Renegade

Cash shook his head. “No, that was afterward. I told her the filing cabinet was locked for a purpose, and that she’d better stay out of it. I went out to talk to one of the patrol officers. While I was gone, she got a nail file and forced the lock. Mikey, the python, had squeezed out of the cage and was sitting up on top of the file folders when she pulled out the drawer. She screamed like a banshee and when I went running back to see what was the matter, she threw a pair of handcuffs at me! She accused me of booby-trapping the cabinet to upset her.”

“That explains the scream I heard,” Judd agreed. “I told you it wasn’t a good idea to keep Mikey’s cage in the filing cabinet.”

“It was just for today. Bill Harris only gave him to me this morning and I didn’t have time to take him home. I put him in there until I got off work, so he wouldn’t frighten anybody who came into the office and saw him. I’m certainly taking him home this afternoon,” he said indignantly, “to make sure he doesn’t get traumatized any more than he already is!”

“The acting mayor’s niece is afraid of snakes. Imagine that,” Judd mused.

“It does strain the imagination,” Cash had to agree.

“You didn’t give her a reason to sue us, I hope?” his friend persisted.

Cash shook his head. “I just mentioned that I had Mikey’s dad in the other filing cabinet and asked if she’d like to meet him. That’s when she quit.” He smiled pleasantly.

“If you fire people, the city has to pay them unemployment. If they quit voluntarily, you don’t. So I helped her quit voluntarily,” he added with a grin.

“You villain,” Judd said, trying not to laugh.

“It’s not my fault. She had a king-sized crush on me. She thought if her uncle got her this job, she could hike up her skirt and throw out her chest and seduce me,” he said irritably. He frowned. “Maybe I should have filed a sexual harassment suit.”

“Oh, that would go over well with Ben Brady,” Judd said tongue in cheek.

“I’m tired of being chased around my desk by secretaries.”

“They’re called administrative assistants,” Judd said helpfully. “Not secretaries.”

“Give me a break!”

“That’s why I want you to go to New York.”

“I’ve got a pet to take care of,” Cash protested.

“You can take Mikey back over to Bill Harris before you leave town. He won’t mind taking care of your baby while you’re gone. You need a break. Honest.”

Cash sighed and slid his big hands into his pockets. “For once, I agree with you.” He hesitated. “If her uncle calls and asks why she left…”

“I won’t say a word about the snake. I’ll just tell him that you were having mental problems from being followed around by aliens all day,” Judd said complacently.

Cash gave him a dirty look and went back to work.

LATE THE NEXT DAY, Cash presented himself in the commandant’s office at the Cannae Military Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The name of the school was amusing to him, denoting as it did the monstrous defeat of mighty Rome at the hands of the Carthaginian guerilla, Hannibal.

The commandant, Gareth Marist, was known to him. He’d served with the man years before during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq.

They shook hands like brothers, which they were, under the skin. Few men had ever had to endure what these two had when they’d gone in behind enemy lines. Marist had escaped. Cash had not.

“Rory told me all about you,” Gareth said, “before I realized who you were. Sit down, sit down! It’s good to see you again. You’re working in law enforcement now, I believe?”

Cash nodded, dropping gracefully into a chair across the desk from the uniformed man, who was about his age, but taller and with a receding hairline. “I’m police chief of a small town in Texas.”

“It’s hard to give up the military life,” Gareth told him. “I couldn’t. So I got this appointment, which was great for me. I love helping mold the soldiers of the future. Young Rory has a lot of potential, by the way,” he added. “He’s very intelligent, and not rattled by boys twice his size. Even the bullies leave him alone,” he chuckled.

Cash grinned. “He’s not afraid to speak his mind, that’s for sure.”

“And his sister,” Gareth said, with a long whistle. “If I weren’t a happily married man with two delightful children, I’d be crawling on my knees after Tippy Moore. She really is beautiful, and she loves that kid,” he volunteered. “When she first brought him here, she was scared to death. There had been some trouble with her mother, but she downplayed it. She showed me papers that gave her full custody of the boy, and she made sure we knew that we were never to let his mother get her hands on him. Or his so-called father.” He studied the other man closely. “I don’t guess you’d know why?”

“I might,” Cash replied, “but I don’t share secrets.”

“I remember,” Gareth replied, and with a grim smile. “You never broke under torture. I only knew one other guy who managed that, and he was SAS—the British Special Air Services.”

“He was in there with me,” Cash told him. “A hell of a guy. He went right back to his unit after we escaped, like nothing had ever happened.”

“So did you.”

Cash didn’t like talking about it. He changed the subject. “How’s Rory doing academically?”

“Very well. Top ten percent of his class,” he said. “He’s an officer, too.” He smiled. “You can always tell the ones who have leadership ability. It shows up early.”

“Indeed it does.” He cocked his head. “No financial problems keeping him here?” he fished.

The commandant sighed. “Not at the moment,” he said. “Although Tippy’s income is sporadic, you understand. There have been times when we’ve stretched due dates…”

“If there are ever other times, could you let me know, without telling Tippy?” He slipped a business card out of his wallet and slid it across the sleek wood of the desk to the commandant. “Think of me as part of Rory’s family.”

Gareth was hesitant. “Grier, this is a hell of an expensive place,” he began. “On a policeman’s salary…”

“Look in the parking lot at what I’m driving.”

“There are lots of cars out there,” the other man began, rising to go to the window.

“You’ll notice it.”

There was a pause and a whistle when he saw the beautiful, red custom-made Jaguar. He turned to Cash. “That’s yours?”

Cash nodded. “I paid cash for it,” he added deliberately.

The other man let out a sigh. “Lucky devil. I drive an SUV.” He turned back to his desk. “I gather that special ops pays well.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Cash disagreed. “But I was heavily into other work before I did special ops,” he added. “And I don’t talk about it. Ever.”

“Sorry.”

“No harm done. It was a long time ago, but I invested wisely, as you see.” He smiled. “Now. How about calling Rory in?”

The commandant knew when an interview was over. He smiled back. “Okay.”

RORY CAME INTO THE commandant’s office breathless, flushed with excitement. Two boys had come down the long hall with him, but they stopped outside the office, and stood watching from across the hall.

“Mr. Grier,” Rory greeted, breaking into a wide smile. “Gosh, it’s nice of you to come pick me up! Sis and I usually take the train!”