Page 36 of Survive the Night
“You had the early shift, too.”
Theo’s scowl was back as he abruptly changed the subject. “Shouldn’t you be getting home?”
The mention of “home” reminded Otto of what he’d originally needed to talk to Theo about. He looked around and then jerked his head toward the roll call room. Even though it didn’t look like anyone else was nearby, it was better to be safe than sorry. The cops he worked with could be brutal with their teasing, and Otto knew he’d be handing them solid-gold gossip fodder if they overheard what he was about to ask Theo. “You have a few minutes?”
“Yeah.” Theo glanced at his watch as he followed him into the room. “You only have six minutes before roll call, though, so you’d better talk fast.”
Otto closed the door behind them, and then turned back to see Theo eyeing him curiously. “Thanks. I have…well, a question.”
“Okay. Ask.” Theo half sat on the table behind him, crossing his arms over his chest. Viggy lay down next to him, his head resting on his front paws. Theo’s smirk looked a little too Hugh-ish for Otto’s liking. There was a reason he’d gone to Theo with this and not Hugh. “Well?”
Otto stared at Theo for several seconds, but the words wouldn’t come. “Never mind.”
As he started to turn away, planning to leave the room and take his potential humiliation with him, Theo grabbed his arm. “Hang on. Ask your question. You already stuck me with bottle-feeding your puppies. You can’t drop that teaser and leave. I’m curious now.”
“Fine.” Otto really did want to get someone else’s take on the situation, and he only trusted Theo and Hugh to keep their mouths shut. Since Hugh would torment him unmercifully, that meant he was stuck with Theo. Taking a deep breath, he forced out the words. “I kissed Sarah.”
Theo’s brows shot up. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he said, “That wasn’t a question.”
“Right.” Otto cleared his throat, his gaze bouncing around the room before finally settling on the whiteboard in the corner. “She’s staying at my place so that she’ll be safe from Jovanovic. What if she thinks…? How do I let her know that she doesn’t have to…?” He trailed off again with a grunt of frustration.
“You don’t want her to think that she has to put out as payment for staying with you,” Theo said baldly, and Otto winced. It sounded as bad out loud as it had in his head.
“Yes.”
“Just tell her.”
Otto shifted uncomfortably. “I tried. It doesn’t come out right.”
“You don’t want me to—”
“No!” Otto raised his hands in horror, cutting Theo off in mid-sentence. “No. I’ll do it. I’ll talk to her.” He’d figure out how to get the words out somehow, no matter how awkward it got. “I just want to know, was it wrong for me to kiss her? I mean, I don’t want to take advantage, and she’s so…” He stopped again, annoyed with how hard it was to articulate how he felt about Sarah. She was beautiful and sweet and brave. But she’d managed to escape from her controlling brother, and Otto was worried he was taking advantage of her vulnerable state. He didn’t want her to kiss him out of gratitude for saving her or for letting her stay with him. He wanted her to kiss him because she felt like she’d die if she didn’t—just like Otto had felt outside the guest bedroom yesterday.
“Otto.” Theo pushed off the table, bringing Otto out of his thoughts. “You’re not taking advantage. You’re the least-likely person to ever take advantage of anyone. Tell Sarah you like her, ask her out, and tell her she’s free to say no without any repercussions. If she does say no, then accept it and do your best to move on, so that things aren’t weird for her while she stays at your place.”
“Okay.” Otto blew out a long breath. It was painfully awkward to discuss this with Theo, but hearing it laid out like that helped clarify things in his mind. Otto had a clear plan now. He didn’t have to rehash it over and over until he wanted to smack his head against his squad car steering wheel anymore. “Thank you.”
With a brisk nod, Theo pulled out a chair at the nearest table and sat. Viggy shifted so he was lying closer to Theo’s boots, and Otto had a pleased moment that the dog was doing so well now. It reminded him that, thanks to the recent excitement, he hadn’t been to the kennel to work with his project dog lately, and he made a mental note to stop by on his way home.
“Any sign of Jovanovic?” Theo asked, stretching out his legs under the table.
“Yeah, but not around here. California State Patrol reported a possible sighting, but they lost track of his vehicle before they could confirm.” Otto had a strong urge to hunt Logan Jovanovic down and teach him a lesson. What made it worse was that he was—or had been—a cop. “It’s been a quiet night here.” Too quiet. There’d been way too much time for Otto to stew about the whole situation with Sarah.
“Welcome to winter in Monroe,” Theo said as the door opened behind Otto. He moved out of the way so that Lieutenant Blessard could enter.
“What are you still doing here, Gunnersen?” Blessard demanded.
“I’m on my way out,” Otto said, giving Theo a final nod of thanks. “Just telling Theo there weren’t many calls last night.”
“Good,” the lieutenant said, dumping a stack of folders on the desk at the front of the room. “The chief took eight officers to crisis intervention training in Colorado Springs for the week. Figured it’d be quiet now that most of the town has left for the winter.”
“Eight?” Theo repeated as Sergeant Wesley Gibson walked in and sat at the table across from Theo’s. “With Hugh still out, that just leaves…”
“The four of us.” Blessard gestured around the room, as if it were full of officers. Otto met Theo’s concerned gaze. “We’re down to bare bones here, gentlemen. Now would be the wrong time to get sick.”
“This is a bad idea,” Theo said, and Otto grunted agreement, moving to stand next to his partner. “We’re already down officers. Blanchett just tried to kidnap his sister—”
“And we arrested him,” Blessard said, cutting him off. “The FBI agents will be here in a few days to pick him up, as soon as the judge signs off on his transfer paperwork, and then we won’t even need to feed him. That situation is taken care of.”
