Cavanaugh Rules Read Free

taken down a few pegs even if she never saw the man again.
    “Yes, she is,” Brian replied in no uncertain terms. “Which is why I’ve decided to partner the two of you up.”
    Kendra frowned. She’d had a vague, uneasy feeling that this was coming but somehow, hearing it caused a jolt. She didn’t want this. She knew she couldn’t just pick a new partner, but this man was as far from her first choice as humanly possible. Any man this handsome would be trouble. She could feel it in her bones.
    “Are you in Homicide?” she heard herself stiffly asking the other detective.
    Because if he was, he and the partner who’d been dragged to Seattle had to have been next to invisible. She didn’t recall seeing either one of them around and, annoying though he promised to be, Abilene was not the kind of man who blended into the woodwork. Once upon a time, before she’d been so terribly disillusioned, she might have even felt a flutter—or three—in Abilene’s presence. But those days were long gone. Still, she would have taken note of him—had he been there to take note of.
    “Major Case Squad,” the other detective corrected her.
    Major Case? That didn’t make sense. Why was the chief pairing her up with a detective from another division? Kendra turned to look at the man she was supposed to regard as her uncle.
    “Then how—”
    Brian anticipated the rest of her question and spared them both by answering, “I’ve decided to switch Detective Abilene to Homicide.”
    “You’re taking me off Major Case?” Matt asked, surprised. Why? What had brought this on? His record was clean, exemplary even. He would have been aware of any complaints from his captain.
    “Just for the time being,” Brian told him mildly.
    It was his way of helping his people adjust to new circumstances. He allowed them to believe that a change was temporary while they did their best to fit in. After the initial period of adjustment, he’d discovered that most times getting the same people to transfer back out—and leave their new partner—in order to go back to their old division required the assistance of a crowbar.
    He was counting on that here.
    “There’s not that much to do, even with Seth gone,” Brian pointed out to Matt. “Until it picks up, we could use a mind like yours over in Homicide.” And then he instinctively turned toward Kendra and added, “And that in no way was meant to be a negative reflection on the caliber of your work. It’s just that with Joe retired, you need a new partner.”
    Kendra knew that. And she knew that the chief was only trying to be helpful, even though she didn’t want any help. But the only time detectives went solo was when their partners were either in court, testifying, out sick or on vacation. Otherwise, if detectives left or asked to be transferred out, the resulting gaps were filled as quickly as possible.
    This was just a little faster than she’d expected. Or liked. Even if change hadn’t made her feel uneasy, Abilene, with his perfect smile, did.
    Joe’s chair was still warm, she thought ruefully. She hadn’t thought she would have to get used to someone new for at least another week. Maybe longer.
    So much for longer.
    She was well aware of procedure, but that didn’t mean that she liked it. And she had the uneasy feeling that she’d just been partnered with a hotshot who got by on his looks. Granted, she was going by a gut feeling, but her gut had always been fairly accurate.
    Kendra made up her mind to ask around about Abilene. Or maybe she would have Tom do it for her. Her older brother had a way of finding things out that didn’t rub people the wrong way, while she, well, she hadn’t quite managed to successfully develop that talent yet. At least not when she found herself heavily invested in something. Such as now.
    She slanted a glance at the man sitting beside her. He seemed to be fine with the arrangement. Or at least he wasn’t protesting it. But then, there were