Page 4 of Heat of Justice

“Some crap going on at work,” Quinn admitted when she insisted. “I’ll tell you about it later. I don’t want to interrupt your interview.”

“We won’t be long. Just a couple more takes, and I can wrap this up.”

“Fine. Don’t rush.”

“Are you going to the beach?”

“Yes, I’ll do the usual route.”

“If you’re not back by the time I finish, I’ll come get you.”

“Okay.” Quinn brushed a soft kiss over her lips. “I’ll look forward to it.”

“Me too.”

“Now go back to your hotshot, don’t make her wait.”

This remained a playful joke between them from the day Lia came home to reveal that the star of her brand-new film would be a black-haired, green-eyed stunner of a woman. One who also happened to be a talented rescue pilot and decorated military officer.‘A regular hotshot’,according to Quinn, who may or may not have felt a tiny bit ruffled by their association. Lia had enjoyed this unique glimpse into a more vulnerable side of her. Then she proceeded to remind her wife that there was only one hot woman in her universe. The only one she would ever want to kiss and hold for the rest of her life. And Quinn was definitely it.

“Be safe out there,” she told her now.

“Yes. No worries.”

Quinn’s smile was a little forced, which made Lia hesitate to leave her. At the same time, she knew her wife. Quinn’s career as a police lieutenant meant a great deal to her, and she held Lia’s vocation in the exact same regard. Except when some type of emergency, or a serious injury, such as the time she was shotin the line of duty, came into play, Quinn would not allow Lia to put her own work on the back burner in order to care for her, not even when Lia was sorely tempted to do it. This kind of respect was just one of the many reasons Lia was so deeply in love with her. The longer they were married, the better it seemed to be with Quinn...

???

After dropping Ellie off at her place, Cody was recalled to the police station. It was a usual occurrence, no problem at all given her dedication to the job. The sorry state of her personal life, or lack thereof, also meant that she welcomed the distraction. When she arrived, she headed straight to the desk to find the officer on duty looking more than a bit harried.

“Busy night, Lance?” she smiled.

“You can say that again. I’m just—Oh, damn, hold on.” She nodded as he picked up the phone, listened hard, and rolled his blue eyes under a set of bushy eyebrows. “No, this isn’t Fred’s Pizza, ma’am. This is Lewiston P.D. Yes, yes, I am very sure.” He slammed the receiver down. “Can you believe this crap?”

“Hardly.” Cody was amused.

“Someone called earlier about some apparently weird lights in the sky. Asked me if there were reports of UFOs around, or if it might be an Elon Musk launch. As if we were X-Files Central over here or something.”

“Crazy,” she empathized. “Is it a full moon tonight?”

“People don’t need a full moon to be insane anymore these days,” he announced, wiping sweat off his bald head with a meaty hand. “Anyway. Thanks for coming in. I’ve got a strange one for you in Room Five.”

“Define strange,” Cody prompted.

“Alright: woman walks in here like she owns the place and everyone in it, all but slams her fist on the counter when I don’t get to her fast enough, and demands to speak to an officer. When I try to find out what this is about, she just flat-out refuses to tell me.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Says she’ll only speak to a senior guy. Well, all the detectives are off-duty or in the field at the moment, so I again offer to have a uniform take her statement. Man! If looks could kill, I’d have suffered a painful death, I can tell you. She dug in her heels and repeated her demand. Looking at me as if I were deaf, or stupid. Or both.”

“Mm. Intriguing, I’ll grant you that.”

“Yes, quite.” He shrugged. “At any rate, I know you tend to enjoy the quirky ones, so I thought you wouldn’t mind helping me with this one too much.”

“Not at all. You got a name?”

“Kim Reed.DoctorReed, PhD., and don’t you forget it. She is a board-certified criminal defense lawyer; also a family lawyer licensed to work here and in Texas.”

“Never heard of her as a lawyer.”

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