Burnout (NYPD Blue & Gold) by Tee O'Fallon Page A

wall of the dining room ended her daydreaming with a story on the upcoming senatorial elections in the fall. Cassie tried to catch what was being said about New Jersey’s frontrunners, Aaron Miller and Joshua Mosely, but couldn’t hear much over the sound of Rose whacking the side of the register again when it refused to open.
    From the corner of her eye, she caught Leo deep in conversation with Ginny. It was a ritual with those two before the Nest closed for the day. Leo was smitten, but he hadn’t asked the young waitress out yet.
    The bell over the front door jingled. Another uniform came through the door.
    Mike.
    “See anything you like?” Sue inclined her head to where Mike joined Jimmy at the far end of the counter. She smiled suggestively as she continued refilling salt and pepper shakers.
    “Very funny,” Cassie said, then busied herself helping Chuck fill orders. Through the kitchen opening, she alternately maintained a watchful eye on the front door and Mike as he ate a bowl of her chipotle chili. When two tall, swarthy men she didn’t recognize came in the door, she watched them as they passed Mike and Jimmy and headed to a table. Jimmy nodded to both men, clearly knowing them. When Cassie glanced back to Mike, she found herself pinned by his intense blue stare. He slowly shifted his gaze to the two men, then back to her. He raised an eyebrow and frowned.
    He knows something’s up, he just doesn’t know what.
    Briefly, she considered telling him who she was, but she hardly knew him and this was not the time to start trusting strangers. Mike might even boot her out of town, and she wondered if that wasn’t the wisest course of action. Still, she really ought to earn some brownie points and apologize about her bitch-on-wheels attitude yesterday.
    She headed to the counter, pausing when Mike put his arm around a little boy about eight years old. The boy gazed adoringly up at him while his mother, one of the few townspeople Cassie hadn’t met yet, headed to the cash register.
    “Great drawing, Joey.” Mike held up the thin newspaper the boy had doodled on.
    Intrigued, Cassie inched closer to peer over Mike’s shoulder. Even with all the rich food smells wafting through the air, she could make out the clean fresh scent of his aftershave.
    Joey had taken different colored crayons and added beards, mustaches, hair, and glasses to every face on the cover of the Hopewell Springs Gazette . The governor now looked like Groucho Marx, and Cassie loved the goofy way his doodling made the other politicians actually appear more sincere. Like Aaron Miller.
    Miller, New Jersey’s incumbent, hadn’t done a thing for the state except support higher taxes. Somehow the man had an impressive following, but Cassie never understood his appeal. With his fake smile and overly scripted speeches, he reminded her of one of those phony TV evangelists who eventually got arrested for embezzlement.
    Miller’s opponent, Joshua Mosely, would soon be receiving the governor of New York’s endorsement. Mosely was a self-made man, a foster kid who rose from nothing and created a construction empire. He had just the kind of business savvy New Jersey needed to yank it out of the fiscal crisis it was drowning in.
    “Is she still watching me?” Mike asked Joey loudly enough for Cassie to hear. He crouched down beside the little boy.
    Joey glanced up at Cassie and giggled. “Yup.”
    Uh-oh. Caught. Cassie couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
    “What’s she doing now?” Mike asked without turning to look at her.
    “She’s smiling. She usually looks like she’s mad at you.”
    Mike laughed. “You noticed that, too, huh?” Joey nodded, giggling again. Mike stood and dropped his hand to Joey’s head, mussing the boy’s hair. “Keep up the good work.”
    “I will, Chief Mike.” Joey skipped down the aisle to catch up to his mother.
    Cassie crossed her arms. “Never figured you to be such a softie with kids.”
    Mimicking her,