Page 71 of Daybreak

“Love you more. Sweet dreams,” he said.

And the room went quiet.

Traffic was intermittent outside the townhouse apartment complex. The later it became, the less traffic passed by.

Gunner was sound asleep when he felt Holly stir, then mutter.

“Did I just dream it when you said you won the lottery?”

He grinned. “No. It’s real.”

She sighed. “Okay,” she mumbled and rolled over.

He rolled with her, tucking her into the curve of his body and closed his eyes, and didn’t know anything more until the alarm on her cell phone went off.

Holly mumbled beneath her breath and reached for the phone to shut it off.

“I wasn’t ready for that,” he heard her mumble, then opened his eyes just in time to see her and her naked backside as she walked into the bathroom.

He rolled over, waited for the sound of the shower to come on, and then got up, slipped into the shower with her, and changed her attitude altogether.

By the time they dressed, they had just enough time for toast and coffee before Holly had to leave for work.

Gunner kissed her cheek to keep from messing up her makeup.

“Light of my life, you look beautiful. Raise all the hell you need at work and have the best day. I’ll call you tonight.”

She was on the doorstep waving as he backed out and drove away, and then she grabbed her things, set the security alarm, and left on the run.

That morning shower had completely messed with her body clock and routine, but it was the best damn shower she’d ever had.

Chapter 14

Gunner drove straight home, unpacked and put his clothes in the laundry, and went to the kitchen. The toast he’d eaten at Holly’s had just been an appetizer, so he poured himself a bowl of cereal and took it to the table to eat, then decided to check messages while he ate. The first message he saw was from his bank. It finally happened! The lottery money had been deposited into his new account this morning. That was weeks earlier than he’d expected, but he wasn’t going to complain.

The first thing he did was sit down and make a phone call to the financial advisor his lawyer had set him up with. After a few minutes on the phone, he knew exactly what to do and when to do it.

But now that that had happened, he also accepted someone in the bank would leak the name, and he wanted to get to the precinct and tell them first. He already had his official resignation written and printed out, so he was taking that with him. He strapped on his gun, clipped his badge to his belt, and settled the black hat on his head as he headed for the garage.

After forty minutes and bypassing two wrecks on the Loop, he was pulling into the parking lot. He got the bulletproof vest out of the trunk and took everything inside with him.

Samuels’s replacement turned out to be Lieutenant Greg Rance, an early riser who was already in the office.

Detectives were straggling in two and three at a time when Gunner walked in. Cliff was already at his desk, and Frankie Adams waved at him from across the room.

Gunner pointed at his hair with a questioning look.

“Passionate purple!” she shouted.

He gave her a thumbs-up, and their interchange got everyone else’s attention. At that point, they began gathering around him, teasing him about being able to duck, and glad to see him back.

Cliff got up smiling. “Man, am I ever glad to see you. We all heard about Dixon. I guess the heat is off on you now.”

“Hard to say. Samuels thinks it is. I had a text from him, but that was before his heart attack. That must have scared the shit out of all of you.”

Cliff nodded. “Frankie and I started CPR and then switched out with two more and kept at it until the ambulance arrived. I don’t want to have to do that again.”

“He’s doing good,” Gunner said. “I went to see him yesterday. He was in there on his own. FYI… If you were with him at the hospital when they brought him in, he doesn’t remember that. He thinks he’s been there on his own. He said his daughter was due in yesterday afternoon, so I guess he’s not alone now.”