“Sweet-talk all you want, I’m still not sitting in your lap in Central. Ever.”
He laughed. “Another fantasy shattered. What I want from you is the fifty years and more I saw between the Gannons today. The love and understanding, the memories of a lifetime. I want that from you.”
“We’ve got one year in. Second one’s going pretty well so far.”
“No complaints.”
“I’m going to clock out. Why don’t we both ditch work for the rest of the day-”
“It’s already half-six, Lieutenant. Your shift’s over anyway.”
She frowned at her wrist unit and saw he was right. “It’s the thought that counts. Let’s go home, put a little more time into year two.”
He took her hand as they walked out together. “What’s done with the diamonds until they’re turned over to whoever might be the legal owner?”
“Sealed, logged, scanned and locked in an evidence box that is locked in one of the evidence vaults in the bowels of this place.” She slanted him a look. “Good thing you don’t steal anymore.”
“Isn’t it?” He slung a friendly arm around her shoulders as they took the glide. “Isn’t it just?”
And deep, deep under the streets of the city, in the cool, quiet dark, the diamonds waited to shine again.
J. D. Robb
