square one, Kait thought as she walked out of the room. An officer was taking the three down to be booked for attempted auto theft.
Walking back into the squad room, Kait did her best to keep her disappointment from showing, but she wasn’t as successful as she’d thought.
“Cheer up,” Tom coaxed. “Maybe we’ll have better luck with that photo we got off the phony license.”
Kait took the photo out of her pocket and unfolded it. The quality of the copy she held was grainy and she didn’t hold out too much hope, but right now, it was all she had to go on.
The clerk at the rental agency, once he’d calmed down, had been instructed to call them, night or day, the moment the van was returned to the lot. But there, again, she thought that the chances that they would find anything were slim if the van was even returned, which she thought was pretty doubtful. For all she knew, Megan and the van could be halfway across the country by now.
The very thought made her stomach sink. She shut the thought out and looked back down at the paper copy in her hand.
“Who do I see about having this run through facial-recognition software?” she asked.
It was after eight. “There’s no one there now, but I’ll bring it down to the CSI lab for you,” he offered. “They’ll get to it first thing in the morning,” he promised. The woman looked beat, he noted. Beautiful, but beat. “Want to get something to eat?” he asked.
The thought of eating hadn’t even crossed her mind. She shrugged indifferently. “I’ll get some takeout on my way out.”
“We can get it together,” he told her, then explained his offer. “I’m guessing you don’t know your way around yet—not that you won’t,” he interjected quickly before she resurrected the chip to her shoulder. “It’s just quicker right now if I take you.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to turn down his offer, but if she did she’d be acting too ornery. Even though she wasn’t actually hungry, she needed to eat in order to keep going.
“You have a point,” she allowed.
“Thanks. I try,” he said with a quick, easy smile that, due to her weakened state, she judged, she was finding more and more attractive. “Any kind of takeout in particular you were interested in getting?”
Kait shrugged. Unlike some people who lived to eat, she ate to live. “Food’s food,” she answered indifferently.
Tom laughed. Andrew Cavanaugh would definitely love to get his hands on her, he couldn’t help thinking. The former chief of police who had opted for early retirement to raise his then-motherless five children—and to conduct a long, patient search for the wife he never believed had died when her car went into the lake—had wound up funneling his energy into creative cooking. He made it a point to have everyone in his family—and that included his extended family, otherwise known as the police department—know that his door was always open and that they could always find a hot meal at his table.
Wouldn’t he be surprised if one of the members of his newly “uncovered” branch of the family turned up at his table, with a guest no less, Tom mused.
But he wasn’t the type to just show up, open invitation or no open invitation. Otherwise, he would have been tempted to bring Kaitlyn to Andrew’s house and introduce her to what actual excellent cooking was all about. Him, he couldn’t successfully boil water, but that didn’t stop him from knowing the difference between a decent meal and one that was just short of heavenly.
Besides, he thought, tired or not she looked as if she would have his head if he tried to bring her over to Andrew’s house.
“Okay.” He locked the middle drawer of his desk and stuck the key back into his pocket. It was time to call it a day. “Since you don’t really care, if you like pizza I know a place that makes the second-best pizza in Northern California.”
She fell into step beside him. “Second best?” she
Walking back into the squad room, Kait did her best to keep her disappointment from showing, but she wasn’t as successful as she’d thought.
“Cheer up,” Tom coaxed. “Maybe we’ll have better luck with that photo we got off the phony license.”
Kait took the photo out of her pocket and unfolded it. The quality of the copy she held was grainy and she didn’t hold out too much hope, but right now, it was all she had to go on.
The clerk at the rental agency, once he’d calmed down, had been instructed to call them, night or day, the moment the van was returned to the lot. But there, again, she thought that the chances that they would find anything were slim if the van was even returned, which she thought was pretty doubtful. For all she knew, Megan and the van could be halfway across the country by now.
The very thought made her stomach sink. She shut the thought out and looked back down at the paper copy in her hand.
“Who do I see about having this run through facial-recognition software?” she asked.
It was after eight. “There’s no one there now, but I’ll bring it down to the CSI lab for you,” he offered. “They’ll get to it first thing in the morning,” he promised. The woman looked beat, he noted. Beautiful, but beat. “Want to get something to eat?” he asked.
The thought of eating hadn’t even crossed her mind. She shrugged indifferently. “I’ll get some takeout on my way out.”
“We can get it together,” he told her, then explained his offer. “I’m guessing you don’t know your way around yet—not that you won’t,” he interjected quickly before she resurrected the chip to her shoulder. “It’s just quicker right now if I take you.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to turn down his offer, but if she did she’d be acting too ornery. Even though she wasn’t actually hungry, she needed to eat in order to keep going.
“You have a point,” she allowed.
“Thanks. I try,” he said with a quick, easy smile that, due to her weakened state, she judged, she was finding more and more attractive. “Any kind of takeout in particular you were interested in getting?”
Kait shrugged. Unlike some people who lived to eat, she ate to live. “Food’s food,” she answered indifferently.
Tom laughed. Andrew Cavanaugh would definitely love to get his hands on her, he couldn’t help thinking. The former chief of police who had opted for early retirement to raise his then-motherless five children—and to conduct a long, patient search for the wife he never believed had died when her car went into the lake—had wound up funneling his energy into creative cooking. He made it a point to have everyone in his family—and that included his extended family, otherwise known as the police department—know that his door was always open and that they could always find a hot meal at his table.
Wouldn’t he be surprised if one of the members of his newly “uncovered” branch of the family turned up at his table, with a guest no less, Tom mused.
But he wasn’t the type to just show up, open invitation or no open invitation. Otherwise, he would have been tempted to bring Kaitlyn to Andrew’s house and introduce her to what actual excellent cooking was all about. Him, he couldn’t successfully boil water, but that didn’t stop him from knowing the difference between a decent meal and one that was just short of heavenly.
Besides, he thought, tired or not she looked as if she would have his head if he tried to bring her over to Andrew’s house.
“Okay.” He locked the middle drawer of his desk and stuck the key back into his pocket. It was time to call it a day. “Since you don’t really care, if you like pizza I know a place that makes the second-best pizza in Northern California.”
She fell into step beside him. “Second best?” she
Similar Books
