Even though I had been a little mesmerized by the dreamy hothead for a split second, there was no way I would go near him with a damn ten-foot pole. He had just been booked at my station for drunk and disorderly and that was a tree this dog was not going to bark up, no matter how mouthwateringly attractive the squirrelswere.
“That was a little strange,” Myla commented as we got close to theexit.
“Yeah, it could have been pretty awkward. Thanks for saving me back there.” It was true that in the moment, I was pretty frustrated with Myla jumping into the conversation, but at the end of the day, she had done the right thing—and, it was true that I really only had eyes for Sean. As wrong as that was, I just couldn’t helpit.
Chapter 8
Whistler
“Here you are,good sir, one soy pumpkin spice latte and a gouda and egg sandwich without bacon.” McBee slid into the passenger’s seat of our squad car and handed me my breakfast order. “Do you know how awesome I am?” She glanced over at me with a coy smile as she blew on her steaming double latte and took a bite of her bacon, egg, and cheesesandwich.
“Here we go again,” I teased, taking a bite of mybreakfast.
Jessica started laughing as I pulled out into bustling New York City traffic. “Do you know how much shit you would get if the rest of the department knew you have the taste buds of a nineteen-year-old sororitygirl?”
“Not liking bacon does not make me basic.” Rolling my eyes, I grunted at her as the sweet smell of our lattes took over the vehicle. “And besides, a man who is not in touch with his feminine side doesn’t know how many tasty things he is missing out on in theworld.”
A rusted-out white van clunked next to us at a light. Looking over, I couldn’t help but notice that the driver was talking on his cell phone. I flipped on the lights and siren, pulling the jalopyover.
“They made that one easy,” I remarked as I got ready to get out of thecar.
McBee ran the plates. “Not the most savory characters in the world, but they don’t have any warrants out on them oranything.”
My gut was telling me this was going to be an interesting stop. The van resembled what people joked about being a rapist van—whited-out windows, rust and holes all over the place, scratches and dentsgalore.
Walking up to the driver’s door, I tapped on his window with the back of my flashlight. Jessica stood at the ready by the right side of the van, waiting for mysignal.
As the window cranked down, the driver attempted to grin at me. The lack of teeth and the rotting of the ones that were still there screamed years of drug use. “What’s the problem officer?” he asked with a very eventone.
“You can’t be on your cell phone while operating a vehicle in the state of New York,” I stated. “License, insurance, and registration.” Peering past the driver, I looked to his passenger, who was sweating bullets. “I need your license as well,sir.”
With shaking hands, the passenger got his identification out of his wallet and handed it to me. I glanced into the back of the van to see an old metal Christmas tree stand, one that resembled the one my family had while I was growing up. “You boys off to get atree?”
The driver looked at me like I had six heads as the passenger answered, “N-No, s-s-sir. We’re heading to d-do a little last m-minute sh-shopping.”
I walked back over to the car, and McBee met me. “Warning?” She looked over at me, waiting for the cue to start writing up a ticket for them ornot.
“Yeah. It is Christmas after all, right?” I shrugged, looking down at their paperwork. It all seemed to check out, and I was not in the mood to ruin any days for minorissues.
She nodded. “That is very non-Scroogey of you, Whistler.” She flashed me her sweet smile, the one that made her eyes sparkle, and I melted. Ever since the other night at the bar, I couldn’t get my partner out of my head, even more so than usual. Thankfully, she seemed completely clueless about my crush, and I had every intention of keeping it thatway.
Handing the driver all their documents back, I leaned on the door with one elbow. “I’m going to let you two off with a warning, but keep that phone in your pocket while you’re driving, yahear?”
The passenger leaned over, looking me dead in the eyes with his pupils dilated and sweat beading on his forehead. “B-But, R-R-Ricky, how is-is the m-mother ship going to be able t-to f-f-find us if we d-d-don’t have the c-c-calling d-d-deviceout?”
The driver shot me a nervous glance. “You have to excuse him, sir. My brother here isn’t all with it upstairs, if you catch mydrift.”
“You boys be safe now.” I tapped my fist on the side of the vehicle and made my way over to Jessica. As we got back into our squad car, I let out the rolling laugh I had been fighting since that passenger opened hismouth.
“What?” McBee nudged me as I hugged the steering wheel, tears welling up in my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I was laughing at the situation or if the situation was making me emotional about my upbringing—probably a little ofboth.
“They’re looking for their mother ship,” Iresponded.
Her jaw dropped. “Never a dull moment in this job, isthere?”
I shook my head. “Nah, I just hope they find it. It would be terrible to spend the holidays stuck on Earth, so far away from their family and home.” I meant it more as a sincere sentiment, because that man truly did seem concerned. It was moments like that when I was truly thankful for having the friends Ihad.
“Have you ever known someone a little loose in the noggin?” McBee askedinnocently.