Page 44 of Too Much Heat

“An officer can’t sleep on porch furniture.”

“We’ll push the couch aside and put a bed in there. I already ordered one from a furniture store.”

Lara sighed heavily. He had this all set up without consulting her. But she saw the urgency of his actions.

Joe crossed to her. Put his hand on her shoulder. “This is only temporary, honey.”

She glanced at Sammy. He wasn’t upset. She said, “This is dangerous, Sammy.”

He shrugged. “Not my usual routine.”

Lara turned to Joe. “What about when we go to work?”

“The chief ordered that you and I are to be inseparable. We’ll be constant companions with a cop assigned to us, too.”

She felt her eyes moisten so she turned and went into the kitchen. He followed her. Held her by the arms. “Why are you crying?”

“Because you and I together all the time…Joe, we’re finished with that part of our relationship.”

Before he could answer, the doorbell sounded.

Lara scrubbed her face and they walked back into the living room. They could see a big box store van and two workers at the door through the screen. Joe crossed to the foyer.

The delivery man looked down at his clipboard. “We got a rush order. We have the windows and screens and blinds for your porch. We’ll be installing them now.”

Joe let them in, showed them to the porch, then came back in and turned to her. “What’s for dinner?”

That night, the aide moved in, too. An undercover cop, Craig Madison was a big guy with muscles twice the size of Sammy’s. And Lara suspected Sammy would cooperate. As he’d said, his routine was deadly and she could tell he appreciated some excitement.

Joe headed back to his place to get clean uniforms and other necessities, and soon they were all set up.

Sammy went to bed at his usual time and the officer got set up on the porch. Joe took Lara’s hand. “Let’s go upstairs and watch TV so Craig can come in here and hang out.”

“Okay.”

He spoke to Craig then came back in and led her up the steps. Once there, he turned to her and cupped her cheek. “Try not to fret over us being together. We don’t have a choice.”

They really didn’t. So why was she so concerned about this? “All right.” She pointed to the other half of the room. “Let’s sit over there for a while and let me digest this.”

“Sure, babe. Whatever you need.”

She rolled her eyes at the sexist term.

* * *

The next morning, Lara and Joe woke up late, took quick showers and wolfed down toast. Craig was already up, too, and greeted them. When Joe opened the front door, he found Will Kirkland on the porch. “Will, hi.” He introduced Lara to the ex-Secret Service Agent.

She said, “You’re our protection?”

“Yeah. I opened a security company in Syracuse which covers Westwood.”

Joe nodded. “I remember.”

The guy looked younger than when he’d come to Westwood, ashamed of what happened at his job and sad about his father’s death. “The police are overwhelmed right now. So they hired me.”

Joe smiled at him. “If I need a guard, I’m glad it’s you.”

“Thanks, Joe. I’m going to drive you two to work.”

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