Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 71090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
I resisted the urge to bug my eyes out at Pauline as I dropped into my chair and put on my headset.
“Alright, ladies! Let’s make this a good one!” Our boss, Bradley, said.
I hadn’t made my mind up yet when it came to Bradley.
He was a smart man, and a police officer.
Or had been before he’d gotten hurt.
Now he had to have a permanent desk job because his leg wouldn’t allow him to do the normal daily living activities most women and men did daily without realizing it.
He was pushy, and thought he was better than everyone else.
He was the same thing that we were. Dispatchers.
My phone rang and I forgot all about Bradley.
I wouldn’t think about him until much later.
At the end of my shift, to be exact.
***
“Unit 4 responding to a 10-46,” Foster’s voice came in over the radio.
I shivered.
Jesus, the man was sexy.
Even his voice sounded sexy.
It was going on our seven and a half of my eight hour shift, and I was so ready to be at Foster’s place it wasn’t even funny. The lack of sleep last night was really getting to me. I would kill for a nap right now.
I was also looking forward to doing other things, too.
Thirty more minutes. Thirty more minutes.
I kept chanting the words to myself, praying that I could stay awake.
It’d been dead all night, and this was the first time I’d actually heard Foster’s voice over the radio the entire time.
“10-4, unit 4,” I said, keeping the line open as I waited for him to help the stranded motorist.
10-46, I’d learned, was when a motorist was stranded in a broken down car. That, or the car was abandoned all together.
Long minutes passed as I checked out my nails, wondering if I should get a pedicure before this weekend.
I’d agreed to go with Foster to attend a party that his brother was throwing for their little girl’s third birthday.
I was fairly sure they wouldn’t care what my nails looked like, but…
A garbled, muffled sound abruptly echoed through my headset, and I looked up, staring blankly at my monitor.
I wasn’t really sure what I was hearing.
It almost sounded like a…
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Gunshots didn’t sound like I’d thought they’d sound, but they were unique nonetheless.
“Unit 4, 10-101?” I fairly screamed.
I could see Pauline stand in my peripheral vision, but she stayed there, waiting for my go.
More scuffling sounded and I heard the labored breathing of someone before Foster’s strained voice said, “Need help.”
“Pauline, he needs backup,” I said urgently, before my fingers started to flow over the keyboards, putting in information, dispatching units, and alerting those who needed to know.
My heart, however, was freakin’ pounding.
My stomach was roiling, and I felt wetness hitting my cheeks, letting me know that I was crying.
I didn’t let that stop me from doing my job, though.
Scuffling continued to sound, and then one more shot rang out.
Then nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
I was so scared that Foster was dead, that when his voice came back on the radio, I visibly wilted in my seat.
“Unit 4, 10-106,” Foster growled breathlessly. “I’ll need an ambulance for the man that just tried to shoot me in the face.”
I dispatched the ambulance, alerted other officers, and then promptly threw up.
I dashed for the trashcan across the room, barely making it in time before I lost my lunch.
Jesus Christ on a cracker, the man had scared the absolute shit out of me.
I made it back to my seat, eyes glazed, and collapsed into it.
My head hit the desk, and I started to cry silently.
“Take a break, Rhodes,” Bradley ordered. “And good job.”
I ignored him, going back to my Solitaire game I’d been playing before the call had come in, but I wasn’t into it.
I lost.
Badly.
My mind was a jumbling roil of emotions as I waited for the clock to strike eight.
Once I’d heard that Foster had made it back to the station, I gave Pauline a wave and vaulted out of my chair, forgetting completely that I was connected to the headset.
It yanked off my head once I’d reached the limit on its length, and slammed against the desk in my wake.
I didn’t stop, though.
Instead, I kept going, running through the doors to the bull pen, and straight through the lobby outside.
I saw him there, talking to his brother, and I didn’t stop to think.
I just launched myself into his arms, holding him to me tightly.
He took a step back, the SUV at his back stopping him from going any further, and gathered me to him.
After I kissed him, I started to berate him.
“You scared the absolute shit out of me!” I yelled loudly into his face.
He grinned weakly. “Yeah, I see that. It seems to be a trend tonight,” he said as he looked over my shoulder at his brother.
His hands were resting on my ass, holding me up, so I twisted and looked at Miller.
He was looking at his brother with relief, love, and a little bit of annoyance.
He kissed my forehead, and then let me slip down to my feet before he said, “Do you mind hanging with Miller here while I go talk to the chief?”
I looked at him suspiciously, but nonetheless nodded and said, “Sure.”
“I’ll be done quickly. Just need to give him a report of what happened, and then go from there, okay?” He confirmed.
I nodded again, and he disappeared into the building.
“So…” I said, looking at his brother once the door shut behind Foster. “What do you think really happened?”
He winked at me. “That’s the twenty three thousand dollar question.”
***
Foster
“He was waiting for me,” I said to the chief. “I know it like I know my last name’s Spurlock.”
The chief sighed and leaned back into his seat, rubbing his eyes with his hands. “Tell me why you think that. From what I gathered from the cops that questioned him, you startled him…or so he says.”
I shook my head.
“I passed that same freakin’ street ten times tonight. You told me to watch for the party that we suspected would be taking place, and so I kept running different routes, practically making a figure eight,” I said. “I saw that man on the first street and didn’t think anything of it. Then he moved to the next street I was on. After the fifth time I saw him, I finally pulled up.”