Free Blood and Roses (Holly Jennings Thriller) by A.K. Alexander Page B

don’t I help you take your mind off of it?” He winked at her. “The girls won’t be home for another hour.”
    Brendan’s oldest, Megan, now almost eighteen, had been good enough to take Chloe and Maddie to a movie. Granted, the kid was bucking for her own car, so they were certain there was an ulterior motive to her babysitting generosity, but they did have the house to themselves for a little while on a Friday night. “Hmm. I think that can be arranged.” Holly stood and grabbed his hand, and they headed into the bedroom.
    Holly took off her sweater and set it over one of two leather chairs that Brendan had arranged in front of the fireplace in the master. As she did, she remembered that morning and the plumeria charm. She felt a slight sting in her heart. She really did need to put the charm away. She needed to close all doors to her former lifewith Jack. Although she had given her heart to Brendan, an occasional fleeting moment still reminded her of her deceased husband.
    The night that they’d had their argument over her work hours and seeming lack of commitment to their relationship and she had raced home to sulk, things had changed. She’d sat in the family room with a glass of wine, holding the charm. Chloe and Maddie were together at a slumber party for another friend’s birthday. Two hours into her sulkfest as she walked down memory lane, the doorbell rang. She put the charm in the pocket of the sweater.
    It was Brendan.
    She opened the door.
    “Just listen to me, Holly.”
    She crossed her arms.
    “I love you. I love you with every ounce of my being, and I don’t want to lose you.”
    “I don’t want to lose you either,” she whispered. “But you have to understand that I am a cop.”
    He nodded. “I do. And I know what your job means to you. And I know that I have to…no…that I want to accept that, because there is no way I am ever letting you walk out of my life.” He took her hand, got down on his knee, and asked her to marry him.
    Saying yes had been the best decision she ever made.
    The right decision.
    And now, in this moment with Brendan, his every touch, kiss, whisper in her ear did indeed take her mind off her work. It didn’t take long for Holly to remember that she was still a woman with needs and also very much in love with Brendan.
    After their lovemaking, lying in his arms, she felt protected and completely loved. These moments had become too few and far between as of late, and she thought about how she needed to pay attention—more attention—to her family and to her love for this man.
    She sat up and gazed down at him. “I really do love you very much.”
    Brendan stroked the curve of her cheekbone. “I know, and I love you.”
    Holly put her head down on Brendan’s chest and sighed, knowing that soon enough she would have to get up and dress before the girls came in. Life as a parent. He kissed the top of her head and as she closed her eyes, taking it all in—the serenity and the comfort—her phone rang. And she recognized the ringtone: the Pink Panther theme song. Chad’s.
    “Ah, really?” Brendan knew Chad’s ringtone as well, and he also knew that if her partner was calling at this time of night, then it wasn’t a social call.
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “I am.”
    “No, no. It’s your job. I understand.”
    He said the words, but Holly recognized the terseness in his voice. Job or not, she was afraid Brendan was becoming irritated again at competing for her attention. “What’s up?” she asked as she answered the phone and sat up.
    “I’ve been doing some research on that racing form today. First, the date the horse El Chicano won that race in Arlington was last year. September eleventh. I don’t know if that is a coincidence, but we can’t discount it.”
    “Of course not. You said that was first. What else?”
    “The horse’s name, El Chicano. I didn’t get too far with that, as you can imagine. Got a lot on a band by that name,