whatever you have to throw at me, I was just trying to spare your sensitive feelings by not giving you too much shit back. But now it’s on!” Andrews threw back at Kincade.
“Bring it on!” She laughed as she headed off to her desk.
Cody popped his head into Sergeant Kyle Roberts’s office “Sarge. Did HPD get those interviews over here yet?”
“Yeah, they’re piled up on your desk, that is if you remember where it is. Damn big baby! Let a little thing like getting shot and a few bruised ribs keep you from doing your job. I thought you were tougher than that!” Sergeant Roberts had to get his jabs in along with the rest of them.
“Well, you know, you don’t exactly let me take my vacation time, so I have to do what I have to do to get some downtime. Besides, that nurse was pretty cute. I almost faked another injury so she could keep nursing me back to health. But I missed you guys and all the love you share so much that I just couldn’t keep myself away. Shit, I was only gone three weeks, you act like it’s been months. I guess that just goes to show that you can’t live without me.”
“Holy crap, it’s getting deep in here! Why don’t you get out of my office and get to work!”
“Yes, sir, Sarge,” Cody hollered over his shoulder as he made his way to his desk. Across from his desk sat Andrews in the desk that used to be Detective Daily’s. That was going to take some getting used to. He and Daily had been partners since Cody was promoted to detective almost a year ago. The two of them closed more cases together than any of the other detectives in his precinct during that time, earning Cody only a short stay as the rookie. Now here he was with a rookie partner and he the lead detective. Cody hoped he could live up to the expectations of everyone he worked with, not to mention the victims and their families.
“I’ll start on this stack of interviews if you want to take that one and see what we can come up with,” Cody told Andrews as he reached for one of the two stacks that were piled on his desk.
“Sure thing, Jackson. I’ll grab us some coffee. It looks like it’s going to be a long day. Oh, by the way, welcome back.”
*****
Sydney stared at her computer screen, exhausted from the weekend with her sister. Never in her life would she have thought a little sister shopping trip could wear her out so much. Tessa had insisted on going into Missoula to the new bridal shop, which turned into going to four different bridal shops, three different bakeries, and she couldn’t even count how many florists.
By the end of Saturday, Tessa had narrowed the dress selection down to five, and settled on a beautiful three-tiered vanilla almond cake with the best cream cheese frosting Sydney had ever tasted. It was to be decorated in a bright white frosting with scarlet red roses and forest-green ivy swirling around it. To top the cake, she picked out a bride putting shackles on her groom’s ankles. Sydney chuckled to herself at her baby sister’s feisty spitfire sense of humor.
The flowers, on the other hand, seemed like a hopeless task. Tess knew she wanted roses to go with her cake. Other than that, yeah, she had no clue, but she needed to figure it out quick since there were only five weeks left until D-Day. Tess made Sydney agree to go back Friday to make a final decision on the dress so that there was time to have alterations done if needed. This whole wedding thing with her baby sister was going to suck every ounce of energy she had out of her. Luckily for Tess, she loved her dearly and would do anything for her. But stocking up on energy drinks, that she shouldn’t have, and coffee was going to be a must.
“Did you get that permit pulled for the house out on Monrow?” Bill Riley, Sydney’s father and boss, asked Sydney as he came to stand in front of her desk, snapping her back to reality.
“I did, and I’m meeting the inspector out at the job site on Wednesday with the crew to dig the test holes. The builders are faunching at the bit to get started. As soon as we have our portion done, they can get their permits and get started.”
“And what did the inspector say about the job up Willow Road?”
“Passed. We’ve already finished it up, and it’s billed out.”
“Oh, and don’t forget the inspection set up for tomorrow at—”
“Dad!” she hollered, interrupting him, “I’ve got this! I can handle it. If you want me to take this company over, you need to trust me to do my job. I’ve been working with you since I was a little girl, I think I know what needs done. If by chance I do not know how to handle or do something, I will come to you and ask for your help.”
“Okay, okay, I was just checking. I know you can do it, or I wouldn’t have put you in charge. I’m just out of things to do since you are doing most all the work I would be doing.”
“I know you are, but here’s an idea. I’m doing this so that you have more time to do things you want to do at work and more things at home. So why don’t you go and do them, like not in this office, out there in the wide-open spaces,” Sydney said, pointing at the door she hoped he would use to get out of her hair. She loved her dad very much, but it was hard enough with her own mind wandering, she didn’t need any more. Especially from a man who was just bored and didn’t know what to do with his spare time.
“Fine, I will leave you alone. I’m sure your mother has a list a mile long she’s wanting done. I could go see if she needs help. Or maybe I will just peek in on the crew and see if they need anything.” Bill chuckled as he headed out the door.
Turning back to her computer, Sydney started on the stack of paperwork that had piled up while she was helping the crews the week before. Yuck. Office work was not her favorite part of the job, but unfortunately, it was a necessary part of it. She had worked in the office some in high school as an after-school job and then again after she started college. She was just thankful that now she was able to also get out into the field and on the jobs. Running the whole business meant she needed to know all parts of it. Knowing the logistics of what needed to be done and actually doing the work were two different things. She had definitely learned a lot more since she had started going into the field. At first, Sydney got a shit ton of flak from the guys on the crew for being a woman. She quickly remedied that by kicking ass on the jobs and with all the equipment. Perks of having a father who would let you tag along and drive the equipment from a very young age.
Looking up at the clock, Sydney was surprised to see it was well after 4:00 p.m. “Wow, today went quick. I guess that’s a bonus for letting my crap pile up,” Sydney mumbled to herself. Shutting down her system, she cleared off her desk and neatly piled the small stack of work she was not able to complete but was sure, unless she got bombarded, that she could finish up tomorrow.
As she left her office, she ran smack into Ethan Callen. At six foot five and about two hundred and fifty pounds of mostly muscle, it was like running into a brick wall. “Holy shit, Ethan! Where the hell did you come from?” Sydney snapped at him. A little more hostile than she meant, but at this point in her life, surprises were not high up on her list of likes. In fact, she absolutely hated them.
“Whoa, you ran into me, sweet cheeks. What’s your hurry anyway? Have a hot date?” Ethan probed as he eyed Sydney top to bottom and back up. It made Sydney gag inside, something she could not let him see. She was not weak enough to give him the satisfaction of that.
“No, I don’t have a hot date, I’m just getting out of here because I have been here since seven. That’s long enough today. So, if you’ll excuse me, I will see you later,” Sydney managed to choke out without it sounding like she was going to puke on his mud-covered boots.
