“Yeah, no kidding.”
“Call dispatch, and have them get some units to bring in those last three tree huggers,” I say, stepping out of the shack.
I walk up to a familiar detective. “Well, I’ll be damned. Detective Lobos. So Godfrey was not the MK suspect, huh?”
“Other than the fact he’s dead, yeah.”
“You know if you’d made a simple phone call, Lobos. I could have told you that two-bit junkie checked himself out with an OD. You could’ve saved yourself a trip out here.”
I throw my arms out to my side. “Well, what can I say, I fucked up.”
“Well, goddamn alert the media ‘Detective Lobos fucked up’ you’re nothing but a damn boozehound.” He places his hands on his hips, scowling. “I bet the reason you didn’t want to move on that suspect was you were too drunk that day. Or was it because you hadn’t had a drink that day, and you were feeling a bit shaky?”
Keep talking, fucker. You’ll be spitting teeth.
He turns to Jason. “Hey, son. Do yourself a favor and get a new partner before this lush gets your ass killed.”
I lunge in his face. “You killed your fucking officers that day! Not me! I told you to wait for the negotiator, but no, you just had to be a big fucking hero. Well, how does it feel, hero?”
He glowers at me, sucking in air through his nose. “Fuck you, Lobos. Go climb into a bottle somewhere.” He storms off back to his car.
***
I place our long guns and vests in the trunk and get in the car, lighting a smoke.
“What’s that guy’s deal, Devi?”
“One of my old cases, we cornered a husband who took his wife hostage after murdering his two 9-year-old sons. The suspect took his wife hostage threatening to blow himself up and her too if we didn’t get back. So instead of Wade waiting for the negotiator.” I take a drag from my smoke and flick it out the window. “He gives SWAT the order to take him down, and that didn’t go so well. The sharpshooter shot the suspect, but it wasn’t an instant kill. He set off the bomb, killing himself, his wife SWAT team. After it was all over, I reprimanded him to his bosses. It nearly cost him his career, so he has hated my guts ever since.” I light up another cigarette exhaling smoke. Which brings me to your next lesson: don’t be a fucking hero, or you will end up with a stain on your record like him. Just work the cases and do your damndest to go home alive.”
“Hey, I didn’t become a cop to be a hero. I just want job security.”
“Good. Because you came into the wrong career to become a hero, cops are no longer seen as heroes. Half the country sees us as racists, Nazis, Gestapo. Only thing that passes for a hero nowadays is having your dick or cunt removed.”
“Yeah, something is seriously wrong with society when someone getting a sex change is considered bravest woman of the year over the two first females who passed Army Ranger training. Don’t get me wrong I got no personal beef with people who want to willfully indulge in genital mutilation; just don’t expect the rest of the world to see you as brave or a hero.”
“I have no issues with transgenders; either just stop expecting the world to hand you a fucking medal.”
Smoke exhales from my nose. “The bar for heroism is pretty fucking low. However, we’re goddamn heroes when people need us, but when they don’t, we are the biggest pieces of shit on the planet.”
He sighs. “Well, this sucks. I thought we had something here with CG.” He groans.
“Lesson number three: never get your hopes up with a lead. Just follow it. If you get your hopes up every time you get a lead, you’ll drive yourself batshit,” I say, cranking the car and driving down the road. Jason gets on the radio and sets up interviews with the people I mentioned to him earlier.
“I guess so, Devi. Maybe I have to become a cynic like you.” He turns to me. “So, if you’re so jaded, then why are still a cop?”
“Because despite my sour girl demeanor, I’m not jaded I’m just a realist.”
Even if I was jaded, I don’t see myself doing any other job. Plus, it pisses off my mom to no end, so that is all the motivation I need to put on this badge every day.
Chapter 5
The patrolmen behind the front desk throws up a brief wave and returns to his paperwork. This place felt more like a massive office building rather than a police station, but it got me out of Miami, a place I have no desire to return.
I moved to this city where I am unknown for the most part. I am a stranger to the cops in this department, except for a few detectives here.
The thing about the homicide cops I work with, they couldn’t care less about my past. Especially the ones on Vampire shift like me, they’ve had their past regrets. Vampire shift is the name my LT gave the third shift. He’s really into Vamps, and so is his wife.
Getting off the elevator, I stroll down the grey carpeted hall and enter the office. The bullpen is pitch black.
What the hell? Did this part of the building blow a fuse? Did the city cut our funding, so we’re only allowed to have power to part of the building?
The lights flip on revealing empty cubicles, I begin to think everyone is out on a call. My fellow officers jump from behind the office spaces and shout, “Surprise!
The LT approaches me with a glass of red wine. “Happy 37th, Devi!”
