“I won’t have any problem with that. It’s you who’ll have to work on that.”
* * *
In the morning Sloan awoke and looked over at Piper. She was sound asleep with a smile on her face.
He smiled and leaned over and kissed her lips.
Her eyes opened slowly, and she took a deep breath. “Hi.”
“Hi.” His index finger followed the profile of her face. Her dark hair encircled her face like a halo.
“Morning, Beautiful.”
“Morning, Sloan. What a wonderful night,” she said, stretching.
“That it was. It’s almost seven. I better hit the shower. You can sleep in if you want.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he asked, “You want to take a shopping trip to Miami, maybe take Camie and Roslyn? Who knows, you may find a white dress.”
“That would be fun. I’ll call and see if they’re free.”
Sloan grinned. “You go, lady.”
She jumped out of bed and headed for her cell phone.
Sloan headed for the shower, then to the office.
He called attorney Chelsea Burke. “Hey, you thought about my offer to become partners with me?”
“Hi, Sloan. Yes, and yes.”
“Fantastic. I have some news. First, my lady has agreed to be my wife.”
“Congratulations.”
“Second, she might be leaving the office.”
“No.” Chelsea voice was filled with concern.
“We’re looking to adopt a kid.”
“That’s wonderful news, Sloan. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. I called the owner of our building and he said that I can expand into the adjoining office. I see that as yours if you like it.”
“That sounds great.”
“If you want to come over sometime soon, we’ll go over the plans for your office.”
“Whenever you’re free. Things are kind of slow now.”
“I have to go see my father this morning. He’s in the hospital. He ran into a nasty guy that decided to throw him into a hedge. Literally, tossed him almost over the hedge. I’ll tell you more later. Bottom line is he’s lucky to be not too badly hurt.”
“Thank God for that. Let me know when you’re back and I’ll come over.”
“Good, see you then.”
Sloan closed the office, drove to the hospital, and was met by Cynthia at the elevator.
“Hey, handsome, you looking for a dad in bandages?”
“Yup.”
“He may have a few cracked ribs. He had a lot of pain when we got him up. Ribs will do that.”
“At least he’s up. When will he get out of here?”
“Not sure. They’ll probably just bandage him up unless they find something else. His knee is fine, but had some tissue bruising. It’s going to be an ugly shade of black and blue for a while. But it will still work.”
“He’s back in his room?”
“Yes, I know he wanted to see you. Go ahead, he just finished breakfast.”
“Thanks, Doll.”
She laughed.
Alex Sloan was sitting up with his knee up on a pillow.
“Son, good to see you.”
“You, too. I just got a report on the way in that said you’re in pretty good shape, for your age.”
“They didn’t say that. They said I’ll be up and outrunning you in no time.”
“We’ll put that to the test. Seriously, are you all right?”
“I’m in need of a good meal, you know, solid food like steak, like the Beefeaters eat, but I’m okay.”
“Good, because you’re going to have to walk Piper down the aisle.”
Alex threw his head back and laughed. “She finally said yes?”
Sloan grinned. “Yeah, finally.”
“That’s great. You have a real angel. You’re very lucky.”
“I know that for a fact.”
“Let her know that.”
“Now on a serious note,” Sloan said. “You need to be very careful. Those thugs are still on the loose. The fact that you saw the woman’s face, and they’re plastering it all over the city, could be dangerous.”
“Just so I don’t have to go another round with her or him.” “I know. That’s why I need my gun. I have a permit. I have one locked in my bedroom closet.” Alex’s face was dead serious.
Sloan looked tentatively at his dad. But knew he would be voted down.
“All right. I’ll check it out. But they won’t let you keep it under your pillow here. So, you out soon?”
“Hope so.”
“All right then, I’m on my way back to the office. I’ll be back later.”
“Okay, Son, take care.”
* * *
Consuela was bringing a tray of coffee to Ricardo when she heard him on the telephone in the next room. She paused and listened.
“I understand, but you must come and get him. Take him for a ride and dump him off. Tell him his mother will come and get him…make sure he can’t find his way back here.”
“Good. We’ll see you tomorrow.” He hung up and Consuela waited until he was seated again before entering the room.
“Good morning. I have coffee and breakfast. Then you must come and see Mateo. He is awake and enjoying his bottle. I love him.”
“Good. He is ours now. You know that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to bring you home to Chile and give you your heart’s desire.”
She smiled at him. “I know that you would move heaven and earth for me. I love you so much.”
* * *
Sharkey drove straight to the station and headed for the lab.
“Stacy, you got any good news for me?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking grim. “There are traces of morphine and the syringe was large enough to hold a lethal dose. I’ll send the official analysis to your computer.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
Sharkey went to the office from the lab and fired up his computer. He grabbed the coffee that Camie had made and popped the breakfast bowl in the microwave. Sitting down at his desk he munched
