“Yes,” Ash said hoarsely and followed as Allie abruptly about-faced and stalked away. When Ash reached the patrol car, Allie was already behind the wheel. Ash slid into the front seat across from her.

She hadn’t been able to sleep, but she had managed to get down a little breakfast, and after a couple of cups of coffee, her head was clear.

“Let’s start on the harbor side of Commercial in the far West End. I’ve got a lot of claims down there.”

“Fine.” Allie stared straight through the windshield, one hand on the wheel, the other resting on her right thigh. She recognized the familiar spicy Dolce & Gabbana cologne Ash was wearing, because she’d given it to her. She remembered laughing while Ash opened the package, telling Ash she had gotten that particular scent because it

• 95 •

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smelled like something she wanted to eat. Ash had unbuttoned her shirt and dabbed a little just below her belly button.

Hungry now? Ash said.

Allie had met the challenge in Ash’s eyes and immediately dropped to her knees, unzipped Ash’s fly, and gone down on her, savoring the aromas of fine cologne and even finer woman. Ash had come hard and fast, and considering that they were standing next to Ash’s car in the parking lot on Bradford, that was probably a good thing.

Allie gunned the motor and pulled out into the street so fast that Ash slammed back in her seat. Ignoring Ash’s grunt of surprise, Allie snatched her radio off the dash and reported her destination.

Ash gripped the armrest and gazed out the window. About half of the businesses on Commercial were open, although many had sheets of plywood covering shattered front windows. Rubble was piled along the edge of the sidewalks, waiting for removal. Here and there portions of roofs were missing and big yellow warning signs were stapled to the doors, forbidding entry by order of the fire marshal.

“You took a heavy hit,” Ash murmured.

Allie said nothing. She wasn’t in the mood for casual conversation.

What she wanted, more than anything else, was to be able to look at Ash and not remember anything. So far, that wasn’t working so well, and that just pissed her off.

“You happy with the job?” Ash asked.

“I like my job, I love the town, I’m dating a hot woman. That’s my story. Can we stick to business now?” Allie said.

Ash sucked in a breath. What did she expect? She’d been the one to break off the relationship because when she’d felt herself falling in love, she’d panicked. She’d been convinced that Allie was too young for a long-term relationship, and even if Allie had been ready for a commitment, she was too young for Ash. More than a decade Ash’s junior, and a big decade. The difference between forty-two and fifty-five was light-years away from the difference between twenty-two and thirty-five. Ash knew from painful experience how hard it was to build and keep a relationship. She’d failed herself a couple of times and seen her sister’s marriage fall apart after eight years and three kids. Hell, not a single one of her friends from college had managed to make a go of their marriages. She’d looked at Allie and couldn’t imagine her being satisfied with Ash when there were so many women waiting in

• 96 •

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her future. Allie was like a supernova, shining so bright that everything in her path burned with her. She was smart and vital and embraced life with a carefree sensuality that Ash envied. She would gladly have incinerated in Allie’s blaze. She feared not immolation, but that she would survive, forever scarred, forever wanting. So she’d walked away, and damned herself to exactly the future she had tried to avoid.

“You can let me out here,” Ash said when Allie slowed the cruiser in front of a barricade blocking off a flooded portion of the street.

“I told you, Reese wants me to go with you to clear our open files.”

Ash opened the door when Allie halted the cruiser. She stepped out, leaned a forearm on the roof, and peered back in. “If I see anything suspicious, I’ll tell you. Otherwise, you can clear your cases as I go through them. I’ll give you a list at the end of every day. I know you’re all pulling double shifts. You don’t need to do this.”

Allie jammed the car into Park and hopped out with the engine still running. She glared at Ash across the roof. “What part of orders don’t you understand? Reese assigned me to work with you. So I’m coming with you. Now move the barricade so I can get the cruiser through.”

“Allie, there’s probably three feet of water down there in some places. You’ll stall out.”

“Fine.” Allie reached in, cut the ignition, and pocketed the keys.

She slammed the door. “Let’s walk.”

Ash winced, the shock shooting up her arm and into her head.

“Okay. Jesus. Take it easy.”

“Maybe if you weren’t hungover, you wouldn’t be so sensitive.”

“Look, can we declare a truce here?” Ash asked quietly. “I know you’re pissed off at—”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Allie said succinctly. “You never bothered to look at me, Ash. You just saw what you wanted to see. Nice tits and a pretty face.”

Ash jolted with shock. “Allie. Baby,” she whispered, “that’s not true. I nev—”

“Don’t you dare call me that,” Allie said furiously. “I’m not your baby. I never was. That was just your first mistake.”

“Okay,” Ash said, feeling the earth tilt under her feet. She pressed her palms flat against the top of the car to fight the wave of dizziness.

• 97 •

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The core of pain she always carried in her chest expanded until every breath felt like a knife piercing her heart. “I apologize. I won’t do it again.”

“Let’s go.” Allie strode around the front of the car and sloshed through six inches of water to the sidewalk. She’d seen the pain arc across Ash’s features and settle in her eyes. She’d wanted to hurt her, and she had. She just wished she felt a little bit better about it. Payback wasn’t nearly as satisfying as she’d imagined.

v

“Hi, love,” Reese said as she walked into Tory’s office.

Tory closed the door, put her arms around Reese’s neck, and kissed her. “How is your day going?”

Reese took a moment to kiss her back. “Everly is out on parole, and he’s missing. I told Bri this morning.”

“Oh, darling. Damn it. How is she?”

“It rocked her a little, but she’s okay.” Reese grinned fondly.

“She’s tough.”

“Do you think we have a problem?”

“It’s premature to say that.” Reese squeezed Tory’s hand. “We’ll need to run him down, if we can. If we find him, that will solve the problem, because he’ll go away again on the parole violation.”

“What about fingerprints? Didn’t Allie check our door and upstairs? His prints would be on file, right?”

“Oh, they’re on file all right. But trying to isolate a foreign print in a family residence is really difficult. And chances are whoever was in the house was wearing gloves. We’ll run random samples, but…” She sighed. “Honestly, Tor, we’re not likely to find anything, and trying to sort through hundreds of prints is just too expensive.”

Tory laughed ruefully. “Darling, you don’t need to explain cost-effectiveness to me. That’s all medicine is about these days.” She rubbed Reese’s arm. “You will be careful if you go looking for him, though, won’t you?”

Reese kissed her forehead. “It’s been my experience that men who attack women are cowards. He’s not going to put up a fight if I find him.”

“Just the same—”

• 98 •

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“Just the same,” Reese said, “I intend to be very careful.”

“Thank you.” Tory gestured toward the hall. “Are you ready? I asked Nita to look at you.”

“Yes. Whatever you need me to do.”

Suddenly all Tory needed was right there within arm’s reach. She wrapped her arms around Reese’s waist and laid her cheek against Reese’s chest. “This. This is what I need.”

Reese stroked her hair. “Done.”

“Kate called,” Tory murmured. “They should be back around four.”

“Do you want me to swing by and get Reggie and the dog on my way home?” Reese asked.

“Call me. Whichever one of us is free can do it.” With a sigh, Tory let her go. “Come on. Let’s get you checked out.”

v

“Darling,” Rica called from the bedroom when Carter stepped out of the shower, “didn’t you pick up the dry-cleaning the other day?”

Carter briskly toweled her hair and walked naked into the bedroom. “Uh-huh. Last Tuesday. That was everything we brought in before the storm. Why?”

“Oh, nothing.” Rica frowned and sorted through her clothes again.

“I can’t find my red silk shirt.”

“It’s in there. I saw it the other day.”

“That’s what I thought too. But it’s not here.”

Carter strode to the closet and scanned Rica’s section. She had a good memory for details. Most cops did. On the job, she had maybe a second to take in the position of potential assailants or make a judgment call as to whether a man crouched in the shadows with a gun was a cop or a perp. She noticed things. And she remembered. “It was here a couple of days ago. Have you noticed anything else missing or out of place?”

“I don’t think so. But—”

“Not just clothes. Anything.” Carter yanked a pair of jeans off a hanger and stepped into them. As she zipped her fly, she crossed to the bedside table, extracted her holstered weapon, and clipped it to the waistband. “Jewelry? Personal items of any kind?”

• 99 •

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“You think someone stole my shirt? You think someone was in here?”

“Someone was in Reese and Tory’s place last night. Then your car was broken into.” Carter shook her head. “I don’t like coincidences.”