Free Safe in His Arms by Dana Corbit Page B

“I’ve just had some things on my mind.”
    Brett watched him too long not to be reading something into the conversation. The last thing Joe needed was to have the lieutenant realize he didn’t have his head together on the job. Best friend or not, Brett would be duty-bound to speak up about it to the post commander, Kowalski, which would mean a psych consult that could waylay Joe’s attempt to make sergeant.
    â€œThis wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain redhead who was in here the other day, would it?” Brett asked finally.
    â€œWhy do we even have police radios or laptops or cell phones when we have Clara to keep communication flowing?” Blowing out a frustrated sigh, Joe looked over to Brett, who was grinning at him.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI happened to be in the office myself that day.” Brett held his hands wide. “I do occasionally hang around this place. I have to put in a few hours if I’m going to get that the cushy state workers’ pension.”
    â€œOh. Right.”
    â€œSo…Lindsay Collins. Age twenty-eight. Wixom.”
    The side of Joe’s mouth lifted despite his best effort to keep his face blank. “Guess you haven’t forgotten how to read a police report.”
    â€œGuess not.” But then Brett’s expression became serious. “It’s always a tough case when there’s a loss of life.”
    Joe could see the wheels turning inside Brett’s head, the same wheels that served the lieutenant well on an investigation.
    â€œMiss Collins came to you for…?”
    â€œAnswers,” Joe said, completing his sentence. “She can’t remember what happened in the accident that you read about, and she asked me to fill in some of the blanks.”
    â€œAnd were you able to…help?” Brett’s serious expression broke into a grin as he said the last.
    â€œThat’s what we’re supposed to do,” Joe grumbled, his jaw tight. “Help people.”
    â€œIt had to be a hardship to come to the aid of a lovely woman like that, but somebody had to do it, right?”
    â€œKnock it off, Lancaster. I mean…sir.” Joe cleared his throat. “Look, Miss Collins is just a victim in a case I investigated. That’s it. I told you I’m not even doing the dating thing right now. With anyone.” And certainly not with her, he somehow managed not to add.
    â€œFunny. I didn’t mention dating.”
    Joe frowned. Brett didn’t appear to be buying anything he said, but he couldn’t blame him. Joe didn’t have much credibility regarding women after so many years as a confirmed bachelor. He’d also always been able to take a joke before, so this new sensitivity was telling.
    â€œWhatever.” He rolled his eyes. “She just needed help with the accident details, and then she was named guardian of her late sister’s child, and she needed some support—”
    â€œThe kids always get to guys like us, don’t they?”
    â€œWhat?” Joe was relieved for the interruption to his rambling that could only confirm that Lindsay Collins was part of his problem, but when the meaning of Brett’s words dawned on him, he grimaced. “You mean like you and Tricia?”
    â€œClara said Miss Collins’s niece is a cute kid. And a legal guardian is almost like a mom—”
    Joe shook his head to interrupt him. “I hate to tell you this, buddy, but most single guys aren’t on a hunt for widowed mothers of three.”
    â€œWell, that’s good because the most amazing one is off the market,” Brett said with a self-satisfied grin. “And now we’re the proud parents of five.”
    Which was a whole other crazy matter in Joe’s opinion, but because he was the best man from their wedding, and he wanted to preserve that friendship, Joe kept that opinion to himself.
    â€œRemember when you told me you