by K. C. Crowne
“Hey Dad.”
“Good morning!” he exclaimed through the phone. “Ready for your first day?”
“A bit nervous, if I’m being honest,” I confessed.
“If you weren’t, I’d call you stupid,” he said in his no-nonsense way.
I chuckled. “True. It’s a good nervous too.”
“You’re gonna do great!” Dad was my biggest fan, always had been. “So when are you signing on the house?”
“Already did,” I told him. “Jenny and I will be down this weekend with the rest of our stuff, and the move will be complete.”
“Thank God,” he said, and I heard the teasing note in his voice. “My garage is packed full of junk.”
“Blah blah, Dad,” I answered, laughing again. “I’ll have it out by Sunday.”
“I’m kiddin’, girl,” he retorted, his rumbling laugh soothing to my nerves. “Listen here, you get outta that car and quit sittin’ in the parkin’ lot like a weirdo.”
My eyes narrowed as I glanced around. “Are you spying on me?”
He laughed again. “Nope. Just know how you are.”
“Bye, Dad. Love you.”
“Love you, girl. Good luck!”
I ended the call and felt much more confident. I stepped out of the car and put on my suit jacket, buttoning the dove-gray tweed beneath my breasts and hastily pulling down on my matching pencil skirt. On a clear, dry autumn day like this, static made the fabric ride up my silk half-slip. I reached into the back and grabbed the heels I took off while driving and slipped them on, smiling at a couple of cops walking past me in the parking lot.
They nodded their heads and lifted their eyebrows, looking down at the insignia on the side of my new department-issue car. The boys didn’t like it when Internal Affairs was sniffing around. It meant one of their own had done something wrong, and no one liked the idea of a crooked cop.
And these men and women defended their own as if they were truly siblings, brothers and sisters of the badge. They wouldn’t protect the person if he or she really had committed some crime, but they had an innate fear of IA. We put our own behind bars, after all.
I stiffened my spine and started toward the police station. It’s not them. They may know who it is, might even be pissed off at the guy. I don’t necessarily represent the enemy to them. Just trouble at the precinct. Calm down. My private pep talk was almost finished. Keep your head up and remember you’re doing a job that needs to be done.
I caught myself grasping the handle of my briefcase tightly, trying not to let my hands shake. The case felt heavier than normal, like it was carrying my hopes, dreams, and fears inside. I loosened my grip a touch. I had to focus on the fact that I had earned the job and the office upstairs. I was qualified for it, and now I had to show my bosses what I was made of. I knew I could knock this case out of the damn park.
But since it was my first day at this precinct, my new home station, and the potential bad cop had been at this station for a good portion of his career, I was nervous. I didn’t have the guy’s name or file in my hands yet, had to go up to the office to retrieve it from my boss.
As the youngest woman ever to be promoted to Internal Affairs in the Salt Lake City Police Department, I would be watched closely, hence my first case was in my station. It was a sticky job, investigating cops, especially when you were one of them, but it was a necessary part of keeping everyone on the right side of the law.
Just like anything else in the world, there were bad cops, and some of them literally tried to get away with murder while hiding behind their badges. In order for the force to follow its mission for the public and maintain a clean image, those guys needed to be found and taken care of quickly and quietly. I wanted to help improve the police force. I also wanted to prove that the promotion was warranted and deserved.
The lobby was bustling with uniforms, lawyers, perps, civilians coming to make reports or leaving with loved ones they had picked up from the lock-up.
I passed a tall, hefty woman smacking her still-drunk teenage son on her way out the door and chuckled quietly. I headed straight for the stairs when I walked in the building. IA was on the second floor and I hated elevators. I hurried up, dropped my bags in my office, which I had yet to decorate, and headed to my boss’s office so I could get the file. This would be my first case, as I was fresh out of training. I still didn’t quite understand why it had ended up on my desk, but now that it had, I was going to chase it to its conclusion.
“Morning, Captain,” I said after knocking on her door.
“Good morning,” she replied, her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose. Captain Morgan O’Reilly looked a bit like a librarian, but she was a hard-ass cop who hated dirty cops. She fought her way up the ladder in a male-dominated business, and she did her job well, without any apology.
Hating dirty cops was easy for her, and she hated that her job was necessary.
I aspired to be like her.
“Got that case for me?”
She lifted a file and handed it over. “Good luck.”
I didn’t open the folder, lifting an eyebrow at her. “Is it a bad one?”
She sighed and gave me the rundown. “The case involves a suspended officer and some stolen money from the evidence lock up. Not an unusual case for Internal Affairs; kind of an easy one to start on your first day.”
I chuckled. “Are you kidding?”
“Yes. Like I said, good luck,” she repeated, a small smile on her face. “Allegedly, this guy took a lot of money, so it’s a felony if he’s guilty.”
I nodded, frowning down at the case file but not opening it. I’d wait until I got to my office. “Is a meeting set up?”
“You’re meeting him and his captain this morning at ten, so you better get reading,” she ordered. “You need something, come see me.”
As I returned to my office, clutching the case file, I thought about the basics of the case. The evidence room was often used as a personal store for corrupt cops. Even otherwise normal, law-abiding officers could be tempted to snatch a wad of bills here, an ounce of pot there. They usually attempted to cover it up, though, instead of stealing a shit ton at one time and leaving a paper trail. Which is what this guy had allegedly done.
So either he was a criminal and a complete overconfident dumbass, a criminal with an ulterior motive, or innocent and being framed. The last one was so rare, I was tempted to discount it right out of the gate. However, I’d learned from my father that everyone deserves a chance at justice, no matter how guilty they appeared.
When I reached my office, I glanced at the statement, and there was something about the blatant nature of the crime that struck me as odd. Sure, it might be as simple as it looked. He’d had a lapse in judgment, maybe got drunk or high or went through a bad breakup and stole a shit ton of money without doing anything to cover his tracks. And naturally if he is guilty, he’s trying to get out of it.
An investigation was definitely necessary. As I continued reading, I reached the bottom and noted the signature, which was a little hard to read. I flipped the paper and found the cop’s name.
“Fuck!”
A curse word, normal in the precinct, slipped through my lips when I read who it was: Martin Ferrel.
“What the fuck,” I breathed as I fell into my chair.
Martin Ferrel was the boy who had taken my virginity on a dare and left me with a baby that had nearly ruined my future. Luckily, I’d had my dad to encourage me, and Jenny was the best thing that ever happened to me. I hadn’t bothered locating Martin when I’d found out because I didn’t need him or his fucking millions. I had decided the best course of action was to raise my child alone.
I hadn’t seen Martin since the moment he had left to break up a fight and his ex had told me the truth about him. That had been almost thirteen years ago, and a lot had changed. And not just because of the child he didn’t even know about.
I checked up on the guy, I thought with a frown. Once,
but I had, when my baby and I had been crammed into a studio with foam taped over the broken windows so the heat didn’t escape. I’d thought about contacting him and demanding help with the child he knew nothing about because he’d run off to chase his dreams. A child who was now the light of my life, who I would sacrifice anything for.
Eight years ago, he was jet-setting the world and making local news working his way into the major leagues.
I assumed he was with some major league team somewhere, not a dirty cop in Salt Lake City stealing money from evidence lockers. I bet the story of his career change was interesting, but I had no desire to hear it. I didn’t even want to take the case; technically, there was a conflict of interest.
I especially didn’t want him to know about Jenny. The two of us were doing just fine without him entering our lives and screwing everything up. I thought seriously about taking the file back to my boss and asking for a different one. But I knew better. I’d have to explain why I didn’t want to take the case, that our past as well as the fact that he was the father of my child, was a conflict of interest and would get me out of it, but then rumors would start flying. The new chick in IA fucked Ferrel and had his kid. Yeah, he didn’t even know he had a kid. Cops liked gossip as much as anybody.
What the hell is this? Karma?
My chance to get him back?
I don’t fucking want him back.
I don’t even want to see the guy.
I’d have to take the case, clear it as quickly as possible, whether he was guilty or innocent, and go on about my career.
I sucked in a deep breath as I read the case, putting my past behind me and focusing on making a future for my daughter and me.
A few minutes before ten, I headed back downstairs, armed with a fresh coffee and the knowledge imparted to me by the case file. Since I was new to this precinct, I wasn’t sure where to go and didn’t want to wander around looking lost. The officer at the front desk looked almost as young as Jenny from the neck up and had a powerlifter’s body from the neck down. I blinked into his blue eyes for a moment and cleared my throat.
“Detective Cole with Internal Affairs,” I announced, handing him my badge. “I’m meeting with Captain Riggs, but I’m not sure where his office is.”
“Right, you’re the new IA detective,” the officer said, glancing over my shield and handing it back. “Through the doors and straight ahead. You’ll see his office on the right.”
“Thank you,” I said, putting my badge back on my hip and waiting for him to buzz the door open. I walked down the hall into the bullpen, where the other cops were busy at work and the phones were ringing like crazy.
Look at this place. I’d have gone nuts by now if I were still working in the pen. I glanced around the room, finding the captain’s office and walking over, knocking on the door frame. Inside, the man sitting across the desk from the captain stiffened slightly but didn’t look my way. I had plenty of time to compose myself before facing Martin Ferrel for the first time in thirteen years.
Captain Riggs looked up and smiled at me warmly, waving me in as he stood up. He was a big man with a craggy, dark face and a hundred-watt, Hollywood smile. “Good to see you again, Detective. I’m sorry to call you down here on your first day here, but we need this mess resolved fast.”
“No problem, Captain. I came prepared.” I walked in briskly, glancing again at the mess in question.
His hair was short and black, his shoulders broad and his cologne spicy, but I hadn’t seen his face yet. He was wearing a leather jacket instead of a suit coat. For pity’s sake, show a little class when you’re under investigation.
“Good to know. Congratulations on your promotion, by the way.”
“Thank you, Captain,” I said, shaking his hand. “Captain Oswald said to tell you hello.”
“Ah, how is he?”
Captain Oswald had been my captain my first few years on the job and had recommended me for IA. He was also the reason I was on an almost first name basis with Captain Riggs. Something which my suspect seemed weirdly uncomfortable with, I noticed as he shifted in his seat.
“Grumpy as ever.” I chuckled. “But really good.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it,” he said, looking down as his phone rang. “Excuse me one second.”
“Of course,” I said, turning around to glance at the officer in question. I braced myself as my eyes fell on him. Sitting there in his civilian clothes looking at me was Martin Ferrel, the asshole who’d taken my heart and my special first time and run off. And I was forced to face him in front of the captain with both of our careers on the line.
Anxiety ran through my entire body. I looked at the captain as he talked harshly on the phone to someone in the pit.
Of all the cases in all the precincts, I had to end up with this one as my very first. I breathed deeply, released the breath, and composed my expression, trying not to show any surprise or even recognition of the fact that I knew him.
I had a well-practiced poker face, and hopefully, it would save me. The last thing I needed was for the captain to find out this man, a possible crooked cop, and I had a past. Not only would it jeopardize my first assignment, but it would also be incredibly embarrassing if my boss and coworkers discovered Martin Ferrel, who was apparently a complete shit bag of a police officer, and I shared a child.
Maybe I should have known he would end up like this. Not in baseball at all, but in a place where his irresponsible crap can cause the most harm possible.
“Detective Cole,” Captain Riggs said after hanging up the phone. “I apologize. We’re working on a nasty homicide case, and a few of my officers have apparently forgotten what chain of command is.”
“No problem,” I said, brushing aside his apology, thankful for the opportunity to further compose myself.
“Let me introduce you to the accused, Detective Martin Ferrel.” He turned to the sullen man. “Detective, this is Detective Rene Cole. She’ll be handling the investigation.” His voice was stern as he spoke to his officer. “She’s in control of everything that happens to you from here on out, so I suggest you comply, speak politely, and do as you’re told. No room for showboating. This is your last chance.”
“Captain,” Martin answered, turning toward me and putting out his hand as if we’d never met. I couldn’t tell if he recognized me or not, which was another thorn under my fingernail. “Nice to meet you, Detective Cole.”
He was even better looking at thirty than he had been at eighteen. There was no boyishness to him anymore; his face had lost its roundness, his eyes their innocence. But I detected an infuriating hint of amusement in those eyes.
The BASTARD does recognize me.
I looked down at his hand and back up at him with a straight face. I didn’t want to shake his hand, but I could feel the captain staring a hole in the side of my head. I reached out, grasped it, and shook hastily. The old electricity was still there, jolting up my arm hotly. Fuck! Immediately my body stiffened from the feeling of his skin against mine. Don’t let it show! I forced myself to relax and hide the fact that he was having any kind of effect on me.
As I stared at Martin’s slowly growing shit-eating grin, I couldn’t help but think that he was guilty of the crime. My eyes narrowed. You did it, didn’t you? You’re guilty. You expect to just charm your way out of consequences. Idiot. He looked like a player, much like he had when we were kids. Only I hadn’t seen it back then because I had been too damn smitten with him and with the idea of losing my virginity to him.
If I could have arrested him at that moment, I was pretty sure my hand would have already been on my handcuffs. But I had to play by the book. No matter what my gut said, no matter what I felt about the prick, and how guilty he looked, I would find the truth.
Justice would be served.
Martin looked like a complete dickhead, smiling with his front of innocence. It made my heart race and my skin crawl thinking about how he had probably been laughing on the inside. But I wo
uld investigate this case the right way, because unlike him, I had integrity. I forced a smile and stared into his mirthful eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Detective,” I said, my voice even and sure. “This process can be long and tedious, but it is necessary. We want to connect all the dots and find all avenues of either clearing your name or formally charging you with a crime. We take this seriously, and we hope you will too.”
I tried to ignore the irritation in my stomach, remembering that my bias against Martin could not interfere with my investigation. I had to make the case a fair one and not let my personal hatred of my daughter’s father get the best of me. It would be difficult, but I was up to the task.
Adversity had made me tough.
Adversity was all I knew.
“We’ll need to conduct a formal interview,” I said to the captain. “Detective Ferrel is allowed his counsel during all discussions, just like a normal interrogation.”
Martin leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his broad chest as he looked at me confidently. “I don’t need a lawyer,” he said. “I’m innocent and have nothing to hide.”
“So, you’re waiving your right to counsel then?” Captain Riggs asked, eyebrows raised.
“I am waiving my right to counsel,” he replied smugly. “It’ll just be Detective Cole and me hashing it all out.”
I stared at him, judging him. What the hell is your game? Do you think you can charm and trick me twice? I set my jaw, determining again to set aside my past, but the damn thoughts kept creeping in.
“Alright, then,” Captain Riggs said, spreading his hands wide. “Detective Cole, are you ready to begin?”
“I’m ready,” I confirmed. “We can head over to the interrogation room.”
“I’ll show you the way,” he offered, walking around the desk and out the door. Martin rose and walked out behind him, forcing me to trail after them like an unimportant afterthought.
I stared at his back as I trudged behind them, feeling an intense dislike for him. The fact that he was devilishly handsome and filled with confidence, as he had been as a teenager, was unfair. But I would be professional every step of the way and conduct this investigation with every ounce of integrity I possessed.