Cavanaugh Stakeout Read online

  “Older or younger?” Nik asked, referring to Finn’s brother.

  “Younger,” he answered, “but he acts like he thinks he’s the older one.” Suddenly realizing that he’d taken her elbow, Finn dropped his hand to his side. “Sorry,” he apologized.

  “Nothing to be sorry about,” she answered.

  “I was just trying to get us to the chief’s house before Cullen found a space and had a chance to pounce on us,” Finn explained.

  That sounded a little strange to her, but then, Finn would know his brother far better than she did. “Does he do that often?” she asked, then added, “Pounce?” in case he didn’t understand what she was asking.

  “Cullen has this unabashed enthusiasm. Sometimes it gets to be a little too much,” he told her. For now he didn’t add that Cullen never met a woman he didn’t like.

  “You’re being protective,” she noted.

  “I guess I am. Habit,” he admitted. “I didn’t mean to offend,” he told her, referring to having taken her elbow that way.

  They had reached Andrew’s door. Nik stopped before it and flashed a wide smile at him. “You didn’t,” she assured Finn.

  Her smile, as well as the very sound of her voice, seemed to nestle down in his very core. He felt a warmth spread out. He had no time to think about it because just then Andrew and Rose’s front door opened.

  An incredibly tempting, warm aroma immediately wafted out, creating an aura around the welcoming, very friendly figure who emerged and now stood in the doorway.

  “Ms. Kowalski, you came,” Andrew said, pleased as he enveloped her hand in both of his.

  “Nik, please,” she corrected. “And Finn made it sound as if I would be guilty of some sort of a grievous offense if I stayed away,” she told him honestly.

  “Not an offense,” Andrew corrected. “But I admit that it would have been a huge disappointment if you didn’t come. Please, come in, come in,” he urged her.

  Nik crossed the threshold, followed by Finn. “Finn also promised that you would explain why having me here was so important,” she told him. “Because with all these people here—” she gestured toward the living room “—I really don’t see how you’d even notice that I wasn’t here, although Finn swore to me that you would.”

  Andrew looked puzzled at the much younger man. “You didn’t tell her?”

  “I figured it was your story to tell,” Finn said with a nonchalant shrug.

  “Someone tell me,” Nik requested with a slight urgency.

  “Let’s get out of everyone’s way,” Andrew said, leading Nik over toward his kitchen. Finn followed in their wake.

  She took in a deep breath. “That smells absolutely wonderful,” she told Andrew.

  “Thank you,” he told her. He never tired of hearing genuine compliments. “But I didn’t bring you in here because I was fishing for a compliment. Besides, if anyone deserves a compliment, it’s you.”

  Lost, she glanced at Finn, but he wasn’t about to explain what his uncle meant. Nik looked back toward the older man. “I’m afraid that I don’t understand, sir.”

  Andrew nodded and obliged her with an explanation. “My father was in a downward spiral after the mugging,” he told her.

  “I didn’t realize that his wounds were that serious,” Nik said, looking from Finn back to Andrew.

  “They weren’t,” Andrew said. “At least not his physical ones. However, the wounds he sustained mentally were another story. Whoever mugged my father and left him in the parking lot broke his spirit. You saw him,” Andrew pointed out. “After the attack he felt as if he had suddenly become a useless, helpless old man with no reason to continue living.”

  “When we spoke, I told him that wasn’t true,” Nik told him.

  Andrew nodded. “I know, and by saying that, you managed to accomplish what the rest of us couldn’t. When we said that to him, he felt we had to say that because he was the head of our family and we loved him. But you—you were a stranger to him as far as he was concerned. You didn’t need to say that to him, which made your words carry more weight than ours did.”

  Andrew’s eyes conveyed to Nik just how deep the gratitude he felt went. “That story you told him about your uncle Walter—that really got to him. He started slowly coming around right after you left.” Andrew smiled. “Thanks to you and what you said to him, we have that dour, cranky old man back.”

  “Hey, who are you calling cranky?” a deep, gravelly voice behind Nik said.

  When she turned around, Nik saw that Seamus Cavanaugh had come into the kitchen to join them. Just like his son’s did, Seamus’s eyes crinkled as he looked at Nik.

  “Well, if the shoe fits, Dad—” Andrew began.

  “I can kick your behind with it,” Seamus told his oldest son. And then he turned to look at the young woman he credited for his renewed lease on life. “See what I have to put up with?” he asked Nik. “If I don’t crack the whip around these kids, they give me no respect.” And then Seamus surprised Nik, as well as Andrew and Finn, because he put his arms around her and hugged her hard. “I hope you don’t mind indulging an old man by allowing him to give you a hug.”

  “What old man?” Nik scoffed, her voice all but muffled against the man’s barrel chest. “I don’t see an old man around here,” she said. “All I see are three very vibrant men. Or at least two,” she amended, glancing toward Finn as if she was having second thoughts about including him in the initial group.

  Seamus chuckled as he released Nik. “She’s a spitfire, this one is, Finley,” he said to Finn.

  “Well, she is something, I’ll give you that,” Finn agreed. “Although what that is I can’t say I’m exactly sure.”

  Seamus looked at her wistfully. “Ah, if I was just thirty years younger,” he lamented.

  Andrew cleared his throat. “How many years did you say, Dad?”

  The subject of age was still a sore topic for the older Cavanaugh. “All right, maybe forty. But like the lady said, I’ve got a young heart,” Seamus told Andrew, winking at Nik.

  “You three going to stay huddled in here all night, keeping poor Nik here practically a prisoner?” Rose asked, walking in on her husband, her father-in-law and Finn. “C’mon, girl, time to make your escape now before these two succeed in talking your ears off,” she said to Nik, nodding toward her husband and father-in-law. She put her hand out to pull Nik away.

  “Her ears are safe, Rose,” Seamus assured his daughter-in-law. “I wouldn’t do anything to harm so much as a hair on that pretty girl’s head. I owe her,” the senior Cavanaugh said, his eyes meeting Nik’s. “Why don’t you and Finn go out there and talk to people your own age while Andrew and I here reminisce about what that was like.”

  Rose laughed at her father-in-law’s choice of words. “What’s to reminisce about? You’re younger than any of us, Seamus.”

  Her father-in-law chuckled in response. “I am, aren’t I?”

  Finn then took his opportunity to finally lead Nik out into the living room.

  “You really did bring Seamus back, you know,” he told Nik once they were clear of the kitchen. “I know for a fact that the chief was really worried about him. He was afraid that his father was never going to be able to come around and shake himself free of his depression. Whatever you said to Seamus that day I brought you over, it wound up snapping him out of that really black funk.

  “Not just that,” he continued, “but I think his memory’s coming back, too. I’m going to wait a little longer before I try to question him, but with any luck,” he said, “he might be able to actually tell us what happened before he was knocked out—and give us a description of the guy who did this to him and stole his car.”

  Finn brought her over to one of the tables that Andrew had set up in the living room, and there were more on the patio. Each was laden with appetizers and different sorts
of snacks.

  “Thanks to you, we might actually be able to pull together all those elusive threads and make some sort of sense out of all this—or as much sense as something like this can make,” Finn amended. He wasn’t one to allow himself to get carried away until after everything finally fell into place.

  “Well, whatever effect this finally has on the case we’re working, I am really glad I could help bring the chief’s father around. Your—” she paused a moment to get the wording just right “—grand-uncle is a really sweet man.”

  “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Dad referred to as ‘sweet,’” Brian Cavanaugh said, coming up just in time to hear the last thing that Nik had just said. “I guess it takes an outsider to see those ‘hidden qualities’ about him,” he said with an appreciative laugh.

  “Not just any old outsider,” Skylar Cavanaugh said, joining the small group. “But a very special one. Hi, I’m Skylar and from what I’ve heard, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Rose are ready to nominate you for sainthood.”

  “I really didn’t do anything,” Nik protested. “I just told Seamus about my great-uncle.”

  “Well, whatever you did,” Sean said, overhearing her protest, “it certainly helped. Let me give you a little tip here,” he said, coming up to her side. “Take the compliment and say thank you. We’re not known for giving empty praise, trust me,” he told her. “And, on behalf of this motley crew—” he nodded at the people in the immediate area “—thank you. Now, go mingle and eat. Food goes fast here. They might not look it, but it’s like having a convention of shrews—not because of their temperaments but because they could all probably eat their own weight in food. Andrew’s food is really excellent—the man doesn’t know how to make anything that doesn’t taste wonderful—and it also doesn’t last long with this crowd,” Sean told her.

  “Hey,” another member of the group called out. His face looked vaguely familiar to her, but she didn’t immediately recognize him as he joined them. She looked toward Finn quizzically.

  “That’s Duffy,” he whispered in her ear. “He’s in Homicide.”

  She pressed her lips together. So many different names were floating around in her brain. She was afraid of making a mistake and calling someone by the wrong name. She assumed that they would take it in stride, but you just never knew.

  “You know, you people should really all have name tags,” she told Finn. “So we outsiders wouldn’t feel so lost.”

  “We’re seriously thinking about it,” Finn answered. “Of course, being able to identify us without name tags points out just how keenly developed your sense of observation really is.”

  Nik laughed. “As long as there’s no test at the end of the evening.”

  “Oh, didn’t I tell you?” he asked innocently. “You have to pass a test before you’re allowed to leave the premises and go home.”

  Nik slanted a look at him. He was kidding, she thought.

  Or at least she hoped he was.

  Chapter 20

  “You know, for someone who was really dragging her feet about coming to the chief’s gathering, I’ve got to say I was surprised. You practically closed the place down,” Finn said late that evening when he finally brought Nik to her door. “Another fifty-three minutes and it would have officially been tomorrow.” He didn’t bother hiding the smile on his lips, which underscored how pleased with himself he was for convincing her to come.

  Nik fished her key out of her purse. She saw no reason to deny what was so obvious to both of them. “I had a very good time.”

  “No, really?” Finn asked, looking at her with widened eyes as he put his hand to his chest. “I couldn’t tell,” he said, deadpan.

  “Very funny,” Nik countered. “And you were right,” she said, giving him his due. “I found them all to be very nice, warm people.” Cocking her head, she peered up at his face. “Are you sure that you’re related to them?”

  “Why?” he asked, feigning surprise. “You don’t think I’m a nice, warm person?”

  Unlocking her door, Nik turned toward him. “I think that you’re a sharp detective,” she told Finn, keeping a straight face.

  “That’s not what I asked,” he pointed out.

  Turning the doorknob, she pushed the door open. This was fun, she thought. Moreover, she realized that she was really reluctant to see the evening end, even though it was getting really late.

  “No,” she agreed, “but it’s what I answered.” She paused for a second, then decided to dive right in before she lost her nerve. “Would you like to come in for a nightcap?” Nik stepped inside her apartment and waited for him to respond.

  He didn’t even have to think about it. He’d found himself growing more and more attracted to her over the course of the day and the idea of prolonging this situation even a little longer appealed to him.

  “All right,” he said, coming inside, “but in my case, I think we should make it coffee. I still have to drive home. I find that the trip is best made sober.”

  Nik looked at him in surprise. She’d been with him or near him for most of the whole day. She hadn’t seen Finn overindulging—except when it came to Andrew’s chicken. “You didn’t have that much to drink.”

  “No,” he admitted, “and I’d like to keep it that way. Worst-case scenario is being just a drop over the legal limit and then winding up being pulled over because I swerved to avoid a dog running out into the street.” He saw the skeptical look on her face. “It’s been known to happen,” he assured Nik. “The dog,” he clarified, “not the rest of it.”

  She didn’t feel that his protest carried any weight. “You’re a Cavanaugh,” she said, walking into the kitchen. “They’d cut you some slack.”

  “No, they wouldn’t,” he contradicted, “because I’m a Cavanaugh. We’re the ones who are supposed to set an example.”

  She measured out the proper amount of coffee to make Finn a really strong cup. “Wow, you know, I never really thought about what it had to be like on your end.”

  Watching Nik move around in her kitchen, he smiled as he made himself comfortable on her sofa. She was still wearing that dress she’d had on at the party. He took a longer look at her dress, and noticed how the fabric clung to her body as she moved. In the background, the coffee maker was making percolating sounds as it brewed his coffee.

  “Yup. There is no coloring outside the lines for a Cavanaugh,” he told her.

  The moment the coffee maker had finished, she poured the end result into a mug and brought it over to him. Having watched him get coffee for the last week, she knew the way he liked it.

  “You will forgive me if I don’t shed any tears,” she said, sitting down beside him on the sofa.

  “I’ll let you slide,” he told her with a laugh. He took a long, healthy swallow from the mug, then looked at Nik and asked, “So, what did you think? Now that you got to meet everyone outside of their usual work environment, what’s your opinion?”

  “That’s easy,” she told him. “I think you’re very, very lucky to have a family like that. Most people aren’t so lucky,” she confided.

  “I know, but there were times when I really didn’t think so—even before Uncle Andrew came along and ‘discovered’ my side of the family and brought us all together.” He took another long swallow, remembering parts of his adolescence. “When you’re growing up, you don’t exactly crave rules and regulations, or having to toe a line.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” She watched him finish up his coffee and caught herself wondering if the liquid had made his lips warm. “Deep down, I think that kids do crave those regulations. Regulations make you feel as if there’s structure to your life, not to mention that rules make you feel as if you’re protected.”

  Finn was certain that he heard something in her voice. He set down the empty mug on the coffee table. “You didn’t feel like you were protected growin
g up?” he asked.

  She realized what Finn had to be thinking. “Don’t get me wrong. My dad was always a great dad and he went out of his way to make sure that my sister and I had everything we needed or wanted, but...” Her voice trailed off.

  “But?” he repeated, waiting for her to finish her thought.

  Putting her long-ago fears into words almost made them sound silly now. But he was waiting, so she finished what she’d started to say. “But sometimes I worried about what would happen if my father wasn’t there.”

  She half expected him to laugh at her. But he didn’t and she found herself being grateful. “You mean if he died?” Finn ventured. “Was your father sick?”

  She shook her head. “No. I used to worry about what would happen if he suddenly decided to take off the way my mother had.” If nothing else, Finn would probably think that she was being unduly paranoid.

  “Did he ever give you any cause to think that way?” Finn asked.

  She should have never opened her mouth and had no one to blame for this but herself.

  “No, he made me feel very loved,” she admitted. Embarrassed, she looked at the empty mug on the table, avoiding Finn’s eyes. “How did we suddenly get so serious?” she asked, shrugging off the moment. She hadn’t thought about having her father leave her in years. “Must be the smell of your coffee,” she said. “That’s what did it. It’s really strong and it got to me.”

  “Right,” Finn said, agreeing with her, or pretending to. She could tell he wasn’t being serious, even though he said, “That’s got to be it.”

  Nik looked at him skeptically. “You’re being just too agreeable,” she told Finn. “So stop it. That’s not like you.”

  He looked at her innocently. “I could snap at you if you like.”

  “There you are, being agreeable again.” And then she laughed, the serious moment evaporating just like that. “You must think I’m crazy.”

  “I don’t.” His eyes swept over her. She was sitting very close to him and he could feel himself reacting to her. But this time, there was no one around who could help him camouflage it. Heaven help him, he could swear that the perfume she was wearing was filling all his senses. “That’s not exactly the thought that occurs to me when I look at you.”