“I tried not to be geeky about it. I made sure not to ask any of them to punch me in the face.”

“That’s probably a good idea ’cause they probably would have hit you.”

“Oh.”

“So are you busy next Saturday?”

Crush leaned in and whispered in case any of her aunts were around, “Is that the wedding?” Dr. Davis had mentioned he’d be needed for a wedding. God, the things he did to protect his favorite team.

“No,” she whispered back, “that’s at the end of the month. I’m talking about the Ice Party next Saturday.”

“Ice Party?”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice back to normal. “Ice Party. You’ve been, right?”

“No.”

Her mouth dropped open. “How can you be a polar and not have gone to the annual Ice Party?”

“Luck?”

“Well, you can come with me.”

“I agreed to a birthday party and a wedding.”

“Those are requirements to prevent me from beating up the old woman.”

“Stop saying that.”

“But the Ice Party will be a blast. You gotta come.”

“No thanks. Islanders game.” He looked at his watch. “I better go. First real day of work tomorrow.”

“Good luck and be careful. I honestly don’t think those bears were here for me or mine.”

And he knew she was probably right.

Cella watched the bear head toward his truck. Tommy came out of the house and stood behind her.

“You want me to follow him?”

“Just make sure he gets home okay. I’m not sure who those guys were that Ennis and the boys dealt with.”

“No problem.”

“Bring Kevin or Liam with you.”

Her brother nodded and walked off, and Cella went back into the house to help her family finish the cleanup.

But before she returned to the backyard, she pulled out her phone and speed-dialed a number.

“Yeah?”

“Smith. It’s Malone. We may have a bigger problem than we realized with BCP.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Knowing she had a busy day ahead, Cella woke up early. She took a quick shower and dressed. Once done, she pulled up the leg of her sweatpants so she could tape up her knee, deciding not to think too much about how it already hurt when she hadn’t even worked out yet.

She was just finishing when her daughter walked in. There was a knock first, but barely. It was more like one fluid movement. Kind of a knock-open thing.

“Morning, baby.”

“What’s going on?” Meghan asked, closing the door behind her.

“Be specific. You know I hate vagueness.”

“Fine. So you want me to believe you’reactually dating that bear?”

“I am for the time being,” Cella muttered, pulling down her pants leg.

“I don’t see what the big deal is, Ma. Cousin Petey has an RV dealership.”

Cella’s head snapped up, her hands curling into fists.

After a moment of mutual staring, Meghan laughed. “I’m only kidding.”

Letting out a breath, Cella fell back on the bed. “Do not do that to me!”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a heart attack so early in the day.”

“Just don’t get caught up in this craziness.”

“I don’t mind the craziness.”

“How can you not?”

“If it bothers you so much, Ma, how come you get caught up in it?”

“I’m trapped by circumstance, baby. You’re not.”

“And poor Detective Crushek?”

“He’s ... being a very good guy.”

“He is a good guy. So be nice to him.”

“Why do you say it like that?”

“Because he’s a thoughtful, calm, well-spoken nice guy—that’s not really your type.”

“Maybe I’m going a different way this time.”

Meghan laughed. “Yeah. Right, Ma.”

Cella stood, took a couple of steps to make sure she’d taped her knee up right, then went to her dresser and picked up her brush. She could see her daughter in the mirror, standing by the door, her hand on the doorknob.

“Now what’s wrong?” Cella asked, facing Meg.

“Have you told him about what you do?”

“No problem there. He’s a huge fan. Not of me, but at least of your grandfather.”

“No. Not hockey.” Hand still on the door, she turned her body toward her mother. “Your other job. Does he know about that?”

“He’s a cop, baby. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Shouldn’t be and aren’t are two different things, Ma. He’s like proper town sheriff and you’re covert ops. He may not be okay with that.”

“That’s not my problem. I just wish you didn’t have such an issue with what I do.”

“I just worry about you. But then I remember ... you’re the best, right?”

“Yeah,” Cella answered honestly. “I am.”

Crush sat at his new desk, at his new job, at his new precinct. And he was bored. Really, really bored.

Was this to be his life? Sitting around? Waiting. Even MacDermot hadn’t come in yet. Apparently she had flexible hours. Must be nice.

It seemed their being partners wasn’t a done deal yet. It was—get this—“up to MacDermot.”