LITMIR.BIZ

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had become the center of his life. But at the time she and Danny had bought the property, it was quite a bit cheaper to live farther out. That was before trendy developments had started popping up all over in what had previously been a spacious, peaceful area.

      Things changed. Ava slowed as she came up on a blue-haired woman who could barely see over the top of the steering wheel. Her neighborhood wasn’t the only evidence of that. Less than five years after they’d bought the house, she and Danny had separated. They’d been divorced for nearly three years.

      Turning at her corner, she immediately recognized the blue Toyota parked at the curb in front of her house. Her stomach plummeted. It had been a long, stressful day. She and her ex-husband had an amiable relationship, but she wasn’t in the mood to deal with him tonight. All she wanted was a hot meal and a cold beer. Maybe sitting down with Alex to catch the Lakers game on ESPN.

      All of which would have to wait until Danny was gone.

      Pulling to a stop under the carport, she got out of the vehicle, leaving her gear locked in the trunk. Normally she’d put her rifle in the gun safe, but that would mean carrying it into the house and Danny had never hidden his disapproval about her participation on Alpha Squad. It had been one of the things that had driven them apart.

      Pushing open the front door, she saw her ex-husband and Alex sitting on the couch talking animatedly. If their sudden silence at her appearance wasn’t a tip-off that they were up to something, their guilty expressions would have been.

      Ava closed the door behind her and raised a quizzical brow. “So, what are you two hatching?”

      “Nothing.” Her son was a horrible liar. His eyes, as dark as her own, were alight with excitement. His entire body practically quivered with it. “Dad called right after your text, and when I told him I needed a ride he said he’d pick me up.”

      “Uh-huh.” She grabbed him playfully as she walked by the couch, dropping a kiss on his brown mop of hair before he could dodge away. “Did you also tell him we’re going shopping tomorrow and you have to get all your homework done tonight?”

      “Oh man.” Alex slumped against the couch. “Can’t you just go and bring some stuff home for me to look at?”

      She cocked her head, pretended to consider it. “You mean bring home different sizes and fashions for you to try on and then take back whatever you don’t want? Sort of like your own personal shopper?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Nope.” Ava dropped in a chair and fixed Alex with a steady look. “Go on and do your English while I talk to your dad. I’ll order something for supper.”

      His excitement visibly dimmed, Alex got up and slouched out of the room, muttering, “Okay, but the next kid I see at the mall that calls you a MILF, I’m gonna punch him in the face.”

      “Violence is never the answer, Alex,” Danny said reprovingly.

      But Ava was less focused on her ex-husband’s words than she was on her son’s. “What is that? MILF? He’s complained about that before.” She swung her puzzled gaze to Danny’s, but her ex looked just as mystified as she was. She’d have to remember to ask one of the other cops. Danny wasn’t exactly up on teenage vernacular.

      “Thanks for bringing him home.”

      Her ex-husband took off his rimless glasses and cleaned the lenses on his shirt, his fine white-blond hair falling in his eyes. “I wanted to come by and talk to you tonight anyway. It worked out.”

      “Must be big.” She waited for him to put his glasses back on, blink at her owlishly. “I haven’t seen Alex that excited since the baseball coach moved him up to play JV last year.”

      “Well.” Danny gave her that boyish smile that once would have softened something inside her. “It is big. But how big depends on you.”

      For the second time in an hour Ava found herself wishing for a beer. “Danny. It’s been a long day. Just spill it, okay?”

      He fingered his white collar, a nervous habit he had. “I just told him about a mission trip I have planned. I booked some flights to Tanzania for this summer for myself and a few other church members. We’re going to help build some schools. Train teachers. I’ll be gone the entire summer.”

      “That’s longer than usual.” She reached for the lever to kick up the footrest on her recliner and smothered a purr of satisfaction when the chair responded. “Your church must have really done some major fund-raising for this trip.”

      His gaze skirted hers. “The church remains committed to our missionary work. But with the upcoming renovations to the building planned…well, money is tight. I funded it myself.”

      “You…” Ava gaped at him. “You don’t have any money.” The child support he sent her was modest. His salary as assistant pastor in a small church was less than what she made, and cops weren’t exactly featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. “Where would you get…” Her stomach plummeted. “Oh, Danny. Tell me you didn’t.”

      He folded his hands on his knees and leaned forward, his choirboy face earnest. “These people are among the poorest in the world, Ava. They live in mud huts. Some of the children walk ten miles a day to school. Try to put things in perspective. If some personal sacrifice means we can help hundreds of less fortunate…”

      The last thing she needed right now was another lecture on sacrifice. She came upright and out of the chair in one smooth motion, her fists balled at her sides. “The sacrifice is hardly personal when it’s your son paying the price. Did you tell Alex you financed this trip by selling the bonds you were saving for his college costs?”

      His chin squared. He’d never once raised his voice in all the years she’d known him, but she recognized that expression. It meant he wouldn’t budge from his position. “You still have your savings for him, right? And he doesn’t have to go to MIT. There’s a perfectly adequate college right here in Metro City.”

      Ava closed her eyes, gritting her teeth against the hot words that trembled on her tongue. “He’s talked of nothing else for three years. He got a two thousand on the SAT as a freshman, Danny. He’s not going to the local college.” Her son’s proficiency in academics, especially in math and science, had been noticed early in elementary school. She’d been saving what she could for his future since then. They both had. At least until now.

      “MIT gives need-based scholarships anyway. And if he has to borrow some money, he’ll appreciate his education more.” Danny’s voice turned indulgent. “The Lord will provide, Ava. You just have to believe.”

      She stared at him, her breathing strangled. Which of them had changed more since they’d first met at seventeen and twenty? No real puzzle there. Danny was still the dreamy-eyed idealist, with the biggest heart she’d ever met. So big sometimes that it blinded him to the needs of his own family. While she…after eleven years on the force, she’d learned that all people weren’t inherently good. That evil was more than a concept. And if you didn’t take care of your own, no one else would.

      Turning her back on him, she fought to keep her voice steady. “You need to go.”

      “Ava—”

      “Now.” She could feel the temper heating her from the inside out. The tightness in her chest heralded an impending explosion. Alex didn’t need to hear his parents arguing. He’d heard plenty of that before they’d split.

      There was nothing to argue about at any rate. The bonds were gone. And nothing she could say would convince Danny he’d violated a trust by using them.

      A thought struck her there, comprehension piercing anger. She whirled to see Danny halfway through the door. “Wait.” He halted. “That’s not what had Alex so excited. What’d you tell him?”

      His sheepish look was its own answer. “I meant to run it by you first. Really. But we got to talking, and seeing how interested he was, it just

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