policy about staying fit or maybe your fat ass wouldn’t have gotten stuck in a bathroom window and you could’ve stayed in the tech division, where at least people care about your fucking opinion. Jesus Christ, I am sick of tech agents.”
Yvonne Zuni said in an icy voice, “That will be quite enough.” And it worked because Ronald Bell shut up and sat down like his third-grade teacher had struck him with a ruler.
For his part, Sparky seemed completely unfazed by the outburst. He said, “The policy says that when there is a large seizure of contraband that must be tested in the lab, a representative sample can be stored in temporary evidence downstairs while the overall seizure is secured.”
Bell said, “So what?”
“So Dwight and I live by the same code of policy. He would know the policy and follow it. Since he’s been injured and unclear about what happened, I wonder if anyone checked temporary evidence.” He turned to give Bell a subtle, superior glance.
Patty had to stifle a chuckle, he’d done it so perfectly. What Sparky had said sounded so simple that it couldn’t be true, could it? She had only used temporary evidence once. It generally involved holding part of a seizure in a standard-size locker with two separate locks at the entrance to the evidence room. An evidence custodian keeps a key to one lock in the evidence room and the seizing officer keeps a key to the second lock. That way the seizing officer can come back and retrieve the sample to take it to the lab while maintaining a strict and clear chain of custody. Not all departments used it and usually it only applied to narcotics.
The sergeant stood behind her desk and said, “I have an easy solution to this debate. Let’s all go down to evidence and check the lockers. It sounds like it’s something IA should’ve done long before the investigation got this far. And it will definitely be something I address with the captain later on.”
Patty liked the support she was getting from the people on her squad and it was starting to give her some confidence. She followed the little posse of Sparky Taylor, Yvonne Zuni, and Ronald Bell down the rear stairs and through the corridor to the evidence custodian.
As they were walking, Bell said, “We never found a key around the scene of the fight or in Dwight’s clothes.”
Sparky said, “I’ve thought about that and there are a number of possibilities. The key would have been out and possibly on the desk. Your people could’ve simply overlooked it. It could’ve been kicked all the way across the room during the scuffle. It might have even ended up going to the hospital with Dwight and being left there.”
Patty followed along, realizing she was a suspect in the eyes of the sheriff’s office. Even if it was only the IA division. She had to come to grips with idea that someone thought she’d committed the crime. It gave her a lump in her throat and upset her stomach. It made her think about all the times she’d purposely tried to upset suspects in her own cases in an effort to get them to confess or cooperate. This incident was giving her an entirely new perspective on the trick. She would have to look at the way she conducted business differently from now on. This sucked. She’d gone beyond pharmaceutical help. Patty was so nervous now that no amount of Xanax would calm her down. The crazy thing was that she was terrified over an administrative issue. She hadn’t been this scared when she was held captive by the fucking Bag Man. Her life had been on the line, but she’d known someone was trying to help her. It was an odd experience to have someone question her integrity.
Stallings had tried to follow Patty and the group as they left the office, but a sharp look from the sergeant had kept him in his seat. It gave him one more thing to worry about in addition to his wife, his father, Jeanie, his kids, and Leah Tischler. He felt like he needed to burst out and do something to take action against one of the problems in his life.
He looked around the nearly empty office and decided to act. Now.
Fifteen minutes later he pulled into the driveway of his former residence, pausing at the front door before knocking firmly but politely and waiting for someone to answer. It was Charlie’s smiling face that cheered him up as soon as the door swung inward.
“Hey, pal, is your mom around?”
“She’s upstairs. Do you have time to kick with me?”
“Let me talk to Mom for a little while first.”
The boy darted upstairs like a guided missile; almost a full minute later Maria glided down the stairs like she was at an awards show and had admiring crowds watching her. In his own way Stallings was an admiring crowd.
She gave him a weak smile and walked past him into the family room to sit on the couch. He knew the unspoken command to follow her and sit next to her. And he obeyed.
Stallings started. “We need to talk.”
“Yes, we do.”
“I mean about us.”
“I do too.”
That surprised him because she generally avoided any conversation about the troubled relationship.
“I thought we had made a connection the other night. I mean I did spend the night here.”
“You fell asleep here. There is a difference. And I’ll admit I liked having someone to cuddle up to. But as soon as the call of duty hit you, the house was empty and silent again. I understand your need to help people and I commend it. But the kids and I are people too and we need more than just a few minutes of your time every day.”
He had considered a lot of reasons why Maria was acting the way she was. He thought it might be some reaction to seeing him with Liz Dubeck. He’d even considered the idea that she was using again. But this was not only the most logical and obvious explanation, it was also the one that stung the worst.
Maria continued. “The last two weeks have been a revelation to me. I’ve gone down to the stadium and listened to Frank Ellis for hours each day. The man has some amazing insights and made me feel a real connection to Jesus.”
Stallings leaned back and stared at his wife. “That’s why you were downtown. You were going to see the Holy Roller.”
“That’s a condescending term. It was a legitimate religious service.”
“I wasn’t trying to be insulting. I thought it was a legitimate Baptist religious service. You’ve been a legitimate Catholic your whole life.”
“I thought you would have learned by now that nothing lasts a lifetime.”
That brought Stallings up short. He looked at his wife and remembered their early married life with Jeanie running around and Maria smiling from early in the morning till she laid that beautiful head down on the pillow. It would be easy for him to say that was all he wanted back, but it was so much. He realized now it was more than any man should hope for.
Maria caressed his cheek and then let her hand drop to his. “You should be happy that I’ve gone to the service. It’s taught me a lot about myself and what to expect from others. You are such a good man, John. And I’ve had a new hope instilled in my heart. I really do believe you can change. I believe in redemption. But you’re going to have to earn it. You’ll have to show me that you care about the family and that you can express all of your feelings, both good and bad.”
“And how do I do all that?”
“You have to figure it out for yourself. It may take a while. You may not be able to do it. And until you figure it out, I can’t have you living in this house.”
Stallings stared into those luminous dark eyes and thought his heart might break. He had no idea how to change.
At some point in the process Patty Levine had decided to toughen up and take this shit like a cop. She did everything else on the job like a man. It was to the point that most cops didn’t even notice she was female. Almost. That was the way she liked JSO. Anymore the only reason female cops were treated differently was because of an ingrained view or, as some called it, an “instinct” for men to treat women differently. On the road she occasionally saw patrolman instinctively keep her out of harm’s way. When the truth was she usually could fight better than any man on road patrol.
Now she stood in the corner of the room while Ronald Bell questioned an evidence custodian and Yvonne
