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December
Sawyer
My brain hurt.
I was so fucking tired and my goddamned key wouldn’t fit in the lock.
Cases like last night’s were killer.
No pun intended.
A called in rape that turned into a missing person case, which fucking unfortunately turned into a homicide. This job was going to kill me.
At the very least, it was going to kill my personality.
I finally managed to get my key in the lock and pushed through my apartment door. I dropped my backpack near the door and closed the door quietly behind me. Just because I was awake at ten on a weeknight didn’t mean my neighbors were.
God, I needed a drink.
I toed off my shoes as I locked the deadbolt. When I turned, I tripped over the damn bag I put there.
“Fucking bag.”
When I went to pick it up though, I was reminded of my sister.
Sydney was notorious for leaving her bag by the door—from childhood to, as far as I knew, now. I squeezed the bridge of my nose when I realized I never called her today. I called her every day, no matter what the day brought to my doorstep.
Even though I knew it was ten, I glanced at the clock, trying to figure out what she and her husband would be doing right now. It was nine in San Diego; my nephews and niece were likely already in bed. My brother-in-law was a professional hockey player, but I didn’t know if he’d had a game tonight. If he did, the house would still be up. If he didn’t…
Maybe they’d still be up. It was only nine.
I picked up my cell and decided to call their house phone. That way if the two of them were out on a date or something, I wouldn’t be a bother.
As the phone rang in my ear, I took off my dark Ralph Lauren suit jacket, laying it over the back of my second-hand micro suede couch. Spotting the television remote, I picked it up and pulled up the viewing guide, trying to figure out if the Enforcers, the team my brother-in-law played for, had a game tonight. At the fifth ring, I was about to hang up and just text Syd, but the phone was answered.
“Hey, Soy.”
Caleb.
So, no game.
I turned off the television, now knowing that he hadn’t played tonight, and not needing the background noise to add to the stress going on in my brain. I needed quiet tonight.
I tossed the remote on the couch. “Hey, Caleb. No game?” Obviously, I now knew this, but sometimes making small talk with my brother-in-law was awkward. My very first impression of him hadn’t been the best.
Nor had my second.
But he was a good guy in the end.
“Nah, no game. You looking for Syd? She’s out.”
“Shit,” I mumbled, tucking the phone between my shoulder and ear to untuck my dress shirt from my dark jeans. I lost my tie and unbuttoned the top of my shirt long ago.
“You forgot to call her today, didn’t you?” Caleb was chuckling on the phone. Even he knew I talked to my sister every day. When I first started doing it, after going away to college, it was to keep in touch with her. Of our siblings, Sydney had always been my partner in crime. After a few years of daily calls, it became habit.
I sighed. “Yeah. Bad case.”
“She’s just out with Grace. You can call her cell.”
