Page 49 of Hard To Stay

History tells us that there will always be bad cops, but the vast majority of them are honorable and decent. I felt sorry for the ones that made bad decisions when life gave them troubles, but I was happy to shut down someone when they abused the power of their badge. My eyes glossed over the reports when I heard a slight tap on the door. I looked up as my chief walked into the office.

Chief Brown was a short African-American man who had over forty years on the force. His balding head and round beer belly made him look more like a factory worker than someone in charge of the IA department. He was a good guy, and one of the funniest people I had ever met. That’s why when he slid into the seat across from me with a serious look on his face, I knew I wasn’t going to like what he had to tell me.

“What’s up?” I asked, and leaned back in my seat crossing my arms.

Chief played with his lanyard dangling around his neck and folded his hands around his round belly. He was wearing his usual black polo and grey dress pants. “I know you have personal shit going on right now, but I need you to go to Baltimore next Tuesday for the Ramirez case.”

The Ramirez case involved a couple of our officers who’d helped a Mexican drug lord escape during transport. I scratched the top of my head and looked around my desk filled with folders. I was already up to my neck in case files, “I thought Bobby was working that case.”

“He was, but Audrey just had her baby this morning so he took a couple weeks of FMLA off.”

“Shit!” I blurted out. Normally I didn’t mind doing what needed to be done, but the thought of going out of town and leaving Lexi alone was not sitting well with me. I was in a tough spot.

This was my career, and I knew I couldn’t just pick the cases that worked within my personal life and turn down the ones that didn’t. Chief and I were close. He knew my situation and he wouldn’t have come to me if he’d had a better option.

I plowed my hand through my hair. “How long will I be gone?”

“Not sure. You take as much time as you need. Though, I would plan on a couple nights, at least.”

I wanted to tell him no, but Chief had been very good to me. If Lexi’s crazy ex wasn’t out there running around Manhattan stalking her, I wouldn’t give it a second thought. I tried to convince myself that this would all work out. I knew she couldn’t come with me and I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing someone wasn’t there to protect her. Talk about being split in two. I could always ask Sawyer and Lucas to step in, but beyond that, I didn’t have much of a plan.

The remainder of my day was spent on the phone. By the time 5:30 rolled around, I had gotten a reasonable amount of work done and set a plan into motion for while I was away. Everyone assured me that they would all pitch in and take care of things while I was gone. Lexi had it in her head that she could take care of herself, which made me all the more nervous.

I guess she’d have to learn to deal with it. There was nothing more important to me than her safety and given how unpredictable Colton was, I wasn’t taking any undue risks. I prayed the people I was counting on wouldn’t disappoint. I really had no other choice because I couldn’t be in two places at once.

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