August clucked her tongue and shook her head in disbelief as page after page of damning evidence scrolled across her screen. It was his fiancé who had instigated the investigation, and she was glad she wouldn’t be the one to break the news to her.

Not only did this guy already have a wife and family, but it seemed he also had a child with another woman who he had regular contact with as well. He had several bank accounts of his own, plus two joint accounts with these two other women.

She guessed at least the fiancé’s saving grace would be finding all this out before their wedding, which she failed to see could go ahead while he was still married. Her searches showed no evidence of any divorce proceedings in place, and in fact, he and the current wife had recently purchased a new car together. Not the signs of a man looking to make a break.

His phone records showed he held two mobile phones, one was under contract the other pre-paid. She wouldn’t mind guessing the latter was the number his fiancé held.

This guy was a real player and appeared to have these poor women hood-winked. She couldn’t help wonder how he managed to get away with something so elaborate, particularly while the evidence was so prolific.

Reaching over, she whacked the printer with the ball of her hand. “Work, you dumb thing,” she yelled. She wasn’t sure why they still had paper files. Everything was computerised these days. Yet, Mercy insisted they needed hard copies of all evidence and reports. She suspected it was a throw-back from her policing days. The least her boss could do was provide them with printers that worked if she insisted everything be on paper.

On cue, the clunky old piece of machinery charged to life, and the paper began churning out. At least this was an easy case, in as much as there weren’t many hours of surveillance required. The guy had left enough of a paper trail that most of the work could be done in-house.

“Who’s taken my paperclips,” she muttered fishing for the last of the metal holders in their box. “Davina, have you seen my paper clips?”

Within seconds the perky, young receptionist appeared in the doorway, a small box in her hand.

“Sorry, Aug. Sabrina needed some and I think she took the last of yours. Here.” She thrust a small box toward her. “I bought some more.”

“Sabrina’s been in my office?” she shrieked. She hated the thought of people being in her office. It was no one else’s place to be snooping around in her stuff. It was her personal space. Having someone poking around in there was simply not okay.

“I’m sorry.” Davina took a step back, and August knew she had upset her. She was so timid, she wasn’t the sort of person that worked well in this industry.

“Do I need to get a lock for my door?” she asked angrily, before rolling her eyes and huffing out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not your fault. But please, if I’m not here, don’t let anyone else in my office. If Mercy needs anything, she can come in, everyone else is off limits. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Auggie, sorry.”

“And don’t freakin’ call me Auggie. My name is August.” How many times did she need to tell this woman?

Davina’s face burned a bright red. “Yes. Sorry,” she mumbled before retreating back to her own desk.

August knew she shouldn’t be so hard on her, but she just couldn’t tolerate people at times. She wanted to do her job. Not have to suck up to reception staff. Not have to chase around for stationary. Just do her work.

Standing on her chair, she reached above her head and poked her index finger through the ring-binder file she needed and pulled it toward herself. The knock at her door almost saw her lose her footing.

“Yes, Davina,” she tossed over her shoulder as she stepped back down to the floor.

A deep voice cleared, followed by; “I’m not Davina.”

Spinning around, she found Reese, dressed in full uniform standing in the doorway. His elbow raised above his head as he leaned against the door frame.

“Oh, ah, Mercy’s not in today. Sorry,” she said abruptly dropping the file onto her desk with a thud.

“It wasn’t Mercy I wanted to see,” he said with a grin. “I was hoping to catch up with you, and here you are.”

“Yes,” she raised her hands in the air before dropping them back to her sides. “Here I am. What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering what you’re doing on Saturday.”

Shuffling the papers around on her desk, she kept her eyes from him. “Is this work related, Constable Tucker?”

“No, not at all,” he replied.

“Then I am busy on Saturday.”

“Busy, huh? Why do I think that’s a lie?”

“Why does it matter?” she asked with a smirk.

“Well, as I don’t believe you are busy on Saturday, I would like you to accompany me to a wedding.”

“A wedding?” August repeated in surprise. “I don’t do weddings.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he played along. “I am just looking for a date.”

“And you are asking me?”

“Yes. So, if you would like to give me your address, I will pick you up at five pm sharp.”

“Wow, bossy.” She laughed at his policeman tone. “You know where I live.”

“I do,” he nodded. He had dropped her off at her apartment after their last date.

“I’ll be out the front waiting for you at ten minutes to five.”

“Good. It’s a date then. I’ll look forward to it.” Reese flashed her a smile and turned on his heel.

What had just happened? Had she agreed to another date with him? Just like that? What was she thinking?