Murders & Romance: A Psychic Detective Romantic Mystery (Isaac Taylor Mysteries Book 5) by Lashell Collins (motivational books to read txt) 📕

Isaac laughed. “Whatever you want, Sidney.”

Whatever she wanted.

He would move heaven and earth to give it to her.

18

Sidney was still riding high the next morning.

They’d set a wedding date.

And it was barely two months away.

The event planner at the beach venue thought they were crazy, but Sidney didn’t care. She floated through her morning routine as though she were in a dream. She remembered making breakfast for her and Ike. She remembered Ike kissing her before he left for work. But she couldn’t recall their breakfast conversation for anything. Her mind was much too cluttered with beach wedding ideas and wondering if she could talk Bree into helping her pull this thing together so quickly.

She dressed in a pair of black leggings and a light purple tunic-style blouse, zipped up her black wedge booties and headed off to work.

Her car was sitting in their small driveway when they’d gotten home from the beach yesterday, keys waiting in the mailbox just like Ike said, and Sidney couldn’t help but give her tires a double look before she climbed behind the wheel.

She thought of nothing but wedding plans on her way to work, and wondered where the heck a girl went for a decent white dress in this town.

The flashing red and blue lights punctuating the siren coming up fast behind her snapped her out of her giddiness.

She pulled to the curb on the right and stopped, expecting the marked police cruiser to zoom past her in pursuit of someone else. Instead, it pulled in behind her, and Sidney’s belly tumbled over itself.

Her first thought was Isaac.

Was he all right? Had he sent someone to find her?

Then another, more sensible, thought settled in.

Had she done something wrong?

“Stay calm, Sidney,” she mumbled to herself. “Remember everything Ike told you to do in this situation, and just stay calm. Everything’s going to be okay.”

She glanced in her rearview mirror.

She couldn’t be certain, but the cop appeared to be female. When the door opened and the officer started for her car, Sidney’s heart rate sped up. She hit the button to let down her window, and then put both of her hands on the steering wheel, giving it a good squeeze.

When the officer stepped up to her window, Sidney smiled.

“Good morning, officer. I have a Concealed Weapons Permit, and my gun is in my purse.”

Without a word the officer stepped back, unsnapped her holster, and drew her gun.

“I need you to slowly step out of the car and put your hands on your head.”

The gun wasn’t pointing directly at her, but still Sidney’s heart took a flying leap down into her stomach.

“Of course.”

She’d known this could happen.

Isaac had explained the procedure to her in great detail. What an officer would do — and what Sidney should do — if she were ever pulled over while she had her gun with her. But even knowing the procedure and the wherefores and whys, her hands were trembling when she slowly opened the car door.

She stepped out of the car and put her hands on her head.

“Turn around.”

Sidney did as she was told. She knew what was coming next.

Handcuffs.

Isaac had told her that would most likely happen. Especially if she were stopped by a one-man car. It was for the officer’s safety and for hers. But it still opened up a hallow pit of humiliation within her.

She closed her eyes as the officer pulled her hands behind her back and secured the cuffs.

“Where’s the gun?”

“In my purse. The purse is on the passenger side floor.”

The officer walked around the car to the passenger side.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sidney spotted a second police car pull in behind the first one. She closed her eyes again. It was for the officer’s protection, she knew. Back up, in case Sidney was some big time cop killer or something.

Isaac had this same kind of back up everyday.

It was what she had to tell herself to stay calm.

The man she loved was a police officer, just like these officers. They wouldn’t hurt her as long as she stayed calm and did what they asked her to do.

She opened her eyes and watched the female officer secure the gun from her purse.

“Where’s the gun permit?”

There was no politeness in her tone of voice. Just business.

“It’s in that same purse. In the pocket behind my driver’s license.”

The officer searched her purse, pulling out her license and the gun registration. She returned the purse to the car and closed the door. Then she headed for her cruiser with a glance at Sidney.

“Hang tight.”

Sidney nodded and watched the woman’s every movement. She got back into her cruiser, no doubt running the registration for the gun, and most likely her license. As she waited, Sidney wondered what the hell had prompted this stop in the first place. What had she done that put her on this cop’s radar?

She had been awfully distracted with her wedding plans. Maybe she had run a red light and not known it? Had she been driving erratically?

After what seemed like forever, the officer got out of her cruiser and came toward her again.

“Turn around.”

Sidney turned around and breathed in deep when the handcuffs came off.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Fairchild.”

“Of course.”

“Who does the FOP emblem on the rear license plate belong to?”

She was referring to the small round disk that most officers attached to their rear license plates. It alerted other officers that the owner of the car in question was also either an active duty police officer or a retired one, or that the driver was the spouse or child of an officer.

“My fiancé. He’s Detective Sergeant Isaac Taylor at the 3rd precinct.”

The officer’s face blanched noticeably, and Sidney wondered what that was about.

“Your information.”

She handed Sidney back her license and CCW permit.

“Thank you.”

“Ms. Fairchild, I stopped you this morning because you made an improper lane change back there.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you did. Failure to signal.”

“Oh. I’m so