Page 11 of Protect My Heart

Her brows drew in and she gave him the stink-eye that none of her five children could escape.

“It’s baking day, and you know how much I love your cookies.” He stuck out his nonexistent belly and gave it a rub. Her look of disbelief had him deflating his stomach. “Okay yes, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Well, since you didn’t bring a lovely young woman with you, I’m guessing it’s not that you’re getting married.” She slid the pan of cookies into the oven, took her can of pop, and crossed to the table and chairs. “Come on, sit, and tell me what’s on your mind.”

Jim pulled out a chair, flipped it around, and sat straddling the back. “Well, I can’t tell you much because it has to do with a case, but I need an expert’s opinion.”

She snorted. “Expert? I am many things, but I wouldn’t say I’m an expert in anything.”

“There’s this young boy.”

“Ah, I see. I guess you could say I have plenty of experience in raising children. Go on.”

“Well, he witnessed a murder, and he identified the suspect from a photo.”

She dipped her head in a way she always did when she waited for you to get to the point.

“I want to bring him in to ID the guy in a lineup. It would lock the case up tight.”

She looked as if she were sucking lemons. “Do you really need to have the boy see the suspect in person?”

Shit. “No, but...”

“You already know the answer to your question. You need to decide which is more important, the child’s mental health or an extra piece of evidence.”

“Alright. Damn, she was right,” he muttered the curse but Irene Swenson had excellent hearing.

“James Laurence Swenson. I did not raise you to talk like that in this house.”

All five-feet two-inches of her bristled, and while Jim was a full foot taller than she was, he shrank in his chair. “Sorry.”

Settling back into her chair, her head dipped in one solid nod, almost regal in its air. “Now that we have that done, who is the girl?”

Jim’s head shot up to find her lip quirked up and a twinkle in her green eyes. Oh no, her supernatural mom-senses must be tingling. “What? Why’d you think there’s a woman?”

“Well first of all, you wouldn’t need to come to me about the child when you knew the answer all along. And second, you said, ‘she was right.’” Her brow jetted up and the look was the same one he used to crack the hardest of criminals in interrogation. “So, who is she, and when do I get to meet her?”

“Mom.” He shook his head. “Okay, there is a woman, but it’s not what you think. She’s the child advocate for the witness. You won’t be meeting her.”

“We’ll see.” She rose, patted his cheek, and crossed to the oven to check the cookies.

His gut tightened. Mom had an uncanny ability to predict things. Uncle Earl’s gout, cousin Dell’s big promotion, and his sister Julie’s future husband, who is now his brother in-law Matt.

Damn! She was never wrong. He sent a quick prayer to the patron saint of lost causes that this would be the first time her senses failed her. Because when it came to love and happily ever after, he was a lost cause. Kari had chosen an Ivy League school and a career over him. He could almost understand that, but when she chose it over their baby...he couldn’t and never would.

Chapter 5

Liz had blown her cool and she knew it. Some retail therapy calmed her and gave her time to think about the conversation with Jim at the café. “Argument was more like it,” she mumbled as she pulled open the large glass door to the Ashwood Police Station.

“May I help you?” The officer sat behind the large glassed-off counter.

“My name is Doctor Elizabeth Garcia. I am here to see Detective Swenson.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I am working on the Noah Delie case with him.” She reached in her purse and extracted her identification.

The officer took it before picking up the phone to make a call. Ending the call, she handed the ID back through the opening in the glass. “Detective Swenson is out at the moment, but his partner will be right out.”