Page 32 of Dirty Cops Next Door

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he finally said into my hair an eternity later.

His voice startled me and I glanced up at him with a smile of embarrassment. I’d been so comfortable with him, just so plain happy that he was alive, I’d almost fallen asleep again.

“I wasn’t so sure I’d see you either. You really had me worried, you know?” I looked up to see that wall was back in place, that hard barrier I didn’t like at all. It cut me off from him and it was dangerous. This had changed Grant, maybe for good. I’m not sure I liked that.

“I think you’re going to have to keep an eye on David. He’s not going to let this rest.” Grant’s hands shifted, pulling me tighter to his side. I couldn’t complain; I wanted to crawl into him in that moment and make it all better. To make sure that wall stayed away.

“I will.”

“Good. Now, I’m going to sleep. These pain meds are kicking my ass. Tell that pink bunny to fuck off with his hopping, will you?” He waved his right arm at the curtains covering the window, an ugly shade of pink that was hardly inspiring.

I held back a laugh and closed my eyes. I hoped Grant would be okay.

* * *

David

I stalkedthrough the hallways of the deserted hospital, a nurse squeaking by me in expensive trainers the only hint I wasn’t alone as I found the elevators and went down to the next floor. Why did they wear such expensive shoes? Then I thought about all the walking, running, pacing nurses had to do, the way they’d been all over Grant earlier, a dozen of them, working together to make sure they stabilized him and got him the tests, medicine, and care that he needed. I guess the shoes helped them to keep up the pace in their Herculean efforts to save lives.

It’s odd the things you notice when you’re on a mission to take another man’s life. I didn’t really consider Avery much of a man, but he was one. My hand went to my gun as I mentally counted the amount of ammo I had with me. Enough to take him out for what he’d done to Grant. That’s all I needed.

I hit the doors and was soon at the car. I hadn’t spoken to the chief yet, I didn’t know what the plan was, but I had a plan of my own. Go to his house, shoot him in his sleep, then if I made it out, serve the time I would inevitably have to serve.

If I made it out of prison alive I could consider a future, but right now, after watching Grant almost die, after watching the crushing pain Toni had felt when she saw him in that hospital bed, I had to do something to make that fucking bastard pay.

I slid behind the wheel and started the ignition.

I stopped the car. Grief, relief, pain crushed me within its claws, it stole my breath away and left me gasping. I had almost lost him. Toni had almost lost him.

I wanted to walk into Avery’s house, if he wasn’t on the run already, and torture him until he expired in a puddle of tears and blood. I wanted to do things I knew would take me beyond my badge.

Toni had only been in our lives for a very short while, yet I’d come to care about her deeply. She’d earned my respect for her loyalty to her brother, she’d earned my trust by always telling me the truth, even when I didn’t want to hear it, and she’d never backed down. Even when I pushed her to breaking, she never backed down. Toni was strong both in character and in her resolve.

Avery had inadvertently tried to break that resolve. He didn’t know it, but he’d tried to destroy something we’d been waiting our whole lives for. Alright, it was only the beginning, but we all knew where this was headed. That was obvious the moment I’d lost my cool and kissed her the first time.

I hadn’t just wanted her for myself, oh no, I’d wanted to share her with Grant; I’d wanted to share with her, in every aspect of the word. Not just the sex, but in our joys and sorrows. Avery had put that all at risk trying to keep himself and his drug-running alive.

Everything had changed for Grant and me the minute Toni walked into our lives. The night we’d all spent together had finally set it all in motion. It had released in me something I thought I’d forgotten how to feel a long time ago. Avery had threatened that.

My phone started to chirp as I sat there, contemplating the many ways you could torture someone.

“Marshall,” I said simply when I saw it was the chief.

“Get over to the station, son. I know what you have planned. You can’t do it.”

“Why not?” I asked as I looked out of the windshield at the now deserted parking lot. There was no use in denying it; the chief had been around long enough to know how this had to play out. The parking lot was a blanket of black glitter. It had rained while we were inside and the pavement glistened under the overhead lights.

“I’ve been where you are, David. I lost a partner once. Guy named Johnny Lawson, out on parole, decided to rob a convenience store. My partner and I were the ones who responded. Dan, my partner, went in first. Guy shot him in the kneecaps and the stomach, then spent three hours letting him bleed to death. It wasn’t pretty.” The chief stopped speaking and I heard a long sigh on the other end.

“Guy was messed up on drugs, ended up passing out halfway through his little standoff. I wanted to get him to the station and give him my own brand of justice, but I got this same lecture from my chief. Don’t let them make you hard, son. Don’t let them make you them. You’re meant to enforce the law, not be the law. Understand me?” The chief’s voice was stern, uncompromising, and hard.

I heard him loud and clear and sank in the driver’s seat, sliding down. He was right.

“Come into the station, son. Let’s do this right. Let’s put this crook away for good.”

I couldn’t disagree. How could I?

I drove to the station in silence, weariness starting to blur my vision, but I shook it off. There were things to do. Justice to serve. Proper justice.