Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

little deeper.
    It was a chaste kiss that rocked him to his core. And when he raised his head he knew that once would never be enough.
    She opened her eyes and he saw no regret. Just quiet acceptance of what had just transpired between them. And trust. It was the trust that had his heart knocking out of his chest. She trusts me . Needs me .
    ‘Now what do we do?’ she whispered.
    ‘We find Doug and we follow him to Ford.’ And then . . . more. I need more of her .

Chapter Twelve
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, December 3, 8.05 P.M.
    ‘ I have to say I’m impressed,’ Alec said as they walked into Philly PD’s headquarters. ‘And, truthfully, relieved. You’re better connected than I thought.’
    ‘We shouldn’t get trouble from the locals,’ Clay murmured. ‘Novak’s another story.’
    The Fed had been excessively annoyed to find Clay had ‘interfered’ with Gargano. Novak had curtly summoned him to Philly PD’s headquarters to ‘debrief’.
    ‘They say we’re six degrees of separation from everybody on the planet. I never really believed that until just now,’ Alec said, glancing nervously at the uniformed officers giving them hard stares as they walked up to the main desk.
    Probably because I look like a drug dealer . Clay was dirty, unshaven, his pants still stained with Stevie’s blood. ‘You stay in this business long enough and everybody’s connected, kid. You just got a head start.’
    Clay had reached out to an old friend to smooth his way with the Philly PD, but he was on his own with Novak and the local Feds. Carter wouldn’t be able to bail him out of any trouble Novak made for him. Carter was too busy containing the mess in Baltimore.
    Which had become the most royal of cluster-fucks. Ford was dead. Daphne was shattered. I was too late .
    ‘’Scuse me.’ The man had just come out of the elevator and was walking toward them. He was no more than thirty, his sandy blond hair cut military short. ‘You the PI?’
    Clay nodded to the man. ‘I’m Maynard,’ he said.
    ‘Detective Wiznewski. Come with me, please.’
    ‘This is Alec Vaughn, my associate. He stays with me, if you don’t mind.’
    Wiznewski shrugged and hit the elevator button. ‘Whatever. I’m supposed to take you straight to the LT. How is it that you know Chick? Are you related? Because he’s got, like, a million brothers and sisters and cousins.’
    ‘He’s a friend of a friend. Ciccotelli’s sister is married to a Chicago homicide cop.’
    ‘Him, I’ve met. Nice guy. Reagan, right?’
    ‘Right,’ Clay said. ‘Aidan Reagan. Aidan’s brother is also a homicide cop. My old partner and I worked with the brother on an abduction case in Chicago about six years ago.’ Which is how Clay had met Alec. We aren’t always too late . ‘ My old partner decided to stay in Chicago and is tight with the locals there.’
    The elevator doors opened and Wiznewski shepherded them in. ‘Why’d he stay?’
    ‘Ethan got married,’ Clay said. ‘He left my firm.’
    ‘The new wife made him quit?’ Wiznewski was clearly a man who liked his gossip.
    ‘Dana wouldn’t have done that,’ Alec inserted loyally, but the sideways glance he gave Clay was questioning, as if he’d wondered.
    ‘She didn’t make him quit,’ Clay said firmly. ‘Ethan wanted to settle down, have a family. Plus, his godson had moved to Chicago. He wanted to be close to the kid.’
    Alec’s lips curved. He was the godson. ‘Because the kid was awesome.’
    ‘And very humble,’ Clay said dryly.
    Thinking about those old days was a double-edged sword. He was happy for his old friend, because Ethan had definitely gotten his wish. Dana had just given birth to their third child. Between their kids and all the fosters they had running around, their house was pretty damn exciting. And pretty damn happy.
    But Clay envied his old friend, too, because thinking about Ethan’s happy home made him wish for one of his own, which made him think of Stevie, as it always did.
    The elevator doors opened. ‘Chick’s office is over here,’ Wiznewski said.
    A man was leaning against the doorframe of a perimeter office, scrutinizing them as they approached. Tall and lean, his black hair was threaded with silver at the temples.
    That would be Vito Ciccotelli , Clay thought. Alec stayed at his side, but his stance changed as they stopped in front of Ciccotelli. The kid stood tall, shoulders back just enough to be firm without appearing