“It was his foot, and technically he shouldn’t have been that close to me to get a dislocated jaw. Right?” Hopeful she’ll officially absolve me, I grin, but her death glare shoots that down.
“You didn’t secure your firearm—as protocol directs—and you injured another officer. You could have killed him.”
I nod. “I know, and I’m sorry I messed up.” Not sorry he’s gone. He bored me to fucking tears.
“Messed up is a cutesy euphemism for what you did.” She writes on her notepad, shaking her gray hair. “I hate cutesy. What is your goal as a police officer?”
“To arrest the bad guys and maybe look good in my uniform?” I smirk, trying to lighten her mood, but her sour frown kills that.
“If only this were funny. Your future hangs in the balance, and you’re cracking jokes.”
“Sorry.” Sorry that I’m still listening to this bullshit.
She pulls out another notepad from her pocket. “Your career trajectory, Officer McGrath.”
“Oh. I want to be SWAT.”
She laughs, a genuine belly-laugh, and it’s fucking disturbing. “After your incident? Good Lord. That’s quite a lofty fantasy to entertain.”
“Uh, I guess, but I can get there in three years.”
She scoffs, “If you make it out of field-training, and that’s a big if. I’m it, the end of the road, the last stop at the terminal, and last call. If you cannot follow the rules and the law, your career in law enforcement is over. Caput. As a police officer for Sunnyville and Joy Springs, I’ve trained nine recruits in my thirty-six years, and you’re tragic number ten. Not one failed on my dime. Nor will you. I’ll retire next year with a spotless field-training record.” She leans closer to me, like she’s telling me a secret. “But if need be, I will take you down so hard your grandchildren will feel it. You will not go rogue on me, and you will not play me for a fool, officer. Neither will your cousin, Detective Grant Malone, your brother, your brother-in-law in Virginia, or your mother, who’s an assistant district attorney. Even your sister, who has a civilian job at a police precinct, and your mailman father have a stake in this if you need that reminder since your family wrote recommendations for you.”
She sits back, writing and finally shutting up. “I’m aware my family’s reputation is on the line.”
“I doubt that. I know about your juvie record.”
She closes her notepad as I subtly cringe. “I made mistakes.” Like not choosing jail.
“I’m all over you like a bargain hooker. You will do as you’re told, keep your nose clean, and stow the smart mouth, or you’ll be back at the Krusty Krab, flipping Krabby patties. Are we clear?” I can’t get past the hooker comment. Good Christ, I’ll never recover from the mental image.
I wince, almost making a face at her, but I nod. “Yes. Understood.”
She smiles like my grandmother would before hugging me. “Good. Radio dispatch. We’re having lunch.”
I shut off the engine and do as I’m fucking told. I inform dispatch before I exit the cruiser. This past year has been a blur, like Tesco said it would be. I haven’t had time to think until recently. It has been nothing but push-ups, running, and lifting weights, amid the classwork, driving course, and gun range. And sometimes I slept. I’ve gained muscle in places I didn’t know existed. I can now do one-handed push-ups and learned shit I wish I didn’t need to know. But it wasn’t without hard work, some drunken tears, and a ton of ice packs.
Grant, Emerson, Mom, and Dad were there when I graduated from the police academy. Ricky and Dani couldn’t make it because my nephew, Joaquin Javier Finnigan, or J.J., was a newborn, and they didn’t want to leave him.
I’ve been field-training for three months and have nine months to go. But like Taggart said, I might not make it past this week. And now I want to stab people in a place called Joy Springs. This can’t be my damn life.
Following her, I walk, noting stares, smiles, and some frowns as we approach the front door. It’s both a morale boost and a ball-buster with nothing in between most of the time. I’m still getting used to wearing this blue uniform and carrying a gun—it’s who I am now.
But I’m also the same man mourning a breakup a fucking year later, having no other distraction than the rigors of this job I’m learning, albeit rocking the boat. Audrey has texted me twice, and I’ve had to hand my phone to my police officer roommate, Tristan, to delete them and her number. It was harder to do than getting through the academy.
Taggart holds the door open for me until I’m in reaching distance before she lets it close in my face. “Goddamn it,” I mutter as I yank it open and go to stand beside her at the podium.
A gray-haired, pasty hostess smiles at Taggart and then glances at me. “Is this your new apprentice, Lynn?”
She looks up at me and rolls her eyes before turning back to Doris, or so says her name tag. “For now, at least.” Why does she have to criticize me in front of people? Doesn’t that undermine any authority I might have as long as she says I do? Fuck me.
Doris’s eyes suddenly open like she just saw a ghost. “Wait a minute. I heard a new Malone is here. You’re Chief Malone and Lieutenant Malone’s nephew, and Grant, Grayson, and Grady Malone’s cousin, aren’t you?”
“That’s the rumor.”
She bobs her head, her limp gray curls bouncing to a sad tune. “Do you know them?”
Waiting for her to laugh or elaborate on the idiotic question, I narrow my eyes and slowly answer, “Yeah?”
She smiles at Taggart. “They’re so honorable in their vocations.” Her beady eyes assess me as if I’m the garbage family member no one talks about. She then checks out my nameplate. “Dylan? You do know Grady married a Dylan?”
“You don’t say? Not the same, though. Right?” I laugh while Doris and Taggart do not. Fucking shit, I might as well be citing someone for pissing on a wall.
“I would assume not,” she answers with a huff, and I bite my lip to avoid full-on laughing in her face. “Chief Malone is your uncle,” she states like it’s an unknown fact to me, and she’s the one to break the news of this twist. Doris and Taggart both stare at me like I’m supposed to comment. It’s confirmed when Taggart clears her throat, prompting me.
“Yeah. My mother is his younger sister, and Colin Malone was their uncle and my great-uncle.” I again answer slow enough, so Doris won’t misunderstand my fuck you.
“Well, you have enormous shoes to fill, mister,” Doris mutters, shaking her head and clicking her tongue like she caught me with my pants unbuttoned at all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.
“I’m not here to fill their shoes. No competition there.”
Doris purses her thin lips, and her watery eyes make a loop over me. “You got that right.” What the hell, lady? “Your table is ready. Have a seat.”
Taggart smiles at Doris but turns to me with a glare. Then she leads the way to a corner booth, with her yanking on my leash. She slides into the furthest bench seat, and I reluctantly sit across from her, turning down the radio on my shoulder. I’m not hungry. Doris comes to our table, saying, “I figured the kid might need a menu. Maybe some crayons and a booster seat, too.” She laughs with Taggart, and I grin, taking it in stride since she’s an old woman. Still, I struggle not to pull my fucking gun, if just to jumpstart her decrepit heart.
“Be courteous, officer. They give us a complimentary lunch every day.”
I nod. “That’s nice of them.” I return to my menu, still not hungry.
Taggart says, “Good afternoon, Natalia.”
I continue to study the menu as a voice next to me asks, “Coffee and a Rueben, Lynn?”
“You know me so well.” Taggart loudly clears her throat, and I look up. “Are you going to be rude?”
“Not at the moment,” I reply, aiming to get her to laugh at one joke before training is over, now or later.
Taggart sharply but silently rebukes me as she again glances away. I follow to see a woman with her mahogany hai
r in a ponytail, holding a notepad. Her skin is deep, luminous copper, but her sparkling brown eyes grab my attention more than anything. However, the warmth in them ices over, and she stiffly asks, “Your order?”
I grin, not only because I’m on the clock, but because she’s hot as hell. “Uh, I don’t know yet.”
Taggart says, “He may need a children’s menu or a few minutes.”
She smiles at Taggart. “Of course. I’ll be back with your coffee.”
I watch her walk away, fascinated by her grace and her perfect ass. Several zings fly through me, a reminder I haven’t had sex or touched a woman in over a non-fucking year, not that I’ve handled more than one. I’ve found zero balance or desire for anyone other than Audrey. Until now.
Again, Taggart clears her throat, and I whip my attention to her. “What is so fascinating, Officer McGrath?”
“N-nothing. Why?”
She taps her index finger onto the table. “Let me tell you something. That young woman right there? Natalia? She’s a big no for you.”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“You think you’re the first police officer to lust after her?” Her creepy smile returns. “She’s not interested.”
“Uh, okay. Neither am I.” Taggart doesn’t need a status update on the happenings in the crotch of my pants.
Taggart frowns. “Yeah. We’ll see. You might just have to put your hand in the cage and get bitten before you learn that lesson. And I will warn you again…your career hangs on whether or not you successfully complete field training. So, as I have advised my previous recruits, keep your hormones in check. Being a police officer is extremely difficult, and your focus needs to be on learning and becoming a better officer, not finding your next fly-by-night fling. Your storied law enforcement family is counting on you. Understood?” I know what I have to prove and what’s at stake. I can’t fuck this up. She doesn’t need to remind me every five minutes.
Reluctantly, I nod when I’d rather tell her to go to hell. Taggart pulls her phone out of her pocket and says, “I need to make a call. Order your food. I won’t wait around all day for you to eat it.”
Taggart leaves the booth, but I shoot daggers at her skull as I observe our surroundings, always on alert now. A body obscures my vision as a coffee cup lands at our table. “Have you decided?”
Instead of ordering, I ask, “What’s the name of this place? I couldn’t make it out on the sign.”
“Dinah’s.”
“Dinah’s Diner. It’s a mouthful. Did they not think that through?”
“She was the cook’s grandmother and the owner. Your sandwich?”
I stall. “Do you know Sergeant Taggart well?”
Natalia’s gorgeous face rumples as if I asked for her bra size. “Since I was born. She eats lunch here every day and sits in my section. So, yes. Do you want to order?”
“Is she always so abrupt?”
“She’s blunt, yes. Do you need more time?”
“She’s my field training officer.”
“Cool,” she says, clearly bored as she taps her pen against the notepad. But inexplicably, I’m determined for a turnaround.
“Natalia? That’s a name I don’t hear often. Do you go by anything else?”
“Natalia. I can come back.”
“No, wait. I’m Dylan McGrath. Do you have a last name, or do you just go by one like Kesha?”
“Why do you need to know my last name, Officer McGrath?”
“Just curious since I’ll see you pretty much every day.”
“And you’ll probably eat the same thing every day, so I’ll get to know your usual, not your name, rank, and serial number.”
“Okay. I gave you my name. My rank is an officer, and I only have a badge number, 22506.”
I grin as she purses her lips and moves her gaze from me as she fidgets with her pen. “I have other tables, so…”
The nearly empty diner’s silence squeals as I look around. “Sure. Okay. I’ll take a club with a sweet tea.”
“Fine.” She offers a quick, courteous smile and takes my menu, leaving without so much as a fuck off.
Taggart returns, compounding the female loathing piling upon me. Taking a chance, I ask, “Natalia said she’s known you since she was a kid?”
Taggart radiates more sourness. “I told you to leave her alone.”
“I am. She offered.” Maybe I interrogated.
“I knew her father.”
“Knew? Oh, well…” I don’t know what to say to that.
“He’s not dead, for crying out loud. Let’s just leave it there.”
“Here you go…Doug, wasn’t it?” Natalia sets down a glass of iced tea in front of me.
“Dylan.”
“Right. Sorry.” She smiles, but it’s not for my benefit. Regardless, real or not, her smile is the best thing I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying more than I want to admit.
Natalia tucks stray hair behind her ear, and her silver nail polish glitters. “Lynn, your Reuben will be out in a few minutes.”
“Thank you, honey.” Honey? I didn’t know affection was possible from Taggart.
When Talia leaves, her body again draws me in as she walks. Her ass is flawless. My hands could cup her tits completely. Audrey’s tits are small, but I didn’t think much of it until now.
“And that was a time I was an Iron Chef.”
I look at Taggart. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re not listening to a word I said regarding needing to pass your field training. Natalia. You’re drooling.”
I send her an acidic frown of my own. “I’m positive I wasn’t drooling.” Maybe I was. I didn’t realize how much I need to get laid.
“She doesn’t need you to jerk her around.” But hell, she could jerk me.
“I’m not.”
“Lynn, your sandwich.” She sets a plate in front of Taggart and then turns to me. “Please excuse me. What was your name again?”
“Dylan.”
“Oh, yes. Here’s yours. Enjoy.”
I hear laughing, and I look to see Taggart, entertained. “She does not like you.”
“What did I do? I don’t even know her.”
“I told you to leave her alone.” She shakes her head, and I try to eat but steal glances, watching Natalia bending over tables, her uniform skirt sliding up her leg, and my once-dormant dick has so many thoughts about it.
“Ready? Let’s catch speeders.” Sure. She’ll sit there, judging me while I do all the fucking work.
I mumble, “Can’t wait,” which earns me a glare.
“Thin ice, McGrath.”
I wish I were falling through some.
Two days we go to our usual table for lunch. Yesterday was disappointing since Natalia didn’t work. So far, she’s the highlight of my day. After work, I eat, shower, and fall asleep watching TV. I fucking need to get a life. Talia is nice to look at, but not much more, which is a damn shame.
Doris follows us, blabbering about a man who she thought was breaking into her neighbor’s car but later found out it was her neighbor’s new boyfriend. She then giggles as Taggart and I reach our table and says, “I would’ve called you, Lynn, but I don’t know if it’s a suitable case for your student yet.” Student? Kiss my ass, lady. Just the other day, Taggart made me cite a guy for pissing on a wall. Like that wasn’t awkward as fuck?
As soon as we sit and Doris splits, Natalia is at our table with an excellent smile for Taggart. Briefly looking my way, she mutters, “Afternoon, officer.”
“What’s up?” Sitting with my elbow propped on the back of the bench seat, I smirk, which rattles her because she drops the pen in her hand onto the table. She scurries to pick it up as it rolls toward me, but I beat her to it, hitting her hand with mine and then handing her the pen with a grin.
Natalia plucks it from my hand with a contrite but still pretty smile. “Thanks.”
Taggart clears her throat, and I raise a brow. “I’ll take a club and tea.
”
“Sure.”
When Natalia leaves, Taggart shakes her head. “Whatever that was, knock it off.”
What the fuck? “She dropped her pen. I was nice. You must be more specific, sergeant.”
She nods behind me, and I look to see Natalia looking away from our table. “She’ll never give you the time of day. I mean, she’s a woman, and you’re a…”
“Man?” Jesus Christ, she can’t be serious.
Taggart shrugs. “That is contingent upon you completing field training.” I’m only a man if I finish training? So, if I whip out my dick, that wouldn’t prove a damn thing, except score me an indecent exposure charge?
“Uh, sure,” I mumble, staring at the table so I don’t roll my eyes or flip her off. Where in the fuck did I go wrong in my life to end up here?
“You think you’re appealing to women, but don’t get cocky. It’ll always bite you.”
“Cocky? With what? I didn’t do or say anything to be that.” No one has ever called me cocky. Detached, maybe. Nerd, regrettably. Overachiever, hardly. Defiant, who cares? But never cocky. I’m not better than anyone because most people and their opinions mean squat to me. Though wearing a badge makes it hard for me to uphold that motto.
Taggart frowns before leaving the table for her usual pre-lunch phone call. To whom, I’m afraid to ask—she may call me nosy. Not having my personal cell, I can’t text Jordan. God, I miss so many people I haven’t seen in a year. Even Audrey. A lot. Her parting words haunt me, “Dylan, I’m sorry. I still love you.” She sure proved that when she dumped me and then kicked me while I was down. I wouldn’t treat a stray cat like that.
When Natalia returns, leaving my iced tea in front of me, I ask, “Did you have a good day off?”
She hesitates, surprised, and it’s almost like she’ll give an honest answer, but she shrugs. “I worked, so no.”
“But you weren’t here for lunch. Did you work a different shift?”
“No.”
“Are you in school or anything?”
Natalia stiffens. “No. Why?”
“Just conversation.”
“Oh.” She shakes her head. “Um, your club will be done soon.”
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