To Trust a Cop. Sharon Hartley

      “What’s wrong? Where the hell are you?”

      “I’m in front of Doc Johnson’s house and—”

      Merlene paused as she heard a female voice questioning him in the background. Cody told the woman to go back to sleep.

      Damn, a woman was with him. She shut her eyes. What the hell was she thinking to call Cody? She knew better.

      “What’s going on?” Now Cody sounded wide-awake.

      “Never mind,” she said. “I shouldn’t have—”

      “Talk to me, Merlene.”

      “I think someone just shot Dr. Johnson.”

      * * *

      CODY RACED FROM his apartment in West Miami to Coral Gables, barely slowing down as he sped through intersections. Merlene had sounded terrified, the first time he’d ever heard anything but bravado in her voice.

      All he could think about was getting to her.

      Johnson’s neighborhood remained quiet as he pulled up beside her Toyota. He’d monitored the Gables police frequency, and no one else had called in a disturbance.

      He eased himself into the tiny seat beside her.

      “Thanks for coming,” she said, eyes wide, cellular phone in her right hand.

      “Let me hear it again,” Cody said.

      She related the story exactly the same way the second time.

      “What if he’s in there bleeding to death?” She closed her eyes. “I should have called 911.”

      Cody placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Hey, take it easy.”

      Her chest rose as she inhaled deeply. “You didn’t hear that loud crack. You didn’t see those men run away.”

      He released her and opened the car door. “I’ll check it out. Wait here.”

      Exiting the car, he wondered why the hell he was bending the rules for Merlene. He’d known her...what? Less than a week and he was about to peer in the front window of Dr. Richard Johnson’s house, a man that two days ago was the subject of an investigation he’d been abruptly ordered to terminate. He’d played it strictly by the book for years and now—

      A car door closed behind him. Cody whirled around.

      “I told you to wait in the car,” he growled as Merlene moved close. A flicker of distrust flashed through her eyes, an expression he’d analyze later.

      “I’ll make a better witness if I see what’s going on. Besides, you might need me.” She clutched her cell phone as if it were a lifeline.

      He stared into her stubborn face and couldn’t think of how to dissuade her.

      “This is my client’s house. I have her permission,” Merlene insisted. She dug in her pocket and held up a key. “I’ve never used it, but Pat gave me this just in case.”

      “You have a key to this house?”

      “So it’s not trespassing, is it?”

      He shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

      He turned and moved through the front yard. Merlene stayed with him.

      “Do you think we’ll be able to see anything through the front window?” she whispered near his ear. “There’s a light on in the foyer.”

      He held up his hand to slow her down, then edged forward. “We won’t need your key. The door is wide-open.”