âYou canât always believe your eyesâor an autopsy report, Risa. Dig deeper.â
âThatâs good advice, but I have a feeling I can dig to China and I still wonât find the truth.â
âWell, youâd better find it,â her father warned. âYour life depends on it.â
He was right, of course, but suddenly the situation seemed overwhelming. Sheâd lost everything. The world felt upside down, with her father helping her and Grady kissing her. She couldnât think straight, much less creatively.
Behind the garage the dog barked once then quickly fell silent, as if remembering where he was. She spoke quietly. âWhat happens if I canât?â
âThatâs not an option. Youâre a Taylor and Taylors donât fail.â
The connection Risa had felt between them shriveled. Her throat went tight as he stared sternly at her.
âNow, pull yourself together,â he ordered.
Dear Reader,
The Partner is the first in a series of six related Superromance books. Set in Houston, Texas, the stories center on the deep and abiding friendship of the heroines, a relationship that springs from their shared experiences at the Houston Police Academy. When tragedy strikes in the life of my heroine, Risa Taylor, their rare sisterhood, so precious and valuable, is thrust into jeopardy.
Iâve heard it said that friends are the family we pick for ourselves. That is certainly the case with me. I have a lot of acquaintances, but there are only a few people I think of as true friends, and as such I hold them very dear. Theyâre too hard to come by to be treated any other way.
As the perfect example, Iâll tell you about one of my closest friends. Sheâs a writer, too, and we met fifteen years ago through a writing organization. She was already published, but had stepped back from her career to care for her two babies. I was a wanna-be newbie. The common thread of reading and writing drew us together. Something deeper pulled us even closer. We see the world through a similar prism, and things that are important to me are also important to her. At the same time, weâre different enough to keep ourselves entertained. We started talking at that long-ago meetingâ¦and we havenât shut up since!
Losing any valued relationship is traumatic, but my heroineâs experiences go beyond that. In one irreversible moment she loses her partner, her friends and her career. Then she meets Grady Wilson. He seems determined to deepen her losses, yet in the end he does just the opposite. He fills the holes in her life and helps her recover. In the hidden parts of her heart, however, Risa continues to miss her friends. Can the rift ever be repaired? Will the six women regain their closeness?
Iâm sure youâll enjoy The Partner and the five stories that follow it, but in addition, I hope these books help us all realize the importance of our friends. Like the old saying goes, they double our joys and halve our sorrows. Treasure your relationships and work hard to keep them.
Kay David
This one is for Leroy. He was a great partner and a loyal friend who will stay in our hearts forever.
Thanks go to Sherry, Anna, Linda, Roz and K.N. for allowing me to join them in this project. It was a pleasure to work with such a wonderful group of professionals.
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
âHAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING?â Risa Taylor glared at her partner, Luke Rowling, as they stood in the underground parking garage, the glow of a nearby light bathing them in orange.
Theyâd left headquarters only minutes before but Risa was already sweating, rivulets of moisture gathering between her shoulder blades and running down her back. August was not a good month for Houston and sheâd started out the shift in a bad mood. She didnât need Luke out of it, too. She had enough to handle tonight.
When he didnât answer, she repeated her question. âI said, have you been drinking?â
âWhatâre you gonna do if the answerâs yes, Risa?â Leaning his elbows on the roof of their unmarked ride, a five-year-old Crown Victoria that had seen happier times, Luke gave her a lopsided grin. âSpank me for being a bad boy?â
She narrowed her eyes and stared at him.
When sheâd joined the Sex Crimes Division at HPD, Risa had heard a lot of rumors about Luke Rowling and his successes. According to some, his promotions had come too fast and too easily. Risa had been so thrilled to get her assignment in the prestigious unit that she hadnât cared, one way or the other.
Given that kind of success, though, sheâd prepared herself for someone cocky and obnoxious, someone whoâd be free with the constant teasing and sexual innuendo that were standard fare in the police department. Sheâd vowed ahead of time to dismiss any problems. Crap like that was part of working in a manâs world, and you handled it and went on. But Luke had surprised her. Rumors aside, he hadnât come on to her even once, and more important, heâd turned out to be a much better cop than sheâd ever expected.