Page 8 of Cooper’s Passion

She hesitated.

“Tell them it’s regarding Scanguards,” Cooper said quickly.

“What’s that supposed to—”

“Just tell them,” he insisted. “He’ll take my call. I’m Cooper Montgomery from Scanguards.”

“Deputy?” the operator prompted.

“Ahm, could you let the chief know that it’s in regard to Cooper Montgomery from Scanguards.”

“Oh, of course, one moment, I’ll patch you through to his cellphone.”

Stunned, Anita looked at him. She’d clearly not expected that the chief of police was suddenly available. Cooper stood there, smirking. Oh yeah, he’d definitely get an apology, and now he was looking forward to it even more. And if he played his cards right, he could probably get even more than that.

“This is Donnelly. Coop? What’s going on?” Donnelly’s voice was loud enough so even a human without his superior auditory senses would have heard him.

“Sir? Chief Donnelly? This is Anita Diaz. I’m a deputy with the Elko County Sheriff’s Department.”

“Elko County? Where’s that?”

“Nevada, sir. I’ve arrested a Cooper Montgomery.”

“What the fuck is he doing in Nevada?”

“He’s not in Nevada. He’s in San Francisco.”

“But you said you’re from Nevada. Is this a prank?”

“No, sir. No prank. I’m here in San Francisco, and I’ve arrested Mr. Montgomery on suspicion of murder.”

“Murder? What the fuck?”

Cooper couldn’t keep his smirk to himself. He knew how annoyed Donnelly could get when people didn’t get to the point right away.

“Yes, ahm, it’s about the woman who was found dead tonight. I found him in the alley where it happened. He’s got blood splatter all over his shirt.” Anita was talking fast, the words fairly tumbling over her lips.

“First of all, that’s where Cooper is supposed to be. He’s investigating the murder. Second, how do you even know about the dead woman? We’ve kept this under wraps. And thirdly, you’re way out of your jurisdiction! You can’t just arrest one of my men. Let me talk to him! Now!”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”

Her face red like a ripe tomato, Anita bridged the distance between them with two steps and tried to hand him the cellphone, but Cooper shrugged, indicating his hands, which were still cuffed behind his back.

“Just hold it for me,” he quickly ordered Anita, and she held the cellphone to his ear. “Hey, Mike.”

“Coop? Wanna tell me what’s going on?”

Donnelly’s voice was just as loud as before, and even without putting the call on speaker, Cooper knew that Anita could hear every single word of their conversation.

“Just a little misunderstanding. I’m at the dump site looking for clues. I guess I looked a little suspicious.” He winked at Anita, who blushed even more. He hadn’t meant to embarrass her, but when she’d insisted on cuffing him, he’d had no other option but to have Donnelly vouch for him. “Don’t worry. My team is on it. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks, Coop. Call me anytime in case another country bumpkin deputy wants to arrest you.”

“You know she heard that, right?”

“Tell her to keep her hands off my men. Night, Coop.”

There was a click in the line. Donnelly had hung up.