Unauthorized Affair (Unauthorized #1)(14)
He stayed still, considering, and then turned back to her, his face lit up with that smile she didn’t like. “Good f*cking deal.”
And with that, he turned around again and walked out the door. Jen’s mouth dropped open and she stared at the closed door with its ugly brown skin. Had she passed? Or failed? Time stretched. She didn’t move. She still had the wad of bills in her nerveless fingers. She played the confrontation over and over again in her mind, trying to decide if she’d done well, or horrible.
And then the door opened. Sgt. Foley walked back in and stood on the other side of the counter where the creep had been moments before. His face was hard, his mouth set in a grim line. Jen flushed, thinking he was about to show her out. She’d blown it.
He took the money from her hand and placed it in a white envelope. His face softened minutely and he said, “Congratulations Miss Mansko. Be here at 8 a.m. sharp tomorrow for paperwork. We start training after lunch.
Chapter 7
Jen hunched over the stove in Jerry’s kitchen, occasionally rolling her shoulders and stretching her fingers, trying to combat the soreness there. She was making Jerry lasagna with a side of twice-baked potatoes, his favorite, in order to celebrate his first day back to work since the horrible accident in which he’d almost lost his leg. That’s what she’d said when she’d called him at work and told him she was making him dinner. But in her mind, she was also celebrating her last day of training. They’d shot over 3000 rounds each today and qualified with both their undercover weapon and the shotgun. Physically she was sore, and mentally she was wiped out. But she was also content. Happy that she’d done well. That she’d qualified. And that she hadn’t done anything stupid.
The front door opened and Jerry walked in, a smile on his face. Jen ran to him. “How was it?” she cried while giving him a hug.
“It was great. We had a jumper, two heart attacks, a stab wound and some little stuff.” Jerry’s face glowed like he was talking about something nice. Puppies maybe … or flowers. Jen smiled and asked after Emma.
“Emma’s great too. It sure was nice to work with her today - you know, for things to be back to normal after so long.”
Jen nodded and got back to her food. “You have time to take a quick shower if you want. Everything will be ready in 5 minutes.”
“It smells great,” Jerry called over his shoulder, already halfway to the bathroom.
When he returned, Jen had their plates on the table. She opened a beer for him and poured some tea for her. No one said anything until their plates were half empty.
“Aren’t you starting soon? They don’t want you to change your hair?”
“Yeah, we start tomorrow, and no, Sgt. Foley said I’m not supposed to change anything. In fact, I’m supposed to kind of dress down tomorrow like I was going out with my friends or to a party or something.”
Jerry nodded. “Do you know what you will be doing yet?”
“Nope, we find out tonight. They’re going to pick us all up and take us somewhere at 8:00. We aren’t allowed back at the police station until our undercover assignment is over.”
Jerry whistled. “Wow. Do you feel ready?” Jen heard the note of concern in Jerry’s voice.
Jen considered. “Kind of. I’m a little nervous to find out what kind of undercover work it will be. And will I be any good at it?”
“What about your partners? Do you think they are ready?”
Jen considered. “Ivy? I don’t know. She’s so quiet, you know? She never says much. She’s got all these tattoos up and down her arms and even on her neck like she’s a biker chick or something, but she acts like a librarian. Ryker though? He’s ready. He was military police in the army, so he knows what he’s doing. I don’t know why Sgt. Sadler gives him such a hard time. Like he doesn’t trust him or something.”
“Sadler? Is that the guy who is a jerk to you?”
Jen nodded, thinking how surprised she’d felt when she discovered the creep who she had to ‘buy’ the marijuana from was actually one of the Sergeants in charge of the undercover unit. But he’d never stopped acting like a creep even when his badge went back on his hip. “Yeah. He acts weird with all of us. But it’s a different weird with me and Ivy than it is with Ryker. With me and Ivy I feel like he doesn’t like us too much. With Ryker I feel like he doesn’t trust him. He talks to me and Ivy with a kind of disdain in his voice. He doesn’t have that disdain for Ryker but he’s always making these weird jabs at him. Like if he says something like ‘most criminals would hesitate to shoot a cop, unless their back is against the wall,’ then he’ll follow it up with ‘but you know all about that, don’t you Wells?’ - meaning Ryker. It’s weird.”
Jerry’s face darkened. Jen already knew he didn’t like to hear about Sgt. Sadler and his attitude. “But don’t worry. Sgt. Foley takes good care of us.” Sgt. Foley. Just thinking about him brought a smile to her face. She’d since learned his first name was Hunter. If it weren’t for him Jen would be downright scared of what was coming tomorrow. But somehow Sgt. Foley made her feel like she could do it. Like she was going to be great. He’d spent a lot of extra time helping her with her shooting. She’d never shot a gun before, but both Ivy and Ryker had, so she had felt at a definite disadvantage. He’d worked with her one-on-one for a day and a half until she was shooting as well as both of them. And he’d been gentle, thoughtful, kind. Not once had he yelled at her or put her down, like she’d seen police recruits get treated in the movies a dozen times.