“The task force guys are on the prowl,” Colin told him. “They’ll turn something up.”
“Colin, did you drop that bullet off at campus police?”
“Yeah.” He reached to take Joshua’s hand. “Try not to worry about it, babe. I doubt he intended to shoot you. He was probably being all ‘big and bad’ in front of Chrissy.”
Joshua stared down at the tabletop, his lower lip sucked into his mouth. “I hope so.”
“Does this asshole know what your husband does for a living?”
“I think so. Chrissy knows, and I assume she told him.”
Colin puffed out a scornful laugh, his head moving in a tight shake. “How stupid does he have tobeto threaten the husband of an ex-cop who’s also alawyer?”
“My fear about Dale isn’t that he’s stupid. My fear about Dale is that he’s smart.”
“If he was smart, he wouldn’t have left that bullet on your car in the first place. Why advertise his guilt?”
Joshua nodded but when he didn’t look up, Colin leaned close to him and tipped his chin until their eyes met. “He’s not going to get anywherenearyou!”
* * *
It had been several weeks,and after a lot of back-and-forth wrangling Joshua had managed to convince Colin that he was safe to drive himself to work. Colin was resistant at first, but Joshua kept after him. “Look, the incident with the bullet was unnerving, yeah. But it’s been three weeks, babe, and I’ve had no further contact with Chrissyorher husband. I don’t need my protection detail anymore. Honest!”
Colin shot him a glance and scowled. “You’ll always need your protection detail far as I’m concerned.”
“I can drive myself to work.”
Colin’s scowl did not fade, but he shrugged and nodded. “OK, fine. But be damned aware of your surroundings, and park close to the building.”
“I will. I promise.”
The following morning as they headed to their respective jobs, Joshua nudged Colin’s arm. “I feel like I was grounded, and you finally set me free!”
“It wasn’t a punishment, Josh.”
“I know that. I was kidding.” He linked his arm with Colin’s and kissed his cheek. “I love how protective you are of me. I would never want that aspect of our relationship to change. Never.”
Colin grumbled out an unintelligible response and moved toward his own car, stopping as he reached it to turn back to Joshua. “You make damned sure you remember what I said!”
“I will!”
Later that afternoon, Joshua was putting his desk in order in preparation for leaving when his boss stepped into his office. “Hey,” Joshua said, smiling at her. “How you doing?”
“Josh, have you heard anything from Chrissy? Any outreach at all?”
“None, Miranda.”
“Because there’s no point in carrying her as an active patient if she’s not going to return to therapy.”
An expression of sadness crossed Joshua’s face. “I still feel guilty about her,” he muttered, then glanced up at Miranda. “Though I know you were right.” He shrugged. “OK. Archive her case. I can always reactivate it later if she ever comes to her senses.”
“Josh, you have no reason to feel guilty.Youcan’t fix this girl! She has to be willing to participate in her own healing.” Miranda scoffed and turned to go. “Why am I telling you things that you know as well as I do?”
“Because I’m an imperfect Jew and need reminding?” Joshua questioned, grinning as he stuffed case reports into his briefcase. “I’m headed for home. I want to make Colin a good dinner.” He paused and met Miranda’s eyes. “He’s been so wonderful through all this, though god knows he has enough on hisownplate!”
“Well, that’s what we expect from Colin isn’t it?” Miranda asked, returning Joshua’s grin. “Wonderfulness?”
Joshua laughed and followed her out into the corridor. “And he usually delivers.”
