KCPD Protector by Julie Miller Page A

stroke of his thumb. She could still feel his touch on her skin. She could vividly remember those brief moments of being sheltered, cared for. She could see herself wanting, needing, falling for the man.
    “Please, George. Do this for me,” Courtney pleaded on the other side of the door.
    But Elise had no right to make any such demand on his time and caring. Wisely ignoring those tempting ideas, Elise put her hands on her keyboard to update the budget report. Although she didn’t envy the one-sided argument she could hear through the closed door, she was relieved that George’s ex-wife was demanding his attention. Let him solve Courtney’s problems. Let him be a rock for someone else. Elise couldn’t depend on her boss to comfort her or save her or whatever it was she thought he could do for her right now.
    If she’d quit getting herself into trouble, she wouldn’t need any man to save her.
    Several minutes passed, long enough for Elise to get three pages of new data entered into the budget report. The uncomfortable opportunity to eavesdrop on the room next door went away as the voices quieted into a civilized conversation. George was either able to calm his ex, she was beginning to see reason or both.
    Elise had managed to immerse herself in her work again when a man cleared his throat from the hallway door. Looking up, she smiled. “Officer Hale.”
    A quick glance at the time and the calendar confirmed the uniformed police officer was here for a scheduled appointment. “Ma’am.”
    She circled the desk to shake the officer’s hand and gestured to the seating area of her office. “Could I get you a cup of coffee? Or something cold to drink?”
    “Water if you have it.” Denton Hale took a seat once Elise brought him a bottle of water from the minifridge and sat. Although his short-sleeved uniform was neatly pressed, the dark marks at his armpits indicated he was taking a break in the middle of a work shift. He opened the bottle and drank half of it before capping it and thanking her. “That hit the spot. My partner and I recently got our shift transferred to your neighborhood. At least I think it’s your part of town—I saw you walking your dog there.”
    “Could be. Spike and I are out every morning and most evenings.”
    “The older residential districts seem to be getting hit pretty hard with brownouts and transformers going off-line.” The middle-aged cop toyed with the brim of his hat, as if nervous about coming up with more conversation. “Have you had any power outages yet? Our electricity went out a couple of nights ago. We all ended up sleeping on the screened-in porch.”
    “That sounds like a fun adventure.”
    “The kids liked it, although the camp cot’s a little hard on my back these days.”
    Knowing Denton Hale was here to discuss possible salary freezes and staff cuts—maybe even his own job or that of his friends—with the deputy commissioner, Elise did her best to put him at ease. No sense adding to his stress. “We’ve had a couple of outages, but nothing that lasted for any length of time. I run the air-conditioning just upstairs at night, and turn it on low during the day—enough for my dog to manage the heat. I’m trying to do whatever I can to help conserve energy.”
    “Yeah. I guess it’s been pretty rough. We followed one utility worker out on a call this morning. Somebody had vandalized his work truck. Painted a message on it I wouldn’t want to repeat.”
    Elise shook her head. “That’s terrible. It’s not like this weather is the city’s fault. I guess tempers are shorter when the temperature is higher.”
    “Yes, ma’am. That’s been my experience.” After an awkward pause and another long drink, the police officer pointed toward George’s door. “Is he in?”
    Elise took his empty bottle and brought him another water. “Mr. Madigan’s appointment is running a little longer than he anticipated.”
    Denton Hale shoved his fingers though his brown