he became a Ranger team leader. Then to the Chief’s chagrin, Nate had insisted on coming back home to his job as a cop. He could have had a job anywhere in the country, but the draw of the harsh winters and glorious summers and falls drew Nate back to Northern Minnesota, and not incidentally to the police force that Chief Roberts headed. When the Chief insisted that Nate could be Chief on any force in the country, Nate just grinned his cocky smile and told him, someone needed to be groomed for the Chief’s job. May as well be him.
Closing the door behind them, neither man bothered to sit. The energy in the room was electric.
The Chief pinned Nate with a hard glare.
“Be straight with me, Nate. Are you okay?”
Nate sighed in mock dismay. “Hell, Chief, the last time I wasn’t straight with you I was fourteen years old and you made me clean your fucking brick sidewalk with a toothbrush. Damn, after living with you, Ranger training was a church picnic!”
The Chief’s eyes momentarily twinkled at the memory then his frown quickly deepened.
“Look, Nate. Let’s cut through the bullshit. Peterson’s murder is going to be the biggest fucking case we have in decades, if not centuries. I’ve already had calls from CNN for fuck’s sake, along with every Minnesota television station. They all want to interview me. When they find out that the golden boy, Nate Stryker, is leading the case, we’re gonna be overrun by reporters.”
Nate turned away running his hands distractedly through his hair, then huffed in disgust, “Don’t suppose those reporters were tipped off by a certain blonde former lingerie model? Or her press assistant?”
Chief Roberts gave an audible sigh.
“Nate, I don’t give a rat’s ass about the press or anything else on this case. I’m only concerned about you. I know how bad Laura hurt you and now to be thrown—”
Nate put up his hands stopping him.
“Chief, listen to me. As I said in my call to you at 3 a.m. this morning, I’m fine. It is the same thing I’ve said to Erin, to my worrying cousin, ConnorfuckingFreud, to Dan and everyone else who’s asked. I repeat, ‘I’m fine!’”
The Chief’s face darkened.
“You and I both know the potential damage that woman could cause. She’s vicious, Nate. Hell I wouldn’t put it past her to go after you again now that she’s got what she wanted from poor dumb Mike Peterson. She’d never believe that you aren’t secretly still in love with her.”
Remembering Laura throwing herself on him in the middle of her ‘hysteria,’ Nate turned to avoid the Chief’s probing gaze. Damn, Chief Roberts knew him better than anyone except Connor, his cousin Luke, and now Erin. But the Chief knew best how cut up Nate had been by his ex-wife’s betrayal. When the Chief brought Nate home after three months in a German hospital where he should have died, the brusque man had been the only one to breech Nate’s protective wall of anger and grief. It was the first and last time in his life that Nate had cried. And he’d shed those tears over Laura with the big man’s arm around his shoulders. Neither one of them ever spoke of the incident again. But the memory was real and they both could call it up at a moment’s notice.
Nate met the Chief’s troubled gaze.
“Honest to God, I’m okay. If I’m ever not, you will be the first to know. I promise you that.”
The Chief sighed and then grimaced. “I’ve got your back, Son. And don’t you forget it.”
Nate nodded. “Thanks, Chief. I know you do. And I appreciate it. And, Chief, so do Connor and Dan and others. And don’t forget, for some strange reason the most beautiful woman in the world—a good woman, Chief—is crazy in love with me. And no one, not even Laura, is gonna take that away from me.”
Relief flooded the older man’s face.
“You’re right about that, Nate. Erin is the difference this time around. Just make sure that Laura, the Demon’s spawn, doesn’t take
Closing the door behind them, neither man bothered to sit. The energy in the room was electric.
The Chief pinned Nate with a hard glare.
“Be straight with me, Nate. Are you okay?”
Nate sighed in mock dismay. “Hell, Chief, the last time I wasn’t straight with you I was fourteen years old and you made me clean your fucking brick sidewalk with a toothbrush. Damn, after living with you, Ranger training was a church picnic!”
The Chief’s eyes momentarily twinkled at the memory then his frown quickly deepened.
“Look, Nate. Let’s cut through the bullshit. Peterson’s murder is going to be the biggest fucking case we have in decades, if not centuries. I’ve already had calls from CNN for fuck’s sake, along with every Minnesota television station. They all want to interview me. When they find out that the golden boy, Nate Stryker, is leading the case, we’re gonna be overrun by reporters.”
Nate turned away running his hands distractedly through his hair, then huffed in disgust, “Don’t suppose those reporters were tipped off by a certain blonde former lingerie model? Or her press assistant?”
Chief Roberts gave an audible sigh.
“Nate, I don’t give a rat’s ass about the press or anything else on this case. I’m only concerned about you. I know how bad Laura hurt you and now to be thrown—”
Nate put up his hands stopping him.
“Chief, listen to me. As I said in my call to you at 3 a.m. this morning, I’m fine. It is the same thing I’ve said to Erin, to my worrying cousin, ConnorfuckingFreud, to Dan and everyone else who’s asked. I repeat, ‘I’m fine!’”
The Chief’s face darkened.
“You and I both know the potential damage that woman could cause. She’s vicious, Nate. Hell I wouldn’t put it past her to go after you again now that she’s got what she wanted from poor dumb Mike Peterson. She’d never believe that you aren’t secretly still in love with her.”
Remembering Laura throwing herself on him in the middle of her ‘hysteria,’ Nate turned to avoid the Chief’s probing gaze. Damn, Chief Roberts knew him better than anyone except Connor, his cousin Luke, and now Erin. But the Chief knew best how cut up Nate had been by his ex-wife’s betrayal. When the Chief brought Nate home after three months in a German hospital where he should have died, the brusque man had been the only one to breech Nate’s protective wall of anger and grief. It was the first and last time in his life that Nate had cried. And he’d shed those tears over Laura with the big man’s arm around his shoulders. Neither one of them ever spoke of the incident again. But the memory was real and they both could call it up at a moment’s notice.
Nate met the Chief’s troubled gaze.
“Honest to God, I’m okay. If I’m ever not, you will be the first to know. I promise you that.”
The Chief sighed and then grimaced. “I’ve got your back, Son. And don’t you forget it.”
Nate nodded. “Thanks, Chief. I know you do. And I appreciate it. And, Chief, so do Connor and Dan and others. And don’t forget, for some strange reason the most beautiful woman in the world—a good woman, Chief—is crazy in love with me. And no one, not even Laura, is gonna take that away from me.”
Relief flooded the older man’s face.
“You’re right about that, Nate. Erin is the difference this time around. Just make sure that Laura, the Demon’s spawn, doesn’t take
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