Single Dad Boss: A Small Town Romance

by Kara Hart

  “Damn right.” Gary, a cop of 12 years nods his head in solid agreement.

  “Now, let’s finish our drinks and interrogate the poor bastard. He seems a bit frightened,” I laugh loudly and chug my cup of champagne. When I’m finished with it, I sigh and throw it against the wall. It falls right in the trash.

  “Game faces,” I say, walking toward the interrogation room.

  I knock on the door and open it. Adam and I walk in and sit down. “Elroy, how you doing?” Adam says, sounding very calm, like he’s going to be the one who helps him out on this.

  “I need a lawyer,” he says.

  “Well, I hear you, but there’s no lawyers around at this moment. It’s getting too late in the day and everyone has gone home,” he says. Tears stream down Elroy’s face. “But come tomorrow, we’ll get you that lawyer. Don’t you worry.”

  “Alright,” he nods. “I understand.”

  “Right now, we just need to ask you a few questions. It’s standard protocol, really. You don’t need to be worried, but mind your answers because they could be used in court,” he says.

  The kid gulps down. “In court? Shouldn’t I—”

  This is where I come in. I get out of my chair and place my foot on top, leaning forward. “Look, I already know what you’re going to ask because we hear it on a daily basis, kid. If you get a lawyer, all deals go out the window. That’s just how it’s gotta be. Right now is your chance,” I tell him. “If you don’t tell us some things fast, the years are going to start adding up for you.”

  The kid nods and closes his eyes for a few seconds, taking it all in. It’s as if he’s dizzy. I’ve heard that that happens sometimes. You immediately become confused and wonder, “how the hell did I get here? What did I do?” when you know deep in your heart exactly what you did.

  “You made a conscious effort to rob two banks,” I say. “You realize that?”

  “I do,” he says.

  “You committed two federal crimes. That’s as huge as you can go, big boy,” I say, taking my foot off the table. I pace around the room until I’m behind him now. “Two. That’s a prison sentence you can’t undo. A jury is going to put you behind bars for nearly your whole life. When you get out, you’ll have nothing. No job. No wife. No kids. Hell, your parents won’t even be alive. You’ll be all alone. Then what? Did you even think about that?”

  “I did not,” he says, starting to shake. I hate doing this interrogation business. I hate making them feel like shit. I know how dismal it all feels. I know how it makes me feel at night. The guilt. The shame. But I know it needs to be done. There’s the law and people need to follow it.

  “Do you wish you could take it all back?” Adam asks, calm and gentle-like.

  “Yes, sirs. I do. There’s nothing I wish for more right now,” he says, crying. He hangs his head and sobs as the tears start flowing.

  “Shit, I just want to lock you up right now. I want you to pay for what you’ve done,” I say, playing the bad cop part up pretty damn high.

  Now is Adam’s turn to soften the blow of all this. I need him to offer the plea deal that’ll get this guy’s friends out of hiding. I already know it’s going to work because of how he’s reacting.

  “Stop it, Marshall. Can’t you see you’re scaring the boy?” Adam asks, standing up and facing me, like he’s angry with me. Elroy looks up and analyzes this odd exchange and his tears suddenly stop. Yes, there’s someone to his defense.

  “Well, he committed a federal crime, Adam. What do you want me to do? Let him go?” I ask him. It’s almost as if Elroy is waiting for him to answer me “yes.” “You want me to just tell the boy that everything is alright now?”

  “I want you to lighten up,” he says. “He’s not a criminal. Any sane person can see that. He’s a nice, young man. Hard working, probably. You can tell he just got mixed up into some shit. Hell, I did at his age too. I got into some real bad trouble. I just didn’t get caught.”

  I back off and put my hands up. “Fine. You handle this shit. I can’t do it,” I say. I walk out of the room, allowing all of the tension to leave there with me.

  The cops outside lightly clap and laugh a little when I’m outside of the room. They’ve been watching the little show on the monitors this whole time. I laugh with them and join them at the monitors, pouring myself another glass of that champagne.

  “Watch as the guy folds all his cards. We’ve got this, boys,” I whisper. “We’ve got this.”

  Adam sighs and sits back down. He throws a set of keys on the table so that Elroy can give his wrists some rest. “Here,” he says. “You don’t deserved to be all chained up, man. I’m sorry about him. He’s a little bit of a loose cannon some times.”

  “A lot of cops are like that,” he says.

  Adam laughs and lights up a cigarette. He doesn’t even smoke, but he’s giving the kid the illusion that they’re friends or something. “Want one?” he asks, tossing the pack his way.

  “Sure.” He lights up and leans back. After a few quick and shaky drags, he asks, “So am I done for? Am I going to go away for life?”

  “You could,” Adam admits. “Or you can play ball. It’s really your choice. You kind of remind me of myself. I don’t want to see you go down the wrong path. You’ve got a lot to live for. There’s so much more to be done, isn’t there?”

  “I’d like to do so much more,” he says.

  “Like what? Tell me?” Adam asks.

  “Like, go to Europe. Like meet someone beautiful. Start a family. I’d like to live my life. Right now that sounds pretty good,” he says. “The only reason I even helped them rob that stupid bank was because it was enough money to pay my debt and leave this country. I thought I had found a way out. Now, I’m fucked.”

  “You ain’t fucked,” Adam says, hitting the ash onto the table, like it’s normal. “You have options. Take our deal.”

  “What’s the deal?” he asks.

  “I’ll be right back,” Adam smiles.

  45

  Virginia

  I wake up from a horrible nightmare. Nothing is right. Everything feels dreamlike in the worst way. It’s like I’m floating in space, but there’s no tether to keep me grounded. It’s just endless floating, endless blackness. Endless death. I look for my space suit, but there’s nothing on my body. That’s when I realize that I can’t breathe.

  I wake up, choking on air. I grasp at my throat. “No!” I scream, sucking in air, but it feels like it’s not going in my body. Finally, I’m fully awake and I can breathe, although it’s panicked. “Whoa, whoa!” a deep voice says. I turn and there’s Marshall. “You okay?”

  “What the fuck!” I scream. “Where am I? Am I at home?”

  “You’re at my place,” he says, running his hands down my back to calm me down. He holds me close and I can feel his steady heartbeat. It is calming…

  “How did I get here?” I ask, grasping at straws. I’m so fucking confused.

  “You came over last night. You said you couldn’t sleep. Don’t you remember?” he asks, looking very concerned at me.

  “Oh.” I finally remember now. All of last night’s memories trickle in. That’s right. He called me after the interrogation process. I asked to come over so I could learn more, but I must have fallen asleep pretty damn fast.

  “I remember,” I say, nodding. “Sorry, I just had a nightmare or something. Jesus.”

  “What happened?” he asks me. “You feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, it was just like… I couldn’t breathe. Not sure what that was about,” I say, closing my eyes again and falling back on the bed. It’s light outside. My guess is that we slept in a bit.

  “Vi, I’m sorry. You need anything, a Xanax or something?” he smiles a little.

  “You just carry Xanax with you?” I ask him.

  “You never know when you might need one,” he shrugs.

  “Bad cop. Bad,” I mumble.

  “It’s harmless,” he says. “Here, I’ll just get you
some water. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great,” I say, pushing myself out of bed as well.

  “I think we’re getting somewhere with this guy,” he says to me. He hands me a glass of ice-cold water and it feels good as it hits the back of my throat. Still, there’s no taste in my mouth. I feel so numb.

  “What do you mean? You think you’re getting closer to getting the other two?” I ask.

  “We gave him 48 hours to sign the deal. If he signs, he’ll get 5-10 years maximum,” he says, smiling.

  “And if he doesn’t?” I ask, knowing that Elroy is weak. He’ll probably take the fucking deal. I need to come up with a better plan. I need to keep aware.

  “Ha, if he doesn’t… well, he’ll be locked away for a long time. Nearly his whole damn life. They all took a hell of a lot of money,” he says. “It’s a federal crime. You don’t fuck with the government, especially not in the state of Texas.”

  “He’ll take the deal,” I suddenly say.

  “What makes you so sure?” he asks me, looking at me carefully.

  “Why wouldn’t he?” I ask him. “Wouldn’t you?”

  “Depends on how much money I had,” he laughs. “If I had a rich family, I’d tell them to get me a good lawyer. I’m not a snitch. I couldn’t give a partner’s life up that easy.”

  “Hm,” I shuffle and sit back down. “Well, it’s kind of exciting isn’t it?”

  “It is,” he smiles again. “But it’s almost over.”

  “What’ll happen to the rest of them?” I ask, feeling the pain in my stomach start to grow. I’m fucked. I’m done for. And after Marshall’s heart breaks into a million pieces, he’ll ask for the harshest sentence on me.

  “No deal for them. We’ve asked them to come forward plenty of times on the news. They had their chance. They’ll go away until they’re old and wrinkly,” he says.

  “Seems kind of… harsh,” I admit.

  “The law is pretty harsh sometimes,” he agrees. “That’s why you don’t break it.”

  He makes me sick. “Let me lose myself in you,” he says, not too long after, as he looks into my eyes. I blush, but I don’t feel that way about him right now. Every fucking time I look at him, I feel disgusted. I feel hopeless. How could I let him touch me now?

  “I don’t feel that good,” I tell him. “I’m fine to stay, but I’m having some issues.”

  “Period?” he asks, the dumbass.

  “Yeah,” I frown. “Takes a lot out of me.”

  “I don’t mind it,” he says, putting his hand on my leg. I close my eyes with annoyance.

  “Well, I do.” I move his hand away. “Sorry, I’m just really not in the mood.”

  “What the hell did I do?” he asks, pacing around the room, showing his true cop behavior. “Do I deserve this? All I’ve done is be nice to you.”

  Yes, you do deserve this, asshole. You’ve ruined everything. All my plans are now fucked because of you. “That doesn’t mean you get to do anything you want, you know,” I say, standing up.

  He groans loudly. “Cool,” he says. “I see how it is. So you’re just going to be in one your moods again. Fucking great.”

  “You know what? You’re a real asshole sometimes, Marshall. I think I’m going to take off. For good,” I say, feeling light headed. I need to be by myself. I need to get the fuck away from him for a while.

  “Great! I hope you leave. I hope we never even speak again,” he says.

  “Okay then,” I find myself reaching for his door handle. He walks after me and touches my arm. “Don’t you touch me,” I say, instinctually. “I need to leave. Now.”

  “Fine,” he relaxes his hands. He wasn’t going to hurt me. I know that. But I need to leave and he needs to let me. “Sorry,” he says.

  “Bye, Marshall,” I mutter, closing the door gently. Now begins the road to the end of life as I know it.

  46

  Marshall

  “It’s the end of the world as we know it…” The radio wakes me up, blaring in my ears. “What the fuck?” I mutter, hitting it three times, until it finally shuts off.

  I slowly open my eyes and then every shitty fucking memory starts to flood back into my brain. All the things we said to each other last night. Vi… My Vi. Gone for good.

  I know I fucked up, but I don’t understand why she turns off all of the time. It’s like one second she’s into me, and the next, she hates my guts. I really don’t get it. But still, I shouldn’t have pressured her into anything. If she didn’t want to be close to me, I should understand. Women generally have their reasons. I’ve lived long enough to know that.

  Anyway, it’s probably for the best. This whole week is going to be huge for the department and I’m going to need to keep my head straight. I can’t keep letting women fuck with my thought process. I’ll end up losing my job.

  I glance over at the dresser in my closet. On the top is the woman’s pantyhose from the first crime scene. We know now that there’s a women involved and she’s one of the bank robbers. Who knows, maybe she’s the top girl in all of this. I laugh to myself as I walk up to the piece of fabric.

  It would be funny, I start to think wildly, if the girl involved was Vi. Virginia, the bank robber. That would be good. I mean, she’s tough enough. Still, I can’t imagine her holding a pistol, while telling everyone to get on the ground. I shake off the thought because it’s too imaginary. The woman who did this is hiding away, no doubt.

  She’s not stupid. Hence, the reason why she split up from the men. She knew there was something weird going on between them. The one constant in all of this is the lack of loyalty. Well, that’s how criminals tend to behave. It’s a selfish sport, really. And when the going gets tough, we see friends selling each other out all of the time. It’s pathetic.

  I get to the station in a hurry. I want this plea deal done and signed. He’s got 24 hours left on it, but I want him to know the consequences. This is a big fucking decision, alright.

  “He’s still mulling everything over,” Adam says, looking concerned. “He keeps saying he needs a lawyer. It never ends with this guy.”

  “A lawyer? Is he completely ignorant? The man robbed two banks and got caught red handed, with the cash in his hands. There’s no way a lawyer is going to get him less time,” I tell him.

  “He says his family’s got money. Says they have a family lawyer ready,” he tells me.

  “Shit,” I sigh, eying the coffee in the corner of the room. I walk over and pour myself a cup and think for a second. I need to wake up before I make any decisions. “Well, does his story check out? Who’s his family?”

  Adam frowns. “You know the Olington’s?” he asks me.

  “The tire people? Olington fucking tires?” I nearly spit out my coffee.

  “They do everything auto-related now,” Adam informs me.

  “Yeah, big fucking deal. They’ve got a small franchise,” I say. “So what?”

  “His direct family owns the company,” he says. “They’ve got a pretty damn good defense team over there.”

  “And they’re used to handling cases like these?” I ask. “Give me a fucking break.”

  He shrugs. “They’re used to the court circuit. They’ve got a lot of friends in this town. You know how far a couple of friends can get you in this city,” he says. “I wouldn’t shrug any of this off. It’s not sounding too good.”

  “A bank robber!” I scream, slamming my coffee mug against the wall. It shatters and coffee splatters across the paint. Everyone is staring at me. “A fucking bank robber! This is ludicrous. This is…”

  “Calm down, sir,” Adam says. Then, he lowers his voice and brings me over to the opposite corner of the room, waving at everyone to let everybody know that everything is okay. “Between you and me, the department is getting worried about you. They’re starting to say things.”

  “What kind of things? I’ve been with this department before you even knew you wanted to be a cop. How could they turn their backs on me?�
�� I ask, with malice.

  “I didn’t say I was saying anything,” he says. “I just wanted to let you know because I am on your side. I want you to handle this case, but you can’t be having anymore outbursts like that or people are going to say some shit.”

  “Alright. Point taken,” I calm myself down. “What do you think we should do?”

  “We keep pressuring him. We start to ask deeper questions,” he says.

  “Alright. Well, I’m going in,” I tell him, walking ahead. I open the door and Adam follows me in, sighing loudly.

  “Good morning, Elroy,” I say. “How’s our favorite guy at the station doing today?”

  “I’m not talking to you.” He’s defiant already. I nearly turn red.

  “I hear you, man. I heard you had a change of heart,” I say. “But I need to ask you. Why?”

  “Because I’m no fool. I know who I am. I know what I’m worth. And that’s the biggest weapon I have right now. Knowing that I can get out without ratting out my friends can at least help me sleep at night,” he says.

  “That’s admirable. Real admirable,” I laugh. “It doesn’t change the fact that we have you on tape admitting guilt to a federal crime. You can’t escape that, brother. I’m sorry. You’re going to prison.”

  “I’ll take my chances,” he says, crossing his arms.

  He’s called our bluff, which is highly unusual. Usually, a criminal plays his role well. He knows he’s been caught and he takes the damn deal. But this guy has a small amount of power in this town, and in small towns, that means a lot. I need to start asking more poignant questions. I need to get the rest of the people involved. Once they’re all here, they’ll surely turn on each other.

  “Where’s the girl?” I ask him, straight up with no games attached. “Where is she?”

  “Who said there was a girl? No girl can rob a bank, man,” he says.

  “We chased down a female on a motorcycle,” Adam says. “We know that there’s one male and one female. Don’t bullshit us on that, Elroy.”