Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“It’s all in hand,” I said as Truth backed his bike off the street.
Once it was safely ensconced behind my cruiser, he went to move Verity’s car, but not before sneering slightly at Matt.
Good to know it isn’t just me.
“Who did you swap with for today?” I questioned.
It may sound like curiosity, but I truly needed to know who was switching with whom. Normally I got at least a text message saying who was taking whose shift. It hadn’t happened with Matt, though.
Then again, I hadn’t made it mandatory, and since Matt didn’t do anything he didn’t have to do, it shouldn’t surprise me.
“Harrison,” Matt answered instantly.
I rolled my eyes skyward. “For which shift next week?”
“Monday and Tuesday.”
I growled under my breath.
“I know that I’ve told you before that you need to be a little more consistent than you’re being. Those kids up there need a resource officer that they can turn to when they need one. You, of all people, should know that they need consistency,” I said in a very even tone.
Matt’s eye twitched. “Is that why my daughter is here?” he asked, sounding a little put out. “Her mom wouldn’t like to know that you brought her daughter to a scene like that. She’s protective.”
What mother wouldn’t be?
And I hardly had a choice where I brought her when a call like that came in.
Before I could tell him that Winnie was already well aware of the situation, another call came in. This one being a minor wreck two blocks over. “How about you go get that one…since you’re so close.”
And, since he couldn’t very well argue with the chief of police and keep his job, Matt nodded once stiffly and started down the road.
“You really are pissing that one off,” Tough said thoughtfully from behind me.
I’d known he was there, but since he was busy writing up a report, I hadn’t thought much about him overhearing what I had to say.
Anything I said to Matt were things I’d say in public or in private. Just like I’d do with all of my officers if the situation warranted it.
“That one gets on my nerves,” I felt comfortable enough to say.
Tough was the captain of our band of misfits at the police station. He knew all that went on just as well as I did.
“That one gets on everybody’s nerves but Harrison’s,” Tough countered.
“Good to know it’s not just me,” I muttered, then glanced into Tough’s car. “Is he asleep?”
Tough grunted. “Sure the fuck is. He got in there and laid down like it was his own personal car. So, I figured I’d stay and listen to what was going on with that douche canoe instead of writing this report at the station.”
I snorted. “You never miss the chance to catch the gossip, Tough.”
Tough burst out laughing. “I gotta tell the wife something when I get home. And, I got something juicy today. Don’t think I didn’t miss those heated stares between you and Douche Canoe’s ex-wife.”
“She was just mad,” I countered.
“Mad and horny. For you.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that.
“She’s not in the place right now to handle what I got on my plate,” I muttered. “Take care. I gotta go to the girl’s house and have a talk with that same mother. I have to explain why she was here with me.”
Tough found that hilarious. “You ever thought of calling?”
My eye twitched. “Yeah, but why bother when I gotta go home anyway, and she lives across the street? Seems counterproductive when I could just run over there real quick.”
“She’s your neighbor?” Tough’s smile widened. “Oh, my Leilan is going to love this!”
Ignoring him, I walked to my cruiser and drove away without deigning to reply to his comment.
Tough was worse than a high school girl.
Seriously, I think he could drama Conleigh under the table.
Arriving at my house minutes later, I pulled into my driveway and went straight to Winnie’s house instead of my own.
The screams coming from inside were loud enough to permeate through the closed door.
I knocked, wondering if anyone would even hear.
Conleigh answered a few moments later, looking like she was about ten seconds away from pulling her hair out.
“She went to the store,” Conleigh murmured. “But she’ll be right back. We only needed milk. As long as you don’t mind listening to my brother screech at the top of his lungs…”
“What’s wrong with your brother?”
“My brother’s pissed off at the world today and letting everybody know it.”
I walked into a warzone.
Chapter 5
Do you ever wake up and think you’re not really in the mood for human interaction that day, or is it just me?
-Text from Winnie to Steel
Winnie
5 hours earlier
“Have fun at the mall, baby,” I said to Conleigh as I dropped her off in the front of Sears.
Conleigh grunted. “I’m going to look for a job while I’m here.”