She opened her computer and ran him through the law-enforcement background-check system via her police department. He hadn’t remarried. Lived in an apartment in a less than desirable part of D.C. After nearly a yearlong gap in his work record he was now listed as a DEA agent, SWAT K-9 division. No Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or other social network accounts under his name. No record of that missed year, either.
To learn more personal details, for instance if he had a girlfriend, she would have to reach out to her personal connections. However, law enforcement became an unbelievably small, gossipy world when an officer went snooping about a colleague. She couldn’t go further without the risk that Scott would learn about it. Not knowing was better than him discovering she was checking on him.
Instead, she called Agent Lattimore, just to confirm that she was still eligible to be considered for the task force job. That would be a yes, he told her.
Cole sat and nibbled her thumbnail.
Did she dare grab this opportunity the DEA was offering to prove herself? Even if it meant agreeing to spend a few weeks in close quarters with the one man she didn’t know how to handle, didn’t trust, and was pretty sure she still hated?
Tall order, in the name of the law.
CHAPTER FOUR
“You said no, right? Right?”
Cole shrugged off her sister Becca’s question. “It’s an opportunity not many local law enforcement officers get.”
“It’s an opportunity to find yourself in more danger than necessary.” Becca sat back as their waitress set grilled chicken salads down before them.
Cole noticed the waitress eyeing her nervously as she put her plate down. Some civilians welcomed a police presence while for others the mere presence of a uniform and all that went with it was seen as some sort of hostile provocation.
Cole smiled at her. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” The waitress’s gaze skittered away. Maybe she’d been on the wrong end of an encounter with law enforcement recently.
Cole gave up and picked up her fork. It was her lunch hour. She had exactly fifty minutes left to explain to her sister the big decision she was about to make.
“So here’s the thing. If I did accept the task force position, the assignment may take me out of town from time to time.”
Becca gasped. “You’re going undercover!”
“Loud, maybe?”
“Right.” Becca’s voice dropped to a whisper as she glanced around the busy restaurant. “Are you going undercover?”
“I can’t give you details. Just don’t say anything to Mom and Dad until it’s a done deal, okay? Then I’ll tell them.”
Becca dipped a forkful of salad into the side dish of dressing. “Why do you need to do this? You’re doing great with the county police department. You made the K-9 in record time. You don’t need to do anything else. You’re set.”
Cole leaned forward. “That’s just it. I want to do something more, Becca. Something important and exciting. Use my skill set where it’s most needed. You’ve got a husband and a career. You’re set.”
Becca grinned. “And we’re expanding the franchise.”
“The vet’s office— Oh!” Cole’s expression widened into a gape as Becca patted her tummy. “You’re pregnant? I’m going to be an aunt!”
The two sisters jumped up and hugged each other, all girly squeals of joy.
“You’re the first to know.” Becca’s smile couldn’t stretch any wider. “I had to check on the results of some extra tests this morning before I told the folks.”
Cole’s smile dissolved as she sat back down. “Why extra tests?”
Becca made a sad face. “I’m thirty. It’s a bit late for a first pregnancy, since we’ve been trying for three years. But everything’s fine.”
Cole searched her sister’s face. “You would tell me?”
Becca nodded. “You first. Just like always.”
Cole felt the tightness in her chest ebb as they tucked into their salads. Though three and a half years apart in age, they were closer than most sisters. Really, BFFs. Their attitudes and tastes were so similar that, more often than not, they could finish each other’s sentences and predict what the other would order for a meal. And, they always told each other everything—no matter how personal—eventually.
Cole ducked her head on that final thought. She had decided to wait until the end of their meal to bring up the matter of Scott Lucca.
Meanwhile, there were dozens of other catch-up topics to discuss since their last sisters’ lunch four weeks ago. For instance, the new assistant in Becca’s office whom she had to fire because she kept “borrowing” boarded pets.
“The first weekend she took a cockatiel because, she said, birds need more attention than dogs. I told her never to do that again. But the following weekend she takes home a pet ferret, and loses it. I mean, really? So there I am, on my hands and knees in her apartment, searching. Turned out the little guy had climbed in under her dishwasher. Probably to get away from her. I finally lured him out with a thawed mouse. I was so done with her.”
Cole laughed. “The gla-mouse-rous life of a vet.”
“Speaking of gla-amorous lives, tell me you’re finally seeing someone. Anyone?”
Cole met her sister’s mischievous expression with a sour one.