Man of Her Dreams by Debra Webb (good ebook reader txt) 📕

Her life wasn’t in danger, she decided. Not anymore. Lester wasn’t coming back. She sensed that with finality. Though, God knew, she wasn’t sure she could count on her instincts in the matter. Yet, somehow, she did. Aidan had said the same. And she did trust him.

Any man who would risk his life to rescue the child of a stranger was a man who could be trusted, in her opinion.

Jackson Square Precinct

New Orleans Police Department

DETECTIVE LANCE WILLIS stood in the men’s room on the second floor of the most famous cop building in New Orleans and stared at his reflection. He didn’t look that bad for a guy almost forty. He had a few lines, but he didn’t smoke or lie around on the beach so they weren’t that bad. He’d kept himself fit, still had his hair and teeth. He owned his own house at the edge of the French Quarter and had a fair savings account. He wasn’t such a bad catch. And yet he would be forty in three months and he’d never been married. He heaved a sigh and admitted the truth about his martial status. It was tough for a guy to find a wife when his mistress ruled him, his mistress being his work.

The job always got in the way of a lasting relationship. Dames just didn’t want their men tied to the job like that. And they sure as hell didn’t want some guy that got shot at more often than not. Life was too short to put up with the bull of being a cop’s wife.

End of story.

Willis shoved a hand through his hair and headed back to the bullpen. He’d heard about the hero at the Audubon Zoo who’d rescued the child from the jaguars. The man hadn’t even given his name but he knew from the description, and the fact that two of his officers were still watching Darby Shepard, that it had been her friend.

He hated like hell that he experienced that pang of jealousy. She was a material witness in a case, nothing more. And yet those three days they’d spent practically every minute together had gotten to him on some level. He liked her vulnerability, her innocence. A guy rarely found that these days in the Big Easy.

She was sweet and kind—pretty as hell. He didn’t give a damn about her so-called gift. He just liked her. Liked her a lot.

But, according to the officers on her stakeout detail, she’d let her friend spend the night in her apartment for the past several nights.

Another pang of jealousy stuck him in the gut. The guy could very well be taking advantage of her vulnerability. Especially right now. She’d been through a lot and needed protecting. Hell, Lester was still out there somewhere.

Willis would find that bastard if it was the last thing he ever did. Find him and send his ass to death row. The remains that Darby Shepard had discovered were still with forensics, but Willis knew they belonged to those missing children. He was certain of it.

He would be the hero when the confirmation came and he could go public with that story. Especially if he nailed Lester in the meantime. He would do that. His task force was not going to fail.

Grabbing a pen he wrote down the name Aidan Tanner. “Chapman!” he shouted across the room. “Get over here.”

Chapman, a newbie who’d just been promoted from beat cop after acing the detective’s exam, hustled over to see what his boss wanted.

“What’s up?” He braced his hands on his hips like a John Wayne wannabe and waited for orders.

“See what you can find on that Aidan Tanner guy who’s been hanging around Darby Shepard. I want to know everything you can find on him.”

Chapman shrugged. “Ought to be easy enough. She said he’s with the FBI.”

Shock, followed immediately by fury, boiled up in Willis. “What the hell are you talking about? FBI? Who said he’s Bureau? How come nobody told me about that?”

“I thought you knew. He—”

Willis shook his head, cutting off the detective’s explanation. “If the Bureau had put him on this case, I—” he jammed his thumb into his chest “—would know it. Bill Frazier is a friend of mine. He’s the field supervisor of the New Orleans office. This guy ain’t from the Bureau. Not local, anyway.”

Chapman shrugged. “Whatever you say, boss.”

“Find out who the hell he is,” Willis ordered. “Today.”

He shook his head. Just who the hell did this guy think he was showing up in his territory claiming to be with the Bureau? Well, if he was a Fed, he wasn’t from around here. That only made bad matters worse.

He would get the scoop on this guy and then he’d warn Darby Shepard to beware.

AT MIDNIGHT, Aidan waited in the courtyard for O’Riley’s call. Darby had been oddly quiet tonight. She’d fretted over the minor abrasions he’d sustained while rescuing the child who’d managed to land himself in danger. He’d sensed her need to question him about how he’d managed the feat with such ease, but she hadn’t asked and he’d kept quiet. He also sensed her disillusionment with her ability to foresee danger. He couldn’t explain to her that the talent she possessed required training, honing. It wasn’t something she could simply turn on and off at will without the proper skill. And even then, there would be times when life slipped up on her. As it did on him.

Like now.

He became aware of O’Riley’s presence outside the gate.

He’d said he would call and Aidan hadn’t picked up on anything that indicated otherwise. Obviously he should have.

Aidan slipped through the gate and met his superior on the sidewalk far enough from the streetlight’s reach not to be readily visible. O’Riley was a tall man, six-one perhaps. He’d remained lean over the years, but his age was beginning to show in the lines on his face. No one lived