The lights were bright inside the huge office, and he could see several of the detectives at their desks through the glass panels. God was standing with his hands in the air with a massive grin on his face. Hart threw his fist up, then gave God a sign that meant he’d be back after he handled business upstairs. Just before he turned the corner, he saw a familiar pair of dark, striking eyes watching him closely, making a shiver ran down his spine.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, he couldn’t’ve been more relieved to see his own department. His assistant was already at his desk, with his office open for him. Hart passed his rifle to Fox and headed in the opposite direction, while his sergeant and lieutenant led their team to the armory.
“Hey, Hart. Welcome home.” His assistant, Carlos, jumped up from his desk the moment he entered. “How are you? Oh goodness. You look exhausted.”
“I am.” Hart groaned, straining to remove his protective vest. “Any messages that need my attention now?”
“No. They can wait.”
“Good. I’ll be in a conference with the commander at eleven. Don’t schedule anything for me after two, please.”
“Sure thing,” Carlos answered. He came over and started unfastening clips on his uniform, removing piece by piece like he always did.
When he had most of the belongings in a huge pile on the floor in his office, Hart stood unburdened in just his utility pants and a sweaty Atlanta PD T-shirt. Carlos scooped up his equipment and left.
First thing he wanted was food. He was a big man, and he hated missing meals, but he had to get in the showers and be ready for his boss. Hart was glad to see that Carlos had retrieved his uniforms from the cleaners and straightened up his office. They’d had to go so fast, he’d left it in a shambles.
On his way to the elevators, he ran into one of the administrative officers in the accounting department. “Hi, Officer Lawrence. How are you?”
“I’m fine. And please, it’s Sasha, for the millionth time.” She grinned nicely, before her rosy lips turned to a pity-slash-pouty frown. “Oh, look at you. I bet you’ve gotten hardly any sleep.”
“None of my team has gotten much rest, honestly. But yeah, thank you.” He wasn’t quite sure what he was thanking her for. “And there’s still more work to be done before I can call it quits, so I better hit the showers before Commander Lark gets here.”
Hart shied away from the lust in her pretty eyes. Officer Lawrence, Sasha, was a lovely, and most importantly, brave woman. She’d been a beat cop until she’d been struck by a bullet ricochet in her left kneecap that had abruptly ended her field career. Yet she’d saved two lives that day. She licked her lips and smoothed back the cowlick just behind her ear. He stood awkwardly, since she was blocking his exit. He didn’t want to tell her to move, and he’d look dumb trying to squeeze past her. He was six-three, two hundred and sixty pounds. There was no way he was getting by without brushing his body along hers. From the way she was staring at him, he wasn’t sure she’d mind.
“I know you’re exhausted, but our group wants to know if you’re still doing our class this weekend, or should I send an email saying you’ll resume next week?” she asked sweetly.
Hart loved the female officers’ self-defense class he taught for the department’s women’s group. He and Fox had been the first to volunteer to assist with their organization. He believed it was important to support the women on the force and give them the tools they needed to survive on the streets. “No, absolutely not. Fox and I will be there. Rested and ready. Hope you guys have been practicing your takedowns.” Hart gave her his friendliest smile.
“You’re just amazing. I don’t know how you do it. You must be part machine.” She giggled, a brighter gleam in her hazel eyes.
He cleared his throat and checked his watch, hoping she’d get the hint. He really didn’t want to be rude.
“I better let you go. Just wanted to double-check on the class.” She raised one brow, “And, I brought you a tuna noodle casserole. As soon as I heard our SWAT captain was coming back, I knew you’d return with a hearty appetite. It’s downstairs in the fridge, I’ll bring it up this afternoon once you get settled. Casseroles are kind of my specialty.”
“That was really nice of you Officer Lawr—”
She gave him a sharp glare, and he hurried to correct himself. “Sasha.”
She smiled, lowering both arched brows.
“My crew’s gonna sure appreciate that casserole after we do the debriefing. Thank you so much.”
She looked a little embarrassed, “I made it for you.”