Page 63 of Fanatic

“Know what? There was barely a split second between you identifying yourself and firing,” Richards accused.

“Are you accusing me of something?” I snapped, squaring up to him.

“You killed him.”

“Yeah, and the hostage had a gun to her head. Would you prefer her brains splattered all over the lawn?”

Richards shook his head. “You’re out of line and out of control, ASAC Ware.”

“Prove it!” I hissed in his face. “His finger twitched, so I shot. If we would’ve waited for you, we’d be clearing her brains up.”

“I’ll be reporting this!”

“Go ahead!” I taunted.

“Excuse me,” Jimenez said, interrupting. “Everyone’s watching. Shut up and act professional.”

“You’re out of line,” Richards snarled at Jimenez.

“Don’t speak to my SAC like that!” I flared up. I recognised I was becoming emotional and drew in a deep breath.

“Jimenez’s not a SAC yet, and if he ties his ship to yours, he won’t be.”

That was fighting talk. Angrily, I stepped forward, and Jimenez got between us as the coward that Richards was backed off.

“Enough. Richards, go secure your crime scene and reel your dick in. ASAC Ware, come this way,” Jimenez said.

I stormed away, furious that Richards was throwing his weight around. “Richards wanted your job,” Jimenez stated, taking me by surprise.

“Which one?”

“The department. Richards had marked that for himself. Man was beyond pissed when your return was announced. With you being gone a year, everyone believed that was it. So yeah, that ass is mega peed and pushing your buttons. Act the more professional and shame him,” Jimenez said.

I could do that… until I shot another perp, and all hell broke loose. Yay me!

???

It was ten when I walked through the door. Smells of food hit me, and my stomach rumbled.

“Babe, you’re becoming quite the media sensation,” Fanatic called out.

“What?” I replied, heading to the kitchen.

“Come and sit-down, Willow. I warmed your dinner up when I heard the car pull in,” Fanatic shouted.

I wandered into the living room as Fanatic dropped a kiss on my head and walked past me.

He brought me a plate filled with food and a large glass of wine. I took the wine gratefully and swallowed two huge gulps.

“This smells great,” I said, taking the plate and digging in.

“One of Mrs Ames recipes. She made sure all the Michaelson kids could cook.”

“Good idea. Although I hate the thought of Dante and Eddie in the kitchen. They’d use it as an opportunity to poison someone.” I laughed.

“Yup, we had the chilli pepper episode. Don’t need a repeat of that. So busy day, babe?”

“Yeah. Honey, you know something I don’t?”

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