Cavanaugh's Bodyguard by Marie Ferrarella Page B

a different light.
    “No, he’s reliving getting even with the woman who turned him down—that’s his primary driving force. But every which way he turns, he gets rejected. His feelings toward the police department might be no different from what he feels for the woman who turned him down. Thumbing his nose at the efforts of the police to find him might just be a big bonus feature for him.”
    Josh turned it over in his head. “Worth a shot, I guess,” he agreed. “But if we’re going to go through old files,” which was what he assumed she was getting at, “we’re going to need some extra people and the budget’s tight.”
    He wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. Lieutenant Howard had made a point of letting them all know that there was no more money for overtime but if extra hours needed to be put in, he expected that to be done—with no extra compensation.
    “Don’t worry. If Howard says no to putting at least a couple of extra people on this, I know who to ask,” she promised. “Someone who can see beyond a dollar sign and fostering his own ‘legend.’”
    Josh grinned. He didn’t have to ask what she was thinking. “That’s my girl.”
    A quick, warm salvo shot through her in response to his words and the way he looked at her as he said it before she had a chance to shut it down.
    What the hell was that all about? she upbraided herself impatiently.
    She didn’t have time for this.

Chapter 5
    “Y ou think I’m going to endanger my career by going out on a limb and authorizing overtime for you and your little playmate here just so that you can find some dirt to tarnish the police department’s good name in the community?” Lieutenant Howard demanded. His voice rose in direct correlation to the pulsating blue vein that snaked its way along his forehead.
    It amazed Bridget just how obstinate her new acting supervisor could be. Determined to cross her t’s and dot her i’s, she had gritted her teeth and deliberately gone through the proper channels—in this case, that would be Howard—to make her request for more manpower. They needed help to plow through the mountain of files she was anticipating—once she and Josh began going over all the academy’s rejects from three to five years ago.
    The request had momentarily stunned the preening lieutenant into complete silence. He’d come out of his office to ask for a status report on the investigation, apparently expecting to hear that they were closing in on a suspect. Instead, he’d been hit with a request for exactly what he’d already told his squad he had no intentions of allowing.
    The vein across his forehead pulsed harder.
    The second he’d opened his mouth, the very faint hope that he might actually be reasonable and consider her request went down in flames. Bridget had to admit that it wasn’t exactly a surprise.
    Well, at least no one could accuse her of going over the man’s head without first giving him a chance to work with her.
    Still, she felt she had to straighten out Howard’s misconception. “No, not overtime. I’m asking for extra people. And it’s not to make the department look bad, it’s to find out who the department was intuitive enough not to hire in the first place.”
    Bridget searched the lieutenant’s face for some indication that she’d gotten through. There was none. Apparently her words weren’t penetrating the force field around his brain.
    “The answer’s no. You and Youngblood put in whatever time you have to get this guy behind bars, and you do it because you’re supposedly good cops, not because you think you’re going to line your pockets and your buddies’ pockets with extra cash.” Drawing himself up to his full five feet ten inches, Howard glared down at her. “Now, did I make myself clear?”
    She met his glare without flinching or looking away. Bridget was not easily intimidated, thanks to growing up with four brothers.
    “Perfectly,” she bit off.
    “Good. Now