Page 10

CHAPTER 10

KEVIN

“Morning, Captain. You’ve got some messages I left on your desk as well as a fresh coffee. I remade the pot for you. The old one had to have been there for at least an hour already.”

I glance briefly toward Sandra, one of the receptionists who handles non-emergency calls, and dip my head in thanks. She’s a good employee, but has decided to take the role of a personal assistant of late. I don’t mind much, so long as her regular duties don’t fall to the side.

Scrambling to keep up with my long strides to my corner office, Sandra continues to rattle off every piece of information she can come up with. I don’t give a shit if a few of my officers were bickering over what calls they wanted to take, as long as they got done.

The phone is on its third ring when I sit behind my desk as she waits awkwardly in my doorway. “You going to answer that?” I ask with a raised brow.

With cheeks turning pink, she quickly nods, then blurts, “Your lawyer friend, Richard Leigh, left another message. He said he shouldn’t have to call three times just to get you on the phone.”

“I’ll call him.” Waving her off, she runs back to grab the phone. I wait until I know she’s not coming back in, then dial Richard’s number. He’s been calling me nonstop since last week when we discovered our partner, Miriam, dipped out of the cabin and disappeared.

Being left with only two angry texts because of a misunderstanding has been nothing short of frustrating. Obviously, she overheard us speaking about her, but she failed to pick up on the fact that Richard is a dick. I’m also struggling with my own guilt because I never explained to her what the money was for and it was meant more of a way to thank her for her time by easing some financial burdens rather than just soliciting sex.

Who am I kidding? It was thank you cash for spreading her legs and she’s absolutely right to be insulted .

As the phone rings, I settle on leaving her be to get on her with her life. I’m not really sure what I could say that would remove the wound she must have felt from those words.

“ It’s about time you called me. Have you gotten a hold of the girl? I’ve texted her and tried to call, but she’s sending me to straight to voicemail. Or her phone is turned off, because it hasn’t rung once for me .”

Leaning back in my chair, I close my eyes. “Morning to you too. No, I haven’t tried getting in touch since the first time I called. Obviously, she’s blocked our numbers.”

A low, frustrated growl from Richard has me rolling my eyes. “ That’s an immature thing to do. ”

“No, it was a mature thing to do. She’s created a boundary after being thoroughly insulted by being equated to a hooker, Richard. Leave the girl be.”

“ That’s why it’s rude to eavesdrop. Had she given us the chance to discuss things with her instead of running off after sending a couple of texts, it would have been cleared up. ”

Sandra slides back to the door of my office and knocks softly, a stack of files pressed to her body. I hold up a finger, then ask, “Richard, was there anything else you needed me for? I’ve got a lot of shit to take care of here.”

“ Yeah, hold on a second. ” He mumbles to himself for a moment, then shifts the phone around. “ Here it is. Will you send over a few incident reports to me? ”

“Which ones?” I ask, grabbing a pen to write them down.

“ IR900526 and IR900788. I also need the report from the Walston incident. I’m not involved in the criminal side of things, but I’ve got some clients who are suing someone indirectly involved on the civil side. ”

The mention of Susanna Walston and her rescue a few weeks ago brings back memories of a tiny, dirty, green-eyed toddler clinging to my neck in a hospital back when I was fresh on the job. I make every effort to never let what happens on the clock affect my personal life, but sometimes bits and pieces cross over. Like Susanna, which led to Miriam. Another bubble of guilt settles in my gut.

A soft clearing of Sandra’s voice reminds me she’s waiting for me. Nodding at her, I hurry to end my conversation.

“I’ll have someone send it over. We getting lunch today?”

“ Lunch will work if we can go a little later. Maybe around one. ”

He’s already losing focus on our conversation, distracted by his never ending workload, so I confirm plans, then end our call. The second I set the phone down, Sandra rushes into the office.

“I’ve got some reports that need review, and I’ll put your lunch in on your calendar if you’d like. I also overheard that you need something sent to Mr. Leigh. Would you like me to take care of that?”

Her eagerness is extra annoying today, but I bite my tongue. “Here’s the list of what he needs. I’ll take care of my calendar.” Handing over the scrap of paper I noted down the incident reports, I quickly move my hand away when she lets our fingers touch.

With a scowl, I silently wait until she leaves. She seems completely unaffected by my mood. I’m not oblivious to the fact that she’s overly flirtatious toward me and interested, but Sandra is far too young.

So is Miriam…

I’m certain Sandra is closer to thirty, where Miriam is early twenties, but there’s a maturity to Miriam which is more attractive than I’d like. Shoving her out of my mind to only focus work related items, I blanket my thoughts until another knock on my door draws my attention from the domestic call one of my officers wrote three days ago.

“Morning, Coop. What’s cookin’, good lookin’?”

“You know, I could stick you out on patrol with a rookie if you keep acting as though we’re best friends,” I tell Vincent Mercer, only looking up at him briefly. “Tell me where you’re at with this.” I point a finger at the report I’ve been reading, his name typed out at the bottom.

Leaning over my desk, he skims the report, then recognition turns his features to anger. “We got her out of the home with her baby and dog into an apartment a few towns over. This guy is smart, though, so it’s taking longer to find something to pin him on. He hadn’t touched her physically the night of this call, but she repeated a lot of the threats. All of his texts are vague and can be explained away. No voice messages, no photos on her phone. But she’s traumatized. Might be a stalking situation. Guy is a narcissist and likely won’t want to see her win in his eyes.”

Signing off on the report, I ask, “And the baby? Checked out at the hospital?”

“Both of them have. There are some questionable older injuries for the wife, but the baby checked out. Slightly underweight, but they looked at records since birth, and the baby has always been a bit on the smaller side, so the doc isn’t overly concerned.”

I take my time in silence, mulling it all over. My next question begins a bit slower. “You got Max involved?”

Max and Vincent are both involved with the same woman, along with a third, Ethan. Max and Ethan have a business that is basically a rescue program for domestic abuse victims. Vincent told me once that Max started it up because his father killed his mom when she tried to flee, so it’s more of a passion project than a job to all of them.

I’ll admit, Vincent’s connection to them has come in handy more often than not over the past few years.

“Yeah, called him in right?—”

“Captain, I’ve got you a fresh cup of coffee,” Sandra interrupts, strolling into the office.

Vincent shuts his mouth abruptly, raising a brow at me. I let him get away with so much more than most of my other staff members, but his silent question irritates me and has me snapping a tad more gruffly at Sandra than I should.

“Miss Burns, I’m clearly in a meeting. Your assistance isn’t required to keep my coffee hot.” Her eyes widen like a deer caught in headlights, and she looks between Mercer and me, gulps, then backs out quickly. I barely hear a whispered apology, and my irritation grows exponentially.

The low growl I release has Vincent’s other brow joining the first one, practically to his hairline. “Bad day, boss?”

“Get the fuck out, asshole. I need everyone to just do their damn job right now.” With a chuckle, he stands and makes his way to the door, flashing me the thumbs up on his way out. “ And shut the door behind you! ” I shout.

The door slams shut on his full on belly laugh. Tossing my pen to my desk, I groan, rubbing my hand over my face, feeling the prickle of whiskers where I shaved them off a few days ago. Fuck, I need to shave soon .

The rest of my morning is filled with endless paperwork and phone calls. Finally, my calendar alarms a reminder to leave for my lunch meeting with Richard. Setting the papers into a neat pile, I shut off my computer and grab my bag. I’m not sure if I’ll be back in today. This past week has been draining. A good workout, then movie and a couple of beers sounds like exactly what I need.

I ignore the way Sandra watches me as I leave, probably disappointed I don’t say anything to her, but she knows where I’m going. No one here needs me to justify my schedule. I put in more hours than most.

As soon as I’m driving toward our regular place to grab a meal, the music is interrupted by another phone call. Glancing at the display, I’m surprised to see Tatum Cadelle calling. We touch bases here and there, normally for emergency related things since he’s an EMT, so I press the answer call button on my steering wheel.

“Cooper,” I call out as soon as the call connects.

“ Hey Kev. Listen, we might have a bit of a problem. ”

Concerned it may be work related, I lift my foot off the gas, ready to pull over. “What’s going on? You got a call you need an officer to assist with?”

“ No, nothing like that. It’s Ezra. I think he’s gone off the rails. ” There’s a hint of worry lacing his words, and I can’t imagine what Ezra being off the rails means. It could be that he’s disappeared out into the woods, or he’s talking incoherently about nonsense. Shit, what if he’s having a PTSD episode?

Deciding to keep heading to meet Richard until something changes, I only say, “Explain.”

A loud sigh precedes an embarrassed cough. “ So, and I’m not positive I’m right, but I think he’s hunting. ”

“The fuck does that mean? Like he’s out in the woods with a gun?”

“ Not that kind of hunting. I think he’s hunting Miriam. ”

I slam on my brakes, ignoring the horn blaring behind me. Waving at the driver in apology, I quickly pull over and shove the gear into park. “What the hell do you mean he’s hunting Miriam? Jesus Christ, Tate. He needs to leave her alone!”

“ I fucking KNOW, Kevin. Why the fuck do you think I’m calling you? He’s been sneaking out almost every night with his damn military bag. He’s exhausted all the time, mumbling to himself, and hasn’t shown up for his appointments the last three days. ”

Ezra is a wilderness guide for hikers, which is probably the only job he’d be capable of holding down right now. Not that he’s incapable of hard work, but that guy needs to be outside in his element. Anything else would have him feeling like a caged animal.

Tatum shared a bit of what they experienced while deployed overseas, but not everything was his to share with regard to Ezra.

“You need to rein him in, Tate. No one needs to deal with Ezra unhinged, especially that woman.”

A text buzzes through and after a quick glance, I read Richard’s text asking how far out I am. As I type out something quickly, I listen to Tatum as he furiously bites back at me.

“ I have a full-time fucking job. I can’t watch him all the time. Can you put one of your guys on him? Someone who won’t be obvious? He can sniff out a tail easily, so they’ll have to be good. I just need to know if he’s following her. ”

“I’m not going to use city funding to pay someone to keep your buddy out of jail on stalking charges.” My lip curls in anger, and I slam the palm of my hand on my steering wheel.

Just as heated, Tatum lays into me. “ Thanks for your help, Cap. ” Our call disconnects when he hangs up without ending the conversation.

“Fucking hell, Ez.”

I debate whether I should reach out to Susanna or her guys to get in touch with Miriam to give her a head’s up, but decide against it quickly. He’s not a threat to her, he’s just interested. Normally I wouldn’t think this way, but I’ve known Ezra a long time and am confident he’ll only watch her a bit until something else, or someone else, draws his attention away.

There’s a reason we have these weekends together, and this is one of them.