Reunited By The Badge. Deborah Fletcher Mello

soft sigh of relief. “I’m headed over to our place now. I should be there in ten minutes.”

      “We have a place?” she replied sarcastically.

      Paul shook his head. “I’ll be waiting, Simone. I’ll see you when you get there.”

      As he disconnected the line, Paul noted the look Mrs. Pippin was giving him. The old woman eyed him with raised brows. Bemusement furrowed her forehead and there was a hint of hubris in her eyes. He was sure something snarky teased the tip of her tongue, but she bit back the quip, giving him an easy smile instead.

      Paul chuckled. He hated admitting when the old woman was right and in the short time he’d known her, her instincts had often been spot-on. This time was no different. Because Simone Black did have his heart on lock. Even with the distance between them, and the young woman’s sometimes contentious demeanor that had him wanting to pull his hair out, Paul still loved Simone more than he had ever loved any other woman in his life.

      Simone Black had needed to park her car around the corner from their favorite local restaurant. Walking the length of the block in high heels was proving to be quite the chore and she was kicking herself for choosing cute over comfort. But it had been quite some time since she and Paul had been in a room together and she was determined that he saw cute when they next met.

      Just hearing his voice over the telephone had sent shivers of excitement down her spine. She hadn’t wanted to admit just how much she missed him, because admitting she missed him meant admitting she might have been wrong about breaking up with him. Simone had lost count of the number of times she’d kicked herself for that decision.

      Since their separation almost one year ago and him leaving the country, Simone often claimed she’d been abandoned, left pining after a man who had loved his career more than he had loved her. She conveniently left out the fact that Paul had begged her to leave with him, wanting her to follow his dreams as they worked together to fulfill her own. She had always admired his humanitarian spirit but had been ill-prepared the day he announced he wanted to serve patients overseas in developing countries. It had been a calling on his heart that she’d found admirable, but she hadn’t been able to see how she might fit in the life he imagined.

      But Paul had wanted a future together that included whatever they both needed, and Simone had just been too scared to commit, not wanting to admit that at that time, she didn’t have a clue what she had wanted or needed.

      She and Paul had met in college, becoming fast friends in a few short weeks. He could make her laugh with little effort and his energy was infectious. Paul’s enthusiasm for life had brought out the best traits in Simone and where she was often snarky and difficult with others, with Paul Reilly she was like the easiest breeze on a summer day.

      They had absolutely nothing in common, not even a shared interest in the same foods. He was altruistic, and she was often self-centered, thinking only about herself. He believed in a higher power and she proclaimed herself an agnostic. Where he was willing to venture through life all willy-nilly, she was more restrained and guarded and not a risk taker. Paul had treated her with kindness in a way no other man had before. And there had been other men. Casual acquaintances who never quite measured up to the father and brothers she compared them with. The male members of Simone’s family had set a standard others had found insurmountable. Paul had surpassed the challenge.

      Paul had never tried to control her, allowing her the freedom to find her own way as it suited her. He was nonjudgmental, even tempered and compassionate to a fault. The friendship that had evolved between them had taken on a life of its own. Their intense physical attraction to each other and a willingness to simply trust the process had created a bond that even they didn’t understand. It worked, even when it shouldn’t have.

      Paul leaving after weeks of begging her to join him had been devastating. It had left a hollow void in her life that she’d been unable to fill. She’d regretted the decision more times than she cared to count, and she had never told him, hating to admit that she had simply been too scared to step outside of her comfort zone. Her pride had been the biggest wall standing between them. Now, here she was, racing to see him, and trying to be cute when she got there.

      Her heel caught in a crack in the concrete sidewalk and she almost tripped, barely stopping herself from falling forward. She came to an abrupt halt, pausing to take a deep breath to calm her nerves as she steadied herself. The air was crisp, evening temperatures predicting snow in a forecast that was warm one day and practically cataclysmic the next. She sucked in oxygen like her life depended on it.

      The two men entering Little Bad Wolf caught her attention. They wore matching black suits and when one shoved his hands into his pants pockets, she spied a holster beneath his jacket. They had an odd, Men in Black vibe that felt strangely unnatural. The duo gave her reason to pause, something about them feeling out of sync with the neighborhood. Each tossed a look over his shoulder before moving through the entrance, which made her uneasy. She wanted to dismiss the emotion, her nerves already on overdrive as she thought about Paul and his telephone call and her excitement about meeting him. But there was something that suddenly had her imagining terrorist attacks, hostage situations or something else bringing harm to a host of innocent bystanders.

      She would wonder why later, but instinct moved her to reach for her cell phone and dial the number to the local police station. Two rings and an officer Simone didn’t recognize answered the phone.

      “Good evening. Is Captain Black available, please? It’s his sister calling.”

      Parker Black answered the line a few seconds later. “Hello?”

      “Hey, it’s me, Simone.”

      “What’s wrong, Simone?”

      “It might not be anything, but can you roll a patrol car out to Little Bad Wolf? I feel like they need to do a safety check of the area.”

      “Because…?”

      “I’m here to meet Paul and two really shady-looking guys just went into the place. One’s carrying a gun under his jacket. I’m not sure about the other. But they’re not regulars and they don’t look like they’re visiting Chicago for our pleasant tourist sights. It’s just a feeling I get. Something’s just not right about them.” She didn’t bother to tell her brother that Paul had said his problem was a matter of life and death and that something in his voice had been concerning. She doubted the two had anything to do with each other, but she would rather be safe than sorry.

      “So, you’re meeting Paul the doctor? Your ex-boyfriend Paul? I heard he was back. So, are you two reconciling or is this just a late-night booty call?”

      “Just send a car, please?”

      “He’s a good guy, Simone. Go easy on the brother.”

      “Thank you, Parker!” she answered, her singsong tone belying her anxiety.

      Her brother persisted. “It wasn’t cool how you ended things. You’re lucky…”

      Simone disconnected the call, not even bothering to say goodbye. She took another deep breath and moved through the door into the space.

      Little Bad Wolf was a neighborhood favorite. The gastropub was often packed, a lengthy line waiting to get inside during prime dinner hours. She and Paul had been regulars, eating there at least three, sometimes four times, per week.

      The young man who greeted her at the door looked discombobulated, although he tried nicely to mask his distress. He smiled, recognition washing over his expression. “Attorney Black, long time no see!” he exclaimed as he leaned in to give her a warm hug.

      Simone hugged him back. “Jacob, hey! Is everything okay?”

      The man named Jacob nodded, but there was something about the twitch over his eye that said so much more. “I’m good. Really good,” he said as he tossed a look over his shoulder.

      Simone smiled. “I’ve