Protecting What's His(5)
And this son of a bitch was raining on their parade.
“What exactly is your problem, Lieutenant?”
He took a step forward, bringing them toe-to-toe, forcing her to look up if she wanted to meet his eyes. Damn, this guy kept surprising her. Men liked Ginger. That wasn’t arrogance talking. Okay, maybe a little, but it was mainly an observation. This man, however, seemed determined to piss her off good.
She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.
“You can stop calling me ‘Lieutenant’ now. It’s getting on my nerves.”
“I believe that was the point.”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. “It’s Derek from now on.”
Oh, he had balls making demands. She’d give him that. “I don’t believe I’ll have cause to call you anything at all. What do you think of that?”
He didn’t answer her question. “I assume there’s some sort of parental supervision moving in with you?”
Her smile disappeared right quick. “Beg pardon?”
Derek gestured with the patented cop-head-nod to the open door Willa had recently disappeared through. “She’s barely old enough to operate a vehicle and surely you’re not much older.”
Ginger’s left eye twitched. This little tête-à-tête had just gone from interesting to insufferable. Judging from his stoic expression, he had no idea what kind of land mine he’d just stepped on. Well, he was about to find the hell out. “I’m twenty-three years old, actually. And last time I checked, that’s old enough to vote, drink, gamble, rent an apartment, own a firearm, and explain to a grown man, police lieutenant or not, when he’s being a gigantic dickhead. And Derek, if it wasn’t clear enough already, you are the dickhead in this little scenario.” She paused for a breath. “And don’t call me surely.”
His eyes narrowed even further, completely obscuring the green of his irises. “Did you just quote Airplane! to me?”
Ginger swore she could feel steam coming out of her ears. “That’s really all you picked up on? Glossed right over the dickhead part?”
“What’s your name?”
She gritted her teeth. “Hardly matters at this point, wouldn’t you agree? I don’t think there are too many neighborly chats in our future.”
Willa picked that moment to holler from inside the apartment. “Ginger! I’m fucking starving and all we have is Triscuit crackers and strawberry frosting!”
Ah, impeccable timing as usual, sis.
Not quite suppressing his triumphant smile, Derek answered her rhetorical question. “I’d have to agree with you, Ginger. I’m not feeling the least bit neighborly toward you.”
“Well then, sugar, I’d say our association ends here.”
“I doubt that.”
“You can doubt anything if you think about it long enough. And I am done thinking about this. Good-bye, Derek. Can’t say it was a pleasure, but it was definitely an experience.”
Ginger spun around on the heel of her boot with the intention of storming into her apartment, leaving him staring after her, hopefully slack-jawed and regretful. Instead, she ran smack into the dining room table still blocking the hallway, effectively knocking the wind out of her stomach and her sails. Fighting the need to simultaneously suck in deep gulps of air and karate chop the table, Ginger straightened and skirted the table silently, refusing to turn around and gauge his reaction to her embarrassing mishap.
As she closed the apartment door behind her, she heard Derek call to her. “Aren’t Gingers usually redheads?”
“Go to hell!”
In spite of the masculine laughter passing by her door, she heard Willa approach. “Well, Ginger, looks like we finally found the one man unwilling to grovel at your feet.”
Guess they’d just have to see about that, wouldn’t they?
Chapter Four
“All right, Alvarez. Lean harder on your informant. We need to know if anyone has been in contact with the head of the Modesto crew since Monday.”
As the detective jumped up and left the briefing room, Derek addressed the remaining assembled detectives and officers. “The streets are too quiet. I think we all know that’s when they’re most dangerous. We need a heavy presence on the South Side, especially in Back of the Yards. Continue to canvass for witnesses who aren’t too scared to talk. Shop owners who’ve been made victims themselves are probably our best bet. Leave no one out.”
He turned his attention to his former partner, who had remained a detective when Derek was promoted to lieutenant two years prior. “Kenny, take Barker and pay another visit to Hector Modesto’s girlfriend. She knows where he is—it’s just a matter of getting her to talk. Find motivation and use it.”