Page 66 of Love at First Rep

“If you hurt him, I’ll kill you.”

Vete a la mierda, cabrón.

“Fuck you, asshole.”

Garrett slowly put the phone back in his pocket, his gaze unfocused as he considered Rafe’s words.

Rafe had to be talking about Garrett. He lit up with joy when he heard Rafe’s declaration of love, though the rest of Rafe’s words quickly erased that joy and had questions racing through Garrett’s mind.

Are they threatening to hurt me? Why?

What does Rafe have to do with it?

Is he in on this?

Is there even a drug operation or is this all a ploy to get to me?

He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, his body going numb until Lucas stood in front of him and cupped his face, but Garrett couldn’t hear a word he said.

Something cracked in the quiet room, and a sharp pain burned Garrett’s cheek.

Garrett’s hand flew to the stinging skin, his bewildered gaze on Lucas.

“Did you slap me?” he asked incredulously.

“You were spiraling,” Lucas said with a shrug. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Dude, you just assaulted a police officer,” Cole said in awe. “That was awesome.”

Elena snorted and covered her mouth, her wide eyes betraying a hint of fear. Garrett didn’t blame her. As a half-Black and half-Hispanic woman, the police weren’t always on her side. Garrett hated the cops who gave all of them a bad name. Luckily, Cherrywood’s residents accepted diversity far more than other communities, so they didn’t see the same issues broadcasted on TV every night. Still, Garrett sometimes hesitated to tell people about his job as a cop. It didn’t matter that there was a difference between being a cop patrolling the streets and his job as a homicide detective. The people he arrested were murderers, and he always found the evidence to prove it before apprehending them. Garrett stood by a moral code, but this case was testing his restraint.

Garrett took a deep breath as he tried to center himself. The whole situation was turning into a bigger shit show than he thought.

“Was that Rafe on the recording?” Lucas asked. “What the fuck is he up to?”

“I’m trying to find out,” Garrett answered as he turned to Lucas and Cole. “That’s where you two come in.”

“What do you need them to do?” Elena asked, her arms crossed and concern in her gaze.

“I think my captain is somehow connected to this, and I need to get on his computer. I need a distraction, and if there’s one thing you two are good at, it’s distractions.”

The smiles that bloomed on Cole and Lucas’ faces should have had Garrett retreating, but their combined chaos was exactly what he needed.

Cole put an arm around Elena, pulling her against his side to comfort her, his gaze meeting Garrett’s.

“We got your back.”

Garrett hoped he wouldn’t regret this.

21

AN HOUR LATER, GARRETT sat at his desk, waiting for the inevitable chaos that he’d willingly invited into the precinct.

I must be crazy.

He had the portable hard drive ready and just had to wait for Lucas and Cole to create madness.

The minute hand on the clock above Captain McHugh’s door tortured him as time dragged on.