The Rookie's Assignment

by Valerie Hansen

  “He might be. What’re you doing, anyway? I know it can’t be on the up-and-up.”

  “Yeah, well, you ought to know, Reilly,” Nick snapped back. “Put me through. I haven’t got all day.”

  “Okay. Keep your shirt on.” On the other end of the line Nick was certain he heard a mumbled curse and shuffling of papers. “Here it is. The chief left a memo. He said to tell you, if you called, that he had to go upstate for a few days and he expects to be out of touch. Wanna leave him a message?”

  Nick decided it was prudent to hold off. There were only two men who knew he’d been sent to Fitzgerald Bay or what he was doing there: his former Boston chief, who had assigned him this undercover task, and the high-ranking officer from the State Police who had made the original request for assistance.

  Leaving any kind of message, no matter how cryptic, was far too chancy. “No message. I’ll try again later.”

  “Suit yourself. Listen, we’ve got other calls waiting and all the lines are full. We work hard around here, in case you’ve forgotten. If you really want to get in touch with the chief, I suggest you try emailing him.”

  “Thanks. I will,” Nick said before hanging up. He’d have much preferred to speak to his chief in person, partly because he distrusted email and partly because he wanted to hear the inflection of the man’s voice when he asked for more background info on Aiden Fitzgerald.

  The FBPD chief seemed to be doing his best to run a clean department but so far Nick had only scratched the surface of what was going on in the idyllic-looking community. If he’d learned anything in his years on the force, it was that things were seldom as simple or as unsullied as they seemed.

  He knew only one thing for certain. A person or persons in this little town had committed murder. All he had to do was learn enough to solve the crime.

  “So, what’s he like?” Keira’s older sister, Fiona, asked. They’d shared an evening meal of takeout and were straightening up The Reading Nook bookstore together.

  “Kind of odd. Which reminds me,” Keira asked, “did you get in that new thriller I asked you to order?”

  “Sure did. Now stop changing the subject. I want to hear all about your good-looking partner.”

  Keira chose to ignore the all-too-accurate description. “Well, Nick can be grumpy sometimes.”

  “Like?”

  “Like when I drove him and his stuff over to Douglas’s this afternoon. He wouldn’t let me touch a thing, not even the carrying case for his laptop.”

  “Why not?”

  “Beats me. When I started to pick it up for him, he pitched such a fit you’d have thought I was about to throw it into the trash.”

  “That doesn’t sound normal.” Fiona frowned down from atop a ladder she was using to reach a case of merchandise in the storage area of her quaint shop.

  “It may be normal for Nick. He’s actually not too bad to work with most of the time. He’s just, I don’t know, different is the word, I guess.”

  “My Jimmy was one of a kind, too. Sweet and full of jokes, but also braver than any man I’ve ever known. Thank goodness Sean takes more after his daddy than he does me.”

  Waiting at the bottom of the ladder, Keira relieved Fiona of the heavy box and set it on a worktable in the back room. “Do you want to talk about Jimmy?”

  Fiona shrugged and sighed wistfully. “Sometimes I think I do. And then I’ll recall a special time we shared and I can’t help tearing up. I try to keep from doing that for Sean’s sake. After all, he’s only six.”

  “I’m sure he understands a lot more than any of us think he does.”

  “Probably. I keep his daddy’s memory alive for him as best I can. Jimmy’s friends from the fire department help, too. Sean loves hanging out with those guys whenever they’ll let him.” She began to grin. “But enough about my boring life. Tell me more about this special new man in yours.”

  “In my life? Ha! Nick Delfino wouldn’t even give me a second look if he didn’t have to work with me.”

  That made her sister giggle. “Oh? And what about you? Would you look at him twice?”

  Keira blushed and raised her eyebrows tellingly. “At least. Maybe three times if you really want to know.” The warmth of her cheeks flared. “Truth to tell, I have to watch myself to keep from staring. He’s the kind of person it’s easy to look up to. Know what I mean?”

  “Not exactly,” Fiona said, prompting Keira to go on.

  “It’s hard to explain. I trust his judgment more than my own. There’s something reassuring about the way he behaves. He’s all business and I can tell he’s thinking the whole time, yet there’s also a side of his character that’s personally appealing.” She paused long enough to fan herself for dramatic effect. “I could really get used to having him around.”

  “Woo-hoo. Sounds interesting, little sister. So, how do you know he’s not staying long? Is that what he told you?”

  “He and Dad both insisted it was true. Nick’s only supposed to be here long enough to help us solve Olivia’s murder, period.”

  Fiona’s brows knit. “Why him? Is he some kind of super detective?”

  “Something like that, I guess,” Keira said. “He’s on loan from Boston. Dad said he’d agreed to bring Nick in after sharing his frustration with an old friend who apparently helped arrange it.”

  Pensive, Fiona started pulling books out of the cardboard box she’d just retrieved. “Since it’s our father we’re talking about, I’ll buy that excuse. If Aunt Vanessa was behind it, I’d suspect more matchmaking.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. I took Nick to Connolly’s Catch for lunch today and you should have heard Vanessa. Talk about embarrassing.” She laughed quietly. “Of course, she was right about Merry and Douglas being perfect for each other.”

  Noting the melancholy look on her sister’s face, Keira reached out and patted her hand. “Maybe someday you’ll find another man as perfect as Jimmy.”

  “Never,” Fiona insisted, “but thanks for the encouragement. Keep me and Sean in your prayers and we’ll be fine.” She began to grin. “And while I’m at it, I’ll make sure to pray for you and Nick.”

  “Whoa.” Keira waved both hands in front of her as if trying to erase an invisible chalkboard. “Feel free to pray for me. Or for Nick. Just don’t go joining our names like that, okay? The rumors will fly, anyway. No sense adding fuel to the fire.”

  “Okay.” Laughing, Fiona spotted her six-year-old son in the doorway and motioned him over. “If you’re done taking out the trash, how about helping me carry some of these books to the front and put them on the shelves, Sean?”

  “Sure. Can I use the ladder?”

  “We’ll let Aunt Keira do that if we need to reach higher,” Fiona said. “Although considering how she used to get into trouble for climbing trees and falling out of them when she was little, maybe I’d better do the honors.”

  Keira grabbed a short stack of hardbacks and handed them to her nephew before gathering some for herself. “Don’t listen to her, kid. Big sisters always pick on us younger ones.”

  When the precocious boy piped up with, “I want a sister, too,” Keira thought she’d choke.

  One glance at Fiona told her they were both trying so hard to keep from laughing they looked as if they were about to burst.

  The following few days passed uneventfully. Nick was starting to feel more accepted by the other officers and staff of the FBPD and Keira had been the picture of sensibility since the sideswiping incident outside the condo. Although he kept waiting for her next slipup and guarding her as if she were enrolled in the witness-protection program, he was actually pretty proud of the way she’d begun to conform to his idea of a levelheaded, alert police officer.

  “I’m glad you decided to attend the memorial service for Olivia with me,” Keira said, further confirming his recent conclusions about her competence. “Half the town will be there and you’ll have a chance to see how everybody acts under duress.”

 
“That’s the plan.” Nick felt a smile lift one corner of his mouth and knew he’d better mask his self-satisfaction with humor if he hoped to keep his partner on his side. “I suppose you’d object if I stood by the church door and sampled everybody’s DNA on their way out.”

  As he’d expected, she rolled her beautiful blue eyes. “You’re terrible. It was bad enough when you insisted on retesting Charles. Although you’ll have to admit he took it very well.”

  “Yes, he did.”

  Thinking back, Nick recalled his impression of the doctor as being positive. It was easy to see why Keira and the rest of the local force had trouble considering him guilty of any crime, let alone one of violence. Everything about him seemed open and aboveboard, from his welcoming smile to his firm handshake and willingness to cooperate.

  “I’m not going to change out of my uniform because we’ll still be on call,” Keira said, checking her watch. “I wouldn’t have time, anyway. The service starts in less than an hour.”

  “Okay.” Nick decided to outline his specific plans rather than have his partner raise a ruckus when his actions surprised her. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a digital camera smaller than the palm of his hand and displayed it. “I’m taking this with me. You won’t see me shooting, I promise, but there are times when a picture can tell us a lot more than direct observation.”

  “You’re acting like you expect me to pitch a fit.” She chuckled softly. “Actually, I think that’s a great idea. Just don’t go sticking your lens in somebody’s face and embarrassing them, okay?”

  “Okay. I understand Olivia’s cousin Meghan Henry arranged this memorial service and burial after the body was released by the coroner. Do you know much about her?”

  “Not a lot. She hasn’t been in town for very long. She did rent a cottage down by the beach so I suppose she intends to hang around.”

  “Why am I getting the impression that there’s more you want to say?” Nick asked, eyeing her and waiting.

  “There is one more detail. In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that my father is picking up the tab for the mortuary and cemetery costs.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Dad often helps people out that way, although he never makes it public. The Fitzgeralds have always used their money for the good of the community.”

  “I’m glad you mentioned it,” Nick said. “Otherwise I might have thought it looked odd.”

  “For a privately wealthy man to assist someone who has special needs in a time of tragedy? I don’t know why you’d think that’s strange.”

  “You obviously do or you wouldn’t have brought it to my attention,” Nick argued. “Don’t worry. I won’t embarrass you by asking questions at the wrong time. But I do intend to stand back and observe, just as we’ve discussed.” He stowed the little camera, picked up his hat and motioned to the door. “Shall we go? The sooner we get there, the more we’ll see.”

  “You promise to be discreet?”

  He drew his index finger over his chest in the shape of an X. “Cross my heart. I’ll stand way back and use a zoom lens. That kind of thing is done all the time when we’re searching for suspects. Just ignore me.”

  The reflection in the glass of the door they were approaching showed his partner rolling her eyes and arching her brows as if that was the most ridiculous comment she’d ever heard, so he asked, “What?”

  “Nothing,” Keira insisted. “I was just thinking how impossible it is to ignore you wherever you are.”

  “Is that good or bad?”

  She was shaking her head and blushing as she answered, “The jury is still out on that one.”

  Fitzgerald Bay Community Church sat on slightly higher ground than the business district. Its tall, graceful white steeple was visible from just about everywhere in town and on Sunday mornings the peal of its joyful-sounding bells summoned the congregation.

  Since she was still living in the family home with her father and their housekeeper, Irene Mulrooney, Keira lived close to the church and always had a front-row seat to the melodic Sabbath concert. Right now, she wished the bells were ringing to help lift everyone’s spirits, hers included.

  “Well, I suppose we’d better go on in,” she said, squaring her shoulders and starting off across the parking lot.

  Nick fell into step beside her. “Is this where you usually go to church?”

  “Yes. Peter Larch is our pastor, although he’s getting up in years. I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to serve before his health forces him to retire.”

  “So, you’d say he knows lots of townspeople?”

  Keira cast a wary glance at him. “I don’t believe you, Delfino. You want to grill the preacher, too?”

  “If it will help me do my job, yes. Nobody should be off-limits. If you weren’t so close to the situation, you’d feel the same.”

  “I suppose I would. But for the present, let’s stick to observing the mourners and keeping a low profile, shall we? Remember, this is a house of worship.”

  “I’m not likely to forget.”

  Keira was certain she saw him punctuate his statement with a barely perceptible shiver. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Let’s just say I’m not at home in churches,” Nick replied. “Never was.”

  “That’s too bad. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of sitting in this very sanctuary with my family. When my mother was alive, we never missed a service.”

  “And lately?”

  “I attend whenever I can. So do most of my siblings. Dad and my grandfather aren’t quite that faithful, although I guess I can understand why. There are still times when I can visualize my mother’s casket sitting right where Olivia’s will be today. That’s a tough memory.”

  “I suppose it would be.”

  “What about your family?” Keira asked, hoping her own openness would lead him to divulge the same kind of confidences. “Are your parents living?”

  “Yes. Last I heard, they were happily basking in the Florida sun. We’re not close the way you are with your relatives. And I have no brothers or sisters.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  It surprised her when her partner simply shrugged that comment off. Perhaps his lack of personal connections to others didn’t matter to him. Then again, since he hadn’t been raised around a big, friendly clan like hers, maybe he just didn’t know what he’d been missing.

  Or maybe he was the kind of guy who craved solitude. In view of their occupation and the fact that some folks viewed all police as their enemy, perhaps Nick had chosen a fitting career after all.

  Keira stepped through the tall, carved wooden doors decorating the church’s main entrance. The atmosphere inside was hushed, the crowd in the foyer larger than she’d expected, given that Olivia had resided in Fitzgerald Bay for such a short time compared to most residents.

  Somber-faced for the most part, the mourners were nodding polite greetings to each other as they inched toward the guest book and took turns signing.

  “That’s Burke Hennessy and his family over there,” Keira whispered to Nick, cocking her head toward a group entering the sanctuary ahead of them. “Burke is the older man with the receding blond hair.”

  “He has three children?”

  Keira subdued an inappropriate snicker just in time to keep from embarrassing herself. “You mean including the tall blonde? Nope. That’s his second wife, Christina. She’s not quite young enough to be his daughter but almost. The younger guy is Cooper, Burke’s son from his first marriage. I think he’s about twenty-five. And the baby is Georgina.”

  “Cute little kid.”

  “I agree. She didn’t get her beauty from her parents, though. They adopted her from a drug addict and saved her life, as Burke loves to remind people. He usually sounds like he’s campaigning for political office.”

  “Then she’s a lucky baby.”

  “Maybe. Christina likes to play at being a mommy but I expect the nanny to ta
ke Georgina outside before the service begins. Leave it to Burke to squeeze all the mileage he can out of the happy-family image.”

  “He’s also the guy who keeps insisting your brother is guilty, right? Isn’t that Charles over there?”

  “Yes.” Keira’s shoulders slumped with disappointment. “I told him not to come today but he insisted that the twins needed to say goodbye to Olivia. Of course, they won’t understand what’s going on, especially not with a closed casket.”

  “That’s probably for the best,” Nick said. “I’m not sure it’s wise to bring impressionable kids to something like this, anyway.”

  “I wonder. I was very young when my grandmother Fitzgerald passed away and I never got to see her after she went into the hospital that last time. I remember wishing I could have.” She sighed heartily. “Oh, well, we’ll meet again in heaven.”

  Although Nick quickly turned away, she noticed how uneasy he seemed. “I get the idea you don’t share my faith,” she remarked. “That’s a shame.”

  “What is? That I don’t waste my time looking for pie in the sky?”

  “No. That you don’t have an open mind. I’m certainly no theologian. I don’t pretend to be. Still, I prefer to think that, even if I comprehend only the most tenuous elements of Christianity, it’s still better than having no faith at all.” She smiled slightly. “Does that make sense to you?”

  “Not a bit.”

  Keira’s smile grew. “That’s okay. I’m not going to beat you over the head with my Bible.”

  “Good to know.” Nick leaned closer and cupped his hand to speak as privately as possible. “I’m sure we’d garner even more attention than we already are if you caused a scene like that.”

  “I told you we’d start rumors by being seen together, Delfino. That’s what happens in a small town where everybody knows practically everyone else.”

  She sensed him waiting behind her while she paused to sign the guest book, then led the way into the softly lit sanctuary. Candles flickered at the altar in front of a plain wooden cross. On either side of the room were familiar stained-glass windows depicting scenes from the Bible, primarily those featuring water. That same theme was carried out by old paintings of sailing ships leaving a port that Keira assumed represented the historical Fitzgerald Bay.