Page 19 of Whispers of Redemption

Wade cut him off. “It’s just that solving this crime is our job, Ms. Sherwin, not yours.”

Cassie stared at him, her temper boiling over. Lousy, ungrateful, arrogant cop! Then she stood, making Angel jump up, too. “You know what? Like I said yesterday, it’s a free country. Olga is my client, the package was stolen out of my vehicle, and I’m not going to stop until I catch whoever did this. You don’t want my help? Fine!” She marched around the table, yanked open the conference room door, and stormed out with Angel trotting in her wake.

***

Back in the conference room, Wade listened as Cassie stomped her way back up the hallway. He and Hugo turned to look at each other. Then Hugo burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“She really gets under your skin, doesn’t she?” Hugo said.

“Get serious, Hugo,” Wade said. “Tell me she wasn’t in the wrong.”

“Well... I get that you’re annoyed,” Hugo hedged. “And I was, too, at first. But now that I’ve thought about it, what she did wasn’t exactly illegal. And she’s actually helped us move the investigation forward. It’s really on us that we neglected to consider the potential for local business cameras.”

Wade stood and roughly pushed in his chair. “I can’t believe you’re defending her.”

“Look,” Hugo said in a placating tone, rising to his feet. “Why don’t we just go run that partial plate and see what comes up?”

“And she’s not under my skin,” Wade muttered as he trailed after Hugo.

But she was.

Something about her had stuck with him from that first interaction with her after the noise disturbance call on Lakeshore Drive. She’d had such an attitude toward them. Then there’d been the encounter with the dog on the beach. Even when they’d answered her 9-1-1 call the day before. They’d arrived on the scene to help her, yet she’d acted like she was the one in charge. She seemed to think she could do their job better than they could. And it was clear that she held no respect for their authority, which irked him to no end.

And yet...he couldn’t get the image of her beautiful face out of his head. The way she tossed her rich, copper-colored hair over her shoulder, her creamy skin flushed with anger. Or how her wide-set green eyes so often shot sparks of anger or mirth, aimed in his direction.

Despite all the negative interactions he’d experienced with her, for some ridiculous reason he felt drawn to her. Why he cared, he didn’t know. But somehow it was important that she didn’t see him as a bad person, nor bad at his job. He’d witnessed how much she cared for her little sister and how passionate she was to help her client, Olga. Clearly, her loyalties ran deep. And he admired that. But what was it that made it so difficult for her to trust him and Hugo to do their job?

“Can you look it up? I need to do something,” Hugo said, his cell phone in his hand. They were back at their desks, but Hugo was staring at his phone screen.

Wade sat down at the computer and began punching keys, setting up the search for the partial license plate number Cassie had given them. A few moments later, he said, “Hey, I think I’ve got something.”

Hugo didn’t respond, and Wade looked up to find that Hugo wasn’t at his desk. Instead, he was standing behind him, a few paces away, speaking quietly. “Can you see me now? ... How about now? Wait, where is it? Okay, okay, got it! How’s this...”

Wade turned around in his seat to see Hugo holding his cell phone level with his face. And he wore a wide grin.

“What are you doing?” Wade asked.

Hugo’s eyes snapped to his, then he looked sheepish. “Uh...video chatting on my cell phone.”

“I can see that. With whom?”

“Ani Bolivar. Remember, Cassie’s little sister?” he said.

“Since when are you video chatting with Ani Bolivar?” he said, then added, “Actually, since when are you video chatting ever?

Hugo was fifty-eight years old and one of the least tech-savvy officers on the squad.

“Since Ani just taught me how!” Hugo sounded thrilled.

He turned his cell phone screen to face Wade, and the small face of Ani waved back at him. “Hi, Officer Riley,” she said.

He found himself waving back at her. “Hi, Ms...er, Ani,” he said awkwardly.

“I called to check on her this morning, to see how her ankle was feeling,” Wade said. “But she didn’t answer, and I left a message. Now she’s called me back...on video!” Hugo sounded delighted, like a kid who had just received a prized new toy.

“Yeah,” Ani said. “Hugo’s phone skills are lacking in some important areas. So, I’m trying to educate him.”

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