Page 43 of Hot Cops

“Let’s hit the all-you-can-eat buffet next door,” she suggested.

“What is it with you and all-you-can-eat places?”

She looked at him as if he were stupid. “Um, hello? All. You. Can. Eat. It’s the concept I like.”

“How much do you think you can eat? Your stomach’s not much bigger than your fist.”

“I’mreallyhungry,” she stressed.

“You always say that. Then you eat one plate of food. Seems like a waste of money to me.”

“Waste or not, that’s where we’re going.”

He shrugged. “Fine. Regardless of your eating habits, I’m pretty sure I could put a serious dent in their bar. I reallyamstarving.”

“Worked up an appetite, did you?”

“Hell yeah and I have every intention of working this meal off later. With you. In that bed. Lead the way.”

They opened the door just as Johanna was about to knock. Aaron fought back a groan. He’d been hoping they could avoid the woman until they found Trev. So much for that fantasy.

“Where the fuck is he?” Johanna bellowed. “You said you would send him up to my room. I fucking took a bath, ate room service twice and watched ten hours ofSex in the City. TBS was having a marathon. Did you hear that? TBS. Not HBO. Fucking shows were cut to ribbons and I still watched. I finally fell asleep around midnight only to wake up alone.”

“Sorry, Jo. We should have called you, but we were sort of tied up.” Riley sent Aaron a wicked grin and he had to bite his lip not to laugh at her reminder of exactly how he’d tied her up last night.

“Yeah, well. I got up, went down for breakfast and just spent the last three hours playing the slots. My eyeballs feel wiggly from watching those symbols roll by for so long. Enough is enough. Why don’t you tell me what you obviously didn’t tell me yesterday? Where the fuck is Trevor?”

Riley sighed and Aaron knew the next few minutes were bound to be uncomfortable. And potentially dangerous. He suddenly wished he had brought his weapon with him. He glanced to the left and saw Jo’s baseball bat tucked securely in the corner. A quick calculation proved he could get to it before she did, so he relaxed a bit.

“I’m afraid you aren’t going to like this.” And Riley told her the whole sordid story. “So we’ve been trying to find him, but we just haven’t had any luck. I’m sure if he knew about the baby, he’d be back in a New York minute, begging your forgiveness and trying to make amends. You know Trev, Jo. He’s not a bad guy really. Just a little impulsive.”

Johanna didn’t reply and for a minute, Aaron was worried she was going into shock.

“Are you okay, Jo? You know, Riley and I were just about to hit the buffet next door. Why don’t you come with us? You’re eating for two now and it wouldn’t do you or the baby any good to get worked up about this. I’m sure it will all still work out okay.”

“No, thank you. I’m not hungry.” Jo’s voice was calm and strong and he studied her face closely. Hell, all in all, Aaron thought she’d taken the news fairly well. She politely thanked Riley for being honest with her, calmly informed them she was going to find her husband and murder the faithless motherfucker, and then she said goodbye.

Riley and Aaron watched her retreat down the hall from the doorway of their room. Johanna smashed the vase sitting on the table by the elevator. Minimal damage really, considering it was a jilted Johanna Blankenship they were watching.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Riley asked when the elevator doors closed.

“Yep,” he replied. “We’d better find Trev before she does or there won’t be any pieces of the poor man left to bury.”

“Yeah, well, even knowing that, I’m still hitting the all-you-can-eat.”

Aaron nodded. “Agreed. Let’s go.”

They were almost to the front entrance to the hotel when Johnny stumbled in the sliding doors. He looked as if he’d seen better nights. His thick dark hair was sticking up at odd angles and the bow tie on his black tuxedo lay loose around his neck.

When he spotted them, he raised his hand and called out Riley’s name. Aaron saw more than a few people in the lobby do a double take, trying to decide if they were really seeing an extremely hungover Wayne Newton.

“She quit her fucking job,” he said.

Riley nodded. “I know. We went by Swingers last night.”

There were angry tears in Johnny’s eyes as he spoke. “She wouldn’t quit to marry me and have kids, but she’ll drop that gig fast enough for some rich guy.”

“Trev’s not exactly rich,” Riley said, but Aaron placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

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