Privacy
1377 Words
Alsie POV-
I took a few minutes to get my thoughts in order. After a few calming breaths, I walked back into the coffee shop. I walked past the row of booths and sat back down opposite of my partner Sarah.
It was then that I realized that my breakfast was gone, and all our dishes had been removed, including my coffee cup.
“What the hell Sarah? I was gonna eat my breakfast when I came back in and I sure as hell wasn’t done with my coffee?”
“Slow down Turbo. Justine picked up your plates and is having the kitchen warm them up, so you don’t have to eat cold eggs and pancakes. I asked if you could get a fresh cup of coffee.”
“Oh, OK thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, thank Justine when she comes back. You wanna tell me what that was about?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? What do you mean, what do I mean? That whole…all of whatever that was.”
“Oh, you mean with the triplets?”
“Oh, you mean with the triplets? Yea, I mean with the triplets. Spill it.”
“It’s nothing to spill really. I just wanted to inform them about Brook. We all knew Brook. We went to school with her. She was a couple of years older than us, but she was always nice. For a few years, she worked at the local diner in our neighborhood. When I was a junior in high school, I started working at the same diner. In fact, I’m a cop because of her. She encouraged me to “do something with my life”. When we worked together, she would tell me I was too smart to be working in a diner and I needed to do something that makes a difference. I always liked puzzles, crime solving shows and murderer documentaries, so she encouraged me to go to the academy.”
“This one hits hard and is close to home for you.”
“Yea, a bit like a gut punch. Last I heard she moved but she stayed close to the old neighborhood, and she managed a bikini barista shop. Her being all the way out here is weird. Just like finding out about her prints on file. I wonder if she was C.I.”
“Hey Justine, thank you for keeping my food warm.” Justine acknowledged me with a nod and a smile as she placed a new cup and refilled our coffees once again. She then handed me a freshly prepared hot breakfast.
“Hey… This isn’t my old breakfast. You had them make me a fresh one? You’re so sweet. Put it on our check. I fully intend to pay for both of my meals.”
“No. Don’t worry about it. It seems like you have a lot going on, plus, nobody wants to eat cold or microwaved eggs. Gross.”
The three of us laughed. She wasn’t wrong.
“Can I ask you something?” Justine turned to face me head on.
“Sure, Justine anything.”
“Those guys, the three you went outside with, are any of them single? Because they’re HOT.”
It took about half a second for me to feel this surge of anger well up in the pit of my stomach, my hands started getting all sweaty, and my teeth started to clench.
I took a deep breath and responded calmly to Justine. “Technically, all three of them are single.”
“Good to know. I hope I see them around again. Talk about smoking hot, if you’re into tall, dark, built, and gorgeous. Those eyes. WOW, I’ve never seen eyes like theirs.”
“Thanks for the new plate of food and coffee Justine, if you could just bring the check that would be great.” I managed to say without blowing up.
Why am I reacting like this? This is stupid. They’re not my mates. They can date, f**k, or do whatever they want with whomever they want. Why am I getting all mad and jealous because some young, pretty, blonde teenage girl is asking about them? This is ridiculous, almost as ridiculous as what Andrew said to me right before he left.
I needed to change the subject and focus on what happened to Brook.
“Hey Sarah, after we finish up here let’s go by the M.E.'s office and see if Kyle has gotten any more information on Brook.”
“Yea, we can. I was thinking along those lines anyway. Something isn’t adding up for me. I can’t put my finger on it, but something feels out of place about this whole thing.”
I finished my breakfast. We both finished our coffees. I paid the bill and insisted that my second breakfast was on it. I tipped Justine 25% because she was worth it. She made sure we got great service, she kept our coffees filled and hot, she let us be to ourselves, she wasn’t a pushy or nosy server. I liked that about her. The food was good too, so that always helps.
Sarah and I walked to her cruiser, got inside and went straight to the Medical Examiner’s office. We parked, got out, went to the basement entrance, badged ourselves in and found Kyle sitting at his desk.
“Hey Kyle.”
“Good morning, detectives.” Kyle replied happily.
“I know you said you’d call if anything else came up. But we wanted to stop by on our way to the station,” Sarah stated in an upbeat tone.
“Nope, nothing more than what we already discussed. I did find a few things in her pockets: a credit card not in her name, a single key, looks like maybe a house door key, it’s not a car key, and a heart pendant with no chain. But other than that, nothing else. I had everything bagged and tagged and sent to the lab.”
“OK. Thanks for all your help, Kyle.”
“Back to the station house we go, Alsie.”
“Yep, time to start being detectives. Did animal control already come and finish their job at the scene?”
“You know what Als, I forgot about them. Let me call Randell and see if he has any answers about that. OK, Alsie-Alsie.”
I rolled my eyes. “Can you stop?” I chuckled.
We walked back the way we came, got back into Sarah’s cruiser and headed the 4 miles to the station house. Maybe at the station we could get a few answers. It feels like some of these questions should be easy to get answers to. It’s frustrating.
“No answer from Randell. Phone went to voicemail.” Sarah told me, but I wasn’t listening.
“Huh? Oh yeah, Randell. Wait, what did you say?”
“No answer.”
“OK,” I replied.
I was struggling internally with this case. It hit close to home, too close. The victim was someone I knew, or I thought I knew. Depending on how this investigation plays out, a lot of my two worlds may come crashing into each other. To say I was distracted was the understatement of the year. I need sleep, I need a day off, screw that I need a vacation and a bottle of wine.
We arrived back at the station house and went up to our desks. I started writing out a list of questions I wanted answers to.
1- Why are her prints on file?
2- Whose credit card was in her pocket?
3- Why was she at Club 8?
4- Has gun been used before?
5- Current address?
6- Is she a C.I? 2nd Part- If so, who is handler?
7- What’s with the animals?
8- Any info from animal control?
9- Necropsy going to be performed?
10- Is pack in trouble?
That last question is the one that is bothering me the most. Packs live far away from humans in secluded areas. How much is this investigation going to blow up my perfectly private and secluded life?
- Writer
