The P.I. Contest

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He shrugged. “There’s no one serious. I tend to avoid that sort of thing.”

“So the stereotype of the single, male pilot fits after all. A girl in every city…is that how it works?”

“Hardly every city. I don’t have that much energy.”

She refused to smile. “It’s going to be difficult to keep the women in line now that you’re stuck in one place. What’s with that, anyway? Why the switch from pilot to P.I.?”

“Like you, I have plenty of reasons. But the main one is my nephew, Eric. I need to be home in the morning to get him off to school. And I want to be home every evening to cook dinner and make sure he does his schoolwork. It may sound mundane to you, but I’m his only family now.”

It didn’t sound mundane at all. It sounded like what she had wanted—and still did. “You can’t be a caregiver for your nephew and a pilot at the same time?”

“As a single parent it would be difficult. I was a long-haul, international pilot. I could have requested shorter routes, but even those require you to be away from home for three- or four-day stretches.”

“Will you miss flying?”

His eyes darkened. “No question.”

Yet, he’d given it up for his nephew. She admired that. “Did you ever run into trouble during a flight? Something serious, that you didn’t think you’d survive?”

He blinked, then gazed out at the passing city. “The vast majority of flights are pretty routine. And thank God for that. No one in their right mind would get into a commercial airliner otherwise.”

She looked at him closely. “You just sidestepped my question.”

“You think?” He smiled disarmingly. “What about you? Did you ever run into big trouble in your job at the Twentieth Precinct? Something you didn’t think you’d survive?”

“A couple of times, yes. But it’s the cases that break your heart that are more difficult to handle.”

Jay’s expression grew serious. “Yeah. It’s hard to see someone suffer. Even when they’ve done it to themselves.”

“What always gets me is how fast it happens. One minute everything is good. The next—catastrophe.”

“Maybe one night, when this is all over, we’ll get together and exchange war stories,” he said.

“Maybe.”

She felt relieved that the taxi was pulling up in front of the office. Jay was more complicated than she’d initially thought, more intelligent and more sensitive, too. And he had skills she hadn’t expected.

Consider how easily he’d extracted that information about the lake resort from Rebecca.

And how quickly he’d extracted information about her, as well.

CHAPTER FIVE

IT WAS GOING TO BE interesting sharing an office with Kate, Jay thought. She’d already claimed the big desk by the window, which was fair enough, since she needed the computer. Still, sitting at the smaller desk by the door meant that she could see his computer screen every time she got up to get a coffee.

“Oh, stop being so paranoid.” Kate squeezed past him with a steaming mug in hand. “I’m not trying to sneak a look at your computer every time I walk by.”

“Maybe you should be. Might save you some valuable time.”

“Very funny, Captain. Hope you’re prepared for some turbulence ahead.” She grinned. “How are you liking your new desk? Not much room for your legs, huh?”

She wasn’t kidding. He’d only been here an hour and he could already feel his muscles cramping. “Well, at least I have a good view of yours.”

Her eyes widened, and she quickly uncrossed her legs and pulled down on her skirt. “You shouldn’t be looking.”

“Why not? Beats the view out the window.”

“What? You don’t like brick walls?”

“I live in New York. I love brick walls.”

She cracked a smile at that, then took a sip from her mug and leaned closer to her computer screen. “Keep quiet now. I’ve got to concentrate.”

He should be doing the same. Only she was fun to talk to. She had an interesting mind, and a sly sense of humor that he rather enjoyed.

Anyway, he’d already found where prospective dad number one, James Morgan, lived. All he’d had to do was type “vacation resort,” “Upper New York State” and “James Morgan” into his favorite search engine.

Now he needed to rent a car. Taking his mug with him, and closing the door firmly on the sound of Kate’s clattering on the keyboard, he headed for the reception area to talk to Nadine.

As he’d guessed on the first day, Nadine was a real sweetheart. Quick to smile and anxious to please.

“Hi, Jay. The coffee is fresh. Is there anything—”

The phone rang and she made a face, then picked up the receiver. “Fox & Fisher Detective Agency.”

While he waited for her to finish with the call, he helped himself to the coffee. Every time he saw Nadine, she was busy. She wasn’t the sort to sit around and wait for the work to come to her.

“I’ll have Lindsay call with an update as soon as she can,” Nadine said, scribbling a note on a message pad. She covered the mouthpiece for a moment. “Sorry, Jay. I’ll be right with you.”

When the call ended, she gave him a smile.

“You’re good at multitasking,” he observed.

“I love this job.” She hesitated, then added, “Though, one day I would like to try my hand at the investigating side of the business. Lindsay and Nathan have given me a few small assignments.” She sighed. “But I have a lot to learn before I’ll be ready to take on a real case all by myself.”

“You probably have as many qualifications as I do. Have you taken any courses?”

“Not yet. I’m signed up for six weeks of online instruction starting next month. Much to my mother’s dismay.”

“She doesn’t like the idea of you being a private investigator?”

“Not hardly.”

“Is she worried it’s dangerous? Because according to Nathan, most of that exciting stuff only happens in the movies.”

“It’s partly a safety issue,” she agreed. “But it’s also an image thing. My mother, bless her dear, loving heart, is a bit of a snob.”

The door opened, and Nathan came in just in time to hear Nadine’s comment about her mother. “Hi, Nathan. How was the meeting?”

He had a briefcase in one hand and a cardboard box in the other, so Jay sprang forward to help him with the door. Nathan set the box on Nadine’s desk, then hung his coat in the closet.

“The meeting went great. As you can see.” He tapped the box. “We got the job. There are magazines in there that I’d like you to catalog for me please, Nadine.”

He went to the coffeepot and filled one of the mugs. “And you might as well come clean about your family. Jay’s going to be part of the team soon, after all.” He gave his friend a confident thumbs-up before disappearing into his office.