Marie Ferrarella – Protecting His Witness (страница 8)

Valdez blew off the implication behind the words. He operated as if his men were invulnerable. “Hey, from what I hear, the Cavanaughs have always been damn lucky. Rumor has it that you’re becoming one of them by proxy—real soon.”

Since the wedding involved the chief of detectives, Zack was fairly certain that the topic was number one when it came to making the rounds at the precinct. “Nothing gets by you, does it, Captain?”

“Just my ex-wives’ infidelities,” the man cracked dryly. “Never saw either one coming until it was too late. By the way, the uniforms on the scene said there was a lot of blood behind the Internet café. Lab makes it out to be two different blood types.” There was a pause, as if the man was waiting for him to say something. He didn’t. “You get hurt, McIntyre?”

Zack looked down at his shirt. He still hadn’t buttoned it and the bandage around his rib cage was visible. “Nothing that won’t heal.”

“Keep it that way,” Valdez ordered.

“I’ll sure try, Captain.” He knew that Valdez was about to go. His superior never talked more than was necessary. “By the way, the punk managed to slash my tires, when I couldn’t begin to guess. I need a ride delivered to the motel.”

“How did you get to the motel in the first place?”

He thought about Kasey, then decided Valdez didn’t need to know about her. So he covered his butt by simply saying, “Hitched a ride with an angel.”

“Never mind.” Anticipating more, Valdez cut him off. “I don’t think I want to know. Car’ll be there soon,” he promised, then abruptly broke the connection.

“Goodbye, Captain,” Zack murmured sarcastically to the empty air. He flipped the phone closed and was about to put it away. Changing his mind, he flipped open the lid again. He hit a single button that would connect him to a preprogrammed number that represented the first phone number he’d ever memorized.

It barely rang once. A breathless “hello?” echoed in his ear.

He smiled to himself, picturing her as he said, “Hi, Mom.”

“Zack! Zack, are you all right?” Lila McIntyre demanded, concern vibrating in every syllable.

Like his late father, his mother was part of the Aurora police force. Years ago, she’d been a detective, partnered with Brian Cavanaugh before a bullet had all but robbed her of the rest of her life. Brian had stopped the flow of blood with his own hand until the paramedics came and most likely saved her life.

She’d left the force after that to take care of him and his siblings. His father was responsible for that more than her wound was. He gave her no peace until she retired. And even then, he gave her no peace. It had been a hard life for his mother. For all of them.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.