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here all day.”
    Gerald shook his head and went over to remove the clothes from the washer and transfer them to the dryer.
    “You’re off the chain, Carla!”
    Carla winked. “You got to keep these dudes in check. You’ll learn. So, you new to the neighborhood?”
    “Yeah, I’m visiting a couple of childhood friends. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here.”
    “That’s cool.”
    The buzzer sounded and her sheets and blankets stopped spinning.
    “It was nice meeting you.” Minerva smiled at Carla before getting up.
    As she rolled the laundry cart back to the tenement on Governor Street where she was staying with the McKnight twins, she hoped she wouldn’t have the misfortune to run into Hightower again.
     

    Lawrence watched Minnie Samuels struggle to pull the stuffed laundry cart up the stairs to the apartment building. It was all he could do to make himself watch and not rush over to help her with it.
    Where were the idiots McKnight anyway? Why did it look like she’d been doing laundry for the entire household? And why did he care?
    The hurt expression that flashed across her face when he’d said she wasn’t his type came to his mind and before he knew it he was walking across the street and taking the cart from her hands. He carried it up the front steps and to the door of the McKnights’ second-floor apartment.
    Timmy McKnight opened the door. “Hey, girl, I was just about to go looking for you.” He eyed Lawrence before turning and giving Minerva a puzzled stare.
    Minerva turned to Lawrence and for a minute she looked so sweet and innocent, he just wanted to wrap her up and take her away from there. What was wrong with him? There was something about this woman that sent his emotions spiraling in all different directions.
    He hadn’t expected her to call him on his attraction to her. And he certainly hadn’t expected her to bounce back so quickly when he’d said what he said to throw her off. But she had come back with a smart-ass comment and given him a stare that made sure he knew that she knew he’d been lying.
    For her sake and his, he hoped she wasn’t into anything shady. Because while it might hurt to arrest her, he would do it in a heartbeat if she proved to be a criminal.
    “Thanks for your help, Detective. I appreciate it.” She brushed a strand of the auburn hair from her cheek.
    He couldn’t believe he was finding himself attracted to a woman who had such an outrageous hairstyle.
    No, he couldn’t be. He wouldn’t be.
    No.
    “You’re welcome, Minnie.” He nodded at Timothy. “Keep it clean, people. I’ll be watching.” He walked off just in time to hear Timothy start questioning Minerva.
    “What’s he—”
    The rest of Timothy’s words were lost to him as he left the building. But he could just imagine the conversation that was ensuing between the two of them. Maybe he should have just let her struggle with the heavy cart. But he wasn’t wired that way. No Hightower worth his salt would stand by and watch a petite little thing like Minnie Samuels struggle and not reach out to help her.
    He jumped into his standard-issue, navy-blue Ford Taurus narc-mobile and continued to survey and police the neighborhood. Paterson’s Fourth Ward had a higher crime rate than other parts of the city. It had become so bad that the department even had little two-room trailer police stations on certain corners. He parked in front of the trailer on the corner of Straight Street and Governor and walked in.
    His partner had been shot a few months ago and was still out on leave. Since Lawrence refused to work with anyone else, the top brass had essentially stopped trying to match him with a temporary new partner. That was more than fine with him. The last thing he wanted was responsibility for some young kid fresh out of the academy.
    “What does it look like out there?” Johnson leaned back in his chair and rested his hands behind his head. The overweight officer took lounging to a new