Callahan's Fate Read Online Free

before, but
no first kiss had ever affected her with such intensity.  
    His wide smile filled her with delight,
so she shelved the incident.   They held
hands on the way back to the terminal and the conversation picked up almost
where it went awry without a hitch.   Raine wondered, though, what demons haunted him or what
skeletons might lurk in his inner closet.
    “So you work out of the Forty-Eighth
precinct in the Bronx?” she asked as they entered the building. “Do you live
nearby?”
    “Hell no,” Callahan replied with
feeling. “I’ve got a place in midtown Manhattan, pretty nice place, and it’s
cheap ‘ cause the Garment District isn’t trendy
yet.   I like to keep work and my home
life, such as it is, separate.   I haven’t
had a Saturday off in a while, since July maybe, and I just worked ten days
straight.    Normally I work five days,
two off, then another five and three off, but sometimes it doesn’t work
out.   My days off rotate or are supposed
to, but that doesn’t always work either.”
    “And I thought I had it bad, working
five days a week,” Raine said. “Do you always work so
many hours?”
    He shrugged.   “Yeah, I guess.   I’d like to make homicide detective one of
these days so I do my best to impress, and I got nothing else to do most
times.   Besides, since I’m single, I pick
up a lot of shifts for the guys with families.   If they need time off with a sick kid or for a family event, a birthday
or something, or to go to a funeral, I’m the guy they know will work for them.   Most of the time, I haven’t had anything
better to do anyway.   Beats staring at
the four walls, you know?”
    Raine did and
didn’t.   Her tiny place was her haven,
her safe place from the rest of the world, and she savored time spent
there.   But she understood, too, that after
so many solitary hours, the apartment often began to feel like
confinement.   “Yes.   So I guess you don’t get many weekends off
then?”
    “Nope,” he said. “I got tomorrow, though,
and I need the time to relax.”
    A sigh escaped her lips.   Figures, she thought, he’ll want to do your
typical guy stuff, watch sports on television, go to the gym, or shoot pool or
something.   Her Sunday would consist of church, if
she cared to go, catching up her laundry, and maybe cooking.   Most of the time, she grabbed takeout or
heated something in the microwave, but on Sundays, despite her lack of cooking
space, she sometimes made a home-cooked meal.
    As they moved through the crowds
entering the ferry terminal, she noticed the dark shadows beneath his eyes.
“You look so tired,” she said.
    Cal turned toward her with a small
smile. “I am,” he said. “I don’t sleep much.”
    “If you’d rather go home and take a nap,
I understand.” She would, but she’d be disappointed, too.  
    He shook his head. “ Naw ,
I was already coming down here when I met you.   Let’s go ride the ferry across one more time, then we’ll figure out what
to do.   You want something else to eat?”
    “No, thanks, not unless you do,” she
replied.
    “I’m good.   I’ll take you out for a nice dinner later
then, to make up for lunch,” Cal said.   “ Whaddya like? Italian? Asian? Seafood?”
    “How about a
home-cooked meal instead?”
    They had reached the upper level of the
terminal as she spoke.   Callahan guided
her to the right, away from the crowds. “Wait a minute.   I gotta be sure I
heard this right,” he said.   His lips
curved into a wide smile. “Did you just offer to cook for me?”
    Raine nodded. “I
did.”
    “I’m impressed.   That’s a new one for me.   Most of the women I’ve ever been around
wanted me to take them out, see a show, have a meal, but my pockets aren’t that
deep to do it very often.   I like the
idea, Raine , a lot.   Can you cook?”
    “I know my way around a kitchen, yes.”
    “Then, hell yeah, sure, I’d love it!   It’s a date.”
    “Absolutely!”
    Cal