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sobering her instantly, “there will be no playing favorites. We talked at length on the subject this weekend. You said, and I agreed, that on the job there can be no perception of favoritism. We follow the chain of command. This case belongs to Crimes Against Persons. Are we clear?”
    “Clear as a bell.” She withdrew her arm from his hold and walked away.
    Why would she want this case anyway? Let Black deal with the tutus and the overbearing dance moms.
    “You missed your appointment this morning,” Dan called after her. “I rescheduled for the same time tomorrow morning. Do not miss that one.”
    Jess hesitated at the door. Here they were, trying to pretend the weekend hadn’t changed anything between them. She didn’t know how she wanted to feel about that. The woman in her wanted to be incensed at his all-business attitude. But this was what she’d wanted. No. Not wanted. Demanded. She had made the rules. Off duty they could explore this thing that still burned between them after twenty-odd years. But on the job, he was the chief of police and she was just another of his deputy chiefs.
    Funny, she had liked the concept so much better in theory.
    Determined to play by the very rules she had laid down as law, she turned and gave him a big smile before saying what needed to be said. “You’re the boss.”

3
    Birmingham Police Department, 5:58 p.m.
    Dan Burnett understood there would be hell to pay with Jess for the decision he’d made on the Chandler case, but there was no way around it. Keeping the peace in the department and ensuring the smooth operation of all divisions was his job.
    The job was rarely easy, and at moments like this he wondered why he had ever agreed to accept the position. Years of counseling likely wouldn’t uncover all the reasons he’d felt it necessary to attain the highest law enforcement position in the city. Then there were the marriages and divorces… and Jess. His and Jess’s relationship would provide enough fodder for a multivolume boxed set of couples therapy journals.
    Nothing was ever simple or routine between the two of them.
    Now was a perfect example. Jess stood before his desk, arms crossed over her chest as daggers flew at him from those furious brown eyes. Her blond hair and the sleek-fitting rose-colored dress with the matching sexy high heels could not camouflage what was on her mind. But they went a hell of a long way in distracting him from what he knew had to be done.
    Oh yes. There was hell to pay, and he had the decidedly unpleasant task of doing the paying.
    “My detectives and I were on the scene first. Territorial issues aside, answering the call from the initial officers on the scene should account for something. The least Chief Black could do is acknowledge my assessment and consider my suggestions for interviewing the family.”
    “Have a seat and we’ll go over this once more if that’ll make you happy,” Dan offered.
    As difficult as squaring off with her like this was, their future working relationship depended upon the standard he set now. Today. On this case. With their shared history common knowledge and considering the position he had created specifically for her, the whole department was watching their every move. Jess had reminded him of that point repeatedly over the past week. The problem this morning was that she wanted the Chandler case and Deputy Chief Black was claiming dibs. An unaccompanied death with violent circumstances could logically fall under the scope of either Jess’s new unit or Black’s division. Admittedly there was some gray area here, but Dan could not afford even the suggestion of favoritism. The buck stopped here, and this was the first necessary step in proving to the entire department that their shared history carried no impact on his and Jess’s ability to do the job.
    Even if finding the zipper on that dress and getting it off her this instant was the prevalent image moving through his mind. It had been a long