WayHaught Kidnapped/Missing AU Sneak Peek #4
To say that see her co-worker/human partner in Purgatory was a surprise, would be an understatement. Nicole honestly didn’t have a clue as to why Dolls showed up. She was on a solo mission, requested by the sheriff, and even Nedley stated he only wanted one person versus multiple people as it would have caused questions to rise from the Del Rey brothers. Seeing her male, stick-in-his-ass, partner made the redhead nerves a little unsettled.
“Agent Haught.” He walked passed her and entered the room. Quickly coming to a halt when he heard a growl. Dolls clenched his jaw and gritted out. “Agent K-9. Get a handle on your bitc- mutt.” He corrected as soon as the dog barked once and took a couple of steps towards him.
“I’d reframe from calling my partner a bitch, considering the last time you did, you ended up with stitches in your ass and the entire force of Black Badge Division was laughing at you... including Lucado.”
“Dog should have been removed from the force... or euthanized.”
“Is there an actual reason why you’re here, Xavier?” Nicole all but growled herself, then smirked when Dolls flinched and took a couple steps back when Xena barked again.
“There’s word that the Del Rey brothers are planning another drop off at the border. Lucado wants all hands on deck when Mars goes to meet his brother.”
“Again, that doesn’t explain your being here now,” Nicole said dryly.
“I was assigned to come here, and I would have joined you when you first left, but I had other matters to attend too. I’m aware the sheriff of this town wants our positions to be on the down-low, which I agree. You’re going to need all the help you can get. Lucado’s orders, not mine.”
One of the things that Nicole always liked about her partner was that he was direct and got to the point. She was used to having a partner, back when she was on the police force. When she joined BBD, the redhead didn’t know what to expect, and if she were honest with herself, she would have preferred working solo. But life had a way of throwing curveballs at you and being partnered with an asshole wasn’t all bad after being saved a couple of times by said person.
“Well, since you’re here, and this is technically my case, I’ll be running point guard, and you do as I say.” Nicole noticed that Dolls was about to protest but cut him off before he could. “Grab your gear, Dolls, we have places to go. Xena, car.” She opened the door and watched her German Shepherd bolt out of the room and straight for 2006 Dodge Charger. Nicole couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of her partners arguing over who was riding shotgun; she already knew the answer, and it only made her laugh harder.
***
Nicole drove down the beaten path that led to a ranch home that was twenty minutes outside of town. The house looked rustic, old, and somehow abandoned. If it weren’t for an old blue and white pick-up truck parked off to the side, the detective would have thought it was indeed, abandoned. She looked over at her passenger seat and grinned. Xena looked happy with her head partially out the window. When she took a quick glance in her rearview mirror, Nicole snorted at the glare Dolls was giving her dog for taking the front seat.