I thought you were on special assignment withwhats his name again?
Cullen Archer, Mei said with a sigh as she slipped past Chief Catherine Tanner.
So whats wrong? Why arent you two nosing around the nightclub where that courier was killed?
Mei shook her head. I dont know. Swallowing hard, she muttered, NoI do know. It has to do with my family. Cullenah, he said to call him thatwants to start our investigation at my fathers gallery.
Catherine frowned. Surely Interpol doesnt thinkI mean, you dont suspect your father in any way?
No, Mei shot back quickly. Butyou know my relationship with my folks. I cant march into my fathers office acting like the cop they never wanted me to be.
A cop is what you are, Mei Lu, Catherine said with no softness in her tone. Its the career you chose. You took an oath to uphold the law, which transcends all other loyalties. Catherine paused. Tell Archer straight out about your concerns.
Mei Lu nodded dutifully. It wasnt what shed hoped for. Shed really wanted Catherine to take her off the casenot just because of her father but because Cullen Archer made her feel more a woman and less a cop.
Dear Reader,
Its always exciting to be asked to participate in a continuity within the Harlequin Superromance line. It means individual authors have an opportunity to work closely with fellow writers to develop a group of loosely connected stories. WOMEN IN BLUE is one of these.
My story, like the other five in this continuity, is first and foremost a love story about two people whose lives are enriched after their paths cross. Mei Lu Ling is a Houston cop attached to the White Collar Crimes division. Her family owns and operates a prestigious import and export firm dealing in high-end Asian art. She left the family business, electing instead to become a police officer. She went through the training academy with five other women; they formed close ties. The five friends understood Meis problems with her family and helped her cope with an ever-widening estrangement. So it came as a blow when an unforeseen situation (described in the first book of the series) caused the women to pull away from one another.
Suddenly the police chief (one of the original six women in blue) assigns Mei Lu to special duty as a Chinese-language translator for Cullen Archer. Hes an insurance investigator working with Interpol to break up a smuggling ring thats moving national treasures out of China. Mei Lu is drawn to Cullen, but she initially has doubts that center on his ex-wife. Mei is also drawn to his adorable twins. Cullen, meanwhile, tries not to suspect Meis father or her brother of being involved. Throughout the story, events conspire to bring them togetherand keep them apart.
I hope readers will want to read about all the individual struggles faced by these six friends, the WOMEN IN BLUE.
Roz Denny Fox
I love hearing from readers. You can reach me at P.O. Box 17480-101, Tucson, AZ 85731 or via my Web site,
www.korynna.com/RozFox
She Walks the Line
Roz Denny Fox
www.millsandboon.co.uk
To the other five authors of WOMEN IN BLUE: Kay David, Sherry Lewis, Linda Style, Anna Adams and K.N. Casperits been a treat to work with you. Likewise, my appreciation to our individual editors. This continuity has been made more cohesive thanks to your extra effort.
CONTENTS
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 ONE
MEI LU LING SHRUGGED into her shoulder holster and slid it into place. She took a moment to reflect on last Fridays ceremony, which allowed her to walk into Houston PD headquarters a full-fledged lieutenant. Only two of her four best friends from the academy, a twenty-six-week class that now seemed a distant memory, had attended her ceremony, even though Mei had invited them all.
Shed noticed Crista Santiago at the back of the room, and Risa Taylor had popped in long enough to see Catherine Tanner, the chief, do the honors. Mei was happy her new department captain had had a court commitment, and that Catherine had volunteered to replace him. It also pleased her that two of her friends had been able to slip away from their duties. Especially Risa, considering everything shed undergone not long ago at the hands of the internal review board. Risa and Crista were the only members of their once close-knit group who knew what it was like to struggle up the department ladder without family support. And none of Meis family would have put in an appearance if their lives depended on it.
But, at thirty-one, after more than six years as a cop, Mei had no regrets. She was content with her life and a career solving white-collar crime in the city where she was born and raised.
Stepping back to scrutinize her full image in the bedroom mirror, Mei rechecked her dark hair, twisted into a knot at the nape of her neck. When shed entered the academy shed been advised to cut her waist-length hair, and she had. Shed worn a pixie cut until after leaving street patrol, because the dregs of society fought dirty, and a woman couldnt afford to have hair a perpetrator could grab. Now, though, she worked more with civilized crooks.
The thought of any crook being civilized prompted an involuntary smile as she donned her trim navy jacket. Satisfied that she looked okay Mei detoured through the kitchen on her way out in order to bid her dog goodbye. He was a mixed-breed shelter rescue shed named Foo Manchumostly to irritate her mother. Aun Ling disliked anything that poked fun at things Chinese. She detested her son, Stephens, Foo Fighter tapes. Aun collected jade and porcelain figurines of Chinese Fu dogs. Mei had always loved the collection, and as a kid had spent hours dusting it. Perhaps another reason shed chosen the name Foo.
She checked his automatic pet feeder to make sure there was enough kibble in case her day ran late, then headed outside into a beautiful March morning. At the curb, she unlocked and climbed into an aging subcompact, a sorry-looking vehicle Mei Lu prayed would last until she could find time to test-drive and buy a new model.
Her homehalf of a duplex that sat two blocks off Bellaire Boulevard in a slightly seedy part of townand her automobile were major blights on her life, as far as her affluent parents were concerned. They lived in an upscale area known for rambling homes built on huge lots. Mei preferred her eclectic neighborhood, insisting that her street was as safe as any in the city.
A fifty-minute battle through heavy traffic brought her to the police department parking garage downtown. She walked into the office early, out of habit. Few of her colleagues in her new unit were at their desks yet. Propped in the middle of hers sat a message from Chief Tanner, requesting Meis presence upstairs.