Page 38 of Rules of Engagement

"By we... you mean, you, not MPD?"

"I don't care who solves it, so long as someone does," I replied, skirting around his answer.

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Actually, I need a chauffeur."

Maddox regarded me, his blue eyes full of concern. "Not the answer I expected."

I smiled. "I left my car at the house and I don't want to go back there; not just yet. All the PIs at the agency are either working on the case or will be on rotation guarding Solomon."

"You don't trust the police?"

"It's not that. I don't know Officer Broderick and I might not know the next uniform to be posted. I don't know who shot Solomon. If someone comes after him again, I want to be fully prepared. I trust my colleagues to do whatever they have to."

"I wasn't judging. I fully agree with you. As for chauffeur duties, what do you have in mind?"

"Fashion wise?" I wondered.

Maddox's eyes widened. "I hope not! I am not wearing a cap. I meant, where do you need to go?"

"Over to Solomon's lawyers to check on something, but I can't go just yet."

"Any reason you don't want Lily to take you?" Maddox asked.

"Yeah. I'm worried someone might try to shoot us."

"Have you any reason to think that?" he asked rather than attempting to dissuade me.

"No, I'm probably being paranoid. I think if anyone genuinely wanted to hurt me, they would have done so that night after Solomon was incapacitated, but until I know what's going on, I'm not sure I want to be alone."

"Consider it done. I'll take a few days off work and I'm entirely at your disposal. I need to do some things and then I'll be back. When do you intend to go?"

"I'll call you as soon as one of the other guys gets here."

Maddox leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll work this out. Whatever is going on, there is an answer and we can uncover it. Call me when you're ready to go. If you're lucky, I'll put on a chauffeur's hat and even open the door for you."

When Maddox was gone, I walked back to Solomon's room.

"Before you ask, no change," said Lily. "I watched the beepy thing."

I could see that even before I thought to ask. "I don't know how to cope with this," I told her.

"I think you're coping just fine."

"I feel like I'm an ice block on the inside. I can't process how I feel at all. Shouldn't I be in tears? Or falling apart?"

"No. You should do whatever makes you function at your best. For you, that's catching the damn, murdering bastard. Plus, you'll have some really good stuff to tell Solomon when he wakes up."

I smiled sadly. "Yeah," I agreed. When.

"Where did Maddox go?"

"He has some other stuff to deal with but he's coming back later. I need to go to the lawyer's office and find out what they know."

"Want me to come too?"

"No, Maddox will take me."

---