Oh. Wow. That really did show some maturity on his part, didn’t it?
“Okay, Trey. Tell me why you think this is what you’re supposed to do.”
He huffed a short laugh. “I don’t know why. Because I’m nineteen years old and a junior in college and I don’t have a clue what I want to do with my life. Why keep spending money we don’t have so that I can graduate with a degree I may not use?”
He kind of had a point.
“But the Marines? Why them?”
“They’re cool.”
“Trey...”
“Sophie...”
She groaned. “Ugh. Just keep me updated, will you? I care about you and love you and want to make sure I’m being a good big sister.”
“You’re a great big sister,” her brother said, his voice soft. Reflective. “You’ve been more of a mom to me than the woman who gave birth to me. I’m blessed to have you. But it’s time for me to...”
“What?”
“Grow up.”
“Leaving college and joining the Marines is growing up?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Sophie couldn’t deal with this right now. “You need your education, Trey. You’ll lose your scholarships.”
“I know, but I’ll get the education I need while I’m in the service.”
She swallowed. “Well, there is that.”
He laughed. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “We’ll talk later. Love you, Sophie.”
“Trey...”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Fine. I love you, too, but—”
“But what?”
“Don’t hang up.” He didn’t, and she bit her lip, blinking back the rush of tears. “Trey?”
“Yeah?”
“If you think this is what you’re supposed to do, then you have my blessing.”
Silence.
“Really?” he finally croaked, his voice thick with his own tears.
“Really.”
“Thanks, Sophie. I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
She hung up with a heavy heart, feeling like her brother was making a huge mistake and she was helpless to stop him from doing it. But he was going to, so she could at least send him off with a lighter heart. She’d support him and love him. She could do that.
And she could do something else, too.
She pulled out her laptop and set it on Sam’s desk. For the next four hours, she focused on catching up with emails and everything that being Jordan’s administrative assistant entailed. Including fielding questions from the media—and being reminded that Stella, the Labrador from the Czech Republic, was arriving in the morning.
It would be hard going back into the office knowing Jordan wouldn’t ever walk through the doors again. It would be more than hard, but her support system was there. All of the K-9 officers and the people she came into contact with on a daily basis. It would be good.
Maybe if she told herself that enough, she’d start to believe it.
She couldn’t help pulling forth one niggling thought that wouldn’t leave her alone.
Now that Jordan was gone, would the new chief want to bring in his own assistant? Or would he or she be willing to give Sophie a chance to prove she would do as good a job for him—or her—as she had for Jordan?
Then again, would she even live long enough for that?
If Luke and the others had anything to say about it, she would. But a killer determined to silence her was still out there and Sophie’s nerves were just about shot. Wondering about her job was the least of her worries. She just wanted to stay alive.
THIRTEEN
Luke expertly flipped the pancake in the pan and set it back on the burner. While the batter bubbled, he thought. About a lot. But mostly the fact that his mind hadn’t shut off since sharing that kiss with Sophie. Which had made sleeping restless. He’d decided bringing it up at breakfast would just make things more awkward.
“Do you need any help?”
He turned to find the subject of his thoughts standing in the doorway dressed in her office attire. With her hair pulled back into a bun and her black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, she looked...intimidating. Young but professional. Capable. Faint shadows under her eyes were the only indication that she might’ve had a sleepless night, as well.
“No, thanks,” he said. “I’ve got this down to a science. Of some sort.” He glanced again. “Do you really need those glasses? I only see you wear them for work.”
A small smile pulled at her lips. “No. I just wear them in hopes that they make me look older.” He held out a cup of coffee toward her and she took it. “However,” she said, “I have to admit, sometimes I wonder if it just makes me look like I’m playing dress-up.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it. “You look great. Very professional and put together. Like you could do anything you set your mind to.”
A flush crept into her cheeks. “Thanks.”
He cleared his throat. “I’ll be ready shortly. Help yourself to the pancakes.”
“I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve prepared meals for me. I need to pitch in for some grocery money or something.”
“Don’t worry about it. If I start heading into the red, I’ll holler at you.” He placed the last two pancakes on a plate and handed it to her. “Those are yours. I’m going to scope the area and be right back.”
“I’ll just scarf these down.”
While she seated herself at the table, Luke slipped out the door and scanned the area. Nothing alarmed him. Which meant nothing other than he couldn’t see the danger if it was present.
“What do you think, Bruno?” he said softly. “You think anyone’s out there watching?”
Bruno’s ears perked at his name, but he didn’t seem to be particularly interested or unnerved about anything in the vicinity. After one more careful sweep, Luke returned to the kitchen to find Sophie washing the plate in the sink.
“You actually made those pancakes?” she asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“They were fabulous. What was in the mix?”
“Ah...you’ll have to ask Sam’s mom that one. I just know how to pour and flip.”
“I should have guessed.” Bruno walked over to her and nudged her leg. She scratched the dog’s ears and he settled himself across her feet. She nodded. “He’s a good dog.”
“He is. And apparently, incredibly smart.”
“Apparently?”
“It hasn’t taken him long to figure out you’ll rub his ears if he asks.”
A smile curved her lips, then faded as she glanced at the door. “Everything okay out there?”
“As far as I can tell, and Bruno didn’t have anything bad to say. I moved the car to the front so when you’re ready, we’re ready.”
“Well, if Bruno says it’s clear, I’m ready.”
“All right, then. Just like last night, okay?”
“Sure.”
Luke tucked her up against his side and escorted her to the door. He had to admit, he enjoyed having her right there next to him. He’d keep that thought to himself, as he’d already hurt her with his wishy-washiness. Until he figured out what he wanted, he owed it to her not to lead her on. Not that he was intentionally doing that, but his behavior could definitely be interpreted that way.
“Luke? You okay?” she asked.
She’d buckled up and was waiting for him to shut the door. Fortunately, he was blocking any line of sight to her. “Yes. Sorry. Just thinking.” He shut the door and rounded the SUV to climb behind the wheel.
“Thinking about what?”
“Just...the future,” he said, “and what it may or may not hold.”
“That’s some deep thinking.”
“Yeah. And I need to st
op doing that or we’re going to be late.” He hated being late.
He’d been late, and his mother had died.
And they’d all been too late to save Jordan.
Clenching his jaw against the reminder, he glanced at Sophie. She was on the phone, scrolling through emails. Her laptop case rested against her leg. “You get anything done last night?”
She looked up from her phone. “Yes, actually.”
“Anything I need to be brought up to date on?”
“Nothing I can think of. I was mostly making sure all of the files were organized so that someone else would be able to make sense out of them.”
“What for?” He frowned.
“Just in case it’s needed.”
“Why would it be needed, Sophie? Are you thinking about quitting?”
She started. “No, not at all, but whoever takes over Jordan’s position may want to bring in his own administrative assistant.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
She blinked and gave a small shrug. “That’s optimistic—and certainly what I’m hoping for—but you and I both know how fast things can change when there’s a turnover in a high-ranking position like Jordan’s.”
“Well, it’s out of the question this time.”
He was being obstinate and pigheaded about the topic, but it scared Luke to death that she could be right. “We’ve already lost Jordan,” he said softly. “Losing you, too, would shatter the morale around headquarters.” Not to mention his heart.
You’re not going there, Hathaway, remember?
She peered at him out from under those impossibly long lashes and he cleared his throat. “Seriously, we need you. You’re great at the job and you have something a lot of others in the position didn’t have.”
“What’s that?”
“You care.”
“Yeah,” she said, “I do.”
“So, you’re staying.” He said it like it was up to him, but he’d certainly be very vocal in his opinion if the topic came up.
“Okay.” Her word said one thing, her tone said, “We’ll see.”
Just like before, he parked as close to the back entrance to headquarters as he could and rushed Sophie into the building.
“I’ll be at my desk if you need anything,” she said.
“I’m just going to park and then I’ll be in.”
He waited until she was headed down the hallway before exiting and climbing back behind the wheel. Luke shook his head. “You’ve got to get it together, dude, or you’re going to find yourself in serious trouble.”
* * *
Sophie stepped from the hall into the spacious lobby area of the three-story building and found herself blocked from her office by a large crowd of officers—with the notable absence of the three Jameson brothers.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she pushed her way through to the inner circle. Then came face-to-muzzle with a beautiful Labrador retriever.
Brianne Hayes knelt next to the dog. She looked up and grinned at Sophie. “It’s Stella, our gift from the Czech Republic.”
The yellow Labrador retriever seemed to be relishing all of the attention. Sophie scratched the animal’s silky ears. “She’s beautiful.”
“And fat,” Gavin said.
Sophie scowled. “Never call a woman fat.” But he did have a point. Why on earth would the Czech Republic gift their department such an out-of-shape animal?
He frowned back at her. “She’s not a woman, she’s a dog.”
“She’s a living creature, and she has feelings,” Brianne insisted. She narrowed her gaze on Gavin. “Be nice.”
He shook his head and turned, but not before Sophie caught the smile playing at the corners of his lips. Good, they needed something to smile about.
Sophie ran her hand down the animal’s neck, over her back and to her hip. On her third pass, she felt something shift under her palm. “What in the world?”
“What?” Bree asked.
Sophie returned her hand to Stella’s side and felt the movement again. She laughed. “Well, I guess we know why she’s fat.”
Brianne blew a raspberry. “She’s going to develop a complex if you people keep ragging her about her weight.”
“Wait a minute,” Finn said, stepping forward. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Yep,” Sophie said. “This is one pregnant pup. She’s going to be a mama. And soon, I believe.”
“You’re kidding,” Bree laughed. “They sent us a pregnant dog? Who does that?”
“Someone who didn’t realize she was pregnant?” Sophie shrugged. “Jordan handled this whole thing personally, so I wasn’t really in the loop other than to know she was coming.” She dropped to her knees and looked the dog in the eye. “She’s gorgeous and with the right training will make a great officer, won’t you, girl?”
As if in agreement, Stella swiped Sophie’s face with her tongue just as Luke walked into the fray.
Sophie giggled and stood. “It doesn’t matter,” she said, drying her face with a tissue she snatched from the nearest table. “Let’s get her checked by the vet and see what he says.”
“I’ll take her down there,” Bree said.
Sophie caught Luke’s eye and he had the weirdest look on his face. Not a bad look, but one she couldn’t decipher. If she had to guess, she’d say shell-shocked.
She raised a brow and his cheeks pinkened just before he turned away. He wasn’t immune to her, that much was clear, but it was also obvious he was determined to keep a barrier up for whatever reasons he deemed important. And finding out those reasons would have to wait. She had work to do.
Bree disappeared with Stella trotting along behind her and Sophie headed for her desk.
Only when she got to her office door, she had to stop and gather her emotions, bracing herself against the wave of grief that was going to hit her when she stepped over the threshold.
“You okay?” Luke asked from behind her.
“No.” She hated that the word sounded shaky. Without turning, she continued to stare at the door to her office. It wasn’t entering her office that had her so emotionally paralyzed, but Jordan’s space was attached to hers and she was going to have to step into that area that would no longer belong to him and yet hold his presence in a gut-wrenching way. “And I think that’s going to be my answer to that question over the next few months.”
“I get it. Want Bruno and me to walk in with you?”
“Yes, please.”
He slid a hand down her arm and grasped her fingers. His were as cold as hers. Maybe, in this moment, he needed her as much as she needed him.
Sophie walked into her office and noted the closed door straight ahead. “Should we treat it like ripping a Band-Aid off?” she asked. “Just go over there and open the door and...”
“Face it?”
“Yes,” she whispered. Face the big empty space that Jordan had seemed to make small.
Sophie led the way to the door, hyperaware of Luke’s hand around hers, tightening with each step. With a shaking hand, she gripped the knob, turned it—and pushed.
The door swung in on silent hinges, just like it always did. She drew in a deep breath and entered. Jordan’s desk sat in the middle of the room. The detectives also working the case had searched it and found nothing. She could see they’d tried not to leave a mess, but files were out of place, Jordan’s coffee cup was on the window sill instead of on his round Yankees coaster next to his computer.
Tears welled, and she shoved them back, pulling her hand from Luke’s and instantly missing his touch even while her mind desperately tried to focus on the job. “I need to go through all of this and figure out which cases take priority, which officers to remind about court appearances—and which officers can take over Jordan’s for now. No one’s made a d
ecision on an interim yet.”
“They will soon. I’m sure the commissioner’s working on it.”
Another deep breath and she was able to approach his desk to gather the files he’d been working on before he’d disappeared. “I’ll just take these with me for now.”
Back in her office, she set the files on the desk and Luke hovered. Bruno sat at his side. She frowned. “Did you need something else?”
“I’m worried about you.”
“Oh. Well, thank you?”
“No, I mean, I’m hesitant to leave you alone. I think you should consider going into hiding.”
Wanting to discount the idea outright, she opened her mouth to do so, then snapped her lips together and decided the suggestion at least deserved her consideration. “Where would I go? Some kind of safe house?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“And who would be there with me? Officers assigned to watch out for me?”
“Of course.”
Sophie pursed her lips. “I can see how that might be helpful at night, but look around you, Luke. I’m surrounded by police presence all day long. He’s not going to try to get to me here.”
Luke rubbed his chin and sighed. “Well...”
“I just don’t think that would be a very good use of our department’s resources. I’d rather use that money to hunt down bad guys. Like Jordan’s killer.”
He started to say something, but the buzzing of his phone cut him off. He looked at the device and straightened. “We’ve just been called into a meeting. I’ve got to go.”
“Of course.”
“Be careful and don’t go anywhere alone. If this guy will show up to a police funeral with plans to kill you, I’m not so sure he won’t try something here.”
She swallowed. He was right. “Okay. I’ll be sure to be extra careful.”
He left, and she wondered if she shouldn’t have been so quick to say no to a safe house.
Because if someone could get to Jordan, he would eventually get to her.
FOURTEEN
Two hours ago, the commissioner had called a meeting and Luke now settled into the chair nearest the door around the large conference table. Bruno lay on the floor at his feet and Luke checked his email as the others filed in, cops and K-9s. When Noah Jameson entered followed by Gavin and Finn, Luke straightened. He exchanged glances with Finn, who took the seat beside him.
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