what I do and I’m here.”She nodded as Mulrooney got up from his chair and crossed to her.
“Welcome back.” He gave her a bear hug. “You okay to be here?”
“Never better.” She managed to get the remark out without gritting her teeth together. She looked from one man to the other. “Did we get anything out of those guys we caught yesterday?”
Disgust covered Dan Mulrooney’s broad, florid face. “They clammed up and demanded to talk to a lawyer.”
She made the natural assumption. “Public defender?” The men looked like two-bit thugs.
“No, some pricey guy.” She could see that Mulrooney had been as surprised by the piece of information as she was. “Your cousin Janelle was by. Said she’d heard of him.”
“Where do two-bit burglars get the money for a pricey lawyer?” Teri wanted to know.
It was a rhetorical question. She didn’t expect to get an answer. But Hawk had been chewing on the same question all evening. “Maybe they’re not working alone but for someone.”
She caught his wavelength and was off and running, charging her words with all the enthusiasm he lacked. “Someone who can afford it.” Her eyes were positively glowing. She loved when one thing hooked up to another. “Someone big.” She grinned at Hawk. “You know, you don’t talk much, but when you do, it’s worth listening to.”
“Unlike some people,” he said under his breath. He was angry about her being back so soon. Angry that she was risking her health. And angry that what she did got under his skin the way it did.
She was back, Teri thought, finally lowering herself into her chair.
And it felt good.
Chapter Five
T eri stopped dead.
Behind her, the ladies’ room door she’d just come through lightly tapped her as it swung back into place, nudging her out of her trance. Feeling a little woozy, she’d gone in for a couple of minutes respite without several sets of male eyes watching her, most notably Hawk’s. She’d had the feeling all day that he’d been waiting for her to pass out, or visibly droop.
Which was a great incentive to keep pushing.
But she hadn’t expected to be waylaid by the sudden appearance of her father walking along on what she deemed now to be her turf.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
Her eyes narrowed as she crossed to him. Granted,this whole building had once been her father’s domain and she knew he had to miss being here, had to miss being the chief of what had become a damn fine police force. But the first reason that occurred to her for his presence had nothing to do with his having a bout of nostalgia, or meeting up with old friends. It was far more personal than that. And very typical. Since Rose Cavanaugh had disappeared out of their lives, he had transformed from a parent to both mother and father to all of them.
“You’re not checking up on me, are you?”
So engrossed in thought, Andrew had all but walked into his daughter. If anything, he knew he had to look more surprised to see her than she him.
Forcing a smile to his lips, he shook his head. “Hell, no. I know better than that.” And then he deadpanned with a wink. “I’ve got my spies doing that for me.”
With her father, it wasn’t always easy to know when he was kidding. And she wouldn’t put it past him to have one of his old friends look in on her and then call in with a report. He was like that, letting them independently go their own way and fly high. All the while he secretly held up a net to catch them in case they should fall.
She scrutinized his face. At least the worried frown wasn’t there anymore, the way it had been yesterday when her father had come home to find her there ahead of him. He’d tried every argument in the book to get her to take a sick day today and rest, but themore he pushed, the more she’d dug in. She supposed that maybe she did possess a little of that superhero complex that Hawk had accused her of having, but that wasn’t anything she was willing to
“Welcome back.” He gave her a bear hug. “You okay to be here?”
“Never better.” She managed to get the remark out without gritting her teeth together. She looked from one man to the other. “Did we get anything out of those guys we caught yesterday?”
Disgust covered Dan Mulrooney’s broad, florid face. “They clammed up and demanded to talk to a lawyer.”
She made the natural assumption. “Public defender?” The men looked like two-bit thugs.
“No, some pricey guy.” She could see that Mulrooney had been as surprised by the piece of information as she was. “Your cousin Janelle was by. Said she’d heard of him.”
“Where do two-bit burglars get the money for a pricey lawyer?” Teri wanted to know.
It was a rhetorical question. She didn’t expect to get an answer. But Hawk had been chewing on the same question all evening. “Maybe they’re not working alone but for someone.”
She caught his wavelength and was off and running, charging her words with all the enthusiasm he lacked. “Someone who can afford it.” Her eyes were positively glowing. She loved when one thing hooked up to another. “Someone big.” She grinned at Hawk. “You know, you don’t talk much, but when you do, it’s worth listening to.”
“Unlike some people,” he said under his breath. He was angry about her being back so soon. Angry that she was risking her health. And angry that what she did got under his skin the way it did.
She was back, Teri thought, finally lowering herself into her chair.
And it felt good.
Chapter Five
T eri stopped dead.
Behind her, the ladies’ room door she’d just come through lightly tapped her as it swung back into place, nudging her out of her trance. Feeling a little woozy, she’d gone in for a couple of minutes respite without several sets of male eyes watching her, most notably Hawk’s. She’d had the feeling all day that he’d been waiting for her to pass out, or visibly droop.
Which was a great incentive to keep pushing.
But she hadn’t expected to be waylaid by the sudden appearance of her father walking along on what she deemed now to be her turf.
“Dad, what are you doing here?”
Her eyes narrowed as she crossed to him. Granted,this whole building had once been her father’s domain and she knew he had to miss being here, had to miss being the chief of what had become a damn fine police force. But the first reason that occurred to her for his presence had nothing to do with his having a bout of nostalgia, or meeting up with old friends. It was far more personal than that. And very typical. Since Rose Cavanaugh had disappeared out of their lives, he had transformed from a parent to both mother and father to all of them.
“You’re not checking up on me, are you?”
So engrossed in thought, Andrew had all but walked into his daughter. If anything, he knew he had to look more surprised to see her than she him.
Forcing a smile to his lips, he shook his head. “Hell, no. I know better than that.” And then he deadpanned with a wink. “I’ve got my spies doing that for me.”
With her father, it wasn’t always easy to know when he was kidding. And she wouldn’t put it past him to have one of his old friends look in on her and then call in with a report. He was like that, letting them independently go their own way and fly high. All the while he secretly held up a net to catch them in case they should fall.
She scrutinized his face. At least the worried frown wasn’t there anymore, the way it had been yesterday when her father had come home to find her there ahead of him. He’d tried every argument in the book to get her to take a sick day today and rest, but themore he pushed, the more she’d dug in. She supposed that maybe she did possess a little of that superhero complex that Hawk had accused her of having, but that wasn’t anything she was willing to
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