Dirty Cops Next Door

by Summer Cooper

  “It seems your brother has gotten involved with the wrong crowd. He was, well, there’s no easy way to put this, he was at a drug deal when it went kind of south, and somebody started a fire. We need to know what Eric saw.” Grant didn’t take his eyes off the road as he spoke; he just kept driving.

  “Drugs? What? We only just got here! Eric’s never been a problem, never done drugs! Oh my God, this has to be a mistake.”

  “Well, I think he’s a good kid, but he was there. He was definitely there.” Grant rubbed at his jaw, as if he were trying to rub away a memory that still plagued him.

  “He’s alright though?” I could hear how my voice shook but could do little to stop it.

  “He’s got some burns and a head injury. He’s awake, or he was when I left to come get you.”

  “Why didn’t you just call me?” I knew it was a stupid question, but it was all that occurred to me at the moment.

  “I thought it best, that way you didn’t have to drive while you were upset.” He looked over at me, his glance showing surprise that I wasn’t in tears.

  Eric was alive. There’d be no tears. I’d cried out my tears a long time ago. Only death could bring them now.

  “I appreciate that.” I turned away, needing to process everything before I could see my brother. How could he fall in with the wrong crowd on the very first day of school?

  I wanted to be angry—I was angry—but I had to hear his side of it before I could let it go. I’d learned over the last few years that I wasn’t his mother. I was his sister and his guardian. I couldn’t push him like Mom used to.

  I shied away from that thought, turning my head away from the bright lights of a restaurant we were passing to look at Grant instead. He was a good driver, careful but on the offense. He could definitely take control when he needed to.

  I inhaled a deep breath into my lungs; I didn’t like the direction of my thoughts. He was handsome, distractingly so, and he smelled incredible, but my little brother was in the hospital and probably scared out of his mind.

  I finally went to my phone for distraction, seeing I had a text from Barbara.

 

  What a first day! I’d just turned down my big break!

 

  I sat back, hoping I wouldn’t get a ‘you’re fired’ text.

  My phone buzzed moments later.

 

  I breathed a sigh of relief, my thoughts whirling. I knew I should be sobbing, I knew I should be shaking in abject fear at what might have happened to Eric. Grant had said he was awake. Until I saw my brother, until I saw his face, I knew I would be calm. I might hug him and never let go when I saw him, but right now, I would not panic.

  I would not.

  I clenched my hand around the phone, the only indication that I wasn’t as calm as I wanted to be. And then I remembered I’d been drinking wine when Grant arrived. I dug around in my purse and found a stick of gum, hoping the peppermint would take away the smell of wine. Jeez, that’s all I needed, for any of the cops or the hospital staff to notice I’d been drinking. Child protective services would be on me in no time. Especially if Eric had been messing around with drug dealers.

  Maybe he’d just ridden out there with his friend to play around in empty buildings? A stupid idea but not one beyond the realm of thought for teenage boys. I might be a new journalist but I wasn’t old to journalism, I knew how stupid people could be. Eric and I were alone, after all.

  Grant pulled into the hospital’s parking space for police officers and emergency personnel and we got out. He caught my hand before we walked into the sliding glass doors of the three-story brick building. I turned back, looking at him in confusion.

  “Don’t scream at him, okay? We can save this situation. Just stay clear, alright? Let him tell you what happened.” His eyes implored me to understand, and for a moment I wondered if he was trying to get me to get information from Eric.

  Something about his touch told me it went deeper than that. This wasn’t just a man that, for whatever reason, thought I’d turn into a screaming harridan once I saw my brother. Maybe the bit of cynicism that all journalists have pre-installed onto their hard drives told me that Grant was speaking from his own experience, not assumptions. His own childhood maybe? I finally gave a slight nod, and he let my hand go.

  I stared at the ceiling of the elevator as we rode up to the second floor, trying to keep my head clear, trying not to let the past haunt me.

  Grant walked me straight to the room and for the first time I saw what had happened to my little brother.

  “Eric!” I hurried to the side of the bed, staring at the tubes in his arm, at the portion of his shaved head showcasing stitches. A long, angry line of red skin and black stitches slashed across the left side of his head from just above his ear to the back of his head.

  “I’m okay, Toni, I swear.” His voice sounded the same as when he was little, tiny and afraid. He cuddled into my chest as I pulled him to me, a small sob muffled by his hand.

  “I didn’t know anything like that was going to happen,” he gasped, pulling away to look at me. “I swear I didn’t know.”

  “It’s alright, Eric. Tell me what happened.” I put the rail down on the side of the bed and sat next to him. Grant took one of the obligatory pink chairs that weren’t good for much of anything except making the room look tacky.

  “I met Mark in my homeroom class, he’s my student guide. We were talking about music, things we like in between classes, you know? He seemed cool. He said he wanted to show me something after school, so we went out to this place his dad owns. Then these guys showed up, and, jeez, Toni. I think they killed somebody!” His eyes were round in his young face, and I stroked away a smudge of smoke.

  “It’s okay, Eric, we’ll sort this out.”

  He went to move and that’s when I saw his right arm was cuffed to the bed.

  “What the hell?” I turned, glaring at Grant, but David walked in just then, his face grim as he looked between Eric and me.

  “Seems your brother has brought a little trouble to our town. He’s ruined his whole life, you know? This is going to follow him around forever. Once he gets out of prison that is.” He looked rather satisfied with himself and I felt sick at how I’d been fantasizing about him only an hour ago.

  “You’re crazy! He hasn’t done anything! What could you possibly charge him with? He wasn’t involved in any of that mess tonight!”

  “So he says. I don’t believe him. You two move into town and within days we have an explosion, drug deals, and a dead man on our hands? It probably wasn’t the best idea to move next door to us. You have a good cover going, I’ll give you that, but teenagers never work out well as drug runners.”

  His eyes told me he knew I wanted to slap him but I didn’t dare. He was a cop. I didn’t feel like sitting in jail tonight. I stared daggers at him instead, my jaw clenched in feral anger. I hated him!

  “David, chill, brother. We don’t know any of that is true. Come on, outside.” Grant stood, his own countenance not allowing any argument.

  I held my brother’s hand as the pair left the room, inspecting him for other injuries. He seemed to be okay but he was covered in ash and blood still. I wanted nothing more than to take him home but the doctor soon squashed the idea.

  “We need to keep an eye on that head injury,” he explained. “Eric has a concussion and we want to watch him for infections. We cleaned the wound but with it being on his head, well, we need to make sure.” The elderly man in the long white coat checked Eric over once more before he left us in peace.

  Grant came into the room, looking at me uncertainly.

  “What’s happening?” I asked him.

  “I think I’ve talked David down for now. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” He scrubbed at his jaw, which I noticed showed signs of needing a shave. His light brown hair was fal
ling into his eyes and I wanted to brush it away. I liked that it was a little long on top, it made him sexier, in a boyish kind of way.

  “Well, Eric’s not going anywhere tonight so he can just fu... uh, he can just leave Eric alone for now. Tomorrow is soon enough.” Barbara had sent me the number for a lawyer and I had it ready to call if I needed it.

  I didn’t bother to ask how she knew Eric might need one. She was a reporter, the same as me. We had our ways.

  “Right, I’ll let you two have some peace then. The cuffs have to stay on until we question him again in the morning. I’m sorry, I can’t take them off. Are you staying with him tonight?” He looked down at me, his eyes so tender it stole my breath away.

  I turned away, not wanting him to see my response. “Yeah, I’ll stay here and get a taxi home in the morning.”

  “No need, I’ll come and pick you up. Or I can take you now, and you can bring your car back.”

  That actually sounded like the best idea, so I kissed Eric goodbye and told him I would be back soon. The two glasses of wine had worn off in all the panic, so I wasn’t worried about that.

  The drive back to the house was quiet and Grant said little as I left him in his car. Exhaustion hit me hard as I walked into the house. I wished I had somebody to lean against, to hold me close, somebody like Grant, but right now he was more dangerous than any other man in the world. He held my brother’s future in his hands and that made him a very dangerous animal to mess with.

  As I drove back to the hospital, a bag of fresh clothes and toiletries in the seat beside me, I tried to clear my head. I’d barely slept the night before, had a very stressful first day, and now this. I wanted nothing more than to sleep, but I wasn’t going to leave Eric in hospital alone.

  He was asleep when I walked into the room, something that confused me as he had a concussion. A nurse soon came in and I asked her about it.

  “Oh, we wake them up on a schedule to check them for developing symptoms. Eric was holding a conversation earlier and his pupils aren’t dilated so it’s best he rests. He needs it.” She patted Eric’s arm and wrote down some vital signs on the laptop she carried with her. “He’ll be fine, miss. Don’t worry.”

  The small redhead in her late fifties smiled at me and stopped before she left the room. “I’ll bring you in a pillow and blanket in a bit. Want anything else?”

  I told her no and thanked her. She left and I stared at Eric, the noise of the television becoming background noise. He was so young, so gullible. What had this other kid, this Mark, gotten my innocent little brother into?

  I wasn’t stupid, I knew Eric could easily fall between the cracks, and without a father figure, he might turn to men that weren’t the best to be around, but I also knew that he had me. I always made time for him, I’d given him the best care I could and had always tried to steer him in the right direction. Had I failed?

  Going back over our conversation, I knew he’d simply made the mistake of trusting a kid that probably didn’t deserve it. What had the little delinquent wanted to show Eric though? The drug deal? Something in the warehouse? What had it been?

  I knew it was wrong to think so badly of a teenager but the boy had almost gotten Eric killed. I couldn’t forgive that.

  The nurse brought me the blanket and pillow, though I doubted I’d sleep with the noises from the machines Eric was hooked up to. I looked at it all, wondering exactly how much this experience was going to cost us. I’d been able to scrimp together enough money to keep our health insurance up to date, but I was still worried. That started a new panic, and I closed my eyes, a headache starting to pound in my temple.

  David

  I watched the first of the fallen leaves blow against the window, a storm brewing in the night sky. I could hear the rush of air, the tinkle of the dry leaves as they crashed against the glass, and thought about the stricken face of my neighbor as I barged in and accused her brother of being a drug runner.

  She’d given away her every thought on that mobile face of hers. She was going to have to learn to control that if she planned on a career as a reporter. I’d seen the disbelief, the confusion, and the anger as I’d spoken to her roughly. She wasn’t what I’d accused her of, but my suspicions were still running high. Something about the brown-haired woman with such innocent blue eyes set me on edge. She’d made me nervous from the first moment I met her.

  “You want any of this pizza?” Grant came in, delivery box in hand.

  “No, I’m good, thanks.” I shook my head, a pounding headache making my stomach knot up at the sight of the food.

  “What are we going to do about those two?” Grant asked, his voice drilling straight into my ear and through my brain. The headache wasn’t easing, despite the aspirin.

  “Eric’s hanging around with that Mark kid. We both know who his dad is.” I rubbed at the space between my eyes, trying to get the headache to ease. “If he’s already found his way into that group, he may be lost before we even get started.”

  “The old ‘telling me I can’t hang around with someone means that’s who I’ll go straight for’ game, huh?” Grant sounded amused but I could see the worry in his eyes.

  We’d been mates for a long time, friends to born and raised Americans, not bedmates. Although we did have a penchant for sharing bed partners. Together.

  “Exactly. She’s his sister so she isn’t going to have much control over him anyway. Hopefully, my little speech put the fear of God into him.” I sat back, propping my feet up on the long couch. Grant took a seat in a dark brown leather recliner and sighed as his muscles relaxed.

  “You could be right. We could get him into that new program the chief has started.” Grant picked up another slice of cheese-covered pizza and I had to look away, nausea roiling in my stomach.

  These headaches were getting worse, but they came with the job. Or so the doc had told me. Nothing to do but take anti-anxiety pills or wait them out. I’d have to exercise more, see if that eased the stress of being a detective in a town with a drug problem.

  “I’m not sure that’ll work. It’s for offenders. Eric hasn’t been convicted yet.” I stressed the last word, letting Grant know I still thought the kid might be heading down a criminal path.

  “It will work, David, I’m sure of it. Turn the game on, the Ravens are playing tonight.” He eased the recliner back and I turned the game on.

  Usually, if we had time, we spent our Friday nights at the high school football stadium, watching our local boys play, but we’d had to miss that tonight.

  “I’m going to head to the shower, then to bed, man. I’m beat. Let me know the score in the morning.” I eased off the couch and went to the bathroom, the warm spray already easing some of the tension that caused me so much pain.

  I was letting the spray wash over my face when Toni’s anger-filled eyes entered my mind. I’d wanted nothing more than to pin that angry little body against the wall and kiss away the words she’d wanted to spew, but I had a job to do. My body reacted again and a fantasy of her legs wrapped around my waist as I pounded her into the shower wall filled my mind. That woman was trouble, so much damned trouble!

  She was the marrying kind, not the kind you’d fuck and forget about. She needed a white knight. Not two men with a stash of money and white powder hidden in their attic.

  4

  Toni

  “Let me help you with those.” I turned as I heard Grant come up behind me, his hands reaching out for the bags of groceries I was trying to carry in. “Damn woman, you’re strong!”

  I laughed as he took the weight of the nine bags I’d been attempting to get into the house in one run.

  “No, just determined not to get rained on.” I glanced up at the sky before heading to unlock the front door.

  “Good thing I was checking the mail when you pulled up then. You shouldn’t have to carry all of this by yourself. Eric at the diversion program?” He followed me into the house and set the bags on the long oak table in the kitchen
. We had a dining room but Eric and I both preferred to eat in the kitchen, there was more light in the morning.

  “Yeah, he started it this week. He had to wait until his stitches were out. The doctor wouldn’t release him until then.” I started putting boxes of food away, hanging fruit and vegetables in baskets. “He seems to be alright with it so far.”

  The program was a sixteen-week course designed to take young offenders from community service through litter pickup all the way up to visiting the elderly in nursing homes. Fridays were spent testing and focusing on skill development.

  “It’s a great program, really.” I turned to Grant after putting the milk away. “It’s just so expensive!”

  He cringed as he heard my tone and looked sheepish.

  “Yeah, it is, but it’s meant to be so there’s a total impact. It’s designed so guardians know that they have to pay attention to their kid’s future, and so the kid knows their life choices have costs. It’s kept David and the chief happy so far, and that’s what matters for Eric.”

  “I don’t think he could have been charged with anything, could he?” I held out a bottle of white wine, giving Grant a questioning look.

  “Sure, I’ll have a glass with you.” He gave me a cheeky grin, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

  Being with him was so easy, so comfortable. I just had to remember to watch what I said around him. He took a sip before answering my question.

  “I don’t know if he could have been charged with anything or not. We talked to the chief to keep him out of it. Mark’s dad has a really expensive lawyer that’s keeping his kid’s name out of it all. If nothing else, they were witnesses to a crime and should have been questioned. You know that, don’t you?” He didn’t look like he was trying to push me into knowing I owed him, it was more like he wanted me to know Eric had to be more careful.

  “Yeah, I know.” I came to sit at the table next to him, my leg brushing against his as I did. I felt aware of him in more than the usual way of being able to smell him and feel him. I felt like I could close my eyes and still feel exactly where he was. “It’s been over two weeks now. I can’t get him to stop hanging out with that kid.”