Chapter 2 #2
After getting into his comfortable clothing, he sat down to the rest of his dinner.
He could usually polish off an entire pizza by himself, but he was tired tonight and didn’t have it in him to eat that much.
Getting a shower after his dinner, he was ready for bed at seven-thirty and knew on some level that if he went to bed now, he’d never be able to sleep until morning.
Then he’d be in the wrong cycle of things with work.
Sometimes he hated not being able to sleep when things were weighing on his mind.
Turning on the television, he was glad to see that there were some ball games on.
He didn’t particularly care for baseball, but he’d watch it if there was nothing else on.
When he realized that he’d not been paying attention, he finally went to bed.
At nine-thirty, not only was he about asleep, but he also thought that he could sleep until morning and feel much better about his day.
When his alarm went off at seven, he was up and ready to go.
He’d not realized how much he needed to sleep and to rest as he’d done last night.
Feeling really good about himself, he not only ironed his shirt because he had time, but he also did a load of laundry so that he’d have clean clothing over the weekend.
Running the vacuum before he went into work, he was wondering how long it had been since he’d done that. And knew that it had to have been about a couple of weeks. He wasn’t a slob or anything, but he did let the dusting go until it was really obvious that he’d not done it in a while.
When he got to work, it was his turn with the cruiser again.
Making his rounds, he even stopped to get gas in it so that it would be full for the next shift.
There was a lot to be said for a small-town police force, and he loved it here.
Nothing really ever went on, and when it did, it was usually something that could be solved in a couple of days.
When Alaric came into the office to talk to him, the two of them went to lunch together.
He loved the hot chicken sandwiches, so he got two of them, and Alaric did the same.
They were on their second one each when he brought up that he was going to take the sergeant’s exam soon, and he thought that he’d do pretty well on it.
“I’ve been studying for it for the past three months, and I think I’ll do well on it.
I don’t think that I’ll ace it or anything like that, but I know I’ll do well enough to pass.
” He wished him luck. “How about you? You ever going to try and move up in the department? I’m thinking that you’d make a good chief.
You seem to run the place as it is now. Except for Aaron.
He’s got things down pat and seems to be in a place where he wants to be. ”
“He’s smart too, and that helps. And knowing the law like he does, it’s small wonder that he’d not been asked to be the chief when Jamison leaves.
You think that he’ll be retiring soon? He seems to have the attitude that he’s ready for it.
” He agreed with him, and they walked back to the station house.
“I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately, and I wonder if anything will come of it.
There are a lot of things going on around town right now that I want to be involved in.
I was thinking that if I didn’t pass the sergeant’s exam, I might run for mayor. ”
“You’d be good at that. I think that you’d do a better job than the one who is in office now.
How long has he been running unopposed? Ten years at least.” He said he thought it was about that.
“We would have your back, too. And at least you’d have all of our votes as well.
” They both laughed, and he wanted to hug his brother but thought that he’d embarrass him.
Thinking that he was going to do it anyway, Alaric hugged him. “That was well needed. Thank you.”
“I needed it as well. I love you, Zeno. I don’t say that often enough to any of you guys.
” He felt his eye fill and hugged his brother again.
As soon as they parted ways, he knew that he was going to be happy for the rest of the day.
If not forever. He was going to keep his opinions to himself about having a mate so that he didn’t mess things up again.
Going home, he decided to get his mom some roses and some chocolates.
He knew that she would love them both because there was no occasion for them.
~*~
Peter wasn’t going to be putting up with this shit for too much longer.
His wife wasn’t speaking to him, but that wasn’t all that bad.
But he couldn’t get anyone to tell him why he’d been retired.
He just wanted his job back so that he could knock some heads around.
He didn’t deserve to be treated this way.
“Your phone is ringing.” He told his wife that he knew that when, in reality, he’d not heard it at all. When she huffed at him, he could have smacked the shit out of her, but didn’t. She could be meaner than he could be when she was riled up. And he didn’t want to have to deal with her too.
“I don’t want to talk to anyone but my boss, and he’s not returning my calls. I’m going to have to get drastic with him if he doesn’t listen to reason.”
He’d been made to retire when he’d demanded that a woman who had worked for him get her foot healed and get back to work.
He knew that something was going on with the women who were being kidnapped, and his stepbrother, Larry Palmer, had his wife taken from him right under his nose.
He wanted to get things investigated, but his hands were tied right now since he’d been forced out of his job.
By God, he was going to have things go his way, or he was going to know the reason why.
“I’m not making supper tonight. I’m tired, and I don’t want to have to mess with it when all you’re going to do is complain about it.
” He asked her what he was supposed to do about his meal.
“I don’t care. I’m going to have myself a nice salad, and I know how you hate that, so you’re going to be on your own. ”
“That’s not the way things work for me. And you know it.
” She shrugged, and he again wanted to hit her.
But he’d not. Not yet, anyway. “What am I supposed to do about eating? It’s your job to make sure that I get my food on the table when I’m ready for it.
What else do you have to do all day but to cater to my needs?
I demand that you fix me a meal, and that’s the end of the discussion. ”
She didn’t so much as move, and he was pissed off. She had to know that he was having a bad day and should have been nicer to him. Standing up, he went to her and drew back his hand. But the look that she gave him gave him pause.
“You touch me like that, and they’ll never find your body.” She didn’t raise her voice at all, and that terrified him more than her words. “I won’t be an abused wife, or so help me, I’ll kill you where you stand.”
The scary part was that he believed her.
She’d kill him right there, and he’d not even know how she’d done it.
Backing away from her, he lowered his hand, but he was no less pissed at her.
He made his way to the kitchen to find himself something to eat.
He’d be afraid for her to fix him something now; she might well poison it. Or spit in it.
He thought about the Troff woman while he was rummaging through the cabinets.
He hadn’t wanted to send her on the issue, but all the men were out on calls, and he’d been stuck with her.
All she’d had to do was arrest one of the Dresden men, Alaric or something like that, and be back in the office in no time.
But she’d not done anything she’d been told to do and had supposedly got herself hurt.
He no more believed that than he did that she was going to do a good job.
Five women had disappeared in a decade, and he wanted answers.
He just knew that the little bastard Dresden was selling them off to other countries and he was making a profit off of it.
How else was he one of the richest men in the state?
He knew what he was talking about, too. He just needed someone to give him back his job so that he could get him arrested.
“Damned women. They all need to learn their place.” He’d been made to hire three women when the laws changed.
He didn’t understand why it was a part of his department that had to suffer, so he hired them.
They only did research on things when he deemed them capable, and to make coffee.
The other men in his department were of the same mind as him.
He ended up heating up a can of soup. Thankful for the instructions on the side of the can, he didn’t know what he’d have done about a meal.
He did think about going out to get something for himself, but he no longer had a car that would pick him up and take him where he wanted to go.
Another thing that had been denied him when he’d been forced to retire.
The president had actually made him retire because he’d said that women needed to be knocked around in order to keep them in line.
And that children should be beaten in order to keep them out of trouble when they got older.
Everyone in his department knew that to be true, and he didn’t understand why he thought that was a bad thing.