE DEAN HAMMER heaved himself out of his police cruiser into heavy tropical air. Shaking his head, he eyeballed the peeling paint of the mom-and-pop pet shop in the seedy business section of North Miami Beach—a long eight miles from South Beach. He’d been busted not only off his beat, but off his regular gig. His lieutenant’s cute idea of punishment. Yeah, real cute.

“Hey, Hawk,” his temporary partner—a fresh-faced rookie whose training was also part of his exile—asked across the roof of the vehicle, “when was the last time you responded to a disturbance at a pet shop?”

“Yeah, well, that would be never, Sanchez.”

Sanchez grinned. “Do you think the pets inside are rioting?”

“Funny. If you learn one thing while working with me, Sanchez, you need to be ready for anything on a call.”

Sanchez nodded and glanced toward the shop’s facade. “Yeah, I know, I know.”

You just think you know, rookie. Dean patted the Kevlar vest under his shirt and moved toward the entrance. “Things can go south in a heartbeat.”

“And you must be prepared,” Sanchez mimicked. “I bet you won’t need your Remington M24 here, though.”

“God, I hope not,” Dean said as he jerked open the door. A sniper gun at a pet shop? A giant cowbell clanged overhead as he entered.

“Jeez,” Sanchez breathed behind him over a cacophony of shrieking birds. “What the hell happened here?”

Good question, Dean thought, focusing on dozens of colorful parrots hopping and leaping in aborted flight attempts around the shop. No bodies. No citizens bleeding. No apparent robbery.

Damn if Sanchez hadn’t nailed it. The birds had staged a riot and broken out.

A man, presumably an employee, chased the animals with little success. As soon as he got close to a parrot, the bird squawked and deftly hopped away. He’d managed to capture a few, though, since cages in the rear of the shop housed parrots. Dean looked for and spotted a surveillance camera on the back wall.

“Be careful where you walk,” the man shouted. “Don’t step on any of them.”

“Uh, right,” Dean said, his attention zeroing in on the only other person in the shop, a tall, knockout blonde in her midtwenties who stood by the cash register yacking on a cell phone.

“And arrest her,” the bird chaser said. “She’s responsible for this.”

Arrest her? Dean’s mood lightened. He’d like to interrogate this one, her sophisticated beauty reminding him of the Russian models who frequented Ocean Drive.

“You the owner?” Dean asked the man.

After a pause where he seemed to consider his answer, he said, “Yes. David Glover.”

“Did she release the birds?” Sanchez yelled over the bird noise.

“I did not,” the woman replied. She lowered her phone and gave the owner a look that would freeze lava.

“But your partner did,” the owner shouted.

“I don’t have a partner,” she said.

“Yeah, right. Like you never saw the guy before.”

“Never. And you’re the one who should be arrested.”

“For what?”

The blonde turned to Dean. “I called the authorities.”

“You bitch,” Glover said. “Only because I was too busy with—”

“Hold on, hold on,” Dean interjected, the squawking of both human and bird now giving him a major headache. “Sanchez, help this guy round up the birds while I interview this nice lady.”

The blonde nodded and dropped her phone into a large purse slung over her shoulder, its strap pressing between very nice breasts.

Sanchez grinned. “Good thing you warned me to be ready for anything.”

“You’re a real comedian, Sanchez.” Dean pointed a finger at the owner. “We’ll talk after you get your merchandise under control.”

The blonde smiled. “Let me know how that turns out,” she said to the owner.

Dean suppressed a laugh and interrupted the owner’s heated response. She had a point. The shopkeeper wasn’t dealing well with his escapees.

“You got an office in the back I can use?” he asked.

Dean noted Glover’s second hesitation. Apparently the man had secrets to protect. “I won’t look at a thing,” Dean said, holding up his arms.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Glover said and resumed chasing his birds, sidestepping around a growing accumulation of bird droppings.

The blonde smiled again, obviously finding the owner’s frustrated lunges for his elusive birds hilarious. Glad to escape the noise, Dean ushered the woman toward the back. He liked the way she moved—her legs seemed to glide over the floor and she held herself with perfect graceful posture.

Inside the tiny dump of an office, he motioned for her to sit in a chair facing a messy desk. He also sat and removed his interview notebook.

“Why aren’t you in uniform?” she asked.

“Because I’m a detective.”

Her eyes widened. “They sent a detective?”

Dean nodded. “Bird riots demand the full attention of the Miami Beach Police Department.”

“Ha-ha.”

“What’s your name, ma’am?”

“June Latham.”

“Address?”

After he got the basics, he said, “So, why don’t you tell me what happened here this morning, Ms. Latham?”

“This pet shop markets illegally captured wild birds.”

Dean glanced up from his notes. “How do you know?”

“Their leg bands are counterfeit.” She shifted her weight to one hip and crossed a slim, shapely leg. “I came here to gather proof for Fish and Wildlife.”

Dean rubbed his chin, thinking. “So you liberated these illegal birds so they could fly free again.”

“Of course not. Releasing them without a safe harbor plan could harm them.” She bit her bottom lip and looked down. “Actually, I should go help that clod before he harms one. He has no idea how to handle birds.”

“And you do?”

“Yes.” She leaned forward. “Can you arrest him?”

“Like he said, for what?”

“For selling illegal—”

“I think you know I can’t do that.”

She sat back and crossed her arms. “An arrest would teach him a lesson.”

“Not my job.” Although, considering his forced time with rookie Sanchez, maybe lessons were his job. “So, who released the birds? That’s the crime I’m investigating.”

“I don’t know who he was. Some customer in the shop. I never saw him before.”

“Give me a description.”

She shrugged. “I barely looked at him. Maybe fifty or sixty, bald. Taller than me, maybe six feet. Really thin.”

“Not bad for barely looking at him,” Dean said. “So, what happened?”

“When that jerk grabbed my arm— Hey, that’s a crime.” She sat up straighter. “Assault.”

“Do you want to file charges?”

She leaned back, glancing toward the outer room. “Let me think about that.”

“Go on. The owner grabbed you...”

June Latham rubbed her arm with long, graceful fingers. Dean followed her movements, noting with disgust a red mark where someone had taken a stranglehold on her body. No question the area would bruise. He also noted well-toned biceps and triceps and wondered where she worked out.

“He wanted my phone. He wouldn’t let go of me. We argued. Suddenly a macaw flew over my head. When I turned, I saw this customer opening all the cages and urging the birds to escape.”

“So you maintain you had nothing to do with releasing the birds.”

She raised her chin. “I never lie.”

“Good to know,” he said, closing his notepad, believing she told the truth today. But everybody lied on occasion. “You’re free to go.” Review of the video surveillance would reveal if there had even been a crime.

She didn’t move. “You’re not going to do anything about the smuggled birds, are you?”

“I wish I could.” See, now, there was a lie. Although he’d love to score points with this tall, blonde goddess, he was a homicide cop, not a bird savior.

“Do you know that wildlife smuggling is the third largest illegal trade in the world economy? Only drugs and weapons are bigger.”

Actually, no, he didn’t know that little factoid. But of course she didn’t lie. “So take your proof to Fish and Wildlife.”

“You know the birds will be gone by the time they act.”

“I can’t help that.”

“You could impound the birds as evidence.”

Dean assessed the woman before him. So here he had a true bleeding-heart activist. A rare breed these days, thank God, because they were nothing but a giant pain in the ass. “When I talk to Mr. Glover, will he admit the birds are illegal?”

“No.”

“Then it’s your word against his.”

“But remember I have proof,” she said, holding up her phone. “And I repeat, you could take the birds into protective custody pending investigation.”

A bunch of shrieking, pooping birds in the Miami Beach Police Station? Yeah, that’d get him out of his lieutenant’s shit can.

Dean handed her his card. You never knew. Maybe she’d call. “Let me talk to the owner. I’ll document your allegations in my report, but that’s the best I can do.”

“That’s the best you can do?” Disdain laced her words. “Really?”

Dean stood. Not likely she’d be calling. “You’re free to go, Ms. Latham.”

“But the birds aren’t.” With a final frosty glare, she moved toward the door.

* * *

JUNE DESCENDED FROM the rear exit of a county bus at her stop on Brickell Avenue. The monstrous vehicle belched poison out its exhaust pipe, changed gears with a low rumble and lurched north toward downtown Miami.

She removed her cotton sweater, thankful for the hot August sun to thaw out her supercooled skin. Bus drivers in Miami always kept their AC at arctic levels, since hot air blasted their faces at each stop. Her shoulder muscles relaxed as she breathed the salty fragrance from nearby Biscayne Bay. Dwarfed by scores of surrounding condo towers, she walked the landscaped path toward the Enclave’s entrance. At least she was home.

What a disastrous morning. And she’d accomplished nothing.

Actually, she’d succeeded in something: stressing out an already traumatized group of birds.

She rubbed her arm, which still ached where that horrible man had squeezed. And the gorgeous raven-haired cop, Detective Hammer, had seemed more interested in ogling her than doing his job. Picturing his handsome face with its I’ve-seen-it-all-before expression, she wanted to dismiss him from her thoughts but couldn’t. There had been something about him, something darkly vital that warned her as surely as the noisy bell at the pet shop.

Of course she’d email her photos to Agent Gillis, but by the time Fish and Wildlife noticed, the birds could be shipped to California.

Would Glover harm them? She hated to think he’d dispose of living creatures to avoid a fine. But why wouldn’t he? He obviously didn’t care that intelligent animals had been wrenched from their jungle homes, shipped under dreadful conditions a thousand miles away and then cooped up inside a tiny prison. And to think she’d even helped round up the darlings and placed them back in jail so Glover couldn’t break a wing, the whole time acutely aware of the detective’s intense blue eyes scrutinizing her movements. Hammer had even helped her corner one African gray parrot.

So she’d only made matters worse for the birds. Maybe she should listen to Agent Gillis and stop her commando raids to gather proof. Unless...well, maybe Glover wouldn’t be so quick to deal with poachers next time one approached him. That was something, wasn’t it?

Something, not much. But no, she couldn’t stop. She had to try.

The condo’s automatic doors whooshed open, and she entered the chilly elegance of the Enclave’s lobby.

“Why such a sad face, Junie?”

Jerked from her tumbling thoughts, she nodded to Magda, the condo’s dark-haired, eagle-eyed concierge seated in her usual spot behind the sleek oak counter.

“My goodness,” Magda continued in her lilting accent, “you look like the condo association made you get rid of Lazarus.”

Alarm shot down June’s spine. Nothing happened in this thirty-story building that Magda didn’t know about first. “Has there been another meeting? What have you heard?”

Magda held up long, manicured fingers. “I was kidding.”

June blew out a breath. Not funny, but Magda couldn’t know how worried she was about that rumor. Among others. “Good.”

Magda leaned forward, resting on her forearms. “So, what’s wrong, sweetie?”

“Just a rotten morning,” June said. The less said about her investigative activities, the better.

“Were your buses late again?” Magda persisted.

“Actually, the system stayed on schedule today.”

Magda shook her head. “I don’t know how you manage to get around Miami on a bus.”

“You just have to make that commitment,” June said and then added with a grin, “and allow enough time.”

“I need my car. Will your uncle be at the Labor Day party this year?”

“He hasn’t decided.” June removed her key from her purse and stepped to the bank of mailboxes on the wall left of Magda’s position. “The weather’s been great in New York, so he’s not sure he wants to come when it’s so humid here.”

“So, when was the last time you drove the Cobra?”

June paused in removing mail from her slot. When had she last driven Uncle Mike’s antique gas-guzzler? She’d promised to fire it up at least once a week. She grabbed mail and stuffed it inside her bag. “Thanks for the reminder. Guess I’m going down to the dungeon later.”

Magda’s face wreathed in a maternal smile. “I know you hate the parking levels.”

“What would I do without you, Maggie Mae?”

Magda blushed, looking pleased. “Oh, you do fine, Junie.”

“The jury is still out on that. Will I see you at the pool later?”

“Of course,” Magda replied, buzzing June through the security door to the elevators.

Stepping inside a waiting car, June punched PH and swiped her fob to allow the elevator to ascend to the thirtieth floor. She closed her eyes as she was gently swept upward—like the wings of a bird flying up to her private aerie in the sky.

No, she reminded herself, opening her eyes. Her uncle’s aerie. A temporary refuge. She must never forget this luxury didn’t belong to her. Not anymore. Not for a long time.

And really nothing had ever been hers. Greed had been her parents’ downfall. Had she once been like them? She couldn’t remember.

What did it matter anyway? Nothing she remembered from her idyllic childhood had been real.