“I guess the Lieutenant isn’t here,” Cam says.
“Not yet.”
“Any idea when he will be?” Miracle asks.
“How would I know? I’m not his keeper.”
“I’m sure he’s on his way, Mr. Mayor,” Cam says. “We stayed at the prison very late.”
“I appreciate all your hard work and dedication,” Miracle says, “but as my campaign slogan said, ‘As long as crime doesn’t sleep, neither should your mayor.’”
“Oh, so you were up at two in the morning with us interviewing the prisoners and collecting evidence? Strange, I didn’t see you there,” I say.
Miracle glares at me, and Cam shoots me a look, but I just cock an eyebrow. “There is a crazed madman on the loose,” Miracle says, “and—”
“And I’m sure even he needs to sleep before doing all his crazy madman stuff.”
“I don’t appreciate your attitude, Det. Fallon.”
“Yeah? Well, Cam has the sign-up sheet for the club if you want to join.”
“We have about fifty members,” Cam says, voice dead-pan.
The mayor is not amused. “I heard you both were there last night. Bang-up job, guys.”
“Well, we are city employees. Just following the example of our fearless leader,” I say with a shit-eating grin.
He stalks out of the office, scowl affixed to his face. “Cops.”
Cam chuckles and shakes his head. “You are a piece of work.”
“That guy is such a douche bag.”
“He’s the mayor.”
“I didn’t vote for him,” I mutter.
“Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the couch? Because if you’re going to be this snotty all day, I’m partnering with Mirabelle.”
“And have to hear about his gout all day? Are you that desperate to get away from me?”
“If you’re in full on bitch mode? Hell, yeah. My blood pressure is high enough without your shit raising it.”
I sigh. “Fine. I’ll do my pretty pretty princess routine today just for you,” I say, batting my eyelashes. “Can I get you some coffee, Det. Cameron? Your slippers?”
Cam sits in the chair across from me, folding his hands in his lap. “That lasted all of a second. Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“Come on, save me from gout. Talk.” God, I want to tell him. I trust him with my life, I really do, just not my love life in this instance. He’s an amazing detective, so I’ll bet he suspects, but to his credit hasn’t said a word. Another reason for me to feel like a shitty friend.
“I just—”
Our conversation is cut short. Harry rushes in and Cam and I stand up as if caught being naughty. Usually it’s me and Harry who act like this. I step aside to let Harry get behind his desk. “Morning,” I mumble.
“Moring, sir,” Cam says as he passes.
Harry tosses his coat on the rack behind him. “Morning, Detectives.”
“The mayor is waiting for you,” Cam says.
“I know. I spoke to him. Told him to give me five minutes so I can get my bearings. What is this mess?” he says, looking at his desk. He sighs and sits before milling through the paperwork. “Okay, talk fast.”
“We’ve had over a hundred tips on the hotline,” Cam says. “Jimenez in robbery and about seven unis are going through them. The lab is rushing all evidence from last night, and should have the majority of it done by the afternoon, including everything from the Spencer bombing.”
“What about the injured guard?” Harry asks.
“Made it out of surgery, but is still unconscious. They’ll call when he wakes up. Lost his hand.”
“Poor guy,” I say.
“So, basically, we’re still stuck at square one,” Harry says.
“Yeah, and the press is sniffing at our crotch like a dog,” Cam says.
Harry picks up a few of the message slips. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“Someone even called me at home this morning,” Cam says.
“Hope you gave them a piece of your mind,” I say.
“About seventy pieces, yes. I would have made you proud.”
“So, I’m up to date on the bad news. Any good?” Harry asks.
“It looks like we have our own private army out there,” I point out.
“Good. We’re going to need them. Have the files from the prison arrived?”
“I don’t know,” Cam says. “Kowalski would.”
“And where is he?”
“The nursery.”
“Get him in here, now,” Harry says.
Cam and I exchange a look. With a sigh, Cam stands. “I’ll wake him.” He walks out, shutting the door behind himself.