apprised of her official decision yet. Each of the Cavellis, like the four stepchildren who had come with his marriage to his former partner, Lila, and the triplets from his late brother Mike’s hidden family, had been given the option of changing their surnames and officially becoming Cavanaughs if they so chose.
So far, the family name was batting a thousand, but he was not about to jump the gun with the few who were still undecided.
“Have you made a decision about your last name yet?” he asked her.
Because the chief was being thoughtful rather than pushy, she offered the man a grateful smile. “I’m still working on it, sir.”
He nodded understandingly. “I understand. It’s a big step to take,” he agreed. “Let me know what you decide.” His intent was to let her know that while he was interested in the final outcome, he refused to apply any undue pressure on either side of the argument. “Anyway,” he continued briskly, “it’s come to my attention that the two of you have both recently lost your partners for one reason or another. Yours took his long overdue retirement,” he said to Kendra, then turned to Matt. “And yours—”
“—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
