Chapter 12
Just put a ball of aluminum foil in the microwave at the station so we could get off early today.
— Text from Auden to Atlas
AUDEN
I made it five days before I caved.
Originally , I was going to just go sit across the street and watch her work.
But when I pulled up across from her shop, a large red sign hung on the door with bold black letters that said ‘ CLOSED .’
Frowning , I went to the door to see what was up and peeked inside.
There wasn’t a single pastry in sight, and the only person inside was Pepper , who was moving around cleaning up tables and stacking chairs.
I tapped on the glass door to catch her attention.
She saw me and came over, opening the door.
“ Wow , a Carter ,” she said as she blocked me from coming inside. “ To what do I owe the pleasure?”
I smirked at her. “ I’m hungry and thought I’d stop by.”
She raised her brow at me, catching me in my lie. “ Sure , sure. And it has nothing to do with wanting to see Maven ?”
I shrugged. “ Where is she? Why aren’t y’all open?”
If that motherfucker hadn’t kept his word after I’d stayed away from her, I was going to lose my shit.
“ She’s checking out alternate locations,” she said. “ Something in a town that isn’t Dallas .”
I nodded, liking that plan.
“ Where ?” I asked.
Pepper narrowed her eyes. “ None of your business.”
I sighed.
I guessed I deserved that.
“ How is she?” I asked.
Pepper snorted. “ Why don’t you just call her and ask her yourself?”
Because I didn’t want to ruin her life like the chief threatened to do if I didn’t back off.
Hell .
The last week had been full of it.
I’d spent the time working, and when I wasn’t working, I was completing interviews in Sunnyvale to move to a new department where I wouldn’t have to worry about an asshole chief of police.
In between that, I was trying to keep tabs on Maven and Pie Hard .
I was exhausted, and burning the candle at both ends.
I had all of ten minutes to check on Maven , and I’d already wasted five of it.
What was worse was that she wasn’t here for me to check on.
“ I guess I will,” I lied. “ Have a good day, Pepper .”
“ Have the day you deserve, Carter ,” Pepper challenged.
I wasn’t sure I liked that comment, but I left it alone and went to work.
When I arrived, I of course ran straight into Scott and Sheldon .
“ Gentlemen ,” I said as I tried to skirt around them.
Scott maneuvered to place himself in my way.
“ Not so fast, Carter ,” he drawled. “ You didn’t make the meeting last night.”
I nearly rolled my eyes. “ I was on shift, Scott . I literally was on a call when the meeting was scheduled.”
“ I don’t think you’re as committed to the SWAT team as I think you should be,” he said, glancing at Sheldon .
“ I’m as committed as I can be without going full-time,” I pointed out. “ And just sayin’, but you don’t have any more full-time positions.”
Because all of his friends were taking them up.
Not that I would want to work full-time with them. If I had to deal with them anymore than I already did, I might very well go insane.
“ Well , you haven’t even applied for it,” he said. “ Again , which gets me to thinkin’ you’re not committed.”
I was getting angry, and I knew they could see it.
“ I have to get moving so I’m not late to work,” I said stiffly.
Scott moved, but I could see that he didn’t want to.
Sheldon didn’t move, and I had to push past him to get through the door.
I didn’t miss the way he said ‘fuck face’ either.
I ignored them both and took a seat in the bullpen, waiting for Quaid to give his speech on who would be where, and what we needed to keep an eye out for tonight.
After giving us our orders, he launched into a slew of curses as he explained how the gang activity had been higher than usual over the last couple of days.
It was as he was finished and I got up to leave, heading to the back area where the cruisers were located, that he caught up to me and stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
“ How did the interview go?” he asked curiously.
“ Well ,” I said, “they’re leaning toward offering me a more senior position because of my experience and their need for someone to lead. I’m not sure that I want that.”
I loved my job.
But I also loved spending time out on the lake, playing flag football, and spending time with my family.
And hopefully a certain other someone, too.
I didn’t want the responsibility of working more than I had to.
However , the pay was incredible.
“ You have to think about the fact that Sunnyvale has a tenth of the population that Dallas has. The kind of responsibility you’d be expected to have here is going to be completely different there,” he pointed out.
“ You do have a point,” I agreed. “ I guess I’ll need to see what they suggest. They were impressed with the interview and want me to follow up with them for a physical and an agility test.”
“ Ones that you’ll pass with flying colors,” he pointed out.
When we reached the cruiser, he stopped me with a hand on my arm, a look in his eyes that sent a chill down my spine. “ Hey , I have a feeling.”
Quaid and his feelings made my heart ache.
My brows rose. “ What do you mean?”
“ About tonight. Just … stay close to the cruiser. I …” He rubbed at his chest. “ I just think you need to be hypervigilant tonight. Something’s wrong.”
It was a full moon.
Plus , it was hot as fuck.
Pairing those two things together was a recipe for disaster.