“I should restock too. Rian used up our supply last week. Coffee first.” The icy air smacked her in the face and helped revive her long enough to stumble to the coffee bar tucked into the far corner of the store.
“Hey Jo, Sullivan.” Ned greeted as they passed by the counter. The elderly man and his wife had owned the shop longer than Jo had been a cop.
“Hey, Ned. Surprised to see you here. Thought you and your wife had turned this place over to a manager.”
“Yeah, had to fire him last week for skimming.” White hair that looked like cotton candy wafted about as he shook his head. “It’s a shame you can’t trust anybody these days.”
“Might have a cousin or a friend that could help you out, Ned. I’ll give my mom a call later,” Jo said as she stopped in front of the counter.
“Really? I’d sure appreciate that. Running this place puts food on the table, but I’m ready to enjoy retirement. I want to pass this place on but not to a swindler who’s just gonna take it.”
Tapping the Formica covered counter, Jo tipped her chin. “Let me make a few calls after I get some sleep.”
He waved her away, and she wandered back to the cat food, picked up the usual bag for her cat Schizo, and headed towards the pharmacy section when she heard the bell attached to the door ding.
Nudging Sullivan, she pointed to the cherry cough syrup and drops that Arabelle preferred, when a gruff voice yelled, “Give me all the money!”
Sullivan sighed and put his selection in his basket and set the basket on the floor before pulling his Glock. Following suit, Jo set her stuff down as well and drew her gun.
“Peek-a-boo?” Sullivan asked, crouching next to the shelves.
“Fine,” she ground out between clenched teeth. Dangit. All she wanted was to meet Rhys after his shift at the ER, make love to her man, and sleep in his arms. Now this asshat had messed up her carefully laid plans.
Turning, she made her way to the end of the aisle and headed toward the opposite end of the store. After grabbing a soda from the refrigerated section, she tucked her gun against her leg and worked to paste on an innocent expression. “Ned, you’re out of—”
The barrel of a gun pointed in her direction, and she forced herself to gasp instead of snarl.
“Down on the ground!” The man in the ski mask shouted. Hands shaking, eyes bouncing around the building. In that second, she knew he was on something.
Dropping to the ground, she grinned up at the robber. “Ever heard of peek-a-boo?”
“Ned! Down now!” Sullivan shouted from the other side, pulling the robber’s attention.
The gunman panicked and shot while turning towards her partner. She could not remember if Sullivan still had on his vest. With the man focused wholly on her partner, she left the soda on the ground and ran the small distance between her and the asshat. Before he could swing his weapon back around, she used the butt of her gun and smashed in the side of his face. She followed it up with a hard kick to his wrist, then a knee to his nose as he fell.
“You broke my nose.”
Jo growled, “I give about as much of a shit over your nose as you did when you broke the law.”
“You gotta add a quarter to the curse jar, Jo,” Sullivan said dusting his pants off as he joined her where she grasped the subject’s wrists.
“Sullivan, I’m gonna punch you. Quit yammering and cuff him.”
“Where’re your cuffs?”
“On the pimp from earlier. I forgot to get them back.”
“Amateur,” he teased, bending over and cuffing the guy.
It was a rookie mistake. But Jo narrowed her eyes at partner. “I will hurt you.”
“Puh-lease, my daughter would cry,” he retorted yanking the guy off the floor. “Crap, we’ve gotta take him to the ER.”
Seeing the blood soaking the mask, Jo sighed. “We’re going there anyway so we can call in a fresh set of rookies on the way to meet us. Get him in the car and I’ll pay for our stuff. Ned, we’ll need you to come in later and give your statement.”
The older man grinned. “Okay. And whatever you need is on the house tonight.”
“I appreciate that Ned, but we’re not allowed otherwise Sullivan will have to arrest me and I’m just not in the mood. Not to mention we’re fresh out of handcuffs.”
Ned chuckled and went to get their baskets while Jo leaned heavily on the counter. It was then she noticed the small drips of blood and cursed. The thump of a body hitting the floor made her rush toward the pharmacy aisle while calling the paramedics on her cell.
Chapter 2
Rhysian ‘Rhys’ Harrison joined the other residents in the meeting before he began his rotation. Just a few more months of this and he’d move from the ER residency to a residency with the practice he anticipated joining. He wanted to specialize in pediatrics. So while his friends had become other types of doctors, one an OBGYN and the other a GP, Rhys would round their group out with pediatrics. It had been the plan as soon as he had met William and David in college. However, after the wreck that took his parents, Rhys had become responsible for his brother Rian, and he had put aside his dream.
Then he’d met the force that was Josephine Rayburn, and she’d changed his life. Both of their lives. Her family stepped in to help with Rian and Jo encouraged Rhys to finish his dream of becoming a doctor. Now his ER residency was drawing to a close, and then he could finally have a normal schedule again.
Hours later, he checked the clock hanging above the door and bit back a sigh of relief. Almost time for Jo to get here and they
