I put the box back in the bag and the bag back under the tree. As much as I wanted to open them and read the instructions, that would be rude. Gran patted my hand. “I need to get back to cooking. When you have a minute, maybe you could make up some ranch dressing for the salad?”
I nodded. “In a second, Gran. I promise.” I leaned back against the chair and let the white noise settle over me. The cop contingent had gathered into a group around Alex and were talking shop. The Murphys were chatting with Adriana, Okalani, and Laka—who had apparently just popped in, because they hadn’t been here moments ago. Dawna touched my hand and I looked over at her wearily.
“So … while everybody’s busy, tell us about the boys. Is Bruno moving back?”
I nodded and smiled. “It’ll be a few months, I think. He doesn’t have a job yet, but I get the impression Creede wants to talk to him. They decided to ride to the airport together. I don’t know what I think of that.” Granted, they had worked together really well at the rift, but I could see a lot of potential problems, given their personalities.
“Speaking of Creede, how did the big lunch date go last week?”
I rolled my eyes. “He showed up at ten o’clock.”
Emma let out a disgusted sound. “I hate it when guys do that. Your hair’s in curlers and you probably just stepped out of the shower, huh?”
“Ten p.m.,” I corrected.
Now their jaws dropped, which was exactly what mine had done. “Yeah. For a lunch date.” I’d been beyond livid. “It was the third time in a row, and frankly, I let him have it.”
“Damn straight, girl. Although, really … it was only the second. You canceled once.”
Okay, fair point. But I raised a finger. “I did text him to let him know the client’s game had gone into overtime. He didn’t even go that far.”
Both girls rolled their eyes and let out an exasperated breath on my behalf. “So what was the excuse?”
I shrugged. “Same as last time. He got busy. But I will admit he made up for it.” I paused and glanced up to make sure Gran was still in the kitchen. Then I lowered my voice and leaned in toward them. “Moonlight cruise on his sailboat to San Diego and a four-course dinner in a private room at the Silver House Restaurant.” I blew on my hand and then made polishing movements on the front of my sweater. They reacted like I thought they would.
“Damn. There’s like a yearlong waiting list for even a regular reservation there.” Dawna let out a slow breath. “It wins points, but does it win ten hours late of points?”
“No. But the back rub on the boat did.” Oh my, had it won points because my back wasn’t the only thing he’d rubbed. “But we’re taking it slow. I think both of us are a little wary of each other right just now.”
Dawna started to respond, but my head turned at the sound of a loud knock on the door. Had I missed another bell? I touched her hand. “Hold that thought.”
I waved at Adriana, who was motioning me over. I pointed at the door and held up a hand. I did need to talk to her about some stuff, but I was still playing hostess.
“Merry Christm—” I swung open the door and my voice died in my throat. I recovered after a few seconds, but it was awkward. “Rizzoli? Um … Merry Christmas.”
He wasn’t on my invite list, and frankly, he looked like he’d just woken up. His voice was flat and without inflection: “Merry Christmas, Graves. Grab your badge. We have to go.”
Badge? Go? Um … Maybe if I tried again, this time with a smile. I put on my best client smile and cocked my head a little. “Let’s try that again. Merry Christmas, Rizzoli. Do you want to come in for a leisurely cup of coffee and a chat? Lots of cops here to talk shop with.”
He let out a frustrated sound and slammed his fists down in the pockets of his trench coat. “No, what I want to do is to go back home and sit in the living room with my family, opening gifts. I was up until midnight assembling my son’s first two-wheeler and had sort of hoped to see whether he liked it. But instead, I’m here and my wife is pissed beyond belief. So, if you’ll just get your badge we can get this over with and both get back to our respective celebrations.” He finally looked me up and down, as though assessing me. “What you have on is fine for this.” He said it like it wouldn’t be fine for other things.
What the hell?
“In case nobody gave you the memo, Rizzoli, I don’t work for you.”
One hand came out of the pocket and he leaned heavily on the side of my house. He looked inside, noticed all the local cops—some in and some out of uniform—and lowered his voice to a dangerous whisper: “Let me explain something, Graves. The notoriety you got for saving the world was both a good thing and a bad one—for you. You’re seen as a threat to certain elements in the government. I’ve been keeping the heat off you and you haven’t even known about it. But I’m getting ridden like a pony at a kiddie party. Now, I can either stop doing it or keep doing it. Which would you prefer?”
Oh. I was liking the no media and no investigations. I’d been sort of wondering why things had been so quiet. “It’s that important? To call you out on a holiday?”
“If they’re not lying to me, you’ll want to save snapshots of the rift in your scrapbook as your last happy memory.” He paused. “Did I mention it’s at double your regular rate? It should only take a half hour or so.”
Well, the month wasn’t over and I did have bills to pay. The party probably wouldn’t miss me for a few minutes. I held open the door. “C’mon in for a second. My badge is upstairs.” He came in but stayed carefully on the tiled entry. I bolted up the stairs as Dawna called out behind me, “What’s going on, Celia?”
I grabbed the badge from the top of my jewelry box and picked up my duffel. No sense going anywhere unarmed. I headed down the stairs but made a sharp right turn before I reached the door. “We don’t have time for good-byes, Celia,” Rizzoli snapped as I moved away from him.
Dawna’s expression was somewhere between surprised and angry. “Where are you going?”
I shrugged. “The usual. Bad people want to hurt good people and Rizzoli wants me to throw myself into the line of fire.”
She got up and walked to the door, putting her face right into his. “It’s Christmas, Mr. Federal Agent. See all the people? We’re having good cheer and high spirits.”
“Yes, ma’am. I can see that. And if you’d like to see another Christmas, I have to borrow Graves.”
I was pretty sure he wasn’t kidding. Just to be safe, I picked up the bag with the first-aid charm disks, then grabbed Bruno’s and Creede’s presents.
I was stuffing the boxes into my duffel as I joined Rizzoli, leaving my now-silent guests staring after me. He motioned toward the gifts. “What are those?”
“With any luck, they’re things that’ll keep me alive long enough to eat dried-out turkey later.”
We could but hope.
Tor Paranormal Romance Books by
C. T. Adams and Cathy Clamp
THE SAZI
Hunter’s Moon
Moon’s Web
Captive Moon
Howling Moon
Moon’s Fury
Timeless Moon
Cold Moon Rising
Serpent Moon
THE THRALL
Touch of Evil
Touch of Madness