Sacred Sins

Court.”
    “Good morning. Let me take your coat.”
    “Thanks. Freezing out there,” he said to Ben. “Mullendore's in position out front. Hope he wore his long underwear.”
    “Don't get too comfortable watching game shows.” Ben reached for his own coat as he took a last look around the room. There was only one entrance, and Pilomento would never be more than about twenty-five feet from her. Still, even as he bundled into his coat, he didn't feel warm. “I'll be in periodic contact with the surveillance teams. Now, why don't you go into the kitchen and pour yourself some coffee?”

    “Thanks. I just had one in the car on the way over.”
    “Have another.”
    “Oh.” He looked from Ben to Tess. “Yeah, sure.” Whistling between his teeth, he walked off.
    “That was rude, but I don't mind.” With a low laugh Tess slipped her arms around Ben's waist. “Be careful.”
    “I make a habit of it. See that you do.”
    He drew her close, and the kiss was long and lingering. “You going to wait up for me, Doc?”
    “Count on it. You'll call if … well, if anything happens?”
    “Count on it.” Taking her face in his hands, he held it a moment, then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You're so lovely.” It was the quick surprise in her eyes that made him realize that he hadn't made use of all his clever and slick compliments with her as he had with other women. The realization caught him off balance. To cover it, he tucked her hair behind her ear, then backed away. “Lock the door.”
    He pulled it shut behind him, wishing he could shake the uneasy feeling that things weren't going to go as neatly as planned.

    H OURS later he was huddled inside the Mustang, watching Tess's building. Two kids were putting the finishing touches on an elaborate snowman. Ben wondered if their father knew they'd copped his fedora. The day had gone even slower than he'd imagined.
    “Days're getting shorter,” Ed commented. Sprawled in the passenger's seat, he was warm as a bear in a union suit, corduroys, flannel shirt, sweater, and an L.L. Bean parka. The cold had long since numbed its way through Ben's boots.
    “There's Pilomento.”

    The detective came out of the building, paused only a heartbeat on the sidewalk, and flipped up the collar of his coat. It was the signal that Lowenstein was inside and things were tight. Ben's muscles relaxed only fractionally.
    “She's fine, you know.” Ed stretched a bit and began isometric exercises to keep his legs from cramping. “Lowenstein's mean enough to hold off an army.”
    “He isn't going to move until dark.” Because his face froze if he cracked the window for too long, Ben substituted a Milky Way for the cigarette he wanted.
    “You know what that sugar's doing to the enamel of your teeth?” Never one to give up the battle, Ed drew out a small plastic container. Inside was a homemade snack of raisins, dates, unsalted nuts, and wheat germ. He'd made enough for two. “You gotta start reeducating your appetite.”
    Ben took a large, deliberate bite of his candy bar. “When Roderick relieves us, we're stopping by the Burger King on the way in. I'm getting a Whopper.”
    “Please, not while I'm eating. If Roderick, Bigsby, and half the station had a proper diet, they wouldn't have been down with the flu.”
    “I didn't get sick,” Ben said over a mouthful of chocolate.
    “Blind luck. By the time you hit forty, your system's going to revolt. It won't be pretty. What's this?” Ed sat up straight as he watched the man across the street. His long black coat was buttoned high. He walked slowly. Too slowly, too cautiously.
    Both detectives had one hand on their weapons and one on the door handles when the man suddenly broke into a run. Ben had already pushed the car door open when the man scooped up one of the little girls playing in the snow and tossed her high. She let out a quick, ringing laugh, and called out, “Daddy!”

    As the breath pushed out of his body, Ben sat back down. Feeling foolish, he turned to Ed. “You're as jumpy as I am.”
    “I like her. I'm glad you decided to risk eating turkey with her granddaddy.”
    “I told her about Josh.”
    Ed's brows lifted, disappearing into the seaman's cap he'd pulled over his head. That, he knew, was more of a commitment than even he'd believed Ben could make. “And?”
    “And I guess I'm glad I did. She's the best thing that's happened in my life. God, that sounds corny.”
    “Yeah.” Content, Ed began to