by Amber Heart
Contents
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Copyright
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Thank You + Freebies
Bonus Chapter
Website + Socials
Good Cop, Bad Cop
A Second Chance Romance Novel
By Amber Heart
Copyright © 2019 by Amber Heart
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
There is no such thing as a one-night stand…
Detective Olivia Hardy was excited to meet the new detective. Word in the office had spread quickly on his extensive list of solved cases. Even the Captain was impressed.
The silly rumors on how hot and charming he was couldn’t be ignored either. Detective Hardy knew she had to keep a careful eye on this newcomer.
Now imagine her surprise when last night’s big mouth hookup strolls through the door… The Captain brought the room to attention.
“Allow me to introduce the newest member of our team, Detective Damien Macken. Detective Hardy, meet your new partner.”
Good Cop, Bad Cop is a standalone romance novel for readers who love second chances. Which cop will you side with?
Chapter One
‘Macken. Are you even listening to me?’ Olivia slapped his arm, pulling him from his daze. She was looking down at him, hand on hip, with her usual look of disapproval. Her other hand was holding a case file on the latest New York drug bust. How was she the same woman that drove him crazy that one amazing night of passion?
‘What?’ He asked, rubbing his arm.
‘Why do I even bother?’ She threw her arms up in disbelief, then stormed to her side of the desk they shared. ‘Why do I always get stuck with your ignorant ass?’ She asked. What did she say about his ass? ‘Honestly, I must have been a puppy murderer in a past life or something.’
‘I’m sorry.’ He put on his charming smile, though he knew it never worked on her. Not since that night. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t help the situation.
‘I don’t give two fucking shits.’ Ah, there it was. That lovely, sinful mouth of hers. ‘Get your act together, I’m sick of checking all your paperwork because you’re too busy flirting with every woman who walks in here.’
‘Jealous?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘Come on, Hardy. Let me make it up to you.’
‘Unless you’re buying me a holiday in the Bahamas, miles away from you, then no thanks.’ She said, opening the file. She shot him one more look of disapproval and started reading.
He sighed and decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut.
‘Detective Hardy, Detective Macken. I’d like a word, please.’ Captain Steven Johnson called from his office. He was a young but efficient captain. Everyone respected him, though he received his fair share of banter concerning his age. When it was appropriate, that is.
‘After you.’
‘No, after you. I insist.’ Damien smiled and Olivia rolled her eyes.
‘Detectives!’
Damien took the lead, rushing into the office. The captain was sat behind his desk and Olivia shut the door gently behind her, cutting off the chatter from the other room. They stood in front of him, waiting for his questions. It wasn’t the first time they had been called into his office together; sometimes it was to discuss cases, other times, it was because their jokes against each other had gone too far.
‘I’d like the debrief on the Alaska drug case.’ He said, leaning forward a little in his seat.
‘Well, Mackie, I know you enjoyed this one so much. Why don’t you take the lead? We were just discussing it anyway.’ She offered, giving him a wink.
What? Debrief? He didn’t have anything planned. Crap. This was what she had been telling him about and now she was making him suffer.
‘Urm, well, sir.’ He stuttered. ‘We caught the bad guys.’
‘Is that all you have to say?’ He asked, unimpressed.
‘No, urm, the Alaska drug is now off the streets.’
‘Macken?’
‘Sir?’
‘Get out.’
‘Yes, sir.’ Damien walked out of the office, not looking either the captain or Olivia in the eye.
Sat back at his desk, Damien was sulking. How could she make him look like such an idiot, especially in front of the captain? He picked up a picture of his old dog from his desk and sat back in his chair. Before moving to New York, Damien had been a dog handler in the British police force and now here he was, being embarrassed by his partner in front of the most important person in the office. It was times like this that made him miss home.
‘You never stabbed me in the back, bud.’ He sighed, placing it back down after a moment.
He heard the door of the captain’s office open and looked over to see what was happening. Olivia was smiling and shaking the captain’s hand. What a kissass. He had done just as much work on that case as she had. They’d been working on it for three months and cracked the case together, yet there she was, getting all the reward.
‘Stop sulking.’ It was Sergeant Sinclair. She was leaning against his desk, arms folded across her chest, following his gaze across the room. ‘You look like a baby.’
‘Sorry, Sarge, but she made me look like a dick.’
‘Then maybe you should have listened to her.’ She said.
‘Do you even know what happened?’ He asked, perhaps a bit more rudely than he should have.
‘I don’t need to know, Macken. The captain called you both in, you walk out of his office with your tail between your legs, she’s shaking the captain’s hand and you’re complaining because you don’t like doing paperwork. It’s what I call a usual Thursday morning.’
‘Yeah, well…’
‘I don’t want to hear it, Dame. You knew what you were signing up for when you took the job. So, get your shit together.’
‘Yes, sergeant.’
‘And apologize to her.’ She commanded, walking off.
‘What?!’ Sinclair turned back to him, unimpressed he’d raised his voice. ‘Me apologize to her? No way.’
‘That wasn’t a suggestion, detective. You messed up and you’re punishing her for it.’
‘How exactly is she getting punished?’ He asked, looking over to see her chatting amicably with the captain.
‘Liv’s now having to do the work for both of you, making excuses for you yet again. Don’t you think she wants her partner in there with her?’ She asked.
‘Probably not, no. She hates my guts.’ He said, flicking through a file.
‘Only because you never finish the job properly. How would you like it, if she only half-assed the physical work? What if she made you chase down a perp with no back up?’
‘Then she wouldn’t be a very good partner… Oh, I get it.’ He sighed.
‘There we go.’ She smiled. It always made Louisa happy whenever she helped her detectives with something they struggled with. Especially when it was Damien.
‘I’ll apologize.’ He said.
‘Always nice chatting with you, Mackie.’ She smiled, clapping his shoulder.
Damien watched Olivia walk into the breakroom at lunchtime. Perfect time to apologize. He stood up from his desk, rehearsing what he was going to say, and the captain’s voice called him from across the room, asking him to come to the office again.
‘Sir, I just have to do this one thing.’
Damien tried to avoid it.
‘Now, Macken.’ That was his commanding voice and if he wanted to avoid more trouble, he had better listen. He walked into the captain’s office and shut the door behind him.
‘Sir.’ He greeted.
‘Do you want to explain what happened earlier?’ He asked, hands clasped together.
‘I’ve just got a lot on my mind, sir.’ He said.
‘Leave it at the front door, detective. If it’s so troubling that it’s disrupting your work, talk to one of our welfare officers.’ Encouraged the captain.
‘It’s not that serious, sir.’ He said, not being entirely truthful.
‘Then why such a big mess up before?’
‘I guess I wasn’t taking the job seriously enough, sir. But, I’ve had a word with the sergeant and she’s put me on the straight and narrow. I was just about to apologize to Detective Hardy.’ He said.
‘Oh, well, that’s good to know. You’re a good detective, Macken, but you let yourself down. Work on it and you’ll do well for yourself.’ Said the captain.
‘Yes, sir. I also want to apologize to you, so, I’m sorry.’
‘Thank you. Now, I’ve got a new case for you.’ He said.
‘I’m all ears, sir.’
‘It’s an arson case. With Davies.’ He said. Damien’s face dropped instantly.
‘Sir, please, I know I wasn’t perfect on the drug case but, come on, this is punishment.’ He moaned. As if an arson case wasn’t bad enough, he was put on the job with the worst detective in the precinct.
‘Yes it is. Maybe after this case, you’ll appreciate what it’s like to have a good partner, like Hardy.’ He said. ‘Dismissed.’
‘Wait, sir. If I can convince Hardy to forgive me, can we take the case together?’ He begged. The captain handed him the case file.
‘If you convince Hardy to take you back, I’ll consider changing Davies onto another case. If not, Macken, you know where to find him.’
‘Thank you so much, sir.’ He smiled, leaving the room before the captain changed his mind.
Olivia was sat on her own in the breakroom, eating lunch and checking emails at the same time. It had been a morning full of filling in reports and sorting through the shit Macken had left her with. It wasn’t the first time he had been sent out of the captain’s office for inadequate paperwork and she knew it wouldn’t be the last time. She wished he’d just pay a little more attention. He was a great cop on the street; he always had her back, and even though they didn’t get on personally, she could always rely on him professionally.
She looked up. Macken was stood in the doorway, but he looked different. For once, he didn’t have a cocky grin plastered on his face.
‘Can I have a word, Hardy?’ He asked, coming to stand behind the chair opposite her.
She gestured for him to sit down, ‘Be my guest.’ She shrugged, looking down at the rest of her lunch, which was some fruit she had very little interest in eating. ‘But if you’re here to have a go at me, then you can get lost.’
‘I’m not, I swear.’ He said, sitting down. ‘I’m here to apologize.’ She looked up at him, confused.
‘What?’
‘I’m sorry.’ He was genuinely apologizing.
‘Are you feeling okay?’ She asked, concern on her face.
He chuckled, ‘Come on, I’m trying to be serious here.’
‘What are you even sorry for?’ She asked. She was the one who had dropped him in the shit with the captain. If anything, she should be the one saying sorry.
‘Because I was a bad partner. I should have listened to you.’
She got up and walked over to him, placing the back of her hand on his forehead.
‘No fever. Hmm-’
‘Will you cut it out!’ He laughed, pushing away her hand gently. ‘I was wrong. You never let me down in the field, I should never let you down here.’ She moved back to her seat.
‘Well, thank you, Mackie.’ She smiled. She looked back at her lunch and sighed. ‘If you’re not going to eat that, can I have it?’ He asked.
She slid the fruit his way, ‘I’m attempting to be on a diet.’ She laughed.
‘Why?’ He frowned at her. ‘You don’t need to.’ He shrugged, popping a grape in his mouth. ‘You’re the fittest detective here, other than Hoffman.’ Hoffman was the muscle of the precinct, they all joked saying he was Bruce Willis’ twin brother.
‘I know, I’m just trying to cut some sugars and salts out.’ She sighed.
‘I have a chocolate bar in my desk if you want it.’
She perked up, ‘Really?’
‘Yes.’ He laughed. ‘Go and get it, call it a trade.’
‘No, I shouldn’t.’ She sighed, picking up her sandwich.
‘Good willpower. Anyway, I have a question.’ He said.
‘Shoot.’
‘I’ve been asked to work an arson case.’
‘That’s a punishment if I’ve ever seen one.’ She said, taking a small bite of her food. ‘Who with?’
‘Davies.’
‘Oh boy, the captain really is pissed off with you then.’ She chuckled. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘You’re not that sorry, or you wouldn’t be laughing.’
‘You shouldn’t have been daydreaming! What were you thinking about anyway?’
‘Nothing.’ He shrugged. ‘The captain said I can do the case with you if I could convince you. So, will you help me out?’
‘Nope.’ In a way, he deserved the punishment. Davies, without any doubt, was the worst detective in the precinct; it wasn’t that he was bad at his job, but he was controlling and mean. He was like a terrier. Short and scary. ‘You can learn to appreciate me.’ She grinned.
‘You know how much I’ve appreciated you in the past.’ He smirked, reminding her of that night. He often did, he would always wind her up about their night together, before either of them knew they’d be working together. She didn’t mind really, she wasn’t ashamed of that night so she didn’t mind teasing him back.
‘Well, maybe this will jog your memory. I’m not working that case with you.’ She said.
‘I will beg. I will get on my knees and beg, please do the case.’ He pleaded.
She raised an eyebrow and smirked, ‘Now that brings back memories.’ True to his word, Damien crossed to her side of the table and got on his knees in front of her, his hands clasped together.
‘Come on, for old times sake. Will you do this case with me?’
‘No.’ She laughed. She wouldn’t actually mind working the case with him, it’d be easy enough anyway, but if she wanted him to take paperwork seriously, he needed to actually do some instead of passing it off to her.
‘Please.’
‘If the captain thinks you need to learn a lesson, then take the case with Davies and get it over with.’
‘Liv.’
‘Don’t call me that.’ She said, standing up so suddenly that he fell over. Everyone else could call her Liv, it was second nature to her friends, but he didn’t have the privilege, he lost it the morning he turned up to work.
‘Why does it still turn you on?’ He winked.
‘I’m definitely not doing that case with you now.’ She said, helping him up. If he wanted to act like a pain in the ass, she would treat him like one. ‘Find Davies. It’s an easy case, the owner did it. Prove you’re willing to make a change.’ She said, throwing her lunch in the bin and walking out.
‘Mackie!’ There it was. The noise he’d been dreading. ‘Where’ve you been, man?’
‘Davies.’ He said through gritted teeth. ‘At my desk, where I usually am.’
‘Ahh, shut up, you dog. Picked up any chicks recently?’ He asked. ‘Don’t worry, you can tell me in the car.’
Damien shot Olivia the dirtiest look he could muster over the desk. Davies was a jerk and both of them knew it. It was her fault he was standing at Damien’s desk right now.
‘Well, Davies, shall we get going?’
‘Sure. Hey, Liv.’ She hated it when he called her that, she’d rather Damien call her it. ‘When are you going on a date with me?’
‘When hell freezes over.’ She smiled sarcastically.
Damien stood up with his bag ready, pulling Davies away from Olivia. He hated it when Davies tried to hit on women, it was painful to watch and never failed to make him cringe. Damien did his own fair bit of flirting, of course he did, but it was more to get people to open up. Davies just wanted to get in their pants.
‘I’ll never know how you got into that one’s bed.’ He said, clapping his shoulder as they left the station. ‘She’s impossible.’
‘Maybe just don’t be a creep.’ He sighed, pushing past him to get to the driver’s seat first. Davies was an awful driver and Damien didn’t want to die today.
‘Why the hell aren’t you together?’ He asked. Davies had always paid Olivia too much attention, more than Damien was comfortable with. He hovered around her a lot and asked her out as many times as he could. She’d reject him every time, but Damien was worried that, one day, she may give in.
‘Everyone knows we don’t get on, why do you think?’
‘You clearly got on once.’ He grinned, showing his rotted teeth which had half of his lunch in them.
‘It was just a one-night stand, before we knew we were working together.’ He said.
‘What’s she like?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘In bed? Is she good? I don’t like wasting time on the shit ones, man. You get me? Did she do everything you wanted?’
What a creep. If anything good was going to come out of this case, Damien would get Davies to leave Hardy alone. Just a few little lies would do the job.
‘Oh, no. She’s awful. Boring.’ He assured him, starting the car and pulling away from the building.
‘Really?’
‘It’s Hardy. Of course it’s boring. It felt like hours before the job was done, nothing worth pursuing there, my friend.’ He said.
