Hard To Handle

When her doorbell sounded the next afternoon, Meghan glanced at the clock, faintly surprised by the hour. Her schedule had undergone major adjustments since Danny had come to live with her. The only time she had in her home studio were the hours he was at school. Every minute was precious, especially with a deadline looming for her next project. But it was almost time for Callie, who lived down the hall, to drop Danny off. She must be running a little early.

The bell rang again before Meghan reached the door and pulled it open. “Boy, you’re eager to get rid of him today. Don’t tell me he…” The rest of the words died in her throat as she found herself face-to-face with two men; one a stranger and the other all too familiar.

“This is Detective Madison, Miss Patterson.” Her gaze flying to Connally’s, Meghan knew she hadn’t imagined the slight inflection he’d given her name. The smile he gave her was humorless. “And I’m going to assume you remember my name, even though you had a little difficulty with your own yesterday.”

Her palms went damp, and she barely resisted an urge to wipe them on her loose-fitting shirt. The force of his presence struck her anew. His eyes were hard and inscrutable. They seemed to drill through her, effortlessly shredding all pretense, all subterfuge. Somehow she’d never imagined that Connally would bother to go to the trouble of finding her. Of finding Danny.

It was that thought that had tension gripping her muscles. Her chin angled up and she met his gaze. “Being a detective, you should have concluded that I gave you a false name yesterday because I wanted to avoid just this kind of harassment.”

“Being a detective,” Connally countered, “I get kinda suspicious when people go to such lengths to avoid talking to me. We had to trace you through the cab company you used.”

Meghan set her lips, but remained silent. She wasn’t sure what kind of tack to take with the detective. Defiance didn’t seem to work. Nor had her phony compliance yesterday. He didn’t appear to be a man who gave up easily. In contrast to his partner’s lived-in face, with its homely charm, this man’s features could have been carved from granite. She was beginning to believe that he had a will to match.

Surreptitiously, she glanced at her watch. Danny would be home in minutes. It was imperative that she get rid of the detectives before then.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much time.” Even as she spoke, Connally seemed to loom closer, and she retreated in immediate, involuntary response. Then somehow the men were standing inside her doorway, although she’d had no intention of letting them in. She thought she caught a flash of satisfaction in Connally’s pale eyes before he closed the door behind him, and the sight of it stiffened her spine.

Her gaze swung to Detective Madison, who was speaking for the first time. “Sorry for the interruption. You didn’t answer your buzzer, but the super told us that he hadn’t seen you go out today. He let us in.”

With a firmer grip on her composure now, Meghan pasted a polite smile on her face. “I’m afraid Detective Connally has wasted your time. I already told him yesterday that I hadn’t seen anything while I was at the toy store.”

“It’s real important that we find the man we’re tracing, ma’am.” Madison’s voice had a placating quality that his partner’s lacked. “You left Favorite Things kind of suddenly last night. We just wanted to follow up to see if maybe you’d remembered something since then.”

“Mind telling us why you were in such a hurry to get away?” Connally’s gaze was directed above her head as he surveyed her apartment, before focusing once more on her.

She forced a casual shrug. “I’d arranged for the driver to come back for us. You know what it’s like to find a cab at that time of day.”

“That’s sure a fact, isn’t it?” Detective Madison’s tone was understanding. “Last week I tried to take my wife out for a nice dinner and we had a devil of a time getting a taxi back home. She said it would have been more relaxing to stay in and cook.”

His easy manner should have disarmed her. There was something comfortable about the man, like a rumpled set of clothes kept long after they’d gone out of style. His thinning sandy-colored hair was brushed back from a broad forehead, and his slightly rounded shoulders made him seem smaller than his partner, although they were probably both over six feet. But the friendliness in his voice, in his pale-gray eyes, didn’t eliminate her wariness. In her experience all cops wanted something. And some would go to deadly lengths to get it.

“Did you buy anything last night?” At the question she shifted her attention to observe Connally strolling around her living room. “It looked like an unusual place. I guess kids go nuts for that kind of thing.”

“No, I didn’t. And as I told you yesterday, I didn’t notice the man you were looking for while I was in the store, either. Sorry I can’t be of more help to you.” Although her words were meant to bring a close to the conversation, neither of the men made a move to leave.

“What about the boy?”

The words hung in the air like leaden crystals suspended from a chandelier. She didn’t answer; couldn’t. Protecting Danny was her job now. And the threat these two men posed was nauseating in its familiarity. She wouldn’t allow him to be used as his mother had been. She wouldn’t risk his life the way Sandra had so carelessly risked her own.

When silence stretched, Madison said, “Detective Connally said you had a small boy with you, Miss Patterson. Maybe he saw something.”

“My nephew was with me, yes. But he’s only five. He isn’t going to be of any help, either, I’m afraid.”

The two men exchanged a glance. “We’d still like to talk to him. Could you arrange that?” Connally’s words may have been couched as a request, but they were delivered in a voice accustomed to giving orders. And having them obeyed.

“No.” Her voice was flat. The detective wasn’t the only one who could be indomitable. “That won’t be—”

The doorbell rang then, interrupting her. Frustration surged. Just five more minutes. That’s all it would have taken to get rid of the men. The detectives were watching her expectantly. Mentally cursing the cosmic timing, she went to the door.

“Trying to pretend you aren’t home won’t save you.” Callie’s laughing words sounded above Danny’s exuberant greeting. “Remember, I have a…” Her sentence trailed off when she saw the two men with Meghan.

“Hi, Aunt Meggie. I gotta go!” With a five-year-old’s sense of urgency, Danny made a beeline for the bathroom.

“Ah…I’ll catch you later. We’re still on for tonight, right?” At Meghan’s nod, Callie placed a hand on her son Alex’s back to guide him toward their apartment. “Tell Danny I’ll see him later.” Meghan closed the door after them.

A compelling need to speak to Danny warred with an equally strong reluctance to leave the detectives alone in her living room, even for a few minutes. She didn’t trust them. The last few months had destroyed any unquestioning faith she might have once had in the police. And Connally, especially, saw too much.

She didn’t know which made her more uncomfortable—when his gaze raked over her home, her belongings, or when it fixed on her. Something about him caused a disconcerting awareness that was as unusual as it was unwelcome. Meghan flicked a glance at the two detectives. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I need to check on my nephew.”

Gabe watched her hurry down a hallway with a gait guaranteed to snag a man’s attention and hold it. It sure held his.

“You’re a card-carrying pervert, you know that?”

The words were pitched low. Gabe turned to his partner and lifted a brow. “What are you talking about?”

Cal made a sound of disgust. “You stared hard enough. Trying to get a complete description of her lingerie?”

“She’s not wearing any, at least not on top. And noticing that doesn’t make me a pervert.” He crossed a few steps to the coffee table, which had some books stacked neatly on it. He picked them up one at a time, reading the titles.

“What’s it make you then?”

“A typical red-blooded male.” He gestured toward the books. “Look at these.” Together the two men silently read the titles.

Your Extra Senses. Growing up Telepathic. Extra-Sensory Perception: Myth and Magic.

Cal lifted his gaze to Gabe’s and shrugged. “So she’s got an interest. You know, you should try reading more yourself. I’ve got a great book I’d like you to look at on homeopathic remedies for common ailments.”

Giving a snort, he set the books down again. “Fat chance.”

But Cal was nothing if not dogged. That quality of his was an advantage while working an investigation, but often a pain in the ass otherwise. “There’s a great chapter on ways to quit smoking that you might find helpful.”

Gabe threw him a dark look. “Thanks, buddy, but you’ve helped me in that area too much already.” It had been Cal who’d suggested that he wear a rubber band around his wrist, and snap himself anytime he thought about taking a smoke. Called it aversion therapy or some damn thing. Gabe had given it an enthusiastic try once and discovered that the resulting sting hadn’t appreciably lessened his desire for a cigarette. It had, however, given him a bone to pick with his partner. He was just waiting for the right time to pay the man back for his lousy advice.

Cal stiffened slightly, alerting Gabe that Meghan Patterson had reentered the room behind him. Not that he needed the warning. His instincts were excellent, and in her case they seemed to be unusually heightened. Turning, he found her standing with her nephew before her. Her hands were resting lightly on his shoulders, her stance protective. He wondered what it was she thought she was protecting the boy from.

Cal smiled at the boy, going down on one knee before him. Gabe made no move to follow suit. His partner was the natural one to put the kid at ease. Children and dogs liked him. And although Gabe didn’t have anything against dogs, he’d be the first to admit that he didn’t know squat about kids.

“Hi, I’m Detective Madison.” He jerked a thumb in Gabe’s direction. “That’s Detective Connally. We want to ask you a couple of questions. Is that okay?”

The boy looked up at his aunt before giving an almost imperceptible nod.

Cal’s voice was reassuring. “This won’t take long. We just want you to tell us about your trip to the toy store last night.”

Danny’s words were hesitant. “I saw some dinosaurs. Electronic ones.”

Cal gave a long whistle. “Dinosaurs, huh? That sounds exciting. The clerk said you took them to the patio in the alley to try them out. How’d they work?”

In his enthusiasm the boy was more forthcoming. “They were cool. They can roar and fight and everything. Aunt Meggie said maybe I can get two for my birthday.”

Gabe entered the conversation. “While you were outside, did you hear anything, Danny? See anything?” The boy exchanged another look with his aunt. His answer was slow in coming.

“I…heard something. And then a man jumped out of the sky and ran to get in a car.”

A car. Gabe thought quickly. Having a car waiting suggested that Lenny had been planning a quick exit from his apartment. What could have had him running so scared? Scared enough to shoot at them first?

He waited with barely restrained impatience while Cal smoothly extracted bits of information from the boy. D’Brusco must have jumped over the railing of the fire escape at the landing. The car he’d run to was black, according to the kid. Yes, the boy agreed, with Cal’s coaching, the same color as the detective’s belt.

“And he was real scared, too.” Gabe noted the way Meghan’s fingers tightened on the boy’s shoulders, and Danny turned to look up at her. “He was, Aunt Meggie. Maybe ’cuz that other man was chasing him. Then they both got in the car and drove away.”

Gabe squatted before the boy. “There was another man? Did they say anything? Could you hear them talking to each other?”

Danny seemed to get tongue-tied then. Or perhaps he was reacting to the death grip his aunt had on his shoulders. It took minutes of prying to elicit that the boy hadn’t heard either man speak. Gabe visualized the dimensions of the alley and calculated that the boy wouldn’t have heard anything below a shout, at any rate. The way the kid described the scene, he doubted whether there had been a chase in progress. More likely both of them had been in D’Brusco’s apartment when he and Cal had knocked. He doubted the men had noticed the boy. If he’d been seated on the concrete patio, the wrought iron fence around it would have likely hidden him from view. With a bit more coaxing Cal was able to elicit a description that matched D’Brusco. He’d give a month’s pay to know who the other one was.

“That’s all the information my nephew can give you, Detectives.” Meghan’s voice was firm. “Now, if you don’t mind, it’s dinnertime, and we’re on a schedule tonight.”

Cal looked at Gabe, who nodded slightly. As they rose, he said, “We’d sure like to get an idea about the identity of the second man, ma’am. Could you bring your nephew in to look at some pictures?”

There was no mistaking the woman’s reaction. Her spine went rigid. Voice tight, she said to the boy, “Danny, go in and get washed up for supper.”

“But I just washed my hands a minute ago.”

“Now, Danny.”

Apparently the boy recognized the steel in his aunt’s words, because he turned without another word and trudged down the hallway. Meghan faced the detectives again and her tone went low and fierce. “Any further involvement of my nephew in your investigation is out of the question.”

Gabe tried to make his voice sound soothing, a difficult feat for his rumbling tones. “I don’t think you understand, ma’am. All we’re asking is…”

The look she shot him was as scathing as her words. “No, you don’t understand. Whatever it is that you do, you’ll do without Danny. The CPD has already cost my family more than enough already. Thanks to your department, my sister is dead.”

Chapter 2

“Uh-uh, buddy. It’s my day, remember?”

Gabe scowled, his fingers poised on the handle of the driver’s door. Heaving a matyred sigh he went around to the other side of the unmarked car and got in. Cal took cautious driving to new heights. Gabe had often thought if his partner entered a Daytona 500 held for females over ninety, every one of the little old ladies would be lapping him in seconds.

Once he’d eased the car into traffic, Cal spoke again. “What do you suppose Patterson’s story is? She’s sure carrying a whale of a grudge against the department.”

Gabe loosened his tie and unfastened his top shirt button. The confining clothes he was forced to wear was one of the biggest disadvantages of having switched assignments three years ago from undercover work to his current position of detective in the Organized Crime division. In his opinion, neckwear should be outlawed as a particularly cruel and inhumane form of torture. He’d like to get hold of the guy who’d invented ties and beat an apology from him.

“Hard telling. Maybe her sister swore out a restraining order that went south.” It happened, he knew, more often than they liked to consider. Domestic disputes especially could turn deadly. At any rate, after dropping her bomb-shell, Meghan Patterson hadn’t wasted any time ushering them out of the apartment. Gabe decided he’d dig around a little and see what he could discover about the sister. Despite Meghan’s hostility, the fact remained that they’d probably need to talk to her nephew again. Discovering the identity of the unknown man with D’Brusco just might be the key to blowing this case wide open. And the instant he had an inkling of who the guy could be, Gabe would be back on the woman’s doorstep. He said as much to Cal.

His partner never took his eyes off the traffic. “We’ll have to hope she changes her mind about letting her nephew cooperate.”

“She’ll change her mind.”

Cal’s brows rose at the certainty in Gabe’s voice. “I don’t know. She seemed pretty sure.”

Reaching into his pocket, Gabe withdrew a package of gum and unwrapped a piece. He placed it in his mouth and chewed. It was a damn poor substitute for the smoke he craved, but it annoyed the hell out of Cal. That was powerful incentive. “I can be very persuasive.”

Giving a hoot at that, Madison risked a glance at his partner. “You? Somehow I don’t think the intimidation tactics you find so effective on street scum are going to be appropriate in her case. To handle a classy lady like that requires a certain finesse.”

Just for the irritation value, Gabe cracked his gum loudly. “I’ve got finesse.”

Cal was chortling now. “Boy, do you. I don’t know what I was worried about. If the time comes, we’ll just count on you to change her mind with your usual suave personality.”

Gabe was undisturbed by his partner’s gibes. “Don’t discount my hidden charms.”

“Yeah, your charms are well hidden, all right.”

“Keep being mean to me and I’ll tell Becky. She loves me. She’d kick your butt if she could hear you now.” Becky and Cal had married the previous year, and Gabe returned the woman’s fondness tenfold. She was upfront and plain-spoken, traits damn uncommon in the females of his experience.

A sudden thought occurred. “Speaking of your better half, why don’t you give her a call when we get back to our desks. I was thinking of going out for a steak tonight. We could go together. My treat. I owe you for the last time you had me over. Or maybe for the last dozen times,” he mused. “I lose count.”

“Uh…” Cal cleared his throat. “I don’t think so. Not tonight.” He turned the car into the district parking lot and started cruising for a space.

Gabe looked out the window and spotted an empty slot. “There’s a place. Up on your left.” He shifted seamlessly back to the original conversation. “C’mon, think about it. How long has it been since Becky let you eat red meat? I could persuade her to let you order a steak. She’s putty in my hands.”

A dull flush had risen in his partner’s face. He took even greater care than usual to park the car and switch off the ignition. “Actually, we have special plans tonight.”

Gabe was perceptive enough to realize the plans weren’t the sort his partner would want him included in. “Yeah, okay. Why don’t you go on home and let me finish up the paperwork for today?”

“No, that’s all right. Becky isn’t expecting me until later, anyway.”

The two men got out of the car and walked toward the building. Gabe threw a companionable arm around Cal’s shoulders. “The trick to romancing a woman is to do the unexpected once in a while. Now you go on home and surprise Becky. Better yet, stop for some flowers and wine first.”

“Well…” Cal’s hesitation was minuscule. “Okay. I’ll owe you one.”

Gabe clapped him on the back. “Damn right you will. Oh, and give Becky a big kiss for me when you see her, would you? On the mouth.”

Cal shrugged off Gabe’s arm and headed for his car. “You’re depraved, Connally.”

“Yeah, I am. Forget it. I’ll give it to her myself the next time I see her.” He chuckled at the obscene gesture Cal made and entered the building.

Since it was time for a shift change, the halls of the Area One Detectives’ Division were more chaotic than normal. Winding through the maze of desks and cubicles, Gabe exchanged greetings and one-liners with his co-workers and then dropped into the chair in front of his battered metal desk. Before getting to work, he shrugged out of his coat, pulled the loosened tie from around his neck, wadded it up and jammed it in the pocket of his sports jacket. Then he slung the jacket over the back of his chair, undid another shirt button and unfastened the cuffs, rolling the sleeves to his elbows.

“Connally, you savage. You’re a little late to be the featured matinee,” Detective Lydia Fredericks observed from her desk across the aisle. She raised her voice. “Hey, Connally’s doing a striptease over here. Could we have a show of appreciation?” There was a smattering of applause, and a wolf whistle from Lydia’s partner, Marcy Rogers. Coins rained on Gabe’s desk, courtesy of the detectives in the vicinity.

“Thank you, thank you. You’ve been a wonderful audience.” He stood and did a quick shimmy, eliciting a heart-felt moan from Lydia and some more loose change. He scooped up the coins, frowning over the lone penny in the group. “Hey, who’s the cheapskate? Fiskes?”

Detective Mark Fiskes grinned. “What can I say? You’re a cheap thrill, Connally.”

“Cheap, hell.” Gabe slipped the money in his pants pocket. “I just made enough to drink all night. I’m thinking about taking a second j—” The rest of the sentence went unuttered, as the sudden studiousness of the other detectives tipped him off. He turned around, and his tone went abruptly professional.

“Afternoon, Lieutenant.”

“Connally.” The man nodded at a coin beside the desk that had been missed. “Taking up a collection?”

It wasn’t uncommon for officers faced with Lieutenant Robert Burney’s stern ebony mask to feel sudden, urgent needs to be elsewhere. Fast. But Gabe couldn’t pass up the chance for a little retribution.

“You caught me, sir. I was just collecting my daily protection money from the others.”

“Protection money.”

Gabe propped his hips on his desk, crossed his arms over his chest and strove to make his tone earnest. “Yessir. The rest of the guys pay me to defend them from Detective Fredericks’s compulsive stalking.” Several of the men in the vicinity snickered, and Lydia invited Gabe to take a road trip to hell. He shook his head sadly. “She’s getting bolder and bolder, sir. She follows us everywhere, making all kinds of lewd proposals. The truth is, the other guys are getting scared. I’m the only one brave enough to stand up to her.” He turned to Lydia. “This is the last time I’m going to say it, Fredericks. Get help, for godsakes. You’re getting pathetic.” He dodged the pencil she threw at him, amidst guffaws from the surrounding detectives.

Burney’s expression didn’t change by as much as a flicker. “I’d like to see you in my office, Connally.”

Gabe pushed away from his desk and followed in his superior’s wake. When they reached the small office, he closed the door behind him and settled into a chair in front of the lieutenant’s desk. Burney lost no time getting down to business.

“You and Madison make any progress today on D’Brusco?”

“Some.” Gabe stretched his legs out before him and crossed one battered shoe over the other. “Best lead we got was from a five-year-old kid who was in the alley when Lenny took off.” He filled the man in on their visit to Meghan Patterson’s apartment.

The lieutenant leaned forward, interested. “Any chance you got a decent description of the second guy?”

“Well, the kid described Lenny pretty well, so he might be useful if we get a lead on the other’s identity. Said the guy was thin, taller than me, and his face looked like a skull.”

Burney’s weight shifted back in his chair, his disappointment obvious. “Great. The kid’s memory is probably influenced by a recent horror flick he watched.”

Gabe lifted a shoulder. “Maybe. But the presence of a second guy in the apartment would explain the shots fired. That never did seem like Lenny’s style.”

“D’Brusco might have changed his style after his last stint at Hill.”

That was entirely possible, Gabe silently conceded. It had been courtesy of Gabe that Lenny had been the state’s guest for a second time after Gabe had busted him for fencing. D’Brusco had only been out for two years, and apparently had changed his favorite con. He’d come to Gabe and Cal’s attention recently when they caught a money-laundering assignment he figured in. Gabe still had trouble believing that Lenny had risen to such a level. Working with that kind of money meant D’Brusco was playing in the big leagues. Apparently, he’d not only changed his habits, he’d also learned some new skills in prison.

The lieutenant was speaking again. “Just be aware that this case is attracting some attention from above. I fielded a call regarding it today from the deputy chief.”