"Gosh, I missed being in the field!" Cassidy grinned, raising his beer at the team.
"C'mon! You hardly climbed a tree and drove with the sirens on," said Gillian.
"And it's been my wildest deed of the last five years. I'm so trading posts with Cooper."
They all laughed and drank to it, while Russell signaled Josh to bring them another round. The bar was almost empty, as usual, so they had pulled a couple of tables together near the counter. Fred had picked the music at the jukebox, and now they were all nodding to classic rock from the '70s, even Kurt.
"So what now?" Cassidy asked, turning to Gillian and Russell.
"We have a harbor cop and one of our agents at the transportation company's office, to make sure they don't give the heads up to their drivers," he said. "And there are agents waiting for them at every destination."
Cassidy nodded, approving. "Perfect. Good thing there's no such a thing as texting, right?"
They all laughed again.
"All cells bugged, boss," said Tanya with a wink. After two beers, the girl was prone to leave formality out the door. "Any call or text will go through us first."
Cassidy frowned. "I don't remember getting any court order for that."
"Tight ties can affect memory. It's a fact," replied Fred, very serious.
"I hope you're right, Morris, or we're in deep shit."
"C'mon!"
"Over a couple of hacked phones?"
"Really?"
"You gotta be kidding!"
Cassidy threw up his hands, giving up with a scoff.
Tanya produced her phone and checked it, frowning. "Speaking of the devil..."
Kurt took his computer from his backpack and set it on the table, forcing the others to clear a spot for him. He opened it as he sipped his beer, eyes on the screen. "They're calling the truck on the way to Manchester."
"Disconnect," said Gillian.
"Oops. Missed call, no-coverage message."
Cassidy scowled. "Really?"
"Really what?" asked Hank.
"Stay sharp, they're gonna try to reach the other three drivers."
"Yes, ma'am."
"You can do that?" asked Cassidy.
Aldana and Ron leaned back, giving way to the wet paper napkin Gillian launched at Kurt with a death glare.
"Reg!" protested Kurt when the napkin landed on his keyboard.
"Dare keep calling me ma'am."
Hank smiled at Cassidy. "You mean can we do it in the papers or off the record?"
Cassidy sighed—got it.
Russell pulled Kurt's computer around to check the screen. "ETA?" he asked.
"To Manchester? Thirty minutes," replied Tanya, consulting her phone.
"Text me the ETA for all four trucks." Russell got up and headed out of the bar, making a call.
"More incoming," warned Kurt.
"Send the same message to all of them," replied Gillian. "And get me all you can about who's calling."
Fred let out a glad, "Hell, yeah!" at the song that was playing, startling Cassidy. He left his beer and grabbed Aldana's hand, dragging her with him to the small free space by their tables.
She laughed. "Easy, tiger!"
Russell came back in then. Gillian stood up and reached out to him. "C'mon, brown sugar, shake me up!"
"Our people are in position," Russell got to say to Cassidy before Gillian pulled him to her.
Cassidy flashed a mild smile, watching them dance. He noticed Ron studied him and raised his eyebrows. "You always do this after a procedure, Bellison?" he asked.
"No, usually we party before work," was the flat, serious answer.
It took Cassidy a whole second to chuckle. A couple of steps away, Fred made Aldana spin and let go of her hand to grab Gillian's, so Russell caught Aldana in his arms and kept dancing with her.
"Alright, I gotta bail," Cassidy said with a heartfelt sigh, killing his beer. "I wanna be there at least for one of the procedures."
"Where?" asked Ron.
"Worcester, the prostitution ring."
"Hey, Reg!" called Hank. "The boss is leaving for Worcester!"
Gillian spun to a sharp stop and scowled at Cassidy. "And you're gonna leave us behind?"
Before Cassidy could even answer, the whole team was grabbing their things and heading out.
"Laura's so gonna kill me," muttered Ron, hopping after the others.
"Sir! You coming or what?" called Gillian from the door.