Page 22 of The Woman Left Behind

“That didn’t escape my attention,” Harry told him.

“So…” Jace prompted.

“So, she’s coming in tomorrow to give a DNA sample so we can see if those bodies are her parents. Been out of the game for a while, but still not sure that’s when to make a play,” Harry replied.

“But you want to make a play?” Jesse pushed.

Fuck him.

He had good friends. They cared. They worried.

And they could be pains in his ass.

“Let’s just figure this shit out for her, yeah?” Harry requested.

This was met with several beats of silence before Jason raised the file.

“Can we take this, or do we gotta read it here and leave it here?”

“I want it here, but we’ll make you copies,” Harry replied.

He got two identical nods that came in sync.

Then they all got up and headed to the copy machine.

SIX

You’re Welcome

Harry

Harry was about to drive by the parking spot, but since Polly, his assistant, was continuing to ignore his order to get rid of it, and the sign was still there, reserving it for him right at the front of the station, he swung into it.

He then scratched the takedown of that sign on top of his long list of shit to get done that morning.

He did this because he found it uncomfortable, having that privilege. And even though his office was situated at the front of the station, a short walk from the entry and reception bench, all his deputies and the staff parked in back.

Sure, this way he could go in and get to his office without having to traverse the back halls that included the locker rooms, an armory, equipment storage, the booking room, bathrooms, their interview room, interrogation rooms and dispatch.

However, parking in back was better than making such a public show of his position by sliding his cruiser in a reserved space out front.

Not to mention, he’d inherited that spot from Dern.

So that was enough to make Harry want it gone.

Considering his newly rearranged list of shit to do, he was pleased Polly did what Polly did every morning.

She met him at the front door.

As usual, she shoved an Aromacobana cup in his hand. He’d have no clue until he tasted it what was in it, though it was usually a latte, sometimes a chai. She mixed it up with flavorings because she said, “Someone has to put some excitement in your life, Harry. And until you figure it out, it’s gonna be me.” (It was safe to say the twins and Doc weren’t the only ones who wanted Harry to get his head out of his ass about the loss of his wife and return to the land of the living.)

She opened her mouth, but he got there before her.

“Polly, I want that sign out front down by the end of the week.”

She shut her mouth only to open it again and point out, “You sure parked your cruiser there.”

“Because no one else would park there if I didn’t,” Harry retorted. “And I’m not gonna let a prime space like that go wasting.”

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