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"It's okay, honey. It's okay. "
"But I love him. "
"I know you do, honey. It'll be okay. He'll go to his house and you can still love him. "
"Noooooooooooooooooooooo - "
She buried her face in his jacket, and as much as his heart was breaking for his daughter, he was also thinking about how much Three Fingered Wu was going to ding him for getting the chocolate stain out of his jacket.
"They just let him go pee," Cassandra said, staring at the hellhounds. "Just like that. I thought they were going to eat him. They wouldn't let me near him. "
"It's okay," Charlie said. "You didn't know. "
"Know what?"
"They love the Crunchy Cheese Newts. "
"You're kidding?"
"Sorry. Look, Cassie, can you clean up Sophie and Matty and take care of this? I have some stuff in my date book I have to take care of right away. "
"Sure, but - "
"Sophie will be fine. Won't you, honey?"
Sophie nodded sadly and wiped her eyes on his coat. "I missed you, Daddy. "
"I missed you, too, sweetie. I'll be home tonight. "
He kissed her, got his date book from the bedroom, and ran around the apartment collecting his keys, cane, hat, and man purse. "Thanks, Cassie. You have no idea how grateful I am. "
"Sorry about your mother, Charlie," Cassandra said as he passed.
"Yeah, thanks," Charlie said, quickly checking the edge of the sword in his cane as he went by.
"Charlie, your life is out of control," Cassandra said, now slipping back into the unflappable persona that they were all used to.
"Okay, I'll need to borrow your strappy black pumps, too," Charlie said as he headed out the door.
"I think I've made my point," Cassie called after him.
Ray stopped Charlie at the bottom of the stairs. "You got a minute, boss?"
"Not really, Ray. I'm in a hurry. "
"Well, I just wanted to apologize. "
"For what?"
"Well, it seems silly now, but I kind of suspected you of being a serial killer. "
Charlie nodded as if he were considering the grave consequences of Ray's confession, when, in fact, he was trying to remember if there was any gas in the van. "Well, Ray, I accept your apology, and I'm sorry I ever gave you that impression. "
"I think all those years on the force made me suspicious, but Inspector Rivera stopped by and set me straight. "
"He did, did he? What exactly did he say?"
"He said that you had been checking some stuff out for him, getting into places he couldn't get without a warrant and so forth, stuff that you'd both get in a lot of trouble for if anyone found out, but was helping to put the bad guys away. He said that's why you're so secretive. "
