Page 108 of Road Trip
“I left the interview, Kara. Nothing is ruined at this point. But you better be careful with this kid. If you fuck this up and we don’t get what we need? You’ll have it on your hands.”
My chest felt tight and it was hard to get air in, just like back in Pacific Playland. I needed to get control of myself, but her words kept ringing in my ears. I couldn’t believe she’d been so disrespectful. I couldn’t believe I now had a suspect. If we could find the guy, I’d finally be able to look the man who’d tried to end my life in the face.
“And as for my girlfriend? Mind your own fucking business and show her some fucking respect.”
Kara backed away from me. I’d never been so angry before in my life. She pulled out her phone, so I did the same. Lieutenant Ramsey was our command officer. She answered right away.
“Graham? What’s going on?” I told her the entire story, up to the end. I could hear Kara growling at dispatch for not putting her through, but I continued.
“Officer Mitchell is here with me. It’s become evident I have a conflict. I need to excuse myself, but this kid says he will only talk if Ms. Mora, the school counselor, stays.”
“I’ll be right down. I’ll take it from here. Put Mitchell on the phone.”
I handed Kara my phone. She was seething and looked like she wanted to throw me through a wall. She was a good-looking woman. She could have been a model, but her crappy attitude turned most people off. It was no secret that she wanted to make sergeant next year. She was only doing this job to get ahead, not because she cared about kids. That bothered me. I understood working your way up, but care about what you do. Especially in a situation like this. As for what she’d said about Abra, I was livid. When she hung up the phone and handed it to me, I planned to let her have it some more. I was out for blood, and she just happened to be in my sights. She beat me to it.
“Just because you and Ramsey are workout buddies and you are Reynolds’s golden boy doesn’t mean you can just come in here—”
“Kara, this was my case to begin with. I didn’t do anything to cause you any distress. You’ve brought this on yourself.” I’d already heard that she was going to be reassigned if she got one more complaint. “Ramsey is coming to do the interview. I will not jeopardize this case.”
Abra stepped out into the hall, and Kara huffed at her. I wondered just how much she’d heard. Abra’s eyebrow went up and Kara rolled her eyes as she headed for the door to the conference room. She stood with her back to the door, glaring at me. Abra looked at me and frowned.
“Abra? My lieutenant is on her way here. She’s going to take over the interview. I’m going to have to step aside on this one.”
She nodded at me but wrapped her arms around herself. “I understand. I’m sorry. I couldn’t tell you anything before you got started. Will they let me stay?”
“I will do my best to make sure he’s protected, Abra, but some of it may be out of my hands. I think Lt. Ramsey will let you stay, but I don’t know.”
She did not look happy with me. “Fine. But if that kid gets fucked because of this case, I will feel terrible. He trusts me. I promised him he could trust you. Please don’t make me break that trust.” She turned around and went back in the room.
So there I was, standing in the outer office, alone, knowing I had a pissed off partner, a girlfriend who was disappointed in me, and a kid who was probably ready to bail on this interview. How messed up was this situation right now?
