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understand that our marriage is dead? And sex can’t resurrect it.”
    He closed his eyes briefly on that painful thought.
    “What are you doing in uniform anyhow? You haven’t been in uniform since you made detective ten years ago. I’m surprised it still fits.”
    “It didn’t,” he admitted sheepishly. “Skip loaned me his.”
    “Skip? Oh, you are too much! Dragging other people into our affairs.” She blushed as a sudden thought occurred to her. “You didn’t tell him why you wanted the uniform, did you?”
    “Nah, it’s our secret. Listen, honey, it’s getting dark. Let’s go back to our apartment—I mean, your place—and talk. I promise I won’t touch you again. Unless you want me to.”
    She flashed him a look of utter disbelief. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Nick. And we’re getting a divorce six days from now.” Tears filled her eyes as she gazed up at him bleakly.
    “I love you, Paula. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
    “Oh, Nick. Of course, it does. But we’ve been over this a hundred times before. Your love suffocates me.”
    He flinched at her harsh words. “I can change.”
    “No, you can’t. You’ve tried. Many times. But you can’t stop smothering me with your obsessiveness.”
    “I only want to keep you safe. What’s wrong with that?”
    “Nick, I hated that high-rise prison we lived in.”
    “It was a maximum security complex,” he corrected. “That’s why we moved there in the first place. And I got us another place, just like you wanted.”
    “No, Nick, like you wanted. Not me.” She shook her head wearily. “A low-rise apartment building with bars on the windows is not my idea of home.”
    He drew himself up, affronted. “They aren’t bars. They’re security grills.”
    “Why couldn’t we have lived in the suburbs? All I wanted was a little house with a backyard and an apple tree.”
    “Uh-uh. Too unsafe, especially close to the city.”
    She made a clucking sound of disgust. “And my car? I asked for a Volkswagen convertible, and you bought me a Volvo sedan.”
    “Honey, soft-top cars are an invitation for burglars. You could be attacked at a stoplight, even with the doors locked.”
    “And Gonzo! Lord, I asked for a cocker spaniel, and you gave me a small horse.”
    “A German shepherd is one of the best guard dogs.” He looked wounded at her lack of appreciation. “I thought you liked Gonzo.”
    “I love Gonzo. Now. But he’s not what I wanted.”
    “So, you’re pissed off because of a house, a car, and a damned dog?”
    “Aaarrgh! Listen to me for once, you stubborn fool. Those things were just bricks in the wall you were putting up day by day. What hurt the most the last couple of years was your refusal to talk about your work.”
    He braced himself, knowing what was coming next.
    “I had no idea what kind of cases you handled. Sometimes you were so angry, or sad, and you kept it all inside.”
    “Paula, I’m surrounded by muck in my job. The dregs of humanity. Believe me, you don’t want to know about some of the things I witness.”
    “How do you know what I want, you blockhead? God, you’re impossible! And my job—you refused to listen—oh, I give up!” She threw her hands up in the air. “We’ve been over this a million times.”
    Nick’s pride tempted him to turn on his heel and say, “To hell with it, then.” But he couldn’t give up without one last salvo, “Don’t you love me anymore?”
    She averted her eyes.
    “Tell me. Say the words, ‘I don’t love you, Nick.’”
    A single tear slid down her cheek, and she wiped at it angrily.
    He felt like a fist was squeezing his heart.
    “You know I can’t. Not yet,” she said on a sob. “But I’m going to learn to stop. And finalizing the divorce is the first step.” With determination, she opened her car door and slid behind the steering wheel.
    “I have six more days to convince you otherwise,” he shouted through the closed window, with equal