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She narrowed her eyes at me in an analytical way.
“Anyways. Work calls,” I said, nodding at my office.
“Yup. But that way,” she said, throwing her thumb over her shoulder, pointing at the chief’s office. “Dad and the chief want a word with you.”
God, she must have enjoyed this moment. Anabel was constantly oscillating back and forth between wanting to destroy me and trying to get into my pants—which, to me, were the same things—and I had absolutely no clue why. None whatsoever. I’d had women stalk me before, and, cockiness aside, I knew that I was blessed with my mother’s good looks, which must’ve had something to do with it. No matter where I went, women would start conversations and try to hook up with me. But never had I met a woman like Anabel, whose sole life mission seemed to be to make me hers or bring us both down trying.
“Thanks,” I said, doing my best to sound emotionless as I tried to squeeze by her down the narrow hall; I brushed against her shoulder as she refused to make room for me.
Sensing her blue eyes piercing my back, I made my way to the chief’s office and knocked.
“Come in,” the chief’s low voice answered.
I opened the door and tried to look surprised when I found my lieutenant sitting opposite my chief at his desk, an empty chair next to him. The chief was reading a file in his hands. Where the chief was a bald, older man, whose tense, short stature gave the impression that he was constantly on edge, the lieutenant was a composed, tall man who reminded me more of a power-hungry politician than a cop trying to make this world a better place. To me, he was the kind of guy nobody wanted on their team when he was a kid, and now he needed a position of authority to compensate.
“Sit,” the chief said without looking up. I did just that, right next to the lieutenant, who, so far, hadn’t looked at me once.
For a moment longer, the chief studied the file in his hands, creating an awkward silence in the room, then he looked up and frowned at me.
“For Christ’s sake, why didn’t you go back home to change?”
Because you guys canceled my trip when I was almost at the airport, and I felt like pissing you off.
“I thought it was important, so I didn’t want to waste time.” I turned toward the lieutenant. “Why else call me back from the trip of a lifetime to take on a case that anybody in my unit could handle?”
My lieutenant smiled slightly. No remorse. The opposite reaction I’d hoped for.
“Because you’re the best at what you do,” he said, his sarcastic grin widening. God, I hated him right now.
I grinned back. “I’ve been told that by the ladies as well.” My lieutenant shot to his feet.
“You little shit. I’ll—”
“Robert!” the chief yelled, slamming his hand on the desk. “I got it from here. Noah will take the case. Now give us a moment, will you? And you—” He pointed at me. “Shut up.”
My lieutenant’s eyes wandered back and forth between the chief and me as if he were debating whether to leave or to punch me. Either was fine with me. At six-foot-one, all muscle and steel from working out every day, I wasn’t worried about a blow from a little turd like him. But, unfortunately, Lieutenant Robert was smart enough to know that, so he mumbled something to himself that sounded like “son of a bitch” and then walked to the door.
“Good choice,Robert,” I mumbled. I wasn’t sure if he heard me or not, but he didn’t say anything as he shut the door behind him.
“Didn’t I just say shut up?” the chief barked at me.
I threw my hands up. “You wouldn’t be hearing a peep out of me if I was on the plane to Croatia right now, but wait...I’m not on my way to Croatia, am I?”
The chief’s face softened, but I wasn’t ready to let him off the hook quite yet. “But no big deal. I mean, it was only the biggest trip ever for me, and I worked Christmas and Thanksgiving shifts for years straight while everybody else spent time with their families. But let’s not make a big fuss about you allowing this little shit, Robert, to order me to the station when I almost had one foot on the plane. Right?”
“He should’ve called someone else, but you know why he didn’t. You slept with his daughter and got her pregnant,” the chief said.
“No, she slept withme, and the DNA test confirmed that kid wasn’t mine.” But I already knew I wasn’t the father before I made her take that test. I was just covering my ass. I always used a condom, and there was no amount of alcohol in the world that could make me forget to.
“Who cares who the kid’s father is? It was a very embarrassing time for Robert when it all played out in public. Enough to make any man hate someone.”
I gripped the arms of my chair. “Someone. Not me. And it wasn’t exactly fun for me either when that crazy woman chose me for her mentally unstable obsession.”
The chief pinched his lips, a strange habit that surfaced whenever he felt bad about something. “I didn’t know you were already on your way to the airport when he called you.”
“Great.” I rose to my feet. “Then you can give it to somebody else, and I’ll catch the next flight. The sun of Croatia will warm my heart for years to come.” I was mocking him, yet serious about leaving and catching the next flight. I turned toward the door to demonstrate just that.
“Wait. We got the identity on Eagle,” the chief said, leaning his elbows onto his desk. I froze as a flutter of excitement rushed through me.
