Perfect Fit (Serendipity's Finest 1)

An hour later, they were nearly at the bottom of his inbox. True, his schedule was full for the week, but he was up and running efficiently once more.

“I’m not sure what I’d do without you,” he said to Rachel.

“Your father used to say the same thing. If I’m making myself indispensable, I’m doing my job right.” She smiled, and she looked younger than her light silver hair usually made her look.

“My father’s a smart man.” Mike smiled at the thought of Simon in this same seat.

“And you’ve got a lot of him in you. The respect you command from your officers, the way you don’t take the mayor’s BS—pardon my French—and of course, your way with the ladies.” She laughed. “Not that you’d do anything about all that attention they give you. You’re like your daddy in that way too.”

“Attention?” Mike asked. Since he’d been back in Serendipity, he hadn’t noticed any women paying him special notice.

“Another way you’re like Simon, God bless him. Once he laid eyes on your mama, there wasn’t another woman who could distract him.”

Mike didn’t know which comment to tackle first, so he went with the easiest. “You don’t say? Dad was a goner from the beginning?” He wanted to hear more about Simon and Ella in the early days, after Rex left and they’d gotten together.

He often wondered if Simon had done the right thing and fallen in love later, or if he’d always had a thing for Ella but the coast wasn’t clear until Rex left town. He’d also been curious about his mom, whether she’d married Simon out of desperation or true caring. He didn’t doubt she loved him now, but in the beginning? Mike shivered, knowing he was more afraid to know that part of the story, whether being pregnant with Mike had compelled his mother to make a choice she wouldn’t have otherwise.

He forced himself to refocus on Rachel, who was looking at him with a funny expression on her face. “Did you hear me?” she asked.

“Sorry. I got distracted.”

“I said, Simon always loved your mama, even when she was with that scoundrel, Rex…Oh!” Rachel slapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me.”

Mike shook his head. “You spoke the truth. No need to apologize.” Everyone, it seemed, knew Rex Bransom hadn’t been a man worth knowing.

Cheeks still pink, Rachel looked to Mike’s desk, pulling a manila envelope from the bottom of his inbox. “This is the last thing. It has your name on it.” She handed the package to Mike without meeting his gaze.

“It’s okay, Rachel. Really.”

She nodded. “Thank you. I’m going to take these stacks and head over to the filing room.” She gathered the papers and quickly made her escape.

With a groan, Mike lowered himself back to his seat, package in hand. He didn’t recognize the writing but realized this had to be the envelope he’d gotten a phone call about over a week ago. He’d forgotten all about it and obviously it’d been buried beneath piles of paperwork.

He opened the envelope and a clichéd black book fell out, along with a note. A quick read told him it was from Judge Baine’s wife:

In a lucid moment, my husband asked me to give you this. Old mistakes that he paid for by living with his guilty conscience that eats away at what few good moments he has now. As many suspected, the old Winkler place was, in fact, a brothel. Many otherwise good, prominent men kept it going—until the time you were asking about. Now you have the list in your hands. Do with it what you must. My husband has more than made up for his sins, at least to me, and he’s barely aware of what’s going on around him most of the time, anyway. But he did want to clear his conscience, and I followed his wishes.

Mike glanced up at the ceiling in his office. “A lead as well as some answers. Thank you, God.”

He jumped up and headed for the squad room, intent on finding Cara. He found her at her desk, typing in reports on the barebones system they had. Soon, though, his new system would be in place and even when he was gone from here, he’d have made a lasting impression.

That mattered to him, he realized. This place, a small police station with dingy walls, an air conditioner that needed to be replaced, and the people in it, mattered.

“Hi!” Cara glanced up from her desk.

Beautiful blue eyes focused on him and immediately brightened his day. “Hi. You have some time?”

“Umm, sure. Let me just save this…” She hit a button and pushed her chair back. “Ready. What’s up?”

He looked her over, loving how she appeared so in control and sexy in her uniform. “I have a lead on the money in the evidence room. Or at the very least, I have a list of names and information I can’t discuss here.”

“Then let’s go.”

She was dropping everything? “Don’t you have work to do?”

“I’m on top of things.”

“Good. I want to look at this in private. Can we go to your place?”