Page 50 of Love at First Rep

“Yes, sir.”

Rafe’s cock twitched whenever Garrett called him sir. They’d have to explore that at some point.

“Would you rather have Chinese or Italian for dinner tonight? I was thinking we could order in and have a movie marathon.”

Garrett remained serious as he answered. “Chinese sounds good. I could go for some pork lo mein.”

Rafe nodded. “Noted. I have everything I need, so you’re free to go. Thank you for your honesty in this investigation, Detective Pearson.”

“Anytime. Good luck with the rest of your interviews.”

A solid pressure pushed against his foot, and he smiled softly as Garrett touched him the only way he could while Rafe worked undercover. His heart melted at the twinkle in Garrett’s eyes when he stood and left the room.

Rafe would do anything to make him his.

He breezed through the rest of the interviews until only one name remained, Captain Graham McHugh.

When Rafe called him into the conference room, McHugh’s boisterous voice carried across the room.

“Woo! Finally, it’s my turn. Prepare yourself to be blown away, Officer Perez.”

Rafe stepped aside to allow McHugh enough room to walk in, closing the door behind him.

Once they sat across from each other, Rafe studied his notes before addressing the man.

“Captain McHugh, what’s your analysis of the situation?”

An affable grin remained on the captain’s face, but his voice sounded serious and cold, revealing a bit of the real McHugh.

“We’re closing in. We know they’re smuggling the drugs by packaging them as vitamins, but we haven’t figured out who’s running them from the ports or who’s organizing the shipments to the prisons, though we have stopped multiple deliveries once they’ve arrived on site. Pearson is starting to get suspicious. What’s your take on him, Hernandez?”

Rafe’s face remained stoic even though his stomach churned.

“If you guys ruin this for me, I’ll never forgive you,” Rafe said. “You know how I feel about him.”

“If Garrett is the guy you say he is, he’ll understand. You forget, I see him at work every single day, and I know his moral code is solid. He’s called me on my shit multiple times since I got here three months ago. He’ll understand why we had to do this. Can you stay the course or is this going to be a problem, Rafe?”

Rafe’s teeth clenched, the tic of his jaw likely giving away his frustration.

“I can stay the course, Graham. I know what’s at risk.”

17

GARRETT DRUMMED HIS FINGERS as he kept a close eye on Rafe while he interviewed Captain McHugh. He also paid close attention to McHugh when Rafe entered the precinct.

Nothing in McHugh’s demeanor or facial expressions made Garrett think he knew Rafe’s true identity or that he wasn’t Officer Ramón Perez from Internal Affairs but instead Rafe Hernandez, a person whom McHugh had a file on for some reason

Ever since Riley opened Rafe’s file that morning, Garrett’s mind had been swirling with the possible explanations.

When Rafe first showed up in Cherrywood, he said he blew his cover with a terrorist group, Zlodei. It resulted in a contract on Rafe’s head. What if McHugh was the mole, and he’d been hunting Rafe this whole time? Why else would his file be on McHugh’s computer? Garrett wracked his brain for an explanation, but he couldn’t figure out—

Oh fuck.

Garrett’s heart sank as he realized what he’d done. If McHugh was the guy they were hunting and he was searching for Rafe, Garrett just delivered him on a silver platter right to McHugh’s office.

His mind spun with ways he could get Rafe out of there before McHugh could make a move on him. As much as he hated it, the detective in him considered it a smart play. If McHugh was the mole and he was in fact after Rafe, then it would be easy to figure it out after this. Surely, McHugh either wouldn’t let Rafe walk out of here, or he’d be right behind him when he did.

Garrett ran a hand through his hair and focused again on McHugh and Rafe through the conference room windows. McHugh gestured wildly and laughed about something as he likely told some silly story to Rafe. Who was Garrett kidding? No way the guy who was responsible for bringing a pony to the office to celebrate Valentine’s Day could possibly be behind all of this.