Page 65 of Hold a Candle

It was very still except for the tree frogs chittering in the brush and trees. They gave off a low rhythmic trill in the night air. The lights on the deck had been turned off. Not to discourage insects or trick-or-treaters, of which there weren’t many of either at Neamh for different reasons, but to make it harder for anyone to find a shot unless they had night vision binoculars. The moon was almost full though, giving everything an unearthly glow in the moonlight. In this type of atmosphere, a person could almost believe in anything they saw. And be more likely to believe they saw things that weren’t really there.

“It’s yer turn, lass.”

Pauley settled back down into the curve of Jamie’s arm and rested her cheek on his chest. It was warm with his arms around her and she felt safe and at home. “Brodie didn’t want me for a partner from the beginning,” she confessed. “He was the senior officer by time, but not by rank, and it made him angry when I questioned his decisions. We were only partners for a year, but I knew from the beginning that he had lofty goals.”

She was silent for a moment as she thought back to that time. “One night we were chasing a young thug, a possible gas station thief, into an alley. We finally stopped him when he reached the end and there was no place left to run. He couldn’t have been more than about seventeen or so. Brodie made me go back to the car and get his handcuffs. I offered mine, but he said no, he wanted his because it was his collar.

By the time I got back, the young thug was bent over gasping for air, and blood was running down his face from a cut on his cheek. He gasped in pain when Brodie grasped his arm and swung him around to cuff him.

“He beat the kid?” Jamie asked, his eyebrows climbing.

“I asked what happened, and Brodie said the kid tried to escape and he had to subdue him. The lad called him a liar and spat in Brodie’s face, so he backhanded him and gave him a black eye. I was also furious because I thought I had seen the flash of brass knuckles just as I rounded the corner of the alley. He had no marks on his hands, so how did he beat the kid up like that?”

“Good question.”

“I found out later that the kid had been transferred from jail to the hospital with broken ribs, and that he wasn’t the thief. I was furious, imagining if one of my kids were to get into trouble and run into a cop like Brodie. I reported him to Quinn, but I didn’t have any proof. It was the kid’s word against Brodie’s.”

“At least ye reported him so Quinn could keep an eye on him,” Jamie growled.

“He didn’t like that I reported him,” Pauley mused. “We were on a stakeout a few days later in a part of town that isn’t the safest, and he came on to me. Told me how much he liked me and wanted us to work together against the low-life punks who were selling drugs in Inverness. I told him in no uncertain terms that I was no interested in a man like him, and we didn’t have the same ethics in our style of police-work. He called me soft and told me that women in the police force were only good for one thing, and that was being the supportive part of the partnership, and the entertainment on boring stakeouts.

It didn’t take a genius to figure that one out when he tried to kiss me,” she added dryly. “I said no and shoved him away. Then I got out of the car and the bastert drove away and left me alone in that part of town.”

“Cripes, Pauley,” Jamie swore.

She grinned. “Not that I couldn’t handle myself, but the odds were against me when the house we were staking out suddenly spit out three young gang members and they surrounded me on all sides.”

“Did ye call fer help?”

“I did. I called Mica while they stood there and just watched me. It was weird that they didn’t try to stop me. I was sweating bullets, trust me.

Then the biggest man I think I’ve ever seen walked out and asked me if I was Brodie Macalister’s partner. I said aye, although I was shaking in my boots. Then he thanked me for reporting Brodie’s abuse of his younger brother. He told me to find another partner or I might end up in a dark alley dumpster someday.”

“The hell ye say,” Jamie exclaimed. “The man threatened ye?”

“Nay, he was warning me about Brodie. Conan, that was his name, asked me why I was staking them out which led to him telling me who the real perpetrators were. Mica and I were able to get information on the rival gang who were trying to set Conan up for the burglaries of some warehouses at the time. Which really irritated Brodie to no end.”

“So, yer good deed was rewarded and Brodie ended up with egg on his face. I like it,” Jamie declared. “But I don’t like it that he left ye there alone. It could have been a completely different ending.”

“True,” she confessed. “But as ye can see, I’m no wasting tears on him at the moment. I never trusted him after that night, and even though I reported him to Quinn, it was still my word against his. Especially since he never actually touched me. Quinn wrote him up for leaving his partner in a known dangerous area, but it was just a slap on the hand. It did however, bring unwanted attention to Brodie and his activities which he wasn’t happy about. He was much more careful around me, and was always slipping away on his own. Most of us were glad to see the back of him when he left.”

Jamie grunted. “Which is why ye were so angry when ye found out he’d recruited Luca for his CI. Knowing Luca was being used by a man like that would be infuriating.”

Pauley nodded. “Exactly. I wouldn’t put anything past him at this point. I’m just shocked that Juice and Florence were involved. Especially Juice. How much Florence actually knows remains to be seen.”

Angus and Darro walked out of the door at that moment. “Still spooning on the front deck?” Angus teased.

“Just talking,” Jamie replied with good humor. “What are ye two doing?”

“Heading out on rounds,” Darro replied. “Checking on the teams to make sure everything is as it should be. I don’t know if this uneasy feeling I have is just from this whole night’s events, or something else is brewing in the air.”

“Aye,” Pauley said. “All Hallow’s Eve is a tough night fer law enforcement. It’s a time when instinct and atmosphere collide, and ye can’t be sure which is causing yer suspicious nature to go into overdrive.”

After the men left, Pauley shot Jamie a side eye. “How would ye like to go on a stakeout with me?” she asked, her eyes gleaming.

Jamie’s eyebrows started their usual ascent. “Sounds interesting. What did ye have in mind?”

Her fingers tiptoed across his chest. “How about the hayloft?”

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