Slowly, I made my way past them, keeping my eyes forward so I didn’t give Vic any ammunition to butt in before I could talk to Chief Vasquez.
With a fortifying breath, I walked past Victoria’s and my desks, ignoring her hissed questions she threw my way under her breath. My shoulders were held back, head held high, as I strolled to the chief’s office and knocked on the door.
“Come in!” he barked and for a moment, I hesitated.
Not because I questioned whether or not what I was doing was the right thing, but Chief Vasquez was an intimidating man and if anyone would be astute enough to see past my bullshit and call me out on my lies, besides Vic, it would be him.
But I knew what I had to do. It was time for me to quit my job, even if we weren’t going to be moving on quite yet.
I opened the door and peeked my head through the opening. “Good morning, Chief Vasquez. Do you have a moment?” Nerves clutched at my throat and stomach, and my hands shook as I opened the door further at his nod.
“Detective Cooper, good to see you’re all rested up and recovering well.”
My cheeks pinked as I thought of everyone at the station welcoming me back from my bout of theflu.
“You could have just faxed your paperwork over to HR.” He frowned at the paper in my hand.
It had been a little over two weeks that I’d been out of work while I recovered from the nasty gash Nate had sliced into my side after I’d walked in on him killing a delivery driver. But thankfully, with the way my schedule rotated, I’d only missed five work days. The last couple of those, I’d spent being taken care of by none other than Nate.
Unfortunately, that was enough that they expected some sort of work release from a doctor, which I couldn’t provide.
We hadn’t been left with a lot of options on how to handle the situation.
The fact still shocked me that he hadn’t run and had come to make sure I was all right and took it upon himself to take care of me when he noticed I hadn’t been in a state to do it myself. It was things like that that made me love him, despite the fact that he was a serial killer and a psychopath.
“Thank you, sir,” I offered with a tentative smile as my fingers played with the edge of the paper in my hand. The fact I was dressed down, even for a plain clothed detective, wouldn’t have escaped his notice. Nor did it escape my partner’s keen eye, given her incessant questioning once I’d arrived.
“I don’t want to take up much of your time, and I only have a moment, but I wanted to give you this.” I took a deep breath as I handed the letter over, with minimal shaking to my hands, thank you very much.
“First of all, I want to thank you for all the opportunities you’ve given me, sir. I’ve learned a lot from you and the department. But my life is taking a different direction and working here just doesn’t fit into my new plans.”
“New plans?” Chief Vasquez asked, one eyebrow raised as he frowned at the letter of resignation in his hands, stating that it would be in effect immediately. While it might not have been exactly professional to leave without notice, Icouldn’t stay on the case that was trying to put my Daddy in jail.
“Yes, sir. My partner is a land developer and an opportunity arose on the other side of the country that the company is looking to acquire and the project is expected to last at least a year. Starting shortly after the new year. And I’m not interested in a long-distance relationship, so I decided to go with him.”
“Partner?” The shock on Vasquez’s face was obvious. I’d spent a lot of time at my desk bemoaning my single life and lack of dating prospects. “I hadn’t realized you were dating anyone.”
The frown returned and it left me slightly squeamish, though I couldn’t figure out why.
I nodded, trying to keep my nervous fidgeting to a minimum while maintaining eye contact. The chief was a shark, and if he smelled blood in the water, he’d latch on and never let go until I spilled all of my secrets.
“Yeah, it’s only recently become serious. But he’s not someone I’m willing to let go of.” Thinking about Nate made me smile and I couldn’t wait to get back home to him and get started on the adventure that our lives would be.
While it wasn’t going to be anywhere near what I thought my life would be like, it was the one I wanted. Anything with him was what I wanted. Even if it meant that I had to start helping him. While I didn’t revel in using my detective skills for such purposes, I had to make sure Nate minimized his risk of getting caught because I couldn’t live without him.
Irefusedto live without him.
Vasquez nodded and gave a heavy sigh. “If this is what you really want, Cooper, then I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need a reference or letter of recommendation.
“Thank you, Chief,” I replied with a smile, even though I knew it wouldn’t be necessary. The last thing I wanted to dowas join a different police force and still end up hunting Nate. Plus, I couldn’t leave a trail as to where I was going once we left town.
Not to mention, Nate wassuper richand wanted nothing more than to keep me naked and pampered at home. If he could have me naked, barefoot, andpregnantin the kitchen at all times, I was sure he would. Especially given once I’d put the idea in his head, he’d gently scooped me up into his arms, mindful of my still-healing stitches, and laid me out on the bed and ravaged me all night, filling me with his cum, not wanting even a drop to spill.
The memory made me shiver and I knew I needed to get out of there fast before I embarrassed myself by having to walk through the station with an obvious boner.
Not that I would see any of them ever again once I crossed the threshold out into the world. The only one I’d miss was Vic and I knew I’d have to be careful about how I extricated myself from her life.
I quickly shook the Chief’s hand, then relinquished my badge and gun.
