High Risk by G.K. Parks (books for 10th graders TXT) 📕

a folder and out of sight. “I just don’t want to start tomorrow the same way I started these last two days.”

“Me neither.”

Twenty-three

Instead of going home, I headed to my parents’ house. When I opened the door, I found Emma on all fours, bumping her nose against Gunnie’s side. The dog looked up at me, his mouth dropping open in what appeared to be a big smile before he skittered across the floor. His back paws slid against the wood in all directions while he tried to gain enough traction to race toward me.

“Oh sure, you walk in and he immediately wants to play, but for me, he just sits there chewing on his toy and eyeing me like I might steal it.”

“See, he already has you pegged.” I knelt down, and the puppy jumped up, putting his paws on my chest while he tried to lap at my face. I held my head back and fluffed his ears until he calmed down enough so I could kiss him on the top of his head.

“You aren’t supposed to let him do that. Vince said he needs to learn to stay down. When he’s eighty pounds, he’ll knock you right over.”

“Dad might have said that, but he’s not here right now. I am. And I needed puppy hugs and kisses.” I cuddled the dog and pulled his head into my lap.

“Are you okay, Liv?”

I stroked the white spot on the pup’s nose. “I’m fine.”

“Bullshit.”

I covered the dog’s ears. “Em, watch your language. He’s just a baby.” She rolled her eyes at my ridiculousness. “So how was the rest of the game?”

“It got called on account of crimes, fires, and the apocalypse, apparently. Where did you and Brad run off to?”

“Where do you think?”

She got off the floor and brushed dog fur from her pants. “You want a drink? I found a bottle of tequila your mom had hidden in the back of the freezer from her last margarita night with the ladies.”

“I’m not in the mood, but whatever you do, don’t tell Dad.”

“What about dinner? Did you eat?” She watched as Gunnie rolled over for a tummy rub. “Did Bradley feed you?”

“Yes, and for the record, he hates it when you call him that.”

“That’s why I do it.” With a grin on her face, she went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “What did you eat? I can’t decide if I want to defrost one of the dinner’s your mom left for us or just make something quick.”

“An omelet and pancakes. Well, the toppings from my pancakes. Brad ate most of the pancakes.”

“That doesn’t sound like dinner.” She searched the freezer and pulled out a container. “How about joining me for a bowl of stew?”

“Fine.” I gave the dog a final pat and stood up. He looked disappointed until he heard the sound of the cabinet opening. His ears perked up, and he happily followed me into the kitchen and waited for a treat. I gave him one, left my gun, cuffs, and badge on the counter, washed my hands, and set the table. “Oh, the firefighter you were eye-fucking, I asked Brad about him. He was in the calendar.”

“I wasn’t eye-fucking him,” Emma said dramatically. “But you don’t want to know the things he was doing to me in my mind. He definitely earned his place as third baseman.”

“Eww, Emma.” I cringed. “You’re right. I don’t want to know about your dirty daydreams.”

“Speak for yourself.” She grinned evilly. “But yeah, I figured that out after you left. He was July, right?”

“Wasn’t it August?”

She nodded a few times. “Any idea which station he’s assigned?”

“No, but it was our precinct, so all the firefighters there had to have been from the same house. It should have been on the scoreboard or something.”

“Oh yeah.” Emma smacked herself on the forehead. “Blonde moment.”

“You’d think ER nurses wouldn’t be allowed to have those, especially when you’re not blonde.”

“Neither should cops, but you’ve had plenty yourself.” She flicked a strand of hair over my shoulder. “It’s the highlights. You were smarter when you were a full-fledged brunette.”

“Gee, thanks.” I put my forearms on the counter and stretched back. “If that’s the problem, we should dye my hair back to its natural color tonight so I can solve this case.”

“What’s it about?” Emma grabbed a bag of baby carrots from the fridge and popped one into her mouth. Gunnie looked up at her and whined, so she gave him one. He trotted into the other room, rolled it across the floor, and tossed it in the air.

“Armored truck heist, maybe. Yesterday, a dry cleaner’s was knocked over, and a security guard was killed. Then today, we found out uniforms were stolen from the dry cleaner’s and worn in today’s crime spree.”

“Didn’t I see something about that on the news?”

“Probably.”

“No wonder you look like that.” She took the glass dish out of the microwave, stirred the stew, and put it back in to finish reheating. “Shouldn’t you be out at a bar somewhere?”

“Brad has that covered.” Or so I imagined. He declined when I asked if he wanted to come over and help me housesit. “We might have found a potential lead.” I told her about the CBD oil and menthol mixed with the grease.

“If you send me the complete workup, I can have someone in the hospital pharmacy look at it. They might recognize it. Then again, do we know which parts are the muscle rub and which are industrial grease?”

“I hoped that would be obvious.”

She snorted. “Yeah, you’d think so.”

We sat down to eat, but I couldn’t get the deaths I’d seen today out of my head. There had to be more I could do to stop these bastards from striking again. “If