Free Perilous by E. H. Reinhard Page A

tapped my shoulder-holstered gun—“and change. We need to get the food going.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Did you want to assist?”
    She laughed and raised her eyebrows. “No time. Remember, you wanted your partner to come over.” She pushed me away.
    “Yeah, yeah.”
    I headed back to the bedroom to change.
    Hank arrived within twenty minutes. We had a few beers, grilled steaks on the balcony, and did our best not to talk about work. However, a few times, he did bring up getting Riaola to crack under his superior interrogation skills. I went with it and let him have his delusional victory. He was gone with Butch within a couple hours.
    Callie and I finished our packing and reserved the rest of the evening for watching a movie, curled up on the couch. She fell asleep in my arms, and I carried her off to bed.

Chapter 12 - Kane
    We were at the airport by eight for our departure at nine forty-five. Our flight was delayed, which led to a spirited jog to catch our connecting flight out of Atlanta. We touched down in Milwaukee a couple minutes before one o’clock. I fired off a text message to my sister that we were on the ground. She sent a message back that she was there and she and Tommy would be waiting for us right outside security.
    The cold hit us as soon as we stepped from the airplane. The air stung my nose as I inhaled. I remembered that well. The jetway might as well have been a freezer. I looked at Callie. She shivered and gripped her elbows.
    “Cold yet?” I asked.
    She smiled. “I’ll be fine.”
    The local weather forecast Callie had looked up was a bit lacking. It said nothing of the windchill. While the temperature was supposed to be eight degrees, the pilot had told us over the plane’s intercom about a strong northern wind. The windchill, he said, was at seventeen below zero.
    We walked through the airport and approached security.
    I spotted Melissa and Tommy up the corridor. I pointed at them, “That’s them.”
    “She’s going to be nice, right?” Callie asked.
    I laughed. “Yeah, Cal. She’ll be nice.”
    We walked up to them. Melissa was holding Tommy’s hand.
    “Hey, guys,” Melissa said.
    I pointed at her hair and gave her a hug. “Haircut?”
    Her brown highlighted hair was cut at her chin bone—almost six inches shorter than the family photo I’d received earlier in the week. She wore a puffy white coat with a fur-lined hood and a pair of blue jeans.
    “I’m trying something new. I see you didn’t grow any hair to cover that thing yet.” She tapped at the scar along the side of my head. “I see you have a couple new ones as well.”
    “They’re barely even noticeable,” I said. “I kind of think they add to my character.”
    Melissa nodded. “Mmm hmm. What character is that? Frankenstein?”
    “Maybe,” I said.
    Melissa smiled at Callie. “Carl isn’t so good with introductions. Callie, I presume?”
    “Yes, and I love your boots,” Callie said.
    I looked down. My sister wore some gray leather boots, complete with numerous buckles.
    “Aw, thanks,” Melissa said.
    “I’d watch those boots, Mel. She has a thing for footwear,” I said.
    They smiled at each other and hugged. I guessed it was about as good as their introduction could go.
    I knelt. Tommy took a step toward me and stopped. His hand came from the pocket of his blue winter jacket. His little hand stretched toward me, waiting for a handshake. I smiled, shook it, and gave him a hug.
    “Hey, buddy.” I rubbed his brown, finger-length hair.
    “Hi, Uncle Carl.”
    “Tommy, I want you to meet someone.” I pointed at Callie. “This is Callie.”
    He held out his hand for another handshake.
    Melissa looked at Callie and smiled. “It’s something new he’s been doing. They taught him at school.”
    Callie got low and shook his hand. “Well, aren’t you handsome.” She smiled. “What was your name again? Timmy? Or was it Thompson? Or maybe Terry?”
    He giggled. “It’s Tommy.”
    “Tommy. Yeah,