This was what Lance fought for. The peace that echoed here, that drifted through the half-lowered windows and wrapped around her.
This was what the agent had fought for as well.
Shaking her head, she pulled onto Community Street. The full block held the community center, ball courts, a tennis court and a public pool that had closed for the night. The lights within the basketball court were still on though, as were the tennis courts', and both were in use.
She pulled the Raider to a stop as she watched the young men play, laughter and teasing insults drifting to her.
"Hey, man, that was just a sissy throw," one youth laughed as he caught the ball. "Let me show you how it's done."
He fumbled the ball, to the delight of his friends and the one who stole it from his hands.
"Man. That is so wrong." Laughter, happiness.
Death had no place here, but Harmony could feel the peace of it wrapping around her. She leaned against the steering wheel, watching the game, a smile pulling at her lips as the boys postured and groaned, grunted and playfully struggled as all young men do when challenging one another.
It wasn't much different than the young male cubs at the labs, she realized. There had been moments between training sessions when they were allowed to rest beneath the warmth of the sun as a gentle breeze played around them. And they had laughed, teased one another and tested their strength. And sometimes they hadn't been punished for it.
She sighed as she rested her chin against the hands that gripped the steering wheel. She had never played. She had never laughed and tested herself in such a teasing way.
"Unit four, is everything okay?" Lenny, the eagle eye watching the unit displays at the office, came over the communications link in the dash.
"Just watching a game, Lenny," she reported as she straightened in her seat. "The boys are out at the community court."
"They're too young for you, Deputy." Lance's teasing voice replaced Lenny's. Harmony smiled, though she found she wanted to laugh.
"That's affirmative, Sheriff," she drawled, for once, refusing to fight the warmth rising inside her.
She couldn't fight him. She had known last night that her own personal battle to deny the bonding between them was over.
"I'm heading out," she reported. "So far everything's quiet. Is it ever not quiet?"
"Oh, we have the occasional fire, fistfight and rocking family dispute," Lance assured her. "They save most of them for the weekends though."
She shook her head. She had answered a call to an attempted burglary that turned out to be a raccoon, and a dispute between a would-be Lothario and the parents of the young girl he was courting. Not that there hadn't been trouble in other areas, just not in her area. Yet.
"I'm going to finish my round then head in. Reports." She grimaced at the paperwork waiting for her back at the office. "Maybe I should try meter maid tomorrow. I bet they don't fill out paperwork."
"You'd be surprised." Lance chuckled. "See you when you get in. Control out."
"Unit four out." She pulled the Raider back onto the street and completed her area before turning and heading back to the Sheriff's Department.
It had been a reasonably quiet night, so it didn't really surprise her to see Dane step from the shadows at the side of the building as she moved from the Raider. He leaned against the corner of the building, uncaring who might see him, his expression thoughtful as he watched her. For a moment she considered ignoring him. She should ignore him, she thought in frustration; she wasn't in the mood for him, or Jonas.
Narrowing her eyes, she stared around the parking lot before moving quickly toward the darker area where he awaited her.
"What are you doing here?" She stepped into the shadows, stilling immediately as she realized he hadn't come alone.
"It's time to pull you out, Harmony." His voice was dark, edged with dominance. "It's time to go."
She jerked back as he reached for her.
"Like hell," she hissed, her hand settling on the butt of her weapon as she kept him and Ryan, his partner, within sight. "I'm not going anywhere with you, Dane. I told you that."
"Even if it means your life?" he bit out. "Listen to me, Harmony, you don't want what's going to come down here. And I don't have time to break you out of a f**king cell again. Now, let's go before that sheriff of yours comes looking for you."
"What's coming down, Dane?" She moved when Ryan shifted as though to get behind her. "Ryan, stay where the hell you are. Don't make me fight you." Both men stilled then. Ryan wasn't as tall as Dane, but he was muscular and quick. Short, dark brown hair framed his sun-darkened face, and pale blue eyes watched her carefully.
"You've never questioned me before," Dane mused. "When I've come to take you away from trouble, you've always followed me."
"I always understood the trouble you were taking me away from. I'm not in any trouble yet, Dane." And he had always been there.
"It's coming, Harmony." He sighed. "You know it as well as I do."
"Then maybe you can tell me what to look for," she suggested softly. "And while you're at it, why have you always done it?"
"Done what?" His gaze narrowed on her thoughtfully.
"Why you've always gotten me out of trouble. How you've always known I was in trouble. How do you track me, Dane?"
His lips quirked slowly. "I'm intuitive."
"You're full of shit." She should have thought of it before. "How do you know?"
"Let's just say I have certain contacts." He finally shrugged. "Enough contacts to know that after that killing a few days ago, Alonzo is going to try to pin Death to your name."
"He has no proof."
"Harmony, you're risking your sheriff's life…"
"I can't leave him, Dane," she snapped. "You don't understand."
"Do you think I don't know you've mated the son of a bitch?" He snarled then. "For God's sake, Harmony. Why didn't you let me take you out when I tried the first time?"
"It was too late." She shook her head furiously. "And it doesn't matter now. I can't run anymore. I'm tired of running."