10 Years Later
“His girl? Hoo-wee!” John exclaimed. “You had your chance, Los Angeles, but you blew it. I think Cammie’s off the market! This is gonna be fun to watch!” He shot an excited glance at me, then pressed a button to start the next set of songs.
Confessions
Dalton
“I can’t believe you called that damn radio station. Are you crazy?” Tucker scowled at me, but his eyes were dancing a little despite his irritation.
“Why do you even care?” I shot back. “I couldn’t sit there and listen to them talk to her like I wasn’t going to ever call her. Like I’d blown her off or something. You know they were planting that shit in her head.”
I defended my actions, as well as my inactions when it came to getting in touch with her yesterday. After leaving the reunion and working into the early hours of the morning, I’d spent Sunday in a sleep coma, only waking up once to take a piss and get a glass of water.
“Don’t call there again,” my partner said sternly. “We need to keep a low profile because of this case, okay? Don’t get all head stupid because your heart’s all mushy.”
Tucker was right, though. I needed to keep a clear head and do whatever was needed to protect our cover. Anything that even remotely hinted at what we were doing could torpedo our whole West Coast operation. We’d have to kiss Los Angeles and this case good-bye.
“You’re right, man.”
“I hope you hit star sixty-seven before you called there.”
I nodded. Dialing that code before I called a phone number meant that my number was blocked from any caller ID systems, and at this point in my career, it had become habit.
“Good. The last thing we need is some DJ calling you up every morning for the sake of their stupid show,” he pointed out as he sipped at his coffee. “And while we’re at it, make sure you tell your girl not to say your name on the radio. Could you imagine? That’s the last thing we need.”
I nodded again, making a mental note to talk to Cammie about her job and mine later. “I know, I know, okay. I wasn’t thinking. I’ll talk to her tonight and lay down some ground rules.”
“Dalton say no talky about me to radio people or girl get it.” Tucker pounded his chest like Tarzan and grunted.
“You act like I’m going to boss her around instead of have a conversation like two grown adults.”
“You’re the caveman, not me.”
• • •
Once I finished e-mailing out my photos and notes from today’s surveillance to the rest of the squad on both coasts, I typed out a text message to Cammie.
Dalton: So, about tonight.
Cammie: I’m listening.
Dalton: I was thinking about Graziano’s on Fourth.
Cammie: Do you think we could not do the whole restaurant thing for our first date?
Dalton: Okay . . . What were you thinking then?
Cammie: My place. If that’s okay with you.
Her place? I definitely didn’t mind her place or the idea of being alone with her, but I wanted to do this right and treat her like she deserved. My phone vibrated as another message from her came through.
Cammie: It’s just that we have a lot of catching up to do, and I’d rather be alone and not worry about people listening in. Is that dumb?
Dalton: Nothing you want is dumb. I’ll only agree to this on one condition.
Cammie: I’m all ears.
Dalton: That you let me bring the food and the wine. Do you like Thai?
Cammie: I love it.