Page 71 of Love at First Rep

“Okay, Garrett,” Anatoly said, his name strange on the man’s tongue. “How do you know Rafe Hernandez?”

Garrett merely blinked at him, not saying a word. He would remain quiet until he got a bit more information from this guy.

“Golos,” Anatoly snapped, and the dog stood from its sitting position and barked in response.

“Good girl, Brookie,” Anatoly crooned at the dog, pursing his lips to blow her a kiss.

Garrett couldn’t help scoffing. “You named your dog Brookie?”

Anatoly probably knew a thousand ways to kill Garrett, but he had nothing but love in his eyes when he gazed at his dog.

“Yes. Have you ever had a brookie?” Anatoly asked as he picked up a knife from his array of tools and began sharpening it, keeping his eyes on Garrett. “It’s cookie baked inside brownie, and it was one of my first experiences here in America. I had to name her after something nearly as sweet and warm as she is.”

Brookie continued to growl at Garrett.

Sweet and warm, my ass.

The dog’s temperament matched the intimidation in Anatoly’s eyes as he stared at Garrett. The man had yet to blink.

“Now, answer the question or I put you in oven and Brookie will get first slice. Who is Rafe Hernandez?”

That was enough to motivate Garrett to talk, especially since Anatoly delivered that threat while wearing his creepy grin. Garrett wouldn’t give everything away, but Rafe and Garrett’s friendship had been public knowledge back when they were enlisted together, and they’d been seen in public multiple times since Rafe came back to town. No point in denying the basics, at least.

“He’s an old buddy from the Navy. We served together, and he recently came back to town. Is this about him?” Garrett leaned forward as much as he could, unable to keep the worry about Rafe from leaching into his tone. “Is he okay?”

It was more likely Rafe was involved, but Garrett needed to play dumb for now.

“I’m asking questions here,” Anatoly said, his smile dropping. “Why did Rafe come back to town?”

“We were close back then, and he wanted to see me again,” Garrett said with a shrug, trying to put on a display of indifference.

“What has he told you about faking his death all those years ago? Do you know where he’s been?”

Garrett shook his head. “He told me he got recruited for some big government job, but he couldn’t talk about it. The details were confidential so I didn’t pry. I respect the law.”

Garrett delivered those final words with a sneer, hoping Anatoly would pick up on his subtext. Clearly, the guy was a criminal. Garrett had to figure out what kind and get out of here alive.

No pressure.

“Ah, you respect law. Then explain why Rafe went to your office to question the entire staff while posing as Internal Affairs. You must have seen him deliver fake name to your captain. He even questioned you himself.”

Anatoly had way more information than Garrett expected, but Garrett did his best to keep the surprise off his face.

“Yeah, that was weird. He said it was part of his job and confidential. I would never blow his cover or expect him to reveal details. I trust him.”

“You trust him. Interesting.”

Anatoly grabbed the chair tucked under the counter and set it in front of Garrett, sitting on it backward with his legs straddling the seat. Brookie moved forward from the door and sat on her hind legs next to him, not taking her eyes off Garrett.

“Tell me what you know about a drug called Anaviqa.”

Garrett kept his face plain, careful not to give anything away. He frowned and tipped his head as if searching his brain for the name.

“Anaviqa. Anaviqa,” he said as he shook his head. “No, it doesn’t ring a bell. What’s that got to do with Rafe?”

Anatoly fixed him with a glare. “Did you or did you not look into that very drug for your dear friend Josh Wu? I could go ask sweet, innocent Josh about it if that’s what you would prefer.”

“No!”