by James Hunt
“Bye, Mom,” Daisy said.
“Bye, Mom,” Jake said.
“I love you,” Kerry said. “Have a great day, okay?”
A unanimous “I love you, too” echoed back before the slam of the car doors. Kerry lingered in the drop-off spot, watching her two children walk up the sidewalk together. It was the last year they would be at the same school before Daisy moved over to the middle school. And despite the two always being one quip away from an argument with one another, she couldn’t help but smile as Jake reached for Daisy’s hand and she held it as the pair walked into the building together.
If her children were the only good things Kerry would do in her life, then she knew that her life was well-lived and worth it.
Kerry pulled out of the drop-off lane and headed home. When she pulled back onto the highway, she caught a glimpse of a vehicle in her rearview mirror. It was a black SUV, windows tinted so darkly that they had to be illegal, and as she changed lanes, she noticed how the SUV mirrored her movements. She kept an eye on it, noting how the vehicle remained at least two car lengths behind her at all times.
Years as a cop had made Kerry skeptical of the world. She was always mindful of her surroundings because she knew how quickly things took a turn for the worst.
Kerry pulled off on the nearest side street once she was off the highway. She parked alongside a row of houses with wire fenced, unkempt yards. The SUV pulled up behind her as Kerry stepped out of her vehicle. She marched over, mindful of the revolver strapped to her ankle. She didn’t think the altercation would turn violent because she had an idea of who was following her, but the weapon provided a confidence she desperately needed.
Kerry saw the driver in the seat through the dark-tinted windows. She could tell even from his position in the front seat that he was a big man. However, it was who the chauffeur was driving around that interested her.
Kerry knocked on the back passenger side window. “What do you want, Cutters?” she shouted his name loud enough so the neighborhood could hear him.
He was a man who enjoyed a low profile, and the last thing he wanted was attention drawn to him.
The window rolled down.
“It’s good to see you, too, Detective.” Benjamin Cutters was a small man in his fifties. He barely cleared five feet and couldn’t have weighed more than a buck twenty. He had shoulder-length hair that was thinning on top and was always dyed some extravagant color. Today’s shade was a light purple. But while his appearance might have suggested some type of eccentric software designer, he was really the West Coast’s largest and most prominent kingpin of importing and exporting illegal goods.
“I’m not a detective anymore,” Kerry said. “So I can’t help you.” She turned to leave, hoping that would be the end of it, but Cutters wasn’t finished.
“Just because you’re on a leave of absence doesn’t mean you’re not still a cop,” Cutters said. “And even without your badge, you’re still working for me.”
Heat rose into Kerry’s cheeks as she stopped walking. She kept her back to Cutters to collect herself. She didn’t want him to see her frustration. “I don’t work for you,” Kerry said, turning around. “Badge or no badge.”
Cutters narrowed his beady eyes. He wasn’t an intimidating man by any standard, but Kerry knew he was still dangerous. A man like him couldn’t survive in this world without getting his hands dirty. Even if it weren’t exactly his hands doing the dirty work.
Kerry glanced to the muscle that was Cutters’ security detail. Three bodyguards sat in the car with him. Each of them looked like an NFL lineman, but Kerry knew they were well trained. Some of them might even be ex-military.
“You should be thanking me,” Cutters said. “We could have had this conversation back at your children’s school. Not something the PTA would appreciate, no doubt.”
Kerry tensed from the mention of her children. “If you ever bring my children into this, I’ll—”
“Do you really think that you’re in a position to make demands?” Cutters asked tersely.
It was Cutters’ tone that worried her, and deep down, she knew he was right. Kerry had compromised herself on the last missing person case she had worked. Her actions had been done with good intentions, but no good deed went unpunished.
“Our deal was a mistake,” Kerry said.
Cutters smiled. “I think you misunderstand the essence of our relationship. But since it’s your first time, I’ll let that slide.” He held out his hand to the security guard next to him, who handed him a folded piece of paper, which Cutters handed to Kerry. “I need you to give a tip to the VICE detectives at your precinct.”
Kerry opened the folded piece of paper frowned. Written on it were an address, a date, and time. “And what does this tip entail?”
“They’ll find a shipment of heroin at that location and time,” Cutters said. “All they have to do is show up.”
Kerry studied the piece of paper and then looked to Cutters. “And why the hell would you want some of your own heroin to be caught by the police?”
Cutters picked something underneath his nail. “That’s not your concern. Just make sure those detectives receive that tip.”
Kerry didn’t like any of this scenario. But she understood that Cutters wasn’t going to disappear until she complied. “And how did I come by this information? Should I tell them you gave me a tip?”
“Go visit your father,” Cutters said. “He can be your source.”
“My father is in prison,” Kerry said. “He doesn’t have any way to get this type of information.”
“Don’t be so naïve, Detective,” Cutters said. “You should know better than to think your father was able to turn over a new leaf. Despite what you might think, he is still very much a part of a seedy underground. We can’t run away from our past no matter how far we think we’ve gone. The life he chose was a permanent decision. A man like him doesn’t get to walk away from his past, just as you don’t get to walk away from your agreement with me.”
Kerry knew about her father’s horrible past. But recently, she had been trying to heal her relationship with him. He had done terrible things to his family and to the people of the city, but Kerry had come a long way in forgiving him.
Kerry hated the fact that Cutters knew so much about her personal life, but so did everybody else who read the newspaper. Her father had made headlines when he was arrested when she was a kid. Her father had been in jail for longer than he had been a free man at this point. But he seemed to have changed, or at least that’s what Kerry wanted to believe.
“Just get it done,” Cutters said.
Cutters rolled up his window, and the SUV pulled back out onto the road. Kerry watched as the vehicle disappeared from view and then stared down at the piece of paper.
Kerry knew she had made a mistake on her last case, going to Cutters for help. But she and her partner were out of options. There was no other way she could think of to solve the case and to make sure everybody remained alive. It was a difficult choice, but even now, she understood that it was necessary. And it appeared she would have to continue to do what was necessary in order to keep her family safe.
3
For the first time in ages, Jim North was awoken by the alarm on his clock. He couldn’t remember the last time he wasn’t up before the sunrise, but the past few weeks had been anything but normal for him. He slammed his hand down onto the alarm clock, silencing the incessant buzzing.
Jim turned to his left and saw Jen sleeping silently next to him. The first morning rays of sunlight shone through the blinds of his bedroom window. The light striped her body in the sheets. He didn’t think he had ever seen anything look so peaceful as the way Jen slept.
Jen slowly opened her eyes and squinted from the morning light but then smiled when she saw Jim looking at her. “Were you watching me?”
Jim smiled. “It’s nice having you here.” In fact, it was the one thing keeping him sane, but he chose to keep that to himself.
> “Aww, I like being here, too.” Jen rolled to her back and stretched, the covers slipping down past her breasts as she yawned. “How’d you sleep?”
Jim had never been much of a sleeper. Late nights and early mornings had plagued him for most of his life. But that had slowly changed since he had started dating Jen. Now, the only time he couldn’t sleep was when she wasn’t with him. But that was a rarity these days.
“Best sleep of my life,” Jim answered.
Jen sat up. She was always quick to wake, bright-eyed and ready for the day. Her thick, red hair was bunched up in messy curls, makeup-less and freckled-faced, her ocean-blue eyes smiling; Jim had never seen anything more beautiful. “Really?”
Jim nodded.
“I don’t suppose I have anything to do with that good sleep?” Jen asked.
Jim leaned forward to kiss her, but she leaned back and quickly covered her mouth.
“Morning breath,” Jen said, the words muffled from her hand.
Jim laughed. “Fair enough.” He flung the covers off of him and got out of bed. “I’ll get breakfast started.”
Jim weaved around the boxes in the bedroom, most of them unpacked and empty, but a few still needing to be sorted through. Jen had moved into Jim’s house over the weekend. It was a big step for them both. Neither had ever lived with anyone they were dating. But for such a big milestone, Jim was surprised at how calm he was about the entire ordeal.
Even though Jen had only moved into the house over the weekend, she had been practically living there for the past few months. Together they had fallen into a morning routine. Jim would be the first one up and make breakfast while Jen got ready for work. They ate together, and then Jen would hang out while Jim would get ready for work.
It might not have been much of a thing for most people, but for Jim, it was rejuvenating. He wasn’t used to living in a world where he was at peace.
Jim’s outlook had changed dramatically over the past year. He had slowly come out of the shell that he had built around himself. He was finally allowing himself to experience what life could be like when he wasn’t afraid of being let down by another person.
For the longest time, Jim had always been someone who enjoyed being alone. He was never the person to be a part of a group. Except for a few people he held close, like Jen, he had always been a lone wolf. He supposed it was part of his upbringing. A childhood where he had bounced around foster homes, each one worse than the last until he had finally reached a family he could trust.
But even after finally being housed with decent people, it was hard to break years of old habits, and some of them still lingered even to this day. And after what had happened on the last case he had worked with Kerry, he felt those old habits creeping to the forefront once again.
Halfway through breakfast, Jen set down her fork and swallowed the rest of her biscuit. “Anything big happening today?”
Jim sipped his mug of coffee before he answered. “I have a meeting with the lieutenant and the captain this morning. Not sure what it’s about.”
Jen raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Do you think it’s about Kerry?”
“I don’t know,” Jim answered.
Jen was quiet, pensive, but Jim knew she was worried when her breakfast continued to remain untouched.
“Everything is fine,” Jim said.
“I just know how difficult it’s been on you,” Jen said. “Not having her around.”
Jim hadn’t spoken much about Kerry aloud, though she hadn’t really left his thoughts during the day, especially when he was at the precinct. The pair had been put together rather reluctantly, and no one, not even Jim or Kerry, believed the match would last. But their lieutenant had seen something no one else could, and the pair had become the finest missing person detectives in the state.
“I guess I’m not as good at faking it as I used to be,” Jim said.
Jen reached for his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Have you called her yet?”
“No,” Jim answered.
“You really should,” Jen replied. “I’m sure she would love to hear from you.”
“Well, she hasn’t reached out to me, so I guess she wants her privacy,” Jim said, more harshly than he intended.
Jen frowned, giving him one of her looks that told him he was being stubborn. “I just think it would be a good idea to talk to her. That’s all.”
“I’ll try to give her a call around lunchtime,” Jim said.
“Good.” Jen smiled, happy that she had managed to push Jim in the right direction. It was rare that Jen was ever wrong about matters like this. She was more in tune with what the world expected of people from a social standpoint, even though she could be a bit awkward herself. But she was the kindest person Jim had ever met.
Once breakfast was over, the pair finished getting ready, and Jim walked Jen to the door. Before they parted ways for the morning, Jim pulled her close and kissed her firmly on the lips. He held her a few seconds in the embrace, and when he finally pulled back, she smiled at him.
“What was that for?” Jen asked.
“I’m very thankful for you,” Jim said. “I just want you to know that.”
Jen kissed him again and whispered into his ear, “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” Jim said.
Jim watched her walk to the car and then drive away. It wasn’t until he couldn’t see her vehicle anymore that he grabbed his own keys and headed into work.
Traffic was light on the drive to the precinct. Jim even found a spot close to the front building where he parked his old, but sturdy, Mazda Protégé. It was rusted and well worn, and the transmission was starting to buck a little bit, but it still got him from point A to point B just fine.
Kerry had told him to upgrade, for Jen’s sake at least, but he enjoyed the lack of a car payment. And when he was on the clock, he always checked out one of the unmarked cruisers in the motor pool. It was like he got a new car every day…if new cars smelled like stale coffee and old fast food.
The shift change had already happened by the time Jim arrived, and the precinct was already in full swing as Jim made his way to the detectives’ bullpen. His desk was paired with another, the same set up every detective pairing had in the precinct, but the desk across from Jim’s was empty and barren.
Jim draped his jacket over the backside of his chair and booted up his computer. He stared at Kerry’s old desk while his computer turned on, and once the screen appeared and asked for his login, he swiveled toward the monitor and started his day.
Most of the morning was spent on paperwork. Having worked solo since Kerry’s LOA, Jim had fallen a little behind on some of the more administrative tasks. He’d gotten used to splitting the paperwork, and he hadn’t quite caught up with it yet.
But the extra paperwork paled in comparison to the loss of the comradery Jim had with Kerry when they worked together. It had been a long time since he had someone have his back the way she did, and Jim knew those people were hard to come by in life.
Before Kerry, Jim had reveled in working alone. It was a badge he wore with pride and honor. But it had given him a bad reputation, one that had improved since his partnership with Kerry. Jim remembered those days like a distant memory. And what Jim feared most was falling back into the cold, calculated man who lived alone, worked alone, and enjoyed being alone.
“North.”
Jim didn’t need to turn around to know who was it was. He’d recognize the gruff voice anywhere. “Hey, Glenn.”
Detective Glenn Ruthers appeared on Jim’s left and sat on the edge of his desk, pushing the stack of paperwork backward and nearly toppling it over onto Kerry’s old desk. He was one of the VICE detectives, and he looked more like a heavy metal drummer than a cop. The look came in handy for his undercover work, but Jim could never determine if the fashion choice were simply out of his own personal taste or part of the job.
“I thought you might actually be late today.” Ruthers grinn
ed, looking cocky as he chewed a piece of gum. He crossed his muscled arms over his chest, and Jim could see some of the tattoos from the bottom cuff of his long-sleeved work polo.
“Not today,” Jim said.
“You know the other detectives have a pool going over when you’re finally going to get a new partner,” Ruthers said.
“I already have a partner,” Jim replied, returning his attention to his computer screen.
Ruthers glanced at Kerry’s empty desk. “Doesn’t look like it.” He blew a bubble and it popped, the loud snap sharp in Jim’s ear. “You seen her since her LOA?”
Ruthers was the last person Jim wanted to discuss the details of his partnership with Kerry. And thankfully, he was thrown a lifeline to escape the conversation.
“Jim!” Lieutenant Mullocks waved at him from her office down the hallway. “Let’s go.”
Thankful for the lieutenant’s distraction, Jim left Ruthers’ question unanswered and headed for his boss’s office for the meeting.
Lieutenant Mullocks was joined by Captain Kierney. The captain wore his dress blues, as he did every day. Everyone in the department said it was because the man never wanted to miss a good photo opportunity. He wasn’t well-liked by the officers, but everyone in command seemed to enjoy his company.
Aside from a stern-looking expression that appeared well-practiced in the mirror, there wasn’t anything intimidating about Captain Kierney in Jim’s opinion, other than the fact the man could fire you on the spot.
“Detective North,” Kierney said, addressing Jim with slight disdain. “Please, have a seat.”
Jim knew the captain didn’t like him. Kierney had been against Jim since his reassignment here from the beginning. Jim didn’t want to cause a fuss, so he took the seat in front of the lieutenant’s desk while Kierney remained standing.
“We’re all busy, so I’ll make this quick,” Kierney said. “We’ll be assigning you a new partner starting tomorrow.”
Jim immediately looked to Lieutenant Mullocks, who remained stoic. He glanced back to the captain and could tell he was waiting for Jim to have an outburst, so he tried, as calmly as possible, to figure out why this was happening now.
