Catch Your Breath Read online

  Also by Shannyn Schroeder

  More Than This

  A Good Time

  Something to Prove

  Catch

  YOUR BREATH

  The O’Learys

  SHANNYN SCHROEDER

  eKensington

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Also by

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  Moira’s Super-Fudgy Brownies

  Teaser chapter

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  To Trouble,

  I love you even when you talk too much

  Acknowledgments

  No book is really written in isolation, and this holds true for this book more than any other I have written. This was the first book that I truly had to write under deadline, and I was nervous. Not only did I have to write under a real deadline, but I also had to start the book over the summer while my kids were home. Then, two writer friends, Erica O���Rourke and Clara Kensie, came up with the brilliant idea for Summer of All the Words. The concept was simple—every night, writers would meet on Twitter from 10 to 11 to get words on the page. Without that motivation and support, I’m not sure writing would have been as much fun, so I owe a huge thank-you to Erica, Clara, and all the writers who showed up nightly all summer long. Next, as always, thank you to my critique partner Paly, who is never afraid to tell me when I’m screwing up my characters. To Hanna Martine and Pamala Knight, who beta read the book and gave me excellent insight under pretty tight deadlines—I owe you guys. And finally, to all of the book bloggers and readers who have taken the time to read about the O’Learys: Without you, I wouldn’t be able to have such a great job.

  CHAPTER 1

  Jimmy O’Malley sat in the commander’s office, knowing that one day, he’d move into the space. Today, however, he was waiting to hear why he’d been summoned. He hadn’t been a detective long enough to screw up, so the reason eluded him. He’d been working doggedly on some property crimes that went nowhere. Most of the detectives from his class had gone on to investigate violent crimes. He’d been relegated to burglary and vandalism.

  Commander Elks hung up the receiver and stood. “I hear good things about you, O’Malley.”

  “Thanks, sir.”

  “I’ve been contacted by the mayor about a special assignment.”

  Jimmy tried not to get excited. “Special” could mean a new task force or babysitting a dog. He really hoped for the former.

  Elks sat on the front edge of the desk. “You’ll be going undercover to gather information.”

  Undercover sounded good. “Information on what?”

  “A possible theft.”

  “Possible?”

  Elks shook his head and crossed his arms. Jimmy realized the commander wasn’t happy about this assignment.

  “The mayor has a friend who was burglarized. He wants us to quietly look into it.”

  “Did he file a report?”

  Elks shook his head. “Like I said, it’s a special assignment.”

  A sinking feeling hit him. Not the good kind of special.

  “Here’s the deal, O’Malley. The mayor’s buddy was robbed, but he didn’t report it. I’m still not clear as to why, but the mayor thinks his friend is not the only victim.”

  Jimmy shifted. “He thinks?”

  “These people are high society. They have something stolen, they just replace it, I guess. I don’t know. I told the mayor that without a formal report, we couldn’t do much. What I did promise was that if he provided access, I would provide a detective to investigate. If you come up with other victims, we’ll form a task force. If he’s right and someone is targeting the city’s wealthy, it could be a career-making case.”

  “And if he’s wrong?”

  Elks shrugged. “We lose some man hours. You get to rub elbows with the upper echelon of the city and attend some fancy parties.”

  Fuck. Getting dressed up to hang out with a bunch of snobs was not his idea of a great career move.

  Elks reached around, picked up an envelope from his desk, and handed it to Jimmy. “You’ll be attending a gala tomorrow night. It’s black tie, so get a tux. You’re going in as James Buchanan, a friend of Mayor Park. You’ve just moved to the city, and he’s extended his societal pull to you. He’ll be there to introduce you around.”

  Jimmy looked at the invitation, which felt more like fabric than paper. The script was fancy calligraphy. Elks went back to his side of the desk and Jimmy stood.

  Before leaving, he had to know. “Sir, if you don’t mind my asking, why me?”

  “You’re a low man in the ranks and no one knows you. I can’t afford to pull a detective off a homicide to make the mayor happy.”

  Disappointment stung. Part of him had hoped that the extra hours he’d put in on going-nowhere cases had made an impact, that people higher on the ladder had noticed. Instead, he could’ve been a total idiot and still been chosen for this assignment.

  At least he’d get face time with the mayor. That couldn’t possibly be a bad thing. Make a positive impression there and he’d have pull down the line when he’d need it.

  Jimmy went back to meet up with his partner, Gabby. She’d been reinterviewing a witness to one of the burglaries they were trying to solve.

  When he found her, she sat at her desk, staring at a file.

  “Hey.”

  “So what’d Elks want?”

  “I got a new assignment.” He explained the details and her mouth opened.

  “And he chose you? What the hell, man? I wouldn’t mind attending a party. Although the heels would probably be a killer. But the champagne and caviar? Might be worth suffering through heels and a dress.”

  He shook his head at her. “I’m there to get information, not to get drunk.”

  “Lighten up, O’Malley. There’s no rule against enjoying your job. If you don’t find some spark, you’ll burn out inside five years.” She closed the file in front of her. “At least your case will get me out of here.”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  “I get to be your backup.”

  Jimmy walked through the front door of his childhood home and tripped on a hockey skate. What the fuck? His brothers weren’t twelve anymore. You’d think they could manage to pick up their shit. He went straight to his bedroom upstairs to hang up the tuxedo. If his brothers caught sight of it, they’d never stop ribbing him. They’d assume he had a date.

  Not that he’d waste dressing up on any of the women he’d been with lately. His life plan was right on track, except for that one part. Finding the right woman had not been working out.

  “Hey, Jimmy. You home?” his baby brother Tommy screamed from the kitchen.

  Rather than yell back, Jimmy walked back downstairs. “What’s up?”

  “Your turn for dinner.”

  Shit. He’d forgotten. He eyed the phone and wanted to call for pizza, but he knew his dad had probably eaten crap all day, so he’d have to cook. His brothers cheated enough on their days. “Where’s Dad?”

  Tommy pulled a beer from the fri
dge and shrugged. “I just got home a little while ago. He wasn’t here.”

  “Sean around?”

  Another shrug. “Haven’t seen him.”

  Jimmy checked the contents of the fridge. He didn’t have the energy to go shopping. If their dad wasn’t home anyway, pizza would be fine. The old man’s diet would be shot for the day. Jimmy just hoped he was smart enough to check his blood sugar while he was out. He tossed thirty bucks on the table and grabbed a beer for himself. “Call for a pizza. No anchovies.”

  Tommy snickered. He was the only one in the house who ate anchovies, so when given the chance, he ordered them on pizza so he wouldn’t have to share. Sometimes Jimmy let him get away with it. The kid was on the scrawny side. Always had been.

  Jimmy took his beer back upstairs. After his brothers had moved out, he turned the two attic bedrooms into an apartment for himself. If he had to be stuck living at home with his dad, he might as well be comfortable. He hadn’t counted on two of his three brothers moving back in.

  They’d moved into the basement. At least they had a separate entrance, so it gave the appearance of an apartment. Until you walked into the unfinished basement anyway. Neither Tommy nor Sean did a damn thing to improve the space. They lived in a concrete dungeon, and it didn’t seem to bother them a bit.

  After a quick shower, he sat at his computer to research Mayor Park’s friends and the charity event he had to attend. He didn’t go into any situation unarmed.

  Moira O’Leary scanned her closet for the right gown for the fund-raiser for Children’s Memorial—correction: Lurie Children’s Hospital. It didn’t matter if she’d grown up knowing it as Children’s Memorial. If she didn’t get it right in the article, she’d be a laughingstock.

  “Ooo . . . what about this one?” Her friend Kathy pulled out a simple little black dress.

  “Not formal enough. I need floor length for this party.” It looked like she needed to make another trip to the consignment shop.

  “Rough life you have. Getting dressed up and pretty in order to drink with a bunch of rich people who are donating money for a good cause. Shoot, how do I get in on that gig?” Kathy replaced the dress in the closet.

  Moira smiled. All anyone ever saw from her life was the glamorous parties. “Yeah, that’s my charmed life. Champagne and bonbons.”

  She laughed it off. It was easier than trying to convince anyone that she held a real job. No one ever saw her at three in the morning struggling to get words on the page to meet a deadline. They all forgot the years she wrote obituaries and suburban city council meeting articles.

  “Really, Moira. Can’t you get me in to one of these parties? I’m thinking it would be a great place to meet a guy. It would be like The Millionaire Matchmaker without Patti being mean to me.” She plopped on Moira’s bed.

  “If I had an extra invite, I would. I get one, and I usually have to beg for that. Plus, I’ve yet to see an unattached guy who I’d like to date.” She’d been to enough functions to realize that having money didn’t make those guys any better than the ones they’d meet at her family’s bar or her brother’s bowling alley. “Come on, I need to go shopping. I can’t wear the same dress I wore last week to tomorrow’s party. I need to spread them out or people will notice.”

  Kathy stood and Moira felt a twinge of jealousy at Kathy’s height. Her friend stood a good six inches taller. Moira hated having to get every garment tailored.

  “You’re going to show me your secret shopping places? Do I need a special invite or do they let lowly people like me in?” She flashed a bright smile and gathered her wildly curly hair in a ponytail.

  “If they let me in, I’m sure they’ll love you.” Moira grabbed her purse and did some quick mental calculations to see how much she could afford to spend and still make rent. She couldn’t wait to make a real name for herself so she wouldn’t have to worry about how much a dress cost.

  She grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and tossed one to Kathy, who was holding the invitation for Moira’s ten-year high school reunion.

  “Going?” she asked.

  Moira shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know if I’m up for it.”

  “Go. It’s fun. I told you I had a blast at mine last month. If nothing else, you get to poke fun at all the people who haven’t done as well as you have.”

  “High school all over again.” The problem with that was Moira hadn’t done as well as she’d expected. Although she had a decent job, she hadn’t gotten married and had no family. Shit, she didn’t even have a boyfriend. It was like high school all over again.

  “I know that look. You’ve done well for yourself. Just find some really hot guy to go with you.”

  “Easy for you to say. Come on, we have dresses to buy.”

  Three stores later, Moira found the perfect gown. The emerald green fabric held just a hint of shimmer. She only needed to have it shortened. For a change, the bust and waist both fit, an anomaly for which she was grateful. Usually, she needed to take in the waist and shorten it, or figure out how to let out some room in the bust, which was hard, so she tended to opt for sizes much too big for the rest of her body. She’d gladly give up a couple of cup sizes to add a few measly inches in leg.

  As she carried her new dress into her apartment, her phone rang. She juggled the keys and phone with the dress as she opened the door. “Hey, Ry, what’s up?”

  “How’s my favorite sister?”

  She rolled her eyes. Ryan liked to think he was the only one who knew when people were calling for a favor. “Right now, I’m the only sister you have on this continent. Not too hard to be the favorite. What do you need?”

  “A babysitter for tomorrow night?”

  “Sorry, no can do. You know I love baby Patrick, but I have a work thing tomorrow night.” She tossed her keys on the coffee table and hung the dress on the back of her bedroom door. “How about Sunday?”

  “No. I have to be at the bar on Sunday.”

  Moira sighed. Ryan always did stuff for the rest of them. “How about during the day? I can spend the afternoon at your house and head out to the party from there.”

  Ryan went silent and she knew he was considering the option. “That might work. Let me talk to Quinn.”

  “Let me know.” She disconnected and called her mom, seamstress extraordinaire. “Hi, Mom. I bought a new dress. Any chance you can hem it for me?”

  “When do you need it?”

  “For tomorrow?”

  Her mother tsked like she always did.

  “I just bought it today, and it fits really well. Except for the length, of course.”

  “But when did you know you needed a dress? When did you go shopping for it?”

  Mom had her there. So she procrastinated. In her defense, had she gone shopping earlier, she probably wouldn’t have gotten this perfect dress. “You should be used to it by now. It’s not like I became an adult and suddenly started procrastinating. I’ve waited until the last minute for everything my whole life.”

  “Come for dinner and I’ll do it after.”

  “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”

  Her mom disconnected without acknowledging her gratitude. Her mother would make a real dinner, so Moira was getting a double bonus.

  Unfortunately, this was a pretty typical Friday night for her. For a long time, she thought things were good—she was getting where she wanted to be. But now, she watched her older brothers all find love and she felt like she was missing out.

  Like when she was a teenager and they all had girlfriends. Many girlfriends. But they scared off any guy who came looking for her.

  She liked having protective brothers, but damn, she wanted a little taste of what they had. No, a taste would never be enough. She wanted the whole shebang, her own fairy tale.

  Hanging out with her mom on a Friday night wouldn’t get her there.

  On Saturday, Jimmy dressed in the rented tux and tried not to feel trapped. He was still getting used to wearing a suit on a d
aily basis. A tuxedo felt so formal and stiff, like being in a straightjacket. He walked downstairs to check on his dad before heading out.

  “Where the hell you going all dressed up?”

  “Work,” Jimmy answered. “Did you check your blood?”

  His dad nodded and drank from a glass. Jimmy eyed the liquid to determine what it was.

  “Diet root beer,” Dad said. “And before you ask, yeah, I ate dinner, even my vegetables.”

  If this was what being a parent felt like, maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a father. Jimmy could barely control his temper over his dad’s attitude about everything. It’s not like Jimmy wanted to mother him.

  “What kind of case makes you dress like a damn penguin?”

  “Undercover.”

  “There’s the reason I stayed in uniform. Things are black and white. None of that shite.” He slugged back more of his root beer.

  While his father had been a good cop, Jimmy knew Dad hadn’t been particularly ambitious either, which had been the main reason he’d stayed in uniform his entire career. Jimmy wanted more. More money, more respect—he wanted it all.

  Dad couldn’t understand, so they clashed pretty often when it came to talking about work. Jimmy avoided the topic whenever possible, but at the same time, he knew Dad loved to have a small piece of his life back by talking over a case with Jimmy.

  He took the Blue Line downtown and walked the few blocks to the mayor’s office. The tuxedo irritated the shit out of him. He tried not to claw at the tie and hoped the stench of the El didn’t stick to him.

  Gabby offered to drive, but it didn’t make sense for her to drive to the North side when she lived south. They planned to meet at the mayor’s office and he’d ride with the mayor. Give him a chance to get chummy with the man.

  As he turned the corner in front of the building, a long, high-pitched whistle broke the air. Gabby stood, leaning against her car, smiling at him.