Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest)

Two



The morning passed quickly. A beat-up Trans Am blew through the stop sign at the corner of Main Street, forcing Cara and Dare to pull over a teenage driver who carried only a permit and who wasn’t supposed to be driving without a licensed adult in the car. His attitude didn’t help his cause, nor did the fact that he should have been in school. They wrote up the ticket and gave the truant an escort to the high school before heading back to town and doing their basic drive-by.

“Man, I hope Tess doesn’t end up like that punk,” Dare said of his fifteen-year-old half sister.

“I’m sure having a cop for a brother will keep her from turning into Danica Patrick too soon,” Cara said with a laugh. “Although knowing Tess, she’ll find a way to keep you all up at night worrying.”

Tess lived with Dare’s oldest brother, Ethan, and his wife in the landmark mansion on the edge of town. Making things more interesting—and titillating for the more gossip-minded residents in town—his middle brother, Nash, was married to Tess’s half sister. But whomever she lived with, they all worried about Tess, given her history before moving to Serendipity.

“I just hope Ethan doesn’t buy her an over-the-top car,” Dare said.

Cara shook her head at the thought. “Ethan has a level head.” She caught Dare’s look of disbelief. “Now. He has a level head now.” The whole town remembered his past.

Ethan had left Serendipity at eighteen after their parents died at the hands of a drunk driver, abandoning his brothers to state welfare. He’d returned last year, wealthy beyond anyone’s imagination and had made peace with his siblings, Dare included.

“Besides, he’s got Faith in his life,” Cara said of Ethan’s wife. “I wouldn’t worry if I were you. Tess is in good hands.”

Dare grinned. “Yeah, she is. And so far she’s staying out of trouble.”

“Coffee?” Cara pointed to Cuppa Café, the town’s only stop for a good caffeine fix.

“Yes.”

Cara pulled into an empty spot on a side street, and together they walked into the coffee shop. Dare ordered a black coffee while Cara chose a nonfat latte. They paid for their drinks and Dare pulled open the door in time for Felicia Flynn, the town’s newest mayor, to enter.

“Thank you, Officer Barron.” With her jet-black hair, blue eyes, and tailored suits, she was striking in appearance.

“Ma’am,” Dare said, with a nod of his head.

Felicia was the youngest mayor of Serendipity and the first female to hold the position. For that alone, Cara wanted to admire her. She’d run on an anticorruption platform, promising to weed out the old boys’ network that had been in place in Serendipity since what seemed like the beginning of time. Another reason for Cara to like her.

“Officer Hartley, I’ve been hoping to talk to you.”

Cara gritted her teeth and forced a smile. For all the woman’s positives, she was a pit bull and a ball buster, making the liking and admiring Cara wanted to do too darned difficult.

“You owe me answers on a certain investigation,” the mayor said, pointedly meeting Cara’s gaze. “Are you avoiding me?”

Cara felt Dare’s curious stare. She shook her head as she answered the mayor. “I had an unexpected emergency. My partner is in the hospital with a bout of appendicitis, a car accident, and a serious concussion. It’s put us on hold,” she explained, hoping the mayor bought the white lie about why she hadn’t been in touch.

She and Sam had been avoiding Mayor Flynn and her tenacious please-the-people platform. Cara and Sam were looking into a cold case that was at least three decades old, involving ten thousand dollars in marked bills in the evidence room and ties to the motel on the border of Serendipity and Tomlin’s Cove, known as the old Winkler place. From the time they were old enough to understand sex, the kids in Serendipity had heard about how the Winklers had once rented out rooms by the hour. Older kids heard they’d also supplied the women, but nobody had proof of the rumors. It was also suspected that the old boys’ network in town had ignored any truth to the suspicions. Whatever went down there had long since ended, and, as Cara and Sam had confirmed, the place was deserted. The mayor just wanted all cold cases revisited and either solved or confirmed dead.

“When did the accident happen?” Mayor Flynn asked.

“Last evening,” Cara said.

The mayor nodded, understanding and compassion in her usually cool gaze. “Please send your partner my best.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“But you get back to work on things.” She shot Cara a pointed look. “I’ll expect a report soon. Have a nice day.” She turned and headed for the counter.

“Witch,” Cara muttered under her breath. The woman made her sweat, which wasn’t an easy feat.

“What was that all about?” Dare asked, following Cara out the door and into welcome cold winter air.

“She’s got us investigating an old cold case, and she’s just impatient,” Cara said.

Though she trusted Dare implicitly, their digging had turned up some Marsden family skeletons. It just wasn’t her story to tell.

“You want to drive?” Cara asked, tossing Dare the keys in order to distract him from the subject.

He grabbed them in midair. “Sure. But if you need help, you’ll ask?”

She knew he referred to the mayor. “You bet,” she said, grateful for Dare as her friend.

With Sam out of commission and the mayor breathing down her neck, she needed a plan. Which meant she needed her partner’s permission to bring in a replacement. She didn’t know who, but she’d have to talk to Sam.

Thankfully the rest of the day passed quickly, and at the end of their shift, Cara and Dare parted ways at the station. She didn’t mind doing paperwork and sent him home to his wife. She still couldn’t believe Dare was married, but she had to admit that Liza McKnight was the right woman for him. He’d always been Cara’s happy-go-lucky friend, but before Liza, he’d had occasional shadows in his brown eyes he thought no one noticed. Cara was glad Liza had not only forced him to confront old demons but given him a bright future as well.

A part of her filled with envy at the notion of having someone to come home to at night. But the saner part of her remembered her parents and how difficult it was to choose that right person. Unless Cara was absolutely sure of any man, she was better off alone.

She shook her head and refocused on the paperwork in front of her when she felt a large shadow looming. The back of her neck tingled, and she looked up to see Mike standing beside her.

“Got a minute?” he asked.

“Umm…sure.” She set her pen down on her desk and met his gaze.

“In private,” he said.

Something about his tone made her insides quiver, but she dutifully rose to her feet. “Is this about a case?” she asked as she followed him to his office.

“It’s personal.”

She missed a step and tripped, catching herself before she barreled into him.

He paused at the door and gestured for her to enter. She stepped around him and into the small room reserved for the chief of police, catching a whiff of his masculine scent as she brushed past. He wore the same cologne, and the subtle musky scent settled deep in her bones, reminding her of that night.

He shut the door behind him and braced his hands against the wooden frame, leaning back against the wall.

Just being alone with him, Cara was already at a disadvantage, and for a woman who could hold her own with any criminal, that was saying a lot. “What’s up, Chief?”

“Could you not call me that?” He visibly bristled at the title. “I can’t say what I need to if you’re putting the job between us.”

She narrowed her gaze. As far as she knew, the job was between them and had been since his return. His status as her boss as well as whatever other barriers he’d erected kept her at a distance. Cara knew how to take a hint. She also knew how to pretend his aloof treatment didn’t bother her. No man had utterly dismissed her like she’d meant nothing before. She didn’t jump into one-night stands often, and though she’d known the score and could handle sex without messy emotions, her night with Mike had been more. Even if he refused to admit to it.

Unwilling to make whatever he had to say easy for him, she waited for him to speak, and the silence stretched uncomfortably between them.

“You asked me in here,” she finally reminded him.

He exhaled hard. “When I came back and took this job, I didn’t handle things between us as well as I could have.”

His unexpected admission surprised her. “You didn’t handle it at all.”

A wry grin tugged at his lips. “Neither did you.”

He had her there.

But he spoke before she could formulate a reply. “I’m the one who came back to town. I should have at least acknowledged that something happened between us.” He looked at her with regret in his brown eyes and more than a hint of an apology in his expression.

“Something did,” she whispered, suddenly seeing the man she’d taken to bed and not the police chief who barely noticed her.

His heated gaze swept over her, and an unmistakable arc of sexual awareness shimmered between them. She melted on the spot. But she wasn’t naïve, nor would she take an apology of sorts as an opening.

Though she would admit to hoping he’d offer one. “Why are you bringing this up now?” she asked.

“Truth?”

She nodded. “Always.”

He inclined his head. “Sam asked what I’d do to a guy who treated Erin the way I treated you.”

Not the answer she’d been hoping for, and deep inside, hope withered. Mike hadn’t suddenly decided to care about her feelings. He was merely making amends because her best friend had come to her rescue.

She straightened her shoulders, preparing to walk out with her head held high. “Don’t worry. I knew the deal going in, so you can relax.” She was proud that her voice didn’t waver.

“Oh.” He blinked, appearing surprised by her answer.

Well, what had he expected? Her undying gratitude that he’d stepped up as a man? Or for her to cling and beg him to give them another chance? Neither would happen. Not now and not if hell froze over, Cara thought.

“I’m glad we understand each other,” he said gruffly.

She managed not to curl her hands into fists and show her real emotions. Feelings she wouldn’t let surface until later, when she was alone.

“If we’re finished, I have paperwork to complete.” She started for the exit, but he still blocked it with his large frame.

Realizing he stood between Cara and her escape, he stepped aside and opened the door.

She was almost past his alluring scent and the tempting warmth of his body when she forced herself to pause. “Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“You can tell Sam he worried for nothing. I always knew you weren’t the kind of guy to expect much from,” she said, sweeping past him with as much dignity as she could muster.

Only when his door slammed shut with him inside did she allow her knees to buckle as she sank into the chair behind her desk. She’d get past this moment, she promised herself.

She’d get past Mike Marsden. On the job, she’d continue to be a good little officer and treat him with the respect he was due. But off duty? No more tiptoeing around him. She’d be herself, the only way she knew to put him and the entire night behind her once and for all.

I always knew you weren’t the kind of guy to expect much from.

He knew what Cara meant with her cutting remark. Not only had he deserved it, he’d prided himself on that very thing. Unless the people involved were his immediate family, Mike made himself off limits. Like his biological father, Rex Bransom, Mike had taken off from Serendipity as soon as he got the chance, leaving his family and the police force he’d recently joined.

Also like his sperm donor, he’d hurt a woman in the process. At least Tiffany hadn’t been pregnant, as Mike’s mother had been with him. Mike was young then, barely twenty-two, and he hadn’t known enough to lay out his feelings for Tiffany—or lack of them. To Mike, she’d been fun and he liked her well enough, but he sure as hell never planned on marrying her.

He shuddered at the thought, recalling how he’d used his escape from Tiffany as his ticket out of his small hometown, next stop Atlantic City, where he’d picked up again as a beat cop. He’d been bored, something obvious to his superior, who’d recognized his talent along with his tendency to skirt the rules, pulled some strings, and gotten him into the NYPD. There, life had been more exciting, keeping him hopping. Never bored, never tied down.

He loved his life. So why did Cara’s words still bother him two full days later?

What bugged him even more was that he had to visit his brother at Cara’s house, a place filled with memories even he couldn’t shut off.

Parking his Ford F-150 in the driveway, he recalled following her home from Joe’s and pulling up behind her sporty blue Jeep Cherokee. His hand on her back as they walked up the entry to the small condo. Her shutting the door behind them, flicking on the hall entry light. And then any gentlemanly qualities he possessed had flown out the window. Mike had always been a guy with a healthy sex drive, and his months undercover had been a long dry spell, but he was hard pressed to explain the chemistry that had his hands all over her immediately.

So what if her laughter in the bar had rung in his ears, leaving him with a lightness inside him that he hadn’t experienced in too long, if ever? And he’d seen sexy women in short skirts and cowboy boots before, but when Cara had leaned over a table to whisper something to a friend, Mike realized those tights she wore rose only thigh high. He’d broken into a sweat right then. Still, not enough of an explanation in his mind. Neither was what happened next.

Joe’s Bar had never been known for dancing, but somehow Joe’s fiancée, Annie Kane, had persuaded him to expand the bar and put in a dance floor. Mike had been nursing a beer with Sam when he caught sight of Cara in some guy’s arms, his hands slipping downward from her waist to her ass. Mike was up in an instant, reaching her just as Cara gripped the man’s wrist and threatened to break it if he didn’t play nice. She hadn’t needed Mike’s help, but she’d gratefully let him cut in. Next thing he knew, his hands slipped from her waist beneath her shirt, his fingertips grazing the silken skin on her back. Except she didn’t stop him.

When he asked, “Want to get out of here?” her softly whispered “Yes” slammed into him full force. She’d excused herself to say good-bye to Sam and Alexa and the other friends she’d been hanging out with. And the next few hours had completely blown his mind and had him leaving before she woke the next morning.

Was it any wonder he hesitated in front of her front door now?

Without warning, the front door opened wide and Cara greeted him. “Were you going to ring the bell? Or did you plan to stand outside all day?” she asked, a knowing smile on her face.

“I take it we’re past the formality stage?” He followed her into the front entry.

“Unless you prefer we go back to the way things were, Chief? I could call you sir,” she offered with a deliberately saucy smile.

He narrowed his gaze, determined not to let her provoke him. “When we’re off duty, informal is fine.” He drew a long breath. “How’s Sam?”

“I’ve never met a more annoying patient,” she muttered.

“Which tells me he’s recovering?”

She nodded. “He’s in the den watching television. You know the way, so go on in.” To her credit, though she blushed, probably remembering the last time he was here, she held his gaze and didn’t flinch. “Can I get you something to drink? Soda? Water?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, thanks.”

A few minutes later, both he and Cara were seated near Sam, who looked a hell of a lot better here than in a hospital bed. “You’re not green anymore,” Mike said of his brother’s coloring.

“I’m better. And I’m antsy.”

“And it’s only been forty-eight hours, so relax yourself. You’re a couple of weeks away from being cleared to return to work, so chill.”

Sam muttered a curse. “I’ve got things to do.”

“Nothing that can’t wait. Cara can hold her own with Dare. Once you’re back, I’ll give him a rookie to train as his new partner.”

“Better him than me,” Cara said, curling her bare feet beneath her on the oversized chair in which she sat.

Pink toes peeked out from beneath her navy-blue sweats, which rolled at the top. A faded gray T-shirt, imprinted with the SPD logo, had been cut off, revealing a tantalizing sliver of bare skin between the frayed edge and the waistband of her sweats.

“Mike, quit mooning over Cara and pay attention; this is important.” Sam’s voice broke into his musings.

Son of a bitch, his brother hadn’t just caught him, he’d called him out. When Sam was better, Mike intended to beat the living crap out of him.

Cara’s face blushed a cute shade of pink. Mike figured his was maroon by now. “What?” he snapped, knowing he couldn’t admit or deny without getting himself in more trouble.

“We have a situation,” Sam said, his tone of voice more telling than anything else that this was big.

Mike sat up straighter in his seat. “What’s going on?” He looked from Sam to Cara.

She shook her head. “It has to come from Sam,” she said.

“You know how the mayor gave you a list of unresolved cases, especially those that involved the old Winkler place, and told you to do something about it?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. And I put you two on it,” he said to Sam and Cara.

“Right. Most of the open complaints about the Winkler place were tough to run down since nobody is willing to admit they visited that…umm, establishment.”

Mike still didn’t know where his brother was going with this. “I’m listening.”

“And I’m getting there. It’s not simple. Back in 1983, the cops pulled over a car on a random traffic stop. They found drugs, arrested the driver, and impounded the car. In the trunk they found ten grand in marked bills. The money and the drugs were locked in the evidence room until the feds could pick up the cash. Somehow it fell through the cracks, and the money’s still sitting there.”

Mike muttered a curse, and Cara laughed.

“Fast-forward some weeks,” Sam continued. “A women’s group began protesting the old Winkler Place.”

“The Best Little Whorehouse in Serendipity,” Mike said, using the nickname he’d learned as a kid.

“Right.” Cara waved a hand toward Sam, indicating he should keep talking.

“The group clashed with the people at the motel, the cops raided the place, and what did they find? The same type of marked cash, at which point it goes into evidence too. The hooker activity dies down for a while, the moms forget about the Winkler place, a new administration comes in, and lo and behold, the money sits and nobody takes another look. Over time, any activity at the Winkler place ended, and nobody was willing to discuss what really went down there.”

Mike shook his head in disbelief. “Okay, well, let’s say I get that we’re in a small town with shitty record keeping. And I also get how that old boys’ network kept further investigation from continuing. We’re talking about what? Money laundering in addition to prostitution out there?”

“We don’t know,” Cara answered.

Mike raised his hands in frustration. “What do we know?”

Sam cleared his throat. “Well, we know that the only person currently on the force with possible ties to all this in the past—is Dad.”

Mike gripped the sofa seat, about to jump up, when Cara held up a hand. “Hang on. We’re not saying Simon did anything wrong.”

“At least not yet,” Sam added. “But the thing is, after Cara and I got up to speed on the history of this case, we went to the evidence room to see what we could dig up. It turns out that the original marked bills from the traffic stop were referenced—but now there are one thousand dollars’ worth of bills that don’t match up.”

Mike leaned forward in his chair. “Did you ask Dad about the bills?”

Sam nodded. “Damn right I did.”

“And what did he say?”

Sam frowned, and Mike’s skin prickled with unease.

“He outright refused to discuss it, and believe me, I pushed hard. I’d planned to bring it up again, but he was diagnosed and went right into treatment. The time hasn’t been right since.”

Mike gritted his teeth. “So…where do we stand now?”

Sam looked from Cara to the walls, everywhere but at Mike.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Mike asked, his underlying tone making it clear it wasn’t a question but a demand for answers.

“Go on,” Cara said to Sam. “He needs to know.”

Sam blew out a breath before answering. “Dad’s partner at the time of the incident was Rex Bransom.”

Mike swore and glanced at the ceiling, pulling himself together. Though he probably should have seen this coming as soon as Sam grew more reluctant to tell the story, he felt blindsided anyway. “My biological father,” he finally said.

Sam remained silent, giving Mike time to process the news.

His brother knew Mike’s “real” father was a sore subject. As far as Mike was concerned, Rex Bransom was a man who hadn’t wanted a family and who’d disappeared from his life when his mother was pregnant. Ella and Simon hadn’t sugarcoated the truth—that Rex had bailed on his pregnant girlfriend—explaining that Rex had too many flaws and problems to stick around. But Rex had been Simon’s best friend and partner, and when he’d taken off for parts unknown, Simon had stepped up, married Ella, and adopted Mike.

And they’d all had the perfect life without Rex Bransom involved in it. Deep down, Mike had always figured there was more to the story, but he hadn’t pushed for answers. Probably because since leaving Serendipity, he knew firsthand how much like his real father he actually was. He couldn’t bear to know more.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked.

Cara remained quiet, but he felt her perceptive gaze and sensed her pity, one emotion he did not want her feeling for him.

“I’m fine,” he lied. Mike was happiest when not thinking of the man who’d given him life and probably the rest of his bad habits and behavior before abandoning him.

“Then you understand someone has to take over the investigation with Cara,” Sam said, his point clear.

“Yeah. And because it involves Dad, that person is me.” Mike leaned his head back and groaned.

“Hey, don’t sound so happy about working with me,” Cara said, probably hoping her tease would bring him out of the mood he’d sunk into.

“It’s not about you,” he said, and rose to his feet. Without sparing either of them a look, Mike headed for the front door.

“Give him time,” Sam said to Cara, after his brother’s departure. “Anything to do with his real father brings out the worst in him.”

Cara bit the inside of her cheek, feeling sorry for Mike at the same time she knew he’d hate that particular emotion. “I didn’t know he was adopted by Simon until we started this digging.”

“It’s never been a secret. My parents were always open with Mike and with us. They wanted him to know he was wanted and loved by both of them. And I’ve never seen a hint of anything different from my dad, so you had no reason to know.” He shook his head. “Our dad. Simon’s always been our dad.”

“I get it. Family’s never easy,” she said, thinking of her own parents. “Speaking of family, my mother asked me to come to dinner tonight.”

Sam blinked in surprise. He knew she was basically estranged from her family, or as much as she could be, living in the same small town.

“Did you say yes?” Sam asked.

She shook her head. “No, I said what I always say. Get rid of your extra baggage, and I’ll be there in a heartbeat. I’ve even offered to help her do it. I’d take her to Havensbridge myself and help her get set up,” she said of the women’s shelter where she volunteered.

“What’d she say to that?” Sam asked.

“The usual. She ignored the comment and talked about something else.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“And sadly I’m used to it.”

She rose to her feet. “I’ll let you get some rest. I have some errands to run.”

“Thanks. And thanks again for letting me stay here. I’ll be gone by the end of the weekend. The doc said by Monday I can do more for myself.”

“I don’t mind the company,” she said, with a smile.

“Hey, make sure you keep me in the loop on the investigation. Because my brother probably won’t, and I know you’re going to need a sounding board in dealing with him.”

She forced a smile. “Don’t worry about me; I can handle him. And don’t go talking about me behind my back again, either. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I didn’t need you squeezing a semi-apology out of your brother.” Mindful that Sam was recuperating with stitches, Cara didn’t lay into him the way she normally would have. Besides, she knew he’d meant well.

Sam didn’t even wince at being caught. “Is that all he managed? A semi-apology?” he asked in disgust.

“Mind your own business,” Cara reminded him.

“I’m sorry you have to work closely with him now.” Sam’s frown showed all the disgust he felt at being laid up.

“Like I told you, I can handle your brother.” And she could.

As long as she figured out how to decipher the man’s moods and the reasons behind them.

Their last time together, he’d been an open book, as eager to flirt and sleep with her as she’d been to do the same with him. But since his return, reading his usually somber mood was never easy. Cara was never sure if his disposition was related to being around her, being coerced into returning to town for an undetermined period of time, his job, his father’s illness, or what.

Given that they’d be working together now, she’d have to figure it out because she couldn’t work in a dark vacuum with a brooding man. Not when so much was at stake, including her sanity, considering she could not ignore him.