him and caught him giving her an assessing look. Hope I'm measuring up. She'd disappointed enough people lately.
"Would you have requested the transfer if you’d known I was there?"
She sighed and dropped her head back on the headrest. "You know, I don't know the answer to your question. I'd like to think I would have, but as shocked as I was when I saw you the first day, I don't know."
"You didn't even flinch when you saw me."
"Really? It felt like I stared at you forever. I thought you were a figment of my imagination. You in the briefing room, in a tux. Never in a million years would I have thought up that scenario for running into you."
"I'm surprised we haven't run into each other before." He hit the turn indicator to merge into the left-hand lane. "We work the same area."
"Especially the last two years." She nodded in agreement. "For the majority of the time, I've been traveling. Like I said, I needed some stability."
"Dawn watches him when you're not in town?"
"Yep. She's put her life on hold for us. She's never complained, but we live with her, and she can't even bring a man home for the night, if you know what I mean."
"Does she resent it?"
"Nah, she's been great, but now I'll be able to be in town and for the most part home, so I'm going to start looking for a place for Gage and me. If we have an op, I can count on her to watch him."
Brody nodded. "Your options have grown even further than that. My family would be able to help."
Her gut rolled at the thought of Hannah's disapproval. She had absolutely no confidence Hannah would volunteer, but she plastered a smile on her face. "Yes, it will be a nice change. How is your family?"
"Well, Brock is due back with Kallie tomorrow. Blay is staying with me when he's not at work. He's a firefighter. Brianna has opened her own restaurant. She had help, our cousin Justin gave her the seed money after she interned in his organization for a year. She's done wonderfully."
"Really? What's the name of her place?"
"Horizon."
"The one on East Jefferson?"
"Yep."
"I've always wanted to try Horizon, but we never have the time to drive across town. When Gage is hungry, the entire world knows it. Growing boy. You'll see. I know Bekki is on Channel Two. I've seen several of her reports. She's good."
"She's a brat, and a rock star in her own mind." Brody's full bodied laugh was music to her ears. This was the man she remembered.
They exited the interstate and she regretted their time together was coming to an end. He merged into traffic and stopped at a red light. "If you don’t mind, I'll call you tonight. We should probably talk about what is going to happen on Saturday."
"I already told you I'd like it to happen. I think us communicating is a good thing. Good for us and good for Gage. If he sees us tense or uneasy around each other, he'll pick it up immediately."
"I can't act like it didn't happen, but I promise I'll take your lead on how to deal with his questions."
"Tell the truth. Anything else is a waste of time. If he asks why you didn't come to see him, tell him the truth. You didn't know about him." She'd take the blame for keeping Brody in the dark, since it was her fault.
They drove into the parking lot, and he turned off the ignition. "I'll do that. Let's go find out if Masters is going to play ball." He nodded to the small building beside the precinct where JDET resided. It was time to put her game face on. Gage and Dawn needed her to do well in this job. Gage needed her home.
Chapter 6
The heavy, iron-barred doors slammed, and the noise echoed down the vacant corridor. The desolate sound still made him flinch, even though he had heard it a thousand times. Amber’s eyes flicked back toward the now locked barrier. Yeah, it was a sound you wouldn’t get used to unless you worked in the prison. Or, God forbid, became a resident. They followed the sheriff’s deputy down the long hallway. Muffled voices from inside the interview rooms could be heard as they passed by the occupied spaces.
Perhaps it was the unmistakable odor of the facility which added to the overall feeling of hopelessness. No matter what time of year a person entered the