Chapter 55
—Reed—
—A few weeks later—
Relief washed through me when I heard Connie enter my home. She’d been my rock since I’d gone back to work, and she cared for Posie like only a grandmother figure could.
Connie’s face lit when she appeared. “Ah, good morning.”
I stopped pacing the living room with a fussy Posie in my arms. “Hi, Connie, good timing.”
“How’s our little sweetheart this fine Friday morning?”
I suppressed a groan. It had been a week from hell. Last night in particular she’d been a fiend—barely sleeping, and when she did, it was short stints that drove my exhaustion to new levels. Not only my body, but my soul felt heavy and lethargic.
“We had another rough night. I’m not sure you’re going to enjoy today,” I warned, bouncing Posie up and down trying to get her to settle.
“Oh, we’ll see about that, won’t we sweetheart?”
Connie quickly moved around my living space like she lived here, organizing herself before returning her full attention to us. Her and Mom had been friends for the longest time, and with Mom still working shifts at the hospital, Connie was one of the few people I trusted to look after my precious, unsettled, life-sucking princess.
“I don’t believe him for a single second,” Connie cooed at my daughter and plucked her from my arms. “You’re always the best little angel for Lovey, aren’t you, beautiful girl?”
Posie’s fussing ceased, and she looked up at Connie with wide eyes, then cracked a huge grin.
Connie tickled her chubby cheek. “See, our day is going to be just fine.”
The weight of worry lifted from my shoulders. I had to get to work regardless, but I felt guilty about leaving Connie with a four-month-old, diaper-clad grump.
Warmth bloomed in my heart watching them interact. Posie adored Connie as much as Connie adored her, and I left them having their morning snuggle as I excused myself. Posie had thrown up her milk over the shoulder of my uniform shirt this morning, and I hadn’t found a minute to change.
Walking into my room at the end of the long hallway, I whipped off my shirt and tossed it haphazardly into the en suite. Already behind schedule this morning, I shrugged on a fresh shirt, buttoned it, then tucked it in.
This morning was the hardest yet. Since returning from Denver over a fortnight ago, I’d become increasingly aware of shadows lingering at the fringes of my mind. At first, they merely dulled the vibrancy of the day, then began to suck the energy from my bones. Now, each time I rolled out of bed at any given time on the clock, their claws sank a little deeper, pulled at me a little harder, made it a fraction more difficult to function.
Connie’s caring gray eyes found me when I returned to the living space. A furrow wove a deeper line between her brows as she looked me over.
“I know she’s not sleeping well, but are you taking care of yourself too, hon?”
I scrubbed a hand over my forehead, trying to erase some of the constant throb. “I can look after myself another time.”
That didn’t alleviate Connie’s concerns. She laid an aged hand on my forearm. “I’ll fix you something extra nice for dinner tonight. Home at the usual time?”
Filled with gratitude, I smiled wearily. “Thanks, but it’s Friday night with Banks tonight.”
She saved me off. “You can save what I make for tomorrow night, then.”
Gratitude had me pressing my palms together. “What would I do without you, Connie?”
She tapped my arm. “You’d manage.”
Barely.
My heart sank as I checked my watch. “Damn, I really need to go.”
I kissed Posie on the cheek multiples times, murmured an I love you, then headed to the door to grab my kit.
“I’ll see you ladies tonight. As always, if—”
“You need anything, be sure to call me,” Connie interrupted, then laughed lightly. “We won’t need to, but if we do, I’ll be sure to call. Have a good day savin’ the world, handsome.”
A genuine smile spread across my face. “You too, Connie.”
Fifteen minutes later, I had my second coffee of the day in hand when I said good morning to the guys at the station and plopped down behind my desk.
Eric’s eyes narrowed, then he scoffed. “You look like shit.”
I eyed him before taking a sip of the much-needed caffeine. “I shouldn’t. I slept like a fucking princess.” Different day, similar joke.
His loud laugh met me head-on. “Yeah, on a pea. Speaking of princesses, I take it our little one was up all night partying?”
“Rioting, more like,” I grumbled, then sighed. “Ah, fuck that’s a good coffee.”
Eric snickered. “You’ll miss those times one day.”
“Doubt it. I can handle lack of sleep, but broken sleep, multiple times a night for weeks on end is pure torture.”
He hummed. “You’re not wrong. You seeing Kase anytime soon?”
The dullness sparked with color at the mention of Kasey. I missed her like fucking crazy.
Nodding, I lifted the coffee mug to my lips. “Planning to head down again this weekend.”
My partner in anti-crime nodded approvingly. “Do you both some good.”
I scoffed, feeling my personality returning. “You fucking Master Oogway all of a sudden?”
Eric barked a laugh. “Nah, man. I’m this insightful all the time.”
“I can smell your bullshit from here.”
“That’s my fucking charisma, bro.”
“It’s your fucking ego.” I snickered into my coffee while Eric leaned back in his chair and roared with laughter.
“That’s rich coming from you, Gats.”
My funk finally eased. I set an elbow on my desk and leaned toward him. “My ego is just fine the way it is.”
Eric’s blue eyes sparkled. “Sure it is, Constable my family fucking owns this town, and I walk around like my shit don’t stink.”
While laughing, I plucked the stress ball off the desk and pegged it at his head. It bounced right off with a satisfying hollow thunk.
“Hey, you fuck!” he exclaimed, rubbing his forehead.
I smirked. “You were giving me shit.”
“Yeah, but it helped you lose the scowl and shit-ass attitude, didn’t it?” he said gruffly.
Despite internally agreeing with him, I flipped him off and grumbled into my coffee mug. We’d been partners for years and knew things about each other people should never know. So it wasn’t a surprise that he’d sensed my slip in mood recently. I’d caught him quietly watching me, studying me on several occasions, and his narrowed eyes had given away his thoughts: he was worried about me. Hell, if I was totally honest with myself, I was worried about me too.
I leaned back in my office chair and let out a deep sigh. “Thanks, man. I needed that.”
“I know, brother,” Eric murmured after taking a long sip from his own coffee mug.
He fussed around his desk while I opened emails and scrolled through the new ones. Today was set to be a quiet day of reading policy updates and getting on top of paperwork. Then later I was meeting Banks at the LP for Friday burgers and beers.
“Shit!” Eric hissed as the emergency phone blared to life.
I sat forward in my seat, poised for action as he scrawled illegible notes.
“On our way,” he declared, rising to his feet.
He ended the call then turned to me. “There’s been a drowning at the dock.”
“Fuck.” I grabbed my kit and ran through the building, hot on his heels.
As we threw ourselves into the patrol car, he briefed me on the situation, but all I could hear was the ringing in my ears and two words in a constant echo: a baby.