Free I'll Be Seeing You by Darlene Kuncytes Page A

her towards his office.
    Ben sat at his desk in the bull pen and smiled at them uncomfortably as they passed, giving Katherine a small, embarrassed nod, and looking as though he had swallowed crushed glass.
    Cole held the door open for her and ushered her inside. “Wait here for me,” he instructed her, his voice soft and gentle.
    “But…I thought your Captain wanted to talk to me?”
    “He does, but I need to speak with him first.” He ushered her to a chair and kissed her, his lips lingering only a few precious moments before he backed up and disappeared down the hall.
    ***
    Cole rapped on his superior’s door and walked in, giving the burly man behind the desk a grin. “Morning, Mike,” he said, strolling over and sitting down across from him, stretching his long frame out in front of him.
    Captain Mike Newman watched Cole quietly as he made his way over and sat down, his face set in a tight scowl. The man was in his early fifties, his once dark hair almost completely grey now from spending much too much time married to his job. He was tough, but fair, and took his job seriously. That’s why this was just so damned hard.
    “What in the hell do you think you’re doing, McKenzie?” he asked finally, glaring at Cole and trying hard to control his temper.
    Cole chuckled softly. He had worked under Mike for the past eight years, and they had always had an easy rapport. They respected each other, and Cole knew by the way that the man was glaring at him that he was not happy. Not happy at all.
    “Not sure what you mean, Mike,” Cole responded, that grin still touching his mouth. He crossed his arms across his chest, his brow raising.
    “Jesus, Cole,” he sighed finally, rubbing his hands over his face with a shaking of his head. “For Christ’s sake! You took her home ! To your damned house!”
    “She wasn’t safe at her place,” Cole said easily, shrugging his shoulders as if he hadn’t a care in the world, which only served to piss Mike off all the more.
    “Listen, Cole. It was a possible break in. There was absolutely no sign of any tampering with the locks, nothing taken or even fricking disturbed . There was a fucking flower left on her pillow! You do not take a woman to your house because someone, most likely a lover for God’s sake, left a goddamned flower on her bed! Shit and damnation! Just what in the hell are you doing here?” he repeated, his face actually turning red now.
    “She has a history of being stalked and a friend asked me to look into it. So, I’m looking into it.”
    Mike rubbed his hand over his eyes again with a tired sigh. It wasn’t even noon yet and his day was already pretty much shot to shit. “Listen, Mac, I know your history. You’re the best I’ve got. I know you don’t act rashly…but, there was absolutely no evidence of anyone breaking into her house. No imminent threat at all. ”
    “This guy’s good.” Cole stated simply, and Mike gave his head a quick, jerky shake. The poor man looked positively green.
    “Okay, look. Here’s the deal. Let me talk to her and we’ll go from there. If you really think that this is more than just her jumping at shadows, well…shit! We’ll see what we can do. But, Christ, Cole; you know better than anyone that unless we have at least a suspect or some proof , there’s not a whole hell of a lot that we can do. You’re my lead detective, Cole, and I don’t need you running around half-cocked after nothing, just because of a pretty piece of tail. Shit, you’ve mostly likely crossed so many lines already that you could be playing fucking hopscotch!”
    Cole’s entire body stiffened and he sat up a little straighter, trying hard to control his temper. Katherine was anything but a pretty piece of tail. He didn’t understand why his Captain’s words bothered him like they did…but they did. In fact, they made him furious. He could understand Mike’s suspicions…but still.
    Mike saw Cole’s temper flair and knew that he