Page 13 of Red Snow
THE GODDAMN PHONEis ringing.
Ugh.
Why?
What sort of devil worshipper would call me right now, after all the liquor and sex I had last night? Or does it still count as tonight?
Fuck.
My phone is stuck in my pants, and unfortunately, that means I have to get up so I can grab them. Once I manage to pull off the feat, I look at the phone and see that it’s five in the morning, and the call is from Sergeant Howell. I just can’t catch a fucking break right now.
Sergeant Danielle Howell is our boss—the boss Marcus and I both fucked a while back. She’s a royal bitch who craves media attention. Wait, that’s an unfair characterization, allow me to get it straight. She’s a cruel slut who is obviously in love with my cock since I gave it to her three and a half years ago, and who loves attention of any type from anybody, as long as it makes her look good. She’s supposedly committed to her new boyfriend, but if I wanted to fuck Danielle, all I’d have to do is ask. Hell, if I blinked too many times in her direction she’d take it as an invite to fuck. Marcus and I both hate working for her, but she’s the boss and this is life, so we have to deal with it. When I see her name on the display, I get both annoyed and excited. Excited because I know her call is almost always about a new case, and annoyed because it’s her.
“Hello?” I answer, my voice groggy from the lack of sleep.
“Jarrod, I’ve got something for you,” Danielle says, which is a little strange, because she never gets right down to business. Usually she’s busting my balls in some way, but I can hear it in her voice that something’s up. “I need you to come to Creekside Park Elementary School right now. We’ve got a homicide.”
Her words wake me up like an espresso coffee. A homicide? It doesn’t happen all that often, and when it does, it never makes Danielle sound like this.
“A homicide at an elementary school?” I think out loud.
“Umm, no,” Danielle replies. “I don’t think the murder happened here. I can’t even explain it, Jarrod. You’ll just have to see it for yourself. This is top priority, and I need you and Marcus here now, before the media gets it and goes ape shit. Hurry up.”
“Alright, I got it. I’m on my way.”
I hang up the phone and suddenly feel the energy to jump to my feet. Brandi’s still asleep on the floor, and she looks as comfortable as she would if she were laying in the king-sized bed in the guest room. She still looks worn out, but I don’t have time to give a fuck. Duty calls, and work trumps everything.
“Hey,” I say as I nudge her with my foot. That’s rude, I know, but whatever. “Hey, Brandi, wake up. You gotta go.”
She slowly starts to climb out of her deep sleep, rubbing her eyes as she turns over.
“Huh?” she says behind a yawn.
“You gotta go. My boss just called and I have to go to work.”
“Right now?” she asks as she looks at her own phone and sees the time. “You want me to leave right now? It’s five in the morning.”
“I know what time it is,” I reply, feeling instantly annoyed. Time for a truth bomb to get things moving. “Look, you know I’m a detective, and my job is my entire world. It overrules everything, including pussy. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, so I’m just going to be real with you, alright? Ido notdo commitment. I don’t do love, or flowers, or teddy bears, or breakfast in bed. I dofuck your brains out and then kick you out of my house. That’s me. That’s what I do. You’re a beautiful woman, and making you come was like a fucking dream come true, but it’s officially the morning after and it’s time to get back on my game. I hope you don’t take it personal, but you really need to get the fuck up and go. I have to shower as fast as I can and get to work.”
She looks a little stunned, which isn’t a surprise. They always do. But I use the truth to keep things the way I want them to be. Why bullshit? I’d gladly fuck Brandi again, but it has to be on my terms, and my terms areget the fuck out, right now.
After a second of looking amazed, Brandi’s mouth shifts into a smile, sending me reeling.
“It’s not a big deal, Jarrod,” she says. “I know you’re a detective. I know you’re busy. So am I. I hope you don’t take this personally, but I didn’t come here looking for a husband. I didn’t come here expecting anything but sex from you. I’m twenty six years old, and I want to be a lawyer someday. I’ve got too much on my plate to be pining over a detective who’s as busy as you are. I’ll let Yolanda worry about that with Marcus. Me, I’m just looking to have fun, and last night was definitely fun. So relax, I’ll gladly leave.”
Now it’s my turn to look stunned. I stand there with a stupid look on my face as Brandi gets up, fixes her dress, slips back into her heels, double-checks her belongings, and starts for the door.
“I’ll grab a cab on my own, don’t worry,” she says, before taking my phone and programming her number into it. “Just in case you want to get together and have fun again. I’d love a repeat performance of last night. Just shoot me a text and I’ll be here. If not, it’s all good. I definitely won’t forget you, Jarrod Granger. Catch you later.”
Just like that, Brandi is gone.
I take a second to shake off the bewilderment, then I run into my bathroom and hop into the shower. Afterwards, I fly through the house grabbing clothes and guns. I put on light gray pants and a white button-up, brush my hair and teeth, slide on some Axe deodorant, grab my badge, and run down the stairs where my Challenger Hellcat awaits. As I climb in, I can’t help but notice that we received a big snowfall last night while I was fucking Brandi. The ground is completely covered. It must’ve been at least nine inches. Oh the irony.
This is what it’s all about for me. I love being a detective. It gives me a high like no other, and after things ended with Stacey and me, I dived into my job head first. It became my entire life, and once I started listening to my gut and getting results, I got really good at this shit. I live for it now, so as I speed down the street with my personal cherry and siren blaring, I can’t wipe the smile off my face. There’s been a murder, and I’m about to find out who did it. I’m about to bring justice to somebody’s doorstep. Let’s fucking do this.
Before I even make it to the parking lot of Creekside Park Elementary School, I see the yellow tape is stretched around the whole thing. The perimeter for this crime scene is huge, and I immediately start to wonder what the hell is going on that the perimeter is this big. I have to park outside the tape and show my badge to a rookie cop to get in. Once I finally start to get close to the gaggle of people, I see Danielle and Marcus standing together with their hands on their hips. Danielle, wearing a super tight-fitting gray pantsuit, eyes me and speed walks in my direction. Her wavy brown hair sways behind her from the momentum of her steps.
“Hold on a second, Jarrod,” she says. I can see something in her brown eyes I’ve never seen before, and it almost scares me.
