LITMIR.BIZ

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grim smile. “You never broke under torture. I only knew one other guy who managed that, and he was SAS—the British Special Air Services.”

      “He was in there with me,” Cash told him. “A hell of a guy. He went right back to his unit after we escaped, like nothing had ever happened.”

      “So did you.”

      Cash didn’t like talking about it. He changed the subject. “How’s Rory doing academically?”

      “Very well. Top ten percent of his class,” he said. “He’s an officer, too.” He smiled. “You can always tell the ones who have leadership ability. It shows up early.”

      “Indeed it does.” He cocked his head. “No financial problems keeping him here?” he fished.

      The commandant sighed. “Not at the moment,” he said. “Although Tippy’s income is sporadic, you understand. There have been times when we’ve stretched due dates…”

      “If there are ever other times, could you let me know, without telling Tippy?” He slipped a business card out of his wallet and slid it across the sleek wood of the desk to the commandant. “Think of me as part of Rory’s family.”

      Gareth was hesitant. “Grier, this is a hell of an expensive place,” he began. “On a policeman’s salary…”

      “Look in the parking lot at what I’m driving.”

      “There are lots of cars out there,” the other man began, rising to go to the window.

      “You’ll notice it.”

      There was a pause and a whistle when he saw the beautiful, red custom-made Jaguar. He turned to Cash. “That’s yours?”

      Cash nodded. “I paid cash for it,” he added deliberately.

      The other man let out a sigh. “Lucky devil. I drive an SUV.” He turned back to his desk. “I gather that special ops pays well.”

      “No, it doesn’t,” Cash disagreed. “But I was heavily into other work before I did special ops,” he added. “And I don’t talk about it. Ever.”

      “Sorry.”

      “No harm done. It was a long time ago, but I invested wisely, as you see.” He smiled. “Now. How about calling Rory in?”

      The commandant knew when an interview was over. He smiled back. “Okay.”

      RORY CAME INTO THE commandant’s office breathless, flushed with excitement. Two boys had come down the long hall with him, but they stopped outside the office, and stood watching from across the hall.

      “Mr. Grier,” Rory greeted, breaking into a wide smile. “Gosh, it’s nice of you to come pick me up! Sis and I usually take the train!”

      “We’re driving,” Cash said, smiling with a little reserve. “I hate trains.”

      “Oh, I like them, especially the dining car,” Rory proclaimed. “I’m always hungry.”

      “We’ll stop and eat before we start up to New York,” he promised the boy. “Ready to go?”

      “Yes, sir, I’ve got my kit right out here in the hall! Sis is beside herself,” he added gleefully. “She’s cleaned the apartment three times and polished all the furniture. She even cleaned out the guest room, so you’d have a place to stay!”

      “Thanks, but I like my own space,” Cash said easily. “I’ve booked a hotel room near her apartment.”

      The commandant chuckled when he heard that. The Cash he’d known had always been a stickler for protocol. He wouldn’t spend a night in a single woman’s apartment, no matter how many people thought it was acceptable.

      “My sister said that you probably wouldn’t stay in the apartment,” Rory said surprisingly. “But she wanted you to think she’s a good housekeeper. She’s practiced cooking beef Stroganoff, too. Judd Dunn told her you like that.”

      “It’s my favorite,” Cash confessed, impressed.

      Rory grinned. “Mine, too, but I’m glad you like it.”

      “Do I have to sign him out?” Cash asked Gareth.

      “You do. Come on out and we’ll take care of the formalities. Danbury, have a good holiday,” he told Rory.

      Cash was shocked to hear the boy’s last name. He’d assumed the child’s last name was Moore, like Tippy’s.

      Rory saw the surprise and laughed. “Tippy’s real last name is Danbury, too. Moore was our grandmother’s last name. Tippy used it when she started modeling.”

      That was curious. Cash wondered why, but he wasn’t going to start asking probing questions right now. He signed Rory out, took time to shake hands with Rory’s fascinated friends, and escorted the boy out to his car.

      Rory stopped dead when he saw Cash push a button and the trunk of a flashy red Jaguar popped open.

      “That’s your car?” Rory exclaimed.

      “That’s my car,” Cash told him, smiling. He tossed the boy’s bag into the boot and closed it. “Climb aboard, youngster, and let’s be off.”

      “Yes, sir!” Rory replied, waving frantically to the two spellbound boys at the front door of the office. Their noses were actually flattened against the glass when Cash roared out of the parking lot and onto the street.

      CHAPTER TWO

      CASH STOPPED BY HIS HOTEL to check in before he drove Rory to Tippy’s apartment in Manhattan, in the lower East Village.

      Tippy was waiting at her door after she buzzed Cash and Rory up to her flat on the second floor. She looked like a stranger, in jeans and a pullover yellow sweater, with her long red-gold hair flowing down her back. With the casual attire and minus any makeup, she didn’t look like the elegant, beautiful woman Cash remembered from the premiere of her movie, the month before.

      She fidgeted nervously as she opened the door, smiling. “Come in,” she said quickly. “I hope you’re both hungry. I made beef Stroganoff.”

      Cash’s dark eyebrows rose. “My favorite. How did you know?” he added with wicked dark eyes.

      She cleared her throat.

      “It’s my favorite, too,” Rory laughed, coming to her rescue. “She always makes it for me on the night I come home.”

      Cash chuckled. “That puts me in my place.”

      She was looking around behind him. “No suitcase?” she asked. “I cleaned the spare bedroom.”

      “Thanks, but I booked a room at the Hilton, down town,” he said with a warm smile. “I like my own space.”

      “Oh. Right.” She laughed self-consciously, before she awkwardly turned away and hugged Rory. “It’s great to have you home for the holidays!” she said. “You made good grades, I hear, too.”

      “I did,” he assured her.

      “And got detention for fighting,” she added deliberately.

      He cleared his throat. “An older boy called me a name I didn’t like.”

      “Yes?” She folded her arms across her chest and kept staring at him, unblinking.

      Rory’s eyes flashed. “He called me a bastard.”

      Her own green eyes flashed as well. “I hope you knocked him down.”

      He grinned. “I did. He’s my buddy now.” He glanced at Cash, who was watching the byplay with interest. “Nobody else ever stood up to him. He had the makings of a real bully, but I saved him from that awful fate.”

      Cash burst out laughing. “Good for

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