Chapter 3
J amie and Chief Inspector Quinn Tannock went back a long way. At one time, Jamie had considered a career in law enforcement.
Quinn Tannock had been two years ahead of him in high school and had gone on to college to gain a degree in criminal justice and become a constable before Jamie had made up his mind what he wanted to do with his life. He just knew he didn’t want to be a farmer like his dad.
Quinn and he had played some sports together during high school and remained close enough that Quinn was able to convince him he should become a constable as well. So, Jamie had given it a shot.
Right around the time he’d gotten tased so he would know what that felt like if he were to use a taser on a perpetrator, he’d decided law enforcement wasn’t for him. Once he’d stopped drooling and flushing five shades of red because of the wet patch appearing on the front of his jeans as he lay on the floor unable to make his limbs obey, Jamie had resigned.
Quinn had just grinned and agreed that the job wasn’t for everybody. So, he’d contacted the local medical examiner and recommended Jamie as a lab assistant because he did have computer skills.
It was during this brief career that Jamie had learned a bit about crime scene analysis when Mort O’Hara, the medical examiner, had insisted that he come along to the crime scenes. He would record the facts the jovial Irishman dictated to him in a notebook. He’d liked Mort a lot. With twinkling blue eyes and a wicked sense of humor, Mort made a macabre job much less stressful than it might have been.
Jamie had remained somewhat interested in his work until the lab was handed a mostly decomposed body in a barrel of chemicals. After sorting, sifting, and tabulating body parts from the chemicals, he’d hung up his rubber gloves, boots, facemask and slicker, and decided to try something else. Even Mort’s sense of humor didn’t stretch far enough for Jamie to want to make that his life’s work.
Deciding he liked the administrative side of computers, he’d gone to a young professional’s business career training course in London for six months and found the idea of travel intriguing. It was there he’d met with prospective employers and finally signed up with a company called World Equipment Placement Incorporated (WPPI). The best part about it was that he didn’t have to move out of Scotland. There was a lot of travel involved, but his home base would still be Inverness. Having no desire to live anywhere but Scotland, it clicked for him and felt right.
A year later, he’d met Rhonda Descant at a business meeting with his company in their London based office. She’d totally blown him away with her laughing green eyes and bubbly personality. The New Orleans native had traveled with her father, who was president of WPPI, because she loved to travel and wanted to see the world. Every minute that wasn’t spent in meetings was spent in Rhonda’s company, and within six months, he’d married her.
Losing Rhonda three years ago to cancer had devastated him and he didn’t figure he’d ever find another woman who could hold a candle to his lost love.
Until Pauley MacBride.
“So, what can I do fer ye, Jamie?”
Watching Quinn replace the telephone on the receiver brought Jamie out of his mind-wandering tour. His gaze caught the guarded look in the man’s gray eyes and wasn’t sure how much friendship would play a role when he asked his question.
“Why did ye take Pauley MacBride off my case?”
Quinn studied him for a moment, then leaned back in his office chair twiddling a pencil between his fingers. “Why do ye want to know?”
Jamie huffed and narrowed his eyes. “Because she impressed me with her work,” he replied testily. “Then she calls me a short while ago and says the case is no longer hers and refers me to some detective called Mica Peterson.”
Quinn nodded. “Mica is an excellent detective, ye’ll be in good hands with him.”
“I don’t want Mica, I want Pauley,” Jamie snapped. “I already have a rapport with her, and I no want to start with another detective,” he added as a flash of understanding raced across Quinn’s face.
A big grin slid into a home run on Quinn’s mouth and he leaned forward to stare at Jamie with a knowing eye. “Ye like her.”
Jamie shifted slightly, but he could still outstare Quinn and make him blink first. It was one of the few things he’d learned while in the police academy that he’d found worthwhile. The fine art of making people uncomfortable with a fixed stare. They usually gave in and felt the need to say something more. Quinn did—right after he blinked.
“Don’t look at me like that, laddie.”
“I barely know the woman, I simply don’t like last minute changes,” Jamie replied, a quirk of amusement lifting the sides of his lips. “Why the change, Quinn? Did ye do it because we’re friends and she’s actually incompetent or something?”
Quinn’s eyes narrowed, apparently mulling over something in his head. Finally, he replied, “Nay, nothing like that. This will be on the news tonight anyway, so I might as well tell ye. Just keep it under yer hat until it’s public. We are trying to downplay the kid’s part in it for safety reasons.”
“The kid?”
“The kid that got the drop on the dead man is Pauley’s youngest son, Luca. Naturally, she can’t be the investigator, it’s a conflict of interest.”
Jamie’s jaw dropped. “Her son? How old is this kid? What does he have to do with all of it?”
“He’s 21 and damned lucky is what he is,” Quinn snapped. “How he managed to come out on top with someone like Ruskag is anybody’s guess, but it could have repercussions with the people Ruskag worked for.” Then his voice lowered in sympathy. “Pauley’s had a rough time with that one since her divorce. Luca blames her for the breakup with his father.”
“Sounds like he’s fallen in with a rough crowd,” Jamie mused with a nod. “And it sounds like the lad needs some fatherly guidance.”
Quinn’s eyes twinkled. “Are ye applying fer the job?”
Jamie stared. “Me? Lord, no. I was actually thinking of Darro MacCandish and Angus Sangster up at Neamh. Neither one of them allow foolishness on Heaven’s Gate property. Darro is deadly with a horsewhip, I’m told.”
Jamie chuckled at the memory of Angus’s recounting of the horsewhip biting into young Dallas MacIntosh’s rear when he dared to steal his biccies from the barn office. Darro was a hard man, but a fair one. A man to have on your side when everything around you was going to banshee screaming hell.
Quinn nodded with a smirk. “Aye, Darro and I are good friends, and I heard the same story ye are grinning at, I’m guessing. The one where young Dallas learned a lesson?”
“Aye, that one. Angus told me about it.”
“I can’t condone it of course, given my position, but I can certainly applaud Darro privately. Too many of our youth are traveling down the wrong roads these days and getting themselves or the people around them mixed up in a world of hurt. Pauley’s had a hard row to hoe and doesn’t deserve that lad causing her so many problems.”
“Maybe ye should put a bug into Darro’s ear,” Jamie suggested.
Quinn shook his head. “No, thank ye. I’ve told Pauley she needs to put Luca somewhere he can lie low for a while until all this blows over, but I would no dare to make plans for her. That lass can skelp the hide off yer back with just words if ye get on the wrong side of her.” His eyes narrowed at Jamie. “Why don’t ye suggest it? Yer daughter is Lady MacCandish after all. She has a soft spot for bairns, maybe she could talk Darro into taking Luca on as a hand while he’s waiting for the hearing. Which could lead to a trial.”
Jamie opened his mouth for a blistering reply, then abruptly closed it. Mayhap this would be a good reason to see Pauley again. And he did want to see her again if he was being honest with himself. It was the whole reason he was visiting Quinn, although he wouldn’t tell him that. It might provide an opening to get to know the beautiful detective a little better.
That is, if she didn’t skelp him with her temper. Then again, his Rhonda had a temper too, but it hadn’t done her any good when Jamie decided that it was her little butt that needed the skelping.
“So, ye want me to do yer dirty work for ye?” Jamie taunted. “The great Quinn Tannock, scared of his female employee. I never thought I’d see the day.”
Quinn wagged his finger at Jamie. “Laugh if ye must, but ye are no fooling me, Jamie MacNamara. Ye like Pauley, I can tell.”
Jamie stood up with a scoff. “There hasn’t been a woman born that could hold a candle to my Rhonda. I just came in to find out why ye changed the detective on my case.”
Quinn stood up to. “Technically, it’s yer daughter and Darro’s case, but I won’t split hairs with ye.” Then his voice softened. “Pauley is a good woman; she could use a friend. Don’t tell her I said that, but ye have my blessing.”
Jamie’s eyebrows rose with interest. If Quinn Tannock spoke highly of her, then that was a plus in his book. Quinn didn’t suffer fools gladly. “Point me in the direction of her office then, and I’ll do yer work for ye,” he teased. “We’ll see about getting the lad out of town for a bit.”
“I’ll do ye one better,” Quinn replied, hitting a button on the intercom sitting on his desk. “Detective MacBride, I need to see ye in my office.”
A minute later, Pauley appeared in the door of Quinn’s office, her eyes narrowing with surprise when she saw Jamie standing inside the room.
Her eyes slid from his to Quinn as her body stiffened. “Ye wanted to see me, Chief?”
Her voice was soft, yet firm, and Jamie could feel his interest quicken more. She was a stunning woman, no doubt about that.
“Aye, Pauley. I believe ye have met Jamie?”
She nodded. “Aye, we met at Happy Housekeepers.”
“Jamie is a personal friend of mine, and I’d take it as a favor if ye’d listen to what he has to say regarding Luca.”
Her soft lips tightened in disapproval, but she finally nodded.
Jamie decided it was time to take his own initiative. “How about we go somewhere and have a cup of coffee? Then we can talk about it,” he offered, expecting her to resist. He was surprised when she didn’t, although she didn’t look very happy about it.
“Fine, I’ll meet ye at Oates Pub on the riverwalk,” she replied. She shot Quinn a warning glare and turned on her heel and left.
Both men watched her until her bum rounded the corner and Quinn shot him a grin. “Ye are on yer own now, lad. I’ve paved the way all I can, the rest is up to ye.”
Jamie snorted and rolled his eyes, then headed after her with Quinn chuckling behind him. Parking wasn’t bad at 4:00 in the afternoon, so it wasn’t but a few minutes before he entered the pub, the tinkling of glassware and muted conversations all around him. She hadn’t taken a table yet. “Would ye like a table or a booth?” he asked, walking up to her.
“Since we are talking about my son, I’d prefer a booth,” she responded, disapproval dripping off her in waves.
He waved his arm in front of her. “Lead on then, take yer pick.”
Once they were seated and turned over the coffee cups sitting on saucers on the table, the waiter poured the rich dark brew into their cups and handed them menus before he hurried away. She dropped a lump of sugar in her cup and stirred in some of the rich cream from the cream decanter. She took a drink, closed her eyes, and sighed with bliss for a few seconds before setting her cup back on the table. “So, what’s this about Mr. MacNamara?”
“It’s Jamie,” he corrected. “We discussed that already this morning, Pauley. Let’s not cover old ground.”
Picking up her cup again, she studied him over the brim. He couldn’t tell if she was figuring out where she could hide his body, or if she was interested in what he might have to say.
“Quinn is an old friend. He knew I wouldn’t say anything, so he told me about yer son when I asked him why ye were taken off the case. It’s going to be in the news tonight at any rate. He also told me ye might be open to a suggestion as to where to stash Luca for a while until this business is over,” he told her. “As a parent, I know ye are highly concerned for his welfare. I can relate to that.”
Her hand trembled slightly when she picked her cup up again. “Aye,” she agreed. “I am worried about my son, but he is of age, and trying to stash him anywhere he doesn’t want to go is going to be a problem. We are supposed to talk about it tonight. If I can get him to open up to me, I’ll be very surprised.”
Jamie nodded. “Ye are a detective, and a darned good one according to Quinn. What are yer suspicions? If I’m right, I’m betting ye have already been doing some investigating to figure out what he’s been doing and who he’s been seeing when he isn’t home.”
“If I had to guess, Mr....er...Jamie, I’d say ye have had some law enforcement background yerself,” she drawled taking a long sip before setting her cup down again.
Jamie chuckled. “Enough to know that it wasn’t the life for me.”
She looked interested. “Oh? And why is that?”
“Too many rules, restrictions, and the inability to just nail someone with a good right hook. I’d rather use a fist than a taser any day. And after my experience with a taser used on me, I was quite happy to look elsewhere for gainful employment.”
Pauley’s lips quirked. “Don’t tell me...yer hose watered yer trousers?” At the expression on his face, she tried to suppress a giggle. “If it makes ye feel any better, ye aren’t the only one that happens to. It happened to me as well.”
Jamie could take a joke on himself. The giggle she attempted to squelch turned her from a hard-bitten cop to a youthful young lass for a moment, and he appreciated the difference. Beneath her tough exterior, Pauley had a sense of humor. It made him want to learn everything there was to know about her. And to see those gorgeous eyes light up with laughter. He cleared his throat as the shadows returned.
“About Luca,” he said, bringing the conversation back to their reason for being together. “If ye like, I can check with Lucerne and Darro to see if they could use an extra station hand for a while at Neamh. I know he’d be safe there if ye think he would be interested in going. He would be too far out of town to get back to the unsavory people he may be running with, and anyone trying to contact him would easily be seen coming. Darro and Angus would make sure he didn’t get up to any trouble, and he’d be paid a wage for his work.”
“Ye mean Angus Sangster, right?”
“Ye know Angus?”
“Does anyone not know Angus?” she threw back with a grin. “I don’t know him personally, but I know of him.”
Jamie gave a rueful shake of his head. “He and the Sinh family gossip tree can actually produce results,” he confessed.
“Sin?”
“Ye don’t know about Sinh? It’s spelled with an h on the end and stands for Sangster Information Network Hub. I’ve seen it in action, believe me. I no thought it would work, but he proved me wrong.”
“How does it work exactly?” she asked, intrigued.
“Ye’ll have to ask Angus about that,” Jamie replied. “I know he’s very protective of their privacy though, so he doesn’t ask lightly when he needs something. They usually stick to emergency type information requests as far as I know.”
The waiter came back to the table, a gangly young man with a crop of curly blond hair just on top of his head. Around the back of his head and over his ears, the hair was shaved close to the skin. “Will ye be wanting dinner tonight?” he asked politely.
Pauley glanced at her watch and shook her head. “None for me, thanks.”
“None for me either,” Jamie replied with a smile at the young man. “I don’t usually eat until later, but you can refill my coffee.”
“Me too,” Pauley added.
When the waiter was gone, she caught Jamie’s gaze. “If yer offer is serious, then I’d like to take ye up on it. I do want Luca to be somewhere safe, but I know he doesn’t want to be far away from home.” She hesitated. “Ye also have to realize that if someone did come looking for him, those in the home could be in danger as well. That’s why I didn’t want to send him to his brother or his sister. Both have young children. My grandchildren. I was considering taking an extended vacation and keeping him with me somewhere close where I could protect him myself until this is over. If he will let me.”
Jamie nodded. “Aye, I can see that. What do ye think the chances are that someone will try to get payback?”
Pauley shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just know that Ruskag had a record as long as yer arm. Assault with a deadly weapon, suspicion of murder, mob enforcer, protection rackets, money laundering, and a host of other charges. Some charges he spent time in jail for. Others, a slick lawyer got him off, depending on who he was working for. There’s no doubt the world will be a safer place without him in it, but that doesn’t mean no one will be looking for the person who killed him.”
Jamie didn’t like her idea. “Trying to protect him on yer own means ye won’t be safe either,” he said with a frown. “Can’t the police put him in a safe house?”
“Not unless he’s a witness to a crime,” she replied with a scoff. “As it stands, he will be on trial for accidental manslaughter if the Lord Advocate decides to charge him. I’m hoping that won’t be the case, but ye never know what can happen. I believe he will get off with self-defense since he has no criminal record. Best case is he won’t even be charged. But they may want to go through the motions of being thorough, especially if anyone complains that Ruskag isn’t getting a fair shake,” she added with an exasperated eyeroll. “The hearing will be on Monday and Luca has a good lawyer, so I’ll know what the stakes are after that.”
“Is he out on bond?”
“Aye, he should be at home now. One of the constables took him home so I could finish my report. I was actually getting ready to leave early when Quinn called me in.”
On a sudden impulse, Jamie reached across the table and closed his palm over her small fist. It was cold and he could feel her trembling with the effort to be strong and in control.
“When ye aren’t solving crimes and playing momma bear, what do ye do for fun, Pauley MacBride?” he asked gently, rubbing his big thumb against her smooth skin. He couldn’t deny the tingly feeling that shot up his arm, and he knew from her startled expression that she felt it too.
A breathy gasp escaped her lips as she tried to withdraw her hand, but he wouldn’t let her go.
“Trying to reel in another sucker, Pauley?”
A hateful voice sneered and Jamie glanced sideways to see a man who was clearly a victim of an indulgent lifestyle approaching their table. He was average height, and what little mousy gray hair he had left was giving up the effort of digging in to stay. A well-fed paunch hung two inches over his belt, also a tribute to the amount of beer he probably drank. The red polo shirt was stretched to its limit to cover his fleshy chest and stomach, along with the bomber jacket he wore that wouldn’t meet across the middle of his chest. They both failed to cover the half inch of exposed flesh above his jeans belt on his sides.
“Walk away, Peter,” Pauley gritted between clenched teeth.
“Or what?” he chortled as if amused by her demand.
“Or I’ll see that ye do,” Jamie promised ominously as he rose to his full height, which gave him a few inches on Peter.
Peter eyed him up and down. “Oh yeah? Ye and what friends, pretty boy?”
Jamie could see the man was drunk and probably wouldn’t feel it if he hit him, but he was willing to take that chance if need be. He could see Peter was gearing up to punch him, so he tensed and quickly sidestepped the punch, sending Peter spinning to the floor. His nose connected with the hard wood and blood spurted, but then he was out like a light.
“Someone ye know?” Jamie asked Pauley, his eyebrows crawling up his forehead.
Pauley leaned back in her seat and took a sip of coffee. “My ex,” she replied. “Now ye know why I’m divorced.” With a sigh she picked up her cell and dialed emergency services.
Jamie grinned. “Well, that answers that question.” He sat back down after stepping around Peter’s feet and took another sip of his coffee.
Pauley laid her phone on the table after her call. “Ye really didn’t have to interfere, I can handle Peter easily enough. He’s more annoying than dangerous,” she told him with amusement.
“I’ll no sit by while a woman is forced to put up with the likes of that,” he replied sternly. He was sure she could handle her ex on her own too, he just wasn’t the kind of man to allow that to happen.
Pauley’s eyebrow shot up as she studied him. “He wasn’t always that way,” she replied, her lips thinning. She didn’t say anything else for the moment and neither did Jamie.
When the ambulance arrived, one of the techs grinned at Pauley. “Again, girlfriend? Why don’t ye just find a new place to have a drink?” she asked, shaking her head. Another tech was putting smelling salts under Peter’s nose and helping him upright into a chair at a table.
Pauley shrugged. “I see no reason to give up the pub I’ve enjoyed for the last 25 years,” she mocked. “Let him go somewhere else.”
“Stubborn too, I see,” Jamie chuckled, folding his arms across his chest.
Pauley eyed him. “Ye are quick, aren’t ye? Ye just uncovered another facet of my amazing personality.”
“I’ll be looking forward to discovering them all,” Jamie promised, his eyes gleaming. He was pleased to see the surprised look flash across her face, as if she hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t expected to say it either, but now that he had, he realized he meant every word. Pauley MacBride made his breath pause in his throat when she smiled. He would be a fool not to grab at the chance to get to know her.