In Bed With the Badge Read Online Free PDF Page A

intelligence of a single-celled amoeba.
    “If Wyatt’d called in, I’d know where he was, wouldn’t I?” Sarcasm dripped from every word. “You’re on a new case as of right now, McIntyre. Find your partner and tell him to drag himself in here. This isn’t a country club.”
    If it was, she’d be handing in her membership card right about now, Riley thought. “No, sir.”
    About to turn back to his desk, the lieutenant stopped and leveled a dark look at her over his shoulder. Even across the room, it appeared lethal in nature.
    “‘No, sir?’” Barker echoed, his thin eyebrows narrowing into a vee.
    Riley immediately realized what Barker was thinking—and her mistake. She lost no time in clarifying her response.
    “No, sir, this isn’t a country club. Yes, sir, I’ll track down Detective Wyatt.”
    Barker nodded, momentarily appeased. “See that you do, McIntyre,” he ordered. “God save us from loose cannons and mavericks,” he muttered under his breath, retreating again into his glass-walled office.
    Riley’s survival instinct warred with her desire to be a good detective, no matter what department she was assigned to. Good detective won out.
    She crossed the room and knocked on the lieutenant’s door, even though it was still open. “Um, sir?”
    “What are you still doing here, McIntyre?” he demanded without looking up, some obvious sixth sense identifying her for him. “I gave you an assignment.”
    “Yes, sir, but this is about the assignment after this one.” She saw that she had him confused. “The new one for Wyatt and me.”
    “Home invasion,” he snapped out, then rattled off an address. It was in the better part of the city and not all that far from her own, she noted. “Details are similar tothe case Wyatt worked on last month. The first is still an open case. I want it closed.”
    It wasn’t a suggestion, but a direct order.
     
    The administrative assistant on their floor gave Riley her partner’s address and phone number, along with an unsolicited comment.
    Virginia McKee, the perpetually perky assistant, wrote down the information in a bold hand and offered the slip of paper to Riley.
    “Enjoy,” Virginia told her with a wink that was anything but subtle.
    Riley folded the paper, but kept it in her hand rather than tuck it into her pocket. “There’s nothing to enjoy. The lieutenant’s looking for him.”
    “You’re wrong there,” Virginia contradicted, a sly smile curving her lips.
    If she was going to survive here for a while, Riley knew she had to make allies and come across as friendly even though right now, being friendly was her last desire. This had to be her stepfather’s goal when he had transferred her here. The business of living and acclimating to a new situation put things into some kind of perspective and forced her to move forward.
    “Oh?”
    Virginia indicated the paper she’d just given her. “There’s a lot to enjoy there.”
    Spoken like a woman who’s been there, Riley thought. Apparently, Sam Wyatt was still just as much of a player as he’d ever been. She knew he’d been whenthey were in the academy together. As she recalled, if it had a pulse, the required body parts and a smile, Wyatt considered it fair game.
    It was to Wyatt’s credit that he wasn’t pushy about it, but then, a guy with Sam Wyatt’s face and build didn’t have to be. Most of the time, what he needed was the proverbial stick in order to beat back the hordes of women.
    Not her concern one way or another, Riley told herself.
    Armed with the number of Wyatt’s landline, Riley didn’t bother going back to her desk to make the call. Instead, she walked out into the hallway, stopped in an alcove next to the women’s restroom and called her missing partner on her cell phone.
    The phone on the other end of the line rang five times. The sixth ring had the answering machine picking up. Riley frowned.
    Was Wyatt playing hooky? When the beep sounded, she started