Christmas Male

“Your guess is correct. But don’t take it personally. I don’t have a history of working well with partners.” Stepping up on the curb, she turned to face him. “My last one was shot.”

Her tone was flat, but D.C. saw the flash of pain in her eyes and understood. “He’s alive?”

“Yes. It was a shoulder wound. He’ll be returning to work in a few weeks.”

“You’re lucky. My last partner didn’t make it. He died in the same little skirmish that sidelined my leg.” The words were out before he could stop them. He hadn’t talked about David’s death. Hadn’t been able to—not even to his family.

“I’m sorry.” She reached for his hand, linked her fingers with his.

For a moment, silence stretched between them again. The understanding in her eyes eased the tightness around his heart.

“Let’s hope we both have better luck this time,” he said finally as she freed her hand and continued to walk. “In the meantime, I think it might be good if we got to know one another. Tell me about yourself.”

“I’m a cop.”

“C’mon, Lieutenant. You know a lot about me. Turnabout’s fair play.”

Stopping, she turned to him. “I don’t know anything about you.”

“You’ve met my mom and sister. You’re practically part of the family. They liked you, by the way. They really appreciated you getting them to Union Station. But showing them the Rubinov—they’re not going to forget that.”

Nor was he going to forget that moment when she’d pushed her coat aside and pulled the necklace out of the front of her dress. The gesture had left him with a vivid image in his mind of exactly where the diamond had been nestling.

“Next time my big brother calls to check up on me, I’ll let you talk to him. Jase is ex-navy and special ops, and he runs a security firm in New York. I called and asked him to run a background check on Amanda Hemmings.”

She was studying him now, her eyes narrowed. D.C. had the uncomfortable feeling that he was on a slide under a microscope.

“I’ll even tell you my deepest and darkest secret.”

Her brows arched. “And that is?”

“What D.C. stands for.”

Fiona suddenly felt the corners of her mouth twitch. “I’m not sure I want to know.”

“Tell me if you change your mind.”

The man was charming. She had to grant him that. And that charm might help while they were questioning suspects. He might prove useful in other ways, too—especially with that brother who could run background checks.

“We can either work around each other or together,” he stated.

“True.” And on the drive to Georgetown, she’d already decided on the former, hadn’t she? She’d put on a good front, cooperate when he asked, and do her own thing.

“Working around each other is going to cost us time. And this is an important case. If we’re right and you’ve got the real Rubinov tucked near your heart, we’re dealing with the kind of theft that might have made history—if it had been successful. We need to find out why it didn’t work out that way. And how the legendary diamond ended up in Amanda Hemmings’s pocket.”

“There had to have been someone on the inside.”

“Agreed. My brother says that there isn’t a security system in the world that can’t be hacked into. But it would take a real pro to crack the one at the National Gallery. My gut feeling is that Amanda Hemmings isn’t that person.”

She nodded. “She was working for or with someone.”

“Or she’s an innocent pawn,” D.C. countered. “In any case, we’ll have to look at the owner. Gregory Shalnokov is a very rich man. My experience with the rich is that they’re never rich enough. If he puts the stone on display and orchestrates a successful robbery, he gets to have his cake, in this case the Rubinov, and eat it, too, when he collects the insurance money.”

Fiona found herself agreeing again. They would have to scrutinize Gregory Shalnokov.

“And to prove that I’ll make a valuable partner, I learned from one of the guards that the display case housing the Rubinov could only be opened with Shalnokov’s voice.”

She stopped short and turned to stare at him. He hadn’t had to tell her that. Not that she wouldn’t have eventually discovered it for herself.

As if he read her mind, he said, “If we’re going to be partners, it’ll save time if we share everything.”

“Okay.” As the first snowflakes began to fall, the wind stung her cheeks. Turning up her collar, she started down the next block. “Right now, the only suspect we’ve got is Private Hemmings. That’s going to be a PR problem for the army.”

“True.”

“I’m worried that you might have an agenda—to prove Amanda Hemmings innocent.”

“I won’t lie to you. That’s the outcome my general would prefer.”

She slanted him a look. “That could interfere with your objectivity.”

“It won’t. What about you? You’re also going to have a bit of a PR problem if one of your volunteers used her work to help out with the theft.”

“That won’t keep me from digging out the truth.”

“Then we shouldn’t have a problem. How’s the food at this restaurant we’re going to?”

“Excellent. But we’re not going there to eat.”

D.C. sighed. “A man can dream. What’s your captain like?”

“I wouldn’t want to spoil your first impression.”

“Fair enough.”

For half a block, they walked again in silence. And it was oddly companionable, Fiona realized. The street was quiet. At seven-thirty, residents had either left for the night or were celebrating the season with family and friends. Lights twinkled on shrubs, and Christmas trees glowed in the windows.

They were still a hundred yards from the corner when two figures rounded it and headed toward them. They wore jeans and hooded sweatshirts. Both male, Fiona decided. And young. Each was using earphones and one was texting a message. The Georgetown campus was only a short distance, so they could be college kids. But it was a little early on a Friday night to be heading back from one of the watering holes on P Street that students favored.

“Trouble,” D.C. murmured.

His instincts were aligned with hers, and adrenaline spiked through her. “A couple of hours ago I was practically praying for a little snatch and run.”

“Be careful what you wish for.”

The two young men were drawing steadily closer.

“Look.” He spoke softly as he slipped his hand around her upper arm. “Let’s make it easy for them.”