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I’m exhausted after last night. This morning, from the kitchen window, I saw an Audi SUV pull into the driveway. Lauren jumped in before I could see the driver. A car that expensive doesn’t frequently roll around our small Iowa town.
Is she dating a doctor?
There are so many things I don’t know about her anymore, and I hate it.
“She swore she didn’t set the apartment on fire.”
I pour myself another coffee before we get in the cruiser, me in the driver’s side.
“I know you’re blinded by your dick and all, but you need to take a step back and reflect on how long you’ve been in law enforcement.I didn’t do it,is a criminal’s favorite sentence,” he replies.
“Not thinking with my dick. I’m thinking with my gut.”
“That goes down to your dick.”
Kyle has been my best friend since elementary school. We kept in touch for a few years after I moved to Chicago and then eventually lost contact. I didn’t want any connection with my life in Blue Beech. All it did was remind me of her.
I came back to town, expecting Kyle to give me the middle finger when I walked into the station looking for a job. Instead, he slapped me on the back and announced I’d be his partner. He hates Lauren just as much as I do, given that he blames her for my fleeing the state.
“She didn’t do it. If anyone brings her in for questioning, you tell them I’ll do it, you hear me?”
“Aye, aye, Lauren lover. Although Douche-Bag Landlord isn’t going to be happy.”
“He can fuck off.”
He points his coffee at me. “You’re in trouble, man.”
I raise a brow.
“Lauren Barnes was your weakness then, and there’s no doubt she still is.”
No fucking shit.
“That’s the past.”
He nods but doesn’t believe me.
“So, what’s on the agenda today?” I ask.
“Don’t anticipate anything crazy happening. Your menacing ex’s apartment going up in flames is the most exciting thing that’s happened this month. This place will have nowhere near the crimes and arrests you had in Chicago.”
“Less drama is what I need right now.”
I moved back to clear my head, be with my father, and not have a station filled with my old coworkers giving me pity stares daily.
“You ready to tell me why you split and transferred?”
“My dad needed me.”
“Got that part. Now, you ready to tell me the other reason you came back to a place you swore you’d never step foot into again? If I recall, you said your dad would be moving there when it was time he couldn’t take care of himself.”
“It would’ve been wrong for me to drag him out of the home he loves.”
“Mmhmm.” He grins over at me. “Some of us guys are going to Down Home tonight for some darts and beers. You game?”
I nod. “I could use a drink.”
The radio calls in and tells us there’s a kid stuck in a tree.
