When Love Matters Most

  She explained it to him and was a little startled by the degree of concern he was exhibiting. But he was a cop, she rationalized, and must see all sorts of bad situations on a regular basis. That didn’t mean she should worry about it. Did it? “Should I be concerned?” she asked.

  He seemed to consider that for a moment, weighing what to say and what not to, then shook his head. “No, but I want you to be cautious.”

  She nodded mutely.

  “It’s probably nothing,” he said. “Just like you suggested. But be alert. Whether he was there purposefully or not, he now knows where you live.”

  Madison felt the hairs on her arms stand on end.

  “Just be careful,” he said a final time. “I’ll ask for some drive-bys for your place, but if you see anything else that concerns you, call 911 right away, then call my cell phone, okay?”

  “Yes,” she said in a subdued voice.

  He gave her a gentle shake. “Promise?”

  “Yes,” she responded with more conviction.

  “Okay.” He took her hand. As they continued down the path, she could tell that some of the lightheartedness was gone.

  They stopped at the end of the trail to buy ice cream cones for themselves and bottles of water for the dogs before they headed back.

  Rick followed her home. He’d insisted. This time, he did walk her up to her front door. “I enjoyed the afternoon.”

  “I did, too,” she said.

  “When can I see you again?”

  She smiled. “The sooner, the better.”

  “How about next weekend? I’d like you to meet my folks.”

  She tried not to gape. Their fourth date and he wanted her to meet his parents? That said a lot about him—and how he felt about her.

  He kissed her gently before he took the steps back down to his vehicle.

  Once Madison was inside, she stood by her living room window and watched him drive off. She knew if she looked in a mirror, she’d have that silly expression on her face again. He was nothing like the kind of person she’d expected to end up with, but everything and more than she’d dreamed.

  And he certainly wasn’t the person she’d thought he was on their first meeting. There was so much she loved about him...

  Loved?

  She felt her heart thunder as the realization struck her. Was she falling in love with Rick Vasquez? And so soon?

  The thought made her happy, nervous, scared and giddy all at the same time.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “I THINK WE made a mistake with Nitro,” Rick said to Logan. They were having coffee in the unit’s kitchenette.

  Brody had been transferred from the unit. Logan had told Rick that he hadn’t been alone with Brody on the morning of their last confrontation. One of the vice squad sergeants had been passing by in the hallway and had stopped when he’d heard the altercation. He’d reported it, and that was strike three for Brody, if you counted what had happened at Logan’s barbecue. Apparently, Logan had included that incident to make his case to the chief to get Brody reassigned. For the time being, Nitro was Rick’s responsibility, and he was glad of it.

  “In what way?” Logan asked.

  “He’s an excellent detection dog. Has all the prerequisites. But I think he’d do better with narcotics than explosives.”

  “Okay, give me your rationale.”

  “Nitro’s got high drive. He’s very intense, good in different environments and fast. Man, is he fast! Although I hate to say this, Brody might’ve been right on one point. Nitro is probably too independent to excel at directed searches needed for explosives or cadaver detection. Nitro might not have wanted to go where Brody directed him to search. And Brody being...well, Brody, I can see how their partnership would’ve started to unravel from there.”

  “Is Nitro beyond redemption? Do we need to retire him?”

  “No way! The dog is remarkable. I put him out there a few times on undirected searches. He beat Sniff’s record in our yard!”

  “Huh. So you think he’d make a good narcotics-detection dog?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Who should we partner him with?”

  “Actually, I want to work with him, once you give me the go-ahead to retire Sniff. Sniff’s only eight, I know, but his mobility issues are getting worse. His cruciate ligament is definitely causing him problems. It’s not so bad that he needs surgery, and I don’t want it to get to that point.” Rick paused. He and Sniff made a terrific team, but police dogs often had short careers. He knew Logan had already requisitioned a replacement for Zeke. Even if Nitro was assigned to him, they’d still need a second new dog for explosives.

  “That sounds more urgent that I’d gathered from our last conversation,” Logan observed. He seemed to consider the proposal. “Take Sniff for a full physical. If Madison agrees with you, have her write up a recommendation for me.”

  “And Nitro?”

  “Brody has filed a long list of complaints against the dog. Are you sure you want to work with Nitro, and take on retraining him for narcotics at his age?”

  “I’m positive,” Rick said without hesitation.

  “Okay. I’ll get back to you on it tomorrow. Have Madison look at Sniff,” he repeated.

  Rick started to rise.

  “And when we retire Sniff, are you going to keep him?”

  Rick glanced at Logan in surprise. It was virtually unheard of for a handler not to keep his or her canine; the bond between them was so strong. For Rick, there was no question. Sniff was his family. “Of course he’ll stay with me.” Logan might have been his boss, but they were friends, too, so he allowed himself a degree of informality. “I can’t believe you’d think anything else.”

  Logan smiled. “I had to ask. Standard procedure.”

  * * *

  MADISON’S WEEK WAS exceptionally full. Jane was on vacation, so some of the other vet’s workload and regular patients were shifted to her. She also spent extra time at the rehab center because she was excited about the progress she was making with her research. PRP had worked perfectly for Mickey. The rat was as good as new.

  The weekend arrived quickly. Too quickly, Madison thought. She hadn’t had a chance to get everything done that she’d hoped to, but she was excited about seeing Rick and meeting his family.

  Standing in front of the door to his parents’ house on Sunday afternoon, Rick stroked a hand down Madison’s back. “There’s no need to be nervous.”

  She exhaled. “I’m not nervous. Not exactly. But I’m meeting your family for the first time.”

  “Honest. They won’t bite.”

  “I want to make a good impression.”

  Rick smiled at Madison encouragingly. “I repeat. There’s no need to be nervous or to worry. My parents are nice people and easy to get along with.”

  Madison smoothed a hand over her wildly curling mane of hair. She glanced at Rick. “Should I tie it back?”

  Rick burst out laughing. “No!” He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “You look absolutely gorgeous the way you are. Stop worrying!”

  Madison drew in a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, tugged down the hem of her shirt. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  “They’ll love you. I’m sure of it.” With that, he opened the door and motioned for her to precede him into the house.

  They’d barely entered the hallway when a shih tzu came charging toward them.

  “This is our official welcome party,” Rick declared, and they both bent down to greet the dog. “Madison, meet Toby.”

  The friendly little dog went a long way to putting Madison at ease. The interior of the house did the rest. The muted colors, the soft textures, the family photographs everywhere. The house looked lived in, but it also seemed to be a place of much love
. Rick took her hand and urged her toward the back of the house, where she could hear voices with music in the background, and could smell something spicy and mouthwatering.

  When they reached the entryway to the kitchen, with all the noise and talk their presence hadn’t been noticed yet. That gave her a moment to take everything in. Rick hadn’t said much about it, but she’d assumed he was adopted, based on comments he’d made about his childhood. The contrast in physical appearance between him and his family was distinct, and seemed to corroborate her belief. All but one of the occupants of the room were blond, slim and no more than average height.

  Rick tugged on her hand and led her into the room. “Hey, everyone,” he announced.

  Conversation stopped and all eyes turned to her. Rick drew her a little farther in. He gave the elegant older woman a big hug and a kiss. She was barely over five feet and had a cap of bright blonde hair.

  “Everyone, this is Madison. Madison, first, this is my mother, Hillary, and...” He smiled at a lanky older man. “My father, Harold.”

  Rick’s mother enfolded her in a hug, then Madison shook hands with his father.

  “Moving on, this lovely young woman is my sister, Sophie, and this,” he said, motioning to the only other dark-haired person in the room, “is her husband, Mark.” He tugged on the white-blonde curls of the child sitting on Mark’s lap. “This is the love of my life, their daughter, Emma.”

  Emma squealed with delight and held her pudgy little arms up to Rick, making noises that were unintelligible to Madison but seemed to mean “lift me” to Rick. He released Madison’s hand and hoisted the girl high in the air. He spun around with her and was rewarded with excited shrieks.

  “Sorry, Madison, but Emma’s my real girl. Any other woman in my life has to come second,” he said with a grin on his face. “And this—” he turned to the last person in the room, a younger version of his father but with a lighter shade of hair “—is my brother, Daniel. So now you’ve met the whole gang.”

  Sophie stepped away from the kitchen sink and also gave Madison a hug. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madison. Welcome!” She sent Rick a mischievous look. “He doesn’t bring many women home to meet us, so there’s got to be something special about you.”

  Before Madison could protest or otherwise respond, Sophie moved over to Rick.

  “Here, let me take this little diva from you, so you can concentrate on Madison.”

  “Why don’t you and Madison go outside, Rick?” his mother suggested. “We’ll be eating out there. The men can go with you. Get Madison a glass of fruit punch from the fridge, and Sophie and I’ll join you there in a minute.”

  Ultimately, Madison didn’t go outside, but stayed in to help with the preparations. She diced vegetables, washed the salad and shredded cheese.

  Over dinner, she chatted with Sophie about fashion, Daniel about construction, since she learned he was an engineer, and with Sophie’s husband, Mark, about babies. With Rick’s parents, she covered the gamut, and they all expressed interest in her work and research.

  When they’d finished the meal, Madison offered to help Hillary clean up, which gave her the opportunity to get to know Rick’s mother a little better while everyone else was still outside enjoying the early-evening sunshine.

  After loading the dishwasher, Madison crouched down to pet Toby. “Has Rick always loved dogs?” she asked.

  Hillary laughed. “Goodness, no!” She paused. “You know he’s adopted?”

  Madison nodded.

  “Well, when he first came to us, we had a little corgi. Rick was thirteen, already over five and a half feet in height and probably a hundred pounds, and he was...” She pursed her lips, considering. “Let’s say...mature for his age. And reserved.”

  Madison could see in the older woman’s eyes that, all these years later, it still pained her, what Rick must have endured during his early life.

  “I wouldn’t say he was afraid of our little Monty,” she continued. “But he was...respectful.” She laughed again. “He’d do any chore, take out the garbage, wash the dishes, do the laundry...just about anything, rather than walk Monty.”

  “Oh, let me do that.” Madison rushed over when she saw Hillary stretching up to replace a platter on the top shelf of a cupboard.

  Hillary stepped aside gratefully.

  “About dogs, that surprises me,” Madison said, returning to their conversation. “He’s so natural with them.”

  “He certainly wasn’t that way when he first came to us.” She looked pensive—a little sad again. “He’d had a hard childhood.” She glanced at Madison with clouded eyes. “Did he tell you anything about that?”

  Madison shrugged. “A bit.”

  “Before he came to us, he’d never really had a chance to be a kid. Something as basic as a household pet wasn’t part of his experience. Our little Monty was a vocal dog. He had a tendency to bark at the oddest things. A noise he heard outside. An unexpected movement. I think the sudden, sharp noise of Monty’s barking would startle Rick until he got used to him. It took Rick a while to stop looking around corners and jumping at noises—and just feeling comfortable that no one was going to hurt him.”

  Hillary’s face relaxed and her mouth settled into a bittersweet smile. “By the time we had to say goodbye to our Monty, it was Rick who took it hardest of any of us. We talked about eventually getting another dog, but none of us felt ready. We were still mourning. Then Rick came home one day clutching a bedraggled little dog with half an ear missing. He’d found the stray near his school and decided he’d adopt him. Rick named him Chico. He was only fifteen, but he insisted that Chico was his responsibility and wouldn’t let us help financially. He delivered newspapers, washed cars, did whatever he needed to earn enough money to pay for Chico’s food, toys and vet bills.”

  Madison smiled. “How sweet.”

  “Oh, that wasn’t the end of it. He volunteered at a private animal shelter that, as part of its mandate, helped bring strays from Mexico across the border for adoption. If you’d seen him, you would’ve thought that each and every one of those animals was his personal responsibility.” Smiling, she shook her head. “It was almost a weekly thing for him to try to talk us into adding another animal to our menagerie, which had already grown to three dogs, a rabbit and a skunk by that time.”

  “He never mentioned that.” Madison felt her heart swell again for Rick. “A skunk?”

  “It had been de...skunked,” Hillary said. “For lack of a better word. Someone had kept it as a pet and changed his mind.” She paused. “Rick was a good boy, with a big heart, and he’s grown into a good man. We’re very proud of him.”

  “And justifiably so,” Madison said. She’d seen the pictures of him all over the house. What had happened to his birth parents? she wondered. Whatever it was, she was happy Rick and the Stewarts had found each other. Every indication was that they were a close and loving family.

  Madison pondered fleetingly how it would go when Rick met her father. Her father loved her, but he was also protective of her, and he didn’t bother to hide it. She hoped he and Rick would hit it off as well as she had with Rick’s family.

  Once everything was cleaned up and the rest of the family had wandered back inside, they sat around the kitchen island, drinking coffee.

  Seeing Rick with his family helped her appreciate him even more. It reinforced the traits she’d sensed and had come to love about him. Watching him with his niece, Emma, was a revelation. If she’d thought he was good with animals, seeing him with the delightful little girl took his kindheartedness to an entirely different level. He doted on her, and when he was in the room, Emma had eyes only for him.

  Madison adored his entire family. They’d made her feel welcome and comfortable. It was as if she’d known them for years. She particularly liked his sister. Sophie had a great sense of hum
or, was intelligent and down-to-earth, and they’d connected immediately.

  Rick’s brother, Daniel, was less outgoing but pleasant.

  And his parents? They couldn’t have been more welcoming. Not having had a mother or even a mother figure in her life, Madison felt a special fondness for Hillary.

  “So what did you think?” Rick asked her during their drive to her house.

  “Your family is wonderful! Thank you for taking me to meet them.” Her lips curved in a smile. “Emma’s going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up. She already has you twisted around her little finger,” she said with a laugh. She reached out and linked her fingers with his. “It’s obvious they love you very much. You’re very lucky to have them.”

  “Yeah, I am.”

  She squeezed his hand. “And they’re lucky to have you,” she added softly, and thought that she, too, was lucky that Rick had come into her life.

  * * *

  TENSION WAS ALL but vibrating in the air, and it was etched on the cops’ faces when Rick entered the squad room Monday evening. A tip had come in that Los Zetas would be coming across the border that night. Not in trucks or vans, but by runners—by mules. Mexicans who were so destitute they’d make the run for no more than a few pesos despite the risk of getting arrested, or worse.

  Everyone wanted to get back at Los Zetas for what they’d done to Jeff, but no one could shake the apprehension that came from responding to a tip from another confidential informant, since the last time had gone so horribly wrong.

  Although Rick had been on duty since early that morning, he wanted in. No way was he going home and leaving it to others. It would also gave him an opportunity to test Nitro in the field.

  He was part of the team waiting for the mules at strategic points along the border. It was past midnight when the signal went out that they were nearing. The police team was on alert and in radio silence.

  Rick had Nitro lying quietly beside him.

  Then he heard it. The thrashing through tall grass. Someone was approaching at a fast pace. With the moon casting its shimmering silver glow across the field, he could make out a silhouette. The runner was hunched over, fear evident in the movement of his body. His hair was on the longish side, and he swiveled his head from side to side, no doubt searching for signs of danger. He had one arm extended in front of him—as if attempting to ward off attack—and a satchel slung across his chest.