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Harrison’s partner, one D. Purdy, shook his head. “You can come by the precinct on Monday. This is our weekend off.”
“Fine, Monday it is.”
Harrison flipped his notebook closed and nodded to Purdy. The two of them glanced over at Hawk but made their way to the door. “See you Monday,” Harrison said in what must be his menacing tone. Hawk just stared at him. The two cops left.
“Finally,” he said, “I thought we’d be here all night.” He turned to find Remy glaring at him.
Her hands were balled into fists and rested on her hips. “Why’d you get rid of them? Now they won’t help me.”
Was she crazy? “Help you? How exactly do you think they’re going to help you?”
“They need to call in the fingerprint people. You know, the crime scene techs so they can track down who the guy was. Maybe he left fingerprints or DNA.”
“DNA?” He burst out laughing but then immediately regretted it. It made his shoulder hurt, and now a dull throb kicked up in his head. “This is New York. No one is going to fingerprint anything. DNA? That takes months to process in real life, and they won’t do it unless there’s a dead body involved, and sometimes not even then. Don’t kid yourself. These two will take the report, and that will be the end of it.”
“So then why bother calling them?” she demanded.
Remy had him there. “Because we’re supposed to for insurance purposes. If anything is missing or damaged, you won’t be able to claim it if you don’t have a police report,” he responded.
She snorted. “Insurance? I don’t plan on making any claims. It won’t be worth the cost of my rising premium.” She started down an aisle toward the back of the shop.
“Where are you going?” he asked as his eyes were drawn to her ass. Her jeans fit like a second skin, and they only emphasized the roundness. A small wave of desire hit him.
“I’m making more tea. I’m in desperate need of a cup. Then I’m going to start putting my grandfather’s shop back together. That asshole made a mess of things.”
Hawk glanced around. It hadn’t been evident from the front, but she was right. The intruder had hauled all kinds of books off the shelves and left them on the floor. It looked like a cyclone had gone through, but only in certain aisles.
He watched her disappear around the corner. She was a cute little thing, but what a pain in his ass, which of course, only had him thinking about her ass again. Her chestnut hair hung in loose waves around her shoulders, and earlier he’d found himself wondering what it would be like to run his fingers through it. Yes, she was attractive. Her large gray eyes were mesmerizing, and she had a wonderfully curvy figure, but she also had a smart mouth and a whole lot of attitude. She’d done her best to keep it hidden but her eyes didn’t lie and those were two things he didn’t need in his life. No, it was time for him to take his leave.
“Remy,” he called.
She stuck her head out of what he assumed was the little kitchen.
“I’m leaving. You should go, too. Where do you live?” He didn’t want her taking the subway at this hour on her own. After everything that had happened this week, a blind man could see she was a target. Going anywhere alone, especially at night, was a big mistake.
“Why?” she demanded.
He closed his eyes and quietly muttered a long string of curses. He opened his eyes again. “I was going to suggest that you take a cab or Uber home if you don’t live within walking distance. You’ve had a long night, and it’s late to be taking the subway.”
“Thanks, Dad,” she said, her words dripping in sarcasm. “But I think I can handle it.”
He wanted to say,like you’ve handled everything else this week?But he knew better. She’d done her best. Just telling him about being assaulted had been humiliating for her judging by the shade of red her cheeks had become as she told the story. Living it had to be ten times worse. He felt for her, he really did, but his patience was gone and, in his estimation, she was being stupid.
He strangled his urge to throttle her and asked, “Do you keep a set of keys to your apartment here in the shop?’
She frowned at him. “Why?”
“Because someone just broke in here. If your house keys were here, then they could have those and go to your apartment,” he said bluntly.
Her mouth opened into a smallO, but then the kettle screamed, and she stepped back into the kitchen. She reappeared a minute later, tea mug in hand. Her face had gone pale, and her hand shook slightly. Shit, now he’d scared the crap out of her. Not his intention, but she did have to be careful. He wouldn’t want something to happen to her.Something else,he amended.
“Um, yeah. I have a set of keys here.”
Her eyes were huge, and the color had yet to come back into her face. She was definitely scared, and he wanted to kick himself for being so blunt. “Why don’t you make sure they’re still here?”
She nodded and put her mug down on the counter. She ducked down behind the cash register and then came up a second later with a small box. She opened it, and her shoulders sagged in relief. “The spare key is still here.”
He nodded. “Good. Why don’t you go home now? You’ve had a long, trying day by the sounds of things. You can come back and clean up in the morning. People will understand if you open a couple of hours late.”
