Officer on Duty (Lock and Key Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

remaining locks of her hair between his fingers and held it next to one of the shortest, comparing.
    His sense of dread eased a little with the first snip . When the curl bounced back into place and looked similar in length to the one he’d been trying to match, it was encouraging.
    Ten tense minutes later, the pile of hair on the floor had almost doubled in size.
    “Well, what do you think?” He put down the scissors. “Should I turn in my badge and open a high-end salon?”
    Paige smirked. “No. You gave me pyramid head, just like everyone else.”
    “Hey, pyramids are all about symmetry and even lines. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
    She turned to him, her expression earnest. “You did as good of a job as anyone else ever has.”
    “High praise indeed.”
    Her lips bowed in a pout. “Do you really think anyone can make my hair look good?”
    “I already think it looks good, but there’s gotta be someone out there who knows how to handle hair like yours.”
    “I doubt it.”
    He wracked his mind for some sort of encouragement, knowing full well that he was woefully ignorant when it came to hair styling. His own hair was technically naturally curly, but he wore it less than half an inch long.
    “Look at Lucia,” he said. “Her hair’s gorgeous, and it’s a lot like yours.”
    Paige was silent for a moment, then her expression brightened. “Do you really think my hair could look like hers?”
    “I don’t see why not. Maybe you could ask her where she gets it cut.”
    “Yeah, maybe.” She looked uncertain, but hopeful.
    That eased his guilt just a little, then brought it crashing back down on him in full force.
    Was this what he had to resort to: telling Paige to ask the new neighbor they barely knew for advice a mother would’ve been able to give her?
    He’d made peace with the fact that her mother was gone. Years ago. But every once in a while the lack came back to bite him in the ass when he least expected it, reminding him of what he couldn’t give his daughter.
    “Hey,” he said, brushing an especially wild curl away from her face.
    “What?”
    “I’ll look into finding a good salon for you, too. I don’t care if I have to get a detective to investigate the entire coast for me; we’ll find a place.”
    She donned a tremulous smile, and he marveled at her ability to be cheered by what he had to offer.
     
* * * * *
 
    “I swear that little kid with the glasses was the one who took it. Did you see the way he looked at me with that smartass smirk? I thought he was gonna spit on me. Jesus.” Richardson ran a hand through his nearly non-existent hair.
    Jeremy shook his head as they drove out of the neighborhood where they’d responded to a report of a stolen bicycle.
    “You let bratty nine year olds get at you and you won’t make it a year in this job.”
    “I’m just saying.” He shot Jeremy a long-suffering look. “Kids can be real jerks.”
    Jeremy almost wanted to laugh. The boy with the glasses had given them some pretty sour looks, but kids were kids. He distinctly remembered times when he’d been a real little jerk at that age. He said so to Richardson.
    “Yeah, I guess that’s true. I caught hell once for throwing one of my sister’s dolls in a creek when I was around that age. It got washed away, and by the time she was done crying to our dad, I knew I wouldn’t be sitting for the rest of the day. No idea why I did it, now that I think back.”
    “Kids do stupid stuff. You’ll figure that out fast on this job.”
    He shrugged. “Yeah, my sister and her husband have a few. They’re a little crazy, but they’re not bad.”
    “What about you?” Jeremy knew Richardson wasn’t married, but he sometimes mentioned a woman named Amanda. “You’re seeing someone, right?”
    He arched a brow. “Why, you interested?”
    He ignored the joke. “You know where your girlfriend gets her hair cut? I’m trying to find a good place for my daughter.”
    “Couldn’t tell