At Close Range by Jessica Andersen Page B

cough up a pattern, a matching murder. Then he sighed and slapped the laptop computer shut. “I know. I just—” He cursed and scrubbed a hand across his face. Felt the rasp of stubble and made a mental note to shave before the task force meeting. “Why? You doing the stand-in big brother thing on Alissa’s orders?”
    Not that Seth would blame him. That had been a hell of a scene they’d walked in on.
    Even now, several hours and some serious reflection later, the memory of those hot, steamy kisses was enough to make him hard and wanting and all twisted up inside.
    But Tucker snorted. “Cassie’s got plenty of brothers. She wouldn’t thank me for trying to be another one.” The lean, rangy homicide detective leaned back in his chair. “I’m asking as a friend, and because Alissa was nearly killed before. If we didn’t get the bastard, or if there’s another one out there, she could be in danger again. I need to know that you’re not…distracted.”
    Seth scowled. “Don’t talk to me about professional detachment. When Alissa was abducted, you threatened to tear me limb from limb if I didn’t help find her.”
    An almost feral glitter darkened the detective’s eyes. “Exactly. He came after my woman. Now he’s coming after one of her friends. One of my friends. And I want to know that your head is in the case.” He held up a hand to forestall Seth’s angry retort. “I’m not saying it’s fair. Hell, I’m tempted to ship Alissa back to the island until this is over, just in case the bastard decides to go after her again. But I won’t.
    Do you know why?”
    “Because she’d kick your ass for suggesting it?”
    One corner of Tucker’s mouth twitched. “That, too. But also because she’s a cop.
    The chief might look the other way over some fraternization within the ranks, but he expects us to do our jobs. He expects us to act like cops.”

    Seth knew that. He knew it down to his very core. But knowing it and liking it were two different things. Cassie wasn’t just a cop, she was a cop with something to prove, which was a damned dangerous combination.
    Seth shoved back from the table and locked eyes with the homicide detective. “I can’t promise to be impartial—hell, I don’t know what I am at the moment—but I swear I’ll do everything in my power to help the Bear Claw P.D. get this guy. Deal?”
    Tucker regarded him for a long moment, then nodded. “Deal.” Then he grinned, though the expression was tense at the edges. “And speaking of professional detachment and the lack thereof…I asked Alissa to marry me last night.”
    “HE ASKED YOU to what?” Cassie nearly screamed. The noise bounced off the basement walls and reverberated among the pieces of equipment. “Ohmigod. Tell me what he said. What you said. Everything!”
    Cassie and Maya crowded close while Alissa held out her left hand, newly christened with a big, fat diamond in a platinum setting.
    “I was…” Alissa touched her throat with her hand, causing the ring to flash and sparkle under the fluorescent lights. “Shocked doesn’t even begin to describe it.
    When the three of us moved here, the first thing I learned was that McDermott was on his way out of the force, that he never stayed still for more than a couple of years, that he was the footloose kind. And now this…” She trailed off and a soft smile touched her lips. “I knew it was right between us. I was even ready to move with him if he wanted to keep wandering. But he says he’s home. He wants us to stay here for good, maybe even buy a bigger place.” The grin widened into a full-blown smile. “We could live in a tent for all I care. I’m that happy.”

    And for Alissa, with her unsettled childhood and deep desire to put down roots, to say something like that…
    It was real.
    Cassie hugged her friend, overjoyed. But deep inside, she felt a twist of something nasty, something she wasn’t proud of and didn’t like. It wasn’t jealously,