SHIFT EXCHANGE

Chapter 20

Kara laced tied a knot in the laces of her favorite hiking boots to make sure they wouldn't come undone at any time during the night. She was starting to overheat in her cozy warm home with all the layers she'd put on to be comfortable for her ride along.

She felt bulky and confined with a tank top, insulated underwear, wool sweater, jeans, two pairs of socks, down coat and beanie hat. She may have gone a little overboard, but the alternative would be spending the night shivering and uncomfortable as they trudged through the snow doing security checks and car accident reports.

She stood up and double checked that her keys and gloves were in the pockets of her coat before tucking the heavy green thermos of mixed coffee and hot chocolate under her arm. Carefully she balanced a plate of warm cinnamon rolls as she opened her front door. She made sure to flip the latch so that it would lock behind her and trudged down the front steps to her car.

Quickly, she became grateful for the residual heat the layers kept in as she waited for her car to defrost. When the windows became clear enough she started the trek to the Sheriff's Office.

Dispatchers didn't have a lot of reason to stop off at the main Sheriff's Office. Unless she was called in for a meeting or for hiring boards she mostly kept to the little brick building that served as the joint agencies dispatch center. She hoped the electronic key card she'd been issued still worked; it had been months since she'd been there to use it.

The drive seemed to take forever at the slow speed she was forced to maintain due to the ice. They'd been socked in by dark puffy clouds for the last 2 days. If only they would dump the snow they held the temperature would raise and melt off the hard sheets of ice that had settled everywhere. Right now the temperature held in the low 20's and the wind chill factor made it below zero.

Misery for one and all.

Finally the journey came to an end. She breathed a sigh of relief when the sensor accepted her card and the gate began to rumble back to permit entry.

She parked a few rows back from the door so the patrol cars could park close and carefully traversed the expanse between her and the door. Her head remembered all too well what happened when she didn't pay due diligence to the icy landscape.

Again, relief flooded her when the electronic reader at the back door also accepted her card and buzzed to let her in. Kara vigorously scrubbed the bottom of her boots on the mat to rid them of moisture before heading down the steps to the briefing room.

The briefing room was empty when she arrived. Kara looked at her watch and realized she was still 20 minutes early. She'd given herself plenty of time to travel so she wasn't surprised. She placed the cinnamon rolls on a nearby table and sat down to play with her phone while she waited.

"I'm in the briefing cave for my ride along! :) I'm on your side of the radio tonight!"  She sent a quick text off to Jake.

She assumed he was up and about by this time. He'd gone to bed late, but they both tended to stay night owls on their days off if they didn't have other plans. Her phone remained blank as it stared up at her from the table. I little flicker of disappointment flared and died. She had never been the needy type and she wasn't going to start now.

"You're right. It is very much like a cave," His deep baritone voice echoed through the empty room and made her jump in her seat.

She spun around in the chair and caught him with a wide, self satisfied grin plastered across his face. He stood with his legs set apart, shoulders thrown back, and his thumbs hooked into his duty belt. The stance highlighted his strong muscular arms upper chest before it disappeared behind his Kevlar vest.