The After-Hours War (#10) - paperback

Chapter 1

The cell phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand. Shane McAfee awoke, rolled away from the woman he was entwined with, and fumbled for it. He remembered he wasn’t in his own bed when he knocked over a framed photograph. It clattered to its face.

The phone rattled once more on the nightstand before Shane picked it up.

Next to him, Emily Harris moaned, “Turn it off.”

Unfortunately for Shane, there was no ignoring this call.

“McAfee,” he said. He sounded like a bullfrog.

“Shane?” a woman responded.

He cleared his throat.

“It’s Laura.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Are you awake?”

“No.” His eyes remained closed.

“Well, get up. You’ve got a messy one.”

“How bad?”

Emily groaned her displeasure and thrust her naked butt against Shane’s hip. He set his hand upon her leg.

“It’s a freakin’ massacre—five bodies.”

McAfee blinked into the darkness. He sat upright and flipped the cover away. “What happened?”

“Someone walked into a garage and shot up the place.”

“A garage?” McAfee pulled the phone from his ear to check the time. His eyes couldn’t focus, and he rubbed a knuckle into the right socket.

Emily grabbed the bedspread and tugged it back to its proper place. “Go in the other room,” she muttered. “I’ve got class later.”

“Is that her?” Laura asked. She sounded almost giddy. “Must be serious if you’re spending the night. Or are you guys living together now?”

McAfee slid out of bed. He didn’t bother dressing before padding out of the room.

Laura continued. “I hear she’s pretty. All the guys have said it. You know, if you were on Facebook, I wouldn’t have to wonder about these things.”

He waited for her to comment on Emily’s age, but Laura said, “She probably got her looks from her mother. My husband and I met her once. The mother, I mean. At a department event. We liked her. Super nice and real pretty. The father, not so much.”

McAfee entered the kitchen and flicked on the light. “It’s what—” He pulled the phone from his ear to recheck the time. He blinked a couple of times which brought everything into focus. “—barely after four. When did this thing go down?”

Laura clicked loudly on her keyboard. “Units arrived on-scene twenty minutes ago. Better get a move on, Shane.”

God, she seemed in good spirits.

He found an erasable pen and prepared to write on the refrigerator’s white board. “Where did it happen?”

She told him, and Shane jotted it down. His penmanship at that angle was atrocious. The address was on Willow Road in the city of Millwood—not too far from where he was in Liberty Lake. Maybe fifteen minutes at average speeds, but he had to stop at his home first to grab a change of clothes.

“Any suspects?” McAfee asked.

“None.”

“Witnesses?”

“None.”

“Survivors?”

“Everyone in that garage is dead. Like I said, Shane—”

He remembered her words. “A freakin’ massacre.”

“That’s right.”

He held a hand to his forehead. Laura was too chipper for this early in the morning. Dispatchers had the worst sense of timing.

Shane asked, “Why were people in a garage at four in the morning?”

“How would I know? You’re the detective.”

“Am I walking into a meth lab?”

“No, you’re not. That much I can tell you. From what it sounds like, they were just hanging out.”

“Anyone else on this one?”

“Chambers. He’s already been notified, and you know how he is.”

“Yeah, I know how he is.” He stared at the address written on the whiteboard and did the math. Five dead. Two investigators. It was going to be a long day. “All right. I’m on my way.”

“And Shane?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go back to bed.” Laura giggled.

Before he could comment, the call ended.

***

A lamp clicked on as McAfee was bent over, hunting for his second shoe. He’d already slipped on his shirt and pants. He straightened and eyed Emily.

She sat upright and leaned back against the headboard. Emily’s blond hair was disheveled, and the bedspread was tucked around her. She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. “You’re leaving?” Her words sounded dreamy, as if she could easily tumble back into sleep.

“There was an incident.”

“What kind?”

“A shooting.”

Her hands dropped into her lap, and she frowned. “Was a deputy involved?”

“No.” McAfee returned to hunting for his shoe. “No deputy. Go back to bed.”

“Why couldn’t they call someone else?”

“They did.”

“And you still have to go?”

He nodded. “It’s my job, and this is a bad one.” He showed her the single shoe. “Do you know where the other one is?”

She waved a hand. “Try the bathroom.”

“The bathroom,” he said. “Why didn’t I think of that?” He walked into the other room.

The shoe was there—upside-down and in the corner. He had no recollection of kicking it or tossing it there while in the throes of passion. Maybe Emily had.

“You think they’d give you a break tonight,” she said from the other room.

“It’s the morning.”

McAfee grabbed the shoe and returned to the bedroom.

“But it was our night.” She wiggled the engagement ring on her left hand as she studied it.

“They didn’t know.”

“Maybe you should have taken it off.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been called out.”

“I know.” Her lower lip jutted out slightly. Emily didn’t pout often, and she only did it to get her way. McAfee found it oddly charming. No other girlfriend had done such a thing.

“And if I had taken the day off,” he said, “I would have spent my morning alone because you’ve got class in a few hours.”

“Just the one.” Emily folded her hands together and smiled hopefully. “We would have spent the day together after that.”

McAfee dropped the shoes to the floor and slipped his feet in. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How?”

“What do you want?”

Emily’s face brightened. Her smile was one of his favorite things about her. He couldn’t help but return the pleasantry.

“We stay here again,” she said. “Tonight.”

McAfee’s smile began to melt. He disliked staying at her apartment. He liked when they stayed at his place. “Fine,” he said and forced his smile to return.

“And we drive through some new areas to look at houses.”

McAfee knelt to tie his shoes and let his smile totally fall away. “What if nothing is for sale?”

“I don’t care. I want to look at different neighborhoods to see if there are places we’d like to live.”

He wanted her to move into his house, but she didn’t like his neighborhood. Getting called out this morning was going to cost McAfee far more than lost sleep. “Fine,” he muttered again. He stood and forced another smile.

Emily threw the covers back and slipped from the bed. She stood unabashedly naked before him. “I know you’re only doing it for me, so I’ll make it up to you.” She kissed him and reached for his belt.

He broke the embrace. “I can’t.”

“Please.”

McAfee patted her hip. “Go back to bed.”

“Come with.”

“I’ve got to go.”

She thrust her lower lip out. “You’re no fun.”

“That’s what I’ve heard.”

Emily spun and hopped onto the bed. He lingered a moment to admire her. When she reached over and clicked off the lamp, it was time to go.