Page 72 of Hot Cops

There was a moment of silence over the radio. Then Landon’s cell phone rang, Aaron’s name appearing on the screen.

Sunnie rolled her eyes.

“Yes, sir,” Landon said as he answered it.

“I want to see my daughter.”

“I know, sir. But she wanted to go home. I promise you she’s fi?—”

“She needs to file a police report, Landon.”

“I know that, sir, but she wanted?—”

“Dammit, Landon! Stop with that ‘sir’ shit. There are protocols that need to be followed, and I want to see my daughter. Want to know that she’s okay. Then I want to shake some ever-loving sense into her. What the hell happened?!”

“A guy tried to steal her purse.”

“And?”

Landon wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Sunnie was going to have a bruise on her cheek tomorrow and she was limping. It was going to be obvious she put up a fight, which would send Aaron into orbit. “And, um?—”

“Give me the phone,” Sunnie said, holding out her hand. Landon hesitated, then decided this was his chance to get out of the middle.

She took the cell phone. “Dad, listen?—”

There was a pause, and Landon could only assume Aaron was reading her the riot act.

“I’m fine. I will come down first thing in the morning to file the damn complaint. Even though that seems pointless. The guy didn’t get?—”

There was silence…a long silence.

Sunnie sighed. “Who told you I put up a fight?”

Uh-oh.

She gave him a look and mouthed the wordreporter.

Then she sighed as she turned to look out the passenger window. “I know it was stup—” Aaron didn’t appear to be in the mood to listen to her excuses. “I know, but—” He kept cutting her off. “Yes, but?—”

Landon considered what he’d seen of the fight. The dudehadbeen bigger than Sunnie, and he hadn’t been messing around. It was obvious he’d intended to keep going until he got the purse, and God only knew what he would have escalated to if she’d kept holding on to it.

Landon glanced over at the mark on her cheek. He couldn’t tell if it was the result of a punch or a slap. His chest seized at the thought, his grip on the steering wheel tightening until his knuckles went white.

“Please hold Mom and Bubbles back. They can yell at me tomorrow. I’m going home. Landon’s with me. I know everyone is worried…and, okay, pissed off, but please, Dad, call off the dogs tonight. I worked a ten-hour shift, broke up with Derek, got my ass chewed out by Landonandyou. I will see you first thing in the morning and give you a chance to do it again in person. Promise.”

Her plea must have worked. “Thanks, Dad. I love you too. Here,” Sunnie said, handing the phone back to him. “Dad wants to talk to you again.”

“Aaron,” Landon said to let him know he had the phone back.

“Walk her into the pub and all the way upstairs to the apartment. Don’t leave there until you know she’s okay—and I don’t just mean physically. The reporter told me she took a hit and a hard shove to the ground. She might talk a good game, but I can tell she’s shaken up, and what could have happened is going to sink in soon. Finn was at the Orioles game. I finally got ahold of him and he’s on his way home. Yvonne and Padraig are downstairs at the pub. Stay with her until Finn gets there.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, son,” the emotion was thick in Aaron’s voice when he continued, “thank you for taking care of my little girl tonight.”

“I didn’t?—”

“Yes, you did. I’ll talk to you in the morning. Goodbye, Landon.”

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