Heat Gauge

Chapter One

When Detective Nikki Heat rolled into the bullpen of the two-oh at six thirty ack emma she was surprised to find Jameson Rook ensconced behind his adopted desk, head on his muscular forearms, snoring lightly. She paused, cocking her head in confusion. He looked dishevelled, still in his clothes from yesterday, Bruno Magli's kicked off under his swivel chair. A half-empty (but he would call it half-full just to tick her off) cup of cold coffee resting next to his right hand. He looked so peaceful that Nikki almost smiled.

Until she saw the drool puddled beneath his lips.

Rolling her eyes, Nikki crossed to her own desk and put her keys down as quietly as she could.

"Buenas dias!" yelled Ochoa as he strode into the bullpen. Nikki whirled and made frantic hushing motions towards him, then gestured to the slumbering writer. Ochoa's mouth formed a perfect 'O' when he saw Rook and he made a lip-zipping action then nodded. Raley, right behind his partner, also saw Nikki's message and both tip-toed to their desks.

Silently Nikki bent and jimmied her desk's bottom drawer open, gently sifting through the junk until her slender fingers closed around a smooth cylinder. With the air horn in hand she quietly moved over to Rook. When they saw what she was doing, Ochoa and Raley drew closer, smothering chuckles.

Slowly, Nikki lowered the plastic nozzle of the horn a foot from Rook's ear. Then she depressed the button.

Rook jumped out of his skin. His arms shot outward, sending the cup flying. Cold coffee splattered the surface of a neighbouring desk while the unfortunate cheap china cup smashed against a nearby chair. A stream of unholy oaths spewed from Rook's lips as he cradled the side of his head.

"Morning, darling!" Raley crowed while Heat and Ochoa dissolved into fits of laughter.

Rook's bloodshot eyes fixed Rales with a bleary look. "Morning, Sweet Tea," he retorted. Raley's expression of mirth mutated into an irritated scowl at the use of his hated nickname, one that Rook had inadvertently revealed to the world in his article about the two-oh (or more precisely, Nikki Heat). Rook's comeback made Ochoa laugh even harder, causing him to buckle over hugging a stitch in his side. Nikki swiped a few tears from the sides of her sea-green eyes and grinned at the pouting Rook.

"Sleeping on the job?" she asked.

"Actually," Rook yawned and stretched, then dragged his long fingers through his hair, ruffling it. "My Cassidy Towne article was due two days ago and the dragons down at First Press keep calling my home phone."

He grinned sheepishly then tapped the mouse with the tip of his thumb, killing the computer screensaver and bringing up a Word document. There was just over a page of writing on it. The cursor blinked at the end of an unfinished sentence, reminding Nikki of someone drumming their fingers impatiently.

"So you're hiding from them down here?"

"Genius, huh?"

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Well you better get it finished," she said, heading back over to her desk, "I want my face off the newstands pronto."

"Yeah, it's terrorising small children," Raley piped up.

"Nice one, bro," Ochoa said, high-fiving his partner. The slap of their two palms echoed around the otherwise empty bullpen.

"Oh shut it ... Sweet Tea," Nikki couldn't resist the jibe.

"Nice one, girlfriend," Rook said, craning over his desk so that he and Nikki could high-five as well.

"Not on your life, writer monkey," she told him, sidestepping away and heading for the coffee machine.

"Aw come on, you can't leave me hanging!"