CHAPTER SIX
“So, you have plans after work?” Adam asked Mitch, finally breaking the prolonged silence that had followed the ticketing of Ms. Margaret Tucker.
“Yeah. I’m heading over to a friend’s house for dinner,” he grumbled. He was accustomed to driving and sitting in the passenger seat was making him carsick. The cheery attitude of his happy-go-lucky partner didn’t help with the nauseousness.
“Just a friend?”
“Yes. Just a friend. It’s my partner’s widow and her family.”
“Oh, well, I have no plans and wouldn’t mind meeting some new people. Mind if I tag along?” Adam asked as if there was nothing socially wrong with inviting yourself to someone’s dinner plans.
“No.”
“No, you don’t mind? Or no, I can’t go?” he asked innocently.
“No, you can’t go.”
Adam stopped at a red light and looked over at him.
“You know, part of your probation is weekly reports from your partner. I tell them about how we got along, whether I see any problems with the way you act or treat people, what I think of your attitude…” He let the sentence trail off and hang between them.
“Are you implying,” Mitch said through gritted teeth, “that if I don’t take you to dinner with me, you’ll give a bad report? That’s blackmail. Which, as a police officer, I’m sure you know, is illegal!”
“Not blackmail. I’m just saying that what I plan to tell the LT is still up in the air right now.
I mean, do I advise him of your surly behavior toward Miss Margaret?
Do I mention that you’ve told me to fuck off at least twice an hour since the day we met?
Do I bring up the fact that we leave our beat a couple of times every shift to pass by the pawnshop where people with ties to Jimmy’s shooter are rumored to hang out?
There are just so many things to think about… ”
He didn’t realize Adam had caught on to that last bit.
Since he wasn’t familiar with the area yet, he just drove wherever Mitch told him to.
He thought a couple of blocks off their beat would go unnoticed.
Technically, they weren’t allowed to leave their assigned beat without permission, but Mitch had received intel that one of Manuel’s flunkies was using the pawnshop just outside their area to sell stolen guns.
He wanted to keep an eye on the place. Leaving the beat could get him in trouble, though, and he didn’t need that so soon after his recent reprimand.
“Fine. I’ll call Jenny. God, you’re shameless!”
Adam smiled.
An hour later, after taking a report of a stolen purse and writing a few traffic tickets, they returned to the station, changed clothes, and left for Jenny’s, each driving their own car.
Jenny was fine with another guest as Mitch knew she would be.
They stopped at a small grocery store and picked up the standing assignment for a bachelor coming to a potluck—two six-packs and a bottle of wine. He figured that would be enough.
When he’d called Jenny to ask about someone tagging along, she’d sprung on him that her friend Maggie was also coming.
Normally, he would have made an excuse to back out, as he’d been doing all year, but it was too late this time.
He could also tell Jenny was on to the fact that he was avoiding the meeting and was irritated about it.
Fine, he’d meet her. He guessed it was about time.
He’d heard a lot about Maggie from Jenny and the boys. She was a veterinarian and had moved back to the city about a year ago to be closer to her family. She was Jenny’s BFF, and the boys always talked about how cool she was.
He knew she was the one who had stepped up to help after Jimmy’s death. Part of the reason he’d put off meeting her was that he still felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and embarrassment over abandoning Jenny during that time. She’d been there when he couldn’t be, and that galled him.
The other reason he’d been avoiding her was that he had a feeling there might be some matchmaking going on, and he didn’t want any part of it. He’d have to let Jenny down easy on that.
Before Jimmy’s death, Mitch had dated a lot and was interested in someday finding someone to settle down with.
Someone he could have a real relationship with—a relationship like Jimmy and Jenny’s.
He lost interest in finding love when Jimmy died.
What was the point? Even sex didn’t hold the appeal it once did, but that was something he hadn’t mentioned to anyone.
Except for Veronica and one woman he worked with, most of the sex he’d had since Jimmy’s death had been hot and fast and with a stranger who had no way to get a hold of him afterward.
So far, the only positive event of his day had been the shrink calling to reschedule his appointment. A family emergency gave him a reprieve for the weekend, and he wouldn’t have to embarrass himself until Monday now. He was glad for the extra few days.
Well, one other highlight, he noted, was the encounter with Margaret Tucker.
He’d almost laughed out loud when he watched her get laid out by that dog.
Not that he wished her ill, but that kind of thing was always funny, as long as nobody got hurt.
He didn’t know why he’d been such a dick to her.
Probably just to show Adam he wasn’t going to take advice from him.
That he could do what he wanted and that the LT’s warning meant nothing to him.
Sometimes he was too stubborn for his own good.
The LT’s warning had meant something to him.
He knew he had to knock this shit off and get back to living. He just didn’t know how.
He’d handled the situation poorly. Although he realized that now, it was too late to do anything about it. He hoped that appeasing Adam by bringing him to Jenny’s would be incentive enough for him to keep his big mouth shut about it.
When they arrived, the screen door was unlocked, and kids were screaming in the backyard.
Mitch closed and locked the door. He made his way to the kitchen, calling out to announce their arrival.
“Hello! We’re here. Don’t worry. It’s two police officers coming through your wide-open front door and not a couple of psychopath serial killers!
Geez, Jen, how many times have I asked you not to leave the front door unlocked? It’s not…”
He entered the kitchen and came to an abrupt halt. Adam was a step behind him and had to stop short to avoid running into him. Mitch froze. Shit!
“Oh, God, don’t tell me. Officer Big Jerk?” Jenny moaned.
“Well, this is awkward,” Adam said with a smile right before he busted out laughing.
Maggie had been licking frosting off her finger when she looked up and saw him. Her eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in disbelief.
“Well, shit,” Mitch said. “This is awkward!” Clearly, he had to apologize. There was no way around that now. But as he opened his mouth to do so, Jenny jumped on him.
“Mitch, how could you?” she started. “You see a woman laid out on the sidewalk in distress, and you cite her? Did Jimmy teach you nothing? God, wait until your mother hears about this.”
Immediately on the defense, his temper flared. How dare she bring Jimmy into this? Just as he was about to go off half-cocked, Adam stepped in.
He moved in next to Maggie and patted her on the back. “Margaret. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Adam.”
“Good to see you again. Please, call me Maggie. This is my aunt, Jenny.” Adam looked up to shake Jenny’s hand but then just stood there like an idiot, staring at her.
After an uncomfortable silence, Adam shook his head, recovered his senses and continued, “Jenny. Thanks for letting me crash your party. You have a lovely home. Mitch was telling me how great your boys are and how excited he was to see them.” The statement hung in the air and was an obvious hint that maybe he should head outside.
Mitch didn’t like being handled and thought about not leaving and just having it out here and now. Who did Adam think he was? How dare he butt in like that? In the end, after a brief mental battle, he took the out. Muttering something about going to say hi to the boys, he headed to the backyard.
***
The sounds of boyish screams and a barking dog grew louder as Mitch opened the door and then diminished as it shut behind him.
Jenny rounded on Adam. “Another new partner.” She looked him square in the eyes. Concern had replaced the anger. “Tell me now. How bad is it?”
Though he’d only just met her, it was instantly apparent that she cared deeply for Mitch and was beside herself with worry.
Reluctantly, he swore them to secrecy and told them what little he knew.
Mitch would kill him, but Jenny only seemed to have his best interests at heart, and she needed to know.
She was close to tears by the time he got to the part about Mitch being forced to see a psychologist. “Oh, God. I’d heard a few things through the police grapevine about him having issues at work, but I never imagined it was this bad.
” She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
“He tries to act normal around the boys and me, but I know he’s still having trouble coping.
That he’s not really healing. I just haven’t known what to do. ”
“It’s hard to help sometimes,” Adam said.
“Mags, he would die of embarrassment if he found out we knew this stuff. We have to act totally normal when he comes back. You can’t use any of this against him. Please, promise me that,” Jenny begged.
“She’s right,” Adam added. “He would be mortified. He’ll see it as an egregious violation of trust if he finds out I told you.
Actually, he’d be right about that.” He frowned thoughtfully.
“Normally, I would never spill a partner’s secrets like this, but I think he needs all the help he can get right now. ”
“Of course,” Maggie said. “I’m mad about the way he treated me, but I can see it wasn’t about me. I won’t say a word, I promise.”
The door burst open, and Jack hollered, “Aunt Maggie, come play with us. We need an even number, and Coco’s not doing a very good job being Uncle Mitch’s partner. He keeps running away with the ball.”
“Coco?” Adam asked.
“Our puppy. I’m not surprised he’s not a very good partner.” Jenny smiled, and he nodded.
Unable to say no to her nephew, Maggie got up and headed to the backyard.
“You can do this, Mags. I have faith! Be careful,” Jenny yelled after her and then turned and whispered, “She’s a horrible liar.
I hope she doesn’t blow this.” They looked out the window just in time to see her stumble down the last step.
“She’s also terribly uncoordinated. We’ll be lucky if this doesn’t end in a trip to the ER. ”