“Hey, Walker, what’s up?” Garcia asked.
Carving a hand through his messy hair, Hunt asked, “Got any leads on the break-in yesterday?”
“Nothing much,” Garcia reported. “Prints are still being run. Video surveillance doesn’t catch anyone suspicious entering the building or leaving.”
“Meaning the people coming into the building belonged there?”
A pause. “From what it seems, yeah. The camera in Ms. Harlow’s hallway malfunctioned. We couldn’t get anything off that.”
“Of course it malfunctioned,” Hunt grumbled. Rarely was a case ever easy.
Garcia huffed his agreement.
“All right,” Hunt said, pushing on. “I know I’ve got no jurisdiction here, but can you keep me in the loop once those prints come in?”
“You’ll be the first one I call.”
“Thanks, Garcia, appreciate it.” Hunt ended the call, a pit forming in his stomach. Everything about Lottie’s break-in rubbed him wrong. Lottie distracted him last night because he was obviously getting close to a secret. Unless it was a coincidence, someone had cut that surveillance camera to gain access to her condo. That spelled more trouble than a random break-in.
Releasing a frustrated sigh, he dialed his station, until he was transferred to his commanding officer.
“Davidson,” his boss said.
“Good morning, sir,” Hunt said. “It’s Walker.”
“Calling in on your day off,” Davidson said, a smile in his voice. “In the mood to kiss my ass today, Walker?”
“With the way you sweat, hell no,” Hunt joked.
Davidson barked a laugh.
While Davidson was higher rank with the force, they had worked together so long that they’d developed a personal relationship alongside their working one. Davidson loved a good game of tennis. Hunt loved kicking his ass.
Davidson finally asked, “What do you need?”
“Vacation time.”
A pause. A long, heavy, analyzing pause that indicated how odd it was for Hunt to take time off. He only used vacation days for the bachelor parties of his friends, and he never called in for random days off, always giving months’ notice.
“Everything all right?” Davidson eventually asked.
“Yeah. It will be,” Hunt explained, watching a man bike down the road with his little dog strapped into a backpack on his back. “A friend of mine’s condo was broken into yesterday. The First Precinct is working the case, but something about this case…something is telling me to stay close to her.”
“Then listen to your instincts,” Davidson agreed without a moment’s hesitation. A cop’s instincts were his best asset to the job. “How long do you want off?”
“A week, if that’s all right?” Hunt asked.
“Call if you need anything from me.”
“Will do. Talk soon.”
Hunt ended the call right as Lottie said from behind him, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
Turning away from the window, he found her somehow looking more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. In the morning, there was a softness he’d never seen about her. Makeup-less, with her hair up in a bun with strands hanging all over, she stunned him. “You shouldn’t look that good first thing in the morning,” he countered.
Heat rushed into her cheeks, but in classic Lottie style, she lifted her chin and pushed past whatever she felt. “You don’t need to babysit me,” she told him firmly.
He closed the distance between them. “I hardly think I’m babysitting you.” Even if last night was a way to distract him, he wouldn’t let any distance come between them again. When he pressed his body against hers, he brushed the roughness of his knuckles across her smooth cheek. “Good morning, beautiful.”
