Officer on Duty

By Ranae Rose

Life is tough but Sergeant Jeremy Connor is tougher. Riley County, North Carolina is recovering from a year of hell when devastation strikes again, and the Sheriff’s Department is working the frontlines. On top of keeping the community safe, there’s Jeremy’s greatest responsibility: raising his daughter. Alone.

Seeing local women turn up dead is enough to shake any father, even a veteran sheriff’s deputy. After years of loneliness, the timing couldn’t be worse to let another woman into his life. But he’d have better luck resisting gravity than resisting Lucia Ramirez, the first to prove there’s still a heart beneath his bullet proof vest.

For the first time in over a decade, serving and protecting isn’t enough to satisfy him anymore. But someone to love means someone to lose...

Book 4 in the Lock and Key Series

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ranae Rose
• Release date: Aug 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311451262

Ranae Rose

Hi, I’m Ranae, author of 30+ romance novels and novellas. My works include the Inked in the Steel City Series, Lock and Key Series, South Island PD Series and more. I began writing romance in 2011 in my early twenties, and the romance book community has been a source of joy ever since.I live in the South with a husband who’s even better than any of the heroes I’ve written, two kids, two cats who think they run the show and a dog who tolerates us all. In my free time, I’m a voracious reader, avid cook, and possibly the world’s most enthusiastic amateur urban gardener.

Book preview

Officer on Duty

Lock and Key, #4

Ranae Rose

eBooks are not transferable. This book may not be sold or given away. Doing so would be an infringement of the copyright.

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are products of the author’s imagination and are in no way real. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Officer on Duty

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2015 Ranae Rose

Cover model photo by: Jenn LeBlanc / Illustrated Romance

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Officer on Duty

Lock and Key, #4

Life is tough but Sergeant Jeremy Connor is tougher. Riley County, North Carolina is recovering from a year of hell when devastation strikes again, and the Sheriff’s Department is working the frontlines. On top of keeping the community safe, there’s Jeremy’s greatest responsibility: raising his daughter. Alone.

Seeing local women turn up dead is enough to shake any father, even a veteran sheriff’s deputy. After years of loneliness, the timing couldn’t be worse to let another woman into his life. But he’d have better luck resisting gravity than resisting Lucia Ramirez, the first to prove there’s still a heart beneath his bulletproof vest.

For the first time in over a decade, serving and protecting isn’t enough to satisfy him anymore. But someone to love means someone to lose…

Dedication

For J.

CHAPTER 1

A knock came at the door, and Jeremy set down his coffee.

Paige stirred in her seat, dropping her spoon into her cereal bowl.

I’ll get it. He shoved his chair back before his daughter could get up.

It’s just Grandma.

How do you know?

He crossed the kitchen of his two-bedroom Magnolia Street home and pressed his eye to the peep hole in the front door.

It was his mother, just as Paige had predicted.

She told me yesterday she was going to come over this morning.

He nodded, unlocking the knob and deadbolt. His mother came over almost every day – an easy feat, considering she lived just two houses away.

Hey, mom. He opened the door and let his gaze drop to the plastic tray she was cradling. Are those for me?

Her homemade lemon bars showed through a sheet of cling wrap, bright yellow peeking from beneath a thick layer of cream. One glance and he could taste their combination of tart citrus and rich sweetness on the tip of his tongue.

She strode inside with a spring in her step, her silver bob swinging around her chin. Afraid not.

Who are they for, then?

Your new neighbor.

He stared out the open doorway at the house across the street. One day a ‘For Rent’ sign had stood in the front yard, then the next it’d been gone. Hanging flower baskets decorated the porch now, overflowing with purple and fuchsia petunias. They were the only sign he’d seen of his new neighbor.

She moved in yesterday while you were at work. His mom balanced the tray on one hip as she used her free hand to push her glasses higher on the bridge of her nose. I was on my way to my volunteer shift at the hospital, or else I would’ve stopped to say hello. Barely had time to wave. Anyway, I made her these.

He glanced at the lemon bars. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.

She tsked and peeled back a corner of the cling wrap.

You don’t have to do that, he said, but it was too late – she’d already removed a couple of the bars and set them on top of a paper towel, laying them on the counter.

She’ll never know. Do you want to come along and introduce yourself?

Not particularly.

Why not? You’re neighbors now, and I’m sure it’d put her at ease to meet you.

Why’s that?

A telltale twitch at the corner of his mother’s mouth filled him with suspicion.

Well, after everything that happened around here last year… I’m sure a single woman living alone will be glad to know she’s living across the street from a sheriff’s deputy.

Aw, mom – come on. He bit back a sigh. Barely.

What? She blinked, trying too hard to look innocent. We all want to feel safe.

How do you know she’s single?

She shrugged, then lifted her chin. I saw her yesterday. She was alone, and there was no ring on her hand, so—

You didn’t have time to stop and say hello, but you noticed that?

I’m an observant person, Jeremy. Always have been.

I’m not going over there with you. I’ll introduce myself on my own terms.

Have it your way. She turned her back on him, seemingly nonchalant. She’s very pretty, you know.

He shook his head and reached for one of the lemon bars on the counter.

Paige, honey, his mother said, do you want to come along?

Sure.

He shoved the lemon bar into his mouth as he watched his mother and twelve year old daughter cross the street together, approaching the house.

It was barely nine-thirty on a Saturday morning. Hopefully his new neighbor wasn’t a late sleeper.

When they knocked, he turned back to his abandoned coffee mug.

It didn’t matter what his new neighbor looked like. His mother only believed otherwise because she was hopelessly optimistic. Well-meaning, but prone to fantasy.

His unfinished coffee was lukewarm. He popped it into the microwave and heated it until it was steaming.

By the time he was done drinking it, his mom and Paige were still gone. What was taking so long?

He itched to go to the window and check on them, but didn’t want to risk letting his mother see him peeling back the curtain. It’d give her a sense of false hope she’d run with – one wrong move on his part and she’d be lighting candles and laying down a trail of rose petals in his new neighbor’s driveway.

It’d been an eternity since he’d been on a date. Twelve years since he’d been in a relationship. His mother liked to remind him, every now and again.

Why was beyond him. He was single, but she had a grandchild. A sweet grandchild who adored her. What more could she want?

For reasons he didn’t claim to understand, his mom was like a dog with a bone, holding on tight to fantasies of him finding a woman and remarrying.

It was about as likely as snow in hell. His marriage had been an awful mistake – a clusterfuck he’d made peace with only because it’d given him Paige. On top of that, over a decade of police work had impressed an undeniable truth on him: people were shitty.

Not all of them, but more than most realized. Human nature was an ugly beast. The world was a haystack, and good people were needles. He didn’t have time to search for a good woman, let alone try to convince one to spend her life with him.

He had his daughter. He had his job. That was his existence.

As he swirled the last little bit of coffee dregs in his mug, sunlight poured through the window over the sink, casting the kitchen in bright July morning light. It’d be a hot one – temperatures had crept above ninety degrees every single day last week. That was summer in coastal North Carolina, for you.

Born and raised in Riley County, he was used to it, but he still questioned the intelligence of whoever had decided that the officers of the Riley County Sheriff’s Department needed to wear all-black uniforms overtop their bulletproof vests.

He had the day off work. He needed to mow the lawn, and he might as well take care of his mother’s after that. Ever since he’d caught her wrestling with a push mower the summer before, he made sure to stay on top of it so she wouldn’t get stubborn and try to do it herself.

She did things like that – she liked things her way, and she hadn’t let her husband’s passing stop her from enforcing order on her little world.

A pang of regret hit Jeremy. Not for himself, but for his mom and – especially – for Paige.

All the poor girl had was him and her grandmother. It was enough, but he knew she missed her grandfather, and the mother she’d barely ever had.

His resolve disintegrated and he stood, turning toward the window. Consequences be damned, he’d check on them.

He’d just reached for the curtain when his phone went off, vibrating in the center of the table. He hesitated, then turned to answer it.

It was work.

As soon as he picked up, Paige and his mom walked through the front door, empty-handed. The sound of their animated chatter was at odds with his supervisor’s deep baritone.

Paige laughed in the background as the lieutenant’s words hit him. As they registered, a chill raced down his spine despite the summer heat and the hot coffee in his belly.

I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.

His mother and Paige stood staring at him when he ended the call.

You’re going to work? Paige asked.

Afraid so. They were a small department, and one officer was currently out on maternity leave. Basically, Jeremy was always on call, ready for when shit hit the fan.

That had been happening frequently, lately.

What’s wrong? his mother asked, her good humor evaporating in the blink of an eye. Worry lines bracketed her mouth, the concerned expression he’d seen a thousand times aging her in an instant.

Nothing. The lie jumped to the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice it. He didn’t want to tell the ugly truth to his mother and daughter, but pretending that nothing was wrong might be dangerous.

Someone’s been hurt, he said, sugarcoating it. I want both of you to be careful while I’m gone.

His mom’s frown deepened. What happened?

Don’t know the details yet. I’ve gotta get ready for work. He started toward his room. Remember – just in case – be safe today.

The knots in his stomach writhed like a nest of snakes. After the recurring shit storms Riley County had seen over the past year or so, every violent act committed within the county’s borders sent up red flags in his mind.

He knew Riley County would probably never see anything like it again, but there was no shaking the wariness or the memories.

Every single person he cared about lived in the area, and he’d come far too close to losing some of them to let his guard down.

He dressed in a hurry, pulling on a clean uniform, then donning his boots and securing his duty belt. Mowing the lawns would just have to wait.

Don’t even think about cutting your own grass, he said to his mother as he reentered the kitchen. I’ll take care of it for you tomorrow.

He pressed a quick kiss against her cheek before she could protest, then caught Paige in a hug.

See you tonight. Don’t let Grandma get anywhere near the lawnmower.

I tried to stop her last time, you know. She didn’t listen.

Should I leave a pair of my cuffs with you? He tapped the handcuffs on his duty belt. I know she can be stubborn.

Paige giggled.

He smiled despite the circumstances. Gotta go. See ya, honey.

Bye, dad.

Outside, the air was already hot and humid. By noon, it’d be sweltering. The thought of a body out in this kind of heat made his jaw tighten.

At odds with the grim reality across town, a floral scent wafted down his street on a light breeze: lilies rooted in flower beds, blooming rose bushes and potted plants, like the ones hanging from his new neighbor’s porch.

Or rather, the ones his new neighbor was currently watering. His gaze flickered to the silhouette of a woman moving across the porch, and when she came into full focus, he sucked in a breath of summer-scented air.

She was all curves, with shapely hips that swayed as she walked, hugged by denim shorts. Her long, dark hair fell in waves and even from a distance, her skin practically glowed, golden-brown.

His mother had been wrong: his new neighbor wasn’t pretty. She was stunning.

Before he could look away, she looked up, her gaze snagging his.

Suddenly, he felt the heat of the day with an intensity he hadn’t before, his skin warming to an almost unbearable temperature beneath his dark uniform.

She raised a hand, waving in his direction.

He waved back, tipping his head in a dual-purpose effort to acknowledge her greeting and break eye contact.

Still, looking away was a chore. He wanted to stare, to watch her hair shimmer with subtle highlights as she stepped into a ray of sunlight.

But her beauty was just a distraction – one he couldn’t afford. Something awful had touched this town, polluting its quiet, flowering streets and gentle breezes. Again.

Just like the house across from his had been empty one day and occupied the next, Riley County and the town of Cypress had changed. A switch had been flipped, and sometimes he got the heavy, suffocating feeling that nothing would ever be the same.

* * * * *

Lucia stood spellbound as water dripped from the spout of her watering can, beading on the porch boards. The air was heavy with the scent of summer blooms, and the smell contrasted with the masculine vision that’d just been stamped across her mind’s eye. Her new neighbor’s hotness sizzled there like a mark left by a branding iron.

She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. She’d seen the police cruiser pull into the garage the night before, and thanks to the welcome she’d received from Meredith Connor and her granddaughter, she knew a sheriff’s deputy lived across the street.

Meredith’s son. Paige’s dad.

Paige’s single dad, presumably. Meredith had said it was just her son and his daughter living in the white house with the blue front door.

Lucia hadn’t expected him to be so handsome.

He was tall – at least a head taller than her – and lean, with broad shoulders. A perfect poster boy for the man in uniform fetish.

A little shiver zipped down her spine and settled in her belly, filling her with curiosity.

She stared as he retreated to his garage, pulling out in a Riley County Sheriff’s Department cruiser a minute later. The car gleamed white and black in the sunlight, its sirens lightless and silent as he pulled out into the street.

Not wanting to be caught staring like an idiot, she raised her watering can and dumped the last drops into one of her hanging baskets. By the time she lowered it, he was gone.

She glanced in the direction he’d driven, another pang of curiosity sailing through her. She’d already met his mother and daughter. Would she get to meet him sometime soon?

Cypress had small town charm by the megaton, and the warm welcome she’d received from Meredith had her looking forward to meeting the rest of her neighbors.

Especially the sheriff’s deputy. How could a woman look at a man who cut a figure like that and not wonder what color his eyes were?

She flipped her long, thick hair over one shoulder and touched the back of her neck. Sweat was already beading there – she should’ve put her hair up.

Retreating back inside, she hummed to herself, setting the watering can by the door. Her kitchen smelled like her favorite coffee beans: bold and earthy. Eyeing the pot, she decided to have a second cup.

It’d go great with the lemon bars Meredith had given her as a welcome-to-the-neighborhood present.

She lifted a plate straight out of a moving box and used it to carry one of the treats to her kitchen table.

The first bite of the dessert was sweet, tangy heaven: lemon and cream layered on a crumbly graham crust.

Mmmm. She eyed the tray as she savored the dessert. There had to be a dozen bars there, but there was no way they’d last long. It’d been ages since she’d tasted baking so good.

She’d have to thank Meredith and Paige.

The thought turned her cheeks warm with a delayed sense of shame.

The sheriff’s deputy’s broad shoulders and fit figure were still vivid in her mind’s eye. She’d just met his daughter, who couldn’t be any older than twelve, and here she was lusting after him like he was a piece of eye candy wrapped in a sharp black uniform.

A sharp black uniform with a gun on one hip, and cuffs on the other.

Another rebellious ripple of sensation crept down her spine. Whether or not he was someone’s father, he was gorgeous. It couldn’t hurt to look.

She glanced at the kitchen window, which afforded a perfect view of his garage. Maybe she’d glimpse him later, when he returned from his shift. Maybe she’d even have a chance to say hello.

They were neighbors, after all – they’d have to meet eventually.

The thought made the last bite of her dessert taste extra sweet. Wrapping her hands around the warm sides of her coffee cup, she blew away a wisp of steam and carried it across the kitchen, to her living room.

A box of books sat on the floor in front of her empty bookshelf, but the sofa and TV were where she meant to keep them. Settling down, she flipped the TV on, ready to enjoy a lazy Saturday morning in her new home.

There was no telling when she’d get another chance to take it easy on a Saturday. She’d taken Friday and Saturday off work in order to handle her move and had every intention of unpacking, but not until she was done with her coffee.

Without cable set up yet, there were only a few channels to choose from. She settled on the local news.

A blonde anchor in a pencil skirt and silk shell top was reporting live from a park in Cypress. Lucia had driven by it multiple times before, mentally noting the cute walking trail lined with flowering bushes and old oaks draped with Spanish moss.

It’d looked like a nice place to go for a walk, or eat lunch. There’d been parents there, relaxing on benches as their kids enjoyed the playground equipment. It certainly hadn’t looked like a place where someone might be murdered.

Apparently, appearances could be deceiving.

CHAPTER 2

A twenty year old woman had been found dead under a hydrangea bush in Walters Park that morning. The fact festered in the back of Jeremy’s mind as his cruiser’s MDT chimed.

He hit dispatch, and info appeared on the screen. A domestic disturbance call on the outskirts of the county. He hit en route and turned the car around.

Officer Richardson rode beside him.

He was field training the twenty-three year old recruit, who’d completed the academy just weeks ago.

Instead of the call they were currently heading to, they talked about the girl who’d been murdered.

No robbery, no sexual assault, Richardson said. You think it was personal?

The young woman had been found face-down, her purse beneath her, the strap tangled around one arm. Her wallet had been inside, ID and credit cards intact. She’d been bludgeoned and strangled, but not violated sexually.

Jeremy wasn’t a detective. Still, there were only two obvious possibilities: a personal attack, or a random crime. Probably. Probably a relationship gone bad.

It was either that, or someone had killed her for a thrill, to fuel some sick obsession. It was far less likely than her falling awry of an old boyfriend, and not a possibility he particularly wanted to dwell on.

Riley County had seen enough violence over the past year – the last thing it needed was a serial killer.

God knew that after last summer, people were probably already jumping to that possibility.

Probably, Richardson agreed. You see a picture of her?

No.

She was pretty. I’d bet a paycheck it was a jealous boyfriend.

I’m sure that’s exactly who they’ll start the investigation with.

He didn’t relish talking about the dead woman. Twenty was too close to girlhood, and he had a little girl of his own. He knew the world could be an ugly place, but he didn’t want to think about that ugliness touching Paige. Ever.

The thought of her dating made him break into a sweat. She was twelve – how many years did he have left before he had to confront that horrifying reality?

The radio crackled as they approached an aging clapboard house, the drive lined with mismatched shrubs and a lone pine.

He was conscious

Reviews for Officer on Duty

[Charly Norton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely loved this series of books, highly recommended to anyone looking for a bit of steamy romance, edge of your seat suspense and an alpha hero.