Conviction of the Heart by Alana Lorens Read Free Book Online Page A

much?
    He found it hard to divine an exact answer.
    He’d lived on his own some twenty years. Over those years, he’d never found a woman he could marry, one to whom he felt he could pledge himself fully. Marriage, for him, meant what it had to his parents and his grandparents—a deep, thorough commitment that truly implied “forever.” He didn’t know Suzanne Taylor well enough to decide if she was the one. Not yet. But everything he’d seen so far whispered to him she might be.
    She just might be.
    She had a quick tongue, even in casual conversation, and a quick mind as well. Dinner had been a many-course delight, not on the table, but in the conversation. Unlike most attorneys he knew, she wasn’t egotistical and arrogant, but warm and amiable, broad in her interests as he, and not afraid of controversy.
    He wanted to know more about her family. She’d revealed she had children from a previous relationship, daughters, but said very little else. His attempts to expand that area of conversation were gently rebuffed by a change of subject, and he hadn’t pushed hard. There would be time.
    The ringing of his phone shook him from his daydreaming. On the second ring, he hit the speakerphone button so he could keep working.
    “Lieutenant Sansone.”
    “Nick? That you? I can’t hear you.”
    Police Chief Sam “Butch” Reickert’s querulous voice rattled across the speaker. Nick grimaced, knowing Reickert could hear him just fine. The chief put on the same act any time he detected use of the speakerphone, no matter who was on the other end of the line. He hated the thing.
    No point in pursuing this battle. Nick picked up the receiver with a tolerant grin. He liked Reickert. A long-time friend of the family, the man mentored Nick’s career since he first put on his uniform. Now, twenty years later, Reickert was Chief, and Nick was lieutenant in charge of the general detective bureau. The mutual respect had only grown, and Nick owed the man a debt of gratitude.
    “Sorry, Chief. My hands were full,” Nick explained. Not exactly a lie. Not like the old man could see him, anyway .
    Reickert chuckled. “ It’s lunchtime. I’m sure you weren’t that busy.”
    With a nervous glance for a tiny red light at the corners of his ceiling, Nick wondered, not for the first time, if Reickert had a secret video camera installed in the office. Reickert’s reputation included a little paranoia, as did the mental outlook of most police officers. It certainly was possible.
    “What do you need, Chief?”
    “Vice is short this month, one officer out on comp and another on maternity leave. Dick asked me if we could spare any officers to fill in for a couple of weeks. Just on a temporary basis while they finish this task force to clean up the prostitutes in the east end.”
    Nick considered the request. Already pushed to cover current cases, the budget kept all the department heads from hiring anyone for at least another six months. “When does he need them? Now?”
    “ASAP, Nick. Sooner we get this sweep wrapped up, sooner you’ll have your men back.”
    Nick glanced over to the erasable vacation schedule tacked to his wall. Only one officer had time marked off. He could probably send one man, maybe two. As long as it was only a couple of weeks. Even as he agreed, a small cold sting poked the “should-be” in his head. It would take longer. It always did.
    “I can find someone. If my guys are deep into cases, maybe I can take a couple of shifts myself just to help Vice cover.”
    “Good man. Get rid of that speaker, son. It annoys people.”
    The jovial warmth in Reickert’s tone made Nick smile. “I hear you, Chief,” he said before he set the receiver back in its cradle.
    Somewhat fortuitous or downright creepy? He’d just been thinking he spent too much time in the office, and Reickert handed him a vice assignment. Prostitute pops provided male officers with one of two roles, johns on the hunt or backup for female