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CHAPTER 1
LAURA
Isearched through the colorful rack of costumes for the perfect Halloween dinosaur outfit for my two-year-old son. Two years ago, motherhood wasn’t near my radar, but neither was James Silver, the man who’d knocked me up. Two years later, with a badge on my chest and a best friend for a partner, I was rocking single parenting like Mary Poppins.
“I found it.” Allie removed a furry brown onesie with a white-tipped tail. “It’s perfect for Foxy.”
“No more foxes. He’s got a fox toothbrush, PJ, slippers, bed sheets. It’s enough. Foxy needs to get into normal things, like dinosaurs.”
“Because dinosaurs are missing from his life.”
That tone.
Allie’s judgment carried far, but we’d gone through this before. Foxy’s father could never be in his life. I dropped my arms to the sides and swiveled on my foot, facing my best friend. The stink eye she gave me fueled an urge to rescind her godmother title.
“Your mother called—checking to see if you’re alive. She hasn’t heard from you in six months.”
Maybe it wasn’t about Foxy’s father after all.
“Did you tell her I’m alive?”
“No, I told her she can find you at Evergreen Memorial. Of course I told her you’re alive, and I told her Foxy’s doing great too.”
She wouldn’t.
My throat seized. “You didn’t.”
“No, I didn’t, but it’s about time you told her she’s a grandmother. Your father would be happy as well.”
“Not happening. I’m not giving my son a grandmother who sends a hundred bucks for his birthday instead of hugging him. No thanks.”
“Laura…” She touched my shoulder. “They say a grandmother’s love is unlike any other. And since you’re a mother now, you have more in common.”
“You think that because your mother is great. She gives you love, and you give her… safety and tequila. All I ever gave my parents were gray hairs.”
“My mother’s a mess just like yours. Maybe a different kind of mess, but still a mess. Point is, she should know. Maybe she’d surprise you.”
I sighed. “I’ll think about it, but that’s all I can promise. Now, help me find a costume. Our morning break is almost over.”
Allie scanned the remaining rack of Halloween costumes. Who was I kidding? I could never rescind her godmother title. She was the best, and she was correct. As screwed up as our family dynamics were, they were still my family, and I missed them. Except my parents had expectations I couldn’t meet. Their disappointment carried all the way from Manhattan and their home in the Hamptons. Avoiding the doctor duo was a challenge, but easier accomplished from further away.
So, I’d kept my pregnancy to myself and now thrived as a single mother. Changing things up wasn’t on the calendar, and Allie confirmed I was alive whenever she answered my mother’s calls.
She picked off a dinosaur costume off a rack. “A T-Rex with plastic claws. You could poke a kid’s eye out.”
“Clearly, the fox one wins. It’s safe, perfect, and cute.” I checked my watch. “And our break is over.”
I paid for the costume and threw the bag inside the cruiser. I secured my seatbelt and took a sip of my cooling latte when the dispatch call came through.
“Two armed suspects seen entering the Cameo building near Fifth and Park. All units respond.”
I spat out my coffee and fumbled with the cup holder, “Allie, that’s us.”
My streak of welfare checks and no arrests had earned me the longest time without a bust at the precinct. The snickers behind my back were getting annoying, but today, I would prove them all wrong.
My partner reached for the receiver. “Ten-four. Unit twelve-oh-one in the vicinity responding.”
We shot out of the cruiser like two rookies and ran a quarter block to the Cameo building, where we stopped at the corner and assessed the area. A businessman lit a cigarette outside the door. A couple passed a homeless man sleeping on a bench, then entered the building. We watched for clues, but there were none.
