Trying to explain how eons ago he had run through a forest that once was on dry land and now buried underwater in Lake MacDonald, and other such things, wasn’t an option. He had gone diving with her there just for fun, and wished he could have told her about the time Paul and he had a very close call with a bear, when the forest wasn’t underwater. She would never have believed him.

“Hope everything’s all right,” she said, sounding genuinely concerned.

The problem was she had a cop’s way of thinking. She was curious and had good instincts. She could tell something was going on. He knew the longer they worked together, the dicier it would get. Paul had warned him, but what could Allan do? He couldn’t very well ask for another partner when he really loved working with her, and how would he explain why he could no longer work with her?

Anything he said might hurt her career. And he wasn’t about to do that.

He sighed. Somehow he would just have to keep up the facade. That meant not letting on that he could smell things that humans couldn’t. She’d already commented on his remarkable eyesight when it was getting to be dusk and dawn.

Yeah, working with her was great…and dangerous. Not only because of what he was, but because he totally had the hots for her. And that was a no go in this business. He told himself it would be easy because partners didn’t date, normally. If he just kept it on a professional basis, he should have no problem.

His focus turned to Paul’s phone call. He knew the situation wouldn’t be some minor issue. He was anxious to learn what the trouble was this time.

Chapter 3

Debbie really loved working with Allan, though he was…different. Maybe that’s why she loved working with him so much. She could tell he really wanted to see her after hours, and did sometimes—to talk more about a case.

They would keep working on cases no matter the hour, have dinner together, work on them some more. Get up early, start on it again. They’d rescued four people who had fallen through ice while ice fishing, saved a baby moose that had fallen through ice, and rescued two accident victims due to icy road conditions this month. Not only that, but they’d been working on this murder case too, and though the vehicle and body had already been removed from the lake, they planned to see if they could find anything else in the water around the site of the accident.

She glanced at him, trying to read his expression. He had one of those faces that made her think of a really nice guy, but she knew Allan could be all business when it came to taking someone in hand.

He appreciated her training and often remarked on what a great partner she was. She knew he wasn’t saying it just to be nice. He truly meant what he said, and she really respected him for it. She felt the same way about him.

“Are we still on for pizza?” she asked, wanting to check on the baby and mom at the clinic to see for herself they were okay, but she was also dying to have a pizza. She hadn’t had one in ages, and it was a nice way to take a break once she dried her wet clothes and her hair. At least the car heater was now warming her up.

“You bet.” His eyes always lit up when his gaze caught hers. He was seriously sexy, muscular and in great shape and that appealed too.

She’d always wanted to hear his SEAL stories, the ones that he could share with her. He’d told her about a couple of rescues he and his team had performed for private contracts. They’d been in the Amazon a number of times on dangerous missions. She found him to be the most fascinating man she’d ever met.

Some of her fascination was because his family was so important to him. She was estranged from her own. Her father had been the town drunk, and her mother, the perfect enabler. Good thing Debbie was an only child so only she’d had to suffer the consequences of a dysfunctional family like theirs.

“When you were getting Franny’s purse, she said a red car nearly hit hers, slid on the ice, and she turned to avoid it. That’s how she ended up careening down the hill and sailing into the culvert. She said he did it on purpose, but she doesn’t remember the SUV being upside down. Just that somehow she managed to get out and then couldn’t get to her baby. So I suspect she just imagined the driver had caused the accident on purpose.”

“Hell, I thought she was mistaken. The driver didn’t stop to help? Call it in or anything?”

“It wasn’t technically a hit and run, and he might have been afraid if he tried to brake on the ice he’d be where she was.”

“If it was a woman or someone elderly, I’d give the driver the benefit of the doubt, but her baby could have died. And Franny could have also.”

“Agreed. She said he was wearing a camo cap and his hair was cut short, but that’s all she could see before she swerved to avoid him. He was about our age.”

“Then he should be strung up.”

She wasn’t surprised at the way Allan felt. She had thought the same thing, though she had tried to see it from the other driver’s point of view too. But she had to agree with Allan.

When he drove into her duplex driveway, he finally said, “Uh, about lunch, yeah. I’ll give you a call in just a bit.”

Then he dropped her off, and she knew as distracted as he was, whatever was the matter had to be really important.

He pulled out of her driveway, a frown marring his temple as he talked to someone on his cell. She wondered again just what the trouble was and if she would be going alone to the clinic.

She realized she really wanted to be part of his life, to be there for him if he needed someone to talk to about family stuff. Not in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, particularly, but just as a friend. That had been something she had trouble with growing up. She had had no one to talk to about her parents. Better to just leave home and stay away. As a kid, that had meant spending hours at the library after school and immersing herself in books until the library closed for the night. Often a police officer would drive her home.

She’d gotten to know nearly everyone on the police force that way. One of the officers had rescued her father from his submerged truck when he’d gotten drunk and crashed it through the bridge. The officer had only delayed the inevitable, though. Her dad killed himself a year later in another accident, one with a concrete bridge column. But the officer’s dedication as a diver, and her love of the water and subsequent scuba diving certification, had made the decision for her. She had become a contracted police diver just like Officer Hardy Monroe.

She knew Allan had chosen to be one so he could work closer to home and spend more time with his family, though he had told her when he was needed for a mission, he would have to take a leave of absence and deal with it. She was surprised he would continue to do missions away from home as close as he was to his family. In the four and a half months he’d been working with her, he hadn’t gone on any assignments. She was glad because she really enjoyed working with him. Trying to train with a new diver would mean learning his or her idiosyncrasies all over again.

Paul Cunningham was the same way as far as continuing to do contract work out of country, though he’d set aside that business because his wife was pregnant. Debbie had felt bad when he’d broken his leg and hoped it would mend just fine. He was out of the cast now, but he was still using a cane. When he was fully recovered, would he go back to being partnered with Allan?

That made her feel a little blue.

After washing up, getting dressed, and drying her hair, she was hopeful she could have lunch with Allan and head over to the clinic. When she checked her phone, Allan had texted his regrets: Need to deal with some family issues. Talk to you soon. Allan