Tech seemed mildly ashamed. “I’m sorry. That was all Day’s idea. You know how he controls God with sex. He had us drinking the Kool-Aid for a minute.”
Free laughed. He wrapped the silicone back around the wires and sealed it in place. It was ready.
“Honestly.” Tech inched closer, elbowing him in the ribs. “Tell me. Was it good?”
Free could only imagine the dreaminess in his eyes, “It was perfect. I-I told him I loved him.”
“During?” Tech’s eyes widened behind his glasses.
“No,” Free scoffed. “Before.”
“Did he say it back?”
Free beamed. “Yes.” He wouldn’t tell Tech how he said it—that was reserved especially for him.
“I’m happy for you. Hart is the real deal.” Tech squeezed his shoulder. “I trust him too.”
“I know. It’s so crazy.” Free turned to face his friend. “We’re getting so comfortable around each other now. Talking about our lives and our pasts.”
Tech looked serious. “You told him?”
“Yes.” Free checked around them. “He responded exactly how I said. He’s a good man. And, I think…I want to stay and see what can happen between us. If I’ve got a shot at what you found.”
Tech pulled Free to his feet and jerked him into a ferocious hug. “I knew it!”
“You knew what?” Free laughed.
“Coming here would be the best thing for you.”
Free chose to look out of the door at that moment, as if he could sense Hart’s presence. He was walking through the bullpen with God, Day, Syn, their first officer, Ronowski and Hart’s lieutenant, Fox and his sergeant, Dinah. They were laughing and talking like there was no further tension between the teams.
“This looks promising, guys.” Ruxs sat up, tucking his phone away. “At least no one looks like they been chewing nails.”
Free hoped it was, okay. He still felt guilty for contributing to the delinquency of his team. God opened the door, the rest of the management officers filing in behind him. Hart’s eyes found his immediately. His wink was bold and made him blush in front of everyone.
“So?” Green asked. “What’s the word?”
God started. “The grounding stands. Hart was right.”
The guys didn’t react, letting him finish, “We’ve been making too many mistakes on the street that’s starting to get us negative attention. And it needs to stop now. Yesterday was the last straw. We can’t let innocent people get hurt because of our negligence. Not only would our department be shut down, but we’d all be out of a job. Hart and I put the grounding system in place to keep each other in check. When I grounded his team for botching two forced entries a couple years ago, he didn’t fight it. They just did what needed to be done. I expect my team to do the same.” God turned to his friend and tagged him on the shoulder, “Hart.”
Hart stepped forward. “Look. I know this is the last thing you guys wanna hear, but until we are working effectively again, all of your cases, especially the Cornelia case, are on ice.”
This time the guys did curse and grumble. Hart held his hand up. “You still got a lot of Cornelia’s key players locked up. Ronowski and Michaels will be permitted to continue their interrogations, and see if some deals can be made in exchange for names, but nothing more. No surveillance, no street canvassing. You guys are inside.”
“Until when?” Steele asked, looking as pissed and chastised as the other detectives.
“Until I say so,” Hart answered, his thick arms crossed over his chest.
Syn took over the meeting. “The rest of the week you guys will be volunteering at the public schools, assisting with the community DARE program.” If the men wanted to bitch about the public service—their obvious punishment—they didn’t do it at Syn. “We need to remember why it is we do what we do, guys. Who it is we’re fighting so hard for. And who needs the most protection. It’s the community. So, for the rest of the week…” Syn rubbed the back of his neck, checking behind him at his boss’s reaction.
God nodded.
“Oh shit. What?” Ruxs stood.
“For the rest of the week you guys are in your Class A uniforms,” Syn mumbled, looking everywhere but at his detectives. “We want you to look professional for the kids.”
“I’m sorry.” Tech stood, blinking his long lashes. “But did you say, uniforms? A? As in the thick, scratchy, polyester blue one that I never ever had to wear, not even once? With that big ass utility belt with shit no officer uses? That uniform, God?”
Free tried not to laugh. He guessed, when they were used to wearing their street clothes, going back to those things could be irritating. But, damn, they were acting as if they had to wear the DARE lion suit.
“That part was my idea. That’s the penance.” Hart smirked.
“Helluva penance,” Green griped, crossing his arms like a pissed teen. “What if I can’t find mine?”