Page 6 of Beyond the Badge: Nox

This Aaliyah James did not check any of those same boxes.

Nox inspected her from head to high heels as she stood tall next to Bonnie. Her black hair, just shy of shoulder length, was full of curls and not neat like Bonnie’s gray helmet after she got it freshly set at the hairdressers. It was sort of wild and loose, like the wind had styled it. It fit her face perfectly.

The style of her hair was as current as her clothes. A bright red button-down blouse emphasized her curves and the deep dark tone of her glowing, flawless skin.

Black dress pants fit her long legs well and red heels encased her feet. Gold hoops hung from both ears, a thin gold chain, with possibly a pendant, disappeared into her cleavage, and several gold bracelets circled one wrist.

As for rings, from what he could see, one circled her right thumb. He couldn’t see her left hand to check out her ring finger.

Her makeup was perfectly done to highlight her cheekbones, her eyeshadow emphasized the deep brown of her eyes, and her full lips were bright red to match her blouse and painted fingernails.

She was a lot younger than Bonnie, too. But Nox had a hard time guessing her age. Even though he didn’t see any wrinkles at the corners of her dark eyes, they reflected a lot of life experience and maturity.

She was definitelynotin her twenties.

This woman had been through some things. Nox could guess an obvious one.

She had lost a loved one, whether it be spouse, partner or family member.

Either she was a member of law enforcement or her loved one had been. Nox assumed he’d find out soon enough, once the woman introduced herself.

Did he even fucking care what the woman’s story was?

No. She was just another talking head standing at the lectern once a week to guide the group. She was there to coax them to “share.” To encourage them to empathize with the others. To coordinate who brought snacks and coffee the following week.

To strongly suggest they return week after week.

Like he had a damn choice.

“Thank you for the very warm welcome. As Bonnie stated, I used to head a group in Pittsburgh and…”

He was caught off-guard when her voice, with a tone reminding him of warm honey, wrapped around him. Almost like a hug.

He hadn’t had one of those since the last time he saw Valee Girl.

Decker’s daughter always squeezed him tight. He wasn’t sure if the big man told her to do that or she did it on her own because she sensed he needed it.

He mentally shook himself back to the meeting.

“My husband was an officer with the Pittsburgh PD. Some of you might remember, almost sixteen years ago, when a group of neo-Nazis marched downtown and created havoc. My husband was one of the first responding officers. Two were killed and three critically injured when they clashed with the group.”

A murmur went through the participants.

Nox remembered that riot in the city and how much damage was done between loss of life, injuries and property destruction. A bunch of bystanders standing up to the marchers were also badly injured. It was a dark day in Pittsburgh.

“Not only did I lose my partner and husband, I was pregnant at the time.”

Nox’s lungs seized, every muscle locked, and his fingers dug painfully into his thighs.

“Mark never got to meet his son. And my son never got to meet his father. All due to a group who didn’t believe what’s stated in our country’s Declaration of Independence,” she pointed to the floor, “signed right here in this very state… that ‘all men are created equal.’”

When Aaliyah paused, she used that time to look at every person in the group. One by one, she met their eyes. Before she made it to the back row, he yanked his baseball cap lower and tipped his face down so she couldn’t do the same with him.

Despite that, he knew the exact moment she reached him, because he could feel her eyes boring into him. He kept his head down until she continued talking, then he lifted it enough to see she had captured and held hostage everyone’s attention.

The woman was bold, beautiful and very well-spoken.

In truth, he could listen to her talk all night. He only wished it was on a different topic.

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