The scent of coffee brought Zach out of his sprawling slumber the next morning. He cracked open a bleary eye to see a set of hairy knuckles waving a steaming mug next to his nose. Jerking upright and knocking over a pencil cup in the process, he realized he’d been sleeping on top of his desk in the K-9 office headquarters. Bunkered in his cubicle on the ground floor of the three-story building, he’d spent the night calling health clinics. The process took longer than it should have thanks to endless holds and his own fumbling, but Zach was used to that.
“Up and at ’em, sunshine,” his brother Carter said, sliding the mug closer. Zach groaned, tried to stretch the stiffness out of his kinked neck and shake away the headache that had settled in his temples. Retrieving the scattered pencils, he jammed them back into the cup. Frosty regarded him with amused interest from his cushion in the corner. Zach slugged down some coffee too fast, burning his mouth. Wincing, he spilled some on his shirtfront.
“This stuff’s the temperature of lava,” he complained.
“The general consensus of the NYPD is that coffee is best served hot.” Carter chuckled. “You look like something the dogs dug up in the park.”
“You’re hilarious.”
“I know. Find out anything pulling an all-nighter?”
“No. No one with Beck’s description sought medical help anywhere that I can find.”
“Yeah, that was a long shot, anyway. He probably patched himself up. Found his bike tossed in a parking lot. Dusting it for prints and all that good stuff so we’re in waiting mode, but we’re pretty sure it’s his.”
“All right.” Zach sucked down more coffee, slower this time, letting the caffeine bring him back to life. It wasn’t nearly as good as Violet’s. He hoped she’d been able to get some rest and that she’d liked his shoe gift. Picturing her opening them gave him a warm sensation. Head in the game, Zach. “Give me what you have on the furniture store. My gut says it’s a front to move drugs and Beck’s gotta be connected somehow. Fill me in.”
“No.”
Zach stared. “Whaddya mean?”
“I mean no, as in no way, I’m not going to give you any info on that.”
Zach caught the gleam of stubborn enjoyment in Carter’s expression. “Why not?” he asked slowly.
Carter shrugged. “We got eyes on the store. Nothing spicy so far, just normal everyday capitalism at work. Maybe when you take Eddie in you’ll know more, but Noah said that’s not going to happen until you come home and sleep for four hours, so he told me to give you precisely zero info about the location or stakeout details.”
Zach gaped. “That’s insane.”
“Four hours, that’s two hundred forty minutes.”
He got to his feet and stalked from behind the desk and followed Carter out of his cubicle. “Carter, quit playing around.”
“Not my call. Noah’s the chief.”
“But enforced nap time? I’m not a toddler.”
“Really? ’Cause I think you drooled on your desk.”
At his full height, Zach was a shade taller than his brother and he tried to take advantage. “You’re gonna tell me right now what I want to know.”
“I don’t think so.”
He glared at Carter. “The store may prove to be a connection to Beck. It’s our only lead right now. Vi was shot at, almost killed by this creep yesterday after he murdered her boss, or hadn’t you heard about that?”
“I’m well aware, but Noah said you’re not going to do her or anyone any good if you don’t sleep. He’s already talked to Archie, and Violet is just fine. As a matter of fact, Luke delivered her purse and cell phone and some take-out Chinese in an unmarked car. Archie picked it up and brought it to her.” He grinned. “I think it’s okay to disclose it was hot and sour soup and egg rolls. We’ll bring her home later this afternoon.”
“I’m not going to lie around and have nappy time while we’ve got two cases going cold.” It came out louder than he’d meant.
“Yes, you are. It’s a DO.”
“I don’t care if it’s a direct order or not. You’re gonna spit out whatever we’ve got on the furniture store right now.”
“Actually,” Carter said calmly, “I’m not.”
They spent a long moment in a stare down, Jameson to Jameson. After ten seconds he knew he wasn’t going to win. He might be able to beat Carter in a judo match, but his brother matched him inch for inch in toughness and determination.
“What about Jordy?” Zach demanded, hands on hips. “Do I get a status report on that at least, or do I have to nap first?”
Carter mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key.
Zach felt like growling and putting his brother in a headlock. “You know I can take you, right?”
“In your dreams. I beat you at the hoops in our last game and if that’s not enough, my dog is way tougher than your dog.”
“Carter…”
“Go home, little brother, and get some sleep. If you need me to come sing you a lullaby and tuck you in, let me know.” Carter turned on his heel and left Zach fuming. Frosty tossed one glance at Zach before they cleared the room that might as well have been, “Yeah, I am tougher than your measly beagle and don’t you forget it.”
And then he was left standing there, helpless, like a kid lost at the mall. He had half a mind to go get Eddie and storm the furniture store by himself, but he would not do that to Noah, just as he would not ever have defied Jordy’s direct order.
He stared at Brianne and Gavin, who were peeking around their cubicle walls.
“And I don’t suppose either of you two are going to tell me anything?”
Brianne ignored him completely, studiously avoiding eye contact, vanishing again behind her cubicle walls. Gavin gave him a sympathetic half smile, which stung worse than being ignored. It wouldn’t do any good to pester any of the other K-9 unit members, either, as he was sure Noah had given his directive to all of them. Brianne and Gavin had heard every embarrassing word, of course, adding to his humiliation of being ordered to bed like a misbehaving child.
He stalked to his car, grateful that a fellow cop had driven it back from Astoria. Exceeding the speed limit and bristling with anger all the way home, he found the place deserted. Even Ellie and the puppies were gone away, getting their next vet checkup. They were probably all giving him a wide berth, knowing how he’d react to Noah’s order. The whole clan was in on it, he was sure. Too angry to sleep, he took a shower, shaved, dressed and ate a container of yogurt without tasting it, followed by a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. In the process of cleaning up, he knocked a mug off the table and it smashed into three neat pieces on the kitchen tile.
Just great. He knew Violet would have laughed in that throaty way that never failed to make him join in. After he cleaned up the shards of porcelain, he flopped on his bed, overwhelmed by the irresistible urge to phone her.
But there was that kiss…and those feelings…and the stomach-dropping roller-coaster sensation when he recalled it all and the way he was having a harder and harder time thinking of her merely as a friend. Instead, he went out and retrieved Eddie and let him up on the sofa, even though they’d agreed as a family that the furniture was solely for people. “You won’t tell, will you?”
Eddie wagged his tail and curled up with Zach on the couch. Again, Zach craved to hear Violet’s voice.
Don’t, he told himself. Not when he could still feel the sparks of their unexpected kiss. But that was behind them, a moment of insanity. It wasn’t love, right? It was okay to phone a friend, wasn’t it? Probably not a good idea at this juncture, but his disobedient fingers dialed anyway. She picked up on the first ring.
“Hi,” he said. “Glad you got your cell phone back.”
“Hi, yourself. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just dropped a coffee mug on the kitchen floor, but fortunately, there’s no one here to witness it.”
She laughed, and it was a sound sweeter than the swish of a three-point shot from half-court. If a broken mug would ease her pain, he’d smash a million of them.
“That’s pretty typical,” she said. “At least it was only one. Why do you sound irritated?”
How could she tell over the phone? “I’m on enforced nap time, if you can believe it. Noah’s got this ridiculous notion that I need rest.”
“Because you pulled an all-nighter in your office?”
His jaw dropped. “How did you know that?”
“Because I know you.”
Yes, she did. Better than anyone in the world. She knew him to the core, but she could not know the strange river of emotions that had begun to run through him when he thought about her. At least he hoped not. Get it together, Zach. “Yeah, well, anyway, it’s humiliating, and I don’t appreciate being double-teamed by my brothers.”
“Do you need me to state the obvious?”
“What?”
“That Noah loves you.” She paused. “That he’s taking care of you the only way he knows how.”
“I can take care of myself,” he said hotly, but her words quenched the flame of his anger and he sighed.
“He lost a brother, too, Zach,” she said quietly. “Caring for you could be helping him heal.”
Helping Noah heal? He didn’t know what to say to that. It had never occurred to him that accepting coddling would help anyone else. Yet hadn’t it made him feel like a superhero to arrange for shoes for Vi? And hadn’t he desperately wanted to cook those eggs for her? But that wasn’t coddling, just…friendliness. “I don’t need any hand-holding from him,” he said finally.
“Or anyone else.”
“Hey, you’re a fine one to talk, Miss Independence.”
“Touché.” She was quiet a moment. “How about a deal?”
“What deal?”
“When this…situation is all over and Beck is caught, we’ll agree to let each other help with one thing.”
“One thing? Like what?”
“Like… I can help you learn to scramble an egg.”
“I don’t need help. I just had a bad day. I’m okay at that.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m insulted.”
“You just need a little tweak, that’s all. Five minutes of help and you’ll be a pro.”
He chuckled. “I’d like to see that on my apron instead of The Incinerator. All right. What do I have to help you with?”
“Perfecting a new recipe for lemon meringue pie. I’ve wanted to make it for my mom’s birthday, and I just can’t get it right. So far I’ve been defeated every time.”
He laughed at that one. “It’s more than likely going to be counterproductive to have me in the kitchen for pie building when I need a tutorial to scramble an egg.”
“I just need a sous-chef and someone to stir the hot custard while I whisk in the eggs. We’ll keep the fire extinguisher handy. Do we have a deal or not, Jameson?”
He sighed, a smile curving his lips as he thought about his wheeling, dealing, don’t-take-no-for-an-answer Violet. As if he had the power to say no to her. “Okay. Deal.”
“Excellent. I will hold you to the bargain.”
“Of that, I’m certain.”
Her giggle was girlish, but it died away quickly. “Um, thank you for the shoes.”
“Do they fit?”
“Perfectly.”
“Do you like them?”
“So much.”
So much. The pleasure at having made her happy was as restorative as a full night’s rest. “Good. I don’t know the first thing about women’s shoes.” He held the phone tighter to his ear. “How are you doing, Vi? Really?”
“I slept a little.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I’m okay,” she said, too quickly. “I talked to Bill’s wife on the phone. That was…hard.”
Excruciating, he imagined.
She continued. “I want to go home and help with Latte and the diner. When will I be allowed to?”
“Soon.”
“Not soon enough. I…I need to be busy.”
It was an admission that she would never have made before, a fragile offering, it seemed to him. Picturing her there, holding the phone, made him desire nothing more than to wrap her in a hug, to feel the tickle of her hair under his chin. His pulse seemed to surge into a higher rhythm.
He shifted on the sofa and added his own. “Yeah, I feel the same way. Work is the only thing that helps.”
“And prayer.”
Rage and prayer were not compatible. Though the rage over his brother’s death had taken a back burner the past week to worrying over Vi, he did not think it would ever abate completely. It left him blind and caught in a place he did not want to be. “I can’t pray right now, so maybe you can do it for us both.” He’d asked her for prayer. Had it really come out of his mouth? There was some relief in it and he knew it was a step, tiny and faltering, toward healing.
“I can, and I do, every day.” Her voice cracked but she quickly composed herself and added brightly, “So go get that nap, would you? And you’d better make sure Eddie is off the sofa before the family comes home.”
“How did you know…?”
She laughed. “Like I said, I know you, Zach Jameson, so get some sleep.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.