Page 50 of The Smart Killer
He picked up his phone and tapped a number in his contacts. It rang a few times.
“Uncle Ray.”
“Hey, Mia.” He paused for a second, hesitation in his voice. “Has your father been in contact with you?”
“No. I haven’t heard from him since this morning. Why?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Hey, um, do you remember you asked if you could join me for a ride-along. You up for that tonight?”
15
Secrets had been a part of the Sutherland family for as long as he could remember; still, it didn’t mean he liked keeping them. As he collected Mia from Gretchen’s that evening, she’d asked if he’d heard from Ethan or Noah as Noah wasn’t picking up, and Hugh hadn’t talked to either of them. Ray, in his usual manner, gave an off-the-cuff remark on his way back to the cruiser about Noah telling him that he was taking Ethan out for a meal and a man-to-man talk that was long overdue.
He felt like crap for lying to her, but a promise was a promise.
Thankfully, Gretchen had simply gone with it.
After Mia climbed into the passenger seat, her excitement was palpable.
“You ready?” he asked.
“I’ve been waiting for this for several years,” she replied, fastening her seatbelt with purpose.
Ray offered a warm smile to the mix of pride and anticipation in her eyes. The cruiser growled, and the tires crunched over gravel as he pulled away, taking them back into the hum of the town. It starkly contrasted with the dark expanse of the Adirondack Forest that loomed in the background.
“I’ve always wanted to see what you do, Uncle Ray. Dad never took me out; he said it was too dangerous.”
Ray chuckled softly, nodding in understanding. “Your dad is right, but that’s dads for you; they’re always going to be more protective. But how do you learn?”
“Exactly.”
“Though, to be fair, he probably just wants something better for you.”
Mia frowned, her brow furrowing in confusion. “But he’s a cop, so are you and everyone in our family.”
Ray’s gaze softened, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. “We’ve always had our differences. Your grandfather had a way of pressuring us into following in his footsteps. Maybe your dad doesn’t want that for you.”
“But that’s my choice.”
“That it is,” he said, glancing over at her. “Though I am curious. Why now? I know you are only a year from graduating high school, but the last time we chatted, becoming a cop wasn’t even on your radar.”
“I guess that whole experience with being grabbed made me rethink things.” She went quiet, and he knew Mia was talking about the time she was kidnapped. “When I was down in that basement, I saw the names of women that had gone missing. I felt helpless. I just feel I have been so consumed by my own little world and not what he does.”
“You mean, what your dad does for a living?”
“Yeah. I mean, he is faced with this every day. I just got accustomed to seeing him leave in the morning and always having this dark look in his eyes when he came home, like…”
“He’d seen the worst of society?”
“Yes.”
Ray smiled. “See, that’s what they leave out of the job, Mia. It’s made to look glamorous from cop shows, but it’s nothinglike that. It’s hours of boredom and seconds of sheer terror. You rarely see the good. Those who join do it to make a difference. They believe that they will be the one to bring about change. But the fact is, once you don that uniform. People out there, they don’t see you. All they see is that uniform. And often. Well, that can bring out the worst in people.” He turned down a well-lit street. “And that doesn’t even cover what you will see. Abuse, drug addiction, death. Are you ready for that?”
“I’m not sure. I guess that’s why I’m here.”
Ray patted her arm. “You’ll soon know if you’re cut from the same cloth.”
A moment of silence passed between them before Mia spoke again, her curiosity piqued. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”
