Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
So, to work I went.
The shower I took was quick, and less than fifteen minutes after peeling myself out of bed, I was heading to the front door.
“Hey,” I said when I disarmed the alarm and Gable was already standing there waiting. “You just get off shift?”
“I did,” he confirmed. “I’m gonna catch about six hours of sleep on your couch. She told me she was a late sleeper yesterday, and I’d have plenty of time to catch a few hours before she was ready to do anything for the day.”
Gable and I passed in the doorway of my place, and I closed the door behind him.
He locked it tight, and I was headed to my cruiser seconds later, ready to face my day, despite the warm, willing woman I left in my bed.
Sadly, I had a feeling as I drove to work that this day had already started out on the wrong foot.
And I wasn’t wrong.
“Sergeant,” one of our newest beat officers, Trig Rochester, said as he raised his hand. “Are you sure that you want us out there handing out tickets left and right? You know that they’re going to start bitching about us meeting our quota.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “I don’t give a fuck.”
“But really you should,” Teague, another new hire, said. “I mean, look at the way the mayor came down on us during that parade. You had that sweet ass car chase, and he couldn’t care less. All he cared about was the fact that we gave out tickets aplenty to all of those drunk fucks who were reckless and disorderly.”
I looked over at Teague and said, “A fuck must be earned, Teague. Neither the mayor, nor anyone else, has earned that from me. I do my job. I make sure the city is safe. And there’s a goddamn fair going on, that year after year, brings out the worst of the worst. You see anything shady going on, I want you to fuckin’ fix it. If that’s giving a goddamn ticket, then give the goddamn ticket.”
Someone snickered, and I whipped my head around, ready to hand them their ass, only to have my eyes clash with deep blue eyes that were clearly amused with me.
Ellodie.
What was she doing here?
“Oh, Sergeant,” another new hire, Duke Miller, said. “Who’s she? She’s pretty.”
Forcing my eyes away from the woman who had half of my attention all morning, I narrowed my eyes at Duke and said, “You may be a former Navy SEAL, but I was MARSOC. I’d say we’re fairly fuckin’ equal. And I’m older and wiser. Trust me when I say that I could kill you just as easily. Plus, I’m local, and I know this area like the back of my hand. You look at my girl again, and I’ll let you know just how well I can hide your body for nobody to find.”
Duke and Trig separated from the Navy unit about four months ago, and came to Dallas to be near their friend, Autry Bills, who just so happened to run security, and many other things, for Circus House, Keene’s family’s circus.
They were great officers, and I was happy to have them.
But not enough that I’d be willing to share anything with them, let alone my girl.
“Yes, Sergeant.” Duke mimed zipping his lips, eyes alight with mirth.
“Any more questions for today?” I questioned.
“No, Sergeant,” twenty officers said at once as they got up to leave.
Seeing Assman in the back, I called for him to wait, and then held my finger up to Ellodie and Gable. Gable who was about a week away from going back undercover to work on finding a new drug operation that was running rampant throughout the city. It’d already taken out seven high-schoolers and three middle-schoolers.
Which was unacceptable.
Any loss of life was bad. But so much worse when it was a kid.
Assman halted and headed toward me, looking worried.
I shook my head as soon as he got to me and said, “I’m not reprimanding you for anything. How is the kid?”
Assman smiled. “Doing really well, actually. My grandmother is watching him most of the time for me. We got all moved in. She’s staying with him during the day, and when things are getting too much for her, your mom is doing it. Or she’s finding someone to do it. Usually, it’s another cop’s wife. I didn’t know they had this huge network of wives who are willing to just drop everything to watch a kid.”
I grinned and held out my hand. “Good. I’m glad that it’s all working out. Yeah, that network started before I was born. My mom is pretty awesome.”
“She is,” he said. “Thanks again.”
I dismissed him to get out on patrol, then turned to the two people who were waiting on me.