Chapter 4

"Okay, young lady," Brian said when they arrived at the precinct Friday morning, "a few ground rules. First, don't touch any shit on my desk unless I say it's okay. Second, stay out of everyone's way and don't wander off unless Marie or I know where you're going, even if it's to the bathroom."

"Dad, I'm not a little kid," Joey rolled her eyes. "I think I pretty much know my place by now. I'll be quiet, I promise. But is it okay if Marie takes me to lunch?"

Brian had to smile. "I guess since I had you for breakfast it will be okay," he said with a wink. "But on one condition. You have to write a good report about the old man's job."

"I was going to do that anyway," Joey laughed. "And quit calling yourself 'old man.' It drives me nuts."

"Oh I'm sorry," Brian said in a mock Southern accent, "did I offend?"

"Very funny," she giggled.

"But since you're here today, if you want to do little things like help sort out paperwork, check the email and get coffee, that's fine with me.

"Well, we're supposed to do a paper on our parents' work," Joey nodded. "Anything is better than letting me sit and look stupid."

"One thing you never do is look stupid, kiddo," Brian reassured her before yelling over at a perp that had been brought in for booking. "Hey, buddy, eyes back in your head! That's my daughter you're ogling and sixteen will get you twenty."

Joey looked down at the jeans and sweater she was wearing. "Sorry, Dad; I thought I looked conservative enough not to draw any bad attention to you."

"You're fine, sweetheart; I guess some people are like me and appreciate true beauty. And speaking of true beauty," he added, spying Marie as she approached, "good morning, Davenport."

"You really should be so flirty, Brian," Marie teased, "people will talk."

"You two would be kind of cute together," Joey teased.

"Save it, Joey." Brian gave her a look.

"Nothing doing," Marie chuckled. "Your dad here is a great guy, but it would never work."

"She doesn't date short men," Brian joked.

"Do you honestly think I'm that shallow?" Marie looked at him wide eyed.

"No, but most women don't," Brian pointed out.

"Their loss," Joey nodded, "they're missing out on how awesome Dad really is."

"And looking at you these days, young lady, I am inclined to strongly agree with you," Marie nodded.

"All right, you two, knock it off or my head will swell," Brian said, failing to hide a grin.

"Why?" Marie asked. "It's the truth."

Marie had indeed been right; in the year since Joey had been taken off the streets and adopted by Brian, she'd gone from a painfully skinny, angry, shabbily dressed girl who gotten most of her meals from restaurant Dumpsters or taken the little money she'd made turning tricks to eat day old hot dogs from the 7-11 and living in squalor in an empty warehouse to a healthy-looking, vibrant and happy teenager who lived in well-kept surroundings and had three meals a day, along with just about anything else she needed, wanted, and fancied. Joey was indeed her adoptive father's princess.

Lorelei was coming down the corridor to bring reports to another detective, smiling and giving Marie a wave. It hadn't been lost on either Joey or Marie when Brian had glanced over.

"Who's that?" Joey wondered.

"Lorelei Covington. She works downstairs. She's a friend of mine and I think your dad here may be a little fascinated with her."

"She's a nice looking woman," Brian said in protest. "So sue me."

"She's also coming to lunch with me and Joey this afternoon," Marie announced.

"Wow, why not corrupt my kid with a hen party?" Brian laughed.

"Better than you grabbing stuff out of the vending machine," Marie countered, laughing. "Seriously, Brian, you need to work through lunch less and get out more."

"Speaking of work, did you guys find out who killed Nikki yet?" Joey asked.

"Well, without getting into details of police business, let's say for now we have a general idea," Brian said. "And Paul's looking into more things for me."

"I though Paul quit this place." Joey was confused.

"He did," Brian answered. "He's doing some private work on my and Marie's request, and a hell of a good job at that."

"So you're getting close?" Joey pressed.

"Maybe. We have some other stuff to look over yet and other people to talk to, which reminds me, I have to report to the captain for a few minutes." He turned to Joey. "Think you can get us coffee and hang out with Marie?"

Joey nodded. "No problem."

As he went into Captain Sheild's office, Marie turned to Joey. "I invited Lorelei to join us for lunch."

Joey smiled in approval. "You really think Dad likes her?"

"Are you kidding? As women, we tend to know these things. If your dad turned his head any further in her direction a few minutes ago, he would have decapitated himself."

"Thing is, Dad's not big on dating. It's like he's always mad about Paul trying to set him up and stuff. I wish he'd find somebody nice."

"Well, I think all girls want their dads to be happy, Joey, so you're perfectly normal. But you know, Lorelei isn't married, and she isn't seeing anyone either."

"Are you thinking what I am?" Joey asked, a huge grin on her face.

"I am," Marie gave a wicked grin, "which is why I invited Lorelei."

"Great idea," Joey said. "Now let me get that coffee before Dad gets back here or he'll think I'm falling down on the job already."

That afternoon:

"I swear to Christ, Paul, set me up with one more skinny ass bitch and I will come down there personally to dig your corneas out with a spoon," Brian scoffed while Marie and Joey were at lunch.

"Why? What was wrong with Davida? The girl is a lingerie model with a great rack."

"And no brains. Jesus Christ, it was like pulling teeth to get an iota of decent conversation out of her. Keep the big boob, small brain chicks to yourself, okay? Besides, it isn't like I'm looking for anyone anyway with work and stuff with Joey."

"Eh, I'll set you up with a hot eighty year old from the nursing home next time."

"Don't joke about this, Paul. No more blind dates. Now that we have my dating and sex life–or should I say lack of it by choice–out of the way, what did you find on the Galloway case?"

"I can say this much, Nicole wasn't killed because of anything the judge did as it was initially thought. And another thing, turns out the little miss wasn't as angelic as everyone thought."

"What are you talking about?"

"Turns out the judge's little princess was a CI for the Feds."

"What the hell was that all about?" Brian was intrigued.

"Well, the way she was dressed when the body was found wasn't the first time she'd looked like that. Nicole Galloway had a secret life as a party girl, fake ID and all. One night she'd been at a club that was raided by the Feds for drugs. They'd hauled her in, but for some reason not only did she get immunity if she was able to turn over information and kind of infiltrate the party crowd to get more information for future busts, but her involvement was never publicized in the raid story."

"I'm guessing the judge knew nothing about this?"

"Either that or could have paid someone off to keep this shit quiet. In any case, I'm guessing someone must have found out about Nicole being a teenage narc, because it's just about the only logical reason she'd end up dead."

"She was also raped," Brian pointed out.

"So maybe some junkie or dealer got his rocks off before he bashed her head in."

"Good point. So did you get anything from the Feds on all of this?"

"Are you kidding me? They don't give out much shit to the local cops or the DA's office, let alone a private dick like me. Nevertheless, I'm intrigued by all of this and as the old saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat."

"That's my boy," Brian said. "You can take the detective out of the precinct, but you can't take the precinct out of the detective. Let me know what you dig up. And once again, no more blind dates with your bony ass female friends."

"Okay, okay. Speaking of chicks, how is Joey doing with the whole hang out with Dad at work day?"

"She's at lunch with Davenport right now, but so far she's been fascinated with what goes on around here. Even Shields found time to sit with her and give some dirt about police work."

"That's going to be a hell of a paper she's doing then. She going to her Valentine's dance?"

"No, that's one thing I'm not worried about at the present. She's not boy crazy. I think working the streets for so long pretty much ruined her for that, at least at the present time. No, she's more interested in reading books, playing softball, working on the school paper and running track than ogling the class jocks or whomever."

"You've raised her well then. Anyway, I'm getting back to work. If I find more on the little Galloway girl or what she's been doing for the Feds, I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Paul. Much appreciated as always."