Mission: Cavanaugh Baby Read Online Free PDF Page B

was the good-looking ones who were usually also the pompous ones.
    “Then it’s lucky for you that she got here first. Those doors don’t kick in as easily as you might think, Detective Cavanaugh. That’s a fire door, and they’re pretty damn sturdy. They only get ‘kicked down’ in movies and TV shows,” a deep voice coming from directly behind her said amicably.
    Ashley turned to see a tall, handsome older man walking in. He was carrying a rather formidable leather case with him. The letters CSI were embossed across the side of it.
    Apparently seeing that she was looking at his case, the newcomer told her, “I’m with the crime lab.” Ashley found it rather unusual that the investigator would tell her that rather than the detective, then realized that most likely, the detective had already been acquainted with the crime scene investigator.
    Extending his hand to her, the man introduced himself. “I’m Sean Cavanaugh.”
    She flashed a smile at him, grateful to be treated as a person. A great many people on the force acted as if she was part of the scenery—inconsequential scenery, at that. That went along with the fact that there were those in the police department who viewed the people in her division as being no more than just glorified dog catchers.
    She had a feeling, judging by the look on the detective’s face when he’d first talked to her, that he thought the same.
    But not this man, Ashley decided.
    “Officer Ashley St. James,” she responded, shaking his hand.
    The man smiled at her. When he did, it occurred to her that he seemed to have the same kind of smile as the detective. Odd.
    “Nice to meet you, Officer St. James.” Placing his case on the coffee table, he opened it and took out his camera. He raised an eyebrow as he appeared to study her for a moment. “This your first murder?”
    “Yes, sir, it is.” And then she relaxed just a touch and asked, “It shows, huh?”
    The reply he gave wasn’t one she was expecting.
    “As a matter of fact, it doesn’t.” Sean began to snap pictures of anything in the room that might fit under the heading of possible evidence. “That’s why I asked. You seem remarkably composed for someone who’s seen something this gruesome.” He looked over his shoulder at the detective. “Doesn’t she, Shane?”
    Shane had no idea why his father would attempt to get a three-way conversation going in the middle of something so horrendous as this murder—unless it was his way of helping the little officer cope with what she’d stumbled across.
    Now that he thought about it, that sounded exactly like something his father would do. He was always in there, the voice of calm and reason, trying to help people through a rough patch.
    His father was probably the finest man he knew, Shane thought, not for the first time.
    “Yeah, composed,” Shane repeated. Let his father take care of whatever support the officer holding the dog might need. He wasn’t here to hold her hand, pretty as it might be, he was here to try to figure out who killed the young woman on the floor—and why.
    “He’s usually a lot more talkative than that,” Sean told her, leaning in and making the comment sound somehow confidential. He took a fourth shot of the victim from yet another angle. “Aren’t you, Shane?”
    “If you say so,” he responded carelessly as he squatted over the victim to take a closer look.
    The terrier the officer was holding became agitated and started barking. The bark grew more aggressive. Shane rose, his expression reverting to the annoyed look he’d worn for the initial part of their exchange. “Can’t you get that dog out of here?”
    “Not yet,” she answered, stroking the small canine. She leaned over and whispered something in its ear just before she reached into her pocket and took out one of the treats she kept with her at all times. Bribed, the dog calmed somewhat and stopped barking.
    Still petting the animal, Ashley looked from the crime