Guardian of Justice

by Carol Steward

  “That would be good, thanks,” Cody said quietly.

  Kira turned into the only fast-food restaurant in town with a drive-up window. If the kids had a full stomach, they would be more content, the drive would go quicker, plus they would have something to keep them busy. They had enough to think about right now without hunger being one of them.

  The children gave her their order and Kira pulled forward to wait for the food.

  “I want Mommy,” Betsy whimpered.

  Kira glanced into the rearview mirror at the little girl, who kept a tight grip on her brother with one skinny little arm.

  “Mom’s sick, Betsy. She needs to go to the doctor and get help,” the teen said.

  The words of wisdom startled Kira, even while she knew the anger he expressed earlier wasn’t gone. It couldn’t be. According to their files, Cody had to know what was coming. They’d been through this before. Betsy probably didn’t remember going through it the last time. She had been just a year and a half old.

  Kira had read their file while the intake caseworker had finished up the paperwork. How could their mother have come so far and then let herself slip up again?

  Chapter Six

  SIX

  Dallas typed out the report and sent it to the shift supervisor’s electronic queue so he could move on with his evening. His thoughts sped back to Kira and how she wore her heart on her sleeve. He admired that, even though he knew it would one day backfire on her.

  He kept the radio on, hoping to hear that Mickey had been apprehended. No such luck. If Mickey Zelanski was easy to locate and apprehend, he wouldn’t be on the Most Wanted list.

  As the image of the doper replayed in his mind, Dallas shook his head, wishing there was something he could do to make the evening’s events disappear. He despised it when innocent bystanders became victims, especially when drugs were involved.

  “How’re you doing?” the shift supervisor asked from the doorway.

  Dallas flinched at the sudden voice over his shoulder. He hoped Sergeant Shaline didn’t overreact to his edginess. He’d have had the same reaction any night. Tonight was nothing out of the ordinary. “I’m done with the paperwork and ready to get back on patrol.” He glanced over his shoulder.

  “Stop in my office for a minute before you do.”

  “Aw, come on, I’m on top of it.” Itbeing watching for any signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

  Shaline nodded. “Good. We’ll talk about it in a few minutes.”

  Dallas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I’m fine,he thought silently. He, of all people, didn’t want to lose another three years of his life to PTSD. He wouldn’t let himself. It was out of the question.

  Dallas headed over to the sergeant’s office. “So you want to know how I’m feeling,” Dallas said sarcastically, waiting impatiently to be released.

  “No, I want to know whatyou’re feeling.”

  Dallas didn’t respond, as he was still thinking about the answer.

  “Humor me, Brooks. Just talk it through for a few minutes. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t speak with you about this. And you wouldn’t have been hired at all if we didn’t think you were ready to be back on the job. We just need to make sure we don’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend it never happened.”

  Dallas grumbled. “If you want to become a psychologist, Shaline, go back to school. Besides, you don’t even have a couch to lie on.”

  Shaline leveled him a look and Dallas dropped into the chair. “I’m angry that I was caught off guard,” he admitted, after thinking a minute. “I’m angry that an innocent woman was caught in the middle.” Kira again flashed into his thoughts and he shoved them away. “And I want to get back out there and do my job. I’m not going home.”

  “I wouldn’t let you if you wanted to. It wasn’t your fault. Miss Matthews is also trained to go into homes, most often without backup.” Shaline stood up and closed the door. “None of us would have been expecting this.”

  “You’ve talked to her?” Dallas said, cringing.

  “No, should I?”

  He shook his head. “It’s just that she made the same point, about social workers.” Her spunk scared him. She didn’t seem to realize that even good intentions could end in disaster.

  “I hear she made a call on the radio. What did you think when you heard that?”

  Dallas felt his jaw tense. “I didn’t think it was her. It didn’t sound like her. I was talking to an uncooperative mother and her son….” No one could absolve him from his guilt. “I didn’t hear anything going on outside, but I should have listened instead of ignoring the frantic tone of her voice. I figured it was the dispatcher’s job to radio an official response. I didn’t turn my radio down all the way.”

  The sergeant was quiet.

  “If we’re done here…” Dallas stood to leave.

  “Not so quick,” he admonished. He issued the required reprimand, followed by another reminder that he himself would likely have reacted the same way. “And while we’re talking about Miss Matthews…”

  “Were we?”

  “Did the topic of officer response time come up?”

  “What? Why would that come up?” When Shaline waited, Dallas told him, “No, it never came up. Practically as soon as I got into the car I got the call for a hang-up.”

  “She was here to observe officer response time to Child Protection Services calls.” He had a way of talking with his hands, and made an all-encompassing gesture. “This problem isn’t about you, or tonight.”

  Dallas jumped to his feet. “Thanks for the heads-up,” he said indignantly.

  “She showed up unannounced and requested the officer not know ahead of time.” The sergeant motioned to the chair and waited for Dallas to sit down again. “There have been several complaints over the last few years about law enforcement officers’ response time when backup is requested by caseworkers. She’s talking with all law enforcement agencies in the county. Tonight you showed that slow response time isn’t the norm in our department. Thank you for that.”

  Air hissed through Dallas’s teeth.

  Shaline continued. “What happened didn’t likely help her overall opinion, but I think we’re okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, Dallas. It’s a learning experience for all of us.”

  “Did the DEA know there were kids in the house?”

  Shaline shook his head, shrugging his shoulders at the same time. “I don’t know. None of it should have gone this far. There’s some confusion about Mickey’s address. The kids are safe now, and hopefully, soon, DEA will have another supplier in custody. In the meantime, I’d like you to stop by Miss Matthews’s place and see how she’s doing.”

  Dallas couldn’t believe it. “Tonight?”

  “Don’t let her walk away scared, Brooks. When you fall off a horse, get back on and ride it. You ought to know that better than any other officer on the force.”

  Dallas swallowed hard. “Excuse me, sir, but it took me three years to work through it and get back on that horse.”

  “But you did,” Shaline said. He went into the story about his daughter’s first car accident. “The hardest thing I ever did as a parent was to pick Sami up at the scene and put her right back behind the wheel to drive us both home. But she needed to know I had confidence in her.”

  Dallas silently wondered what any of this had to do with what had happened tonight. “And I’m sure it made her a better driver in the long run, right?”

  “It did. It was the worst ride-along I’ve ever done, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

  “You’d do anything for Sami.” Dallas looked at his watch. “Miss Matthews could misunderstand if I show up in the middle of the night.”

  Shaline laughed. “So call her first. I don’t think she’ll mistake your concern. You’re a professional following up on a bad situation. She’s an excellent addition to Child Protection. We can’t afford to lose her. See if she’d like to finish the ride-along.” He han
ded Dallas a slip of paper. “Here’s her address, and the phone number she listed on her release form. And take car number 38. I’ve made arrangements for investigations to dust for fingerprints and look for any other evidence on your cruiser before they send it in for repairs.”

  Dallas took the paper and went directly to another patrol car, driving an hour before coming to terms with what he had to do. There was no way he was going into Fossil Creek looking for her address at midnight. Dallas drove around the block, then pulled into the grocery store parking lot on Main Street. He took out his cell phone.

  The phone rang four times, then went to voice mail. “Hello, this is Kira Matthews with Poudre County Child Protection Services. If this is an emergency, please dial 911. If it is in reference to an urgent child protection case, please press number 4 and you will be directed to the twenty-four-hour help line. Otherwise, please leave your name and number. I will return your call the next business day.” The woman didn’t leave anything out.

  Dallas smiled, ignoring his annoyance with being told to follow up on her. He wanted to think he’d have done it himself at a more suitable hour.

  He heard the beep and automatically left a message. “Hi, this is Dallas Brooks—” he was feeling a little punchy this time of night and decided maybe Kira could use a laugh, too “—with Antelope Springs Police Department. I believe we met at a crime scene this evening. I’m calling to make sure that you’re okay and to see if you’re interested in finishing the ride-along…sometime. I’ll also need you to come into the station and fill out a report. My cell phone number is 555-4357.” He ended the call and put the phone in the clip on his belt.

  When he began his patrol again, a shadow of Kira kept him company. They had been together only a few minutes, he realized, once he considered the time he’d been inside the house. So why was he still thinking about her? Maybe it was the nagging realization that he had no business going by Miss Matthews’s house at any hour. As if that wasn’t enough to eat at his conscience. He dragged in a deep breath, wishing he was the kind of guy who could keep it casual with women. He wasn’t, and never had been. Therefore, he had to get her big brown eyes out of his mind. He had already caused her enough pain.

  He figured he’d get a call back on Monday, but an hour later, his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number. “Dallas Brooks,” he answered.

  “Dallas, this is Kira. I just got your message.”

  “You’re back at the office? Or are you stillat the office?”

  “Oh no, I’m home. I’m just trying to wind down. There are a million and one questions going through my head.” She sounded tired and vulnerable. To be expected after what she’d been through. “How do you turn it all off when you get home?”

  Dallas pulled off the street into a parking lot and stopped. Was he really willing to open Pandora’s box? How could he tell her that there were nights, still, when the visions never completely went away? “Most nights are so quiet after a big call that the boredom gives me plenty of time to unwind.” Dallas kept his eye on traffic while he talked. “Sergeant Shaline wanted me to check on you and see if you want to finish your ride-along tonight.”

  “I’m doing fine, Officer Brooks.” Her voice had that business tone to it again. “Overprocessing is normal for me, but no, I don’t want to go back out tonight. I was riding along to discuss my own agenda, and I have to admit, that’s not on the top of my list now.”

  Dallas could sympathize with her. “Yeah, I didn’t suppose you would, but I thought I’d ask.” The take-charge person wanted to compartmentalize her life. Put everything in its place. He knew what she was going through. It wasn’t easy to pigeonhole this kind of incident.

  “So you can report back that I’m doing just fine.”

  Ah, so she didn’t mind when it was him asking, but if he’d been told to, she didn’t want to talk. He had been wrong to bring up the sergeant’s name, apparently. “How did the kids take to the foster home?”

  “Fine,” she said abruptly. “I’m fine, they’re fine, we’ll allbe fine. That’s what you want, right?”

  She was part shrink, too, apparently. He took a deep breath, remembering his own anger at being told to talk it out. She was right; he did want everything to be “fine.” Unfortunately, this was the real world he was working in again, where dysfunction was the norm. If it wasn’t, he likely wouldn’t have a job. “Kira, I’m sorry. I wish none of this had happened, and that I could have prevented you from experiencing such an ugly side of society.”

  She didn’t speak, but he could hear her breathing. Was she crying? Or trying to stuff the emotions away? He wished he was with her now.

  “I don’t blame you for being angry. It shouldn’t have happened,” he added. “I know how upsetting it is.”

  “You don’t have to console me,” she insisted. “I’m not upset.”

  “I understand,” he said. He wasn’t going to argue. “If you do decide you need someone to listen, I’m here.”

  “Dallas, have they caught him yet?”

  “Not that I’ve heard, but the Drug Enforcement Administration agents have taken over. They’re working with the Drug Task Force officers on it, so I probably won’t hear much now.”

  “That’s a lousy excuse.”

  “It’s a lousy situation, but that’s the way the system works. They have a case to build, and this incident threw a kink into their surveillance. We have to let them deal with it now.”

  Their call was interrupted twice when dispatch called to check his status. Yet Dallas noticed that Kira never actually made a move to get off the phone.

  “The DEA works pretty quietly, at least as far as not involving the street cops. We’ll probably not have too much to do with it unless Mickey gets stopped for a traffic violation. That happens quite a bit, in fact.” He explained a few cases where drug dealers had gone to prison for charges totally unrelated to their drug involvement.

  Finally, Kira agreed to ride along again in the near future. “Will that convince you and Sergeant Shaline that I’m not abandoning my mission to get our agencies to work out our problems?”

  “I don’t know about the sergeant, but it makes me feel a little better, even though I don’t know anything about why you really came tonight.” Dallas didn’t know much about her mission, but it seemed like a good idea to keep it on the back burner right now. After what had happened tonight, it wouldn’t take much to boil over into an ugly situation. “However, I don’t think I can wait a week to see you.”

  Kira was silent, and Dallas wondered if she’d hung up on him. “Kira?”

  “You…can’t?” she said in a whisper. Her voice had an odd note to it suddenly.

  Was she okay? “No, not really,” he said cautiously, trying to read between the lines. “I know the evening didn’t exactly go as you had planned. We hardly got a chance to talk.”

  “We’re talking now.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “So what is it you want to talk about?” she asked in a lighter tone.

  “You were the one who came to talk about something. I’m curious to hear more about your project.”

  “Oh,” she said, obviously taken aback. “Is that what you meant by you couldn’t wait a full week to see me?”

  “No, that was in reference to filling out a report on what happened tonight.”

  “You certainly know how to take the wind out of a girl’s sails, Officer Brooks.” Now she sounded almost angry. What had he done?

  “Dallas,” he said, realizing too late that she had been flirting with him. Much as he’d like to investigate the possibility of a personal relationship, that was out of the question. He stammered over his words. “Miss Matthews…Kira…I didn’t—”

  “Obviously not. I don’t know what—” She coughed. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” she stammered in turn. “Yeah, it’s been a long night.”

  “Exactly.” Dallas wasn’t sure how this whole conversation had gotten so misconstrued, and w
hy it disappointed him. “Consider yourself fortunate. The sergeant doesn’t usually let anyone leave without filling out the paperwork.”

  “Not to worry,” she said in a chastising voice. “I always take care of the paperwork. I’ll get it to you. Stay safe.”

  The line went silent, and he didn’t think it was accidental. Dallas paused a few minutes to consider whether or not he should phone her back. The call had ended abruptly. Then again, she knew how to reach him if she needed to. And he didn’t have one doubt that she would never need to.

  He pulled his police car out to the street to finish the last couple of hours of his shift. Even the mundane traffic stops couldn’t keep his mind off Kira and the unexpected turn in their conversation. He didn’t know how she’d gotten the impression that he was flirting with her. There was no way…. None whatsoever.

  Three years, five months and fifteen days ago, Dallas had turned in his badge and walked away from police work, parched as the Arizona desert. It had been pointless to stay in Phoenix after he and his fiancée had ended their relationship. Odds of a successful marriage were lethal enough in law enforcement alone, but mixed with the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, they were abysmal. There was no way, after all that, that he’d have given Miss Matthews the impression that he was interested in her.

  He and God had argued long and hard before Dallas returned to law enforcement. He had drifted from one job to another, moving from Arizona through New Mexico and finally to Colorado, before he realized he couldn’t run far or fast enough to get the desire to protect and serve out of his blood. He hadn’t chosen his career, it had chosen him. Letting go of his dreams of a marriage and family were far easier than turning away from God’s plan.

  So why was it so difficult to keep Kira Matthews from invading his every thought?