Dugan sat down at the table. “The gun in your car,” he recalled. “You never did tell me about that.” His implication was clear. He wanted to hear about the incident now.
She was about to reiterate that it was nothing, but she saw that he wasn’t going to let it go at that. So she told him. “Just some guy who claimed I ruined his business and his life.”
“That doesn’t sound like nothing,” Dugan answered.
“I wrote an exposé on this man’s dealings. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but he was involved in what turned out to be a mini pyramid scheme.” Her expression darkened as she recalled the details. “The guy was taking people’s life savings and ‘investing’ them. Turns out what he was doing was just lining his own pockets. He must have stolen money from a hundred people like that, maybe more.
“He eluded the police for a while. I kept posting updates on him, using anything I could find. That was when he started threatening me.” She shrugged. “They have him now and he’s awaiting trial.” She smiled at him. “It’s all good.”
Dugan wasn’t entirely satisfied with her answer or with her blasé attitude. He made a mental note to look up the case she was talking about. “What’s this guy’s name again?”
“He had a lot of aliases, but it boiled down to Jimmy Philbrooks.” She took a breath. “So, scrambled or sunny-side up?” she asked him.
“Surprise me,” Dugan answered, then he looked at his watch and added, “Just as long as it’s fast, I’m not really fussy.”
She broke the eggs into a giant pan. “You’re in a hurry?”
“You might say that,” he told her. “I’ve got to get down to the precinct to check something out, then swing by my place to change before I come back here to pick you and Heather up.”
“Are we still doing that?” she asked as the toast popped up in the toaster. Taking all three slices out, she buttered the bread quickly, placing each on a separate plate.
“Absolutely,” Dugan answered. And then he looked at her. “Unless you’ve changed your mind and don’t want to go.”
“No, I’d love to go,” she assured him. “I just thought that with all you’ve got going on today, you might want to pass on your uncle’s gathering.”
Dugan grinned, doing justice to the plate she’d just placed before him. “Unless I’m dead—or giving birth—neither of which will probably be the case, I’m expected to show up, at least for part of the day. So, no, I’m not passing on it.”
“What if you’re sick?” she asked as she got Lucinda’s plate ready.
“We Cavanaughs are an amazingly healthy breed. To my best recollection, I don’t remember anyone ever getting sick.” And then he told her the added incentive. “Uncle Andrew’s an amazing cook.”
“You mean, for a police chief,” she said, assuming that was what Dugan meant by his compliment.
“No, for anyone,” Dugan told her. “I think that most of us, even if we did get sick, would crawl on our hands and knees to make sure that we got our share. Really,” he added when he saw the skeptical expression on her face. Then he shrugged with a smile. If he said too much, it might have the opposite effect. “You can judge for yourself,” he told her. “Not that this isn’t good,” he added quickly, concerned that Toni might think that he was belittling her efforts in some way.
Toni laughed, putting her own breakfast onto a plate now. “Don’t worry. I don’t take offense over anything—except for criticism of my writing.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he told her. Finished, he retired his fork.
“You wolfed that right down,” Toni marveled. “Did you even taste it before you swallowed it?”
“I did and it was very good,” he told her, standing up. “But if I’m going to be back in time to take you to Uncle Andrew’s, I’ve got to leave now.” And if I don’t leave right now, I might wind up doing something stupid and scare you off. He was feeling a very strong pull toward this woman. He told himself to keep his guard up.
Picking up the plate, he took it over to the sink and put it in, much to Toni’s surprise. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Tell Lucinda goodbye for me,” he added.
Toni walked him to the door. “If you find that you can’t come back later, that’s all right. I’ll understand,” she assured him.
Dugan stopped for a minute, taking a long look at her face. She’d really been hurt before. He found himself hating a man he didn’t know. “You really expect me to bail on you, don’t you?” he asked.
“Let’s just say I’ve learned not to count on anything too much,” Toni answered. “Disappointment is the name of the game,” she said cavalierly.
“Noon,” he told her. He pointed to the keypad by the inside of the door just before he left. “And don’t forget to rearm the system.”
“I don’t need to be reminded,” she answered through the door as she keyed in the code.
“I know. I just like saying it,” he told her, his voice fading as he hurried back to his vehicle and got in.
Shaking her head, Toni went back to the kitchen and her cooling scrambled eggs.
* * *
“I still can’t believe you came back,” she said.
It was four hours later and they were on their way to the former chief of police’s house. He had even remembered to put the baby’s car seat into the back without any prompting to insure that Heather would be safe.
Toni had just assumed that if Dugan did come back for her, he would have changed his mind about taking along the baby. After all, babies required a lot of supplies of their own everywhere they went. It was just a given. And he was a bachelor, which meant that his mind didn’t operate on that level.
Or so she had thought.
But she had obviously thought wrong.
“I said I would,” he reminded her. “And if nothing else, I’m a man of my word.”
“Apparently,” Toni agreed. Turning in her seat, she looked back doubtfully at the baby. Heather was dozing now, but that could change at any moment. “Are you certain that your uncle won’t mind us just dropping in on him like this?”
“I told you, it’s an open invitation,” he told her. “And I doubt if there’s a man around who is friendlier than Uncle Andrew, although a couple of my other uncles run a close second,” he had to admit.
It sounded like an ideal family. Definitely the kind of family she would have loved to have had. She dearly loved her father, but she hadn’t gotten to see him all that much, given the nature of his work. And then, finally, when he did have some time to spend with her, he’d died.
Still, she couldn’t just insert herself into someone else’s family, even though it sounded tempting. It didn’t seem right.
“But the invitation, as I understand it, is for police personnel, right?” she asked, trying to make her point.
He glanced at her for a second, then looked back to the road. “It’s not an exclusive invitation, if that’s what you mean.”
Toni shook her head. “I’m a journalist,” she argued. “Don’t most cops hate journalists?”
In her experience, they thought of journalists as invaders. She didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb at this gathering.
“Do you lie for a living?” he asked her suddenly.
Stunned, she looked at him. Where had that come from? “No,” she cried, taking offense.
“Calm down,” he laughed. “What I’m trying to say is that as long as you tell the truth, Uncle Andrew will love you. He really values the truth,” Dugan assured her. “The truth and babies,” he added with a grin, glancing up into the rearview mirror to look at the sleeping baby. “It’s been a while since we’ve had a newborn around the place,” he told her.
“Heather’s closing in on almost two and a half months,” she pointed out.
He laughed, disregarding her protest. “Oh, but she
still has that new baby smell.”
Toni’s eyes crinkled as she looked back at her sleeping daughter. “I guess she does, at that.”
“You know, Lucinda could have come along, too,” Dugan told her.
“And both of us appreciate the invitation,” she told him. “But Lucy could really use some time off. She hasn’t been away from Heather for the last week. Much as she loves my daughter, I know that she’d like some time to herself. Having some free time is really nice, too.”
Toni looked out the window and was amazed to see that there were many cars of all sizes parked up and down the block on both sides as well as several blocks beyond that.
“Wait.” She did a double take. “All these cars belong to people in your family?”
He thought he’d explained all this and that she knew what she was getting herself into.
Maybe not, he decided.
“Well, I can’t vouch for every one of these vehicles, but yes, in all likelihood, these all belong to someone in the family.”
“All right, here’s a question for you. Just exactly where are you going to park?”
He waved off the question. “There’s always someplace. If not here, then around the development’s green space. Tell you what,” he suggested. “I can let you off right here with the baby. Just go on up to the house. The door’s most likely not locked. Meanwhile, I’ll go look for parking.”
She was not about to walk into someone’s house, especially not one that belonged to the former chief of police. The man didn’t know her, and neither did most of his family.
“No, that’s all right. I’d rather wait and come in with you,” she told him.
“Okay, but just remember, I offered,” Dugan said to her.
As it turned out, Dugan got lucky. A neighbor had just pulled out across the street, leaving a space by the curb. The space was for a compact car. His Mustang fit that description to a T.
He quickly zipped into the space.
The second Dugan turned off the engine, Heather woke up. With the comforting rocking motion at an end, the baby began to whimper and very quickly to cry in earnest.
Toni frowned. This was exactly what she hadn’t wanted.
“This is not a good way to make an entrance,” she commented.
Dugan got out of the vehicle, locking it.
“Don’t worry about it. Here, give her to me,” he told her.
Before she could offer a protest, Dugan took the baby from her. He tucked his arms around the small, noisy bundle.
Heather’s cries subsided into a whimper. As she gazed up at him with her electric blue eyes, the whimper ceased altogether. She looked as if she was completely fascinated by what she saw.
Toni could only stare at him in utter amazement. “How do you do that?”
“I guess it’s just my natural charm,” Dugan replied with only a hint of a smile. He made a small face at the baby, then looking at Toni, he said, “C’mon, let’s show her off to the family.”
She didn’t want to say anything in reference to his comment, but for just the smallest of moments, Toni had to admit that what he’d just said to her had a really good sound to it.
“Lead the way,” she told him, picking up the diaper bag and the large shoulder bag that she had taken to carrying with her on the rare field trips that she undertook with Heather.
But Dugan would have none of it. “Here,” he told her. “Give me that.”
Before she could argue with him, he had taken the large diaper bag from her and, still carrying Heather in his arms, he went up to the front door.
Chapter 15
Andrew Cavanaugh was a tall, striking man who looked a great deal younger than his actual sixty years. Still in trim fighting form, his thick head of hair was just beginning to turn gray but his face was completely without the telltale lines of a hard life, despite the things he had endured.
He was in the foyer, on his way to the kitchen, when Dugan walked in carrying Heather. Toni was right behind him.
Andrew stopped and smiled broadly at them and at the baby. “Recruiting them a little young, aren’t we?” he asked Dugan.
“Never too early to start,” Dugan quipped. “Uncle Andrew, this is Toni O’Keefe’s daughter, Heather.”
“Pleased to meet you, Heather.” Andrew raised his eyes to look at the young woman beside his nephew. “And I take it that you’re Toni O’Keefe?”
Toni put her hand out to shake his. “Yes, sir.”
Andrew shook her hand. “I knew a Tony O’Keefe. But he certainly didn’t look anything like you,” the chief told her with a warm, welcoming smile.
Toni smiled, feeling an instant kinship. “Tony was my father. You knew my father?” she asked, pleased and surprised.
Andrew nodded. “He was a hell of a newspaperman in his day. Always knew you were getting a square deal with him. How’s he doing?” Andrew asked. “Do you mind?” He indicated the baby.
“Go right ahead,” Toni told him, stepping back. “Dad died a few years ago,” she said, answering Andrew’s other question.
“I’m sorry to hear that. There weren’t many journalists like him. He’d go after a story no matter where it took him, and he didn’t stop until he had it. But you never felt that he was sacrificing people for the story.” Taking the baby into his arms, he looked at Toni. “You’re a journalist, too, aren’t you?”
Toni nodded. “I thought I’d follow in his footsteps.”
Andrew looked at her more closely. Recognition entered his eyes. “You’re the one who was in that shootout at the restaurant yesterday.”
Toni glanced at Dugan. “You’re right, he does know everything.”
Andrew laughed. “I just like keeping my finger in the pie, knowing what my family is up to. Well, I’d better get back to the kitchen and get busy before I start having to field complaints from everyone that dinner’s late.” He transferred the baby back to Dugan. “It’s really nice meeting you, Toni. I hope you enjoy yourself today. Oh—” He stopped for a moment, looking back at her. “If you want to put your daughter down for a nap later, have Lila show you to the nursery,” he told her, mentioning his wife. “You’ll find a couple of cribs in there.”
Toni looked at Dugan quizzically the moment that the chief walked away. “Nursery? Cribs? Isn’t he a little old to have those in his house?”
“The chief brought the cribs down from the attic when the next generation of Cavanaughs started making their appearance.” Dugan smiled down at the baby in his arms. “They never stopped.” Glancing toward Toni, he told her, “Uncle Andrew is nothing if not prepared.”
But Toni was focused on something else at the moment. “You didn’t tell me that he knew my father.”
“I didn’t know,” Dugan answered. “But to be honest, it doesn’t really surprise me. Uncle Andrew seems to know everyone, or did at one point or another. All right,” he said, changing subjects. “Let’s get you introduced around to the troops.”
The first person whose path they crossed was someone Toni already knew.
“Hey, I like your accessory,” Brian Cavanaugh told his nephew, nodding at the baby in Dugan’s arms. “It brings out the softer side of you.” He turned toward Toni. “I take it this is your daughter.”
Toni nodded. “This is Heather,” she told the chief of Ds.
Brian put his index finger into the baby’s tiny hand and smiled as Heather wrapped her little fingers around it.
“Nothing like a baby to make you realize what this is all about,” he commented, his eyes smiling at the little girl. Then, looking at Toni, Brian told her, “You do very nice work, Ms. O’Keefe.”
“Toni, please,” she corrected him, then added, “Thank you.”
She waited for the man to ask after the baby’s father, but that didn’t seem to matter to Brian. Her liking of the man increased.
Brian beckoned to an attractive blonde to come over to join them.
“Toni, I’d like you to meet my wife, Lila.” There was pride in his voice as he told the younger woman, “These days, when she’s not putting up with me, she heads the Missing Persons department.”
“Then you’re on the police force, too?” Toni asked the other woman.
“Is she ever,” Brian laughed. “If it wouldn’t insult all the other officers and detectives here, I’d say that Lila was the best damn police officer I ever had the pleasure to ride with.”
These people were just one surprise after another, Toni thought. “You were partners?”
“We are partners,” Lila answered, slipping her arm around her husband’s waist. “It just took us a while to get together,” she confided.
Toni looked at the woman. It occurred to her that these people constituted a treasure trove of unwritten stories. Her curiosity was completely aroused. “I’d love to sit down and talk to you sometime.”
“Anytime,” Lila told her.
The woman sounded genuine in her response, Toni couldn’t help thinking.
“I’m going to steal Toni away because there are an awful lot more people to introduce her to,” Dugan told the couple.
That seemed to be Heather’s cue to start fussing.
Lila smiled, recognizing the sound. “She’s hungry, isn’t she?” she asked Toni.
“Probably,” Toni answered. She began digging into the bag that was still hanging off Dugan’s shoulder. Dugan shrugged it off to give her better access to the contents.
“Oh, please, let me,” Lila said. “It’s been a while since I got to do this sort of thing,” she confided. “I really miss them when they’re this age,” she added with a fond smile.
Rather than surrender Heather, Dugan looked to Toni for permission.
Toni had no problem with it. If she couldn’t trust the chief of Ds’ wife, whom could she trust? “Please, go right ahead,” she told Dugan, nodding toward the other woman.
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