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Shane cleared his throat and stepped in from the side. “Um, actually Mercedes, we’ve got a necklace for each of you, and you’re supposed to collect the cards on the chain.”

Mercedes flipped up her middle finger and slid the card on the necklace. Then shoved the card back in between her boobs.

Al grinned. She was a fun one. He passed out several more cards until he only had one card left and three ladies. Er, units. The twins, Lilith, and Katy.

“Please know, this is more about me than it is about you. Destiny and Delilah, will you accept this evidence of attraction?”

Al cringed as the twins squealed loud enough to shatter glass. They jumped forward and ripped the card from his hands. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Shane stepped forward and looked at the remaining two ladies.

“Lilith, Katy, I’m sorry to say, but there’s no evidence of attraction. Your case is dismissed.”

Katy burst into tears, sobbing as if she’d lost her favorite pet. Al took an awkward step back. He hated to make anyone cry, but he barely knew her. Lilith, on the other hand, took a different approach. She pointed straight at him and chanted in a language he couldn’t identify.

“Winners!” Lindsey shouted. “Follow me into the lounge for celebration drinks. Losers, head outside for your final interview.”

Katy let out another wail, and Lilith chanted louder.

Jazz stepped up to Al and linked her arm in his. “Nice work. Looks like you dodged a couple of bullets.”

Al chuckled. “Nice use of the theme.”

She shrugged. “I went to college a few times.”

“Well, I didn’t go at all, so you made up for the both of us.”

“It’s a perfect match! Now let’s go get that drink.”

“You’re not afraid of that?” He nodded towards Lilith who was still chanting despite being dragged from the room by one of the crew.

“I’m a lawyer. It wouldn’t be my first curse.”

Jazz wasn’t such a bad person. She was cute, smart, and had a sense of humor. He caught Jeannie’s eye as they walked to the next room. She gave them a thumbs up, and Al sighed. If this is what she really wanted, maybe he should give it a shot.

Chapter 18

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Reality TV himself, gracing us with his presence.” Christian gave a mock bow as Al entered the conference room.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed a bright green muffin from the center of the table.

“I’m back for a few days while they set up for the next phase.” Al sniffed the muffin but couldn’t detect anything too outlandish. Marina’s baking efforts were legendary, and not in a good way. Christian claimed Marina insisted he share them with the guys, but Al suspected this was Christian’s way of getting rid of them faster.

Hunter took a sip of his coffee, trying not to stare directly at Marina’s muffins as though pretending they didn’t exist would keep him from having to take one.

“Mint.” Nick sat at the end of the table, wiping green crumbs from his beard. “Like toothpaste.”

“Excellent!” Al took a large bite, agreeing with Nick’s assessment. “I’ve always found arrests to go much smoother when my breath is minty fresh.”

Christian knocked his hand on the table, signaling the start of the meeting. “We’ll keep it short today. Axe won’t be joining us. He had a rough night, so I sent him home.”

Hunter looked up from fake studying his laptop. “Everything okay? I can take over some of his shifts if need be.”

Christian raised an eyebrow. “Somebody worried about burning out his CSI protégé?”

Axe was the newest edition to the department and typically worked the overnight shift. Because of that, no one wanted to see Axe leave since that meant they’d be back on the night rotation. But Hunter would be especially disappointed if Axe left because Axe had been training as Hunter’s back up with the crime scene investigations.

“Nothing to worry about, just a little extra excitement. But I’ll pass along your offer. Although, we could use some help at the front desk since Hope isn’t back yet. Any chance one of your other sisters is available to fill in?”