On The Scene: Eligible Bachelors

1. Jason

Being a man of few words,I’ve been sitting back watching my former teammates, some of whom I still work with, cut the shit after a difficult case.

I’d needed a mental health break, so I was off for the next week or so. Just needed to try and focus on something that wasn’t dead bodies.

Something told me, even though they know who did this, or at least I was willing to bet my badge on him being the one behind it all. However, they’d let him slip his leash, and now they couldn’t find him.

Julio Cardozo was a drug lord, a member of the Cardozo Cartel, and a genuine, grade-A asshole. He was the type of person who belonged under the jail in a cement box that would allow him to slowly rot for the crimes he’d done.

Don’t give me the innocent until proven guilty shit, either. He was going to pay for his crimes. Once I was back, I’d not rest until he was found.

Bastards like him, ones who are responsible for the dead bodies, the men who really could give two shits about human life, would never stop. Not until we put a stop to them. Trick was, we had to find the fuckers first.

This case…that last body. That young lady would stay with me for a long time.

The sound of my phone ringing in the middle of the night was never a good thing.

I slapped my hand on the nightstand, pulling my phone up, the screen too bright. “Lawrence.”

“I’m sorry to wake you, man, but we have another body.”

“Where?” I asked, tossing the covers back. This was becoming a habit I didn’t like one bit. I scrubbed a hand over my face, wiping away the two hours of sleep I’d managed, as Bones recited what he knew.

“She’s in the back of the shopping center, by the furniture store. A kid working the late shift came to toss out the trash and found her. It’s worse than the last one.”

I looked at my watch. “Give me fifteen.” I ended the call and hurried to get dressed. This was the second body in less than a week. Were we going to find more bodies? What was going on here? Maybe the Arizona heat was getting to people.

I pulled on my shoulder holster, clipped my badge to my belt, and grabbed my suit coat. I hurried to send a text to my daughter, who was next door at a sleepover.

Dad: Got a call. Stay with Roni until I get back. Love you, kiddo.

Twenty minutes later, I was squatting beside her body, the white sheet covering her keeping the growing crowd from seeing her like this. Her neck was slit from ear to ear, and she was covered from head to toe in bruises, scrapes, and tiny slash marks. But what was missing…clothing, blood, and dirt. Someone had cleaned her before they’d dumped her. They were trying to make this as hard on us as they could. I duck-walked to where her head lay. Her hair was in a messy braid that had seen better days.

“Are there any witnesses?” I asked, standing, dropping the sheet back over her body. I had a perimeter around the body; no one dared to cross the invisible line. The blue booties over my shoes, the gloves on my hands were all to keep the scene as undisturbed as possible.

“Not yet. I canvased the other stores, but most are closed by this time of morning. No telling just how long she’s been out here.”

“Is Dr. Hewitt on the way?”

“Yes, he is about ten minutes out.”

I nodded, my head reeling with the possibilities of having yet another body. I would find out who was doing this and stop them.

The week had gone by in a blur. I was chasing leads, and some days it felt like I was running in circles until an anonymous call came in. Another body, but this time, they’d slipped up and there was a camera. The two men dumping the body were easily identified by the matching neck tattoos.

The Cardozo Cartel was in our city and causing mayhem.

We would do everything under the law to put a stop to them and their kidnapping and killing spree.

“I think this deserves a night out!” The loud voice close to me brought me back to the here and now. “Who’s with me? We can hit the bar, maybe snag a few babes for some fun.”

“I’m out; I’m too old for that shit anymore.”

Bones, Bobby Sanford, was one of my long-time friends, and I can tell you without a shadow of doubt, he was full of shit. He didn’t want to go out because he was too scared to admit out loud that he and his neighbor, Melana, were hooking up.

I tossed an empty can, popping him upside the head.

“Asshole! What was that for?”

He knew. The coward.

“You tell them, or I will,” I taunted.

“You suck. Fine, fine.” He sat up on the lounger, dropping his feet to the ground. “I’m testing the waters with Melana. She seems to actually like me.”

“Oh, the cute brunette with the sexy legs, next door?” Sliver chuckled.

“Yeah, so shut your mouth, asshole.”

“Lucky dog. Guess it’s just the boys then. The old men can’t hang.”

“I represent that,” I snorted.

“You should come with us,” Toto called out, slumping down in the chair. “It’ll be fun. Or do you have a lady waiting on you too?”

“I don’t have a lady waiting, just my bed.”

“What about Kenz?” Toto asked.

“She’s gone camping.”

“When is she coming back?”

My eight, almost nine-year-old daughter, Makenzie, was the light of my life. She was currently on an all-girls’ camping trip with three of her friends from school and a family friend. I trusted her, Roni, the friend, with my kid. She was an avid outdoorswoman, knew how to track animals, and had a sixth sense about danger. She would have made a damn good soldier. That was for sure.

Those skills made her one hell of a Park Ranger though. Nothing got past her.

“Roni said they’d be back late Saturday afternoon.”

“Roni, eh? How’s that going?” Sliver asked, waggling his bushy eyebrows.

“There’s nothing going on there. She’s my neighbor, friend, and her niece is best friends with my daughter. That’s it.”

That wasn’t it, but I had no intentions of spilling my feelings to these fuckers. There was a lot about Veronica Nash that held my attention. Not only was she beautiful, funny, she had a heart of gold. Since I’d brought Kenz home from the hospital, she’d been right next door, offering a hand when she knew I needed it. And let me be completely honest, in the beginning, I needed a lot of help.

Her whole family was a life saver.

See, when Makenzie was born, my world became more than going off to fight. More than cutting up at a bar on the weekends and anytime we were off rotation. My daughter changed my life for the better from the beginning. Once I was out of the service, I made it all about Kenz and me. Taking the job with the Rangers, that too was for us. I needed to provide for my family. I had the know-how, the skill, and I’ve worked hard to get where I am today.

Anything for my baby girl. To say she was a daddy’s girl would be putting it lightly.

She enjoyed her own time, time with friends, but I made sure she always knew that I would be here for her. She would always be my number one girl.

Watching Trina, her mom, walk away from us…it hurt, but I had no time to dwell over the one that got away. She didn’t want to be a mom. Didn’t want to be part of my life anymore. And that’s okay. We’re better people now than we were back then.

Being a single dad is hard; I’m not saying it’s not. There are days that her stubborn, self-sufficient-self tests the Jesus in me, and she’s not even hit the pre-teen stage of life yet. And then there are the days where she is most definitely testing the devil himself and winning.

I have no one to blame but myself. My little girl is a carbon copy of me—lock, stock, and barrel. Her stubborn streak: all me. Her independent nature. Yep, all me. My mom likes to remind me that I am now getting what I did to her ten-fold. It’s made me feel bad because I was a hellion in my younger days. My mom worked three jobs to keep the rent paid and lights on. I had no father growing up; it was just us.

I acted out, trying her patience and sanity daily.

I can’t ever make up for it; it was the growing pains of being a kid in the late 80’s. Nowadays, kids just don’t act the same. They’re expected to be this or that and do this or that. Let them figure themselves out. I’ve always given Kenz free rein to express herself; within reason that is. She’s gotten to paint her room whatever color she wants. Change the aesthetic, the vibe, so it’s what she is comfortable with.

Right now, her room is bubble gum pink, purple, and white. And that’s okay. It makes my eyes bleed, but I don’t have to stay in there; she does.

Man, I missed my kid right now. Sighing, I pulled my cell from my pocket. I quickly scrolled to the last text I’d gotten from Kenz Monday night.

Kenz: Made it. Luv u Daddy!

Dad: Love you, baby. Be safe.

The image she attached made me smile. She and Cora were on top of a rock, grinning like loons.

“Hey, Casper, you with us, man?”

I glanced up from the phone in my hand and chuckled. Busted. It’s only been three days and I’m already losing it. “Yeah, just thinking. I wish I could have gone too. They’re out in the wilderness for fucks sake.”

“Dude, let the girl be free. You’re gonna cramp her style.” Toto laughed, his guffaw making me want to toss something, the beer bottle in my other hand for example, at him.

“What do you know about cramping an eight-year-old’s style?” Bones asked him, brow arched.

“Maybe we don’t want him to answer that.” Vice looked around the group, his eyes wide. “Though, it could be interesting, I mean, he has the mind of an eight-year-old… Do you have the pink sparkly tutu and feather boa to go with it?”

“Fuck you, asshole.”

The ribbing went back and forth for the longest time. These men would forever be my best friends, the uncles to my little girl. Our family. Even when they were being dickheads.

“I’m proud of you, man,” Bones gripped my shoulder, leaving the others to their bickering, “Kenz needs to be able to go out and have fun with her friends.”

“I know, I’m trying to give her more and more space.” I tossed my empty bottle into the trash bucket. “It’s just hard, ya know? She’s growing up so damn fast. Too fast. I know what the world is like outside of my house. If I’m not there to protect her…”

He chuckled. “She’ll always be your little girl, ya know that, right? And she has Roni. That woman would take a bullet for any of those kids with her.”

“Yeah, I guess. I still don’t like it.”

“You’ll get over it, man. Where did they go?”

“Colorado Bend State Park. The girls will be keeping a diary of the plants and animals they see. You know, learning while they camp and explore. Kenz was so excited to get her Junior Ranger Booklet. I think she talked non-stop as she read through it. She gave me a page-by-page play of what they’d be doing.” I couldn’t hold back my grin. “Seeing her so happy made my heart melt. Sappy as that sounds.”

“I get it. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my goddaughter. She’s made us all better men. Well, maybe not all of us…” He tossed a look at Vice and Toto who were still throwing around their taunts. Over-grown children, the lot of them.

“They’ll have fun, and you know they’re in good hands, man,” Toto remarked, flopping down in a chair beside us. “What better way to spend their spring break time?”

“I know that, but?—”

“Your overprotective-dad is showing,” Sliver chuckled. “Roni, of all people, knows what she is doing out there. That’s her sandbox. All right. You good now?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I just can’t turn the worry off for my kid. Look, you guys go on and do what you need to blow off some steam; I’m going home and crashing. Meet at the base in the morning, 7:00 am. The last one there pays for lunch.” I stood, stretching my back.

“PT after a night out? Are you trying to kill us? Thought those days were over.”

I smirked. “Your old age is showing, Vice.”

“Plus we gotta show up the newbies that’ll be out there.” Bones snickered. “I need my beauty rest; y’all go. Get an Uber, don’t be stupid.”

“All ready called one,” Toto said, looking at his phone. “They’ll be here in five. Get it together, girls.”

We went our separate ways after another round of goodbyes. I walked up the street, my footfalls almost silent on the sidewalk. The fresh evening air, which was hotter than Hell on Sunday mornings, would help clear my brain. I glanced to my left when a car pulled up alongside me.

“Want a ride?” Bones asked.

“Nah, man, thanks. It’s only a couple of miles. The cardio will do me good.”

“You sure?”

“Yep, I am armed and dangerous, after all. Go home. I’m good.”

“See you in the morning then.”

I waved him off and picked up my pace. Good thing I’d traded my steel-toe boots for trainers earlier today.