Page 54 of Mike

“Ask away,” Joe allowed.

“What happened to your father, where did you live, and what did you study in college?” he shot off.

“My dad died because he had a melanoma—skin cancer—that he didn’t catch until it was too late.” It always made her sad that her father’s life had been cut short by such a stupid oversight. She, herself, got a skin check every year because her primary care doctor had told her it could be hereditary. She also made her uncles undergo the exam annually, which made them grumble every time.

“I’m sorry,” Mike said, simply.

“It was almost twenty years ago,” Joe sighed, “but I still miss him every single day.” She brightened. “Still, my curmudgeon uncles don’t let me wallow in self-pity.” The thought of the feisty pair always gave her a ready smile. “Those two…” She shook her head. “Although they never married and never had kids, they left their thirty-year careers, came back to Nevada, took me in hand, and made sure I was okay. Once I proved to them, after my father passed, that I wasn’t going to fall apart, I was bundled off to college. And to answer your third question, they were proud as peacocks when I graduated from law school.”

“A lawyer, huh?” Mike grinned. “I knew you were a smarty-pants.”

Joelle huffed. “I’m not sure about the smarty-thing, since I never ended up practicing, but it was what I needed for credentials when I went with my…current job.”

“About that,” Mike asked pointedly. “Don’t you think it’s about time you told me who you work for?”

Joelle wasn’t sure she wanted to out herself, but if she was expecting help from him and his team…

Fine.

“I’m a DEA agent,” she told him.

Mike didn’t look surprised. He simply nodded. “That makes sense. Kyle had his money on FBI, but Welker and I thought DEA, for sure.”

Joe snorted. “Of course you did. And your other friend? Doug?”

Mike chuckled. “He told us to leave you alone and mind our own business. That if you wanted us to know, you’d tell us soon enough.”

“I like Doug,” Joe smirked.

Mike snuffed in amusement, then got back to her uncles.

“So where are the cranky codgers, now?” Mike queried.

“Well, after I was finished with college and settled into my new job, they realized that I traveled so much, it didn’t matter where they ended up; that I’d visit them just about anywhere. So they moved from Nevada to Baraboo, Wisconsin.”

“Bara-where?” Mike’s brows went up.

“Baraboo,” Joe laughed. “Apparently my grandparents, whom I’d never met, hailed from there, and my uncles had such fond memories of the place, they decided to spend their retirement years there.”

“In Baraboo,” he repeated.

At Mike’s skeptical tone, Joelle continued. “It’s actually a very nice place, with lots to do. Tons of outdoor activities, and…” she gave him an impish look, “…the town is known as Circus City. It even has a clown museum.”

Mike gave a mock shiver. “Remind me never to visit.”

Joelle threw back her head and laughed. “Seriously? I wouldn’t have pegged you for a coulrophobic.”

“That has to mean fear of clowns,” Mike shivered exaggeratedly, “and to give weight to your supposition, the answer is yes. Because…I’m alive, aren’t I? Which means my healthy caution has served me damned well.”

“So far.” Joe winked. She knew her eyes twinkled with mirth, but she let Mike off the hook by changing the subject. “Enough clowning around. Why don’t you tell me about you?” Although she’d done her research, she’d enjoy hearing things about him from his own lips.

“Like you haven’t run a background check on me already.”

It was like he’d read her mind. She smirked and made a rolling motion with her hand for him to get to it.

But he just sat back, folded his arms over his impressive pecs, and waited.

“Fine,” she huffed, once she figured he wasn’t going to hand anything over to her. “Here’s what I already know, so you can fill in around the edges. You’re a lieutenant on the Bangor PD, and second in charge of your Downeast SWAT team. You were a jiu jitsu champ in college, and almost went to the Olympics that year. You have two kids, Timothy and Addilynn, and you eat dinner at your parents’ house almost every Thursday night.”

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