Cavanaugh Judgment by Marie Ferrarella Read Free Book Online Page A

been low. Hers wasn’t. “No, sir.”
    Brian’s smile was easy, pleasant. “Good, I didn’t think so.” About to turn away, he realized that he hadn’t finished yet. “How long will it take you to go home and pack some things?”
    Somewhere distant in her head, she heard a door slamming. The door had bars on it. She was stuck. She was just going to have to make the best of it. “I’ve got a change of clothes in the car.”
    The information had Brian’s smile widening. “You’re a Cavanaugh, all right. Always prepared.”
    His compliment reminded her of something. Greer shifted slightly. “About that, sir?” she began, letting her voice trail off a little. Brian waited.
    There were seven of them, seven “new” members of the family. There were the four who belonged to his bride of a little more than a year, and then there were the three who none of them had been prepared for. Triplets who comprised his late brother Mike’s secret other family. Lila’s children, all adults and all on the force, went by her first husband’s surname while Greer and her brothers had her late mother’s. All seven were told that they were welcomed to change their names to Cavanaugh if they wanted to.
    Name change or not, that was what they were. Cavanaughs. But the decision strictly belonged to the seven individuals involved. He’d heard that it was going to be an “all-or-nothing” deal. The “jury” was still out on which way they would ultimately lean.
    Or maybe the jury was ready to come in, he thought, looking down at the young woman who reminded him so much of Mike’s daughter, Patience.
    “Yes?” he prodded.
    She pressed her lips together. “For my part, I’ve decided yes.”
    “Yes?” he echoed, unclear if it was “yes” she’d change her surname to Cavanaugh or “yes,” she’d keep the one she already had.
    “Yes,” she repeated. “If it were only up to me, I’d like to change my last name to Cavanaugh. It’d be an honor.”
    “We’d all like that,” he assured her. “Especially Andrew. And the honor goes both ways,” he added. “Anything else?”
    “No, sir, that’s all.” Finished, Greer began to back up, trying not to dread what lay ahead. She was fairly certain that the judge wouldn’t bring up their first encounter, he seemed too self-contained for that, but she was fairly sure that the memory was probably never far from his mind. Which would make things very awkward and difficult between them.
    Nobody said being a cop was going to be easy, she reminded herself.
    “Good,” Brian was saying. “Then go tell the judge that you’re going to be his new houseguest for the foreseeable future.”
    Nodding, Greer drew in a deep, fortifying breath. There was no way around this.
    Who knew, maybe they’d get lucky and one of the chief’s men had already located Munro at the bailiff’s house.
    Greer had her doubts but she mentally crossed her fingers anyway as she turned around and pushed open the padded black leather doors. For what felt like the umpteenth time that day, she walked into the courtroom.
    The judge wasn’t there.
    Adrenaline shot through her veins like a spring-propelled pinball. Greer quickly scanned the room. There was no sign of the man she was supposed to be guarding. The only one left in the room was the court stenographer, carefully packing up her steno machine.
    Greer hurried over to the thin blonde. “Where’s the judge?” she demanded.
    Closing the case and snapping its locks into place, the woman picked up her equipment. She made no secret of the fact that she was eager to leave. The unexpected question made her frown thoughtfully.
    “In his chambers, I guess,” she replied.
    “I hope you guessed right,” Greer muttered under her breath as she hurried to the rear of the room. There was an exit to the right of the judge’s desk. This had to be what he’d used to pull his disappearing act.
    Damn it, she thought, finding herself in a narrow hallway, why