The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,43
“I’m headed to my office. I have about an hour’s worth of work to get done. A hundred feet won’t get you full roam of the firehouse, but it’ll get you to the meeting room next door if you want some private space.”
She folded her arms and looked up at him. “Is that your way of telling me you don’t want me in your office?”
“No. I just thought you’d be bored in there. I have some paperwork to do. It’s not going to be very exciting. Unless you find field reports and acquisition forms thrilling stuff.”
“Not really.” Being near him was exciting enough, thanks to the spell. “I have some things I can do. Birdie’s sending over the case file on the bomb. But maybe later, after your paperwork, we could have a look at the race details? Make sure nothing’s fallen through the cracks?”
“That would be great. We really should make sure we’re all set for race day. It’s only five days off. Maybe we could do that after we run by Bell, Book & Candle? We could pick up pizzas at Salvatore’s for lunch.”
“Sure. Sounds like a plan. One more thing…”
“Yes?”
“Would you be up for Howler’s this evening? I was thinking I could set up dinner with Ingvar there tonight, and you could have your usual spot at the bar. We could both be there in such a way that no one would be the wiser that anything’s going on.”
“I can do that. In fact, let me know what time, and I’ll have Bridget reserve a booth for you guys near the end of the bar where I usually sit.”
“Thank you.” He really was a good guy. She was glad they were giving each other a chance and trying out this teamwork thing. Which also meant there might be more kissing. Nope, not an appropriate thought for the middle of the fire station. Thank you, stupid magic spell.
If Ingvar could do anything to help with this, Jenna would be eternally grateful. Being friendly with Titus was great, but it was unsettling to know that something she couldn’t control was influencing her thoughts and feelings.
She’d much rather know those thoughts and feelings were hers and hers alone.
Kurt came back into the kitchen with a large envelope that had the sheriff’s department seal on it. “Deputy Blythe? This just came for you.”
“Thanks.” She took it from him, sticking it under her arm. Birdie never failed to deliver. Literally and figuratively.
“I guess that’s our cue to get to work.” Titus showed her to the conference room, which was actually one door away from his office, separated by a storage closet. It was perfect. She settled in and immediately texted the number Birdie had sent her.
Ingvar, it’s Jenna. Just heard you were in town and looking for me. Can’t wait to see you! Can you do dinner tonight?
She sat back to wait, wondering how much Ingvar had changed. What she was doing these days?
Ingvar’s response came quickly. Hey, great to hear back. Where are you now? I could come there.
Jenna glanced toward Titus’s office. As much as she wanted to see Ingvar, the firehouse didn’t seem like the right place for that. She and Ingvar were going to want to hang out and talk. Titus had work to do, too, and she didn’t want to be in the way of it.
Not to mention, she was dying to dig into this file to see if she could come up with anything new that might help them.
She texted back, Tonight is better. Just so much going on. Let’s meet for dinner in town. Place called Howler’s right on Main. Seven OK?
Sounds great. If anything changes, let me know. Can’t wait to see you!
Same here. See you tonight! Jenna smiled at the screen. That was something to look forward to.
Until then, maybe she could make some headway on the case. She opened the envelope Birdie had sent. Besides the case file, there was a legal pad and two sharpened pencils inside. Jenna grinned. Birdie was on the case.
She spread out all the scene photographs and notes to give herself an overview of everything that had been gathered. Then she read through the notes, focusing on the interview Deputy May had done with Pandora.
On a whim, she picked up her phone and called the real estate agent.
She answered before the second ring. “Pandora Williams, how can I get you home?”
“Hi, Pandora. Deputy Jenna Blythe here.”
“Hi, Jenna. Are you calling in an official capacity?”