Pregnant Protector by Anne Marie Duquette

Author:Anne Marie Duquette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sunday morning

LARA SAT with her parents in their kitchen, drinking coffee and eating sweet rolls, while Nick packed his clothes and other possessions.

“I can’t believe Nick’s leaving for Italy,” Sandra said worriedly. “How are you supposed to protect him there? You can’t take Sadie or your gun overseas on a moment’s notice.”

“Yesterday I asked for permission to accompany him,” Lara said. “It was denied.”

“It’s just as well.” Ed reached for a cinnamon roll. “The case is on track now, he’ll be met by Italian security and as long as he’s gone, you’re no longer needed. He probably won’t need you around when he gets back, either.”

Lara bristled at her father’s satisfied tone. “He needs someone, and I want it to be me. He just buried his partner, the Valdez family won’t leave Mexico, he learned his aunt was his mother, uncovered the family skeleton, and a day later his grandmother has a heart attack. I wish I could go with him.”

The news about his grandmother had hit Nick hard, and when Nick’s grandfather begged him to come to the hospital, Nick had been torn between duty and family. With the greater involvement of staff on the murder case, and after talking to Lilia, Nick finally decided that he could be spared, at least until his grandmother’s crisis had been resolved.

“You’ve come a long way since your visit to Mexico,” Sandra quietly said, playing peacemaker.

Saturday had been a day filled with chaos—and satisfaction. Both Nick and Lara had spent the whole day in the kennel office. Nick had damned protocol and proper channels to go ahead with his new plan—hard pressure involving arm-twisting and outright threats. At his direction, Lara had faxed a tersely worded summary of Julio’s murder and the single set of copies to the State Attorney’s Office first, the head of law enforcement in the State of California. Nick had then followed up with a personal phone call. The process was repeated with SDPD’s Internal Affairs office, and then again with Homeland Security.

Nick had ended all three phone calls the same way: “If this case doesn’t receive the proper attention in the next twenty-four hours, I will post this on every Internet media site in California—and let the general public question the death of my partner and the threat of depleted uranium to our civilian population.” His voice wasn’t that of a grief-stricken man, but a law-enforcement officer who meant business and didn’t care what the consequences were. Lara saw a new side of Nick, a side that inspired both goose bumps and admiration.

Nick hadn’t had to wait twenty-four hours for results. Within the next two, Girard, Lansky and Knox had been released from desk duty and were suspended until further notice. His cell and hers were kept ringing with sudden developments. The county coroner moved Magda Palmer’s exhumed body to the top of their priority list. A full contingent of national, state and SDPD were assigned to all facets of the investigation, and a Colonel Doyle from Homeland Security took over Girard’s office personally to handle the case.

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