Page 25 of Last Chance Christmas

He had to remember that God wanted to influence his life. God wanted to bring peace and favor to the journey he was on. Not just at Christmas, but all the time. Izan had spent so long trying to save other people, he’d forgotten that he was the one who needed saving.

It wasn’t his job to save Olivia.

He knew what he wanted—and it wasn’t that.

Eleven

The next morning, Olivia pulled into a space in front of the police department, Junior in the passenger seat. “Then she spent all night fussing over me. Coming in to fluff my pillows and bringing me more water, even though I already had four bottles.” She rolled her eyes and glanced over at her partner. “Why do you look like you’re going to puke?”

“Maybe because you drive like a race car driver.” He reached for the handle.

“You should take your pills. You’re due for meds, and you haven’t taken them yet, right? Because you wanna be macho or some nonsense like that.”

“Yeah, because when women fall for a guy, it’s because he’s helpless and can’t sweep her off her feet.”

Olivia turned the car off. “Some women might be into that.”

“Pretty sure Ainsley isn’t,” he grumbled, climbing out of the car.

Olivia wasn’t completely healthy right now either, but her headache was only low-grade. She walked beside Junior to the front doors. “What happened?”

“Nothing. She came over last night and brought me dinner, then hung out for a while.”

“But you couldn’t put the moves on because your shoulder hurt.” She shot him a look. “It’ll heal. That gives you time to apologize and show her that you can be vulnerable just the same as you can be a hero.” She pulled the front door open. “A woman wants to know you’re well-rounded, bro.”

“What are you two doing here?” Basuto stood behind the counter in the bullpen, turned to a desk where he was moving papers around. “I’m just about to head out to the command center.”

Olivia said, “We figured we could answer phones. Man the tip line.”

He walked over to the counter and buzzed them in the door to the right, which got them behind the receptionist desk. Which meant he wasn’t kicking them out. At least, she hoped he wasn’t just letting them back so he could politely tell them to get lost.

“Far as I’m concerned, sitting here is the same as sitting at home.” Junior perched on the edge of the desk, looking forlorn.

She wasn’t sure if his bad mood was because he’d been injured and it hurt or because the woman he liked had seen him when he was injured and it hurt.

“We do need volunteers to man the tip line,” Basuto said. “But it’s over at city hall. I actually have a job I need you two to do. A little public relations job.”

Olivia wasn’t convinced. “Busywork?”

Basuto’s brows rose. “You think I’d waste my time giving you a pointless errand just to get rid of you?”

She said, “No, Lieutenant.”

“Good.” He tore a piece of paper off a pad. “Go to this address. It’s a wellness check. The mother believes something might have happened to her son, as he’s not answering the phone and hasn’t for at least a day.”

Junior said, “That’s not long enough to?—”

Basuto cut him off. “Apparently that’s unusual enough to warrant calling us. Knock on the door. See if he’s okay. Call the mom and inform her. The number is on the bottom.”

Olivia took the paper. “Yes, Lieutenant.”

“Good.” Basuto grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. “When you’re done, come back and ask the duty officer downstairs if he needs any lunch.”

She nodded.

Basuto looked at Junior, who nodded also. The lieutenant said, “I’ll be hoping we find these guys before I have to tell the two of you not to come back until you’re cleared by a doctor.”

Olivia wanted to argue that she only had a mild concussion, which meant a raging headache, and didn’t need to see a doctor again. But she also didn’t need to be back in uniform on shift for a couple of days. Okay, fine. Maybe more like a week.