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I glanced at Shep before replying. “No, he’s probably not okay. Wanna know why?”
They nodded like a bunch of worried bobbleheads.
“Right,” I said, trying to wrap my head around the situation as I rubbed a hand over my jaw. “So, James Bell called us ‘bout a missin’ fiancee and a ransom demand. Y’all know anythin’ about that?”
The sandy-haired one choked on his own breath, his eyes widening. “Oh, man.”
“We told him not to call the cops!” the first genius exclaimed, causing the rest of them to murmer similar sentiments amongst themselves.
“Y’all wrote him a fake note sayin’ you’d kidnapped his girl and not to call the cops just to get him to his bachelor party?” I asked, incredulous. “What kind of friends do that?”
“Look, it was all part of the game,” another guy piped up from the back. “We wanted to give him a night to remember, you know?”
“Oh, don’t worry there,” Shep said through a chuckle, “I’m sure you succeeded.”
I could only imagine. The officers who’d gone to his house had been sitting with him along with the crisis team, and based on the details of the call that Paisley had put in, he was likely a nervous wreck.
The sandy-haired guy sheepishly shrugged. “We didn’t think he’d call the cops. We figured he’d just play along and have some fun.”
“Fun?” I repeated, trying to keep my voice steady. “Y’all realize how serious this could’ve been?”
“Look, we’re real sorry,” the apparent ringlinger stammered.
“All right,” I sighed, feeling some of the tension drain from my shoulders. “Y’all need to understand that pranks are rarely as funny as you think they’re gonna be. You’re lucky no one’s in real trouble here.”
Not only did Tyler Stevens flash through my mind, but so did my brothers and dad. Grant Cole, too. They were always pranking each other—and me—when we were growing up, and I was just glad we’d all made it into adulthood mostly unscathed.
“Believe me, officer, lesson learned,” the sandy-haired guy said, nodding solemnly. “We won’t be doin’ somethin’ like this again.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered skeptically, trying to wrap my head around their explanation. “And where’s the missin’ fiancée?”
“Julie? Oh, she’s at her surprise bachelorette party,” the main one said, wearing a dumb grin.
“Oh, yeah? And what’s her theme? Should we be expectin’ any calls from her or her friends?” Shep asked.
They all shifted uncomfortably under my gaze, but the sandy-haired one shook his head. “Pretty sure they’re just doin’ their nails or somethin’. Sleepover-theme.”
I muttered under my breath, shaking my head. This whole thing was starting to sound like a bad sitcom plot.
“Y’all sure know how to throw a party,” I said sarcastically, my brows raising. But I couldn’t stay mad for too long. They were just trying to have some fun, even if it was at the expense of our time and resources. It wasn’t like they had malicious intent.
“Wait,” Shep interjected, drawing their attention. “What’s the deal with the money? Why’d you tell Jimmy to bring all the cash in his account?”
The guys kinda shuffled their feet and exchanged glances before one of them spoke up. “Oh, well, we were just gonna tell him to keep it outta the bank account unless he wanted his future wife to spend it all. You know, just a little joke playin’ off the whole ransom theme.”
“Right, ‘cause nothin’ is funnier than wastin’ police resources and scarin’ the crap outta your friend,” I replied. Maybe I was laying it on too thick, giving them too hard of a time, but this was… well, it was something else.
Just then, I heard my call sign come through the earbud in my ear, and Hope’s voice sounded panicked. I realized I’d been too distracted by the guy’s explanation to respond to her earlier attempts to raise me. Plus, considering I wasn’t in any real danger, I’d let my guard down and hadn’t been paying attention.
I lifted my hand to let them know I was okay, but I stilled when Paisley’s voice came through next.
“Blue, we’re about to sendeveryoneif you don’t key up soon. Are you Code 4 or not?” she demanded.
I grinned, my body suddenly feeling as warm as it’d felt cold when I’d first seen that awful sign.
Shep mouthed, “Who’s Blue?”, but I shook him off.
Then I keyed up my radio and replied, “Yeah, Red, we’re Code 4.”
