“You know that I’ll bring him home and pay the fines if I have to until I move. It’s not a problem. So what is it, Stan?” Now her stomach was clenching again. He never stared at her like this.
“It’s not about that. Look, you know there are rumors that have been floating around since you started the classes that you’re kissing up to the instructor. I thought it was complete nonsense, even warned you and convinced myself it wasn’t true. You’re a good cop, honest as the day is long.”
Stan cleared his throat. “At least that’s what Ithoughtuntil someone gave me concrete evidence.”
He took out a brown envelope and opened it. He pushed a photograph across the desk at her. It was a picture of Alex’s SUV in front of her house. He’d driven his own truck last night, so this had to have been taken the first night they were together back at his place.
“Who gave you that?” she demanded.
He shook his head. “I’m protecting my source.”
Her jaw nearly hit the desk. Jesus, she felt violated. Who the hell was spying on her? Frank would never do this, would he? And how would he have known she was up there at the kennels with Alex that night? He’d left before her.
What if someone at Watchdog had it in for her? Or in for Alex for dating a cop? Sylvie’s head spun.
But at the same time, thiswasher fault. She’d asked Alex to dinner, and everything that had happened from that point on she’d encouraged. Why couldn’t she have waited until the training was over? All her discipline, all her hard work, gone because she wanted to sleep with her instructor. Maybe she did deserve this.
No matter what, I can’t get Alex into trouble.
Sylvie saw her thoughts reflected in Stan’s eyes. “So you tell me; what’s going on, Sylvie? Did your instructor spend the night at your place?” He tapped the photo. “This isn’t like you. I know, or at least I thought I knew, how much you wanted to be on the K9 Unit.”
“I did. I do!” She shook her head. “I know what it looks like, but he wasn’t spending the night at my place.”Truth, technically. “I kenneled Chewie at Watchdog because I was backed into a corner by my HOA and he offered an immediate solution. I thought it was a good decision. Youknowthat; I never hid any of that from you.”
“So, what was a Watchdog vehicle doing at your place at all, let alone that time of night?”
“Alex had stopped by that morning to take me up to the kennels with Chewie’s things. But I drove. We’d been talking about cars and I wanted to show off Alison.” She braved a smile. “You’ve seen my baby and you can’t fault me for that.”
Stan wasn’t buying her attempt to lighten the mood.This is bad. “So, I drove us to Watchdog. And we spent time with the dogs.” Still true, but did she have to confess where, and that they’d ended up back at Alex’s place later? “I hate being away from Chewie like this. It’s not good for him or for me, especially now that we’re training. So, I spent the day—my day off, mind you—with my dog. And yes, Alex was there too.”
“And then what? You forgot to come home and he forgot he left his SUV at your place?” Oh boy, was sarcasm an ugly look for Stan.
“No. Champ got sick.”
“What does the puppy have to do with anything?”
“We spent the evening and into the night taking care of him.”Also true—mostly. “I wanted to learn how I could better take care of Chewie if he ever gets sick like that. That’s all part of the job, right?”
Stan blew a hard breath through his nose. “You stayed all night at the kennels with Hoff?”
Shit. “No, not all night. It was really late before he was confident that Champ was going to be okay. He’s got a house up there, just outside the compound. So, I drove him home instead of going all the way back to my place to pick up his SUV and then having him drive home. He wouldn’t have gotten any sleep. And, he offered his place for the night so that I wouldn’t be driving home late either, and then I could just take him to my place in the morning to get his car.”
“So, you’re telling me that you spent the night at your instructor’s house?”
Double shit. “Yes, I did.” No sense in denying it—though she’d deny what they did. It was no one’s business, was it? Except, under these circumstances, it was.
Please, don’t ask. Please don’t—
“Did you or did you not share a bed?”
“I…” She looked down, unable to flat-out lie to her superior.I should have come clean from the start. Now, I look even worse.
“Okay, Sylvie. All right. You are out. I will give you the opportunity to turn down the position on your own, or I will withdraw you myself.”
“No! This isn’t…it’s not fair.”
Stan scoffed. “How can you say this isn’t fair? Jesus.”
Now, she was angry. “Come on, Stan. You’ve been there for all the classes. You know how good Chewie and I are. You’ve seen us perform. They’d already made up their minds before that night. Why should anything I do on my own time matter when I’m one hundred percent professional on the job? Seriously, wereyoubiased when you gave me high marks?”
