Command: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

by Amélie S. Duncan

  I blanked my expression to not give away anything. Amber’s sticky fingers were still working. I don’t know if she thought no one would notice.

  “Excuse me,” I went back outside, approaching one of the roaming photographers. “Could you go in and take a photo of the woman in the gold dress? Blond woman, can’t miss her. Make sure you get a close up of her neckline and face.”

  I phoned in a report on Amber being here to pick her up after the party for the search. Maybe she didn’t steal the money, but she took something tonight. We could at least bring her in for questioning. Let’s see you get out of this.

  “I’ll have someone pick her up . . . with discretion,” the sergeant on duty warned.

  I clenched my jaw. I hated it, but we’d have to wait until Amber left the party to pick her up. There were too many attendees of stature and influence.

  “Oh no, Officer Donleavy. There’s a domestic incident in Pebble Grove. All cars alerted in the area to respond,” the dispatch operator said and read off the address. Sure enough, it was Peter, my all-star kid, and his ma. I hadn’t seen them since I introduced her to Rich.

  “Do you know who’s on duty?” I asked.

  “Deputy Rich is on-site. Officer Malone is on his way there.”

  “I’m on my way,” I said as Shana approached. Her smile evaporated.

  “You’re leaving, Nate? I hoped to tell you about something.”

  “I’d like to hear soon. I have to go. One of my—”

  “Kids,” she finished and grinned. “I know. Your endless parenting is one of the many things I find annoying about you.”

  “You mean you like it. You’re crazy about me, baby.”

  She blushed and touched my arm. Suddenly serious. “Please be careful.”

  I raised my brows. “Still worried about me? I thought you’d had enough of me?”

  “I’ll never have enough of you, Nathan.” Her eyes stayed with me.

  I cupped her face and ran my thumb over her bottom lip. My eyes met her shining gaze.

  “We do this dance and know how it ends. But I do love you, Shana. Can’t stop. Just . . . don’t disappear this time without a goodbye, okay?”

  She gave me her sad eyes, and my heart expanded. Seeing her upset by our end somehow made me feel better. I wanted Shana to face me, but Shana had been right that I didn’t face things myself when it came to telling my dad about leaving the police department. It never felt like the right time. But perhaps I had to make the time happen.

  I jogged over to my car, texting Aidan I’d try to make it back, or I’d have someone drop him back at mine. I only hoped I’d arrive in time.

  Nathan

  I put my siren on and sped down the road. The call report said a domestic violence incident.

  Ma’s ex-husband must have been released from jail. The last time he got out, Ma was beaten so severely that she ended up in the hospital for a week. Peter struggled to see his mom in an overcrowded foster placement. We all did what we could, and luckily, we were able to keep them together.

  As with any call, I went in with hope for the best and prepped myself for what would come next. When I arrived, there was a swarm of cop cars like they were taking down a fugitive. The lights were on in the house and the front door open.

  I didn’t stop to speak to anyone but headed up the path to the porch.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” Grant appeared and came up behind me.

  “No, but let’s find out,” I said.

  We found Peter on the couch in the living room. He had a swollen face and red splatters on his white T-shirt. Rookie Rich and another officer were talking with their notepads open.

  Peter saw me and relief took over his features. In that moment, he looked like the scared little boy I first met years ago. I crouched down in front of him. “Hey man. How you holding up?”

  “Dad came back. He attacked my mom with a hammer and tried to put a needle in her arm. I pulled him off her. He hit me, and I pushed him into the kitchen table, and it fell over. He started crying, saying I hurt his arm. I called the police—”

  “Don’t say another word,” I said, and he nodded.

  Rich scowled at me. “You have no right to interrupt us. We’re following police protocol. You can leave now.”

  I knocked Rich’s notepad out of his hand. “I’m your superior officer. You will address me with respect. What the hell are you doing questioning a minor without his parents or an adult guardian?”

  Rich snorted. “He’s practically seventeen.”

  Grant moved between us. “Peter is sixteen, and that makes him a minor. I need you to stop now.”

  “Questioning is part of our procedure,” Rich said to Grant. “A man is hurt. Peter admitted to the assault. I’m doing my duty.”

  “Your superior officer told you to leave, and I also outrank you. You leave and speak with us on the porch. Now. This will be the last time either one of us asks you,” Grant told him. We followed him to the porch.

  “Speak,” Grant told Rich.

  “His father is on the way to the hospital. He’s injured,” Rich said.

  My jaw ticked. “He’s a piece of shit. It’s in the file, not that you bother with reading anything. Why wasn’t Nina notified he was out? What happened to the restraining order she had in place to keep him away from here?”

  “He came anyway,” Grant said. The plain truth.

  “You assholes are trying to process Peter for defending his mom? He has never been in the system. He doesn’t have a record. He acted in self-defense,” I shouted.

  “You don’t know that. You weren’t here. Peter was swearing, yelling, and attacking his dad when I arrived on the scene,” Rich said.

  “How do you want this to go forward, Nathan?” Grant asked, ignoring Rich. He was the senior and lead, but he left it to me. He cut through the bullshit, and I had to operate from where we were.

  “First, I want to know where Nina is,” I said.

  Grant had an officer come over to brief us.

  “She’s on the way to the hospital. We’ve heard she crashed on the way there,” he said.

  My heart stopped. “Is Ma going to make it?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “He beats her, and she almost died. And what do you do? You waste time on her son, who called us for help,” I spat out at Rich.

  “Peter attacked his father. It’s assault. I have probable cause to arrest him. That’s our policy. He doesn’t get special privileges because you adopted the family.”

  I clenched my fist. “You don’t decide shit. Just get the fuck out of here.”

  I couldn’t make things better or fix anything. I’m fucking sick of this shit.

  Grant clasped my shoulder to help me cool down. “Peter’s a minor. He needs to stay with an adult. Does he have family in town?”

  I shook my head. “No. He should be with his mom in the hospital, not in jail.”

  “Think the situation through, Nate,” Grant said. “We’ll stop the questions and find a guardian. That’s protocol.”

  “Only until I find a lawyer or a judge who’ll let him go to the hospital.”

  “All right. I want Peter to go to the hospital too, ASAP,” Grant agreed.

  “What? So you’re letting this violent kid walk after attacking his dad?” Rich asked, raising his voice. “You can’t do that.”

  I fisted my hands at my sides and stepped toward Rich and glared down in his face. “Who the hell are you talking to? You’ve been in the department for two minutes and think you can tell us what to do?”

  “Grant?” Rich said and took a step back.

  He moved between us. “That’s Sergeant Malone to you, Deputy Rich. Unless you’d like to be suspended for insubordination to two higher-ranking officers, I suggest you shut the hell up and leave this scene. Now.”

  Rich, thank fuck, stormed off, and I wasn’t capable of much more than that either.

  In my car, I wiped the sweat off my
face and took some deep breaths to calm myself—anything to stop me from losing my shit any more than I already had. I trusted Grant to do the right thing for Peter, but I needed more than to keep him out of jail. I needed a lawyer and a judge. But more pressing, I needed someone to foster Peter. I called my mom and filled her in on the situation.

  “Can you take him, Mom?” I choked and cleared my throat.

  “If I can’t, I’ll find someone who will, son,” she said. “He’ll be safe here. You can give my name in the meantime if they want to question him. I’ll come down to the station and take him to the hospital as quick as possible. I promise. You can count on me.”

  My throat closed. I couldn’t speak.

  At the police station, Deputy Chief Castro wouldn’t allow me to speak with Peter without his guardian. They did give him some space alone in an interrogation room while waiting for human services to dispatch a social worker to take custody of him. The sergeant was still reviewing the on-scene reports to decide if we would have to charge Peter for defending his mom.

  After looking in on him through the one-way mirror, I took a chair and sat down outside the room to wait for my mom. After a while, a call came in from the on-duty cop at the hospital. Grant called me over to share the update.

  “Peter’s father is in stable condition and will be released back into police custody.”

  I scowled. “Fuck him. What about Ma?”

  Grant went still and gave me cop-eyes that told me everything.

  “What is it, Grant?” I asked, my voice raised.

  But I knew.

  Grant signaled to a nearby officer to come and stand next to me.

  “The doctors tried their best to save her, but Ma’s injuries were too great. She died in surgery.”

  I broke away from them and punched the wall, bruising my hand.

  “You all had to treat Peter like a fucking criminal when you fucking knew him and Ma. What the hell is wrong with you all?”

  “Calm down, Nate. I know you’re upset; I am too. But this isn’t how to resolve it,” Grant said, holding my arm. “Peter still needs help.”

  His eyes shifted past me, and I followed him to Rich. I hadn’t realized I’d moved, but I had Grant’s and Lyle’s hands holding me back again.

  “Ma is dead, and you’re not fit to wear a badge. You come in here like you didn’t do anything.”

  “I didn’t know she would die. I just followed police protocol,” Rich said.

  “Leave, Rich,” Grant called out, but Rich had already backed out the door.

  Grant stood next to my chair outside the interrogation room, waiting for me to calm myself. “Nate, would you like to tell Peter about Ma, or do you want me to do it?”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. I can’t tell Peter. “I’ll do it.”

  I walked to the room. Peter was big for sixteen, but in the interrogation room, he appeared younger. His eyes seemed too large for his face. They were vacant like he was traumatized, haunted. They hadn’t let him change clothes, so there was blood on his shirt.

  I thought of the first day Ma introduced us. Ma. She’d been so proud of him. Together, we’d watched him grow. Peter, dominating his varsity football team. All those times he danced at the goal line. No matter what he’d done on the field, he always searched for her in the crowd. Ma worked two jobs to keep their home, but never closed her door to anyone in need.

  I had asked Peter what he wanted out of life. He’d said, without hesitating, he wanted his mom to have a better life. He’d played football for her. What would drive him now? What would get him out of bed each day without his ma?

  I walked into the room, and his face lit up. “Why am I still here? I want to see my mom now. I’m not under arrest, right? Can you give me a lift to the hospital, please?”

  She was Ma for us, but she was his mom, and that fear of losing the one you loved the most brought back the child in him. Ma was his world, and the only family he had.

  My heart shattered. Peter still trusted me. He still believed I’d be there for him. But I let him down.

  “Peter . . . I’m sorry. Your mom’s injuries were too great. She passed away at the hospital.”

  “No, Officer Rich said she was in stable condition at the house. He said I could go see her later.”

  My body shook. “I’m really sorry. I’m going to do whatever I can to help you through it. You’re not alone, Peter.”

  Peter’s eyes filled with tears that spilled down his face. “That officer lied to me. You told me I should trust the police, but he lied to me. Mom trusted you. And now she’s . . . dead?” He rubbed his eyes, trying to move the tears. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye, Nathan. I didn’t get to say goodbye.” At that his voice cracked, he leaned over the table, his arms covering his eyes as he sobbed.

  I pinched the tears from my eyes.

  Ma tried her best, worked hard, and helped all of us. And in the end, we let her down. We let her son miss those precious moments at the end of her life. He was forever denied the chance to feel her love, her encouragement. She didn’t get to pass on her strength before she died so that he could have the will to survive, to live.

  “Leave me. Just go now. I don’t want you here,” Peter said, his voice raised.

  I swallowed hard and walked out the door. However, I didn’t leave. I waited for the woman who saved me when my birth mother died.

  Mom came with not only herself but a social worker and a foster parent. She rushed to me first. “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head. “Ma . . . died. Peter is alone with no family. He’s a great kid. Please, I don’t want him going with some stranger.”

  Someone I didn’t know wouldn’t treat him as good as my mom. My mom was the best.

  She hugged me.

  “Tell them I want . . . I want to pay for the medical bill. Tell them I’ll pay for Ma’s funeral . . .”

  “Nate, we have time, and we’ll all pitch in. Right now, you need to take some time for yourself. I’ll do whatever we can to let them release him to me. Okay?” she assured me.

  My heart grew beyond words. I did what Mom told me and let her work. I went into the observation room and watched her magic. She went in and spoke with him. He wouldn’t look up, but she was patient. She kept gently speaking with him until he agreed to leave with her.

  Peter didn’t want to speak on the way out. While I wished I could comfort him, I understood. His hurt and loss mattered more than my feelings. Like Mom always said, be patient and give kids support to talk when they are ready. She’d done the same when I lost my mom and dad. She was light in my cave of darkness. Her love shined and showed me the way out.

  Nathan

  I called Shana and left a message to let her know I was safe. I wanted her to come over, but knowing her she’d want to stay and help her parents. To be honest, I couldn’t do any more right now. My work as a cop needed a level head, and I didn’t have one. More than likely, I would face desk duty for how I’d behaved at the scene and the station. Instead of fighting against it, I’d welcome the leave and go further than that. The time had come for me to go.

  While I deliberated on how to bring up my decision to my dad, my thoughts were cut short by Amber’s voice yelling, “I didn’t do anything. Let me go,” through the precinct. I went to the arresting officer, Balk, and asked what he had.

  “She ran a stoplight and failed a breathalyzer. We brought her here and impounded her car.”

  “Can I check the process of her purse? I know what could be evidence that you might not be aware of. At least come with me and let me brief you.”

  He handed me the bag. “Okay, but you’ll need to hurry up. I don’t think we’re keeping her.”

  I checked inside the bag and didn’t find anything. But the back pocket had a string of pearls with a gold clasp with the initials KC and a man’s ring with an inscription reading, “I love you, Kitty.” The most well-known Kitty in town was Kitty Callahan, Shana’s mom.

  I went to the ro
om where Amber waited for her lawyer to show up. If I was honest, I was too furious to deal with Amber’s bullshit, especially having just witnessed Peter lose his mom. My thoughts flicked to Shana. For her. Do this for her. God, all I wanted was to get to her, but this was the job.

  I went to the room where Amber waited for her lawyer to show up.

  “Let me talk to her,” I asked Chief Ramos, who was on duty.

  “You had a rough night, Nathan. You should go home.”

  “Come on. I know Amber, and I know I can get her to tell you more before her lawyer gets here. Let me in there, and you can watch what she says to me.”

  He blew out his breath. “Okay, but I’ll pull you out if Amber demands her lawyer.”

  I agreed and went inside the room. There Amber sat with her arms folded, glaring at Officer Lyle, who’d brought her a cup of water to drink.

  “You’re all going to lose your jobs for falsely arresting me,” Amber called out, then glowered at me. “What are you doing here? I told them I’m not talking to anyone but my lawyer. I have rights.”

  “Your lawyer is on the way. I only wanted to ask you about the pearl necklace you had on. Doesn’t it belong to Shana’s mom?”

  “Shana loaned them to me before she made up stuff about the group home,” she said.

  “Okay, but let’s say I don’t believe you and ask Shana and her mom. We’ll see how the jury will react to you stealing from Mrs. Callahan while trying to fundraise in the memory of her child’s death. Let’s see how many people in the inner circle want to invite you and your family to social events after they find out.”

  Her blue eyes widened, and she paled.

  I walked out, but I didn’t go home. Instead, I stayed up the rest of the night and waited for my dad to come in. I expected him at five a.m. because he always came in early. I met him outside his office and told him straight what I had been avoiding for the past couple of years.

  “I’m leaving the force, Dad.”

  He frowned and motioned for me to come inside his office. I took the seat in front of his oak desk. He went around and sat down and sighed heavily.