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  “—picked up and left the state when his girlfriend decided she wanted to live somewhere where it’s always raining,” Matt commented. Glancing toward Kendra, he added, “They moved to Seattle.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the handsome face. Was he talking down to her? The man might be good-looking enough to have his own fan club, but she took offense. “I figured that part out on my own,” she told him coolly.

  “Sharp,” Matt murmured. Whether he was just making an offhanded comment or being sarcastic, she wasn’t sure. But she leaned toward the latter—in which case he needed to be taken down a few pegs even if she never saw the man again.

  “Yes, she is,” Brian replied in no uncertain terms. “Which is why I’ve decided to partner the two of you up.”

  Kendra frowned. She’d had a vague, uneasy feeling that this was coming but somehow, hearing it caused a jolt. She didn’t want this. She knew she couldn’t just pick a new partner, but this man was as far from her first choice as humanly possible. Any man this handsome would be trouble. She could feel it in her bones.

  “Are you in Homicide?” she heard herself stiffly asking the other detective.

  Because if he was, he and the partner who’d been dragged to Seattle had to have been next to invisible. She didn’t recall seeing either one of them around and, annoying though he promised to be, Abilene was not the kind of man who blended into the woodwork. Once upon a time, before she’d been so terribly disillusioned, she might have even felt a flutter—or three—in Abilene’s presence. But those days were long gone. Still, she would have taken note of him—had he been there to take note of.

  “Major Case Squad,” the other detective corrected her.

  Major Case? That didn’t make sense. Why was the chief pairing her up with a detective from another division? Kendra turned to look at the man she was supposed to regard as her uncle.

  “Then how—”

  Brian anticipated the rest of her question and spared them both by answering, “I’ve decided to switch Detective Abilene to Homicide.”

  “You’re taking me off Major Case?” Matt asked, surprised. Why? What had brought this on? His record was clean, exemplary even. He would have been aware of any complaints from his captain.

  “Just for the time being,” Brian told him mildly.

  It was his way of helping his people adjust to new circumstances. He allowed them to believe that a change was temporary while they did their best to fit in. After the initial period of adjustment, he’d discovered that most times getting the same people to transfer back out—and leave their new partner—in order to go back to their old division required the assistance of a crowbar.

  He was counting on that here.

  “There’s not that much to do, even with Seth gone,” Brian pointed out to Matt. “Until it picks up, we could use a mind like yours over in Homicide.” And then he instinctively turned toward Kendra and added, “And that in no way was meant to be a negative reflection on the caliber of your work. It’s just that with Joe retired, you need a new partner.”

  Kendra knew that. And she knew that the chief was only trying to be helpful, even though she didn’t want any help. But the only time detectives went solo was when their partners were either in court, testifying, out sick or on vacation. Otherwise, if detectives left or asked to be transferred out, the resulting gaps were filled as quickly as possible.

  This was just a little faster than she’d expected. Or liked. Even if change hadn’t made her feel uneasy, Abilene, with his perfect smile, did.

  Joe’s chair was still warm, she thought ruefully. She hadn’t thought she would have to get used to someone new for at least another week. Maybe longer.

  So much for longer.

  She was well aware of procedure, but that didn’t mean that she liked it. And she had the uneasy feeling that she’d just been partnered with a hotshot who got by on his looks. Granted, she was going by a gut feeling, but her gut had always been fairly accurate.

  Kendra made up her mind to ask around about Abilene. Or maybe she would have Tom do it for her. Her older brother had a way of finding things out that didn’t rub people the wrong way, while she, well, she hadn’t quite managed to successfully develop that talent yet. At least not when she found herself heavily invested in something. Such as now.

  She slanted a glance at the man sitting beside her. He seemed to be fine with the arrangement. Or at least he wasn’t protesting it. But then, there were many ways to protest something, not all of them vocal. Abilene’s expression gave her no clue as to what he was thinking even as, for one unguarded moment, it seemed to ripple directly into the pit of her stomach.

  Definitely needed to have Tom ask around, she decided firmly.

  Right now, she needed to know one thing. Taking a breath, Kendra asked the man sitting across from her, “Is this permanent, sir?”

  Uncle or not, she knew that her family connection didn’t figure into this right now and she didn’t want him to think she was questioning his judgment. On the other hand, she really needed to know what she was facing here. Forewarned was forearmed.

  Brian smiled and looked at the two people sitting before him, one at rigid attention, the other in a seemingly relaxed mode. He had a positive feeling about this. Although probably not immediately evident to either one of them, pairing these two was a good thing.

  “We’ll see,” he answered. Turning his attention to Abilene, he gave the man an opportunity to voice any protest, although he had a feeling that there would be none forthcoming. It wasn’t that Abilene was a dutiful “good soldier,” but he rolled with the punches and took whatever came his way. But by no means was he a pushover. This would be a healthy blending of styles.

  “So, unless you have any objections, Detective Abilene, you’ll be moving your things over to Homicide, effective immediately.”

  Matt nodded. His expression remained the same, even while his eyes swept over the woman to his left, as if taking measure of her. If there was a verdict one way or another, he kept it to himself. There was neither eagerness nor covert annoyance in his voice. “I’ll get right on it, sir,” he promised.

  Let the adventure begin, Brian thought.

  Like a mechanic with an ear for the machines he worked with, Brian liked hearing the sound of a well-tuned engine. He had a feeling that was what he had here. Kendra would just have to get over the initial period of adjustment. But it would be worth it.

  “Well, unless there’s anything else,” Brian said, a note of finality in his voice, “you’re dismissed.” And then, as the two rose to their feet, he added with a smile, “Make me proud.”

  “Yes, sir,” Kendra replied, forcing a smile she didn’t feel to her lips.

  “Do my best, sir.” Matt fired off the casual promise as he turned to leave. He caught the dark look that his new partner shot him.

  The woman was very attractive, but she didn’t know it. He’d never had a female partner before. This was going to be interesting. Very interesting.

  Kendra strode out of the inner, then outer office ahead of him, putting distance between them quickly. She didn’t bother to pretend to want to talk—because she didn’t. She was busy dealing with this latest curve that Fate had tossed her.

  Matt merely stretched his legs and shortened that distance to nothing in a matter of a few steps.

  He caught up to her way before the elevator, but she kept on walking, not acknowledging his presence. It was as if she’d been encapsulated in a world all her own.

  If only, she thought.

  “So what do I call you?” Abilene asked as he reached over her head and pressed the Up button on the wall before she could.

  Forced to acknowledge him, she had a feeling her best bet was to put him in his place right from the very beginning. If she was wrong about him, there would be time enough to soften her approach.

  Kendra looked up at him—she was going to need to get higher heels, she decided, then almost instantly rescinded that thought. A
little distance between them might be a good thing. Being too close to him might blunt the edge she would need. There was no getting away from the fact that he was bone-meltingly good-looking and close proximity might cause her to forget.

  “Good at my job,” she answered.

  Matt considered her reply for a second and then nodded. “Okay, but that’s a little long. How about I just call you ‘Good’?”

  The elevator arrived and she turned her back on him as she entered, silently cursing Joe for having left her to undertake a life revolving around fly-fishing.

  Chapter 2

  When Abilene got off behind her, Kendra turned around to look at her new—and hopefully very temporary—partner. Why was he following her?

  “Shouldn’t you be going up to your floor to get your things?” she asked him.

  Just for a moment, he’d allowed himself to watch her walk, appreciatively taking in the way her hips swayed ever so slightly. Her question pulled him back to reality. He nodded toward the squad room just behind her. “I thought I’d see where my desk is first.”

  “And what?” she asked. “If it doesn’t meet with your standards, you’ll stay where you are?”

  Abilene grinned, amused. “Is that a hopeful note in your voice I hear?” He studied her for a moment, looking beyond her high cheekbones and her fascinating eyes. “You don’t do change very well, do you?”

  The last thing she wanted to put up with was being analyzed. Kendra’s eyes blazed as she tossed her head. “What I do or don’t do is none of your business,” she informed him.

  The way he saw it, that wasn’t quite true. “Some of it will be. And I want to see where my desk is so I don’t have to wander around aimlessly when I come down with an armload of my stuff.” He looked at her with eyes that seemed earnest. “Does that meet with your approval?”

  Rather than answer him, she merely sighed and beckoned him to follow her through the door. Crossing the floor, she stopped at what seemed to be the center of the room.

  “This is yours,” she told him, gesturing toward the cleared expanse of desk that butted up against hers.

  A greater contrast between the two areas would have been difficult to find. One desk was the picture of virgin territory without so much as a scrap of paper on it, while the other desk bore silent testimony to a very cluttered style. There was a computer off to one side, its keyboard stretched out before it rather than neatly tucked out of sight. The rest of the desk was buried beneath files and a snowstorm of scattered, interweaving papers. Not so much as a square inch of desktop was visible.

  Matt made no verbal comment, but the way his mouth curved seemed to say it all. At least, she read a great deal into it.

  Kendra took umbrage at what she perceived as criticism from her new, God-help-her, partner. Periodically, she went through everything on her desk and cleared spaces, trying her best to organize the raft of papers into some sort of a system, but inevitably, the stacks would bleed into one another again, merging and creating a chaotic pile.

  “I’ve got a system,” she retorted defensively in response to the amusement in Abilene’s liquid-green eyes.

  “I’m sure you do.” To the untrained ear, Abilene’s mild tone sounded completely agreeable. Why, then, did it make her want to scratch his eyes out or at least challenge him to a weapons proficiency contest on the gun range?

  Absently, Matt opened the center drawer of his new desk, then checked, one by one, a few of the other drawers. Like the surface of the desk, they were all pristinely clean.

  He shut the last drawer. “Your old partner did a thorough job cleaning things out. He didn’t leave anything behind.”

  “Not even any hope,” Kendra murmured under her breath. The amused sound coming from her new partner told her that her voice hadn’t been quite as low as she’d thought.

  Great, Pretty Boy has hearing like a bat.

  Stepping back, Abilene pushed his chair into his desk. “I’ll go get my stuff now.”

  “I can hardly wait,” Kendra deadpanned, pasting a pained smile on her lips.

  Matt paused for a moment, his eyes slowly sliding down the length of this sharp-tongued woman. Thanks to his chaotic upbringing, he was basically nomadic in his lifestyle and his relationships. It gave him the ability to take whatever came down the road because, good or bad, he knew it was only temporary and would eventually change.

  “You know,” he told her, “I’m really not such a bad guy to work with. Not as good as some, but better than most. You might want to put the pitchfork down, Good, and reserve judgment for a while.”

  The fact that Abilene wasn’t heaping endless laurels on himself surprised her. Someone like him, who exuded sensuality with his every movement, ordinarily had the inside track on vanity, possessing an ego that made passage through narrow doorways an ongoing challenge.

  She supposed she could be wrong about Abilene, but she didn’t care to debate it with herself right now, one way or the other. She wasn’t feeling all that magnanimous or friendly.

  “The jury’s still out on that one,” Kendra informed him.

  Matt supposed that was the best he would get for now. And maybe that was good because he could see himself being attracted to her, but that might complicate matters. And all he was interested in for now was a truce while he got his bearings. Later might prove to be another story, he mused, but right now, he just wanted to settle in.

  He flashed an easy smile. “Sounds fair enough,” he replied.

  Turning on his heel, he was about to leave. All his things could be packed up and transported in one trip. Unlike his new partner, once he closed a case, he didn’t hang on to the papers that went with it. Instead, he placed everything onto a flash drive and preserved the information that way. It took up a great deal less space. And it made for a neater desk. He worked better

  that way.

  Matt got exactly three steps toward the squad room door when he heard his name being called.

  “Hey, Abilene!”

  When he turned around again, Matt found himself looking down at an older man with thick silver hair and a far thicker waistline. Rather than hiding the latter behind the all-forgiving folds of a jacket, the older man had left his jacket in his office and was wearing just his shirt. The sleeves of his slightly rumpled shirt were rolled up and his tie appeared to have been hastily loosened, as if leaving it in its initial position would have eventually wound up choking him.

  “Abilene?” the older man repeated, this time turning the last name into a question.

  From the looks of the man, this had to be his new boss, Matt thought. He doubled back in long, loping strides.

  “Yes, sir,” he responded easily, extending his hand to the other man, who stood only slightly shorter than he did. However, his slumped shoulders gave the impression that he was shorter than he was.

  After a beat, the older man took Abilene’s offered hand. The handshake was surprisingly hearty. “I’m Lt. Holmes,” Isaac Holmes told his newest detective. “You’re just in time.”

  Abilene cocked his head, the very gesture a query. “For?”

  “You and Cavelli—you’re still Cavelli, right?” Holmes asked Kendra, sparing her a quick glance, then turning away before she had a chance to answer. “Just caught a case,” he concluded.

  Matt jerked his thumb in the general direction of the hall—and the elevator. “I was just about to bring down my stuff,” Matt told him.

  “Your stuff can wait. It’s not going anywhere. But you are.” Tearing off the top page from his pad where he’d written down the incoming information, the lieutenant pressed the paper into Kendra’s hand. “Super found a dead body. Not the one he expected to.” Glancing over toward Abilene, he added, “Welcome to Homicide.”

  Kendra glanced at the paper Holmes had handed her, then tucked it into her pocket. “The Super expected to find a body?” she questioned.

  “Not expected-expected,” Holmes clarified. “Guy who lives there hasn’t been seen for th
ree days, so his boss sent someone to his apartment. When he didn’t get an answer, the kid got the super.”

  “And they found a dead body in the apartment who wasn’t the guy who lived there,” Kendra guessed.

  Holmes nodded. “I want you to find out whose body’s in the apartment and see if you can get a handle on where the guy who pays the rent is. Apparently, he’s still missing.”

  “You got it, boss,” Abilene promised as he fell into step beside Kendra.

  “Jump right in, don’t you?” Kendra commented as she increased her pace. But even so, Abilene more than kept up. Man had legs that belonged on an ostrich, she thought darkly.

  “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?” he asked innocently as they went into the hall. If this wasn’t going to be an all-out territorial war, he needed to do what he could to put her mind at ease. He was definitely not out to become king of the hill—at least, not this hill. “Look, I’m not trying to snag your territory, if that’s what you’re worried about. From what I hear, there’s more than enough work to go around for everyone. This isn’t a competition.”

  He was analyzing her again. Kendra gave him a cold look as she yanked open the door to the stairwell. She hated being analyzed. “Nobody said it was.”

  Abilene stopped short. Was she taking the stairs? “Hey, aren’t we supposed to be taking the elevator down?” he asked.

  “Go ahead,” Kendra tossed over her shoulder. “Nobody’s stopping you.”

  Like a door to a tomb, the stairwell door all but thundered as it closed behind her.

  Peace at last.

  Kendra’s heels met the metal steps, emitting a quick, rhythmic staccato sound as she hurried down to the first floor. She was only halfway down the first flight with three more to go when she heard the stairwell door above her opening again. She didn’t have to look to know that Abilene was now behind her—and catching up fast.

  Couldn’t she get at least a couple of minutes away from this man? She wanted to be able to clear her head and having him around was not at all conducive to that.

  He had no idea how the woman’s mind worked. Was she intent on trying to ditch him, or make him fail in front of the boss? Was she just playing some sort of a game where only she knew the rules? He wasn’t about to take a chance on being left behind on the first assignment that he—that they—had just caught.