The Damsel in This Dress Read Online Free Page A

one of those, will you?”
    Crunching on a dill pickle, Taylor nodded and pulled out a second plate. “Why are you asking my opinion?” he said. “You never ask my opinion. You’re the big brother. You know everything.” He took another bite of pickle and sent Soldier a grin.
    “Just because I know everything, doesn’t mean I know every thing. So, should I go back out on the street?”
    Both McKennitt sons had inherited their father’s intensely blue eyes, eyes that appeared to sear directly to the bone. Taylor leveled those eyes now on Soldier.
    “You’ve been sitting on your ass long enough,” he said, working on Soldier’s sandwich. “That thing with Marc sucked, but it wasn’t your fault and it’s time you got over it. You’re a cop. So, get it together and go be one.”
    “I failed Marc,” Soldier all but growled. “I made an error in judgment that cost him his life. Now his widow and kids are paying for my blunder.”
    He felt his stomach knot. Marc’s death had been a horrible blow. They’d been partners for four years and he’d grown to love the guy like a brother. When Soldier had realized he’d been fed false information, and that he’d sent Marc right into the trap, he’d broken every speed law on the books trying to get to his partner in time. But it had been too late.
    Soldier had found Marc’s torn body thrown in a trash bin. He’d pulled him out of the garbage and called for help. But by the time the paramedics had gotten there, it was over. Marc had died in his arms, his wife’s name on his lips, his fingers gripped around Soldier’s wrist.
    Whether Marc’s death grip was a demonstration of trust or hatred remained an unanswered question that haunted Soldier’s dreams.
    From day one, cops knew the score. You could take a hit any time. But this was different. This had been his fault. Marc had been careful, it had been he who’d screwed up, and his partner had paid the price.
    Soldier had tracked and collared the killer, but it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t bring his friend back, soothe his widow at night, feed his kids. Regret was a useless demon, but it had eaten away at his conscience for months, weakening his confidence, making him fear the same thing might happen to his next partner. To the next man who trusted him with his life.
    And it was what kept him from looking for a wife, from making a family with some nice woman. It could all be gone so fast.
    “So,” Taylor interrupted Soldier’s thoughts, pushing the plate and completed sandwich toward his brother. “You’re thinking, how can I ever trust myself again? What if I screw up again and somebody else gets killed?”
    Soldier hitched in a tight breath. “Yeah, something like that.”
    “Hey, I’m a cop, too. Remember?”
    “Yeah, but you’ve never—”
    “No, I’ve never. Not yet, anyway. But we all know the risks. All we can do is our best, Jackson.” He took another bite of his sandwich and stared into Soldier’s eyes.
    Soldier liked being with his brother. He and Taylor had always been close, but never so much as lately, since Soldier had lost his partner and Taylor had lost his faith in women.
    At thirty-three, Soldier had never been married, let alone divorced, so he didn’t know how this was all supposed to work. Having watched Taylor go through hell because of that faithless slut, Soldier was glad that years ago he’d sworn he’d never get married. But he’d been there for Taylor, no matter what it took, no matter how long it took. And Taylor had been there for him when Marc was killed.
    Wiping his mouth with a napkin, Taylor said, “When are you leaving for the conference?”
    Soldier looked up from his own sandwich and glanced over at the wall calendar, an obvious freebie from Joe’s 24-Hour Towing Service. “Uh, Thursday. I’m not scheduled to speak until Saturday night.”
    “I’ll lay you odds that Old Lady Tremaine will be there.”
    Soldier popped the last bit of his sandwich into