Page 25 of Whispers of Redemption

“Well, you are,” Zoe said with a wide smile. “This is my friend Ani and her sister Cassie.”

Cassie shook Alex’s hand. She noted that the young woman was quite beautiful, with waist-length dark hair and startling blue-green eyes.

“Did I hear Zoe say soon-to-be...” Cassie started to ask, but her words trailed off as she recognized Wade standing in the cluster of people Alex had been speaking with. He wasn’t in uniform. Instead, he wore a fitted black polo shirt that clung to his muscular frame, along with a pair of low-slung jeans. He stood next to a man with a similar build but different coloring. Where Wade’s hair was a curling mix of cinnamon brown and sunlit gold, the other man had dark curls. And instead of Wade’s arresting hazel eyes, the other man’s were dark as midnight.

“Yes,” Alex said in response to Cassie’s incomplete question. “Soon-to-be Riley. This is my fiancé, Jake Riley,” she indicated the handsome, dark-haired man. “And this is his brother, Wade.”

Wade stared as Cassie shook Jake’s hand and then extended her hand in his direction.

“What are you doing here?” he said abruptly, ignoring her outstretched fingers.

“Wade!” Jake looked at his brother in surprise.

Wade looked at Jake, “It’s just...I...we’ve...met before,” he finished lamely, his face flushing.

Jake narrowed his eyes, his gaze swinging back and forth between them for a moment before he gave his brother a speculative look.

Then he turned to Cassie. “Well, I apologize for my brother’s manners.” Here he punched Wade lightly on the arm. “But it’s a pleasure to meet you, Cassie.”

There was a burst of laughter nearby and Cassie glanced over to see that a laughing Hugo Garcia had joined Ani and Zoe. Ani was holding Angel and chattering animatedly with them both.

The crowd shifted as Alex and Jake were drawn into conversation with a passerby, and Cassie found herself standing alone with Wade.

“What are you doing here?” he said again.

“I came to support Ani,” she said. “She’s a good friend of the artist’s. And you?”

He gave a little shrug. “I’m here to support my brother and future sister-in-law; she helped train the artist.”

“Ah,” Cassie said.

They stood together in awkward silence for several moments.

Finally, Cassie spoke again. “Sooo, how’s the case coming along? Any new leads?” She almost regretted asking as she watched his face darken. “Look, I’m not trying to be a pain,” she rushed to add. “I’m just curious. You know...as the victim of the crime.” She folded her arms and looked at him pointedly.

He looked down and took a deep breath, regaining his composure. “I’m sorry. You do have a right to know.” He straightened and began ticking things off on his fingers. “Number one, in addition to the lead you provided, we completed canvassing the area around where the incident occurred. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any solid clues from that. Second, we checked with Olga’s neighbors. But nobody saw anything suspicious. Third, we notified the FBI and had the painting added to their international Stolen Art File. We’ve followed all the standard protocols for solving a case like this, and I’m certain something will turn up soon.”

Cassie was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “Has anyone ever told you that you sound an awful lot like an official rule book when you talk?”

Wade stared at her.

“Everything doesn’t always come down to just following a bunch of rules, you know,” she said.

“We have rules for a reason,” he responded. “They allow us to maintain control. They help everything run more smoothly and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.”

“Maybe,” she conceded. “But sometimes rules are stupid. And it’s better to rely on your own gut or common sense when deciding what to do or how to handle something.”

“Without rules, there would be chaos,” he said.

“And what’s wrong with a little chaos sometimes?” she asked, and gave him a smirk. “Haven’t you ever broken a rule in your life?”

Wade suddenly lurched forward as a heavy hand slapped him on the back. “Has ‘Little Man Wade’ ever broken a rule?” said an older man with a waxed handlebar mustache, coming to stand beside him. “Ha! Never. That boy came out of his mother’s womb followin’ the rules!”

Wade’s face flushed a little, but his lips broke into a smile nonetheless. “Hi, Pops,” he said, giving the older man a classic man greeting, the simultaneous hug and thump on the back with a handshake.

Pops’ face wore a genial expression. He was bald on top, with a perimeter of neatly trimmed gray hair circling his head. He was more broadly built than Wade and Jake, but the family resemblance was obvious.

“And who’s this lovely lady?” Pops said, turning his twinkling blue eyes on her.

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