Walk the Line (Man of the Month 12)

now that as well as I do."

"I do," Brent admitted. "I was hoping you could pull some of the feed from the neighboring properties. And from that ATM across the street."

Landon exhaled slowly. "Come on, Brent. I need probable cause for that."

"Not if you have consent. Ask them. Remind them that the taggers could get their property next."

"Couldn't you do that?"

"I could. But I'm only security. You do it--even if you're asking for consent--and someone's going to think the cops are interested. And if I'm paying attention to folks' reactions to your poking around, I may realize who that is."

Landon shook his head, chuckling. "Fair enough. I'll have a few conversations. Meanwhile, why don't you get a few more cameras installed?"

Brent cocked his head as he looked at his friend. "Don't you think I've already put that in motion? They're coming late afternoon. Figured since I was going to be there anyway I may as well make some progress."

"Makes sense." Landon stood and started for the door, then paused, turning back to Brent. "I thought you were cutting down on weekend hours."

"I was. But I lost two of my guys recently. I'm covering shifts until I make some new hires. It's fine," he said, waving away whatever Landon had been about to say. "Sucks for Faith, but it's only temporary."

"Jenna covering babysitting duties for you?"

"Got someone else this time. I was going to ask her, but Reece mentioned in passing that they're in the middle of decorating the nursery. I didn't want to eat into her free time."

"Well, it sounds like you've got it under control. The kid stuff and the work stuff."

"It's what I do." He'd been juggling single parenthood since Olivia had walked out on him the day that Faith was born. She'd been twenty-four when they'd married, and though he'd been a few years older, neither of them had truly understood what love was. From the moment she'd gotten pregnant, she'd pulled away from him. Hell, maybe that had started from the moment he'd slipped a ring on her finger.

Whatever had been brewing inside her had come to a head the night Faith was born. She snapped. She walked. And a few days later she filed for divorce, which had been fine with Brent. He could have forgiven a lot of things, but not walking out on their child.

"Have you thought about coming back?"

Brent's head snapped up, pulled from his thoughts by Landon's question. "I'm sorry. What?"

"To the job. We're short on detectives. You know the captain would give his right eye to have you back."

A frisson of excitement cut through him at the thought of going back on the job. But he pushed it down. "Not gonna happen," he said. "I believe you've met my daughter?"

Landon flashed a cockeyed grin. "And she's pretty damn adorable. But she's in kindergarten now. It's doable."

Brent nodded slowly. "It is. And honestly, it's tempting. I miss the job--I won't lie."

"Then what?"

"Come on, Landon. It's dangerous, and you know it. I'm not going to risk leaving her an orphan. She already had one parent leave. She's not going to lose another."

"Odds are slim, man."

"Maybe. But they're better now than if I were chasing down meth dealers. The only job that matters to me these days is being her dad."

Bottom line, as much as he missed being a cop, he was never going back.

He knew his priority, and her name was Faith.

Chapter Four

"Daddy!" Faith leaped off the swings and ran toward him, her little legs pumping and her black curls bouncing as Brent knelt on the grass in the well-manicured backyard.

"Hey, kiddo! Did you have fun? Sorry I'm late," he added to Rayleen Burg, the mother of Kyla, the birthday girl, who also happened to be Faith's current BFF. He didn't add that he'd gotten held up at the police station. The single mom was chatty enough as it was, and he didn't need to hand her conversational fodder. Especially since she'd made no attempt to hide her attraction to him.