“Yeah. Paperwork on the Meyers case. Pete and I finally located the brother. He confessed to shooting the bar owner, but he insists it wasn’t over the money. Says he did it because the man insulted him and disrespected his woman. He and his morals are down in booking now.”
He handed the file to him.
“Ah. Good work!” Gavin smiled and plopped the file in the basket on his desk.
Isaac grinned, but he couldn’t help wondering who this pod person was, and he feared his facial expression gave him away.
“Um… sir? Is everything all right? You seem to be in a noticeably better mood than you were this morning.”
Come to think of it, Isaac couldn’t recall seeing his boss in the last few hours. Had he been gone all afternoon?
Gavin rolled up his sleeves and a momentary look of embarrassment passed over his eyes before his game face settled on.
“Everything’s fine.”
Then he cleared his throat, and his voice came down a few octaves to normal.
“I just spoke to my son. He’s on his way home from college. He’s going to be spending the rest of the summer with his old man.”
Isaac got the feeling there was more to the story, but he smiled. His boss was entitled to his secrets, after all.
“Oh. Well, that’s nice. I imagine it’s been a little strange being an empty nester of sorts.”
“Yes, it has,” Gavin confirmed. “Especially so on top of the divorce, you know? It’s like my whole life changed overnight. Suddenly I’m single again, and my kid’s out of the house. Then the house is gone and I’m in a whole new place. It’s been a hell of a year, that’s for sure.”
Gavin’s voice sounded wistful, and a wave of sadness and regret engulfed Isaac. The swell of it was so strong it nearly knocked him over. He took a deep breath in preparation of trying to mentally push his boss’ emotions away, when they suddenly lifted. Replaced by what felt like lightheartedness. The sensation both surprised and puzzled him.
“Well, uh…” Isaac paused to clear the confusion. “What kind of trouble are you and Trey headed for tonight?”
Gavin grinned at him.
“He’s obsessed with the cheeseburgers at this little all-night diner we found a few years back. The place is the very definition of greasy spoon, but the burgers are great. He’s already put in a request to have dinner there tonight.”
Isaac smiled. “And I’ll bet he can put three of them away in one sitting too.”
Gavin laughed out loud. “Sometimes, yeah!”
Isaac laughed, but he wondered if everything was okay with Gavin. He’d never seen his boss in such a weird head space before. His emotions were all over the place. But at least he was able to laugh.
“Hey, Ike. You ever think about having kids?”
The question caught him completely off guard, snapping thoughts of Sidney’s miscarriage squarely to the forefront of his mind like a rubber band. It took him a minute to recover.
“I didn’t. Not until I met Sidney. But, uh… yeah. I think about it now.”
“You should marry that girl, you know? There’s probably not many women out there who can put up with the likes of you.”
Isaac laughed again.
“You two set a date yet?” Gavin asked.
“Nope. Not yet.”
“Well, don’t wait too long.”
“And give her a chance to change her mind? My mama didn’t raise no dummies!”
Gavin chuckled, and Isaac headed for the door. He stopped and turned toward Gavin again.
“Oh. Were you able to speak to Gerri Miller?”
Gavin looked slightly startled by the question, but he recovered quickly.
“Uh, yeah. I did.”
“And? Did she say anything about coming back, or transferring precincts?”
Gavin sighed. “Actually, she said she’s questioning whether she’s staying on the job at all.”
“Well, shit. That ain’t good. I mean, if her heart’s not in it anymore, then she probably shouldn’t come back. But that leaves us in a bind.”
“Yeah, well. I’m not sure that’s the case. That her heart’s not in it, I mean. I think that’s the grief talking. And I think she’s got a lot on her mind on top of the grief.”
“Like what?”
Gavin clammed up and changed directions.
“Just some… personal stuff.”
“Personal stuff. Yeah, you mentioned that before.”
An awkward silence encroached, and they stared at each other.
“She gonna let you know her plans at least?”
“I’ve asked her to see Dr. Newman one more time before she calls it quits. I’m hoping he can convince her not to make any hasty decisions while she’s grieving. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I want you to look over those files I gave you this morning and give Dorn’s replacement some serious thought. I want your input.”
“You’ll have it.”
He left the office then and went back to his desk. Listening to Gavin talk about his son inevitably made him think about the baby he’d just lost. Could he really picture himself a father? Would he be a good one?
One thing he knew for certain… Sidney would be an incredible mother someday.
He picked up his cellphone and sent her a text.
Isaac:
I love you
Her response was immediate.
Sidney:
I love you back
Isaac smiled at the familiar words. But he wondered how she was doing at work. It had only been two days, after all.
Sidney:
I’m ok
I promise
He chuckled to himself. It was like that woman could read his mind sometimes. Or maybe it was just the incredible bond they shared.
Isaac:
Ok
6
Adam slow danced around the posh living room of his house with baby Isla in his arms, quietly rapping Tupac’s “Ghetto Gospel” to her. It was a dinnertime routine they’d fallen into since bringing Isla home from the hospital, and truth be told, it had quickly become Adam’s favorite time of day.
He stared down into her light blue eyes, so much like his own, and marveled at how she watched him so intently. She was brilliant. He already knew that his little girl was going to be absolutely brilliant.
As he rapped and danced her around the room, her fervent gaze began to wane, and he
