Chapter 2
The minute my alarm blared at four a.m., I quickly turned it off and got out of bed. Before I did anything, I lowered myself to the floor and prayed.
“Dear God, thank you for waking me up this morning. I pray today is a good day. Please keep my siblings and my parents safe. Amen.”
Every morning, I thanked God for giving me life and asked him to watch over my family.
As the oldest of three, I was very protective of my brother and my sister.
My brother, Koda, was two years younger than me, while my sister, Karma, was four years younger.
They both were my heart, but my sister was my baby.
She could do no wrong in my eyes, and she was spoiled as hell.
Once I was done with my prayers, I got up to use the bathroom, wash my face, and brush my teeth.
When I was done with that, I sent a good morning message to our family chat.
I knew none of them would be up, but I sent it anyway.
Koda would usually be the first one who responded because he got up earlier than everyone else besides me.
Karma usually slept until later in the morning.
My parents were early risers, too, but not before sun early.
Throwing some sweatpants and a hoodie on, I walked out of my room and was greeted by my German shepherd, Shadow.
“Hey, boy. Are you ready for a walk?” I rubbed Shadow’s head as he wagged his tail.
We walked down the steps together. Shadow grabbed his leash from the hook, while I put my sneakers on. He was trained to get his leash and a few other things.
I put his harness on, then attached the leash before I grabbed my keys from the table. I made sure to grab my gun and tuck it behind my back. It was registered, and I never left home without it.
Shadow and I did a twenty-minute walk around our neighborhood every morning before the sun even came up.
I walked the way we went last night because I hoped to run into the chick I saw who stared at me so hard she almost ran the stop sign.
I couldn’t completely see her face, but I saw enough to see that she was pretty.
I had never seen her before, so I figured she was new to the area.
By the time Shadow and I finished our walk, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t see the girl. It was a long shot anyway because it was so early in the morning, and I didn’t even know if she lived in the neighborhood.
“Are you going to work with me today?” I asked Shadow when we entered the house.
It wasn’t like he could answer me, but there were signs when he wanted to go with me or not.
If he didn’t want to go, he would go into his room and lie down.
If he wanted to go, he would wait for me by the front door.
It took a while for me to figure it out, but I was glad when I did.
As the police chief of the Sunrise Valley Police Department, I was able to take Shadow with me whenever I wanted to.
He was trained as a K-9, but he hardly worked.
I laughed out loud because my dog really got to choose when he wanted to do his job or not.
I had Shadow spoiled, but he was my son.
He even had his own room. It was only the two of us in a four-bedroom house, so there was no reason why he couldn’t have his own space.
His room was closest to the steps, so if there were ever an intruder, he would be the first one to get them.
I also had a top-of-the-line security system, so I wasn’t worried about someone coming in, but I still liked to take precautions.
The neighborhood I lived in was safe, but one could never be too careful.
Shadow went upstairs while I went into the kitchen to make myself a fruit smoothie.
“I guess he isn’t going,” I said out loud.
My phone vibrated as I made my smoothie, and I knew it was nobody but my brother.
No one else really called me but my siblings and my parents.
The job wouldn’t call unless there was a dire emergency.
There was a chain of command, and I was at the top, so I would be one of the last people they called.
Once my smoothie was finished, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. As I suspected, it was my brother, but he only sent a good morning text. I noticed I had another message from him, in our personal text thread.
I listened to the voice message he left me about some chick he met the night before. Koda was known as a ho around town, but for some reason, women still flocked to him. I had no issue getting women either, but I was a little more selective about them than my brother was.
I responded to his message, then sat down at the table to drink my smoothie and catch up on any news that happened overnight. Luckily, nothing much happened, so I wouldn’t have too much to deal with when I got to work.
When I was done with my smoothie, I washed out the cup, cleaned the blender, then wiped down the kitchen counter.
Once the kitchen was the way I wanted it, I headed upstairs to get ready for the day.
I loved being police chief because it was the only thing I wanted to be since I was a child.
It took a while for me to get there because the previous chief refused to retire.
He lived and breathed blue, so I understood.
Even now, he still hung around the police station.
Chief Keith was my mentor and like another father to me.
He helped me when I was in the academy and when I first became a police officer.
He knew how important this job was to me.
Not only was it a lifelong dream for me, but my grandfather was a police officer, then a detective before he retired. Becoming an officer was my way of always honoring him.
Most days, I enjoyed the job. Some days, I carried guilt that I couldn’t shake.
When I first got out of the academy, I had a friend who was in an abusive relationship.
No matter how many times I tried to get her to leave him, she wouldn’t.
One day, she called, and I could hear him yelling at her in the background.
Unfortunately, I was too late getting to her house.
He’d finally done what he kept saying he would do to her.
I felt like it was my fault that I couldn’t save her.
It was one of the worst days of my life.
I went to therapy and had been doing so much better, but there were some days it got me down.
Years had passed since it happened, but it was something I would never forget.
Pushing those thoughts to the side, I finished getting ready so I could stop at the donut shop on my way to work.
Every morning, I got two breakfast tacos, two donuts, and black coffee for breakfast. Most of the time, one of the workers would already have my order ready by the time I got there.
“Oh, I guess you feel like working today,” I said to Shadow as he came down the steps.
He rubbed his head against my leg, and I chuckled. He knew I would get him a pup cup if he came along.
We left the house and got into my work truck, which was a Ford Explorer. The donut shop wasn’t too far from my house, so it took us no time to get what I needed, then make it to the police station.
When I got to the station, I talked to a few people to catch up on things, then went into my office. Shadow sat on his couch and ate his pup cup while I ate my tacos.
As soon as I took a bite of the second taco, Chief Keith came strolling into my office.
“Shouldn’t you be home sleeping or something,” I said as I shook my head.
“Now you know that isn’t happening. I see you didn’t bring me any donuts,” he said as he leaned over my desk.
“Because I thought you would be home.” I slid the donut box toward him. “You can have one of my mine if you want.”
He slid the box back in my direction. “Nah, I’m just messing with you. I hear you need to find a new assistant.” He shook his head and smirked.
I chewed my food, then addressed him.
“I do, and I’m not looking forward to it. I hate conducting interviews, but I can’t let anybody else do it.”
“Donna said she left some potential candidates’ information. I can help you look over it real quick.”
I didn’t even notice the stack of folders on the corner of my desk.
“Have at it,” I told him.
He picked up the folders while I continued eating. I trusted him with my life, so I knew I could trust him to pick some decent people to interview.
When he narrowed it down, he passed the folders my way.
“Do me a favor if you hire one of these women.”
“And what favor is that?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“Don’t fuck her,” he deadpanned.
“I won’t.”
The folders only had their information, not any pictures, so I didn’t know what any of them looked like.
I picked the most qualified people, and two of them happened to be women.
Chief had a right to be concerned because I fucked my last assistant, then she ended up quitting when I didn’t want to take the situation further.
I had to convince her not to report my ass because I really shouldn’t have messed with her in the first place.
I wasn’t trying to make that mistake again.
“Okay. I just stopped by to check in with you. If you want, I can be here for the interviews.”
“That’s fine.” I chuckled.
He just couldn’t stay away, but I didn’t mind it. He never got in anyone’s way, and he didn’t stay around for too long. He even spent time with Shadow when I had too much paperwork to do.
“Welp, I have tee time in about thirty minutes, so I’m going to head out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Good luck,” I told him before he walked out of my office.
I looked at the stack of paperwork I needed to work on.
I spent the rest of the day looking over candidates again, just in case I missed one, but the three we picked seemed to be the best fit. When I was sure, I let Donna know to call them so they could come in for an interview.
Hopefully, whoever I hired worked out.