True Blue K-9 Unit Christmas. Laura Scott

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       THREE

      Pete wanted to ask Faith about why she’d changed her mind but knew they couldn’t speak freely in front of the kids. Despite his conviction to stay single, to avoid getting into tangled relationships with women, he was secretly glad to spend more time with her.

      Over the past few months, he’d done his best to create a family atmosphere for Mikey. Eva, Mikey’s aunt, still came over to offer assistance, but she also recently married K-9 officer Finn Gallagher. As a result, she’d been splitting her time between helping with Mikey, training future service dog Cocoa and enjoying time with her new husband. Pete didn’t blame Eva—she deserved to be happy—yet coming home to a silent house nagged at him. He wondered if Mikey noticed the emptiness, too. His son had wanted a dog from the moment he’d met Cocoa, but as the Christmas holiday approached, his son’s request had become more fervent.

      Eyeing Ricci in the rearview mirror, he knew that this little get-together would only renew Mikey’s quest for a dog. And, really, he couldn’t blame the kid.

      Pete made a mental note to check out dogs at the shelter for one that would be good with kids and was already housebroken.

      “I want a pepperoni pizza,” Mikey announced.

      “No. I want cheese,” Jane argued.

      He glanced at Faith with a cocked eyebrow. “Half of each kind?”

      “Works for me.” Faith didn’t smile and seemed preoccupied with whatever had caused her to change her mind about staying at her place.

      The kids continued to argue in the back seat, so he reached over to put his hand on her arm. “Are you okay? What happened?”

      She shrugged and glanced back to make sure the kids weren’t listening. “I saw a shadow, then found footprints in the snow beneath the front living room window. I believe someone was peering inside the house.”

      His gut tightened. “You should report it.”

      She nodded. “I will, don’t worry, as soon as I find out which K-9 officer will be assigned to Logan’s case. But at the moment there isn’t much more to do. With this weather, everyone is short staffed. Besides, there isn’t enough danger here to justify having a cop sit outside my house.”

      He understood her perspective. Bad weather days like today made hospitals, cops and paramedics extra busy, jumping from one disaster to the next. He was fortunate to have been able to leave work during the snowstorm. After Malina’s passing, his boss had offered him a position as paramedic trainer, which enabled him to work days and pick up his son from day care.

      A constant precarious balance between work and family life.

      “I’ll mention it to Zimmerman, too,” Faith continued. “Although I have more faith in my unit than in him.”

      Pete hadn’t been impressed with the detective, either, but kept his attention focused on the road. The Friday-evening traffic was especially horrible and it occurred to him that ordering pizza probably wouldn’t work. He had frozen ones on hand, but they were all pepperoni, Mikey’s favorite.

      Thirty minutes later, he pulled into his driveway with a sense of relief. No sane person would voluntarily go out in this mess unless it was absolutely necessary.

      “I have frozen pepperoni pizza,” he told Faith. “We’ll pull off some pepperoni and add more cheese for Jane.”

      Faith nodded. “Better than waiting for a delivery to make it through this weather.”

      “Yeah.” He slid from the car, his feet sinking into five inches of fresh snow. He opened the back passenger seat to get Mikey out, as Faith did the same with Jane. He led the way to the front door and unlocked it. He set Mikey inside, then took Jane from Faith’s arms so she could get Ricci.

      He helped get the kids out of their winter gear while Faith took care of Ricci. When she came inside with the dog, the kids laughed with glee when Ricci shook the snow from his coat, spraying them with water. Faith took Ricci’s K-9 vest off and hung it up to dry.

      Somehow, making a meal didn’t feel like a chore when he had help. He preheated the oven as Faith unwrapped the pizza, picking off pepperoni from one side and adding it to the other. The kids ran into the playroom located just around the corner from the kitchen, with Ricci hot on their heels.

      Instantly the kitchen became quiet and Pete was hyperaware of Faith’s presence beside him. For a moment he thought he was losing his mind because he could pick up the scent of vanilla and cranberries from her.

      He cleared his throat. “How long have you been a K-9 cop?”

      “Four years, although I’m relatively new to the NYC K-9 Command Unit. I transferred over to the Queens office from Manhattan about a year or so ago.” She flashed a smile. “Much nicer commute, that’s for sure.”

      “I can imagine.” He leaned against the counter. “Must be awesome to work with dogs.”

      “I love it.” She hesitated, then added, “Although, I have to say I like the investigative side of being a cop, too. Search and rescue often provides both, but the way Zimmerman ridicules my skills bothers me. Ricci was following Logan’s scent when those shots were fired.”

      “I know.” Pete remembered how things had gone down, all too clearly.

      She filled a bowl of water for Ricci, then pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down. He joined her. “You would think the lead detective would ask for our assistance in a case like this. But not the old stuck-in-the-mud guys like Zimmerman.”

      “Listen, Faith, it might be best if you stay here for the night. You can sleep on the sofa. I’m off for the weekend, so the kids don’t have to be up early.” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You know they’ll love having a sleepover.”

      “I’m not sure what to do,” Faith confessed. “I need to call off work this weekend, too, now that I’m the sole parent caring for Jane. I should go to a hotel, but the idea of making you drive us there in this mess of a snowstorm seems selfish.”

      He didn’t like the idea, either. “It’s your call and I understand your concern. We don’t know each other very well, except to say hi at the day-care center. But the kids will have fun. And you’ll be safe. That’s what matters, right?”

      “Right.” Her tone lacked conviction. “And I’m fairly certain we weren’t followed, considering the snow.”

      The momentary silence was broken by the oven timer. Pete jumped up to check the pizza. Golden-brown cheese indicated it was ready. “Tell the kids to wash up for dinner.”

      “Will do.”

      He found himself smiling as he pulled the pizza out of the oven and set it on the cardboard backing to cut it. It had been a long time since he’d shared a meal with someone—okay, a woman—and it felt nice. But then he remembered СКАЧАТЬ