Page 23 of Capture My Heart

When Trey came out of the bathroom, Stinky had finished his dinner and was curled up on his pillow next to the nightstand. He glanced towards the hall bathroom and decided he was too tired to change the litter box tonight. He would add it to the list of other crap he had to deal with tomorrow.

He crawled into the sheets and willed himself not to have the same dream tonight. It seemed like his prayers would be answered when the bullheaded blonde filled his mind instead of the barrel of a gun.

Dreaming of a suspect wasn’t the best replacement. But when Dream Amy flashed him a smile, he gagged his conscience and drifted off.

Amy’s arms flailed as she fought to silence the buzzing. Six, ugh. She smooshed the pillow over her head. “Just a few more minutes.”

The buzzing sounded again. Snooze. She groaned but dragged her butt out of bed. The case notes wouldn’t print themselves.

Phone in hand, she texted Tommy. Nothing. She sent a barrage of texts.

Are you alive?

Get up!

I need your car.

Still no answer. Screw it. She called him. Her phone bombing finally worked, and she roused him.

″What the fuck? I don’t start work until next Monday, and I didn’t get to bed until two.” His groggy voice filled the line.

″You can go back to bed after you come get me. My car got trashed last night.”

″Wait, what?”

She could hear the covers being thrown aside and his feet hitting the floor.

″Are you alright? Were you in an accident?”

″I’m fine. My car was the only victim in this crime.”

″Crime? What happened?”

″I came out of Pete’s last night and my car had four slashed tires and a busted window.” She made her way to the bathroom while she listened to him swear.

″I know you’re a cop, but, damn it, there are a lot of people who’d love to cut you. You’re lucky they weren’t waiting for you when you came out.”

″I can handle myself.”

″Amy, you don’t know these people like I do. If it was one of the Gardiners...”

″Tommy, it wasn’t. And I wasn’t alone. Trey was with me.”

″Oh.” After a long silence he said, “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

″Thanks. You’re the best.” She ended the call, leaned against the bathroom counter, and dropped her head. If this was tied to her father’s case, there was a good chance this was one of the Gardiner family. Her eyes lifted. The woman staring back didn’t look like a determined cop but a freaked-out child. Pale, dilated pupils, wild hair.

No! She exhaled, splashed cold water on her face, and then grabbed a towel. The blue terry cloth slipped from her hand. She stared at the image in front of her. She always thought affirmations were crap, but today...?

Her lungs expanded to capacity then she exhaled and stared into her overbright blue eyes. “I’m strong. I’m smart. I’m a badass.”

Her lip hitched up. It sounded totally lame, but she needed to shake off these doubts. She rolled her eyes and repeated the phrase two more times, splashed more water on her face, then finished getting ready for work.

She’d just zipped her pants when her door buzzed. She looked at her watch. Tommy. Hopefully, she could drop him off and get to the impound lot before they got busy. She wanted to interview the gate guards and see if she could look at their surveillance footage from the other day.

She grabbed a banana and a granola bar from the pantry and headed back to the buzzer. “I’m on my way down.”

With one more glance, she slipped her sidearm into her holster and headed out the door.