“Back up a second,” Candy said. “You said he was assaulted again. He’d already been assaulted by these three?”
I frowned. “When did I say that?”
He growled and it sent a chill through me. “You said, and I quote ‘I heard Cachi scream out for me and stopped the three from assaulting him again by pulling my creds and ordering them to get on the ground.’” He stared at me. “So, I’ll ask again, was he assaulted by these three before you heard him scream out for you?” He made air quotes around “scream out for you.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry. I guess he didn’t see them when he was headed out to his car and then when he did, he began runnin’, and one of them tackled him to the ground. He faceplanted and then—”
“You didn’t tell me the dancer faceplanted. Is that what happened when he was tackled?”
“No…oh, no, sorry boss.” I let out a long sigh. I was saying this all wrong, but all the interruptions weren’t helping. I wasn’t about to tell him that, though. “The assailant faceplanted after tacklin’ Cachi because he was drunk or whatever and—”
“Got it.” He waved his hand in a move it along gesture. “What happened then?”
I just looked at him like he was deliberately being obtuse, just to bait me. “Like I said, I got the man behind me and pulled my creds. The rest you know.”
He pursed his lips, staring at me for a long time before he finally nodded. “And you had to take this Cachi fella home…why?”
“Because them idiots were drinkin’ beers from a cooler in their trunk which was parked right next to Cachi’s vehicle. The LAPD had pulled police tape around his car makin’ it part of their crime scene investigation. He had no way to get home without havin’ to pay for an Uber, so I volunteered to take him home.”
He nodded slowly. “So, you were busy with the victim of this assault and forgot to call me.”
What should I say? That from the second I’d seen the gorgeous Puerto Rican man, I’d had a hard on? That from the moment he’d flirted with me from his perch inside the club, that I’d wanted to fuck him silly? And when my fantasy had turned to reality and I’d finally gotten to strip off his clothes and sink inside his willing body, all thoughts of the outside world had ceased to exist again.
“That’s the gist of it, Captain. I’m really sorry.” I would’ve eventually come to my senses and reported the incident. “And today, I didn’t think about callin’ you because I picked up Lola from the vet hospital. Between the dancer and Lola, I just forgot.” I glanced down at my lap, trying to appear ashamed, which wasn’t really all that much of a stretch, if I was being honest. I really didn’t want him to ask me how it had gone with Cachi since he now knew I’d driven him home. He knew I was gay, but I sure as hell didn’t want to tell him I’d slept with theman and I would’ve had to do that, if he’d asked me point blank. None of us ever lied to Candy. We all respected him too much.
“How’s Lola now?”
I looked up sharply, hearing how his voice had softened at the mention of my baby’s name and immediately smiled as I thought of my gorgeous, little girl. “Oh, she’s great, Candy. Come outta there happy to see me and hungrier than a packa lions.”
The captain’s lips twitched. He knew how lucky I’d been to adopt Lola. Hell, everyone on my team knew she was the most important person in my life, even if she was a person covered with curly, white hair. They teased the hell out of me about it. They all knew how worried I’d been when I’d been forced to leave her at the vet hospital overnight.
“I’m glad to hear it was nothing serious,” he said, closing that subject. He picked up a pair of glasses and put them on before flipping open a file folder on his desk, pulling out a paper, and sliding it across the desk to me. “This is the police report your friend, Cachi, gave.” Candy glanced at me over the rim of his glasses before looking back down and reading from the report. “He had nothing but high praise to say about the way you conducted yourself last night. It confirms your report but I shouldn’t have had to hear about it from LAPD.” He shut the folder with a snap, which meant the matter had been dealt with and the subject was now closed.
Although the glint in his light blue eyes and the way he was trying not to smile based on the set of his jaw, didn’t bode well for me.
“One more thing.”
“Yeah, boss?”
“Mars will be waiting for you in the garage with the keys to both BearCats.”
I swallowed. “Why?”
“Because they both need a thorough washing…inside and out.”
“What?” I could hear the despair in my voice. We had two armored vehicles, the one we normally drove to a scene, and the super-sized one our team shared with the other Tac Teams. We used it only on occasion, when we needed to carry more people than just our team or when we were transporting prisoners. That one had a cage built into it which acted as a prison cell. It was nearly forty feet long.
Candy stood up. This time, he was smiling…evilly. “You heard me, Monroe. Give them a good going over. I’ll give them both the white glove treatment when I come in tomorrow. I understand the last team who used the larger vehicle left quite a mess inside since they checked it out for an entire week. It was used for surveillance, and you know what that means.”
It meant that the inside would be chock full of trash and whatever other grossness a team of eight sweaty guys sharing a vehicle for a week could possibly leave behind. “Which team was it?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“Tac Team Four. Ford Blakeley’s guys.”
Fuuuck! “Ford Blakeley’s guys are fuckin’ pigs, Captain.”
Candy grinned widely. “Yes, they are, and you should see how happy Ford was to find out that you’re in hot water.”
“What about Mars?” I asked, knowing I sounded pouty at best.
