Dead of Winter (Cold Case Psychic #15) - Pandora Pine Page 0,40

hasn’t been another arrest on his record since.” For Kyle’s sake, Ronan hoped the man had turned his life around.

“He’s not dead, is he? I’m not getting a sense of that one way or the other.”

“Quite the opposite, actually.” Ronan couldn’t believe his eyes. “He runs a non-profit food bank here in Salem called Skye’s the Limit.” He turned the screen around for Ten to see.

Ten sucked in a sharp breath. “Skye is spelled like her name.” He looked up at his husband. “Is the name a guilt trip or a tribute?”

Ronan snorted. “You’re the psychic. You tell me. As a former cop, I’m going with guilt trip.”

Frowning, Ten looked back down at the screen. “Says here the food bank was started in 2006, which would have been after Kyle’s stint in rehab. The optimist in me sees this move as Kyle reclaiming his life, but being the husband of a former cop, I’m wondering if the name is a guilt trip too.”

Ronan was able to see both sides of the picture Ten was painting. “You have the biggest heart of anyone I know,” Ronan began. “If I had a nickel for every ex-con who told me this was the last move in their criminal careers and then got re-arrested on a new charge, I could buy a professional baseball team.”

Ten sighed dramatically. “What the hell would we do with a baseball team, aside from ogle the young men in their tight baseball pants like a couple of dirty old men?”

“I suppose we can do that from the comfort of our own home.” Ronan couldn’t possibly be happier with Tennyson as his husband, but it was still fun to look.

“You already do that from the comfort of our home.” Ten rolled his eyes. “Anyway, back to Kyle Danner. We need to reach out to him as soon as possible.”

Ronan said goodbye to his dream of making it to the major leagues. “It’s a little late now, but we’ll call him first thing in the morning. I’m actually more interested in hearing what he has to say rather than listening to another one of Skye’s alleged best friends talk about the night she was killed.” Ronan couldn’t help but think the saying “with friends like these, who needs enemies” was custom-made for that trio of women. He had no proof to back up this assumption, but his near-twenty years of experience with the BPD and his gut instinct had never been wrong before.

“We need to talk about something else important.” Ten raised an eyebrow at his husband.

“I knew it!” Ronan crowed. “You rethought the idea of owning a baseball team. I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist young men in tight pants.”

“Seriously, Ronan? I resist you all the time. I don’t think it’s a problem to resist hot, young twenty-somethings.” Ten grinned.

“That’s just plain mean.” Ronan crossed his arms over his chest. “So, what is this other important thing you want to talk about?”

“Well, since it’s two weeks until Christmas…” Ten got up from the table with his empty mug. “But if you’d rather talk nonsense about baseball players, I’ll handle it all.”

Shit. Ronan was a dick. “Wait!” He was out of his seat and at Ten’s side. “I’m so dialed into this case that I’m not thinking clearly.”

“Obviously.” Ten pressed a kiss to Ronan’s lips. “Are we going to host again this year?”

Over the last few years, Ten and Ronan had started holiday traditions Ronan held close to his heart. After the death of his mother, Erin, he thought all the traditions they’d shared were gone. He’d learned, thanks to Tennyson, that it was possible to incorporate what he shared as a boy with his mother into what he was building with his new family. “Yes. Definitely. I was thinking we’d do a six-course dinner.”

Ten’s eyes bugged out. “You thought what?”

“Think about it.” Ronan moved toward the kitchen island. “We start with a fancy hors d’oeuvre, something like deviled eggs. Then we move on to a soup, maybe a spicy gazpacho or a seafood chowder. For the appetizer, fried squid rings or scallops wrapped in bacon.” Ronan reined in his enthusiasm. “What do you think so far?”

The longer Ronan talked, the more Ten’s eyes widened. “What’s next?”

“Salad course. Maybe a nice green salad or iceberg lettuce wedges with blue cheese. Next is the piece de resistance, the main course. I was thinking of a standing rib roast with fingerling potatoes and asparagus tips. Lastly, for dessert, lobster tail pastries