Chapter 12 #2
I’m the first one in the office. I fill the coffee machine and wait for it to brew before heading into my private office and logging on for the day. I read over some emails and return a few before I compile a file with the footage of the shit that went down with Sorrow yesterday.
When the smell of coffee entices me, I head out to the reception area and pour myself a mug as the door opens. Felix and Aiden walk in with Blake right behind them, all of them frowning when they see me.
“What the fuck are you doing here so early?” Felix asks, heading for the coffee machine.
“You make it sound like I’m always late or something.”
“Oh no, you’re never late, but you have being on time nailed down to a fine art. You might never be late, but you’re never more than a minute early either.”
I toss the teaspoon at him, chuckling when it bounces off his forehead.
“Motherfucker.”
I shake my head before looking over at Aiden. “So how’s our resident Oscar winner this morning?”
“Still in shock, I think. She’s just carrying on as if we don’t have a gold statue sitting in our bathroom.”
Blake laughs. “Why the fuck is it in the bathroom?”
“I asked Tilly the same thing. She looked at me, confused for a second, before asking, ‘Well, where am I supposed to keep it?’ Honestly, I didn’t have an answer, so now it’s just there, staring at me while I take a dump.”
We laugh at his antics as each of the guys fills their mugs with coffee and heads to their own offices, until only Blake remains.
“How did things go—”
Before he can finish, the door opens again. Marcus and Arlo walk in laughing about something but stop when they see us.
“What’s up?” Arlo frowns.
“Nothing, just wondering what you bozos are laughing about.”
“I was telling Arlo about this chick in the grocery store.”
“Sounds hilarious.”
Marcus flips me off. “It was, actually. So I run in this morning to get coffee because I ran out.”
We collectively wince at that.
“I’m heading to the checkout when this woman collides with me so hard, she literally bounces off me and hits the floor. I reach down to help her up, only she grabs hold of the display shelf, which just happens to be a pyramid of Pringles.”
I groan, already knowing where this is going.
“Of course, every single tube falls down, but I’m already in motion at this point. So when I put my foot down, I skid on a tube and go ass over tit myself. The basket with the coffee upends, meaning the woman who is still trying to get to her feet gets hit in the face with the contents.”
“At least it was a bag of coffee beans and not a can of soup.”
“Yeah, except while I was there, I figured I’d grab a few things that I needed.”
I tilt my head as Arlo cracks up, struggling to catch his breath.
“I’m scared to ask,” Blake mutters.
“An extra-large bottle of lube bounced off her head. But wait, there’s more. She looks up after it hits her, just in time for a jumbo-sized box of condoms to smack her in the nose, which immediately makes it start gushing.”
“Holy fuck, Marcus.”
“Tell me about it. The woman was so embarrassed that she ran off before I could help her. Worse, she left her basket on the ground where she dropped it, and it had been filled with tampons and chocolate, so I’m guessing she was already not having a good day.”
“Do you know who it was?”
He shakes his head. “She looked familiar, but a lot happened in a space of thirty seconds. Too much for me to pay her much attention.”
I turn and pour Marcus a coffee and hand it to him. “I feel like you need this more than me.”
He looks me over as he takes it. “Not so sure about that.”
“Alright, I’m gonna take my coffee to go. I’ve got an appointment in thirty minutes,” Arlo grumbles, nudging me out of the way while he fills his travel mug. He salutes us on his way out, leaving me with Marcus and Blake.
“Alright, back to what I was saying. How did things go yesterday with Sorrow? I saw the footage you sent me. What the fuck was that rookie thinking?” Blake starts with a sigh.
“I don’t think it was just the rookie. Sorrow pointed out that she doesn’t know the guy, so for him to have a grudge against her seems implausible.”
“Unless it’s not about Sorrow, but about women in general?” Blake plays devil’s advocate.
“I’d have maybe bought into that if I didn’t see with my own two eyes the way the chief of police acted toward her yesterday,” Marcus complains, sitting on the edge of the reception desk.
“That bad?” Blake looks between us.
“Worse. I knew the chief could be a bit…”
“Of a dick?” Marcus adds, making me huff out a laugh. “Prehistoric in his views. But I don’t know what the fuck that was yesterday. And it wasn’t just Sorrow, it was the way he was with Wade too.”
Blake sighs as the man himself walks through the door.
“Ears burning?” Marcus guesses.
“You whispering sweet nothings about me again, Marcus? I’ve told you I’m a happily married man.” He taps his wedding ring as he walks over.
Marcus sticks his middle finger up at him.
“Coffee?” I offer.
“Nah, I’ve just had one, but thanks.”
“So what brings you by so early, or do I even need to guess?” Blake questions.
“I need a favor. I’m not asking you to do it out of pocket, but I’ll be the one paying, not Tempest PD.”
Blake straightens and frowns. “That’s unusual. Okay, I’ll bite. Are you good to talk here, or do you want to come back to my office?”
“I’m good with these two knowing what’s going on, but a bit of privacy won’t hurt.”
“Alright, follow me.”
Blake goes first, and Wade follows him. I look at Marcus, neither of us saying anything, before we follow behind them both.
As I’m the last one in, I close the door behind me and lean against it.
Blake takes his chair behind his desk, and Wade takes the one in front of it.
Marcus sits in the armchair near the window that Callie usually claims.
“Alright, fill me in on what’s happening.”
“I’m guessing the guys told you what went down yesterday?” Wade starts.
“Some. Banner was trying to give me more this morning, but we kept getting interrupted.”
Wade leans back and starts at the beginning, telling Blake everything that happened before Marcus and I arrived at the station, and at the hospital after we left.
Blake whistles. “So this isn’t an isolated incident?”
“Not even close. And right now, I’m worried about Sorrow’s safety.”
I stand straight and move closer. “What do you mean, safety? You think someone will hurt her?”
“She was hurt, Banner, and by a cop, of all things. Shit like that just gives the rest of the residents a green light to do the same. You should have seen the way she was treated at the hospital. If I weren’t with her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she were still waiting in the room today to be stitched up. ”
“She needed stitches?” I curse. I saw the bandages, of course. I just didn’t realize it was that bad.
“This whole thing is volatile. And all it will take is for someone to make sparks, and everything will go up in flames.”
“She said she’s leaving. She just needs to sell her mom’s place.”
“I wouldn’t bank on that happening. Not if the realtors are anything like the other residents.
They’ll make selling as difficult as possible.
But right now, my main concern is her safety.
I know if something happens to her or she’s threatened, the last thing she’s going to do is call the cops. I mean, would you?”
Marcus curses, each of us realizing how quickly this situation is deteriorating.
“You want to hire us to watch over her?” Blade guesses.
Wade nods. “I’m limited in what I can do, but you’re not.”
Blade steeples his fingers and leans his elbows on his desk in contemplation. “Alright. I’ll put someone on her, but I won’t be charging you for it. This is my town too. It’s not just your job to keep people safe, Wade.”
“Fucking feels like it sometimes,” he grumbles, looking exhausted.
“I’ll watch her,” I offer before I can back out.
“Not sure that’s a good call here, Banner,” Blake states, watching me.
“I won’t let anything happen to her. Besides, I’m right next door.”
“Your family has a lot of pull in this town. They won’t be happy with you guarding her. They’ll expect you to step down.”
“They don’t get a say in how I do my job.”
Wade sighs but leans forward. “I’m not trying to kick up a hornet’s nest here, but you have to know if you do this. It’s going to ruffle a lot of feathers, especially when I do some digging.”
“Digging?” Marcus cocks his eyebrow.
“Something one of the detectives said. I can’t shake it. He told me to go all the way back to the beginning.”
“The beginning…you mean Alec’s death?”
Wade nods.
“She was already convicted, Wade. I’m not sure anything good can come from playing with skeletons.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Banner, when you’re not the one who had your freedom stripped from you.”
He holds up his hand to stop me when I go to speak.
“I’m not saying I’ll dig up anything new or that it will change anything.
But after today, I want to make sure we didn’t railroad an innocent girl and put her in prison because it was easier to point and lay blame at her feet than to look in the mirror and ask why it all played out with a seventeen-year-old girl facing down a whole town while she stood alone. ”