"I HEARD YOU arrested that local gang leader that day," Det. Tate asked as Alexa walked into the police station. He passed her a mug of coffee and gave her a smile which she respectfully declined. There was a flash of disappointment in his eyes but he swiftly covered it up.

"Yeah. We found the murder weapon in his house and he confessed that Steve had borrowed money from him as payment for dropping off drugs at a location. He killed Steve when he found out that the drop site was raided by a task force claiming that it was obviously him who tipped them off. Plus the money had Burke's print on it too."

"And what about the Archer case?"

"Burke killed Mr & Mrs. Archer in a fit of rage. They bought his underground boxing ring and demolished it to build something else. His story checks out. What about your case? Did you—" Alexa's mouth shut when her eyes fell on her Captain's cabin. Her eyebrows furrowed when captain De La Torra walked towards her with someone trailing close with him.

"Det. Bailey, good that we found you here." Captain smiled widely.

Ignoring his uncommon demeanour, Alexa lifted her chin towards the person behind him. "What is he doing here?"

Captain looked over his shoulders and gave him a nod. "Mr. Archer is going to be a consultant to the SAPD from now on. I am assigning him to be your partner. Effective immediately."

"Excuse me?" Alexa furrowed her eyebrows and turned her gaze towards Ty. She folded her arms over her chest and continued to glare at him. He offered her a playful smirk to which she rolled her eyes. "I am sure he has some sort of background in law enforcement or a degree, perhaps?"

He didn't.

Captain's mouth left a forceful laughter. "Det. Tate, why don't you give Mr. Archer a tour? And Det. Bailey, in my office. Now." It was obvious that Captain did not enjoy Alexa's tone but she was not the best at holding her temper sometimes. Ty followed Tate while Alexa went into the Captain's office. He closed the door behind her while she gave him a pointed look. "Bailey–"

"Respectfully, Captain, I don't need a partner. Besides, I know for a fact he doesn't qualify to be a consultant."

"Mr. Archer has been very generous towards the SAPD and he specifically asked to be paired with you. I am sure his skills wil—l"

"But–"

"Do not interrupt me while I am speaking. I am your Captain and this is a direct order. Do not question my judgement." Alexa let out a breath. "You don't have a choice, Detective. He will be your secondary in every case. And while he may not have a proper training, his connections and charisma will come in very handy. I wouldn't have hired him if he wasn't useful to us. Dismissed."

Alexa clenched her jaw. He had made her life a lot more difficult but unfortunately, he was her employer. "I am sorry for lashing out." She left his cabin with her lips tightly pressed against each other. She stormed into the kitchen and opened up the cabinet to pull out a mug. She poured some black coffee and closed the cabinet. As soon as she closed the door of the cabinet, a head popped up and instinctively, she was about to elbow him when he grabbed her arm.

"Easy," Ty said.

She jerked her arm out of his hand. "Good reflex." She turned around and took the milk out of the refrigerator. He followed her and stood in front of her. She scoffed and walked past him to pour some milk into her coffee and add two spoonfuls of sugar. He appeared in front of her again. "Can you stop?"

"I am beginning to think you're not a big fan of me, detective."

"Gee, what gave it away?" She deadpanned and took a sip.

"What did I do?"

"Really? What did you do?" She looked into his eyes as he stood a few inches away from her. His eyes dipped down to meet hers. He was towering over her with a safe distance away yet she could smell his cologne. Her heart beat spiked up. A moment passed between them and Ty's smile began to drop. His lips parted slightly and before he could let out any words, Alexa chugged her coffee.

"You know what," she said as she walked past him. "I don't have time for this. I have a lot of paperwork to do."

He followed her as she walked towards her desk. "No, wait. Why are you mad at me?"

"How much did you pay to get in?" Ty remained silent. "Exactly."

"Hey, if you think I am some spoiled filthy rich selfish person then you are completely wrong." Alexa passed him a glare and folded her arms over her chest, her eyebrow raising up. "Alright, fine. I am a little filthy rich...and spoiled...and maybe just a little selfish but I am here to help."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Then why did you storm off when I offered you a ride yesterday?"

"I'm sorry I didn't want to see the face of the same officer who arrested me and threw me in jail. My bad."

"Okay then it's your second day as a free man and you're exactly where you were five years ago." She shook her head. "Seriously, Archer, why are you here? What do you get out of this? You were an heir of a billionaire and have a chance to be a CEO and you wish to be a consultant. I don't understand."

"I don't have a chance at being the CEO, I am the CEO. It will just take a couple of days to make it official. Secondly, why I am here is none of your business except that I wish to help take down the bad guys."

Alexa's eyes softened. "So innocent people like you don't go to jail?"

Ty licked his lips. "On a more important note, when do I get a gun?"

"Oh, let me see." She picked up a file from her desk and began reading. "It says, it's already shoved up your as—"

"Assumption is a very wicked thing," Cooper chimed in. He lifted his eyes from the file he was holding and looked between the two of them. "I am sorry, am I interrupting something? What is he doing here?"

"I am her partner." Ty smirked at him.

"Long story," Alexa said. "What were you saying?"

"You were right. The owner had assumed that his employee was working. When he checked, our suspect wasn't working. She is in interrogation right now. Can we play nice cop/rude cop? I know it will work on her." Cooper passed her the file from his hand. She skim read through the evidence and followed him to the interrogation room. Ty was about to follow them as well when she spun on her heel and pressed the folder against his chest. "There's a food truck one block away. Get me a slice of pizza. You're a CEO, I am sure you can afford one for me."

She walked away when he called her out. "I am not your busboy."

She looked over her shoulder. "Partners help each other, don't they?"

Before Cooper opened the door of the interrogation room, he sighed at her. "You're going to give him a very hard time, aren't you?"

"He deserves it."

XXX

author's note: The Wrong Instinct was featured twice on Romance profile's reading list! Eeeee, our first achievement!!