Waking Up Cuffed

by Melissa Stevens

  “His condition is guarded but stable,” the man, who identified himself as a surgeon, said. “He’s broken a leg, one arm, several ribs along with several minor cuts and contusions. He’s lucky there appears to be no head or spinal trauma, and only minor internal bleeding that we’ve managed to stop. We had to surgically repair both the arm and the leg as they were both severe, compound fractures.” He glanced around the room. “He’s gonna have a long recovery, but he will recover.”

  “Oh thank you, Doctor.” Maggie covered her face with both hands and her resolve seemed to crack.

  “How long until she can see him?” the partner, Howard, curled one arm around Maggie’s shoulders as he spoke to the doctor.

  “He’s in recovery now, it may be an hour or so before we feel safe moving him to the ICU, but we’ll send someone to let her know as soon as she can see him.” The doctor’s eyes scanned the room again. “We can’t let all these people in the ICU.”

  “That won’t be necessary, most won’t need to.” He sounded like he knew how it worked. Now that they knew he would live, most of the people milling around would leave, after seeing if they could do anything for Maggie, but they would keep people here with her, just in case he took a turn for the worse. They’d keep someone with her for moral support but, unlike during that first few hours, now that they knew Cooley was going to make it, they would make sure their shifts were covered and be here during their off hours.

  Hayley watched as a look of relief washed over Hathaway’s face. He scrubbed his hands over the top of his head and down his face as if he could wipe away all the stress of the last few hours.

  “Sergeant Moreno?” The voice of Captain Tolsen surprised her. She’d seen him but never thought he would approach her.

  “Yes, sir?” She turned to find him standing maybe a foot away, nothing in his look revealing that he’d caught her standing there watching one of the men under her command as if he were a lollipop she couldn’t wait to lick.

  “I was going to wait until next week, but considering all this—” His gaze lifted to where Maggie was leaning against Detective Howard, sobbing as relief broke the walls of her stoicism. “I’m going to go ahead and move Officer Hathaway up to Detective. It looks like it’s going to be a while before Cooley is back, and Hathaway has already shown how well he can work with and take direction from Howard. He’ll make a good temporary replacement and it will give him a good start on the training.” Tolson gave his head a slight shake. “It’s going to leave you shorthanded until the cadets we’ve got at the Academy graduate, and I’m sorry for that, but it is only a few weeks out.”

  “No problem. I get it. I was going to reassign his partner tomorrow anyway and make Hathaway my floater in anticipation of his being promoted. It will take a little extra shuffling, maybe a little overtime, but I’ll manage.” She did her best to keep her voice confident. She didn’t want him to realize what she’d been thinking about before he’d approached. She needed to keep it all business.

  “Very well. I’ll let them know, and he’ll probably be around to pick up his things.”

  “Yes, sir.” She glanced back at Hathaway as Captain Tolson turned and left, there were no assigned desks and they weren’t supposed to bring in personal items, but everyone did anyway. She wondered for a moment why the thought of him picking up his things, even just to move them up two floors, bothered her so much.

  Chapter 21

  He’d spent more hours than he wanted to think about sitting in the waiting room at HCMC. Warren closed his gritty eyes and wished for at least a couple hours sleep as he tilted his head against the elevator wall.

  “Captain Tolson talk to you?” Zeke asked from beside Warren in the elevator.

  “He did.”

  “How do you feel about it?”

  “Not thrilled it’s under these circumstances, but otherwise, pleased.”

  “All right.” Zeke nodded. “You already know that while we have assigned hours, we often flex them to make it work with an investigation. He glanced at his watch, Warren didn’t have to look, he knew it was about half past four in the morning. “I want you to go home, get at least four hours sleep, meet me at noon.”

  Warren lifted one brow, there was a lot more than four hours between now and when the other man wanted to meet.

  “I know, if you can, get more than four hours. I’m going to need some time to unwind from all this before I can sleep, I figure you’ll probably be the same.”

  “Probably.” Hospitals were not his best thing. Tonight had been tense enough it would be a while before he could sleep. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. “Be careful out there. I don’t want to have to do this again.” He nodded at Howard and stepped off the elevator. He needed to get outside, to get some air that didn’t carry the faint scent of disinfectant and cleansers.

  At home, he let Jake out, waited for him to finish his business and took him back inside. He stared for a moment into the refrigerator before taking out a can of soda and carrying it back to the living room where he fell into his recliner and picked up the remote.

  Flipping through the channels revealed that early morning TV still sucked almost as much as it had when he’d been a kid. He settled on an old western movie he’d seen several times and set the remote aside.

  Jake seemed to sense something was wrong, or maybe he was just tired of being left alone, because he came close and gently rested his chin on Warren’s leg, staring up at him with sad eyes.

  “What is it, boy?” Warren asked as he scratched his faithful companion between the ears. “I know, I haven’t been around much. I’m sorry to tell you, it doesn’t look like that’s going to get a whole lot better any time soon either. Maybe I should take you over to Nancy’s. At least there you’ll have the kids to play with.”

  The dog whined and licked his hand. Warren continued to pet the dog absently as he turned his attention to the screen, losing himself in the familiar story.

  Warren was startled awake by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He sat upright and discovered he’d fallen asleep in the recliner. Slowly the long night before came back to him as he dug into his pocket for his phone. By the time he’d pulled it out, the vibrating had ceased. Checking the time he realized he’d been asleep under two hours, as it was only a little after seven and the missed call was Nancy. She must have seen the news. By now they would have the detective’s name, but any time any member of the police department made the news she called to check on him. He knew the loss of Thomas was fresh in her mind, even though he hadn’t been police and he’d been killed in a war zone.

  Standing, he stretched some of the soreness from his muscles, made a mental note not to fall asleep in the chair again, and dialed Nancy.

  “Hey, big brother.” Her voice was that false happy tone she used around the kids when she was worried. “How are you this morning?”

  “I’m fine, Nance. How are you guys?”

  “We’re fine, the kids are getting ready to get on the bus. I just thought I’d check in and see how you are.”

  “You mean you saw the news, and even though they said it was a detective, and probably gave his name, you were worried anyway.”

  “You know me so well.” She laughed.

  “I do. I know you worry and I can’t blame you.”

  “I know it’s not the same thing.”

  “It’s not. But it’s still scary. Rest assured the accident had nothing to do with the job. It could have been anyone. It was just Bryan’s bad luck it was him.”

  “Oh, you know him?”

  “I do. His injuries are severe, but he’s going to recover.”

  “That’s good to hear.” Relief was clear in her voice. “Were you at the hospital last night?”

  “I was. I was there with his wife until a little this morning actually.”

  “Now you have to go to work with no sleep.”

  “No, actually, they sent me home to get some sleep, I have to report at noon.”


  “And I woke you.”

  “That’s okay, Nance. I’d fallen asleep in my chair. If I’d spent the whole time there, I’d be hurting a lot more than I am now.” He let Jake out into the backyard and left the door open while he fed him and the dog came back in. “I’ve got some news though. I made detective. I start today.”

  “I didn’t even know you’d put in for it.”

  “I hadn’t. I was still considering it when the captain came to me. I’m happy to have it though, I’d started to think about doing more again.”

  “At least it will get you off patrol.” She sighed. “I worried about you every day while you’re on patrol. Any call could be your last.”

  “I know. Things aren’t as dangerous here as they are in other places, but I know you worry.”

  “I do. I can’t help it.”

  “I know you can’t. It’s okay, Nancy. I actually start the new position today, well officially, I’ve been working with some of the detectives off and on for a couple weeks.”

  “Oh, that is wonderful. I am sorry to hear about your friend though.”

  “It’s unfortunate, but accidents happen. The up side is that he will recover.”

  “That’s good. But you said you didn’t get any sleep and here I am talking your ear off instead of letting you sleep.”

  “It’s okay, sis.”

  “No, it’s not, but thank you for being nice about it. Now go get in your bed and sleep. I mean it.”

  “Yes, Mom.” He chuckled at her growl. He knew she hated when he compared her to their mother. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew she hate it.

  “Go. I’ve got to get the kids loaded up and taken care of anyway.”

  “All right. Have a good day.”

  “You too. And be safe.”

  “I will.” He disconnected the call, set an alarm and plugged his phone into the cord he kept by the bed. After a quick trip to the bathroom, he stripped out of his clothes and slid between the cool sheets. It was only moments before sleep claimed him.

  Chapter 22

  Friday morning, Hayley walked into the station house wondering what today would bring. She knew she’d have to brief everyone on Detective Cooley’s status, which meant she’d need to get an update herself first, and she needed to look at the roster to see who she could pair Reed up with, at least for now. Friday, her Monday was typically busy and today was going to be no exception.

  She was surprised on her way through the squad room to see that Reed was already in.

  “Can I see you in my office a moment, Reed?” she called out to him as she made her way across the room. Then she ignored the jeering at the officer asking what he’d done to get in trouble. She didn’t give them the attention they were after and he could fill them in later, if he chose.

  “Yes, Ma’am.” He stood and followed her in.

  “Please close the door.” She went around the desk and sat down, motioning for him to do the same on the other side. Once he’d sat she looked at him a moment where he sat back straight as if half expecting her to chew his ass about something. “You’re not in trouble. I was just a little surprised to see you in so early and thought I’d give you a head’s up.”

  He relaxed a little and looked a little less nervous.

  “What’s up?”

  “Hathaway was moved up to detective after Cooley was hurt last night. That means I’m going to assign you a new partner.” She looked down at the desk, then gave her head a small shake. “I’m not sure yet who it will be. I’m gonna have to sit down with the schedule and see what works. Are you willing to change your days off?”

  “I can.” He shrugged. “Monday-Tuesday is not big prize, I’ve had it since I started because that’s what the rookies get, but I’ve got no other reason to keep them. But don’t put me above someone who needs it to help with their family or whatever.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” She appreciated officers who took other’s needs and wants into account, and didn’t make demands that made her life, and job, more difficult. “That was all, unless you were here early because you needed to talk to me?” She looked up at him, curious.

  “No, I came in early to see what I could do to help Cooley and his family.”

  “I’m not sure offhand, but if you contact Hathaway, he should be able to tell you. I think he’s being temporarily assigned to Cooley’s partner.”

  “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

  Hayley turned her attention to the computer and what messages had come in on her day off, trying to determine what needed to be handled now and what could wait until after briefing. She heard the door open and Reed leave, but she didn’t look up. She had too much to do.

  It was lunch time and in desperate need of a break, Hayley decided she would go out. She had gotten a lot done but an hour away from her desk would make the afternoon more productive. Her head hurt and her eyes ached from spending the morning going from computer screen to paper notes and trying to figure out scheduling. She’d taken one look at it before the briefing and known it was too big a job for right then, and assigned Reed to help out in dispatch today. Saturdays all the crazies seemed to come out of the woodwork and dispatch was always grateful for the help, even if they had to train them on the run, it would mean more people who knew how to do the job later.

  The scheduling and making sure they had the coverage needed with vacations and extras for sick leave, had taken her most of the morning. Now, she needed to get out. She let the officer at the front desk know she was going to lunch then headed for her car. On the steps in front of the building she passed Hathaway. She almost didn’t recognize him in jeans and a button down shirt instead of his uniform, but she couldn’t mistake his voice when he called out to her.

  “Sergeant Moreno?” he called.

  “Yes?” She stopped and turned back. He came down the steps until he stood less than two feet away.

  “Now that you’re not my supervisor,” he kept his voice low so she had no trouble hearing him but no one else would overhear, “I was wondering if I might convince you to have dinner with me?”

  Hayley fought to keep her face blank as she glanced around. “It’s a little soon, don’t you think? And totally not the place I’d recommend.” She turned and continued down the steps without waiting for him to reply. She didn’t turn him down. She wasn’t sure her brain would let her turn him down after how much she’d watched and lusted after him for the last several weeks. But she couldn’t say yes on the front steps of the station house. If anyone got wind of that, she’d never get any respect again. She shook her head at the brass balls that must have taken as she reached her car and slid into the driver’s seat. There was more than just scheduling and paperwork she needed to get away from.

  Chapter 23

  That night, despite being exhausted and half dead on his feet, Warren found himself back in the Silver Spur.

  Zeke had pointed out, and Warren couldn’t find fault in the reasoning, that if Becker had a habit of seeing students, he might hang out where they do, and they should come out and see if he was there when it was busier. Not the middle of the week. He had to give his new partner points, he’d never asked why Warren and Johnny had been there in the middle of the week, but then again, it was pretty obvious. The real question was if Becker had been there with Tanalynn or if he’d just happened to be talking to her.

  So there he was, again, in a bar where he didn’t really want to be, looking for a man he didn’t think he’d find. He and Howard had split up, each taking different sections of the room as they looked for their suspect. Together would just be too suspicious, especially if Becker spotted them. Separately could be excused as coincidence.

  Warren scanned the room, and despite seeing several familiar faces, he didn’t see Becker’s. One face though, made his stomach lurch. He wasn’t sure yet if it was in a good or bad way. He scanned the room again, then approached her, the one who made his stomach flip.

  “Do you mind if I join you?” he asked as he r
eached her side.

  She looked up at him with sparkling green eyes. “I’m waiting for my sister, but you can join me for a while.” Sargent Moreno motioned to a chair across the table. “Celebrating your promotion?” Her smile seemed genuine and it made him want to kiss her full, perfect lips.

  He gave her a wry smile. “No, actually I’m here working.”

  She lifted one brow, but didn’t ask.

  “Howard’s here too. We’re working different parts of the room as we look for someone we suspect is lying to us.”

  “Yet you’re sitting here talking to me instead.”

  “I’m watching for him, besides sitting with a beautiful woman is a great cover.”

  “So I’m just your cover as you look for him?” She lifted one brow as she watched him.

  “Not entirely. You said it wasn’t the right place this afternoon, how about now?”

  She pursed her lips as she pretended to think about it. If he asked her out now, she might say yes, depending on what he wanted to do. Coming here wouldn’t be her first choice.

  “That would depend on what and how I was asked.” See if he was as boring as the rest of the guys who hit on her here, if the only attractive things about him were his body, his voice and maybe his wit or if he had an imagination, maybe even an interest in getting to know her or if he just wanted to get into her pants.

  “Ms. Moreno—” he paused, “I don’t even know your first name.”

  “It’s Hayley.”

  “Hayley. Hmm. It fits. It’s as beautiful as you are. I’m Warren.”

  She fought the urge to roll her eyes at the offhand complement about her name, but didn’t say she already knew his first name, it was in the roster she dealt with every day, or it had been before he’d been promoted.