Joe shook his head and pulled back onto the street. “You have got to get yourself a life, man. When crazy stalker chicks start looking good, it’s time to make some changes.”
“She’s not a crazy stalker chick. She was only trying to protect her property. Going about it the wrong way, maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Rick shrugged. “She had a point. We probably wouldn’t have been in that big a hurry to come check out a truck that might or might not have been broken into. We’d have gotten to it, but maybe not before it happened again. Can’t blame her for wanting to keep an eye on things.”
“Then why did you tell her to call us instead of handling it by herself?”
“Because that’s the right thing to do. If she needs help or there’s criminal activity going on, she needs to alert the police. Not try to handle it herself.”
“So…you don’t blame her for trying to handle it herself but you don’t agree with her doing it.”
Rick frowned. “I realize I’m kind of contradicting myself.”
“Oh, good. I wasn’t sure you got that.”
Rick scowled at him, and Joe laughed. He kept up the ribbing all the way to the station, which thankfully wasn’t too far. Rick got out of the car as soon as they parked, but Joe stopped him.
“Grab that box, will ya?”
Rick got it from the backseat. “What is all this stuff, anyway?”
“Some surveillance gear. Friedman confiscated it from the car thieves last week and has been carting it around. Needs to get it signed into the evidence locker, so I finally told him I’d do it.”
“Surveillance gear?” Rick asked with a sinking feeling in his gut. “What all was in here?”
Joe walked around the car, grabbed a list from inside the box, and read off the items. Rick rummaged through everything, sighing when Joe got to the end of the list. Rick slammed the box down on the trunk.
“What?” Joe asked.
“The night-vision binoculars are missing.”
Joe’s eyes widened, and then his laughter rang out. Rick turned on his heel and headed into the station.
“Where are you going?” Joe called out.
“I’m changing, and then I’m going to go get the equipment back.”
“Uh-huh. You want some help with that?”
Rick glared at him.
“Never mind.”
Rick ignored him and marched into the station. He couldn’t believe she’d stolen from a cop. The woman had balls.
And he was going to set her straight. Whether she liked it or not.
Chapter Three
Rick pounded on the door for the fourth time before he finally gave up. He jogged down the four flights of stairs to the ground floor. Where the hell was she? He sat in his car for a second before he realized he knew exactly where she was. The woman was going to be the death of him, and he’d only known her a few hours.
He steered his car back toward the Street Treats bakery. When he arrived, he made sure to park around the corner where she wouldn’t spot him. He didn’t want her taking off on him. Again. Especially with stolen—or re-stolen? Double-stolen?—equipment in that backpack of hers.
He scoped out the fire escape as he drew closer to the building. Not a creature was stirring. Then his eye was caught by a light glinting off a lens on the roof. That had to be her. Rick swung up onto the fire escape and climbed to the roof. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but you can only be so quiet climbing up a metal ladder. When he reached the top he saw Gina peering over the edge with the night scope binoculars. He sneaked up behind her. She wasn’t a very good spy, considering he was able to get all the way up to her and she still didn’t notice him.
He slapped his hand over her mouth, wrapped her in a bear hug, and swung her around away from the roof’s edge. She kicked him in the shin, and he grunted in pain.
“It’s me,” he said in her ear. “Officer Boyd. Relax, would you?”
She stopped squirming, and Rick relaxed his hold a bit. Big mistake. Before he realized what she was doing, she hauled back and elbowed him right in the gut. He let go of her with a grunt.
“What the hell?” he said, holding his stomach.
“What the hell to you?” she said, rounding on him with a fury that was magnificent to behold. “I’m minding my own business and you feel it necessary to scare the shit out of me? I thought you were some murderer getting ready to haul me off!”
“Well, I might have been! What are you doing up here? No, never mind. I know exactly what you’re doing up here.”
He snatched the binoculars from around her neck and held them up. “This is theft, Miss Silvano. From a cop. What the hell were you thinking?”