Page 150 of Cuffed (Everyday Heroes 1)
“Em . . . I don’t know what to—”
“There’s nothing you can say. It’s okay. Really. I’ll figure something else out.” I force a tight smile, always mindful of how my life goes from one extreme to the next, as I pull on my clothes. I haven’t really even had time to process it all, so talking about it makes me itchy.
“If it’s a money thing, Em . . . you know I’ll—”
“Thanks, but from what I overheard in the station last night, you’re suspended, so I assume you’re not making a paycheck, either.” I shrug and pull my shirt over my head. “I’m a big girl, Grant. I—”
“Can handle yourself,” he finishes for me.
“Chief Ramos,” I say, shocked to see his name on my cell. “This is an unexpected surprise.”
“So is what you did,” he says.
“What can I do for you?” I will not apologize, not even to my boss, for my actions.
“I know you talked to Deputy Chief Castro last night, but I have to give you the official company line. What you did was wrong. You went against protocol. Became the scene instead of managed it. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You got
all that?”
“Sure,” I say, biting back my smile at his cavalier attitude.
“Good. Now I can say what I want to say, off the record, of course.”
“Of course, sir.”
“You’ve caused quite a stir around here. So much so, that I have to have an official investigation, but before it even begins, I can tell you the results will be inconclusive. Were you in the wrong? Yes. Is there anything to charge you with or permanently ding your record with? No.” I stand, suddenly needing to move. “Your suspension ends in five days, should I assume you’ll be back here the following Monday?”
“What?” This is not what I expected. I expected weeks of internal affairs dragging their feet while I sat home, twiddling my thumbs bored out of my mind.
“Monday? Yes or no?”
“Yes. Definitely yes.”
“Good. Now that I have your attention, I need to go over a few other things. Once reinstated you are not allowed to answer any calls—or non-calls—to the Davis residence.”
“How is she?” I ask.
“Why are you so attached to this little girl, Malone?”
“She reminds me of someone I once knew.” I think of Emerson’s words yesterday as she lay in my arms. Define or fuel. She chooses fuel.
“She and her mother have been moved to a battered woman’s home. They are undergoing counseling there for a bit while their family in Oregon makes arrangements for them to come live with them.”
“And the dad?”
“We can’t win every battle, Grant. We have to take the victories when we get them and hope the good guys win out the next time.”
So, if I can’t frequent the Davis residence, that means he still lives there. Still able to meet another woman and mistreat her the same way. The endless cycle.
But Keely is safe.
Keely is saved.
What I did mattered.
“I need your word that you’ll avoid the residence in question?”
“Yes, sir.”
