The Wharf by Carol Ericson

smile. “Careful. You might not like what you find at the bottom of it all.”
    “We’re willing to take that risk. As part of this—” he circled his finger in the air “—process, do I have permission to look up the case files?”
    “ Mi casa es tu casa, Chief. My house is yours.”
    He and Kacie moved toward the office door, and Ryan made a half turn in time to catch Healy checking out Kacie’s derriere.
    The lieutenant dragged his gaze up to Ryan’s face. “Yes?”
    “Any news on the attempted suicide this morning?”
    “Oh yeah, I heard you were involved in that, too.” He sat down behind his desk and folded his hands. “She’s on psych hold.”
    Ryan dropped his chin to his chest in a curt nod, then placed his hand on the small of Kacie’s back to propel her out of the office.
    As they walked to the elevator, Kacie leaned over to whisper in his ear. “Does he have something against you?”
    “He doesn’t like my brother Sean.” He jabbed the elevator button. “Sean shows him up all the time. Makes him look bad. The lieutenant got written up a few months ago for not acting on a hunch of my brother’s that turned out to be right. A woman got murdered because of it.”
    “Guess I should watch my back around him.”
    Yeah, because he’s watching your backside.
    Ryan sealed his lips and ushered Kacie into the elevator.
    He didn’t need to be her personal protector. She was a grown woman and had probably been handling unwanted male attention for years. She’d been handling his for the past few days.
    He pushed the button for the basement.
    “Next stop?” She folded her arms and wedged a shoulder against the elevator.
    “Records.”
    The musty smell of the records lockup hit him as he opened the door, but the smell of a flowery perfume replaced it.
    Marie Giardano peered at them through the mesh screen that guarded her counter, and her red lips broke into a wide smile. “If it isn’t one of the Brody boys come to brighten up an old lady’s day.”
    He strode across the room and curled his fingers around the edge of the screen. “You look as beautiful as ever.”
    She snorted but her eyes lit up. “You boys always say that, but you all come in here with other women in tow.”
    Ryan reached out and pulled Kacie toward the counter. “Marie Giardano, this is Kacie Manning. She’s writing a book about Dad.”
    Marie pursed her lipsticked mouth into a straight line. “Really. You’re the one who wrote that book on Daniel Walker, aren’t you?”
    “I am. Did you read it?”
    “Nope.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I get my fill of that stuff on the job. I stick to romance with a happily ever after.”
    Kacie blinked her eyes at Marie’s hard tone.
    “Kacie’s going to find out the truth about Dad, Marie. She’s going to set the record straight.”
    “Uh-huh.” She turned back to Ryan. “What can I get for you? It’s been a constant parade of Brody brothers this summer. When’s that tough guy Judd going to pay his homage?”
    “Judd’s out of the country right now, but you can help me find the file on Dad’s suicide.”
    “Really?” Her eyes slid from his face to Kacie’s. “Why do you need to dig around in that?”
    “I told you, Marie. Kacie’s writing a book. We want to start with the end. We’re going to try to find the woman who witnessed Dad jumping from the bridge that morning.”
    “Cookie Phelps.”
    “Cookie?”
    “She was a hooker walking across the bridge that morning, probably after a night of seeing johns. Who knows? Maybe she was planning her own jump that morning.”
    “That’s weird.” His pulse ticked up a notch and he looked at Kacie to gauge her reaction.
    Her eyes took up half her pale face and her breath quickened between parted lips.
    She’d had a stronger reaction than he’d had to the identity of the witness.
    Marie drummed her long nails on the counter. “What’s weird about it? This city is full of hookers. Who else would be