“Brought you a breakfast sandwich.”
“Thanks.” She couldn’t spare him another glance as she put the ambulance into drive and pulled out a heartbeat in front of the ladder truck and onto the road. Both vehicles had their emergency lights and sirens on.
CROIS
When Crois returned to the Precinct building near the end of his shift, the first person he crossed path with was Detective Jerzek.
Many of the men and women assigned to Precinct Four called him Jerk-Zek behind his back.
He was the highest in seniority at Precinct Four, but he was also the lowest on the rung of professionalism.
No one seemed to understand how the man had made it so many years on the force when he seemed to ooze with slime.
“Well, if it isn’t the pin up boy.”
Crois spent most of the day rushing around town and sweating, but one comment from the asshole and he wanted to take a long, hot shower.
“You need something, Jerzek?”
The older man lifted a brow at the question. “That’sDetectiveJerzek.”
“Sure.” Crois kept his lips together, looking at him.
Jerzek narrowed his eyes at Crois, his shoulders tightening and rising slowly like an incoming tide.
“Hey, Crois!”
He looked up and saw his sergeant lean over the balcony from their half of the upstairs.
“Come on up.”
He nodded and started toward the stairs.
He heard Jerzek laughing behind him as he went.
“Playboy.”
Crois kept his hands loose and at his sides, but his molars were grinding together. “Asshole.”
At the top of the steps, Kate greeted him with a smile. “Thanks for coming back in.”
He nodded, more than a little worried about what his sergeant had to say to him. “You said you wanted to talk to me.”
Me, his voice repeated in his head, not Pilar.
Just half of their team.
Kate directed him into her office, and he paused just inside the door.
“Do you want me to close the door?”
She seemed to consider it for a moment before answering. “Where is Pilar?”
He gestured at the door. “I dropped her off at Cole so she could get her blood test for the marriage license.”
Kate smiled. “Okay. So she’s going to end the shift there?”
He nodded. “She’s already signed out.”
