Page 8 of Justice for Samara

“Yes, sir. I understand, sir. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Great. Day shift starts showing up at about seven.”

“I’ll be there, sir. And thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome. Thank you. See you then.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, Chief DeputyEdwards.”

“Thank you as well. See you in the morning. Bye.” He sat back in his chair and stared at Carter for a couple of seconds. He wanted to say something so badly, but he wasn’t sure how or what.

Carter beat him to it. “There’s something on your mind. Spill it.”

“Uh, well, sir, I… It’s just that…”

“Yes. I was watching you. I’m not crazy about the idea, but you’re grownups. I would hope to god you could be professional here.”

“But, sir… How did you…” And he stopped.

“It was written all over your face. I had to hire her. I was afraid if I didn’t, you’d quit and follow her around until she got a job, then apply there yourself.”

Michael’s cheeks were burning and he could feel reality setting in. “You don’t have to worry about it, sir. She wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

Carter reared back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “And why would you say that?”

“Because, I mean…” How could he explain it without sounding like a complete loser? Unless, of course, he was a complete loser.

“What? Any woman would be lucky to have you. But know this: She’ll have to be tough as nails or Marjorie will walk all over her.”

Michael shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Boy, you got that right.”

“Yeah. But she seems like a tough lady. Give her time to get to know you.”

“Oh, yeah. Not a problem.”Yeah, Michael thought.I ain’t got nuthin’ but time.

Because when it came to women, that was definitely true.

CHAPTER 2

Makingnice with your new coworkers seemed important to her, so Samara stopped on her way to the station and bought a box of fancy cupcakes. No donuts for her coworkers. She was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a walking cliché.

There were only two cars there when she arrived, and she grabbed the box of cupcakes before heading in. “Hey there!” a voice called out, and Carter appeared at the head of the hallway. “Good morning!”

“Good morning, sir. Brought a little surprise for everybody.”

Carter groaned. “Oh, god, not… cupcakes! Oh, wow! Everybody brings us donuts.”

“I’m not everybody,” she said and grinned.

“I see that! Come on back and fill out some paperwork. When Edwards gets here, he’ll help get you measured for uniforms and we can go from there.”

“Sounds good. Mind if I grab a cuppa…” she asked and pointed at the coffee maker.

“No. Go right ahead. Matter of fact, I’ll take it all into the conference room and you can work on it in there.”

The radio squawked to life. “TCSD base, this is TCSD unit one forty-eight, do you copy?”

Carter ran up the hallway and grabbed the mic. “Roger that, unit one forty-eight.”