Chapter Two #3
“You’re just the man I wanted to talk to.”
Damn! Had she already heard about the suspension? Had the brass consulted her before they dropped the hammer? “How come?”
“Nick showed me the new car today and told me you were a big help in getting the dreaded tablet in there. Thanks for that.”
“No problem. I’ll be happy to get you trained on how to use it as soon as you come back to work.”
“Oh, joy,” she said with predictable sarcasm. “Can’t wait.”
“The reason I called is I wanted to tell you that I got suspended for a week.”
“What? What the hell for? Oh damn, Elliott, right?”
“Yeah. They’re dropping the conspiracy charges against him in exchange for his silence about what I did.”
She was silent for a long moment, long enough that he began to squirm.
“Listen, Sam—”
“No, you listen. What you did to him was beneath you. You played right into their hands.”
“How was I supposed to know it was all an orchestrated plan? All I knew is my girlfriend’s face was broken. He broke bones in her face, Sam.”
“I know, and you had every right to be furious. But you had no right to go into his cell and do what you did. No right at all.”
“What would you do if someone did to Nick what was done to Elin? Would you sit idly by and let them get away with it?”
She sighed loudly. “I get why you did it, but you’ve used up your one ticket. Farnsworth has a very low tolerance for police brutality, and he won’t let you get away with this twice.”
“I’m hardly getting away with it. They’re docking me a week’s pay.” Thinking of that had him reconsidering his get-out-of-town plan.
“You could’ve been busted back to Patrol. You are getting away with it. Count your blessings that it wasn’t worse.”
“I’m not sorry,” he said. “I’d do it again.”
“If you do it again, I’ll personally pack your bags for the trip to Patrol.”
As he expected nothing less from her, he smiled at her saucy reply. “Speaking of trips, I’m thinking about taking advantage of my unexpected time off to get away with Elin. Unless you can think of any reason why I shouldn’t.”
“I don’t see why not as long as you refrain from posting pictures on Instagram of yourself holding an umbrella drink.”
“I’m surprised you’ve heard of Instagram.”
“Bite me.”
“As appealing as that offer is, I’m going to go home and bite my own girl.”
“Gross.”
“People are worried about you, Sam. Wondering when you’ll be back and all that.”
“They’re waiting for me to kiss Trulo’s ass, and that’s not about to happen anytime soon. I’m kind of enjoying the break.”
“You are? Seriously?”
“Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?”
“Um, because?”
“I have a life outside of that place, you know.”
“Yes, I believe the entire country knows about your life outside of work these days.”
“Very funny.”
“It’s just, you know, not like you to be making up reasons to extend a medical leave.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. Are people saying I’m taking advantage?”
“No one has said anything like that. And if they’re thinking it, they know better than to say it around me or any other member of your squad.”
“What do I care what they say? At least I’m still walking and talking and breathing and mostly functioning after what that dickwad did to me.”
Hearing her say she was “mostly” functioning didn’t exactly put his mind at ease. “We’re all thankful you’re walking and talking and breathing.”
“Awww, thanks, Cruz. I’m touched.”
He snorted out a laugh. “Right, on that note, I’m out. I’ll talk to you in a week. Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”
“I’m not the one serving a suspension.”
“Touché, Lieutenant.”
“Try to have a good time, Freddie. You deserve a break, and this shit at work is a temporary setback. Nothing to get wound up about.”
“Thanks for that. I’ll talk to you soon.” He stashed the phone in his pocket and parallel parked outside the building where he lived with Elin. Taking the stairs two at a time, he arrived at the door to their third-floor apartment and pulled out his keys.
The door swung open before he could use his key. “What’re you doing home?”
Elin wore a bathrobe and her white-blond hair was gathered into a messy bun.
Even with the bruises still prominent, she was gorgeous, and the sight of her stopped his heart the way it always did.
He had things he needed to tell her, such as Elliott’s involvement in the mess with Stahl.
She’d been so fragile since the assault that he’d kept all but the most essential information from her, including his late-night visit to the jail.
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her.
“What’re you doing? Why aren’t you at work?”
“I’ve got the week off.”
“How come?”
“Things are slow and they were looking for someone to take some time off. I have a lot of vacation accrued so I volunteered.” Thankfully, she’d been avoiding the news and hadn’t heard about the knife assaults or she’d never have bought his “things are slow” story.
“A whole week?” she asked with more enthusiasm than she’d shown for anything in a while.
“That’s right. What do you say we get out of town?”
“And go where?”
“Anywhere you want.”
Her hand came up to cover her face. “I don’t know… My face…”
“Is gorgeous.”
“And still bruised.”
“So what? We’ll go somewhere that no one knows us and relax and have fun.
Come on. When will we ever get another chance like this to get out of here for a week?
” With his hands on her face, he ran his thumb gently over the yellowing bruises.
“Let’s get in the car and drive. We’ll figure out where we’re going when we get there. ”
“We’re not taking your car.”
Laughing, he kissed her. “My poor maligned Mustang. She’s so misunderstood.”
“She’s perfectly understood.”
“Fine, we’ll take your car. So is that a yes?” At some point during their time away, he’d have to find a way to tell her the things he’d been keeping from her. But the goal today was to get her to leave their apartment for the first time in two weeks.
“Yes, Freddie. Let’s go somewhere.”