Page 21 of Valentine's Day Treasure

“You know you could just kick everybody out and lock the door,” he said.

Trevor shook his head. “I already tried but Ella wouldn’t go along with it. She insisted everyone was fed and warm.”

Crew meant to protest, but Trevor clapped him on the shoulder again. “Good wolf,” he said, and then he went back into the kitchen, shoved Mac away from the fridge, shut the fridge door, then took up guard in front of it, arms crossed.

Crew shook his head, then went out the back door and headed for Beckett’s place, ignoring the snow collecting on his uniform and boots.

At Beckett’s front door, he found a note.

WE’RE FUCKING SLEEPING. Leave us alone.

Crew tore it down and crumpled it up. “Not anymore you’re not,” he muttered, as he pounded on the door. “Beckett! Wake up!”

Crew knocked until Beckett, bleary-eyed, bare-chested, and pissed, ripped the door open. He had his camouflage cap on his head and he glared at Crew from under the brim.

“The hell do you want?”

“Assignment from Trevor,” Crew said, pushing past him and flopping down on the couch. “Get your fucking clothes on, we gotta get going—Hi, Cerise.”

Cerise, dressed in gray leggings and an oversized SPD sweatshirt, entered the room.

“Hi,” she said, not looking at him, which was her way. She only had eyes for Beckett.

She went into the kitchen and Beckett disappeared into the bedroom. In a few minutes he was back, dressed in the dark blue KSRT uniform with black combat boots and his cap on his head.

“What’s the assignment?” he asked, tucking his shirt into his pants.

“Find some shit to do so Ella can have a good Valentine’s Day.”

Beckett froze. “What? Why us?”

Crew threw his hands up. “That’s what I said, but I swear that’s the assignment. Serenity is shut down, the roads are closed, our overnight is canceled, and we gotta come up with something fun to do.”

Beckett finished setting his uniform right, then pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. “I ain’t got phone service or internet, do you?”

Crew shook his head.

“So who canceled the overnight?”

“I don’t know. Trevor said it was cancelled.”

“He’s full of shit. I say we head over there and see if the place’s still open. It’s a hotel. They have to stay open if they’ve got guests.”

“Roads’re closed.”

“It ain’t far as the crow flies. We could go by snowmobile.”

Crew considered. It wasn’t a half-bad idea. “You got a snowmobile?”

“Matter a’ fact, I gottwosnowmobiles, and they’re in the shed behind Trevor’s garage. They just need a quick tune-up and then we’re set.”

Cerise popped her head out of the dark kitchen. “Snowmobile?” she said.

Beckett turned to her and put out his arm. She floated into it. “Yeah, you wanna drive it?”

She beamed at him. “You know I do.”

He kissed her on her nose. “You wanna help me tune it up?”

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