No one had ever placed as much confidence and trust in her as Nick did, and it both humbled and empowered her.
"What's going to happen to those people who killed him?" Nancy asked.
"Paul Gilsen and Karen Crandle are going away for life with the testimonies of Gary Otis, Angela, and the other kids who did Gilsen's dirty work," Danni replied.
"Good," Sam said forcefully, then melancholy crept across his seamed face. "I had such high hopes for Paul."
"You did everything you could, Sam," Nancy said. "He was just determined to follow the wrong path." She began to cough.
Sam held her until the fit passed, but Nancy's face had grown even paler. "Time to go home and take a nap," he said softly to his wife.
Nancy raised her gaze and there was a hint of sassiness in her eyes. "Care to join me, big guy?"
Danni smiled, amazed at Nancy's spirit. She glanced at Sam's tender expression, and the depth of his love stopped her breath. For a moment, she ached to know that kind of love.
Sam kissed his wife's wrinkled cheek. "I never could refuse you." He lifted his gaze to Nick and Danni. "We'll have you two over for dinner again real soon."
"We'd like that," Danni said. She hugged Sam and then Nancy, taking care not to embrace the frail woman too tightly.
Nick shook Sam's hand and gave Nancy a peck on the cheek.
Danni watched Sam lead Nancy back to their car, an arm around her as if she were made of spun glass. Their shared love was almost tangible.
Nick sighed, and Danni glanced at him.
"Why do shitty things happen to nice people?" he asked.
"Why was Dad murdered? Why did you have such rotten parents?" Danni shrugged. "At least with Sam and Nancy, they had a good life together. Maybe in the long run, that's all that counts."
Nick studied her. "Maybe."
Danni turned back to her father's grave. "Do you think he's at peace now?" she asked. "Are you at peace?"
She met Nick's compassionate gaze and answered as honestly as she could. "I was so angry with him for not being the father I wanted him to be and for dying before he could become that man." She licked her dry lips and listened to a distant siren. "But... But he was a good father. A-and a good man. Y-you opened my eyes...."
Her voice broke, and the tears she hadn't shed a week ago would no longer be denied. She turned her face into Nick's jacket and allowed herself to grieve for her father and for herself.
Danni had no idea how long she cried, but she was aware of Nick's arm around her, his quiet, soothing words, and his own mirroring sorrow for Paddy. With a shaking hand, she wiped away the moisture on her cheeks and straightened but remained close to Nick's side.
"Feel better?" Nick asked softly.
She nodded as the heat of the sun dried the remaining tear tracks.
Nick wrapped his arm around her waist, and she allowed him to guide her back to his Jeep. Once seated inside, Danni said, "You should write the book."
"It's not fiction anymore."
"Then write it as true crime. I've heard they're popular."
Nick gazed out the window toward Paddy's grave. "I think he'd like that."
"Dad would love that. He liked having his name in the paper."
Nick chuckled. "Remember that scrapbook he kept?"
Danni laughed. "Oh, yeah. In fact, it's at his house if you want to come by and borrow it for research."
"That's a good idea. But I'm going to need your help with the book, too. I mean, I'm not a cop, and I don't know all the jargon. I bet you've got some stories about Paddy, too."
A merry-go-round of memories swirled through Danni, of a younger Paddy Hawkins and a little girl with curly hair, dark blue eyes, and a stubborn chin. She lifted her gaze to Nick and smiled. "I might have a few."
"I'd like to hear them." Sincerity warmed his voice.
Danni nodded, then changed the subject to a less emotionally charged one. "When can you take Gus home?"
"Tomorrow. She's doing really well. I only wish I had a ground-floor apartment."
"Why don't you stay at Dad's place? The carpet was cleaned yesterday, and there's a backyard for Gus. What more could you ask for?"
"You."
Danni blinked, uncertain if she'd heard him correctly.
"What?"
"I love you," he said without hesitation.
The depth of love in his eyes stopped her breath, and in that instant, she recognized what he was offering... what she'd ached to possess all her life. Nick was offering her what Sam and Nancy shared. Her eyes filled with moisture, but she managed a cocky grin. "Funny you should say that. I kinda fell in love with you, too."
"Did you now?"
Nick's slow, sexy smile sent Danni's libido into overdrive.
"In fact, I thought we might even make pretty good partners. How does Hawkins and Sirocco, Private Investigators, sound?" Danni asked.
"I kinda like it."
"I thought you might," Danni said smugly.
"We should probably seal the partnership with a kiss."
"Better than a handshake."
"Infinitely."
They leaned toward one another and were barely able to touch lips between the bucket seats. Laughing, they returned to their respective seats before they fell out of them.
"We'll just have to firm up the deal this evening," Danni said, waggling her eyebrows.
Before Nick could respond, Danni's new cell phone interrupted them. She dug it out of her coat pocket. "Hawkins."
"It's Cathy. You've got a prospective client."
As she listened to her administrative assistant, Danni's smile grew. She closed her phone and looked at Nick.
"Hawkins and Sirocco have their first case. Remember the man who wanted to hire me last week?"
"The one with the two grand bonus?"
Danni nodded. "He wouldn't take no for an answer. He's upped the bonus to two and a half grand plus the normal fees and expenses if we retrieve the diamond ring he gave his mistress. Cathy set an appointment with him for two o'clock today."
Nick glanced at his watch. "That gives us just enough time to get over there. Who is it?"
"You know him. He was very impressed with another job we did."
"We?" Nick's eyes widened. "Not Willy the Jungle King and his redheaded temptress?"
Danni smirked. "Welcome to my world."
Maureen McKade began her professional writing career when she sold her first Western historical romance manuscript in October 1995. That book, Winter Hearts, was twice a national awards finalist, first in The Golden Heart, then as a finalist in RWA's RITA awards in the Best First Book category.
Since then she's written numerous books and also penned a short story for the anthology How to Lasso a Cowboy.
As an Air Force wife, Maureen has found a career in writing to be well suited to the somewhat nomadic life of the military. Currently, she and her husband live on Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado with their dog and cat.
You can contact Ms. McKade and keep up with her latest news at her website, www.maureenmckade.com.
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