Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 73311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I nearly laughed when she stormed by me, tossing an ugly glare over her shoulder as she passed.
I reached for the door to open it, but she moved her body into the way, making it to where I couldn’t reach it without physically moving her.
“I can get my own door,” she snapped.
I held up both hands, my belongings dangling in front of my body.
“Noted.”
She curled her lip up at me and yanked the door open so forcefully that it nearly bounced closed before she could make it all the way inside.
Catching the door before it could slam in my face, I gently guided Tank inside and followed behind the woman into the heart of the police station.
The police station wasn’t much. The town we were in was small, only about twenty-two thousand people.
There were eight police officers total—nine including me—and Big Papa who was now acting chief of police.
Three worked during the day, three worked at night, and three worked split shifts wherever they were needed throughout the week.
I would be working days, taking over Big Papa’s shift, which was the coveted position on the force—Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We had ten hour shifts, and I had two weeks of orientation with a preceptor grading me on everything I did before they’d release me to shifts of my own.
Three men met me in the main room the moment I breached the doorway.
BP—which was what Big Papa went by at work, another man I didn’t know, and the mayor—Jay Reeves, turned as one and studied me.
“You’re early,” BP said.
I nodded my head. “Yeah.”
BP grinned.
“This is Arnie Griffinwills. You know the Mayor, Jay.” BP pointed at each man. “They’re here to meet you.”
I offered my hand to each man. “Nice to meet you both.”
Each man took my hand and released it before turning their attention to staring at anything but my face.
Something I was used to by everyone, so I didn’t take too much offense.
“And I can see you already met Stephanie.”
My eyes rose.
“Who?” I asked.
BP pointed. “Steph, your preceptor.”
I sighed when he pointed at the mad woman who’d nearly accosted me in the parking lot.
“No, can’t say I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her,” I lied. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Steph, who’d dropped her belongings in what I guessed was her locker, didn’t say anything, only nodded.
“She’s going to be your guide into this wonderful world of police work for the next two weeks.”
“Joy,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?” Mayor Jay asked. “I didn’t quite hear you.”
I looked at him.
“I said ‘joy’,” I repeated.
Stephanie narrowed her eyes.
“No, her name is Stephanie.”
I didn’t reply. If the man was hard of hearing, and had no clue when I was being facetious, who was I to correct him?
“Anyway,” BP gave me a stern look that clearly said ‘stop being an ass’ and turned back to the mayor. “He’s going to be handling Tank.”
“Why can’t a more seasoned officer be Tank’s handler?” the mayor wanted to know.
I sighed, knowing where this was about to go.
We’d already been over this about eight million times.
Instead of listening to the spiel, I started toward what I assumed was the locker room.
Maybe taking a piss would relieve some of the pressure building up in my body—though likely it wouldn’t. My head was already pounding, my blood pressure was likely skyrocketing, and I was fairly sure I was going to hate working with this chick.
Though, she had an unfair advantage before she’d said a word.
She looked like Lynn.
And fuck me, but I didn’t like the reminder. Not one goddamned bit.
My eyes moved around the space as I walked toward the door I assumed to be the locker room, taking in the in-need-of-repaint brown walls to the rickety desks that looked like they could fall completely apart the moment another paper hit the top of them.
Then there was the lighting.
There were about ten lights in the whole large room. All of them were flush mounted to the ceilings with a single bulb burning bright.
Though, two of them were out and needed replacing.
In the direction I was heading I could see the locked doors and a sign that read: Doors Must Remain Locked At All Times.
I assumed that was the jail part of the police station, though I’d likely confirm that suspicion at some point today.
Tank’s nails clicked on the wood floor underneath his feet, bringing my attention down to him.
He looked disinterested, as if he could care less about being here.
Which I guess he could.
He didn’t want to work without his partner, and I was definitely not his partner.
Everyone said hi to him as we’d passed anyone on the way to the station today, but his tail hadn’t once wagged.
So yes, I knew for a fact Tank didn’t want to be here.
“You can’t go in there,” I heard the moment my hand met the cool wood door that led to the locker room.