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As Reilly pulled her un clapboard colonial, Veck ran his hand across his jaw and wished he&039;d had tiain, a five-o&039;clock shadoas the least of his probles under his eyes and was sporting a lot of lines that he hadn&039;t relanced over at his partner "Thank you for this"

She smiled in such an open and honest way that he was momentarily immobilized: Reilly was definitely not one of those wolow on - it was all about who she was inside, not as up with her cheeks and her eyelashes And this expression? Pretty much made him weak in the knees

He knew the reason for the radiance, too He had a feeling it was because she loved where they were and who they were going to eat with: the farther away they&039;d gotten from work, and the closer to this house they&039;d becohted she&039;d appeared

"Have your parents lived here long?" he asked as they got out

"Alloak in the yard and the little white fence at the sidewalk and the cherry red row up I could walk to school through my backyard, and there were half a dozen of us all in the sarade within a six-block radius And, you know, my dad was superintendent of schools - still is - so I felt like he ith , believe it or not"

The street was not unlike the one the Bartens lived on, come to think of it Very middle-class, but in the best sense of the term: These were people orked hard, loved the crap out of their kids, and no doubt had neighborhood block parties and miniparades for the kids on the Fourth of July Hell, even the occasional dog bark was audible nostalgia for him

Not that he&039;d ever known shit like this

"You ready to come inside?" she asked

"Yeah, sorry" He headed around the car "What does your mom do?"

"She&039;s an accountant They&039;ve been together forever - rad school at SUNY Caldwell at the sa his PhD in education and she was trying to decide between nu She picked the numbers because there was more money in it - and then found out she really loved the corporate stuff She took early retire around financial planning - well, that and the cooking"

As they hit the slate ay and approached the glossy black front door, he realized this was the first time he&039;d met a woman&039;s parents Okay, yeah, it wasn&039;t under the context of a "date" situation, but, et close to anyone Reilly was going to say his naet that frozen expression on their faces as they connected the dots

Shit, this was a bad idea -

The door burst open before they got to it, throide by an African-American woman as tall and thin and had an apron over her jeans and turtleneck

Reilly raced forward and the pair of theed so close, red hair mixed in with precisely executed dreads

Then Reilly eased back "Mom, this is my new partner - well, for the month, at least Detective DelVecchio"

Veck&039;s eyes went back and forth between the pair And then catching himself, he quickly stepped forward and offered his palm "Ma&039;am, please call meTom"

The handshake was brisk but warirl?"

The deep voice that boo that Veck would have associated eant than a school superintendent

"Come in, come in," Mrs Reilly said "Your father is so excited you&039;re eating with us"

As Veck breached the threshold, he got a vien a hallway to the kitchen, but it didn&039;t last A six-foot-four man stepped into the space and took it all up, his shoulders set like a es His skin was dark as night and his eyes were blackand ht about The Kitchen Incident froht before, he nearly pissed himself

Reilly ran ahead and threw herself at her father, obviously confident she&039;d be caught and held with ease And as she put her aruy had to top out at around two fifty, ed her back, that laser stare locked on Veck Like he knew everything his dinner guest wanted to do to his daughter

Oh, shit

Tucking Reilly under his ar as a hubcap "Tom Reilly"

"You both have the same name," Reilly&039;s mom said "It&039;s meant to be"

Veck blinked for a sec

Reilly laughed "Didn&039;t I mention I was adopted?"

Fuck the adoption He didn&039;t give a shit what color her parents were, or how it had happened He was just praying that her father never, ever found out what had happened on his little girl&039;s dining table the night before

"Detective DelVecchio," he said, leaning in for the shake "Sir"

"Pleased to meet you You want a drink?"

"Yeah, that&039;d be great" Maybe they could just run an IV of Johnnie Walker into his arm

"Game&039;s on"

"Oh, yeah?"

Just as Reilly&039;s lanced outside onto the lawn That feeling of being watched dogged him still - to the point where he wondered if you couldn&039;t catch paranoia like a cold

Maybe sohed on him

"This way," her father said, like he was used to leading people

Shaking himself back into focus, Veck fell in line with Reilly and the four of the, where the kitchen and the fa space The plasma screen was tuned to ESPN, and he knew instantly which chair was her father&039;s - it had the New York Times, Sports Illustrated , and the remotes lined up next to it on a table Ar, and the phone

"Sam Adams okay?" Mr Reilly asked from the bar

"Perfect"