by Jenna Baker
*****
When I got back to the station, things were happening. Mac and Manny were loading up the SUV, and Foxy and Reid were hurriedly working the phones. I walked up to Reid and gave him a wave. He raised his finger to me in the one second please gesture, so I stood and waited. Foxy looked up and gave me a sideways glance. “You had time to go to the beach?”
I looked down at my orange skin. “No, I just drank a lot of orange juice. Sometimes this happens.”
Foxy raised an eyebrow. “No shit?”
Reid hung up the phone and looked at me. “Are you the new spokesperson for Orange Glow Cleanser?”
“They said it will fade in a few hours, okay?” I said. “Besides, I needed some color.”
Foxy analyzed my new color. “It looks like you created a new race or something.”
“Just get me up to speed, okay?”
“Swing and a miss on the paint chips. The report from forensics came back and they don’t match the paint on Jaeger’s car,” Foxy said.
“Oh,” I said. “That sucks.”
“It was a long shot anyway,” Foxy said.
“We’ve been working the phones while you were…tanning,” Reid jumped in. “PD down there knows we’re coming but they’re too busy with other border issues to devote any uniforms to this.”
“Well, that’s good, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, less messy. We can get in and get out. We’re heading down in twenty minutes. Mac’s got us all booked at the Alta Vista Inn.”
“We’re staying there?” I asked.
“We don’t know when and if Kitt is even going to come down tonight so we need a home base. If we see him coming on the tracker, we’ll get in position. Mac said your show would pay for the rooms.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I just didn’t pack any clothes or anything,” I said.
“I have to pack a bag too,” Reid said. “Go home now, and Foxy and I will pick you up in a half hour, okay?”
I nodded. This was exciting, and I was thrilled that Reid and Captain Harris had decided to let us be a part of it. I knew Manny’s Spanish skills were probably the main motivator, but I knew that Mac’s tracking device and my snooping were playing into the decision as well.