Reunited by the Badge

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  He shouted, “You should have never left the state with her! You should have turned yourselves in to the police so that we could have protected you both. That’s what you should have done!”

  Paul didn’t respond as the man continued to rant. There was nothing he could say to defend his actions, or Simone’s. They had worried her parents, and her father was spewing that back at him. Paul understood his fear because he had also felt it, unable to shake the emotion, even when he and Simone had been going through it together. Most especially after discovering she was pregnant, their unborn child inadvertently in danger as well. There was nothing he could do but apologize.

  “I’m very sorry, sir. It was never my intention to put Simone in harm’s way. We were just reacting to the situation to the best of our ability. The decisions we made were done with no ill will intended, sir.”

  Jerome snapped, “I expected you, of all people, to have an ounce of sense more than Simone. I know how impulsive my daughter can sometimes be. I expected you would be able to keep her in line. I was depending on you!” He swiped a hand across his brow as he turned, inhaling deep, swift breaths to calm his nerves.

  “Again, sir, I regret how things happened. We never meant to worry you or Judge Black. But Simone is safe and well.” He took a breath as Simone’s father turned back around to stare at him. His eyes were narrowed, and his brow was furrowed. Paul imagined that if looks could kill he might actually be standing there dead. He persisted.

  “Superintendent, I love Simone. Your daughter is my entire world and I would give my own life to protect hers.”

  Jerome grunted, his eyes rolling skyward.

  Paul continued, “I know that there is nothing I can say right now that will help you to understand why we did what we did, so I’m not going to try. But I need you to believe me when I tell you how much Simone means to me. I hope to make her my wife and for that to happen, sir, we both need your blessing. Simone would never have me if she didn’t have your permission. She respects your opinion, sir, and it would not sit well with her if you didn’t approve of me, or our being together.’

  Jerome took another deep breath, but he didn’t say anything. The muscles in his face, though, had relaxed significantly and the vein that had been pulsing with a vengeance just minutes earlier had calmed significantly. Paul took that as a good sign. He continued to talk.

  “Simone wanted to be here when I spoke to you, but I knew I needed to speak with you first. Man to man. Because I love Simone as much as I do, sir—it’s just as important to me that you support our being together. Not just for Simone, but because I don’t ever want you to doubt that I have your daughter’s best interests at heart. Or that I won’t do whatever it takes to protect and take care of her.”

  Jerome stared at him intently, his head bobbing in a slow nod. “I guess she could do worse,” he finally muttered, a hint of levity returning to his tone.

  Paul smiled, feeling his mouth lift in an easy bend. “Let’s just hope she can’t do any better!” he said.

  Jerome laughed heartily. “I’m still pissed,” he said after the moment of flippancy passed.

  Paul took another deep breath. “Then I should probably share our other news with you now.”

  “Do I even want to hear this?”

  There was just the briefest moment of hesitation and then Paul said, “Simone and I are pregnant. We’re expecting a baby. I’m excited about it, but she still has some reservations. She needs your support now more than ever. I need your support because Simone and that baby are my family and I don’t want to lose them.”

  The silence grew full and thick as Jerome just continued to stare Paul down. Paul sensed that the levity that had risen between them had been quickly extinguished. He suddenly wished he could find a hole to crawl into, something like fear piercing his midsection. He watched the patriarch’s jaw tighten as he ground his teeth together and that vein was pulsing like it was trying to sync with a marching band.

  Jerome suddenly snapped, “I swear! I should just lock your ass up and throw away the damn key!” He did an about-face, moving back through the door into the kitchen, the fixture slamming harshly behind him.

  Paul hesitated before he followed, thinking he might have pricked the man’s last good nerve. Wondering if he had just overshared before the patriarch had been ready. He clearly wasn’t happy or excited by the news and Paul wondered if he was rethinking whether or not he approved of Paul being with his daughter. He blew a heavy sigh, his hands clutching his sides. He leaned his head back, his eyes closed as he whispered a quick prayer skyward.

  Minutes later Paul reentered the dining room, moving back to the table, and Mingus, who stood at his father’s side. The superintendent had retaken his seat. The others around the table all turned to stare, giving him a harsh look. Paul was suddenly very uncomfortable and then just like that, they broke out in laughter. Simone’s father was shaking his head from side to side.

  The two men said their goodbyes and exited the restaurant. As they made their way to the car, Mingus slapped him against the back. “Dad said to tell you he expects you at Sunday dinner. He also said I should kick your ass if you even think about not showing up.”

  Paul blew a sigh of relief and grinned. “Trust and believe, my brother, that won’t be a problem. By the way, did he by chance mention whether or not he’s lifted that warrant he issued for my arrest?”

  * * *

  When Paul walked into Simone’s law office, she was on the phone being harangued by her father. Jerome had gotten to her, reiterating his displeasure with the two of them. Simone was listening, unable to get in a word as her father bellowed over the phone line, as Paul dropped down onto the small sofa that decorated the space, empathy painting his expression.

  Simone shot him a look, her eyes rolling skyward. Annoyance flooded through her, compounded by frustration as her to-do list played in rotation in her head. She didn’t have the time or the energy for her father’s tantrum, but she also knew she needed to let him vent because he was really pissed with her and Paul.

  She nodded into the receiver. “Yes, sir... No, sir...but... I didn’t...yes, sir...we were planning...” Simone sighed and pulled the phone from her ear. She cupped her palm over the mouthpiece. “Did he scream at you, too?”

  Paul nodded. “He ripped me a new one! My ass still hurts!”

  With a slow shake of her head, Simone pulled the phone back to her ear. “Yes, Daddy... I promise...we will... I can’t...okay...okay...yes, sir...yes... I love you, too, Daddy!”

  After disconnecting the line, Simone tossed her phone to the desktop and joined Paul on the sofa. For a brief moment they sat staring at each other and then both laughed.

  “That was rough,” Paul said. “I really thought he was going to lock me up and forget where he put the key.”

  “He still might. He hasn’t yelled at me like that since I was in high school. I felt like I was six years old all over again.” It hadn’t been often that her father had yelled when she’d been a child, but Simone had always dreaded those moments. As she’d gotten older, she realized his bark was worse than his bite and if she simply sat and listened, those moments would pass quickly and she’d be his favorite baby girl again.

  “I think he still likes me, though,” Paul said.

  Simone laughed. “I know he likes you. You’ve been summoned to Sunday dinner. He likes you a lot.” She lifted her face to kiss his lips.

  “That’s good, because I really wasn’t planning to go anywhere,” Paul said as he kissed her back. “So, how has the rest of your day been?”

  “Busy, but I think we’re ready for tomorrow. You and I need to go through the data one last time. Then we’ll send our formal complaint to the FDA with copies of all our documents. When we leave here, we’ll go sit down with the hospital administrator and their legal team, present our case so that they are aware of what you are d
oing and why, then I just want to go home and put my feet up.”

  Paul nodded. “If you’re up to it, I’d like to make one more stop. I’d like to run by our friend Liza’s to see if she can look something up for us. There is something that’s been bothering me.”

  Simone laughed. “She’s a hacker, Paul, not a library!”

  He shrugged. “She’s good at what she does and if she finds what I think she can find, it will further support our case.”

  “Then we run by there. Are you looking for something in particular?”

  “I need the FDA test data for those three Lender drugs that were banned.”

  “Is any of that public data?”

  “I’m not sure. I can call and ask first, but I’m thinking it probably isn’t. But I need to see the numbers and compare them to the results Oliver and I got from some of our tests. Your theory that maybe those drugs and Halphedrone-B are actually one and the same has been gnawing at me. If those drugs are contaminated and the contaminant is the same, it may be enough to prove they simply changed the name and knowingly repackaged a tainted product.”

  “I was just throwing it out there as a what-if.”

  “I know, but if you’re right...” His voice trailed off as he considered the possibility.

  Simone finished the thought for him. “If we’re right, then Lender purposely poisoned patients and sheer greed was their motivation. Bottom line, if they knowingly sold drugs that had been previously banned, that’s criminal and I want to do whatever we can to shutter their doors.”

  “I honestly find it unfathomable that no one in that company would have found this to be wrong on every level imaginable.”

  Simone gave him a nod. “Well, let’s go see what we can find out. Let me send my brother a text so he can warn Liza that we’re coming,” she said as she rose from her seat and moved to reclaim her telephone.

  “If Ellington doesn’t mind, I’d like to borrow an empty office,” Paul said. “I need to place some calls to my colleagues overseas. They need to be aware of what’s going on. I think if I tell them that we’ve gone forward with filing the complaint and that we’re announcing our intent to sue the drug company the doctors will be more inclined to pull the drugs voluntarily instead of waiting for an official recall.”

  “Follow me,” Simone said. “I’ll find you some space. I actually have a little juice in this joint.”

  Paul laughed. “Simone, please don’t get yourself fired. It’s only your very first day!”

  * * *

  The office receptionist waved for Simone’s attention as she and Paul were headed out the door. Excitement bubbled from the young woman’s cheery spirit, her exuberance a refreshing greeting to clients. Her name was Candace, and like Simone, she was new to the firm.

  “Attorney Black, there’s a package here for you. It was just delivered.” Candace pushed a white container across the marble counter toward Simone. It was the size of a large shoe box and nondescript, with no identifiable markings.

  “For me?” Simone’s eyes widened in surprise, the delivery unexpected. “Do you know who it’s from?”

  “One of the local delivery services dropped it off, but there was no card attached to the outside.”

  “Did you have to sign for it?”

  Candace suddenly looked nervous that maybe she’d done something wrong. “No, ma’am. He just said he had a package for you and then he turned around and left.”

  “Were you expecting something?” Paul questioned, suddenly on guard. He stepped between Simone and the box, the gesture instinctively protective.

  Simone shook her head. “No. Unless someone in the family sent it. Maybe a welcome gift? Parker and Armstrong had flowers delivered earlier today to say congratulations.”

  “Text everyone and ask,” Paul said as he lifted the box from the counter and moved swiftly to the conference room, setting it in the center of the table.

  Within minutes of Simone pushing Send on the text message, Mingus and one of his associates stepped off the elevator, both moving swiftly to where they stood in the conference room door. “Did you try to open it?” her brother questioned, looking from them to Candace and back.

  Simone shook her head. “Paul just carried it from the reception desk to there.”

  “I shook it,” Candance interjected, her voice a loud whisper as she stood twisting her hands together nervously. “I don’t know if that’s important.”

  Mingus nodded, then moved to the table, spinning the box in a slow circle.

  “Be careful,” Simone admonished. “Maybe we should call Parker and have him send over a bomb team?”

  Paul shot her a look. “You need to stand back, please.”

  “You both need to stand back,” she snapped back.

  The man with Mingus pushed past the couple and closed the door, leaving them standing on the outside of the room.

  Paul inhaled a deep breath. “We’re not doing this. This is ridiculous,” he said, turning to face Simone. “We can’t live like this. You and the baby are my life. If anything happened to either of you...” The words caught in his chest as he choked back hot tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

  Simone was crying, her anxiety level having finally spilled over. She stepped into his arms, grabbing at the front of his shirt as he pulled her against him.

  The door to the conference room suddenly flew open, Mingus’s associate moving swiftly past them back toward the elevator. Mingus stood in the corner of the room on his cell phone. His expression was stone, no hint of emotion across his face.

  They moved into the room, their gazes questioning as he disconnected the call.

  “What is it?” Simone asked.

  “Where do you two need to go from here?” Mingus asked.

  Paul answered. “The hospital for a meeting and then I wanted to swing by and see Liza.”

  Simone asked again. “What’s in the damn box?”

  Mingus shook his head. “Parker’s on his way to get the box. He wants to dust it for prints. I doubt he’ll find anything, though. My guy is headed to see if he can track down that delivery man.”

  “Is it something bad?” Simone persisted.

  “I need to put a few more of my people in place and then we’ll leave,” he responded, ignoring her question.

  Simone shook her head, moving closer to the table. “Why won’t you tell me...” she started.

  “Leave it alone, Simone,” Mingus said.

  “Is it bad?” Paul asked, his anxiety level still rippling with a vengeance.

  Simone flipped her hand at her brother as she moved to the box. The top was askew and she pushed it off to peer inside, pulling the box toward her.

  The cry that echoed around the room was gut-wrenching. It was a dull wail that sounded like pain and fear twisted in a tight knot. It pierced the quiet in the room with such turmoil that Paul and Mingus both rushed to Simone’s side.

  “Damn, Simone!” Mingus admonished.

  Paul reached for her, trying to pull her close, but Simone pitched forward back toward the door and dropped to her knees, vomiting into the trash can in the corner. Tears streamed down her face and she was shaking.

  The two men exchanged a look as Paul turned to see what Simone had seen. A small kitten lay inside the container, its little head severed from its tiny body and its white fur matted with dried blood. Paul closed his eyes, fighting the urge to rage. The cruelty of the act was beyond reason. He turned and moved to where Simone sat sobbing. He pressed his hands to her shoulders and pulled her from the floor.

  “I need to take her home,” he said to Mingus. “I’m canceling the meeting.”

  “No,” Simone said, swiping at her eyes as she fought to regain her composure.

  “Simone, you’re not safe. They were clearly sending us a message. So, we’re finished. We’re not
doing this.”

  “Yes, we are,” she said, sniffling loudly. “We have to, Paul. We can’t let them scare us off.”

  “Well, I am scared. I’m scared to death that something will happen to you and the baby. I would never survive that, Simone.”

  Simone wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. She pressed her palm to his chest and tapped gently. “I’m going to the restroom to freshen up my face. Then we need to leave or we’re going to be late for our appointment. We didn’t come this far to quit,” she said.

  “Besides, we have a whole police department behind us,” Simone continued as she pointed toward the lobby and the officers who were headed in their direction.

  Paul and Mingus locked gazes. “Can you talk some sense into her?” he asked.

  Mingus shrugged. “Not my fight, bro! I’m just here to protect and serve.”

  As Paul watched her walk away, disappearing down the length of corridor to the restrooms a wave of despair washed over him. Simone wanted to push forward, and he knew nothing he could say would deter her. She would get her way. But this message had been way too close for comfort and he had to make sure he stopped the threat to their safety in its tracks. He just wasn’t sure how.

  Chapter 16

  When Simone woke the next morning, Paul was still poring over the documents Liza had found for him the previous day. Piles of paper were strewn around her living room and he sat at the kitchen table entering data into a program on his computer. He hadn’t gotten an ounce of sleep and he was clearly singularly focused on finding an answer to questions that hadn’t been asked yet.

  He looked up as she moved into the room, heading to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. A bright smile pulled across his face. “Good morning, beautiful!”

  “Good morning! Did you come to bed at all?”

  Paul shook his head. “No. I had to weed through this information. Plus, after that delivery yesterday, I had a lot on my mind.”