Jade blinked. Of course he did.
"As I was saying," The supervisor pressed on with a very pointed glance at Jade. "We're pleased to welcome Zac Flynn to the department. He's an expert in mafia behavior and he's agreed to come on with us to help build our case against Paulo Scaglietti."
"Hey." Zac raised a hand and offered them all a dazzlingly white smile.
Jade crossed her legs, all too aware of the heat rushing to her cheeks. She still couldn't believe it. After all this time. Here he was. Right here. Ready to help with a case she was working on.
Need a tissue for your drool?
She glanced at Derrick's note and rolled her eyes.
Oh please. He's a coworker.
Derrick eyed her and gave a little shake of his head, but she ignored him. She was going to focus on Zac. Zac Flynn. Their new coworker and her high school crush.
Dreams really d
id come true.
* * *
"Thank you, Detective Flynn. You can take a seat. Unfortunately, we're getting you started on the Scaglietti case even sooner than we'd anticipated. Last night, we apprehended a suspect whom we believe to be connected to Scaglietti. He was discovered not long after a robbery in a nearby restaurant. Flynn, while you're debriefing yourself on the case, I'll need Detective..." The old man scanned the table, pausing briefly on Derrick and Jade before moving along and saying, "Fitzsimmons to interview the perp. Archer, Lockhart—you two can interview the witnesses."
Derrick gritted his teeth. It was obvious by the other man's tone that this was bound to be some kind of punishment. Odds were that the witnesses were Looney Tunes themselves or otherwise impossible to work with. Whatever the case, he could be sure that his work would be cut out for him.
He grabbed his pen, about to write as much to Jade, when the new guy cleared his throat and started to speak.
"Excuse me, sir, but if we have this person apprehended, I should be able to review the file in time for an interview this afternoon. We don't need to bother Detective Fitzsimmons—"
Fitzsimmons, a balding red headed man, shot Flynn a nasty look that everyone at the table was apparently deciding to ignore, including the supervisor. The old man shook his head and said, "No, no. We've been working this case for months. We need you to study up, not rush it. With any luck, you'll have plenty more chances." He let out a rusty laugh and everyone offered their fakest half smiles in return.
Not Derrick, though. He was focused on Flynn. There was something about the guy that he couldn't place. Or maybe it was just that he'd never learned to trust a man who intentionally used hair gel. Before Jade came in, the supervisor had been praising all Flynn's military training and awards. Apparently he'd been a Navy man.
It figured, too. A guy like that would be in the Navy instead of the Army.
Oh well, just so long as he didn't intend on swapping war stories, Derrick could manage.
He flicked another sidelong glance at Jade. She was staring at Flynn, her blue eyes glazed over with something that looked dopey and strange on her square, serious face.
You know this guy or something?
He scrawled the message while the supervisor moved on to overviewing what each detective would be working on that day.
Him?
That was it? All she had to write?
No, the other new guy
She rolled her eyes.
We went to high school together.
High school. He always forgot Jade was from Hawaii. He always assumed that everyone around was an implant like him, using their military experience to get a leg up in their detective training. But no, she'd gone and done things the old fashioned way.
So this guy was from Hawaii, too?
Interesting.