Page 147 of Golden Eagle

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People were looking at them. With their desks pressed together nose-to-nose, Trina wasn’t sure which of the two of them was drawing the most attention. Her for getting put on desk duty, or Lanny for having what must have looked like a psychotic breakdown to those who’d witnessed it.

She tried to keep her head down and ignore it.

The truth of it was, she was behind on her paperwork, and, if looked at the right way, this break from her normal schedule gave her a chance to get caught up.

The even truer truth, though, was that she hated paperwork, and she wanted to be outside, on the street, picking up new cases and following through with leads on older ones, even if that made her more than a little morbid.

She’d been staring at the same report for the past ten minutes, and wasn’t sure when she’d blinked last. Eyes burning, she sat back, blinked a few times, and reached for her coffee. The mug was empty, and she was afflicted with a case of the shakes. How many cups had that been?

Lanny sent her another concerned glance. He’d been doing that all morning, even before they got here; she’d caught him staring over her shoulder at her reflection in the bathroom mirror earlier, his brows knitted and his mouth set in a flat line.

“Stop that,” she told him now.

He glanced away with a sigh, and his concerned gaze became a scowl when he made eye contact with Detective Hadley.

Hadley nearly choked on his own coffee and hastily spun his chair away.

“If you don’t stop,” she whispered, “you’re going to be riding a desk, too.”

“I’m riding a desk right now,” he pointed out.

“Riding it permanently. Aren’t you supposed to be on call? Who’s been assigned to you?”

“Some dumbass floater.”

“Lanny.”

“How the hell am I supposed to go out on calls when–” He cut off as Abbot puffed up to their desks, one of the young, as-of-yet assigned freshly minted detectives floating along in his wake. Trina thought his name was Garcia.

“Webb,” Abbot barked, gruffer than usual. He looked a little wild-eyed, his gaze landing on Lanny’s forehead rather than his eyes. Still rattled from yesterday. “We’ve got another of those chewed-up DBs, your beat this time. Just bits and pieces left,” he said, without a scrap of tact. “Take Garcia.” Abbot started to turn away, taking Lanny’s compliance for granted.

Lanny said, “You can’t send someone else?”

Abbot froze, and turned back slowly, expression caught between disbelief and mounting rage. A vein pulsed in his temple. “Would I have asked you if I had someone else to send? That’s anorder, Detective.”

Lanny held his gaze a beat, then said, “Sir.”

Abbot turned again.

“I don’t need Garcia.”

“Take him!” Abbot barked without looking back, and stormed off.

Lanny glared at his back, until Trina flicked a paperclip at him and recaptured his attention.

Garcia stood beside their desks, visibly fidgeting, and trying to hide that he was – poorly. He looked even younger than he had to be, like a total kid, like he didn’t even need to shave, yet. Trina felt bad about the terrible day he was about to have with Lanny.

“It’ll be an honor to work with you today, sir,” he said.Sir. At another time, Lanny would have burst out laughing. “I’ve heard some great things.”

“Yeah, right,” Lanny snorted. He got to his feet with a deep, aggravated sigh, and reached for his jacket. “Let’s go, then. I’ll drive.” He glanced over at Trina, expression softening a fraction. “You’ll be alright?”

“How could I possibly not be while I’m sitting at my desk?” She smiled. “Go, I’m fine.”

Twenty minutes after he was gone, Nik called, and she took an early lunch break.

~*~

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