Entwined With You

they were distant, each displaying a New Yorker’s ability to be an island in a crashing tide of people. Pedestrians flowed past them in both directions, avoiding a man pushing religious flyers and the tiny dog at his feet.
    The vitality of the city had a frenetic pulse that made time seem to move faster here than anywhere else. It was such a contrast to the lazy sensuality of Southern California, where my dad lived and I’d gone to school. New York was a dominatrix on the prowl, cracking a mean whip and tantalizing with every vice.
    My purse vibrated against my hip and I reached into it for my phone. A quick glance at the screen told me it was my dad. Saturdays were our weekly catch-up days and I always looked forward to our chats, but I was almost inclined to let the call go to voice mail until I was in a better frame of mind. I was too aggravated with my mom, and my dad had already been overly concerned about me since he’d left New York after his last visit.
    He’d been with me when the detectives had come to my apartmentto tell me Nathan was in New York. They’d dropped that bomb before they revealed that Nathan had been murdered, and I hadn’t been able to hide my fear at the thought of him being so close. My dad had been after me about my violent reaction ever since.
    “Hey,” I answered, mostly because I didn’t want to be at odds with both my parents at the same time. “How are you?”
    “Missing you,” he replied in the deep, confident voice I loved. My dad was the most perfect man I knew—darkly handsome, self-assured, smart, and rock solid. “How ’bout you?”
    “I can’t complain too much.”
    “Okay, complain just a little. I’m all ears.”
    I laughed softly. “Mom’s just driving me a little batty.”
    “What’d she do now?” he asked, with a note of warm indulgence in his voice.
    “She’s been sticking her nose in my business.”
    “Ah. Sometimes we parents do that when we’re worried about our babies.”
    “
You’ve
never done that,” I pointed out.
    “I haven’t done it
yet
,” he qualified. “That doesn’t mean I won’t, if I’m worried enough. I just hope I could convince you to forgive me.”
    “Well, I’m on my way to Mom’s now. Let’s see how convincing she can be. It would help if she’d admit she’s wrong.”
    “Good luck with that.”
    “Ha! Right?” I sighed. “Can I call you tomorrow?”
    “Sure. Is everything all right, sweetheart?”
    I closed my eyes. Cop instincts plus daddy instincts meant I rarely got anything by Victor Reyes. “Yep. It’s just that I’m almost to Mom’s now. I’ll let you know how it goes. Oh, and my boss might be getting engaged. Anyway, I have stuff to tell you.”
    “I may have to stop by the station in the morning, but you can reach me on my cell no matter what. I love you.”
    I felt a sudden surge of homesickness. As much as I loved New York and my new life, I missed my dad a lot. “I love you, too, Daddy. Talk to you tomorrow.”
    Killing the call, I looked for my wristwatch, and its absence reminded me of the confrontation ahead. I was upset with my mother about the past, but was most concerned with the future. She’d hovered over me for so long because of Nathan, I wasn’t sure she knew any other way to behave.
    “Hey.” I leaned forward, needing to clarify something that was bothering me. “That day when me, Mom, and Megumi were walking back to the Crossfire and Mom freaked out … Did you guys see Nathan?”
    “Yes.”
    “He’d been there before and got his ass beat by Gideon Cross. Why would he go back?”
    He glanced at me through the mirror. “My guess? To be seen. Once he made himself known, he kept the pressure up. Likely, he expected to frighten you and managed to scare Mrs. Stanton instead. Effective in either case.”
    “And no one told me,” I said quietly. “I can’t get over that.”
    “He wanted you frightened. No one wanted to give him that satisfaction.”
    Oh. I hadn’t thought of it that way.
    “My big regret,” he went on, “is not keeping an eye on Cary. I miscalculated, and he paid the price.”
    Gideon hadn’t seen Nathan’s attack on Cary coming, either. And God knew I felt guilty about it, too—my friendship was what had put Cary in danger to begin with.
    But I was really touched that Clancy cared. I could hear it in his gruff voice. He was right; I wasn’t just a job to him. He was a good man who gave his all to everything he did. Which made me wonder: