Protect and Serve: Soldiers, SEALs and Cops: Contemporary Heroes from NY Times and USA Today and other bestselling authors

by J. M. Madden

  “Goddamit, Dane. This is bullshit. You’re not going to be a very good cop if you get personally involved in every incident you’re a part of.” We were in the living room now.

  “It’s not like that. I knew this girl when I was a kid— ”

  “That was a whole different world ago, Briggs. This is now. This just went from a drug bust to a double homicide. And what better opportunity to save your ass, than to kill the assholes you just gave up. Only, I think she killed them, then came to the station to offer up her information.”

  “I guess looking for the good in people isn’t exactly a great quality in a cop.” My head still spinning, I wanted to go outside and get fresh air.

  “Outside.” Apparently Burke read my mind. And as we walked back into the kitchen, he said, “You’ll become jaded enough, and it won’t take long. Pretty soon, you'll think everyone is lying to you. And they usually are.”

  Once outside, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for several seconds. I wanted to open them and have it all be a dream. Instead, I saw Dornan walking toward us.

  “Hey, Sarge. I’ve got a little something to establish a timeline.” As he approached, he flipped open his notebook.

  “Shoot.”

  “The lady next door said she heard a loud sound around one in the morning. But she didn’t get up to see what it was because there was always something going on at this house. She said she thought it was firecrackers or something.”

  Burke pulled out his own notepad and jotted down the time. He turned to me and asked, “What time did Claire come to the station?”

  “I’m not sure. Isaac said he dropped her off, but he didn’t say where.” I thought about it. “I woke up and heard them talking somewhere around eleven, and then shortly afterward, Isaac and Claire left in his car.”

  To Dornan, Burke said, “Get the video footage from the exterior of the station. I want to know what time the Hoffman girl arrived at the station and what her state of mind was. Maybe we can see it from the video.”

  “On it.” Dornan turned on his heel and marched away like a good soldier.

  “The D.A. is going to shit his pants when he hears about this.” Burke handed me his cell phone. “And you’re going to be the one to call him.”

  I hesitated before accepting the phone from him. “Don’t you think he already knows?”

  Burke pulled the phone back. “Never mind. I’m going to call him myself. And you’re going to your uncle’s place to keep an eye on Hoffman. I don’t want her thinking she can slip out the back door on this.”

  Even I was beginning to doubt Claire.

  “I’ll let you know what’s going on, and I’ll bring her back to the station as soon as I can.”

  “See if you can get Isaac to let her go early. We need to have a chat with this chick.” The squint in Burke’s expression showed the stress he was under.

  I walked back to my car at a snail’s pace, dreading stepping foot in Ruby’s to find Claire had skipped out already. She was a player, and she’d played quite the hand this morning.

  On my way to the restaurant, a thought crossed my mind. Who was the friend who had found them? I picked up my phone to call Burke.

  NINE

  If Claire was happy to see me, she sure didn’t show it. She barely acknowledged I had walked in the door. Uncle Isaac looked up and smiled wide.

  “Dane, so good of you to come and help with the dishes for the dinner crowd.”

  I chucked out a faux laugh. “Right, dishes.”

  “You’re not here to help out?” Isaac put his arm over my shoulders. “It’s a busy night. And your girl here, she’s got experience, and she’s doing okay for her first shift.”

  I looked back over my shoulder, on the opposite side of where Isaac hung on me. Claire looked busy, but not happy.

  “I’m here to take her home a bit early.” I cringed when Isaac squeezed my shoulders tight. “Sergeant Burke has some pertinent questions for her.”

  Isaac stopped squeezing me and turned to face me. “More important than my dinner guests?”

  I nodded.

  “Not possible.” Isaac winked.

  “There’s been a double homicide.”

  The words hung in the air.

  “Not more important than my guests because the dead guys aren’t going anywhere, but I see the urgency in other ways.” The color had drained from his face.

  “Claire isn’t necessarily involved, but she knows the victims.” I looked at the floor, embarrassed to ask, “Can she get off work early, so the D.A. and the police can talk to her? The sooner the better.”

  Isaac whispered in my ear, but it was loud because of the clatter of the restaurant at dinner rush. “This doesn't look good for your girl.”

  I gave a weak grin. “I know, Uncle Isaac, I know.”

  When I looked back to the counter, Claire was gone. Something inside me panicked. Had she overheard our conversation and hightailed it out through the kitchen?

  Relief flooded me as she came back through the swinging doors with an armful of plates.

  Isaac looked at Claire too. “Go. Take her. I’ll take over the counter. But this better be worth it.”

  “I’m sorry, Isaac. I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t crazy important.”

  Isaac walked over to Claire and asked for her apron and order tablet. I could see the puzzled look on her face. Then she looked at me and frowned.

  I heard Isaac say, “Go. Now.”

  Claire rushed over to me and asked, “What the hell?”

  I grabbed her by the elbow and led her out of the restaurant. No way were we going to make a scene in Ruby’s.

  Once we were out in the front of the restaurant, I said, “You look nice in that uniform.”

  It was a 1950s style diner uniform.

  “Whatever. That’s not why you dragged me out of there, to compliment me.” She yanked her elbow free.

  “Let’s get in my car.” At which point, I realized I couldn’t keep her from jumping out of my car while we traveled down the road at fifty miles-per-hour. I debated waiting to explain the situation until we arrived at the station or telling her right there.

  “I’m not getting in the damn car until you tell me what’s going on.”

  I glared at her, not liking her much at that moment. “What time did my uncle drop you off at the police station last night?”

  She frowned at me, then realization hit her. “He didn’t drop me off at the police station. And I don’t wear a watch, so I don’t know what time it was. Though I do remember seeing it was before midnight on his dashboard clock.” She kicked at a rock on the asphalt of the parking lot.

  “Where did he take you?” I held my breath waiting for the answer.

  “He took me home, Dane, back to the house where I was arrested.” She cocked her head defiantly.

  “Is there something you forgot to tell the D.A. this morning?”

  Now she looked everywhere, but at me.

  “Claire!”

  All of her bravado left in a heartbeat, and she began shaking like a naked woman left in subzero temps.

  “I was scared.” She collapsed in a heap on the asphalt.

  I stood over her, not daring to get down to her level.

  “I was terrified.” She sobbed. “He was going to kill me. And he will kill me if he finds out.”

  I braced myself for the bullshit story. “I swear to God, Claire, if you’re lying to me, I’ll kill you myself. And believe me, it will look like an overdose or an accident.”

  Not that I had any idea how to even administer an overdose, or where to get drugs, but I felt those words to my core. I pulled her up off the ground and walked her to my car.

  I opened the passenger door and placed her in the seat while she sniffled and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her uniform. Uncle Isaac would be so pleased.

  Once I had her in the car, I went around to the driver’s side and prayed she didn’t bolt in the time it took me to get there and get i
nside. She didn’t. She was too busy crying and shivering.

  I grabbed a recorder from my duffle bag in the back seat. “I’m going to record this conversation, so don’t say anything that you’ll regret.”

  “Do I need a lawyer?” She whispered.

  “I don’t know. Do you?”

  She shook her head and sucked in a deep breath. I pressed record on my digital recorder.

  “I went back to the house. All of the lights were on, and I walked in the side door. Andre was sitting in the kitchen, smoking a cigarette, and getting ready to shoot up. He’d already heated his rock to liquid and was pulling it into the syringe.”

  I could picture the scene, the filthy kitchen and the unsanitary needle.

  “Anyway, he said there was enough for two, and I said I wasn’t interested.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “He flipped out.”

  “Did you use?”

  She sat up straight, then looked at the recorder. “No. No way. I promised Isaac I was on a new path. I wanted to, real bad, but I really just wanted to get my things and get the hell out of the house.”

  “What happened?”

  “I lied to him. I told him I was tired, and I just wanted to sleep for a bit, then I’d shoot up with him when I woke up. It seemed to satisfy him, even though he said if I did it with him, I wouldn't be tired anymore. I told him I really needed sleep first.”

  I stared at her, seeing a scared little girl telling her story.

  “So I went upstairs. But when I got to our bedroom, Leon was in the bed. I was trying to pack a bag without waking up Leon. That’s when I heard voices downstairs. Only before I could go down and see who was there, I heard a gunshot. Then another. I panicked.”

  I hoped like hell she was telling me the truth.

  “Only seconds later, I heard someone stomping up the stairs.” She looked at me, the terror in her eyes telling me she was not lying. “I opened the closet door and climbed into a box that I’d put in there a few weeks ago. I’d been planning to pack up some things, and so I had it in there for when I got around to it. I knew whoever it was would look in all of the rooms and the closets, so if I just hid in there, he’d find me.”

  “How did you know it was a he?”

  “The voices.”

  I’d give her that.

  “So I crouched down and pulled the box over my body. Right then, I heard another round of gunfire. Only this time it was in the same room I was in. I braced myself and waited for the closet door to open.”

  I found myself holding my breath, even though I knew the outcome.

  “The door flew open, and I could hear him pushing the clothes around. I just knew I was dead. He was going to lift up that box, and I was dead as dirt.” The tension in her shoulders released. “But he only kicked it. And I was smart enough not to get startled by it. Then he was gone.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks. And she sucked in a ragged breath.

  “Who was he?”

  “At first I wasn’t sure because I didn’t recognize the voice. But when he walked out of the bedroom, he said, ‘That’ll teach you assholes to try to rat me out.’ And I knew it was Andre’s supplier, Geoffrey Nunce.”

  I left the recorder running.

  “Why didn’t you tell my Sergeant and the D.A. what happened?”

  “Right, you think they’d believe I had nothing to do with it?”

  “Now they think you’re guilty as hell because you left that part out when you were begging for your deal. Did you forget to tell them that two of the deals were no longer going to happen because the players were fucking dead?” I was shouting by the time I got to the final words.

  “If I left that out, they’d think I knew Andre and Leon were dead. And I was in the house, so they’d think did it.”

  I rolled my head and rested it on the back of my seat. I couldn’t even look at her. “Claire, you need to stop playing games. What you’re doing is dangerous, and you’re getting me involved. It’s my day off, and here I am, looking at dead bodies and tracking you down.”

  She turned her upper body toward me. “You saw them? Was it bad?”

  Now I looked at her with wide eyes. “Are you kidding me? You were in the damned house, Claire, you saw them.”

  Her chin dropped to her chest. “I didn’t. I waited until I heard a car drive away and stayed where I was for another hour or so. Hell, I don’t know how long it was, but I counted silently, so I wouldn’t leave too soon. And when I did leave, I covered my face and only looked forward, to get out as fast as I could. I was afraid of what I would do if I saw a dead person.”

  “Haven’t you seen your share of dead people? Overdoses and all?”

  “Never seen one up close.”

  “I have to take you to the police station. You shouldn’t have to tell your story again, but you do have to go in and give a statement.” I started my car.

  “I can’t go back there.” She grabbed my arm. “Please don’t take me back there. I’ll never see the light of day again.”

  “Once they hear your story, I’m sure they’ll let you go. Maybe they’ll want to do a GSR test, but that’s probably it.” I pulled out of Ruby’s parking lot, headed toward the police station.

  “GSR?” She looked like a sad child.

  “Gunshot residue. To see if you’ve fired a weapon.”

  A slight smile. “Oh, that’s fine.” Then seriously, she said, “If he sees me at the station, he’s going to hunt me down and kill me too.”

  “What?”

  “Geoffrey. He’s looking for me. I know it. I wasn’t in the house, and he knows I was arrested too. The only reason I gave him up was because I was afraid he’d come after me next.”

  “But you walked to the station from your house. Weren’t you afraid he’d see you then?”

  “I was in shock. I didn’t even think about it. But later, his words rang in my head. Over and over. Maybe he thought I ratted him out too.”

  Point blank, I said, “You did.”

  “But only because he killed my boyfriend, and Leon,” she defended.

  “Why didn’t you tell us this morning about Geoffrey?”

  “I don't’ know.”

  But she did know, and I didn’t know how to pry it out of her.

  “Can you please just take me home, and maybe Officer Leigh and Burke can come to the house. Preferably without their cop cars?”

  I looked at my watch. It was already after seven. I’d bet the station was buzzing with this double murder, and she’d end up waiting in an interview room for hours.

  By the end of this, I figured I’d no longer have a badge. I turned right on Highway 9 and headed back to the lake house.

  TEN

  Much to my surprise, Burke agreed to come to the house to talk to Claire. He said the turmoil at the police station was giving him a migraine, and he needed to get away. He also made it clear we’d be having a serious chat when this was finished, and I wouldn’t have much of an ass left when it was done.

  Relieved to not have to go back to the police station, Claire opened the small suitcase she’d brought with her and changed from her uniform into a barely there T-shirt and short shorts. Both were a baby blue and clung to her body for dear life. Something inside me stirred.

  I didn’t know how much more time we’d have together, or if this was the end. And I didn’t want it to be over without ever getting the chance to be with her. I didn’t want to be the one to make the first move, and I also didn’t know how long it’d be before Burke arrived at the house, so I curbed my urges.

  When Burke left, he could be taking Claire with him, but I believed her story, and I thought he would too.

  Claire pulled open the sliding glass door to the deck and walked outside barefooted. She looked back at me and said, “Ready to at least enjoy the evening off of work?”

  I felt that, as a cop, I was never really off duty. I followed her outside. We walked down to the water’s edge and sat at the end of the dock. With our feet han
ging over the water, but not quite touching, Claire grabbed my hand and entwined her fingers in mine.

  “I like this,” I said. “If only we were teenagers again, and we could have a do over. I’d have never left you.”

  Claire grinned. “I didn’t realize how much I missed you until today. You were the only solid thing in my life, and then you were gone.” She swung her feet back and forth, and I could barely see her in the light of the moon.

  “Who knew how much we’d end up needing each other?” I never really thought that much about her in recent years and hadn’t even considered her when I moved back to Uncertain, and yet I felt as if I’d been in love with her for years.

  She laughed. “Oh, I don’t think you really need me. You just need to fix something, and I’m here for the fixing.”

  In a way she was right, but I still thought I loved her. No way was I going to tell her that and scare her off. She’d already left me once, and Uncle Isaac helped her do it. He didn’t know what we had, so I couldn’t blame him. I could only fix what he put in motion.

  “Just tell Burke the truth and tell it from here on out, and it’s all going to get better.”

  She leaned against my shoulder. “I have to tell the story all over again?”

  “I can have him listen to the recording. But he may ask you to tell it again. I don’t know exactly how he works. He’s a good cop, and he’s good at reading character.” I leaned back against her.

  “I like this.” She turned and stretched up and kissed me on the cheek.

  I turned and kissed her on the lips. They were sweet and soft and exactly as I had imagined when we were kids sitting on the dock. It wasn’t like the mad, passionate kissing earlier in the day. I felt the heat, sure, but I felt something else this time. Compassion. Love. Maybe she loved me too. I couldn’t go there yet. I’d make sure she told me first.

  We were lying on the dock, with Claire on top of me, kissing, but still fully clothed, when I saw headlights in the driveway.

  Claire sprang up. “That’s the sergeant.”

  I sat up. “Probably. Don't fret, I’ll be here for you. Just like I said, tell him the truth.”