6. Chapter 6
Connor
“You’re sure everything is good with you?” Arthur Hoover leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms, scowling slightly. I nodded.
“As good as usual, Captain,” I said, shrugging. It wasn’t the answer he wanted.
“Okay, okay. So what happened with the gala then?” I knew he was going to bring that up; as soon as he did, I saw Grace’s eyes looking up at me in that dark alleyway. It was like I could feel her breath against my palm.
I crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in my seat. “Something came up.” Something that had me suddenly wrapped around her finger.
“Something more important than a drug shipment that could have put the Cassidys in custody?” Captain Hoover seethed across from me, growing more angry the longer we were in the room.
“Yeah,” I said, rocking my head side to side. At least something sexier and more of a challenge in my judgment.
“Okay, what is it then?” His patience was thinning the more casual I got; sometimes, I just liked to push his buttons and see how red his neck would turn.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Do I need to remind you I’m your boss?” He stood, rounding his desk so we were on the same side and he was towering over me.
I sat up in my seat to match his posture.
Captain Hoover couldn’t intimidate me like he thought he could, especially not after I spent almost a decade getting in as deep as I could with the Cassidy brothers.
I wasn’t the not-even-legal-to-drink kid who graduated from the academy and got taken under his wing anymore.
“You’re going to do so anyway, aren’t you, Captain?” I smacked my hands against the armrests of the chair and stood, forcing him back a step. “Look, I’ll find you something. I’ve got it under control.”
Captain Hoover sighed. “We talked about this, Murphy. You can’t get so attached to these people.” He waved vaguely around him, like it summarized every criminal in Boston. “You’ve been in a long time now. These things start to happen.”
“I’m not attached.” I brushed a wrinkle from the front of my jacket before I stuffed my hands in my pockets.
“Okay.” He smacked me on the back of my shoulder. “Just keep your eyes peeled. I don’t want anything to happen to you out there. These men are dangerous.”
“I know. Thanks, Captain.” I clapped him on the shoulder, standing in the middle of his office while most of the precinct started to clear out.
“You got plans tonight? Wanna come by for dinner? Maryanne hasn’t seen you in a while and has been asking about you.
” His wife took a liking to me when I started working for Captain Hoover.
He had taken me under his wing, and she claimed he hasn’t ever put effort into any undercover agent the way he has with me.
I didn’t see it. He has always been a hard ass on me no matter what I did.
I shook my head apologetically. “Sorry, not tonight.”
“Oh, come on. Just come by the house, say hey, eat a free meal, and then I won’t have to hear about it again for a while.
” He held his hands up like he was making a compelling offer.
As much as I have enjoyed his wife’s cooking in the past, I wasn’t really feeling homemade meatloaf.
I was ready to stop for some carryout and head home.
“No can do.” I shrugged playfully, backing away from him.
“Why not?” He wasn’t going to let it go. He was going to ask me over and over until I gave in. I knew how he operated by now, and I knew the best way to avoid agreeing to go was to leave. I took another step back.
“I got plans.” It wasn’t a complete lie.
“Doing what?”
“Don’t worry about it.” I winked at him, grabbing my coat from the back of the chair and sliding it on while Captain Hoover grumbled.
He shook his head, pursing his lips like he was frustrated but was clearly trying to hold back a smile. “You’re a pain in my ass, Murphy.”
“Yeah, but you’d be fuckin’ bored without me.” I buttoned the top button of my suit coat and straightened the sleeves.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Maybe bored would be nice for once,” he said.
“It’d be less of a headache.” He wasn’t even trying to fight the smile on his face anymore.
His grin stretched from one ear to the other, but his eyes carried a concern, like he wished I wasn’t in with the wrong crowd anymore.
He had tried to talk me out of it before I accepted this assignment, but I turned him down. I liked the risk. So did he.
I nodded my head at him once knowingly. “You and I both know you can’t do bored.”
“Neither can you.” I needed a life that set normal on fire.
“Exactly.” I imagined the burn.
Captain Hoover sighed. “So, really, what are you doing tonight?”
“I told you. I’ve got plans.” I turned toward the door to leave. The precinct was already empty, and I’d have to slip through the back door anyway. I couldn’t risk being seen walking out the front.
“Whatever you say,” Captain Hoover said, clearly annoyed I wouldn’t tell him about my plans to eat expensive steak in my sweatpants on the couch.
It would ruin my should-be-dangerous reputation.
I chuckled at the idea I had to worry about my reputation at all.
“Stay in touch,” he added when I opened the door.
I waved, looking over my shoulder with one last grin before I pulled the door so it would close behind me. “I always do!” I yelled before it slammed, leaving Captain Hoover and his concerns behind. I’ve got it under control.