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“I love the scruff, but then again, I love it this way, too.”

“I’ll remember that.”

She presses her lips to mine and kisses me quickly, then folds her hands under her head. “I’m going back to sleep.”

“Call me and I’ll come get you,” I remind her and replace the comforter.

“Umm, hmm. If you’re busy, Maren can get me. She won’t mind, and I have to work a little too…” is all I get out of her before she’s back asleep.

I find a spare key and lay it on the counter with a short note before leaving.

When I get to the station, I immediately feel something off. Captain Corny flashes me a sly smile, standing at the edge of my desk. The hair on the back of my neck stands at his expression.

“Have a good night, Scott?” someone yells from across the bullpen, and the crowd starts howling.

There is an 11x14 picture of Emi and I from last night propped on my computer. Our lips are touching, my hand is gripping her ass, and she’s grasping my shirt. Then, scattered on my desk are more smaller shots of us throughout the night.

“NINA!” I bark, searching for her.

She pops her head from behind the middle partition. “Yes?” She smirks with mischief in her eyes.

“Don’t be too hard on her, Scott. It’s a good way to start the day.” Captain pounds me on the back.

“Looking at pictures of Emi and me is a good way to start your day? You guys are pathetic.”

“Pathetic, maybe, but I can tell you’re gloating inside,” he says low enough for only me to hear.

I start to give him hell, but a new hush comes over the room. I glance up to see Agent Kelly with SLED coming straight toward me. His eyes are hard and cold, his jaw tight, and it’s obvious there’s something on his mind. We worked together a few weeks back when he came to discuss the issue with the car found in Greenville. He accompanied me to interview the owners of the vehicle, and it was quickly decided they had nothing to do with it. Then we scoured over piles of notes from different parts of the state reporting vehicle heists.

He stayed two days, we found nothing, and he left frustrated. Since then, our communication has been sparse, mostly because only two cars have been stolen in the last few weeks in Charleston, and both turned up, wiped clean and with no damage.

As he stops at my desk, I know something’s changed. He has news.

“Detective Walker, Captain Cornelius.” He holds out his hand for us to shake. “Can we talk privately?”

Captain tilts his chin to the conference room, and I notice Agent Kelly zeroing in on my desk. His eyes meet mine, and I catch a brief hint of humor before he follows.

“Nina, clean this up.” I wave my finger around my desk.

The playful mood from earlier is gone with the unexpected arrival of Agent Kelly. She rushes over and starts straightening the pictures.

“Gentlemen, it’s not my style to show up without notice, but we’re being careful of communication. Word has gotten to us that there’s a commune of drug dealers meeting in Charleston next weekend. They’re low ballers on the totem pole—big enough to cause problems, small enough to fly under the radar. Our informant says they’re meeting to discuss channels of distribution up and down the coastline,” Kelly explains.

“How are we going to play this?” I ask him, leaving no room to be pushed aside.

“We’re going in cold, not knowing exactly where, when, or how they’re meeting. But we’ve got a starting point.” He takes out his laptop and sets it up on the table, logging in and pulling up a video.

I recognize the hotel bar from a few weeks ago when we raided the gambling ring. “Hate to tell you, but I’ve watched this a hundred times and see no evidence of drug activity.”

“Right, but wait,” he punches a few buttons and another feed pops up, specifically focused on the actual bar, the people surrounding it, and the bartenders.

“You see this guy right here?” He points out the bartender. “He’s one of us, undercover, bouncing from place to place to scope out suspicious activity. We had him in the bar for months, making sure his face was familiar, his regulars were comfortable, and he gained trust. That’s how we were able to know about the gambling.”

“Why are we just now hearing this? I asked to interview this guy and was turned down.”

“Because he’s too valuable to get discovered. We swooped him out and set him up somewhere new.”

“I’m not Barney Fife, Kelly. I can play by the rules,” I bite out.