“I…” Pember’s mouth tipped up into a playful smirk. “Look, if I want to check on my neighbour without wearing a coat, then I will. Besides, it’s notthatcold.”
One of Blake’s dark brows pulled into an arch. “If you wish to continuecheckingon me, then you’ll put a coat on.”
Pember huffed and stalked towards the house. He pulled his black jacket around his shoulders and reappeared on the patio moments later. “Happy? O-oh—” Blake was gone.Okay then.
He was about to go back inside when Blake’s door clicked open. Pember frowned, shoving the phone into his pocket and tipping up a plant pot. He hopped onto it, giving himself the extra height needed to see over the fence. Blake’s head and shoulders appeared over the wooden slats a moment later, and suddenly they found themselves looking at one another over Val’s garden, faces illuminated by Pember’s kitchen light.
Pember rested his coffee cup on the fence post. “How did the briefing go?”
Blake ran a hand through his hair, leaving finger marks in its damp waves. He was still breathing heavily from his run.
“Fine. The boss is getting twitchy about Chichi’s findings. He wants to know more about this pregnant omega, and whether the victim voluntarily took whatever was in his system.”
“Pregnant omega?” Pember said, titling his head.
Blake nodded. “We’ve got some grainy CCTV footage from the Nock and Ore Pub. It shows him talking to a pregnant male earlier in the evening. We want to speak to him as a witness.”
“Oh damn, so there’s a child involved?”
Blake inclined his head. “Potentially. We don’t know for certain that it’s his. None of his family knew anything about a partner—they thought he’d been single for quite some time. But that’s not to say he hadn’t kept them a secret. Especially if they weren’t part of the Roma pack.”
Pember hummed and took another swig of coffee. “I’m going to go in early to check on his blood work. Unfortunately, Maya said there wasn’t much blood actually left in his body.” Pember shuddered, picturing the alpha’s shredded heart laid out in the examination tray. “So Wallace sent off the liver and vitreous humour samples for testing. We can’t do them in-house.”
Blake ran his tongue over his teeth. “Vitreous what?”
Pember chuckled. “Eye jelly.”
The alpha’s nose wrinkled.
“But what about you?” Pember continued. “How’s your—” He tapped his chest, feeling himself turning red again.
Blake smirked and licked his bottom lip. “All good, but I had no idea working with you would be an occupational hazard.”
Pember took another sip of coffee to try and hide how the blush lit up his cheeks.
“Anyway,” Blake continued. “What time are you going in?”
Pember shrugged. “Soon. The blood results should be ready in a couple of hours.”
“Want a lift?”
“Oh, well… only if you don’t mind. But shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
“Shouldn’t you?”
A small grin tugged at the corner of Pember’s mouth. “Touché.”
“Tut tut, Sergeant. That’s how rumours start,” Samantha drawled, leaning back in her swivel chair and propping her feet on the rusty heater. She smirked, her sharp mouth pushing up her cheeks to create crow’s feet around her eyes. Pember stared at the floor as he followed Blake through the empty waiting room.
“And that’s how you ended up on desk duty, PC Evans,” Blake replied, tapping his badge to the electronic keypad. “Too much gossiping. Not enough policing.”
The other alpha shrugged and popped a piece of gum into her mouth. “I’d rather sort out neighbour disputes anyway. Less paperwork. And besides, it’s amazing what you find out by working front counter.”
Blake’s jaw tensed as he held the door, fingertips brushing across Pember’s lower back when he stepped through. “Yes, I’m sure calculating who owns what patch of lawn makes for riveting work.”
Samantha shrugged again, her red lips peeling back over her fangs. “You should try it. Early start, early finish. Plenty of time with the wife. Oh wait, I forgot you’re only married to the job these days.”
Samantha’s tone sounded playful, but it was edged with malice. The comment made Pember’s skin go cold. “H-hey,” he said, sidestepping Blake and knocking Samantha’s feet off the rusty metal heater. “I’m taking this. Lab’s freezing again.”
