Smoothing out my expression, I turned to see that not only was my captain there, he was settled in. Arms crossed, ankles crossed,settled. Like he’d been waiting for me.
Oops. I think I’ve gotten predictable.
“I was just coming to get my car,” I lied.
“In a suit?”
“I like to look my best.”
“And getting it requires a visit inside?”
“I can never remember where I park the damn thing.”
“I think it’s safe to say it isn’t in here.” With a disappointed-father kind of sigh, he jerked his head to the side. “My office.”
I knew I was pushing it by coming to work. And I hadn’t expected to last the whole shift before he spotted me and sent me on my way. But I didn’t think I’d get the cop equivalent of being called into the principal’s office from the jump.
I was tempted to drag my feet with a slow, shuffling walk, but I was an adult.
The quiet chorus of “Ohhhh,” from the peanut gallery around me showed I was the only adult.
When I reached the open doorway, I stopped short at the discovery it wasn’t just me in the hot seat.
Rhys was already there.
Unfortunately, his too-tight tee was not.
Not that he didn’t still look good. His jeans and long-sleeve Henley fit him well. As did the motorcycle boots he wore—andwore often and for their actual purpose if the scuffs were any indication. The little biker ankle booties I had in my closet had never been near a motorcycle, but that didn’t stop me from rocking them with a cool leather jacket like I was an extra onEasy Rider. His hair was even messier than the night before, and I wondered if he’d just rolled out of bed.
And whether he’d been in said bed with someone else.
Captain gestured for me to sit, which I did because my curiosity was piqued. He wouldn’t call a meeting that could be an email just to say there was no update. And Rhys didn’t strike me as a man who thought the real world was like TV and expected everything to be solved in an hour.
So one of them had something to share with the class.
“Told you I wouldn’t have to call her in,” Cap said to Rhys.
Yup.
Too predictable.
That was the extent of his humor before he got down to business. “Mr. Walker and I were reviewing the other complaints that have been called in about his establishment. Yesterday was a stark escalation, even before the shooting. It could be a coincidence it happened on the same night, but…”
“That’d be a helluva coincidence,” Rhys rumbled.
“Especially with this.” Cap passed an evidence bag over to me.
Tick. Tock.
Your time is running out.
I looked at the note, flipping over the bag to see if there was anything on the back. “Where’d this come from?”
“Was waiting on my car this morning,” Rhys said.
“Do you have a doorbell camera?”
“Yeah, but I was parked down the street. And to be fair, it might’ve been there at Rye, and I just didn’t notice it on the drive home.”
