Replacing the soiled diaper with a clean one,Maritzia nodded. "No, it's not. This place is clean and organized. The TVis on mute, there is halfway prepared food sitting on the cutting block, and Ithink I saw a purse on the table."
"Yeah," Cade murmured, already standingby the purse and going through it carefully with the tip of his pen. "Isee a wallet and a driver's license. The neighbor was right—Mina Radowsky isthe tenant."
Picking the wailing baby up, Maritzia hugged thelittle boy close and began to make soothing little noises under her breath,bouncing him gently as she walked. "I didn't see any signs of forced entryon the door, and it was locked; the place is very tidy and nothing looksmissing," she thought aloud as she carefully retraced Cade's steps aroundthe apartment so she could examine the rest of it.
"Yeah, I agree. I don't think there was anyfoul play in here at least," he muttered, standing in front of the whiteshelf of neatly stacked baby toys. "And by the looks of it, she doesn'tseem like the type of woman to just abandon the baby. So, where the hell isshe?"
A few minutes later backup arrived, as well asthe local news. Without much choice, Maritzia and Cade found themselves withcameras in front of their faces. Still holding the baby on her hip and Cadecarrying the dog under one arm they both made statements to the reporter.
~*~
"A nine-month-old baby was found by twoNYPD detectives from the forty-eighth precinct here in The Bronx today whileinvestigating a missing person's case just across the hall," thepretty news reporter explained to the camera, as a blue banner with white textsat at the bottom of the screen reading Two Bronx Detectives Save Baby. "DetectiveDeLeon explained that after coming back to follow up with a possible witness totheir open missing person's case, they could hear the same cries from the babyand barking from the dog they heard earlier that morning at nine a.m. Knowingthat something was wrong, the detectives broke down the door, fearing for thechild's safety."
The scene on the TV changed from the reporter tofootage of the apartment and pictures of the baby. "However, thequestion remained: where was the child's mother?" Shifting back to thereporter, she stood in front of Maritzia who still held the child on her hip,and Cade standing behind her holding the dog. Leaning the mic to Maritzia thereporter asked her how they found the child's mother. "After askingsome questions and going through our own records, we found that last night awoman was struck by an oncoming vehicle and taken to St. Barnabas. Currently,she is in a coma, however, with no identification, there was no way of anyoneknowing that Mina Radowski had a child left at home. Judging by the small bagof groceries and the witness account of Jameson's bodega, which is right acrossthe street from the apartment building, this was simply an unfortunate case ofa single mother popping downstairs to get groceries, taking only some cash andher keys."
Cutting to an interview with the same neighborthey talked to earlier, the woman, now dressed in casual clothes, spoke to thenews reporter. "I feel so guilty, I heard the baby crying last night, Ijust thought…I don’t know, I just feel bad. I wish there was more I could havedone."
Stepping aside the news reporter spoke directlyto the camera in a final wrap-up. "Staff at the St. Barnabas hospitalsays the patient is doing good, and should wake up soon, with only a few brokenbones and a concussion. As for the child and dog, we have been informed thechild's grandmother is on her way from upstate to come and take care of them.Thanks to the quick thinking of these officers, a true crisis was avertedtoday."
The mounted TV flicked off and for a second,Maritzia saw all three of their reflections in the black screen of the TVbefore turning back around to see her uncle's unreadable face. Sitting behindhis modern wood and metal desk, Andres DeLeon leaned back in his high-back,leather office chair and looked from her to Cade in silence.
"This was not what I expected to seetoday." His calm voice was just as unreadable as his impassive stare,making it hard for Maritzia to judge his mood.
Glancing over to Cade standing at her left, shefrowned at his relaxed posture and easy-going smirk. Did nothing ever botherthe man? Here she was with millions of things going through her head. Like whatif they said something wrong. What if they should have waited for backup or anything?Just looking at her uncle's naturally stern face and waiting for him to saywhat he thought of them was killing her.
Her uncle stared at her for a moment and Maritziafelt herself pale a little before she caught his smirk.
"You did well," he finally declared.
Maritzia felt herself wither where she stood, allthe tension within her suddenly releasing, making her feel exhausted.
"Next time, however," Andres added, hiseyes boring into her. "Let Child Protection Services take the childwithout an argument, okay?"
Maritzia winced but nodded. After getting thelittle boy, Nicholas, to calm down and stop crying she had seen no pointhanding him off to a stranger. She had been content enough to wait a few hoursfor the grandmother to get there, but after a verbal sparring match with thesocial worker, Maritzia had no choice but to relinquish the baby.
"And you." The Chief pointed a fingerto Cade and cast him a piercing look. "Do not carry a dog on camera again.You looked like an idiot holding that damn dog."
"I thought I looked good—friendlyeven."
"More like idiotic."
Knowing he would not win this battle Cadeconceded with a nod. "Yes sir."
"Good. Now go. I had Tala order you somefood. Good job today," he said dismissing them.
Walking out of the office, Maritzia let out aragged breath.
"I told you, you were worrying fornothing." Cade's eyes sparkled in amusement despite the notes of fatigueshe could see within them.
Grabbing the two plastic bags of food sitting onthe empty assistant's desk, they walked out of the office down the darkhallways. It was late, almost midnight, and this part of the station where theadministrative departments were located was practically deserted. The lights inthe offices and the halls were all turned off, making the building feel alienfrom its normal daily activity. Going down the elevator, they stopped on thethird floor and found an empty meeting room that faced the street. Notbothering with turning on the lights, they both took off their holsters andbadges from their belts and tossed them on the big, empty meeting table.
Pulling her own phone from her pocket, Maritziadidn't bother reading the notifications and put it on silent before sliding it acrossthe table to the pile of their belongings. Sitting down with a small groan, shegave Cade a tired smile as he sat catty-corner to her. Lights from the busystreet outside cast moving shadows into the empty meeting room.
"Sorry about the sancocho. I'll bring yousome tomorrow," she said as she tiredly pulled the food from the bag andripped the spork from the plastic pouch.
Leaning back in his chair, Cade stretched out hislong legs until she could feel their presence on either side of her chair. Withan exhausted but handsome smile, he shook his head. "Don't be sorry. Todaywe did the type of shit we dreamt of doing as kids. Being heroes." Hiseyes glittered in the low lighting coming from the big window. "Today wasa good day," he added, his eyes flicking towards the window lost inthought.
She smiled a large genuine smile at him and letthe meaning of his words sink in. Theyhaddreamt of this. Growing up,they both used to watch all sorts of crime dramas and police procedural showsin her living room while her brothers played video games in their room. It hadbeen both of their dreams to be police officers, but even more, it had beentheir dream to be partners. They had laughed as they thought of cool names theywould call themselves, or the tag lines they would say when they caught the badguy. At some point, she had forgotten the excitement and fun of those dreamsthat had turned reality for them both. Lately, her mind felt swamped withworries of Victor and how to act and not act around him and how to make thisso-called relationship work, she had forgotten to realize she was living heractual dream.
