Page 20 of Summer Heatwave
“Oh.My.God.Write the date on the wall.”Emilee waved her arm in the air as though creating a banner.“Dr.Audra Lambert has gone two whole weeks without a male-induced orgasm.”
“Oh, hush.”Audra slapped at Emilee’s arm.“I’ve been working my ass off lately.I wish people would quit killing each other, at least for a few days.I need a vacation that includes a cabana boy named Juan who can give massages with a happy ending.Beaches, fruity rum drinks, and palm trees need to be involved.”
“Oh, my friend, you’re preaching to the choir.”Emilee leaned in.“I am so fucking tired of hearing ‘you got that job because you’re a woman,’ and ‘you can get away with stuff I can’t,’ or my absolute favorite, ‘women and minorities get promoted faster to fill quotas’.”Her hand balled into a fist.“I’ve worked damn hard for this promotion.Just because my grandmother immigrated from Guatemala and I speak fluent Spanish, doesn’t mean that I get any advantages.The lazy-assed, big-bellied men with bad attitudes—who couldn’t chase a perp for a whole block without having a heart attack—blame anything but themselves for not getting promoted.”
Kam hated that was happening to her friend.“You need to attend a few more of my classes.Then, the next time there’s a brawl, I want you to wade in and start throwing men around.You need to show them that you are physically capable of defending yourself and taking down the bad guys.They have to see you kick ass and take names.That’ll earn the respect you need for command.”
Kam sipped her beer before she went on.“That’s the most important thing I was taught by my Uncle Bobby, the homicide detective.The second thing he taught me was that you have to be a good leader.Praise in public and punish in private.Don’t hesitate to defend your men to the brass in front of an audience.They never have the complete picture.You know the men and women who work for you better than anyone else up the ladder.”
“That’s amazingly great advice,” Audra commented.“Now that she’s completely changed the direction of the conversation, let’s refocus on Kam’s new man.”
“Thanks, Kam.I really appreciate the advice.”Emilee grinned.“So, does he have a brother?
“I’ll be honest, I have no idea if he has siblings.”In the weeks they had been going out to supper after Kam’s Tuesday and Thursday classes, she had steered the conversations away from family.She didn’t want to talk about hers, so she didn’t ask about his.
“Who is he?”Noellyn pulled out her phone.
Kam giggled.“I doubt you’ll be able to find him online.The Navy doesn’t let them have any kind of social presence.”
“Oh, he’s a Navy man.”Audra shuddered.“I’ve dated several Navy men and I can guarantee you; they know their way around a woman’s body.”She let out a heavy sigh.“I even got involved with one once.We were monogamous for three whole months.The problem is, they get on one of those big gray boats and they’re gone.Sometimes for months.Maybe even a year.I can’t expect him to be celibate any more than he can expect me to sleep alone, especially without any commitment.”She waggled her left hand.“Nobody ever put a ring on it.But I do enjoy him when he is back in port.”
Noellyn stuck her phone in Kam’s face.“What.Is.His.Name?”
Kam hesitated for a long minute.These women had become very important to her in the few months that she had been living in San Diego.What the hell.“Commander Mike Gallagher.He’s the commanding officer of SEAL Team 1.”
All three women’s eyes went huge and round as they spoke at the same time.
“He is a Navy SEAL?”Emilee gave her a wide smile as though she’d caught the biggest fish in the ocean.
“He’s a fuckingcommander?”Audra put her hand out for a high-five.
“How does he spell Gallagher?”Noellyn’s face was buried in her phone.“I’ve got him.”
It was Kam’s turn to go wide-eyed and drop-jawed.“You used a Homeland computer program to search him.”It was an accusation, not a question.
Noellyn glanced to the side at Kam.“Of course.I don’t have a sex life, or any kind of life outside of my office.I work all hours, day and night.My phone is more secure than the Chief’s.”
The Homeland analyst turned her phone around to show everyone a picture of Mike in uniform.Damn, he was handsome.He had five rows of ribbons and a bunch of pins.Kam would have to ask him about all the things on his uniform.Men usually liked to talk about themselves, but Mike was very stingy with his personal information.
“He’s hot!”Audra declared.“Is he good in bed?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Kam confessed.“We’re…” She wasn’t sure what name to slap on their relationship.She hated to relegate him to the friend zone because the more she got to know Mike, the more she liked him.Other than the night when the truck tried to hit her, he’d never held her.Even though they cleared her house together after he followed her home every time, he always left very quickly.She’d be willing to take it to the next step, but she wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he was interested in her that way.“We’re getting to know each other.”
Noellyn pointed to her phone and raised her eyebrows.“There’s a lot more information here.You want to see it?”
Kam quickly shook her head.“No, thanks.He’ll tell me what he wants me to know.”Just like she’d only tell him what she wanted him to know.There were some parts of her past that she wasn’t ready to tell anyone.Why bother?Her own parents hadn’t believed her.
“Well, that’s fucking disappointing.”Audra drained the last of her beer.“Or should I say,not fuckingdisappointing.I was hoping for some juicy details, pun intended.If you’re not going to tell me anything exciting, I guess I’m going home.”She glanced around the bar as though looking for someone familiar.Then she added, “Alone.No one in here compares to what Kam has waiting for her after class.”She stood.“Honestly, Kam, you deserve one of the good guys.If he’s not good to you, kill him.I’ll help you dispose of the body.”
Kam laughed out loud.“Now that’s a true friend.”She lifted her beer and drained it.“I’m heading home, too.I have a few more interviews I want to review before I close the file on the whorehouse we took down a few weeks ago.”But she was really searching for any clue at all that Tala had been telling the truth about the club.
Kam had made a trip to talk with the Los Angeles vice squad to see if they were familiar with any kind of sex club for extremely high-end clients.They’d mentioned several BDSM clubs frequented by the rich and famous, but those had been deemed legitimate, even paying the appropriate taxes.With promises to look a little deeper, and knowing the detectives were already overwhelmed with existing cases, her inquiry would get shoved aside and forgotten.Kam had all but given up on finding Big Daddy’s LA club.
The following Tuesday, Mike hadn’t shown up for her Brazilian jujitsu class, but Emilee and Noellyn had been there.Kam had chosen the largest man in the class to be her partner that night and teamed her friends up with other big men.After she demonstrated the moves, she walked around the class helping several of the women perfect their technique.Her conversation with the girls last Friday night helped her focus on real-life situations where her friends could find themselves.
“Hey, you guys want to grab some tacos and margaritas?”Kam invited as soon as she finished her class.It felt strange not to go out and have supper with someone.She really wanted that person to be Mike, but since he wasn’t there, Noellyn and Emilee were a welcome substitute.
“This was such a good idea,” Emilee said after she’d taken a large sip of her slushy drink.She reached over and patted Kam’s hand.“I’m sorry Mike wasn’t here.I was really looking forward to meeting him.”
