Page 29 of Rekindle My Heart

Chapter 8

After finishing his second beer with Larson and the fire fighters, Ryan headed back to the station. He was an hour into paperwork when an email popped in from the medical examiner.

“Holy shit...” Ryan reread the results again. After reading it a third time, he forwarded it to Trey, Amy, and Erica.

It wasn’t two minutes before his phone rang. He picked it up.

“Are you serious? Could this be a mistake?” Erica’s voice rose with each question.

“It’s there in black-and-white. Our one victim is a police officer. And our other…”

“Is our drug dealer.” Surprise flowed through the line. “Do you know the officer?”

“No, I can’t say I do.” Ryan’s fingers flew over the keyboard as he pulled up information on the victim, Officer Brian Kealy.

The search page pulled up. Kealy was a seasoned patrolman and had been on the neighboring city’s department for fifteen years. Ryan scanned the page, then clicked to another page result. “He’s not an Ashwood officer. He’s stationed in Bloomington and lives in Woodbury.”

“What was he doing in Ashwood? Do you think he was corrupt?”

“Don’t know, but I’ll find out. He’s my victim now.” He tapped in another search, this one for alerts. Nothing. The hairs on his arm jumped to attention. How could an officer be missing for five days and not have a Blue Alert?

Scenarios ran through his mind as he scanned Kealy’s personal information. Divorced. Parents deceased. No children.

There had to be someone who would miss this guy. His superior. Unless, he was on vacation. Slumming on the wrong side of Ashwood? Not likely.

Ryan pulled up the organizational chart for Bloomington and fired off a quick email to Kealy’s supervisor, Sergeant Roger Vu, asking for a meeting.

Ryan’s gut churned. Odds were good the officer was his contact.

“What I want to know is why was Salvador there? Coincidence?” Even her voice showed she didn’t believe that.

“Doubt it. He could have been his nark, or his contact if he was on the take.” Ryan pulled up Kealy’s bio from the city’s webpage.

“I’m going to see if I can access Bloomington’s fire reports. If not, I may know someone who can help, but I don’t want to reach out yet.”

Ryan could hear the sound of rapid-fire typing in the background. He should go back to Pleasant Avenue to tell Ruiz’s next of kin of his passing. Delivering this news always sucked, but a chill zipped up his spine at the thought of the two beasts who would greet him.

Man up. It’s part of the job.

He checked the time. 7:35 p.m. Tomorrow was soon enough. Erica was working on the cases tonight. It was only fair for him to go help her.

Sure, that’s a good reason.

“I’ll come over. I wanted to run a diagnostic on the city’s fire system. If you can access other cities, I could start that while we search the files.” Ryan bit his lip, waiting. If she rejected his idea, he’d have no excuse and have to go back and see those hellhounds.

After what seem like an eternity, she sighed. “Give me fifteen minutes. I need to shower.”

Surprise and something like hope bubbled in his veins. “Make it twenty, and I’ll bring food. I haven’t eaten yet.”

Less than thirty minutes later, Ryan strolled up Erica’s front walk with his work bag slung over his shoulder and a takeout sack in his hand. A deep bark vibrated through the door, and his step faltered.

Karma.

As his foot touched the step, the door swung open. One hundred and thirty pounds of wiggling dog greeted him. He raised the food bag high as he stroked the broad head. “Good boy.”

Erica leaned against the door jamb in pajama pants and a U of M T-shirt. Dark, wet tendrils hung around her shoulders.

Ryan stumbled again. He couldn’t say if it was the dog leaning into him or Erica. She didn’t have a lick of makeup on, never did, but the deep red of her wet locks made her eyes electric.