Page 43 of A Dye Hard Holiday
“I hope you have a great night, Gabe,” Maegan said, patting me on the shoulder as I passed through the door.
Oh, I planned on it.“Same to you, Maegan.”
I managed to get the eight cups of coffee to the salon without making a liar of myself. It wasn’t that the salon didn’t have a coffee maker, but nothing was better than a special treat in the afternoon, especially after the crappy way Josh’s day started. I couldn’t treat Josh and neglect the rest of our salon family.
I handed soy vanilla lattes to Dee and Josi, white chocolate lattes to Marci and Dare, straight-up black coffee to Wren and Heather, a salted caramel to my man, and chamomile tea to Mere.
The ladies hugged me, Dare patted my shoulder, Wren grunted appreciatively, and Josh gave me a quick peck on the lips. I wanted to drag him off to the mixing room for a proper kiss, but I didn’t want to mess up his mojo.
“See you at home,” I tossed over my shoulder on my way out the door.
I had planned to stop by the station long enough to read my messages and find out if we had any tips come in yet, but one look at the harried expressions on the officers in the station nixed the idea of leaving early.
“Any calls come in?” I asked hesitantly.
“Any calls?” Officer O’Malley asked. “Try two hundred.”
“Two hundred? Those posters haven’t been up for more than an hour,” I said in shock. “Are they legitimate calls?”
“Aliens are the culprits, Captain,” Officer Wen said. “They’re taking the items back to their planet to study us in preparation for conquering Earth.”
“Traveling gypsies,” Murkowsky countered then flipped through her notebook. “Atheists, Scientologists…”
“Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Officer Jones added.
“No, it’s the Baptists,” Officer Kasey countered her partner.
“There have been a few legitimate calls, Cap,” Adrian said. “I’m heading out to check on a few things.”
“Take Wen with you,” I told him.
The phone never stopped ringing the entire time my officers filled me in on the tips they’d received so far. Instead of going home, I took off my coat and sat at my old desk with a pad of paper and a pen. An effective leader held fast to a basic rule: never ask people to do things you’re unwilling to do yourself.
I wrote down the names of each caller I spoke with and included their contact number in case their lead panned out. I didn’t really think that Jerry Springer or Oprah were behind the thefts and vandalism, but wrote the information down the same. I figured the calls would settle down over the next few days, but until then, it looked like I would need to authorize overtime.
I sent Josh a text and told him that I’d be home late, expecting to work an extra hour or two. Instead, I pulled into the driveway after eleven o’clock. There were only a few lights left on so that I could find my way through the first floor and up the stairs without killing myself. Josh was sound asleep in our bed with Buddy acting as guard by his feet.
“I’ll take it from here, boy,” I told him.
Buddy jumped down and retreated to his dog bed near the fireplace while I quickly undressed and carelessly tossed my clothes on the floor. I might catch hell from Josh the next morning, but I was exhausted from the long day, pissy that I didn’t get home in time to put my kids to bed, and frustrated that I missed my naughty countdown surprise.
All those cantankerous emotions faded the minute I slid beneath the sheets and snuggled up to my warm, naked husband. Josh turned in the circle of my arms and nuzzled his nose in the hollow of my collarbone.
“Did you catch him?” Josh asked groggily.
“Nope,” I said into the darkness. “Tomorrow is a new day.”
“Missed you tonight.”
“I missed you guys too. Did anything important happen?”
“Dylan said his first curse word.”
“Shit!”
“Well, technically it was ‘fuh-nug,’ but I’m pretty sure we know what he was trying to say.” He laughed against my chest, and I held him tighter. “We’re not supposed to laugh, Gabe.”
“I’m not the one laughing,” I pointed out.