Brotherhood of District 23 Complete Series

by Amy Briggs

  My tight ponytail had come loose from all the commotion, so I holstered my gun and pulled it out to fix it as Kevin walked out to the front yard, shoving the screaming blond lady in front of him. I started laughing, because she was quite loud and obnoxious and continued to fight him like an angry kitten all the way to the black and white patrol cars that had come to assist.

  “Oh my God, lady, shut up already,” he rolled his eyes and snapped at her. “She’s all yours, guys,” he laughed as he transferred her into the other officer’s custody.

  “Oh, thank you so much. I cannot wait to listen to her screech all the way back downtown,” the patrolman replied sarcastically and grinned at us. “You alright, Detective?” he asked me.

  “Yea, I’m fantastic. Thanks.” I looked down to Chavez, who was still lying in his front yard, cuffed, now with six officers including Kevin and me around him. As he glared at me, I put my sunglasses back on and smiled. “Guess you’ll pay that child support next time, eh, Chavez?”

  “Fuck you, Detective. You should be home serving your man,” he spewed at me. I couldn’t help but laugh when my thoughts drifted to the night before with Matt. I definitely served him last night, I mused to myself.

  “You guys got this from here?” Kevin asked the patrolmen.

  “Yea, we’ll take them in, no problem, Detectives.” The young patrolman picked Chavez up off the ground and put him in the back of his vehicle.

  “Ugh, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Kevin said to me. “It’s just a warrant, they said. It’ll be fun, they said,” he was mocking the situation. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Well, look at it this way, we got most of our workout in already.” I shoved him to the driver’s side of our vehicle.

  “Oh geeze, and now you want me to drive? Cruise, you’re getting high maintenance,” he teased me.

  “I just need a moment to fix myself up, man. I’m still a girl, even when I gotta tackle the big guy and you take on the little girl.”

  “Um, she came after me. Zip it, woman,” he laughed.

  “Uh huh, yea, yea,” I chuckled back. I loved our relationship. We had been partners for about two years and knew how the other worked on a scene. We played good cop/bad cop a lot, and I was always the bad cop, because he said I had resting bitch face. Basically, I looked like a bitch when I wasn’t making any face at all. We had worked enough cases together that we really played on each other’s strengths, and I trusted him one hundred percent, which was pretty crucial in a partner.

  We got in and took off. It was about lunchtime anyway, and truthfully, I wanted to scroll through my phone and see if I had any messages from a certain tall, handsome firefighter. I couldn’t help it. The previous night was creeping into my memory, and I was feeling like another round with him would definitely be in order soon, even though I’d been coy about it. I certainly wasn’t going to tell Kevin that though.

  Chapter 17

  After dinner at the firehouse, I went to my bunk room to sleep and have a moment to myself. I hadn’t had time to do anything except work, clean equipment, and then work more, which was fairly unusual. We had back-to-back calls the majority of the day, and after the situation that morning with the arson, my mind was tired and my body was spent. When I finally lay down on my bed and relaxed my body, I immediately recalled the last moment I relaxed, with her.

  I wanted to see her again. Being stuck at the firehouse for twenty-four hours could really cause a crimp in your style, but it did mean I had the next day off. I wondered how her day was, and I imagined her face when she realized I had rearranged all of her dishes and shit. I was pretty pleased with myself, since I had set my alarm an extra hour earlier to do it. Mostly because I thought it would be funny as hell, but I also couldn’t stand disorganization like that; and if I didn’t do it, she certainly never would have. I decided I’d reach out to her; we weren’t dating, but we sure as hell were intimate now, and the memory of thrusting into her from behind while she called out my name had my dick hard in seconds.

  How was your day?

  She replied right away.

  Action packed. How about yours?

  Same, back-to-back calls all day. This is the first time I’ve sat down.

  I heard about the strip mall fire. Sounded big.

  Yea, and suspicious. We’ll see what happens though.

  Suspicious? You have me intrigued.

  Definitely a cop response. I couldn’t tell her anything; it was an active investigation, and even with her being a cop, that was just not something I could do.

  You know I can’t talk about it. lol. Let’s talk about something else.

  Fair. What would you like to talk about, Cavanaugh?

  I’d like to talk about having a repeat of last night.

  Oh, would you now?

  Yes. Immediately. If not sooner.

  Well, you’re at work, and I’m out having drinks at the moment. So it’ll have to wait… you know, if I were interested…

  She was being a smartass, and I loved it. Her playful attitude and confidence was so fucking sexy. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her again.

  Oh, you’re interested. Do I need to spank you again for being a bad girl?

  You might have to. I’m a bad, bad girl, Cavanaugh, and I don’t usually learn my lesson very quickly.

  You’re killing me, woman.

  My cock was seriously aching then, and all I wanted to do was drive over there and bend her over every piece of furniture in that house.

  Sweet dreams, Cavanaugh. I’m sure we’ll see each other soon. Somewhere.

  Oh, you’re blowing me off. I see how it is. Now I’ll really have to punish you for that sass.

  You enjoy my sass. Maybe I’ll let you punish me tomorrow night.

  Your sass is gonna get that ass in trouble. Tomorrow, I’ll have to remind you and that sweet ass of yours who’s in charge.

  Me and my ass will await our punishment until then.

  She was so fucking hot. I needed to end this conversation, so I could just look forward to fucking the hell out of her the next day.

  Have fun tonight. Be safe,

  was all I said.

  Always,

  she replied. Then she sent a second text.

  You too, Cavanaugh.

  I tossed my head back on my pillow and groaned. She was almost too hot for me. I’d never been with a woman who was so confident in general, let alone sexually, and I shuddered with excitement at the thought of fucking her again. The girls I usually dated absolutely wanted to get in my bed. Between the good genes in my family and being a firefighter, finding someone to warm the bed wasn’t generally difficult, but there was something about her. She was so intense in the bedroom, so serious at her job, and then she’d become cute and sweet in a moment. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but in the last forty-eight hours, I had developed a magnetic pull to her that felt carnal. I had to have her, and own her. But I also felt an unusual desire to just be around her. I’d never felt that way before, and while I didn’t know what it meant, it couldn’t be real feelings; that just wasn’t my thing. I loved it and felt anxious about it at the same time.

  Just as I was starting to doze off, fully clothed, with even my boots still on, there was a faint knock at my door. It had to be Jo, and I never turned her away, so I got up to answer it.

  “Hey, were you sleeping already? I’m sorry. We can talk later,” she whispered.

  “No, no, come on in.” I rubbed my eyes. “What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

  “Well, yea. I just wanted to talk to you about this morning. We were so fucking busy today we haven’t had any time to talk. Let alone think.”

  I sat on my bed, well, on the bottom bunk where I normally slept, and motioned to the chair in the room for her to sit on. We were really lucky our budget supported having individual rooms for the firefighters on duty. It wasn’t like a hotel or anything, but each room had a bunk bed, in case you needed to double up, a dresser, night
stand, and a chair. It was nice to be able to go back to your room if you wanted, or go to bed early, and not get disturbed unless you had a call.

  “Yea, this morning was strange, and I’m really concerned someone on that scene moved that gas can.”

  “Well, someone on the scene did move the can. The question is whether or not they belong to a department. Do you think we should tell Isabel about it?” she asked me. Isabel. Mmm.

  “No, I think we need to just do our jobs, and that does not include fiddling around in an investigation. That’s Brian’s job. If he wants to get the police into an investigation, which I’m sure he will, he’ll handle it. And Isabel doesn’t work this type of crime, I don’t think, does she?” I wondered what kind of crime she did work on besides the one case that involved Jo’s dad.

  Suddenly, my thoughts went to her dealing with the underbelly of society, and her mentioning she had an action packed day. I wondered what she’d meant by that, and wished I had asked her, feeling what could definitely be likened to worry about it. It’s just sex, I reminded myself. I honestly didn’t want anything more than a good time, but I wasn’t a douchebag either. We have dangerous jobs, that’s all. We always worry about our brothers and sisters in police, fire, and EMS. It’s nothing more than that, I thought to myself.

  “I actually have no idea what type of crime she typically works on. Maybe I’ll call her tomorrow. I said I would when we were out the other night. Maybe I can go have drinks with her. I haven’t had a girlfriend in a long time,” she said.

  Rolling my eyes in her direction, I sarcastically replied, “Maybe if you didn’t spend every waking moment with Brian, you would.” It must have come out far nastier than I intended, because Jo’s face dropped, and she reached over and punched me in the arm.

  “What the fuck is with you lately? Do you have a problem with me and Brian still?” She was almost pouting, but she definitely expected an answer from me.

  “No, no. Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. It’s just still kind of weird for me, I guess. I don’t have a problem with it at all, and in fact, I’d way rather you ended up with my brother than any of the other douchebags I’ve seen you date.” I was hoping my lighthearted tone would keep her from being mad at me. I never wanted to upset Jo; she was literally my favorite person to be around, and she was my best friend.

  “Go fuck yourself, buddy. Just because I fell in love and you’re still banging hussies with no brain, you don’t get to be shitty with me. You just wait. You’ll meet someone one day, and when you look at each other, you’ll say, oh my God, it’s you. I’ve been waiting for you,” she lectured me.

  “I sincerely doubt that. And I enjoy my hussies for now, so don’t get your hopes up you’ll be best friending some chick in my life.”

  Rolling her eyes at me for what seemed like the tenth time in ten minutes, she said, “We’ll see. I can’t wait to say ‘I told you so.’” She stood up to leave, then looked down at me. “Back to the other thing. You’re right. I haven’t talked to Brian about it. I really wanted to get your thoughts first, since we were the ones who saw everything. I sent him all my pictures, and I guess we’ll just wait and see what happens. There was definitely something not good about that whole scene. I’m hoping it was just some kind of asshole insurance fraud or something. It just worries me when one of us could get hurt over some jerk setting his business on fire because he can’t pay his bills.”

  “Yea, I agree with you there. Hopefully, that’s the last of the day too. I’m fucking exhausted.” I sighed and lay back on my bed when our pagers went off for another call.

  “Ugh, here we go again.” We both left my room and headed out to the engine bay to get our gear and find out what the umpteenth call of the day was.

  Having drinks after work with Kevin was always a nice wind down to our day. My hip was hurting from the altercation earlier that day, and the vodka was settling my nerves and taking the edge off the pain.

  “How’s your hip?” he asked me.

  “I’ll be honest, it fucking hurts. That guy was like a damned tank.” I smiled. We were at the same dive bar we usually went to after a shift; it was a place where we didn’t get treated differently for being cops, and we could just hang out and have a few drinks to unwind before going home. Kevin lived alone too, and while we’d talked many times about how great it was to live alone, there were certainly times when it was too solitary and we didn’t want to be left alone with our thoughts.

  “Well, you’re a tough one. I’m sure he’s hurting worse, being taken by surprise and all.” He laughed, sipping at his beer. “I hope we get an actual investigation soon. While I never want to wish for more crime or anything, serving warrants totally blows.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more. It was a total drag not having something to solve like a puzzle, which was why I wanted to become a detective in the first place. Obvious crimes were basically about paperwork, and I enjoyed solving the mystery of a real case.

  “Yea, hopefully tomorrow we’ll get something. So, what are you gonna do about the girl? Do you want to talk about it?” I thought Kevin was the sweetest guy I knew and really did wish for him to find someone. He seemed lonely to me.

  He took a deep breath, looking away as if he was thinking of what to say exactly. “You know, Isabel, I just don’t know anymore. I feel like women want to date a cop because it makes them feel safe, and I totally get that. It makes me feel like a man to be with a woman I can make feel secure. I do love that. But on the other hand, the women I’ve found seem to want that at first, but then flip a switch once things get more serious, and they want to keep me from doing what attracted them to me in the first place. I feel like I should tell women I’m a fucking chef or something, so I don’t even have to go down this road with them. It’s the same thing over and over and over.”

  He was right. Women did want to be with someone who made them feel safe, but the tables always turned, and they wanted to keep him from doing the job he was born to do. “Honestly, I think the right one is out there. She’s someone who has her own life and her own career and shit. Someone who understands the system though. Maybe you’ll meet a paramedic or a nurse or something like that. Someone who understands the whole emergency thing and appreciates it, and no, I’m not talking about my sister. In all honesty, even though sometimes it seems impossible, I hope that for myself someday as well,” I confessed.

  Kevin’s mouth fell open, and he set his beer down in shock. Leaning into me from across the booth table, he said, “I’m sorry. Do my ears deceive me? Did you just say you hope you find someone who understands you? Like love? Did you bump your head today when you tackled that guy?”

  I felt my lips curl to a little smile and took a sip of my drink before setting it down. “Oh, shut up, Kevin. I’m still human. At the end of the day, we all crave love. We all long for affection and attention, and just because I don’t necessarily need someone to feel safe, doesn’t mean I don’t wish for that feeling too from time to time.” I watched him tilt his head at me like a puppy dog listening.

  “I feel like it must be a full moon or something. Did you meet someone?” he questioned me pointedly.

  “No! I didn’t meet anyone!” I was probably a little too defensive in my reply, but I couldn’t help it. I hoped I would be able to cover my tracks a little bit. After all, I didn’t just meet Matt, and there was no love, no relationship happening. It was just phenomenal sex. Sex I would be having again the next day, apparently, to my surprise and excitement. As I felt my body get warm and flushed, I realized I might have been blushing.

  “Ahhh, me thinks you might be protesting too much. So, who is he?” Kevin grabbed his beer again and sat back taking a long tug on it.

  “No, seriously, there is no ‘someone.’ I was being general, and fuck you. I was trying to open up and relate.” I turned the tables on him.

  “Uh huh. I don’t believe you. You’re little miss love ‘em and leave ‘em. Don’t get too attached, keep th
em at arm’s length. I think you brought someone to your home and you might even bring them back again. That’s cool though. Don’t tell me. I’ll find out eventually. You know, I’m a detective too,” he teased.

  I laughed, relieved we were moving on. I could feel the flush in my face dissipating and went back to sipping my drink. “Yea, yea. Listen, in the unlikely event some guy sweeps me off my feet, you’ll be the first to know. My current standard is what it always has been. I like having a physical relationship, just like anyone else would, but anything more than that is not something I’m seeking out.”

  “Ah, yes. Not seeking out. But what if it finds you, Izzy? When you’re not even looking…” he mused.

  Rolling my eyes at him, I replied, “I’m sure he is lost on his way to find me. But in the event someone gives him directions or he finds his way, I’ll be sure to fill you in on the details. But until then, it’s business as usual in my neck of the woods.”

  Matt was really anything but business as usual, particularly for me. Most of the men I had been with couldn’t get me going the same way he did the night before. Other men were weak, and while I made every attempt to bring my feminine to the bedroom, they allowed me to dominate them, which provided for lackluster fucking and limited satisfaction for me. At work, I had to be in charge all fucking day, dominating situations; in the bedroom, I wanted to be used for pleasure. It gave me pleasure to satisfy a deep, animalistic desire in a strong man.