The Recovery Assignment

‘She’s very good at her job. She’s just been awarded a medal of commendation.’

‘So I heard.’ Hawk slammed the passenger door of his car.

‘She was awarded “Paramedic of the Year” two years in a row.’

Hawk was pulling open the driver’s door but his head turned swiftly. He didn’t want to hear how great Charlotte Laing was. She was choosing this. He wasn’t. He was going to be spending more hours than he cared to count in her company. Sharing his small office. Hell, it was his life that was being turned upside down and he had no choice but to accept it. He had no control and that’s what he hated most. He didn’t even have Cam around to try and thrash him on the squash court and get rid of his frustration that way. The only outlet available was standing in front of him.

‘So why did she change careers, then?’ Hawk snapped. ‘Does she have trouble making up her mind?’ His snort was derogatory. ‘I suppose it is a woman’s prerogative.’

Hawk could feel the assessment in the stare he was subjected to. The judgement being made was hardly likely to be complimentary but he didn’t give a damn.

‘Charlotte’s fiancé was killed in a car accident two years ago. The Serious Crash Squad screwed up the investigation and he got blamed for the crash that also killed two other people.’

Hawk said nothing as he eased long legs under the steering-wheel. He dismissed the automatic flash of sympathy for someone who had gone through a particularly rough patch. So somebody had made a mistake. It happened.

‘Charlie became involved with the investigation. She also became convinced that if the SCS did its job well enough, they had the potential to prevent other accidents happening.’

‘Accidents are acts of God,’ Hawk muttered. ‘We investigate crashes.’ ‘Charlie’ had better not be about to step onto his patch expecting him not to be doing his job well enough.

Laura ignored the mutter. ‘She started out as a cop before she joined the ambulance service. It didn’t require much retraining to get up to speed and she hasn’t let her paramedic qualifications slip either. She carries a full kit and if she gets to a scene first, she can use whichever role she needs to.’

‘You can’t do two jobs at the same time.’ The only input Hawk had managed to get into this appointment had been challenging the suitability of Cam’s replacement. He’d hunted for something to argue about, dammit, and that paramedic qualification had been the best he could find. Not that it had carried the slightest weight. His complaints about both the gender and the qualifications of his temporary partner had earned him nothing more than a reprimanding glance from his boss.

‘Try telling that to the last driver whose life she saved. He would have died if they’d had to stand back and wait for an ambulance.’

Hawk turned the ignition key. Laura sounded quite ready to continue defending her friend but he wasn’t interested in second-hand information. He could make up his own mind.

And if the way he was feeling right now was anything to go by, he probably already had.

‘Rather you than me, that’s all I’ve got to say.’

‘Oh, no, you don’t.’ Charlotte Laing pointed her fork at Laura. ‘You can’t tell me you’ve met the man I’m going to be working with for the next three months and then not tell me what he’s like.’

‘He’s a cop. He seems to know what he’s talking about. He’s probably very good at his job.’ The two women were sitting at a small kitchen table and Laura turned her attention firmly back to the plate in front of her. ‘This lasagne is great, Charlie. Your cooking’s improved an awful lot since we last flatted together.’

‘Don’t try and change the subject,’ Charlotte ordered. ‘I heard a rather large “but” in there somewhere. You didn’t like him, did you?’

‘I don’t have to work with him,’ Laura said calmly. Her lips quirked mischievously. ‘Thank goodness.’

‘Aha!’ Charlotte sounded satisfied. ‘So what’s wrong with him?’

‘He’s…’ Laura seemed lost for an appropriate adjective. ‘He’s not…very friendly.’

‘Meaning?’

Laura took in her friend’s intense gaze and rolled her eyes. ‘OK, you asked for it. I think he’s conceited and arrogant and intolerant.’

Charlotte grinned. ‘Don’t hold back on me, now.’

Laura chuckled. ‘I just got the strong impression that he’s not keen on working with a new partner and he’s particularly not keen on working with you.’

Charlotte’s jaw dropped. ‘He hasn’t even met me!’

‘He thinks you can’t make up your mind about what job you want to do. Whether you want to be a paramedic or a crash investigator. He made some derogatory remark about it being a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.’

‘Whoa!’ Charlotte was grinning now. ‘This could mean war.’

‘He also expects his partner to come back. He doesn’t want you getting your foot too far in the door.’

‘That’s not what I heard when I went in to collect my uniform today.’ Charlotte scooped up the last forkful of her dinner. ‘I heard that his partner, Cam, fell head over heels in love with an American woman and he’s followed her home with the intention of gaining permanent residence in the States or getting married. Whichever comes first.’ She reached for her glass of wine. ‘I also heard that Officer Hawkins has been like a bear with a sore head ever since Cam defected.’

‘That might explain the anti-woman attitude I picked up,’ Laura conceded. ‘It’s not going to help you enjoy the job, though.’

‘I can handle it,’ Charlotte declared. ‘Owen Hawkins can’t stop me doing the work to the best of my ability, and three months should be quite long enough to prove I’m up to scratch. Then I’ll be able to request a transfer to another squad.’

Laura nodded as she put her fork down and then sighed as she looked at her empty plate. ‘That was delicious but that cheese sauce is going to land straight on my hips. I can feel it oozing in there as I speak.’ She looked up and shook her head. ‘I wish I knew how you could eat like that and stay so skinny.’

‘I’m only skinny because I’m so tall. It’s all stretched out.’

Laura watched Charlotte as she stood up and moved to rinse her plate at the kitchen sink. Tall and lean, Charlotte moved with a confident and fluid grace that provoked a thoughtful frown from her friend.

‘You look a bit like him.’

‘What? Is he effeminate or something?’ Charlotte’s eyes widened. ‘Don’t tell me he’s not keen on working with a woman because he’s gay.’

‘No way!’ Laura said dismissively. ‘I just meant your build. He’s tall and lean as well and you’ve both got black hair. His eyes are blue, though, not brown.’

‘Hazel,’ Charlotte corrected. ‘Jamie used to tell me my eyes reminded him of the decanter of sherry his grandmother always had sitting on the sideboard.’

There was a moment’s silence and then Laura spoke softly.

‘You still miss Jamie, don’t you?’

Charlotte sat down at the table again. ‘I always will,’ she said simply. ‘I doubt that I’ll ever fall in love again. I’m never going to meet anyone who could hold a candle to Jamie.’

‘You’re only thirty-two, Charlie. You can’t give up yet.’

‘You haven’t even hit thirty,’ Charlotte countered. ‘And what was it you said about men in general when you finally walked out on John?’

‘Yeah, well. I was feeling miserable. Even though it was a bad relationship, it was still hard getting out of it. Of course I wasn’t feeling like rushing into another one.’

‘And now?’

‘It’s been six months. I’m over it. If I find someone who wants me as a woman instead of a mother figure cum housekeeper then I’m quite prepared to try again.’

‘That’s the difference,’ Charlotte said slowly. ‘What you had wasn’t good enough. You’re bound to find something better. What Jamie and I had was perfect. I couldn’t replace that no matter how hard I looked.’

‘So you won’t even try?’