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33
LIAM
THE DENVER POLICE Department is like most other departments I’ve seen and been to in my career, except this one is definitely the cleanest. I’m a private investigator now, to everyone here at least, and hopefully to anyone watching.
In the last three months since I started, I’ve already helped close five cases. It’s what I was meant to do, and I am damn good at my job. Even if it is a front for now, I can easily see myself doing this for the long term.
I’ve worked with many different districts within Denver, and this is the first time I’ve been needed at Margaret’s. I may have omitted the fact that I’ve been here for some time, but I didn’t want to give her more reason to be mad. I thought once I explained what had happened, she would fall into my arms and thank God we were back together again. It must have slipped my mind how stubborn she is, and I know after that night, I’ll have to work a hell of a lot harder to win her over.
After the pub, I don’t bother her again. Even if it kills me a little, I need a plan to win back her trust, and that is going to start with two things.
One, the package of processed donuts, the really-bad-for-you ones, that I left in her locker this morning, and two, questioning Detective Gray while working with him.
I haven’t told him I know Margaret. I haven’t told him I have a history with her that goes back long before she joined the academy. No matter how brief it was, it’s one that isn’t going away, one I won’t ever forget. I have ways to get guys like him to spill all about their careers, and this guy, no matter how tough, is no different than all the other men who are overcompensating with their badges.
I am meeting with Gray to go over any details he has on his missing person case. It’s a fifteen-year-old girl, a good girl, according to her parents. They say she never gets into any trouble, and for her to go missing is out of the ordinary.
“Friends?” I ask Gray, staring at the mass of photos and notes on the board he and his partner Hanson put together.
“Questioned them all,” Hanson says. “According to them, she missed cheerleading practice Tuesday afternoon and she had acted normal all day, no indication that she was in trouble or upset about anything.” He doesn’t like that I was called in on his case, but he doesn’t get a fucking choice when someone’s been missing for three days without any progress in the case.
“I’d like to talk to the parents,” I tell him, and I get their information. Hanson leaves soon after, and I stick around, pretending to study their notes even though I already have all of the details memorized. Gray hangs back, looking over his files, trying to find anything he could be missing.
“This detective stuff more fun than being an officer?” I ask him, leading into a conversation and knowing he’ll follow.
He scoffs and shakes his head, stands tall, and crosses his arms over his chest. Gray is a fit guy. He’s not old, either, and I’m sure lots of ladies around this precinct think he’s charming, Margaret probably included. “Sometimes, but others I wish I was still in a cruiser with my old partner. Parts of it were way easier.”
“Your old partner, Officer Davis, right?” I ask, the name feeling weird rolling off my tongue. Didn’t think that I’d ever call her that.
“Yeah.” He eyes me. This is the second time I’ve brought her up, and I can see right away that I didn’t give him enough credit. “You know her?”
I shrug my shoulders and keep my eyes on him. “I may have a while ago.”
“You may have, or you did?” His eyes drill mine and a look falls over his face. I imagine it’s one he uses when questioning people.
“I did,” I admit. I wanted to keep that information to myself, but seeing as how I am having to go behind her back to find out who she is now, I don’t see too many options.
“Really? I didn’t think Maggie ever dated,” he declares, and I clench my teeth, hating that they are close enough that he has a nickname for her. “We were partners for quite some time, and she never told me she was with anyone.”
“Yeah, well, it was before Officer Davis became Officer Davis.”
His eyes widen and he says, “Oh shit. You’re that Liam?”
I perk up hearing this. She talked about me? That’s got to be a good sign. “Yeah, I’m that Liam.” Even I cringe at the cocky sound of my voice.
“Huh. I mean, she mentioned you once but never explained who you were. It was about a year ago and something hit her weird. We’d just found some people who were being kept in a basement. It was brutal—they were all chained up and shit. Fucking assholes were using them for a ransom.” He shrugs, not realizing what a big fucking deal that must have been for her. “It wasn’t even our deal, but Maggie was insistent that we help, threatened to request a partner change if I didn’t get on board.” He chuckles, and even I let a smirk mark my lips—of course she threatened him. “But anyway, after we’d gotten those people out, when I asked why it was a big deal, she said, ‘If Liam didn’t give up then I don’t want to give up for anyone.’”
My heart thuds in my chest, and I clench my eyes.
“I don’t know what you did, and I didn’t really get to ask—she’s private about that shit—but whatever it was, she admires you for it. Anyway”—he looks at his watch and walks to the door, clapping me on the shoulder—“let me know what you find ASAP, yeah? We gotta get this girl.” I give him a curt nod.
As I’m heading toward the parents’ residence, I think over what he told me, about how Mo was insistent about helping people who didn’t have a clue what they were being held for, ones she knew were innocent. It makes her reasons for becoming a cop crystal clear, and I wish I had told her how proud I was instead of acting shocked that she is an officer.
I was a dick, and she saw right through it. A sigh escapes me as I pull up to the house. I am going to get Mo back if it kills me, but first I am going to rescue an innocent girl.
It’s what Mo would expect of me, and I’m not going to give her reason to doubt me ever again.
