Chapter 7
Dakota
I'm in a great mood this morning, after leaving Molly's. We didn't end up in bed together. One of the first times we haven't. I had a smile on my face when I woke up, because I feel like she and I got closer by not sleeping together.
"You and Levi are gonna be patrolling down by the river today.
We've had people calling in teenagers throwing rocks at fish.
" Samuel is the new shift commander, and I like him a lot.
He's been very fair with everything he's done since he started, and he seems to care about the people who work for him.
"Do you know where the hell Levi is?" I ask, looking around the squad room.
"Running late, but said he's going to be here within the next ten minutes."
"Sounds good." It gives me a few minutes to work on my reports from the last week. There's always something to do, and I'm always behind on them. Working on them with dyslexia is harder than it probably should be, but if I can lock in, I can get some things really done.
Having a seat at my desk, I pull out a few of the paper reports so that I can type them up. Sometimes that's easier for me. I'm about to get started, when my phone buzzes. Pulling it toward me, I see my sister's name.
Luce: Can you drive me tonight?
What in the hell does she want to do tonight?
Dakota: Depends on what you want me to drive you to.
L: A guy I like invited me to bowl, and I'd like to go. Mom and Dad said they won't take me, so it's up to you, bruh.
I hate it when she calls me bruh.
D: Is he old enough to drive? Why does he want to go bowling?
L: He's the same age as me, neither one of us have our permanent licenses yet. Wouldn't you prefer we go bowling instead of going to the movies?
I think back to the type of shit I used to do at the movies, and realize she's right. At least at the bowling alley they aren't cuddled up in a couple of chairs with the lights down low.
D: I guess I can come with you.
L: If you come with us, you need to bring someone cool. Bring Molls.
A smile works it's way across my face. I love that my sister has hero worship of Molly, and it definitely makes things better for me.
D: I'll see if she's busy.
L: Make it happen, love you!
D: Love you, too.
I set the phone down and stare at the reports in front of me for a solid thirty seconds before my brain decides it actually wants to cooperate today.
I work through two of them before I hear the door to the squad room bang open, and Levi comes walking in like he didn't just stroll in fifteen minutes past the time he was supposed to be here.
He's got his gear in hand and his hair is still a little damp, which tells me exactly what kind of morning he had.
He drops into the chair across from me and starts pulling his things together like he's not even a little bit sorry.
"Alarm didn't go off," he says, not looking at me.
I lean back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest, watching him with a patience that I typically don’t have. "Your alarm didn't go off."
"That's what I said."
"Levi." I wait until he looks at me. "In the history of every excuse a man has ever given for being late, saying your alarm didn’t go off because you had a morning quickie is lame as fuck.”
He opens his mouth and then closes it again, which is enough for me. I grin wide enough that it probably looks ridiculous, but I don't care.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he mutters, but there's color creeping up the back of his neck that says otherwise.
"Sure you don't." I push up from my desk and start getting my shit together. "Next time, set two alarms. One for the activity, and one for when you actually need to leave."
"Can you not make this weird?"
"I'm not making it weird, I'm making it educational." I grab my jacket off the back of the chair. "Samuel's got us down by the river today. Some teenagers are throwing rocks at fish, apparently."
He finally looks up at me, and the relief on his face at the subject change is something I'm going to keep in my back pocket for later. "That's what passes for excitement in Laurel Springs these days, huh?"
"Don't knock it, that's our job security right there."
He snorts and gets up, and the two of us head out together the way we always do.
Working with your best friend is fun, and I don’t take it for granted.
I knew when I was a kid that Levi was the kind of person who would always show up, and that's never changed.
Even when everything else around me felt like it was falling apart, he was steady.
Now we get to do this every day, and even when it's slow and boring and the most exciting call we catch is somebody's goat getting loose on Highway 9, I'm glad it's him standing next to me.
The drive to the river takes about twenty minutes, and although it’s January, the weather can't decide if it wants to be winter or spring.
The sky is overcast and low, and the tree line along the river is just starting to show the faintest bit of green at the edges where the buds are coming in from where we had a warm snap before Christmas.
I roll the window down anyway, because I like the cold.
It wakes me up and keeps my head clear in a way that no amount of coffee ever manages to do.
"So I guess Magnolia’s doing well?" I ask, keeping my eyes on the road.
"Yeah." He snickers. "She's good."
"Good," I say, and I mean it. Magnolia's been through enough, and those two deserve a happy life together.
We pull off the main road and follow the gravel path that runs parallel to the river access point.
Before I even get the truck into park, I can hear them.
Two teenage boys, maybe fifteen or sixteen, standing about ten feet from the bank and hauling back with rocks the size of their fists.
One of them gets one skipping across the surface, which looks more impressive than it actually is, and the other one is rearing back to do the same thing when I step out of the truck.
"Hey." I don't yell at them. I don't have to. There's a certain tone that works, and I've had enough experience in law enforcement to know exactly what it is. Both of them freeze like somebody hit a pause button on them. "Yeah, I'm talking to you two."
Levi comes around from the passenger side and we walk toward them together, which I know is intentional on both our parts.
There's a reason we fall into step the way we do. Sometimes we can communicate with the way we walk, and we’re doing that today.
Saying to each other, to watch these two.
They have rocks, and sometimes the worst weapons are ones you least expect.
"We weren't doing anything," the taller one says, because they always say that first.
"You were throwing rocks into the river," I tell him, stopping a few feet away and looking at the pile they'd collected.
There's got to be thirty rocks stacked up near their feet, which tells me they've been here a while.
"Which means you were disturbing the fish.
Which means you were violating state wildlife regulations.
You want to tell me what the plan was here, or do you just enjoy throwing rocks? "
They look at each other the way teenagers do when they're calculating whether the adult in front of them actually has authority over them or if they can talk their way out of it. I watch the math happen in real time.
"We were just messing around," the shorter one says. He's got a fishing hat on, which is almost funny given the circumstances.
"I can see that." I crouch down and pick up one of the rocks, turning it over in my hand.
"Here's the thing about messing around near a waterway.
There are regulations in place for a reason, and that reason is that harassing fish and wildlife isn't something you get to do just because you're bored on a Wednesday morning. Are either of you in school right now?"
"It's a teacher workday," the tall one says quickly.
"Okay." I stand back up and look at Levi, who's watching them with eyes that see everything going on around him. He’s not quick to get worked up, so he just stands there with his arms crossed, observing.
"Then I'm going to tell you both something that I want you to actually hear, because I'd rather not have to come back out here and arrest you. "
That gets their attention. The word arrest has a way of doing that.
"Throwing rocks at fish is considered harassment of wildlife under state law," Levi says, picking up where I left off. "We can cite you, which means your parents get involved, and I don't imagine either of you wants that conversation."
"We didn't know," the one with the fishing hat says, and I actually believe him, which is part of why I'm still standing here talking instead of writing.
"That's why we're telling you now," I say.
"So you do know. And knowing means the next time you come out here and you decide to do this again, you don't get a conversation.
You get a citation, and depending on how cooperative you feel like being, it can go a lot of different directions from there. Are we understanding each other?"
Both of them nod. The taller one looks genuinely embarrassed, which is not the worst outcome.
"Kick those rocks back," Levi tells them, nodding toward the pile. "Back toward the tree line, away from the bank."
They do it without arguing, which tells me they've made their decision and it's the right one. I watch them scatter the pile, and when they're done, I give them a nod.
"Go find something else to do with your day off," I say, and they don't need to be told twice.
Levi and I stand there while they pack up and head back toward the road, and once they're out of earshot he lets out a slow breath. "You think they'll be back?"
"Not today," I say. "Maybe not ever. Hard to say at that age.
" I pull my phone out and check the time, then pull up my texts before I put it away, because I want to ask Molly about tonight before I forget and the day gets away from me.
I type it quick, just asking if she's free and if she wants to go bowling with me so I can watch Lucy and her fucking date.
She reads it almost immediately. I can see the three dots appear.
M: Did your sixteen-year-old sister just plan our second date?
A laugh works its way out of my chest before I can stop it, and Levi glances over at me with his eyebrows up.
"Nothing," I tell him, tucking the phone away. "Let's walk the bank before we head back."
He gives me a look that says he knows exactly what nothing means, but he falls into step beside me anyway and lets it go, because that's the thing about a best friend. He knows when to push and when to leave it alone.
I'll tell him eventually. I always do.
But for right now, Molly is mine, and I'm not ready to share that with the people that matter just yet.