Page 131 of Forever Never
The chief steepled her fingers and waited.
“This individual was threatened off-island. I believe it’s credible, and I think there’s a good chance trouble could come here.”
Darlene slumped back in her chair and rubbed her temples. “What’s Remi gotten herself into now?”
“I didn’t say it was her.”
Great. Remi was going to murder him. And then who was going to protect her?
“Brick, honey. You show up here in last night’s crumpled bartending get-up, missing buttons, glowing brighter than the sun with two love bites on your neck.”
He slapped his hands to his neck as if he could feel his way to the hickeys.
“You and Remi finally got horizontal, and she told you why the hell she showed up here in the dead of winter pretending everything was fine,” Darlene summarized.
“I— Uh. We—” He couldn’t focus on the conversation and rebutton his shirt at the same time.
“It took you damn long enough. Do you realize how lucky you are that she held out for you this long? My daughter has the attention span of a gnat. If she didn’t feel something powerful for you, she’d be working on divorce number two to some idiot she met at Burning Man or an organic cheese tasting by now.”
Brick’s tongue had double-knotted itself to his tonsils.
“Erm.” It wasn’t a word so much as a gulp.
“Anyway, what’s my daughter gotten herself into?”
“I’m not at liberty to say,” he said, thankful when his mouth formed actual words.
“Swore you to secrecy, huh?”
He looked at his boss, the woman who had given him a career, helped him carve out a place on this island, dead in the eyes and said nothing.
“But you came straight here anyway?”
Remi was going to kick his ass when she found out.
“It’s serious enough to chance incurring someone’s wrath,” he said.
Darlene swore under her breath. She picked up a pencil and tapped it against the desk.
“It wasn’t her fault,” he said.
The chief’s eyebrows rose. “For once. How serious we talking?”
“From what I’ve heard, very. But I’d like to do some digging before I formally brief you and get my ass kicked for it.”
She blew out a breath, the pencil tapping double time now. “Okay. I am trusting you to get to the bottom of this. Figure out what we’re up against. How credible this threat is. What’s the likelihood of it coming here or—God forbid—her going to it. Then we’ll talk specifics. Whether my daughter likes it or not.”
He gave a curt nod and got to his feet, suddenly anxious to get back to her. To stand guard while she slept. To pump her for information until he knew exactly what he was up against.
“Oh, and Brick?”
He paused, hat halfway to his head. “Yeah?”
“I don’t like to give my cops or my daughters relationship advice. But be good to each other. By my calculations, you two have been circling this for a long-ass time. I’d hate to see one of you fuck it up.”
He swallowed hard. “Are you giving me your blessing to date Remi?”
She snorted. “I’m not an idiot, like someoneelsein this room. You’ve had my blessing since she was of age. Not thatIwas going to broach the subject. They don’t come better than you.”
