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Chapter 1
Iwas in a bad mood. No, I was pissed. Parked across the police station, I was sitting in my SUV, in my flip-flops and Hawaii shirt, the rain beating down on my windshield like an old typewriter. I was supposed to be on vacation in Croatia right now, staring at the turquoise waters with a cocktail in my hand. But instead, I was here—Boston, during a summer thunderstorm.
For years I’d been saving for the trip of a lifetime. No amount of money would have been spared. Not an easy task on a middle-class detective’s salary, and an even harder task when that middle-class salary was burned through for mostly essential expenses in a town like Boston where even breathing air cost money.
Giving my packed suitcase on the backseat a last longing look, I stepped out of my car and into the summer rain. It descended on me like a waterfall. I almost lifted my hands over my head for some cover, but why bother? It was a lost cause.
A car horn startled me—and saved my life. I jumped backward just before a cab hurtling down the street would have hit me. The horn had saved my life, but I couldn’t say the same for my shirt and shorts. Cold, muddy water from a huge puddle splashed against my chest like a wave.
Goddamn it!
I rushed across the street and into the old, brick police station. Finally, out of the rain and into the dry warmth of the outdated station. James, one of the senior patrol officers—who had one of the longest noses I had ever seen on a face—almost ran into me. He scanned me with a curious look from my black-haired head all the way to my flip-flop-wearing feet. I was about to greet him, the words already forming on my tongue, when I froze.
That grin. He had that grin on his face. I knew that grin. It could only mean one thing...
I sighed without saying a word. James burst into loud laughter, his big belly moving up and down with every chuckle.
In annoyed silence, I ran my fingers through my wet hair. What a shitty day. Really. Today was awful. And it was about to get a lot worse.
“Head up high, Noah,” James said as he caught his breath and wiped a tear of amusement from the corner of his eye. He walked past me and put his hand on my shoulder in a fatherly gesture. “At least her husband isn’t with her today.”
Great. What a comfort.
Cussing under his breath at the sight of the rain, James stepped out of the station. I watched him run—actually, it was more of a lumber—over to a police car that was waiting for him outside.
At least her husband isn’t here with her today.Sure, that made it somewhat better. But damage control was difficult even without her jealous, fistfight-seeking husband around to provoke me. Her very presence in the station was a nightmare on its own. Every breathing soul under this roof would be smirking and laughing at me today. And how could they not when she was the station lieutenant’s only daughter, who I also happened to sleep with on the lieutenant’s seventieth birthday. As despicable as it sounded, the whole station was witness that I wasn’t to blame for any of this. If anything, I was told the next day at work that folks were a bit concerned if they should’ve stepped in to save me from her. I wish they would have. Just one brave friend out of these men. Men who’d take a bullet for me yet wouldn’t dare stop the boss’s daughter from taking advantage of my intoxicated state. It wasn’t rape—I wasn’t shitfaced, and I knew what I was doing—but it also wasn’t something I would have done sober. She wasn’t my type.
I scanned the hallway in the direction of the investigative unit. Only two young rookies were in sight. Maybe I’d get lucky and make it to my office without amusing anybody else, or even worse, running into the lieutenant or...her.
With quick steps, I strode down the station, ignored the two young rookies grinning my way, as well as the delicious coffee smell coming from the break room. I snuck by my chief’s closed door and farther down the hallway to my office. I sighed in relief when I reached the familiar wide-open door of my office without any more incidents.
“Thank God,” I mumbled to myself.
Too soon.
I smelled her perfume before I even heard her steps.
“Noah, what a surprise.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I tried to wipe the weary look off my face as I turned to see Annabel, only child and daughter of the second most-senior cop in all of Boston. Only the chief outranked him. Why the hell did she have to choose me for her obsession?
As always, Annabel looked stunning. Her long, red hair fell over her shoulders, somehow untouched by the rain, and her perfect curves were on clear display in her tight jeans and pink, low-necked shirt. I could have slapped myself when my eyes wandered to her big breasts. The memory of their rosy peaks between my lips flashed in front of me for a second. I almost shivered as I shook off that image with a fake smile.
“Annabel. A surprise indeed,” I said, even though it wasn’t. I mean,Me? A detective? Here? In front of my detective unit? Who could’ve predicted?
She scanned me head to toe. The second time someone had done that today. But in all fairness, Iwaswearing summer shorts and a Hawaii shirt with matching flip-flops.
“Sorry about your vacation. I heard Croatia is lovely.”
So she knew...she might have even been responsible for my trip’s cancellation.
“I’m sorry too. As you can see,” I said, pointing at my soaked shirt, “I was quite excited about it.”
She nodded. “Really sucks. Do you know when you’ll be able to go? Strangely enough, I was planning a girls’ trip to Croatia myself.”
“No. Sorry. Might just not go and use that money for more important things, like updating my house.”
