When Love Intrudes (When the Mission Ends) by Christi Snow

ear and climbed off his lap. She sashayed back into the house, leaving him there in the cold of the night, trying to convince his body to cool back off instead of chasing her down to ravish her.
     
     

Chapter 5
    The morning sounds of the breakfast rush echoed across the busy retro-styled diner. Brian lifted the coffee cup to his lips watching his partner, Eddie. Could he trust him?
    He’d called Eddie to see if he could meet him for breakfast, planning to discuss the situation. But faced with that option now, he began to doubt the intelligence of his plan.
    Nathan and Toni’s lives rested on him getting this right. The temptation to scoop Toni, Nathan, and Sam up and take them away to someplace safe kept him awake, worrying most the night. All night long, he’d tossed and turned between frustrated desire and fear of making the wrong choice. Now he was exhausted and still faced the morning without a good plan.
    Eddie looked up at him quizzically. “While I appreciate a good breakfast,” he nodded down to his half-eaten omelet. “I get the sense there’s more to this meeting than just starting off the day with something other than bad coffee from the station. Want to tell me what’s going on?”
    Yes, he needed to do that, but Eddie had a family, kids. Would it endanger him more than just his day-to-day police work already did, to draw him into the middle of this?
    Instead Brian sidestepped and asked, “Do you ever wonder why we do this?”
    “Eat?” Eddie patted his love handles. “Because Viv likes a little something to hang on to in the heat of the moment.”
    He held up a hand to keep Eddie from saying anything more. “I so did not want or need to know that. Ugh, where is the brain bleach when you need it?” He scowled at Eddie’s smirk. “No, I meant the job.”
    Eddie frowned down at his hands for a moment. “I hope we’re doing some good for this world.” He shrugged and looked curiously at Brian. “Why do you ask?”
    “The Morrow case…it just seems like every day we turn another corner and what should have been an open and shut case becomes more complex and impossible. These days, that’s more and more the norm. I hate that criminals are given more and more rights while the victims become more prosecuted, simply for being victimized. Something they certainly never asked for in the first place.”
    Eddie frowned and leaned back against the cushioned vinyl seat. “You can’t look at it that way. You can’t focus on the criminals that get away with it. If you do, you’re going to burn out long before retirement. You have to focus on the lives and victims you’ve saved by putting away the bad guys you can. Otherwise, Brian, you’re going to drive yourself crazy and not in a good way.”
    “You mean there’s a good way to drive yourself crazy?” Brian asked.
    Eddie gave him a wolfish grin. “Hell, yeah. There are some really excellent ways to drive a man crazy. Viv drove me nuts when I first met her.” His smile became softer, reminiscent. “That girl sent me on a merry chase, but damn, was it worth it when I caught her. It’s still worth it. There are days when she drives me ape-shit batty, but I wouldn’t change that for the world. She’s my world and she makes me want to make the world a better place, a better place for her and my kids. At the end of the day, that’s all I can hope for, their safety and security.”
    And that right there settled whether to pull Eddie into his troubles. He couldn’t drag Eddie into this mess. His family didn’t deserve it.
    “So,” Eddie said. “Do you have someone driving you crazy these days?”
    His thoughts immediately flew to Toni. She alternatively drove him crazy and made his world a better place. It was incredible to think about the change that had fallen over his entire house by having all three of them there—Toni, Nathan, and Sam. Suddenly, it felt like a home. He never even realized that it didn’t before. But he liked it that