Brotherhood of District 23 Complete Series

by Amy Briggs

  “Yes, he said that you two had become close and that his behavior pushed you away. Does that sound about right?” She leaned back in her seat looking at me over her glasses now, and I was getting anxious. Did he tell her what we were doing? Oh, my God, this is getting embarrassing.

  “Uh, yeah sort of,” I hesitated. I really didn’t want to talk about this with her or anyone else.

  She could sense I was in flight mode. “Jo, those boys of mine both love you like their own family. Sometimes they don’t know how to tell us women how they really feel, but what they lack in communication, they make up for in their loyalty. I’m sure you two will sort it out just fine,” she smiled at me again. She totally knew.

  “Well Matt and I have always been tight. It’s always been a different situation with Brian. It’ll be fine though, we’re all working together day after tomorrow. I don’t know what he told you, but I’m not mad or anything. We just clash a lot, we kind of always have, we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things,” I sighed a little bit. That was the best way that I could think of to summarize the situation without being blunt. I was still mad at him, and missed him at the same damn time.

  “Well my dear, Irish boys are very strong willed, often to a fault. My boys, all of them,” she smiled, she was including my dad in that statement, “have always wanted to protect you, whether you needed it or not. And us strong Irish lassies, just kind of have to remind them who they’re dealing with,” she smirked at me and had a fire in her eyes reminding me of how tough she could be if she wanted to, she just rarely needed to. Catherine had many layers, and it was so easy to see why my father fell for her.

  “I’m so glad I came to see you today, Catherine. I hope this doesn’t sound out of place, but you know I’m always one of the guys, and generally, I totally like it that way, but lately, I’ve really felt like I needed a mom, and you’ve always been the next best thing and I don’t think I ever really expressed how much it has meant to me. I can’t thank you enough,” I reached across the table to take her hand in mine.

  She squeezed my hand. “I'm always here for you,” she rose and picked up our dishes, taking them over to the sink. I stood up, as it was time for me to go. I needed to take care of a few things and truthfully, this was an emotional afternoon.

  “Thank you for lunch today. And thank you for letting me see your letters, I know how personal they are.”

  “You are most welcome, dear. You deserve to know the whole man that your father was, and I loved him very much, just as I love you. Those boys of mine both love you too you know. We're all family in our own special way.” She hugged me tight again. I would definitely be coming back here for hug fixes when I needed them.

  “I know they do. Hopefully, after we’ve been working together again for awhile, Brian and I will be able to get along better,” I said as I moved toward the door.

  “Josephine,” she stopped me as I was walking out. “I'm not one to interfere…”

  I laughed. “Why do I feel a but is coming?”

  “Because you’re a smart girl. I promise you that I don’t know everything, but I know that Brian feels awful about how things transpired this week with you. I think he cares for you far more than you know, perhaps you’ll give him a chance to explain himself when you’re ready,” she gave me a pleading smile with that sweet face of hers.

  “I will, I promise,” and I hugged her again and made my way out.

  I thought about what she said; give him a chance to explain. He had a chance, it’s not like I denied him the opportunity; he never took it. He still hasn’t taken it. There’s a shelf life on everything, and I’m not going to pine away for him, even though just the thought of him near me gives me chills, in a very naughty way.

  I decided to text the phone number back from Jack’s computer so that I’d get a reply.

  I wasn’t sure what to say, so I started with:

  Jack passed away, I’m a friend that can help.

  And I waited for a reply.

  Almost immediately a reply came through.

  I know about Jack. Who is this?

  A friend of Jack’s. I think I can help you.

  Can you meet in person? I’ll decide if you can help.

  Yes, where?

  Meet me at the Brewhouse downtown in one hour. Ask for Izzy. Someone will let me know.

  Okay, one hour.

  This was extremely strange. But I felt like if Jack was helping with some kind of an investigation, it was my duty to help see it through if I could. I wrapped up a few things, and made my way out to my truck. I was familiar with the Brewhouse downtown; it was someplace I’ve been to several times. A lot of cops hang out there, which in this moment, I was very grateful for since I didn’t know what I was getting into exactly.

  I drove past the Brewhouse, it didn’t have it’s own parking lot, so I had to park about three blocks away in a garage. There just wasn’t any parking closer that would accommodate my truck. I didn’t take the Chief’s truck, in fact, I tried not to drive it on my days off anyway, it was just so conspicuous. I really didn’t want anyone thinking I was out and about doing personal business in a department vehicle. Sometimes it was a pain in the ass to switch out, but integrity still mattered, and I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

  I walked into the place, it was actually pretty crowded, it was a Friday night, so I’m not really that surprised. I walked over to the bar and waited for a bartender to come my way.

  A young guy, probably in his twenties came over. “What can I get you, man?”

  “I’m actually looking for Izzy,” I gave him a questioning look. He took a step back, looked me up and down and laughed. I don’t know what that was about, but I don’t like this.

  “She’s over there in that booth drinking a martini, watch yourself,” he said.

  “I’ll take a Guinness with me,” I said. He nodded and walked away to get it for me. I couldn’t see this Izzy from where I was standing, the booth was in the back corner of the joint. The bartender brought me my beer, I paid, and made my way to the back of the bar.

  “You Izzy?” I asked upon arrival.

  A little tan-skinned girl with light eyes pointed to the seat across from her. “Yes, have a seat.”

  I sat down across from her, with my back to the door, which I absolutely hate. It made me feel trapped to not be able to see an exit wherever I’m at, so I was immediately uncomfortable.

  “So, you knew Jack?” I wanted to disrupt the silence hanging over us.

  “I did. And I suspect you did as well, since you texted me from his phone?” she asked.

  “I actually texted you from his computer, he must have had it synced to his phone.”

  “Interesting. I wasn’t aware that was possible, I’ll have to keep that in mind. So you are?” she asked.

  “I’m Deputy—eh Chief Brian Cavanaugh, of Fire District 23. I've known Jack most of my life, he was like a father to me. I was appointed to his position after his passing, which is how I happened upon your number,” I was going to just be straight here. I didn’t have anything to lose.

  “Well, I’m Detective Isabel Cruise. You may know my sister, June, she’s a paramedic,” she held her hand out for me to shake.

  Taking her hand, I took note of how petite she was. She was awfully pretty and tiny to be a detective. Not my type, because I’m still heartsick over Jo, however she’s really pretty for a cop. “Nice to meet you,” I said. “I do know your sister, she’s a good medic, and often partners with a good friend of mine,” I added.

  “Yes, Josephine Meadows. I know who she is.” That made me uncomfortable, and I started to feel defensive.

  “So, let’s cut to the chase here. You were working with Jack on something, and he was gathering evidence for you to build a case against someone who was clearly bribing or doing something dirty, correct?” I wanted to get to the point.

  “Okay, sure, let’s get to it. You seem like you have the best interests of the departme
nt in mind. Jack figured out that someone freelancing was essentially strong arming businesses into paying a little extra for a passing fire inspections when they didn’t have passing standards.”

  I stared at her. So, basically someone was giving passing inspections to people who didn’t deserve them. That puts lives at risk, and I felt my blood boiling about it. If someone was extorting money from businesses, they were unlikely to stop there.

  “Okay, so how can I help?” I asked and took a sip of my beer.

  She ran her fingers through her long dark hair and looked me in the eye. “Jack had evidence somewhere, but he died before he could get it to me. Someone has been extorting money from businesses all across town for at least two years. I need access to Jack’s files, or I need you to look through his files and find the evidence so I can build a case against this guy.”

  “Do you know who it is?” I asked.

  “Yes. You familiar with a Danny Russell?”

  I immediately rolled my eyes and clenched my fists. That motherfucker was probably using Jo all along. I was gonna kill that fucking guy.

  “So that’s a yes,” she glared at me.

  “Yeah, I know him. He’s a piece of shit. I'm not even a little bit surprised he had something to do with anything unsavory.” I was furious at the revelation he might have been playing Jo.

  “Jack said the same thing,” she replied, and took a small sip of her clear martini. She was awfully small and good-looking for a detective. If I wasn’t so into Jo, I’d definitely have some inappropriate thoughts about her, but right now all I could think about was pounding this motherfucker’s face in. Anything I could do to ruin him, and I’m in.

  “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. Apparently, he was dating Jack’s daughter for awhile. I’ve been watching her to see if she’s involved,” she said.

  “Yea, she’s not,” I said curtly.

  “Are you here for the greater good, or do you have some kind of thing for this girl?”

  “That’s none of your business, detective,” Who does she think she is?

  “If she was involved it is my business,” she gave me a nasty challenging glare.

  “If you were working with Jack, you already know she has nothing to do with this. Do you want my help to bring this dickhead down, or are we just going to banter all night, because I have plenty of other shit to do besides sit in this dive wasting my time with a cop,” I wasn't going to take this chick’s shit.

  “Settle down, Romeo, you’re right. I already know she has nothing to do with it, but I wanted to test you a little bit,” she waved her hands for me to chill out.

  “Okay, so where did you stand when Jack died? I have access to most of his folders, and shit. The rest of his information he kept in notebooks, he was always writing stuff down in them, but they’re at Jo’s house and I don’t have easy access to them without saying something to her about it if she hasn’t already read it for herself,” which worried me. Jo could be a loose cannon, and was definitely not the first person who would reach out for help if she knew some kind of shit like this was going on. God, I hoped she hadn’t figured this out for herself.

  “I’m not sure where he kept his files to be honest, he said that he had gathered some witnesses that would testify that Russell had coerced them into paying him to sign bullshit documents giving them shortcuts. I gave him permission to promise immunity for their testimony, per my DA, however now I don’t know who they are because he hadn’t turned the evidence over to me yet, he kept saying he could get more, and he wanted to see if he could get Russell to confess first.”

  I ran my hands through my hair, sighing, and taking it all in. I can’t believe that Jack kept all of this from me, but I also totally understand it too. He would never put any of us in a situation like this if he could avoid it, and clearly he thought he had this under control.

  “Okay, well I can tell you that dickhead won’t confess to me, even if he might have to Jack. He might tell Jo something, but I doubt it, and if Jack didn’t want her involved, I want her involved even less. I don’t get along with him at all and I want him as far away from her as possible,” I was just going to put it out there before it ever became a question.

  “Yeah, I know all about you. I heard about you grabbing him at Jack’s funeral,” she smirked at me. The sassy little detective had some balls.

  “He fucking grabbed her at her own father’s funeral, so yeah, I manhandled him, and I’d do it again,” I was getting pissed off just thinking about it, and I waved for the waitress to bring us two more drinks. “What else is it that you know?”

  “I know that Jack assumed you were going to look after his daughter,” she said.

  “He told you that?” I was shocked, but filled with pride and also feeling a little defensive and vulnerable. Jack told her all of this?

  “Yes, he did actually. He said that you and your brother would look after Jo no matter what happened, and he was not going to let Danny continue to get away with the extortion.” She was very matter-of-fact, and almost expressionless. She was a hard one to read, maybe it came with the job. She seemed awfully young to be a detective.

  “Interesting. Well, that's true. Jack knew us, and he was like a father to us our whole lives basically,” I wanted to change the subject. It was all still too raw, and I just wanted to be with Jo now that we were discussing her dad like this. “So, you need me to go through Jack’s shit basically?”

  “Yea, more or less, he was certain he had the evidence, so I need you to find whatever that is. I didn’t know that he passed away until a few days after it happened and I'd been trying to reach him. Do you think by any chance that his death was anything other than an unfortunate situation?” she asked me seriously.

  I felt like the wind got knocked out of me. “Are you asking me if I think Russell killed Jack?”

  “I’m asking you if you think it’s possible,” her brown eyes were like lasers right now.

  “It never occurred to me, but I don’t think so, I just don’t know. He wasn’t a young guy, and he’d been on the job a long time. I think the stress may have gotten to him, but he died on scene, I tried giving him CPR myself. There didn’t seem to be any foul play, it was more like thirty years of being a firefighter and dealing with that than anything else,” I thought back over the last several months and wondered if I was right. Honestly, I think that it was natural causes, but really, what do I know. It would kill Jo if something more sinister had happened to her dad, especially if that douchebag was behind it. I silently prayed I was right, and that it was natural causes and years of working a stressful job that took him from us.

  “I didn’t really think so either, but it’s something to keep in the back of your mind while you look for whatever he had found. I don’t know how he kept it, we had talked about files, but I don’t know if they were electronic, or paper, or what. So what I need is for you to find that out. And you cannot tell anyone until this gets blown open.” She was very serious now.

  “Are you sure nobody was helping Jack get the evidence?” I asked.

  “I’m very sure. In fact, he’s the one that reached out to me when he figured out what was going on. I’m not even sure that this Russell character is on to it yet. Which is good, because then I have the element of surprise when it’s time to take him down,” her eyes were even more serious now.

  “I’ll get on his computer tomorrow and see what I can find. He was getting better and better at technology, even though he hated it, so maybe something is stored there. If it’s paper, I’m going to have to talk to Jo, because all of his notebooks are at home, he didn’t keep them at work,” I told her. I really didn’t like the idea of involving Jo in this. She was going to be so upset no matter what, and if I asked for the notebooks without telling her what’s going on, and before I get the chance to implement Operation MJM, I’d never be able to explain it.

  Isabel and I were leaned in across from each other in the booth when I saw Jax and my brother walk into
the bar out of the corner of my eye. Fuck. I don’t want them seeing me with her, and I can’t explain what I’m doing here yet. Hopefully they didn’t see me.

  Awww fuck. Matt walked up with Jax by his side. “Well hello, big brother, whatcha doing over here in the corner of a bar with this lovely young lady,” he motioned to Cruise. “I thought you had some other things you were sorting out.” he said nastily.

  “I’m actually here discussing business if you must know,” I tried to explain without saying too much. Detective Cruise just watched the exchange and smirked.

  “Oh business, that’s what they’re calling it now?” Matt gave a sarcastic chuckle. “Well this isn’t going to get you what you say you’re looking for.” I sighed and dropped my head, when Cruise stepped in.

  “Hi boys, I’m Detective Cruise, with the 23rd precinct. I was just discussing an ongoing investigation that I need some help from the fire department with,” she smiled kindly at them both, and Matt wasn’t buying it.

  “Oh, a detective eh? What do they have a junior program now?” He was being an asshole, and I couldn’t stop it.

  “I’m older than I look, sunshine, and I don’t have to explain anything to you,” she stood up to leave, and looked over at me. “You know what I need, I’ll wait to hear from you.” She walked out of the bar, leaving me with an angry Matt and a completely clueless Jax standing there staring at me.

  “Well she was fucking hot, dude,” Jax chimed in. I buried my face in my hands, this was the last thing I needed right now.

  “Yeah, she sure was. Not at all what I’d expect you to go after these days,” Matt glared at me.

  “It’s not what it looked like Matt, you know how I feel,” was all I could say.