Page 28 of Cuffed (Everyday Heroes 1)
Nate turns to meet my eyes and shakes his head as we walk down the front walkway.
“She walked into the wall,” he murmurs with resignation, and I know he’s referring to a bruise the mom must have had.
“She wouldn’t give you anything else?”
“Nah,” he says as he stares at me over the cruiser’s roof. “She wouldn’t step away from him so I could ask more. What about the girl?”
I know he isn’t using names to keep the emotional distance, but for some reason, I can’t do that this time. “Keely?” I reassert. “I didn’t see any bruises, nor did she say she’d been hit. Daddy spanks her for telling anyone about mommy and daddy fighting, though. Or for spilling her milk. And probably just for breathing.”
I grit my teeth as I rein in my anger. I can’t stay detached. Not from a little girl with big blue eyes and soft blonde curls, who has most likely seen more than her fair share of adult things.
“Fucking prick.”
“If only we could get Mrs. Davis alone to talk,” I think aloud.
“We can try another time. Stop by for a well check when he’s gone. Maybe she’ll talk then.”
“Perhaps.” It isn’t good enough. “He better not lay a hand on that little girl.”
Nate eyes me for a second before nodding and sliding into the car to continue our day.
“Well, that was crap.”
I glance over to Nate as I crack the top of a Coke open and nod. “Sure was.”
“And yet, we have shit to show for it. No arrests. No nothing.”
“Makes for a long-ass day.” I take a sip as I lean back and put my feet on the desk I’m currently occupying in the squad room. “If you want twenty-four hour lights and sirens, Nate, then you should move to San Francisco. I’m sure the guys there would kill for the slower beat we have.”
“True. But I bet they’re adrenaline junkies. They wouldn’t be able to live without it.” I nod at his statement. “Speaking of which, the fun stuff always seems to happen when I’m out sick.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Lyle was just telling me in the locker room that you had a ninety five mile an hour-er the other day, but I don’t see it on the reports anywhere.” He leans his hip on the desk beside me and crosses his arms over his chest.
“It was an emergency situation. Lady speeding to get somewhere,” I explain as I nod a hello to a few more guys coming in to roll call to grab their assignments. “I was trying to be nice and just gave her a warning.”
“So, in other words, she was a hottie and you got her digits.”
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes and take another sip while thinking of Emerson. Her damn defiance and that haunted look she gets in her eyes every so often that makes me want to ask more questions than I know she’s willing to answer. And then there were those little white shorts she was wearing the other day that make me think thoughts I shouldn’t be thinking but can’t help.
“Earth to Grant.”
“Sorry. I was just thinking about that first call today—”
“The asshole husband and sweet little girl? Yeah, they got to me, too.”
We both fall in silence for a second, and I hate that when I picture little Keely, an image of Emerson leaving school that day superimposes itself over it.
It’s just because she’s on my mind more than she should be. So much so that I’m projecting her situation onto another little girl when I know better.
“How about we liven up our day a bit and get some action?” he suggests.
“I get enough action. Thanks, though.” I chuckle just to irritate him.
“Fucking, Malone. Playboy cop. One of these days a woman’s going to come along and put handcuffs around that cold heart of yours, and then you’ll be whipped like the rest of us fuckers.”
“I’ll be cuffed, huh?” I run a hand over my jaw and shake my head. “Sorry, I just don’t see it . . . but if it makes you feel better about the white picket fence you’ll be locked behind, then by all means.”
