Garda - Welcome to the Realm Read Free

be over in a few hours.
    The city got dispatched to another call while I was finishing my hasty cleanup; a husky male voice answered the dispatcher. I leaned over to the computer on the desk to pull up the roster for the city. Was that his voice?
    Only one officer showed assigned to a call, Mitchell O’Reilly, the rest of the officers’ names I recognized, so that must be the one who had helped me.
    His voice came through the speaker clipped to my chest; a shiver went down my back. Nice voice, deep, husky, and sexy, I thought to myself—very sexy.
    The sound matched what I had expected to come from him. The wide shoulders, the strong arms, the way he held his body straight. If the expression on his face hadn’t been enough to give me pause as I left, his voice would have.
    What had been in his expression? Wonder? Amazement? Lust? I was used to the lustful looks I got from men. God had blessed me with beauty and I knew it, although I did not take it for granted or use it to get ahead.
    I sat back in my chair, swiveling myself left and right with my toes, my head resting on the back of the seat. I waited till I heard his voice over the airwaves again. Lowering my eyelids, I pictured his face. The wide strong forehead and cheekbones, the light color of his irises, blue, or were they green? I had been too far back to know for sure.
    The phone ringing in the station snapped me back to reality. I reached out to pick it up, letting go of the image in my mind’s eye.
    I answered the caller’s questions quickly and disconnected, moving over to the computer to complete my reports. The radio got quiet as the night progressed to early morning, most people sound asleep in their beds, which was a good thing.
    With my report finished, I carried the copy to my car, typing a message to Joe on my in-car computer. I waited, but no response came. The guys hung out on station a lot at this time of night, he was probably there. I put my car in gear and turned right to head back to the city police station.
    The township I worked for was large and densely populated. Out here, Middle America neighborhoods were popping up around the horse farms, taking over the countryside with postage-stamp, fenced-in yards and wooden swingsets. It would not be long until our population doubled.
    I wound down my country roads until I came to abandoned industrial buildings. It was amazing that such dilapidation could be less than a mile away from the beauty of my township. I drove past them, my attention straight ahead, not wishing to depress myself tonight with the poverty.
    I pulled up to the station moments later. All the patrol cars were backed in. The visitor spot was open. I turned my car off and tucked my key into my belt.
    The girl at reception buzzed me back to the squad room with a smile. I stepped around the corner to say hello, asking about her family. Our conversation finished, I turned to step out of the room. A foot came into view just as I was setting my foot forward. I halted, rolling up on my toes to keep from stepping forward again.
    The incredible light blue color glimmering behind soft brown lashes was the first thing I noticed as he turned in my direction, stopping six inches in front of me as if he had hit a glass wall. Had I not stopped, we would have collided. Surprise crossed his features, a smile lifting over his full lips, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
    Oh, those eyes! They were like the summer sky: bright, warm, and welcoming. I wanted to crawl into them and revel in the beauty. My gaze stole to his lips, full and soft. Did I just lick my lips? Heat rushed into my cheeks. My heart slammed against my chest while I rolled back off my toes to stand flat, separating us by a few more inches.
    “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you coming,” I mumbled.
    “No, it’s my fault,” he peeked at my mouth as he spoke. My heart beat erratically.
    Movement to my right caused me to glance away from his handsome face. I stepped back and smiled up