“Technicalities.You rule.I protect and serve.Two sides to the same coin, really.”Picking up the folder she’d dropped on my desk before parking her ass on it, I stood.“And now I get to go play cop for a little while.Wanna come watch?”
An evil smile spread over her lovely face.“Absolutely.I actually called Mom.She’s going to meet us there.She’s bringing the popcorn.”
“Very professional of you, Madam Mayor.”Walking past the deputies’ desks, I stopped between the two belonging to Otis and Carlos.“Otis, you’re fired.”
He stood so quickly, his chair rolled back, colliding with the wall.“Wh-what?Why?”
“Failure to protect evidence.Your body cam footage from last Sunday mysteriously got erased.Lucky for you, we have superior IT tech on staff.”Mom’s brows lifted.Vaughn wasn’t technically on the payroll.We traded favors.It was a very uneven scale, though.We owed him more than we could ever repay.“Also, poor field response and lack of protocol knowledge.I’m sure there are more reasons.”
Mom nodded.“It was an extensive list.Very in-depth and very…technical.HR was involved.We had a meeting and everything.It was a difficult decision, but it was a unanimous vote.You are too much of a liability to risk continuing to employ.Our constituents simply wouldn’t approve.”
“Badge and firearm,” I commanded, keeping my face stoic.
Otis looked like he was going to puke.“But…I don’t understand.Isn’t there a system?An investigation?”
“Absolutely.We simply don’t have the staff hours to conduct it at present.Apologies.Deep, sympathetic condolences.Truly.”Mom’s ability to deadpan without breaking was a gift.She gave him a little finger wave, without even a ghost of a smile.
Still sputtering and trying to argue his way out of it, Otis reluctantly handed over his weapon and badge.Almost as reluctant as he’d been to lower that same gun when he’d had it pointed at Grier.I had to remind myself again why it would be wrong to use a bullet to take care of this particular situation.Grier’s face flashed through my memory, and I steeled my spine.
Once he was gone, I walked Mom outside and opened the door to her car for her.“I’ll meet you there in five.”
“Be safe, honey.Love you.”
When I pulled up outside the florist’s shop, Mom’s car was already parked in front of it.Where Miss Hester’s beloved rosebush had once grown was now an ugly hole in the ground.Weeds had begun to sprout from the dirt, a few wayward roots broken off and exposed.Right as I opened my door, a truck hauling an excavator on the long bed stopped a few yards away.
Reid unfolded himself from the cab of the truck.“Am I late?”
“Perfect timing.Give me a minute, and then we can get started.”
He grinned.“I’ve got nothing but time, kid.”
Inside, Mom stood at the counter, her professional smile in place as she watched Hilary wrap a bouquet of pink roses for her.The ones from the farmers market that I’d bought for Grier the previous Saturday had been much prettier.They were still going strong in a vase on her kitchen counter.
Hilary barely spared me a glance before returning to the bouquet.It looked more like something from a gas station than a true florist, but that wasn’t anything new.
“I saw them and immediately thought of Grier.She’s going to absolutely love them, don’t you think?”Mom pretended not to hear the annoyed sound the florist made.As I got closer, I saw a muscle twitch beside Hilary’s eye.“She loves the color pink more than any other person I’ve ever met.I’m going to give them to her as soon as I leave here.Oh, I think I should include a card!”
Picking up one of the white stock cards, she started writing.“Happy Demolition Day.Love, your future MIL.Wait, should I go with the MIL, or would it be better if I wrote it out fully?I really do like the sound ofmother-in-law.”
A stem snapped in Hilary’s hands.
“Will this be all for you, Mrs.Davis?”she asked with a tight smile.
“Yes, I think that will be plenty.One final bouquet to say farewell to Miss Hester’s legacy.”There was a note of sadness in Mom’s voice, a lingering nostalgia for the woman who was now gone.
“Finn, look at these gorgeous roses,” Mom gushed, turning to look at me for the first time.“I couldn’t let them go to waste sitting there when I knew our girl would adore them.”
“She does love pink,” I commented dryly.
“And look at this little note.Do you think she will have a giggle?We should have something to commemorate this day.But am I being too forward with the way I signed it?Or is MIL too impersonal?I’ve never had a daughter-in-law before.”
“You don’t technically have one now,” I reminded her, jaw clenching.“Not yet.”
I needed to rectify that soon.
“Nope, it’s decided.I’m the MIL.You can’t take that away from me.I own it now.”
“Here are those flowers, Mrs.Davis,” Hilary gritted out, forcing another tight smile as she practically shoved the bouquet in my mother’s face.
