police report, but I guess it still had to be chased up. I grabbed a pen and wrote down her name and address. "After Bastiel's, I'll head over to Vinny's and start the watch, but I've got a meeting with Dia at five-thirty. Can we get one of the night shift guys to take over after five?"
He frowned. "I'm not sure that this is the sort of case Dia can help us with."
"Right now, with no solids leads, I'm willing to give it a go. "
"Just don't sit there on my time drinking coffee and chatting about the weather," he said heavily. "Or I will take it out of your salary."
I grinned. "As if I would do that."
He harrumphed and walked out. I glanced at Kade. "You available to do some watching tomorrow?"
He grimaced. "It's not my favorite thing, you know that. Besides, I thought you wanted help with the beheadings? I can't do both."
He could if he really wanted to - but even as that thought crossed my mind, I knew I wasn't really being fair.
He had just as many unsolved cases on his plate as I did and Jack would be all over him if he dropped everything to help me.
Plus he had a family and babies to go home to, and I didn't.
Not yet, anyway, I thought with an inner shiver.
God, how would that change my life? How would it change my attitude to this job and the risks it involved?
It had taken me a long time to admit I actually enjoyed being a guardian, but the chase and the danger were extremely addictive. It was in my blood now and giving it up would not be easy.
But giving up one dream after another hadn't been easy, either, and having a baby was the last one left. The only one that I really had any chance of fully fulfilling.
It should have been an easy choice, a simple one. But it wasn't.
I liked what I did. Loved what I did. We made a difference, and that made the risks and the dangers worthwhile. And however much I might have fought become a guardian, it made me feel like I'd finally found something I was meant to do.
And yet, I didn't want any child of mine growing up without the love of a pack around him - or her - and that pack had to be more than just Liander, however much he might cherish our offspring if the worst happened. Rhoan and I only ever had our mother growing up, and however much she might have loved us, it wasn't pack. We were never considered pack, and that isolation had echoed through our relationships both as children and as grown-ups.
I didn't want that loneliness - that feeling of never really belonging - for any child of mine.
"Earth to Riley. Come in, Riley."
I blinked and glanced at Kade. "What?"
"I said, I'll do a couple of hours, but that's all I can manage."
"Great. What about around lunch time?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Another hot date with a certain werewolf?"
"It's not a date." More a battle of wills. "I don't want anyone killed, Kade, so I'll play his games until he gets tired of them or I can find something to pin on his ass and get him out of my hair."
"I'm sure if you tell Jack about the threat, he'll handle the situation appropriately."
"Maybe, but I'd prefer to handle it myself."
"Then I'll just hope that no one you care about ends up getting hurt, because I do not trust that man."
"Don't worry, neither do I." I collected my purse from the back of the chair, then walked across to his desk and kissed his cheek. "Don't suppose you'd like to help me out with one more thing?"
His gaze slid from my face to my breasts, which were on view thanks to the fact that the dress top had gaped forward when I bent over. "If it involves handling the beautiful ladies hanging in front of me, most definitely." I grinned and handed him the paper with Harriet Morgan's address on it. "Would you mind going to talk to this woman for me? Her car was seen leaving the beheading scene, but she reported it stolen the day before. Someone needs to talk to her and check her story."
He barely even glanced at the paper before putting it down on the desk. His big hands cupped my breasts, holding them almost reverently. "Are you sure these beauties don't need a good massage?"
I