She sort of did, but she decided it was best not to admit it.Of all the security people, Mel Secur was the one she liked the least.It was not a secret that he wanted to be a “real” cop, and he’d applied for the job numerous times but always failed the physical test.She also wasn’t sure he’d pass whatever mental test the Asheville Police Department required.Mel liked power, was judgmental, and she was pretty sure he lacked a heart.
He walked behind Jack, whipping out handcuffs.“Don’t move if you know what’s good for you, douchebag.Put your arms behind you.”
Nichole rolled her eyes.
Jack barely refrained from rolling his eyes.Just his luck that a rent-a-cop with a make-my-day-attitude was on duty.Two people had already said that Lane Gregory had come at him.This situation didn’t require attitude and handcuffs.
Secured by cold metal around his wrists, Jack looked up at Nichole.“Your lunch is in the cooler.”
“Aw, you’re so sweet,” she said.
“Only for you.”Damn, he loved that smile of hers.
“You have the right to remain silent,” Rent-A-Cop said.
“Fuck happened?”Gregory said, then groaned.
Nichole leaned down.“You got bonked.Deservedly so.”
“Let us through!”
Jack glanced over to see EMTs pushing through the growing crowd.Half of the people surrounding them had their phones up, recording the ridiculous proceedings.If his commander saw him now—handcuffed and on his knees—Jack would have a lot of explaining to do.He didn’t doubt that he’d be all over Facebook in minutes.Praise Jesus that his commander thought Facebook was the devil incarnate and never ventured on to the site.
The two EMTs kneeled on each side of Gregory, slapped a neck brace on him, loaded him on a board, then whisked him away.Jack took inventory of the places he was starting to notice.His knees didn’t like the concrete floor, the handcuffs on his wrists were too tight, cutting off blood flow to his fingers, and his shoulder was throbbing.He was getting too old for this shit.
Nichole put her hand on his shoulder.“I’m sorry.”
He frowned.“For what?”
“For dragging you into my mess.”
“Babe, you can drag me anywhere you want to.”
She smiled at him.He smiled back at her.His heart did that funny bounce thing that he blamed totally on her.He hadn’t wanted to find the girl of his dreams before his time in the military was over, but as his Grammie would say, “Life bites you in the butt when you least expect it.”He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but it seemed to fit.He sure hadn’t expected Nichole, or for her to ramrod her way through all his relationship rules.But she had, and he wasn’t sorry.
“No touching the prisoner,” Rent-A-Cop said.
Now he was a prisoner?
“What do we have here?”
The smirk on his new friend’s face told Jack that he wouldn’t live this down, not even after offering to buy Heather’s husband a lifetime of beers.But at least it was a friendly face.“Deke, my man, fancy meeting you here.How’s Heather?”
“As beautiful as ever.What trouble have you gotten yourself into?”
“Dunno.You’ll have to ask him.”He pointedly glared at Rent-A-Cop.A thought occurred to him.He’d only planned to drop off lunch for Nichole before heading to his doctor’s appointment, the one Heather had made for him without asking first.An appointment he wouldn’t make now.
“Whatcha got here, Mel?”Deke said.
“A ten-forty-four, Officer Matthews.”
Deke shot Jack an amused glance.“A riot, huh?”
“Ah, no, I mean a ten-forty.”
“Hmm, a fight in progress.Looks like you got it all handled.I’ll just be on my way then.”
“Hey,” Jack said.Was Deke really going to leave him here on his knees with a squirrelly pretend cop pointing a taser at him?
