Page 38 of Callahan

I shrugged. “Well, I’ve got a little bit of time to decide.”

He grinned and whispered as Lainey walked toward us with a paper bag in her hand, “I can give you some pointers about what demands to make that the Chief won’t argue with you about.”

“Is that what you did?”

“Why do you think I took the sergeant’s job?”

*****

Lainey

“Gentlemen, here are your pastries. Brian, the eclairs I know you love, and for Adam, two tarts. I wasn’t sure which you’d like better, so I included a cherry and blueberry. I expect a full report tomorrow on your preference.”

“Did I get two eclairs?” Brian pouted.

I shot him a look. “Would I skimp on you?”

He stood with a satisfied smile and kissed my forehead as he took the bag from me. “Of course not,” then tried to hand me two twenty-dollar bills, but I threw my hands up.

“They’re on me.”

“Not happenin’ Lain. I’m not taking anything free from you. Not until you get the bakery up and running.”

“I’m not taking your money, Brian.”

His eyebrows went to his forehead. “If you don’t take my money, I’ll feel weird coming in here and won’t come by anymore.”

I gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He raised his eyebrows defiantly. “Want to try me?”

Adam shrugged as he stood. “Take the money. Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Fine,” I grumbled as I plucked the twenties from Brian’s hand. “And I’m not giving you any change.”

The sergeant grinned at me in return. “Good.”

I pretended to be offended, but I loved that Brian made me take his money. I really was broke and needed it.

But I vowed that as soon as I could afford to, I would refuse payment and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

I appreciated Brian looked out for me and Conor, and was glad Adam was still in town and seemed to be doing okay, despite his injuries.

“Do you have any leads about who attacked Adam?”

Brian grimaced. “Not yet. We didn’t get any hits on the partial print we recovered from the bat we found. I’ll be by at the end of my shift to install additional locks on your apartment doors and make sure all your window locks are working.”

I felt my heart rate speed up.

“Do you think I’m in danger?”

He must have realized the panic he’d just instilled because he placed his hand on my arm and looked me in the eye.

“I don’t. Based on what the guy said to Adam, I think he was specifically targeted. But I’m not going to take any chances.”

Adam interjected. “I think we should install a camera, too.”

Brian nodded. “Already on it. It should be here tomorrow. For tonight, I’ll make sure whoever’s working the overnight shift patrols the area regularly.”

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