Free A Silent Fury by Lynette Eason Page B

better?”
    â€œMuch.” She stood on tiptoes while he bent at the waist. She pressed a kiss to his cheek then she reached up to pat it with a soft hand. “You need to shave. Your father and I are going out to eat with friends. Alonso’s game has been canceled due to the rain. You’re welcome to join us or eat the casserole in the fridge.”
    â€œI’ll take the casserole, thanks.” He backed toward his room, needing to get going.
    â€œI think we’re going to go see one of the late movies after we eat, so don’t worry about us if we’re not home until midnight or so, okay?”
    She headed back into the kitchen to grab her purse, and Joseph bolted for his room.
    Even as he kept an eye out for the K-9 unit, love for his mother filled him. He heard his dad’s footsteps heading in the direction of Joseph’s mom. All his life, his mother had been a living example of the kind of woman Joseph wanted to marry.
    Without warning, Catelyn’s pretty features flashed into his mind. Ruthlessly, he shoved them away. Catelyn had made it clear she wasn’t interested in marrying a cop. And, too late, he’d discovered she wasn’t interested in being a stay-at-home wife and mother, which is the kind of woman he’d always pictured himself settling down with. The thought of marrying a career woman had never held any appeal for him. Call him old-fashioned, but that was just the way he was. And the thought of Catelyn being hurt or killed was just more than he could bear. His heart cramped at the thought. But he’d figuredthey’d work through it. Find a solution, a compromise that would make them both happy. However, before he could even present the idea to her, she’d refused to see him, have anything to do with him. So when he got the call from New York saying the FBI job was his if he wanted it, he’d taken it.
    Maybe he should have pushed harder to get her to talk to him, but…he’d been hurt, too. So, he’d left.
    Only now he had regrets. Lots of them. And he’d come to realize a future with Catelyn would be completely different than what he’d always pictured. She didn’t meet any of the expectations he’d mentally placed on his future spouse; add in Catelyn’s reserve about marrying another officer and he had hurdles in his path that he didn’t know if he could successfully leap over.
    And he wasn’t interested in a job change. Although, if it meant doing it for her…
    Was he willing to revamp everything he’d ever thought about when it came to marriage and family?
    He sighed and focused his attention back to the case. He simply had to put Catelyn and their relationship out of his mind until this case was over. So he turned his thoughts to his brother.
    He heard his parents leave. Two minutes later, the unit arrived. Grabbing Alonso’s pillow from his bed, he carried it downstairs to meet the handler, Christine Palmer and her K-9, Zorro.
    â€œHey, Christine, how are you?”
    The petite redhead nodded at him. “Doing well, Joseph. Good to see you again.”
    â€œYeah, you too. I just wish it wasn’t for this reason.” He held the pillow out to the German shepherd at her side. The dog took a good sniff and Christine put him to work.
    â€œLet me know immediately what you find, will you?” hehollered at her disappearing back. “I’ll be right here working on what I can from this end.”
    â€œYou got it,” she yelled.
    Worry about Alonso engulfed him. His suspicion that the game would be cancelled had come to fruition. That meant Alonso was out there somewhere. With a BOLO out on both boys, it wouldn’t be long before he would be getting a phone call that they’d been picked up. His heart ached at the thought of his brother’s involvement. He just hoped it didn’t come to the point where he had to excuse himself from the case.
    He still had a couple