Trigger (The Loser’s Division #1)

Trigger (The Loser’s Division #1)

By Luna Lay

Chapter 1

The Bad News

Carter

“You’re getting a partner.”

I reluctantly shifted my gaze from the pigeon with a wounded wing traipsing on the windowsill to the man sitting across from me.

“Come again?” I said, hoping that I heard him wrong.

Chief Bibb raised his eyes from the rap sheet in his hand and gave me a blank look.

“Is there something wrong with your ears, Detective Carter?”

Oh, he’s for real?

I stood up so abruptly that I knocked the chair over.

“The hell I am!”

He let out a frustrated sigh, looking every bit like the fifty-year-old, burned-out, underpaid cop he was.

“Sit down, Carter.”

“No.”

“Sit. Down.”

Judging by his tone, he was dead serious. And like that pigeon outside, I suddenly felt off balance.

“You can’t go any lower than this, Carter. You know that, right?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I said, not bothering to hide my anger.

“It means you have reached the end of the tunnel, but you keep staring at the wall instead of looking for a way out. You’re in the LD. There’s no worse place than this.”

I shook my head in annoyance, reluctant to discuss it with him. Again.

The LD, otherwise known as the Loser’s Division. For us cops, it was the last station—the division with the worst cops in the force, in the town with the highest crime rate. No decent, half-capable police officer should find himself in the LD, but here I was with the rest of my ilk. Bad cops, incompetent cops, recovering addicts, politically incorrect and corrupt... the LD had it all. This fine selection also included the misguided loose cannons without a future or prospects, like yours truly.

“I am where I deserve to be,” I said, staring at the clouds gathering outside so I wouldn’t have to see the disappointment in his eyes. I didn’t need him to tell me what a fuckup I was, not when I reminded myself of it every single day. The only thing bigger than my self-pity was probably the corruption rate, and it said a lot. Why did everything have to be so damn bleak all the time?

“Look, son,” Chief Bibb said, using the endearment I hated because it always preceded something I didn’t want to hear. “You know that your father and I go way back. He was the best police officer I ever worked with, and I worked with many. If God hadn’t taken him away from us, he would have become the chief of police, just like your grandfather before him. And you are destined to follow in their footsteps.”

I smiled bitterly. If I had a penny for every time someone said that I would be a rich man.

“You don’t belong here,” Chief Bibb said, sipping some green liquid that looked both healthy and disgusting. “You already have more awards and medals than your father had at your age. Your work ethic is exceptional, and your commitment to the job is legendary at this point. Your reputation is impeccable apart from the… well, the incident that made you end up here. And I’m offering you a way out. This is your chance, Carter. This is your golden ticket, and I won’t let you squander it because you think you’re not good enough.”

“That’s not why I—”

“Do you want to leave the LD or not?” he snapped, his eyes flashing with anger. “This is the last time I’m asking you, Carter. After that, I’m done helping you, because it’s clear you want to remain in this shithole for the rest of your life. And while I have all kinds of losers here, guilt-trippers are not welcome, not on my watch. Now give me your answer, and for the love of God, think twice before you say it.”

I looked down at my bouncing leg, willing it to stop. It was the one nervous tic that I couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard I tried. My one and only tell.

“I don’t know what I want,” I said finally, but I knew it was only half of the answer. I don’t deserve any better. My gaze drifted to the pigeon, but he was gone. He either found strength to fly away, or he fell six stories down into the dumpster below the window.

“Listen to me, son,” Chief Bibb said, pressing his finger to his wrist to check his heart rate. “For once, be smart and get serious. Play by the rules, and you’ll leave this place in no time. Partner up and crack a case that needs cracking. That’s all.”

“Who am I even partnering up with?” I said with a sigh. “Shelley? Bruce? Please, don’t tell me it’s Adam.”

“Neither of them. Your partner is being transferred here from New Mesa. He should arrive in a few days.”

I frowned in confusion. “From New Mesa? What the hell did he do?”

Chief Bibb gave me a blank look.

“Why do you assume he did anything?”

Yeah. Right.

“This is the LD, Chief,” I said, trying not to sound pissy about it. “We’re all here because we did something bad. And if he’s coming from the capital, it means he fucked up big time.”

Chief Bibb shrugged, keeping his poker face.

“You know… a misdemeanor here, a prank there. It just piled up after a while.”

“Yeah, no one is coming here because of a prank,” I said and stood up, knowing this topic was closed. “Anything else?”

“Just give this guy a chance, okay? He’s a great cop. He’s just… rough around the edges.”

“Right,” I muttered, closing the door behind me and rubbing the back of my neck. “Fuck.”

I headed to my desk, aware of everyone in the station staring at me, which meant the news had spread.

“So, you heard?” Shelly said as I sat behind my desk.

“Yeah. Everyone already knows, I presume?”

She shrugged. “You know how it is. It’s a small town.”

It wasn’t. Smitsville was a big, dirty town with big, dirty secrets nobody could keep because information here was more valuable than gold. Still, I could see the remorse in her big, brown eyes, mixed with affection, and maybe even more than that.

“After everything that had happened, they gave you a partner,” Bruce said, rolling his eyes. “Fucking assholes.”

He bit into his burger, ignoring the ketchup dripping on his pants. “You should have refused, you know? You have every right to tell them to go fuck themselves. It’s too soon for this bullshit. Everyone knows it.”

Yeah, I had every right, not that anyone cared.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, feeling resigned. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Who’s the guy?”

At the sound of another voice, my jaw tightened as a man with a scar on his cheek approached my desk. Adam “The Scarface” Markland, a fellow detective and a pain in everyone’s ass, joined the discussion, if only to piss me off.

“Someone from the capital,” I replied, trying to look indifferent. “Who cares?”

“Well, I do,” he said, sitting down on the edge of my desk. “Apparently.”

Right. Adam hated my guts, and the feeling was mutual, so I wasn’t buying it.

“I hear your new partner is Belgian,” Adam said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Built like a brick wall, but not too bright, I’m afraid. A pain in the ass, too, so you should get along just fine.”

I smirked, not taking the bait. “Coming from you, it must be a compliment.”

“Knock it off, Adam,” Shelly cut in. “Why do you have to be such an ass all the time?”

Adam raised his hands in surrender.

“Hey, I was just trying to be helpful. And why are you always standing up for him? You’re not his mother, and you’re certainly not his girlfriend because he already has one.”

“I’m his friend, you prick,” Shelly said, red in the face. “Ever heard of the concept?”

“Sure,” he replied, chuckling. “Ever heard of false hope?”

She flipped him off, her mouth filled with hairpins as she was trying to tame her fiery, red hair.

“She’s not standing up for me, Adam,” I said, clenching and unclenching my fists under the desk. “Cut it out.”

Just breathe.

“This Belgian guy,” Bruce mumbled, pulling a gherkin out of his beard and tossing it into the trash. “People say he was the best detective in his precinct before… well, before he fucked it all up. As you do.”

“Is he the one they call Viking?” Ruth from HR asked, sounding intrigued.

Shelly giggled. “Why? Does he look like one?”

“I don’t know, but I hear he’s the type who hits first and asks questions later.”

“My point, exactly,” Adam said mockingly. “You’re a match made in heaven, Trigger.”

I felt warmth invading my cheeks, but I wouldn’t look at him. If he knew he was getting to me, he would have a field day, so I kept my eyes down and my mouth shut.

When my phone pinged with a text, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Perfect timing, Vic.

“Anyway, I hope you have more luck this time,” Adam said, smirking. “We all know how your last partner ended up.”

I couldn’t remember jumping out of my chair or grabbing him by the throat. I wasn’t aware of his face turning purple or his eyes bulging out as my fingers dug into his neck. The only thing I knew was my vision turning red until it was all I could see. The rush of blood in my ears made all the other sounds fade away into the red-tinted background. An overwhelming sense of peace overtook me, and then there was just stillness and... quiet.

Only when I felt hands grabbing me, trying to overpower me, did I realize something was wrong. Only when I heard everyone shouting around me did I return to my senses. I realized I let myself snap yet again when I knew… I knew what it did to me.

“Get a grip, man,” Bruce said, sounding alarmed. “Don’t let the chief see you like this.”

“That’s right, Trigger.” Adam wheezed the words out with his hand on his throat, which bore the red, ugly marks of my fingers. “Don’t let anyone see what you really are. A fraud. A charlatan. A fucking joke.”

I punched him in the face before anyone could stop me, as that red sensation engulfed me to the point of bursting.

“Enough!” Chief Bibb bellowed, his voice booming across the room. “What is this? A kindergarten? What are you doing, you bunch of losers? Fighting each other instead of solving crime? Sending me to an early grave? You, Markland. One more stunt like this, and I’ll suspend you for so long that people will forget what you look like. Bruce, take Markland to the ER and get him out of my sight. Carter, go home.”

“But, Chief—” I protested.

“Home!” Chief Bibb shouted. “I don’t want to see your face here until tomorrow, or you’ll regret it. I’m sick and tired of you… all of you. You are acting like a bunch of preschoolers, not police officers. This may be a shithole, and you may be a bunch of losers, but this is my shithole, and you are my losers. Now go back to your jobs, or I’ll fire you all!”

Thorsen

“You’re a disgrace,” Chief Stensland hissed as I pulled away with a grimace, dodging a speck of his saliva before it could hit my face. “An utter and absolute disgrace.”

His flushed, angry face conveyed pretty much the same message, but I kept my cool because I was a cool guy.

“Yo, Tye!” Levi “The Bazooka” Bradley bellowed across the room. “Beer and chips after work?”

“Count me in,” I replied, glancing at him over my shoulder.

Chief Stensland, unfortunately, didn't care about my dinner arrangements.

“What you did will not affect only you, but also the entire NMPD,” he shouted, getting into my face. “Are you even aware of that, you selfish degenerate?”

I tossed a piece of gum into my mouth before replying.

“I didn’t know that what my dick does affects the entire NMPD, but hey, thanks for the compliment.”

Hushed chuckles around the room didn’t help me out at all.

“Not unless it concerns the mayor’s daughter, you moron,” Chief Stensland exclaimed. “If you were dumb enough to stick your pecker inside her, you could have done it without the cameras filming the sordid affair.”

“First,” I said, raising my index finger, “no woman ever complained about the size of my manhood, nor did a man, for that matter. Second, I was a victim, too. I had no idea that we were being filmed. Come to think of it, I might press charges. My reputation has been sullied.”

“You have no reputation,” Chief Stensland growled, slamming his hands on my desk. “And if it were up to me, you wouldn't have a job either. But the mayor is right. Firing you would be doing you a favor. No, no, no. You’re going down, my boy. You’re going down!”

“Down?” Levi said with a frown when we met an hour later in the local pub. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“The LD,” I replied matter-of-factly.

He gawked at me, looking comical with beer foam on his upper lip.

“No way.”

I nodded, reaching for the hair tie wrapped around my wrist and tying my chin-length hair into a bun. “‘Fraid so.”

“They can’t do that. Can they?”

“Mayor Boggs sure can. That corrupt son of a bitch can do whatever he wants. And he’s the real reason I’m going down, not my dick.”

“Oh, man. That’s bullshit.”

“Yup. The goddamn LD. But you know what? It doesn’t even matter. I always had a feeling I would end up there anyway.”

Levi shook his head, disagreeing with me. “Nuh-uh. You’re the best detective in the city. You don’t belong in the LD. Not you.”

“Don't tell me you're leaving New Mesa, Tye?” Moira said, exchanging the empty beer bottles in front of us with the full ones. “I swear, all the good guys are leaving this town.”

I gave her a crooked smile. “Thanks, sweetheart. But, yeah, I’ll be gone for a while thanks to Mayor Asshole.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, and it made her big boobs pop out of her low-cut white blouse.

“It sucks,” she stated, her thin brows furrowing. “And I'm not saying it because you’re a good tipper. You’re an amazing guy. I mean it, Tye.”

“I appreciate it,” I said with a sigh. “But the powers that be have won yet again.”

“You’ll be back,” Levi concluded, taking a sip of his beer. “We’ll figure it out. There must be something we can do.”

“Only if the bastard loses the election,” I mused. “Until then, bye-bye, New Mesa. Hello, Shitsville.”

Levi laughed. “Isn’t it Smitsville?”

“Same thing.”

“Damn. The LD has the worst of the worst. Do you know who's going to be your partner over there?”

I frowned, trying to remember the name.

“Carter, or something like that. I think.”

Levi choked on his beer. “Trigger? Is he your new partner? Oh, man.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What is that supposed to mean? Is it like his nickname or something?”

He chuckled, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Or something. You’re in deep shit, and you don’t even know it.”

“What the hell?” I exclaimed, feeling alarmed. “Why? What’s wrong with him?”

“From what I’ve heard,” Levi said, giving me a pointed look. “A lot.”

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