‘It went.’

‘Fair enough.’ He fell into step behind her.

‘Morning, Ruby,’ Alyssa said to the department secretary as she passed by the front desk.

Instead of a return greeting, the older woman peered over the top of her spectacles and in her usual, disgruntled tone, said, ‘Captain Hammond needs to speak with both of you in his office. Right away.’ She gave Alyssa a knowing look, then dismissed the two of them by returning to whatever she’d been doing before they’d walked in.

Cord rapped the top of the counter with his knuckles. ‘Thanks, Ruby.’ He winked at Alyssa when the older woman grunted in what passed for only Ruby knew what.

As she navigated her way to the captain’s office, Alyssa allowed the familiar chaotic noises of a busy precinct to calm and help her get her mind back in the game where it belonged, where she liked it.

Steps away from knocking on Hammond’s door, Hal Callum, one of her favorite go-to guys on her team and one of the best researchers in all of the Albuquerque Police Department, blocked her path when he rolled up, his old-fashioned wheelchair emitting a low squeak as the wheels turned. Alyssa shook her head at the unusual frown covering Hal’s face. ‘You know they have motorized chairs now?’

His answer was a growl. ‘Don’t you start with me, too.’

Years ago, Hal had been shot in the line of duty, paralyzing him from the waist down. For a time, he’d seriously contemplated suicide, but in the end decided he had far too much to live for, namely his wife and children.

For as long as Alyssa could remember, he’d refused to consider a motorized chair, insisting the manual ones helped keep his upper body strength in good condition. Problem was, in the past month, his old chair had begun showing its age.

‘How did things go in Indiana?’

She should’ve known that was why he’d intercepted her. Biting back an irritated sigh, she gave the same response she’d given Cord. ‘It went.’ Though she knew they cared, sooner or later – preferably sooner – they’d have to realize this was a conversation she’d like to avoid. She maneuvered around the wheelchair and knocked on the captain’s door, ignoring Cord’s shrug when Hal crinkled his forehead in concern.

At his gruff command to enter, Alyssa turned the knob and walked in. Captain Guthrie Hammond was the kind of man who wore a permanent scowl and could make a large room feel tiny with his bulk. He grabbed a pink slip of paper and extended it her way, focusing his laser-like stare at her as he did. ‘How’d it go?’

Third time’s a charm. ‘It went.’ She tilted her head to the piece of paper. ‘That have anything to do with why you needed to see us this morning?’

He frowned at her dismissive response, but he handed over the paper. ‘This Angela Kazminski called to report that her roommate might be missing.’