Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
From his desk across the room, Micah Ainsley pipes up with a cunning smile. The man glows like a Renaissance sculpture, tall and muscular, his albino skin bone-white. “We have sixty percent more tourists than we did last year, too, Captain.”
Henri Fontenot glances up from reading on his phone, leaning against the wall near Mallory’s dispatch desk. “You mean it was quieter than this last year? Huh. How did y’all not fall asleep?”
“Shut it, city boy,” Lucas throws back. “It’s busy for us.”
“N’awlins ain’t the city, mon ami. It’s just the country grown wild.”
“I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean,” I mutter. “Is the peanut gallery done with its bullshit and ready to give me some real answers or what?”
I get an immediate round of cheeky salutes.
Mallory the dispatcher even twirls around in her chair without stopping her rapid-fire typing and throws one at me, too, then blows me a kiss.
Insubordinate brats.
All of them.
I’ve barely been captain of the Redhaven PD long enough to win a crumb of respect and I’m already about to have a stress aneurysm because I’m surrounded by professional jokers.
But I grind my (in)subordinates into line and get down to brass tacks.
Everyone sobers up as we settle down and discuss patrol schedules, throwing around a few theories for what we can really do about the petty crime wave. We talk about pulling together rosters of shop owners, trusted folks we can talk to about setting up more CCTV cameras here and there to catch any funny business.
The cameras are cheap as hell these days and pretty sophisticated. I know a few good systems endorsed by Enguard, the premier West Coast security firm. Home Shepherd has also been making a lot of fancy military grade drones repurposed for civilian safety, but I’m not sure their tech is in our budget yet.
After listening to Micah nerd out over the drones for ten solid minutes, we’re signing off and divvying up duties, with only Henri clocking out when he’s scheduled to be on call overnight while the rest of us pull day shifts around town.
Lucas and I are the last guys out.
As he stops by his desk to snag a fresh ticket pad I lean over and stop him, lightly thumping my fingers against his arm.
“Hey. You got a minute?”
Lucas flutters his lashes. “Well, Cap, if you’re about to ask me to the Pumpkin Formal? I can make time for you.”
I eyeball him hard.
“I liked you better when you didn’t talk so much, funny man.”
“What can I say? New wife, new baby coming means I’m a changed man.” He grins and sits on the edge of his desk, running a hand through his thick crop of black hair. “Seriously, though, what’s up?”
I clear my throat, struggling to get the words out.
Lucas looks so damn happy now. I don’t begrudge him for it.
I know there are plenty of old pains that still hurt him, even if he doesn’t show it much these days. Closure or not, he’ll always carry a little guilt over not being able to save Celeste.
Too familiar.
Our demons are too much alike.
We both lost someone dear to us the same night. I’m happy as hell he got a few answers.
And it’s like he knows even before I say, “I can’t stop thinking about the Santos case and everything it turned up about—you know.”
“Celeste.” He sobers. His sister’s name comes out like an old prayer he hasn’t uttered in months. “Yeah. It’s bringing up memories with Ethan, ain’t it?”
I nod slowly. “I’m wondering if we’ve got grounds to legally rip the seal off that case, instead of just asking questions?”
“You mean you want to pursue an active investigation?”
“Don’t know yet.” I sigh. “Hell, it’ll probably take years for Raleigh forensics and the Feds to finish sifting through the recovered remains and writing their reports. They might get a DNA match on Ethan eventually, or they might not... Guess I just feel like maybe we should be looking around on our end. We’ve still got a lot of unanswered questions, but what we learned after the Arrendell bust could shed some new light on it.”
Lucas cocks his head from side to side thoughtfully. “You’re the captain, Captain. It’s your call and I’ve got your back. But I think you need to ask yourself something, Grant.”
“Yeah?”
“Who are you really doing this for? Yourself—or her?”
I narrow my eyes.
Fuck, he’s got me there.
That question’s still on my mind as Lucas and I part ways and I drop into my patrol car to start my route.
We tend to split the town three ways with one of us taking the inner shops and streets and another one taking the residential areas. Another officer—usually Micah—plays park ranger out in the wilderness, keeping an eye on the tourists and the hillfolk alike.
Micah likes the woods more than any New York City boy should. I think because it’s a good chance to bring his old German Shepherd out with him.