Tough to Tame by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page B

Cappie and cleared his throat. “You shopping or working today?” he asked Kilraven.
    The other man looked from Cappie to Dr. Rydel and his silver eyes twinkled. “If you notice, I’m wearing a real uniform,” he pointed out. “I even carry a real gun. Now would I be doing that if it was my day off?”
    Dr. Rydel smiled back at him. “Would you be shopping for video games on city time?”
    Kilraven glared at him. “For your information, I am here detecting crime.”
    “You are?”
    “Absolutely. I have it on good authority that there mightbe an attempted shoplifting case going on here right now.” He raised his voice as he said it and a young boy cleared his throat and eased a game out from under his jacket and back on the shelf. With flaming cheeks he gave Kilraven a hopeful smile and moved quickly to the door.
    “If you’ll excuse me,” Kilraven murmured, “I’m going to have a few helpful words of advice for that young man.”
    “How did he know?” Cappie asked, stunned, as she watched the tall officer walk out the door and call to the departing teen.
    “Beats me, but I’ve heard he does things like that.” He smiled. “He’s on his lunch hour, in case you wondered. I was just ribbing him. I like Kilraven.”
    She gave him a wry glance. “Sharks like other sharks, do they?” she asked wickedly.

CHAPTER FOUR
    A T FIRST , Bentley wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. Then he saw the demure grin and burst out laughing. She’d compared him to a shark. He was impressed.
    “I wondered if you were ever going to learn how to talk to me without getting behind a door first,” he mused.
    “You’re hard going,” she confessed. “But so is Kell, to other people. He just walks right over people who don’t talk back.”
    “Exactly,” he returned. He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I don’t know how to get along with people,” he confessed. “My social skills are sparse.”
    “You’re wonderful with animals,” she replied.
    His eyebrows arched and he smiled. “Thanks.”
    “Did you always like them?” she wondered.
    His eyes had a faraway look. He averted them. “Yes. But my father didn’t. It wasn’t until after he died that I indulged my affection for them. It was just my mother and me until I was in high school. That’s when she met my stepfather.” His expression hardened.
    “It must have been very difficult for you,” she said quietly, “getting used to another man in your house.”
    He frowned as he looked down at her. “Yes.”
    “Oh, I’m remarkably perceptive,” she said with amusement in her eyes. “I also suffer from extreme modesty about my other equally remarkable attributes.” She grinned.
    He laughed again.
    Kilraven came back, looking smug.
    “You look like a man with a mission,” Bentley mused.
    “Just finished one. That young man will never want to lift a video game again.”
    “Good for you. Didn’t arrest him?”
    Kilraven arched an eyebrow. “Actually he knows some cheat codes for ‘Call of Duty’ that even I haven’t worked out. So I called our police chief.”
    “Cheat codes are against the law?” Cappie asked, puzzled.
    Kilraven chuckled. “No. Cash has a young brother-in-law, Rory, who’s nuts about ‘Call of Duty,’ so our potential shoplifter is going to go over to Cash’s house later and teach them to him. Cash may have a few words to add to the ones I gave him.”
    “Neat strategy,” Bentley said.
    Kilraven shrugged. “The boy loves gaming but he lives with a widowed mother who works two jobs just to keep food on the table. He wanted ‘Call of Duty,’ but he didn’t have any money. If he and Rory hit it off, and I think they might, he’ll get to play the game and learn model citizen habits on the side.”
    “Good psychology,” Bentley told him.
    Kilraven sighed. “It’s tough on kids, having an economy like this. Gaming is a way of life for the youngergeneration, but those game consoles and games for them are