Page 67 of Love at First Rep

McHugh sat in his office laughing loudly at something on his computer. Garrett didn’t understand how that buffoon could have anything to do with the drug-smuggling operation, but he needed to know. It was worth the risk. He had to hope it worked out and Lucas and Cole didn’t get hurt in the process. Otherwise, the smugglers would be the least of his worries because Elena would come after him.

A shudder ran through him as he thought about what she’d do in retaliation. If he hurt Cole or Lucas, Garrett would happily let her take free shots at him. He’d deserve it.

Campisi shot him a glimpse from where he sat at his desk, worry in his eyes.

After careful consideration, Garrett had decided to rope him into the imminent melee as well. He’d only told Campisi the bare minimum, enough to protect Cole and Lucas from retaliation.

When the clock hit four, Garrett took a deep breath and prepared himself. He stood and stretched his arms over his head. It was mostly a ruse, but his body needed it. Garrett may have been in shape, but at forty, sitting at a desk for too long made him stiff.

“Excuse me, I need help from an officer, please.” Lucas’ voice carried across the bullpen. He stood behind the long counter that separated the entrance from their desks. Like everyone else, Garrett turned to the front of the room to see the visitor. Lucas trembled, tears tracking down his face. He nailed the dramatics.

One of the nearby patrol officers walked toward him cautiously. It was one of the newer guys, Corey Hanks, only a couple years into his career, which boded well for their plan. “How can we help you, sir?”

“I’m dogsitting for one of my friends, and I must not have locked the gate to my yard because he escaped. Rufus is so precious to them, and I need help finding him,” Lucas cried as he took out flyers to show Hanks. “I wanted to see if you found him. If not, I have all these flyers to hang, but someone told me I might get in trouble for putting them up around town. So I wanted to know what the rules are and if I needed a permit or something.”

“Sure, I can help you with that,” the officer said, relaxing a bit once he learned this wasn’t something more dire.

“Thank you, Officer,” Lucas said as he lightly grabbed Hanks by the bicep. “Oh wow, those are some strong muscles you have…” He trailed off, his smile turning flirty as he checked the name on the guy’s badge. “Officer Hunk.”

Hanks flushed and chuckled, an embarrassed grin on his face. “Uh, it’s Hanks. We can start by calling Animal Con—”

“Hellooooo, Cherrywood PD!” Cole shouted as he walked into the room, a large bunch of balloons in one hand and a gift bag in the other. “I have a delivery for a special someone. Is there a Detective Jay Wilson in the building?”

Garrett cheered internally as officers around the room drifted to the front, including Captain McHugh. He stood in the doorway of his office wearing a wide grin.

“Whoa! A special delivery indeed,” McHugh shouted as he made his way across the bullpen. Campisi followed, and Garrett edged around his desk and closer to McHugh’s office. “Where you at, Wilson?”

Wilson stepped into the room, coming from the hallway to the restrooms. “Somebody call my name?”

“Yup, I’ve got a special delivery for Detective Jay Wilson,” Cole announced like the host of a game show, drawing Wilson across the room to him. Cole’s arms waved out to the sides, bumping into Lucas.

“Excuse me, there are other people standing here,” Lucas said.

“Well, I’m here to deliver a holiday-gram for Detective Wilson, and you’re in my way,” Cole said as he squared himself to Lucas.

“A holiday gram? It’s late March, honey. What holiday are you celebrating?”

“Excuse me, honey, but every day is a holiday, and teachers need a side hustle to earn money to pay for pencils and paper for our classrooms.”

Campisi lifted the hinged part of the counter that allowed people to walk into the bullpen and made his way to where Lucas and Cole bickered. Wilson and others followed closely behind.

“Well, I’m missing a dog, and not everything is sunshine and rainbows over here,” Lucas said, poking Cole in the chest as he spoke. “You should mind your surroundings and watch where you’re waving your arms like one of those blow-up things outside a car dealership.”

“You should mind your business, pretty boy,” Cole snapped as he took another step toward Lucas, releasing the balloons and letting them float to the ceiling, where they perfectly blocked the camera facing McHugh’s office.

Garrett inched around the edge of the room until McHugh crossed the counter, everyone’s focus now solely on the disruption. He quickly walked into the office and hunched behind the desk, plugging the USB into McHugh’s computer. He pulled up the drive on the desktop and double clicked on the program inside. It immediately started filling with copies of everything on the computer.

“Hey, guys, I’m sure we can settle this,” Campisi said. “Let’s see this special holiday-gram and then we can help find the dog, okay?”

“Sounds like a great plan. First there’s a song and dance, so pay close attention because I’ll be quizzing you for chances at a bonus prize after,” Cole shouted.

If Garrett wasn’t freaking out about getting this done, he’d laugh.

The program running on the computer said the download reached twenty-five percent complete, but it moved quickly. Riley said it should take less than a minute, and hopefully Garrett could count on that.

“Sure, hot shot, let’s see your song and dance so we can all get on with our day. Some of us have real things to deal with,” Lucas said, and Garrett could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

“Finally! Okay, Detective Wilson, this one’s for you from a special someone. Everyone, sing along if you know the words.”