My boss pushed out a deep breath. It was a constant struggle in our profession. Parents, teachers, coaches, all claiming it isn’t their kids causing the trouble. No one ever wants to admit something is wrong until it’s too late. My job was to make sure it was never too late.
With a smile, I hugged my notebook to my chest. “Mitch has a girlfriend. I think that’s helped.”
Melissa frowned. “That can be a good thing or a bad thing. If things end badly with the girlfriend, that might not be such a great thing. Keep that in mind, Meagan.”
My heart ached a bit because I knew she was right. I also remember thinking I wish I had had someone to save me from all the shit that was happening to me in college. The lump in my throat grew bigger as I walked back to my office. Why me of all people thought a girlfriend would be the answer to all for Mitchell confused me. I knew better and had to make sure Mitchell knew that as well.
Before I had time to even sit, three knocks on the door signaled Mitchell. “Hey, Meg!”
Turning to face him, I smiled when I saw his dimpled smile staring straight at me. He reminded me so much of Grayson it wasn’t even funny.
“Hey there. You’re a little early.”
Mitchell shrugged. “You said we were heading out on a field trip and I’m all about field trips.”
I couldn’t wait for Mitchell to find out we were headed to the police station. His dream was to become a cop, like his father was. Unfortunately, his father died in the line of duty, leaving his mother to raise three boys on her own. That was the main reason they left California and moved back to Colorado, so Mrs. Haus could be close to her family to help with the boys.
“Yep, we are for sure headed out on a field trip today. Have you had lunch yet?”
Mitchell shook his head. “No ma’am.”
Grabbing my purse, I motioned for Mitchell to follow me. “Good, because I’m starving.”
I decided to take Mitchell to one of my favorite places to eat lunch. Snow was slowly falling, making it a bit tricky to drive for me, seeing as I was still new to driving in this stuff. If it snowed in Texas, everything shut down and you stayed home.
“I hope you like pizza!” I said as we walked into Fired Up Pizzeria.
Mitchell laughed. “Who doesn’t like pizza?”
“I can’t argue with you on that one. Let’s grab that table over there before someone else snags it.”
After sitting down and ordering our drinks, Mitchell and I settled into a casual conversation about how school was going. His grades, how his little brothers were adjusting to life in Colorado as well as how his mom was doing.
Mitchell glanced up and smiled as I felt warm breath hit my neck. “Hey beautiful,” Gray whispered as he placed a kiss on the side of my face. I instantly felt my cheeks flush as I glanced over to Mitchell. The goofy smile on his face spoke volumes.
“Ah, Meg has herself a boyfriend!” Mitchell teased as Gray reached out and shook Mitchell’s hand.
“Indeed she does. You must be Mitchell, Meg speaks very highly of you.”
Now it was Mitchell who turned red. “Mitchell, this is my boyfriend, Grayson, but everyone calls him Gray.”
“The pleasure is all mine, sir,” Mitchell said. It didn’t take long for both men to get lost in the talk of sports as I watched Mitchell. Seeing him so happy was a far cry from a few months ago when his mother sat across from me in my office and told me her son hated life.
The adjustment from being one of the best high school football players in Sacramento, California and a super popular kid, to someone who had to fight to get onto the football team and was hated almost instantly by a group of jealous guys, had been a hard one. The fact that Mitchell was so good had intimidated the other players. Instead of them welcoming him in . . . they shunned him. It didn’t help matters any more when recruiters from colleges kept showing up to watch him play.
“So you’ve already had colleges interested since your sophomore year? Man dude, that is impressive.”
Mitchell grinned. “Yeah, it was crazy. When we told my football coach we were moving, I was almost positive I saw a tear in his eye.”
Grayson and I both laughed. “It was hard at first moving here. It didn’t help that a scout from Stanford showed up to talk to the football coach before I was even here.”
Mitchell looked down. “I think that’s why I had all the trouble when I first moved here. A lot of guys on the football team gave me hell.”
“Why?” I asked with a frown.
Mitchell shrugged. “A few of them accused me of coming here to get away from the competition in California. Like I was looking to catch recruiters’ eyes here better or something. It’s all so stupid.”
“How are things now?” Grayson asked. Mitchell seemed to be so at ease with Gray. I was stunned at how openly he was talking about all of this to him. I had to practically pull it out of Mitchell and that was after hours of working to gain his trust.
“It’s better. Once I actually got on the team and started playing. Casey helps though.”
With a smile, Grayson asked, “And who might Casey be?”
“Casey is Mitchell’s girlfriend. Things going okay with y’all?”
Mitchell laughed. “Dude, I’m still not used to you saying y’all. But to answer your question, things are going good. Casey’s been a big help with me getting settled in and feeling accepted.”
Grayson frowned. “I’m sure you’d fit in just fine though without Casey.”
Mitchell shrugged. “Yeah, probably.”
The rest of lunch was spent mostly with Grayson and Mitchell talking football.
After paying the waitress, I grinned and said, “You ready for my surprise?”
Mitchell chuckled. “Surprise? I thought we were going on a field trip.”
“It’s both!” I said as I slid out of the booth while Grayson held onto my hand. Lifting the back of my hand to his lips, Grayson kissed me softly and winked before turning to Mitchell and reaching for his hand to shake it.
“I’ll meet you both over at the station.”
Mitchell looked between Grayson and me confused. “O-okay see you at the . . . station?”
As we walked out to my car, Mitchell laughed. “So what station are we going to? Like the police station?”
Hitting the button to unlock my car, I glanced over to Mitchell. “That’s exactly where we’re going.”
Grayson
I’D NEVER MET a kid like Mitchell before. He seemed sure of himself, yet so unsure of himself. I couldn’t really read him. Meagan had already filled me in about Mitchell’s father and all the bullying he had gone through when he first moved here.
“When did you know you wanted to be in law enforcement?” Mitchell asked me as we headed back to where Meagan had set up shop with her laptop and worked while I showed Mitchell around.
Taking in a deep breath, I blew it out and thought for a moment. “I’d have to say when I saw a woman being robbed. God it pissed me off so much. I ran after the asshole and knocked him to the ground and buried my knee into his back until the police showed up. The woman kept thanking me over and over. When the cop shook my hand and told me they needed more people like me, it just kind of clicked. I grew up with a single mom, so I was used to keeping her safe.”
Mitchell nodded his head as he stared down at the floor while we walked. “What about you?”
In a nonchalant kind of way, he grinned. “I guess it’s just always been something I wanted to do. My father was a cop and I remember him coming home at night and the way my mother looked relieved at first to see him . . . and then proud as hell. He used to sit me on his lap and tell me how I was going to follow in his footsteps, so that’s what I’m going to do. Make both him and my mother proud.”
I could see it in Mitchell’s face. As much as he wanted to believe this was his calling, I had a feeling it was far from what he wanted to do.
“There hasn’t been anything else you’d like to do?” I asked as we
stopped outside the vacant office Meagan was working in.
“Oh I don’t know. I guess I’ve tossed around a few ideas. I’ve always loved football. Before we left California I used to coach a fifth grade football team. I loved it. I mentioned once to my mother about playing college football and if I’m lucky, pro. Then after that I’d love to coach.”
Mitchell let out a gruff laugh and shook his head as he combed his hand through his short blond hair. “That didn’t go over so well. She was pissed and said that was no way to make a living.”
I raised my eyebrows, surprised at his mother’s response. “Coaching huh? I did that for a bit while volunteering at an outreach place for boys from abused and neglected homes.”
Mitchell’s curiosity peeked. “Really? Wow, that’s really cool of you.”
Placing my hand on his shoulder, I gave it a light squeeze. “I get wanting to make your parents proud, Mitchell, but in the long run it’s your life and you have to do what makes you happy.”
With a forced smile, Mitchell nodded his head. “Yeah, tell that to my mother.”
My heart hurt for this kid. He had a talent for football, yet he was being blocked from every single side.
Mitchell reached for the door and pushed it open. Meagan was typing away on her computer when she glanced up and smiled. “Hey. How was the tour?”
Mitchell put on what I was assuming was the masked face he had gotten used to using around everyone. A weird feeling passed over me as I made a mental note to talk to Meagan about what I talked to Mitchell about.
“It was awesome. Thank you, Meg, for arranging this.”
Meagan smiled bigger, clearly thinking this was something Mitchell wanted to do.
“Well my gosh, I better get us back to the office so you can get home.” Meagan turned to me and flashed me a heavenly smile. “Thank you, Gray, for doing this for us.”
“Anytime. Mitchell, you have my number if you ever want to talk.”
Meagan’s eyes lit up as she gave me an adoring look. With a quick kiss goodbye, I watched as Meagan and Mitchell left the station. A terrible feeling came over me as I wondered how much longer Mitchell would be able to keep up this happy front of his.
“Hey there, handsome.”
Glancing up, I saw Claire standing with her hands spread across the desk and just the right amount of cleavage hanging out to make a guy do a double take.
“What do you need, Claire?”
Ever since the encounter a few weeks back at my place, Claire had kept her distance. Except for today. She saw me walking in with Meagan and Mitchell and something must have come over her because she had come up with every excuse under the sun to come talk to me today.
“It appears we don’t have your next of kin’s address correct in the system. I’m going to need you to come to my office and update that.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. She clearly was up to no good. “I’ll email it to you.”
With a pout of her lips, she batted her eyes and said, “What’s the matter, Grayson? Afraid to be alone with me?”
A gruff laugh came from my lips as Derrick chuckled. “I’ll send the information over to you, Claire, and copy HR on the email.”
Claire’s smile dropped as she stood up and glanced over to Derrick and then back to me. “You have no idea what you’re missing out on.”
Deciding to ignore her comment, I pulled out my phone and saw I had a voicemail from my mother. I turned away from Claire and hit play.
“Hey! I was wondering if you and Meagan would like to come for lunch or dinner this weekend. I’d love to see you both again. Let me know. Love you, Gray and please be careful.”
Opening up my messages, I sent my mother off a text message.
Me: Hey, Mom! I’d love to come for lunch or dinner this weekend. Let me check with Meg and see how her schedule looks. I’ll let you know tonight or tomorrow.
My mother quickly responded back.
Mom: Sounds good, Grayson. Stay safe and I love you.
“How’s your mom doing?” Derrick asked as he typed up a report from yesterday’s attempted robbery.
Letting out a deep breath, I got back to what I had been doing before Claire walked up. “She’s doing good. Loves her place up in the mountains and loves her new job working at the elementary school as the art teacher.”
Derrick gave me smile. “That’s great.”
Our sergeant poked his head out of his office and called out our names. “Winn, Bennett, we’ve got a 187 down on Westgate.”
My heart stopped. That wasn’t far from Meagan’s office.
Jumping up, I grabbed my jacket and followed Derrick out of the building and to the car.
Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up to the crime scene and walked over to Dalton Murphy with CSI. “Looks like another rape/murder.”
My stomach turned as I saw the victim on the ground, long brown hair, and slender build, mid twenties.
“Same as the other two?” Derrick asked Dalton.
“Yeah, looks like it. I don’t want to say we have a serial rapist murderer out there, but it appears he left the same calling card,” Dalton said as he pointed to the belt wrapped around the woman’s neck.
“Fuck,” I whispered as I pulled out my phone and called Meagan.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Taking a few steps away, I let out a sigh of relief. “Hey, baby. I just wanted to make sure you got back to your office okay.”
“Yep. Sorry, I should have sent you a text. Still getting used to this whole my boyfriend is a cop and worries non-stop thing.”
With a shallow grin, I nodded my head and looked around. “Will you stay at my place tonight?”
“Sure. Is everything okay, Gray?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. I just want to sleep with you wrapped up in my arms, that’s all.”
Meagan purred through the phone. “I like the sound of that. I’ll call you when I’m leaving.”
Turning, I glanced back over to the body of the young girl. “Okay baby, I’ll see you later. I love you, Meg.”
“I love you too, Gray. Bye.”
I made my way back over to the scene. Derrick and I both talked to the woman who found the body and made arrangements for her to come in and give a statement. The whole time I felt the hair on my neck rising. One look around showed a small crowd gathered around trying to see what was going on.
“Winn?” I asked as I hit him on the arm.
“What’s up?”
“Why do I have the strangest feeling the killer is watching us from somewhere close by?”
Derrick looked around at the crowd and then around the buildings. “He might be. Probably some sick bastard who gets a kick out of watching us figure out who in the fuck he is. You’re gonna find out there are some fucked up people in this world, Bennett.”
My eyes scanned the crowd and stopped on a younger man. His blond hair was barely seen under his knit cap. When our eyes met, he smiled. Something about him didn’t sit right with me as I made my way over to him.
“Detective Bennett; your name is?”
The young man reached his hand out to mine and shook it firmly. “Joshua Black. I live up in the condos right over there.”
Joshua pointed to the building on the corner. “You see anything out of the ordinary.”
He frowned and shook his head. “No, sir. I didn’t.”
With a nod, I looked around and then back into his eyes. “Any particular reason you smiled when I looked at you?”
Joshua seemed to be taken aback with my question. “Hell, I don’t know. The polite thing to do I guess? I mean you looked directly at me. What was I supposed to do, give you the finger?”
Realizing I was most likely overreacting and that this whole detective thing was still so damn new, I let out a chuckle. “I guess you’ve got a point. If you think of anything that you might remember later on, be sure to let us know.”
“Yes sir, of course.”
I turned to start head
ing back to the crime scene when Joshua called out for me. “Detective Bennett!”
I stopped and looked back at him. “Do you know who she is? I mean, do you know what happened to her or why it happened?”
With a shake of my head, I turned and walked away.
Meagan
ONE QUICK LOOK in the mirror and I was happy with what I saw. Grayson and I were headed up to his mother’s house today for lunch. My hands moved over the light-blue dress as I drew in a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves. I’d met Ashley once before, but now it was official; Grayson and I were dating, practically living together. I spent most of my nights here at Grayson’s place and only went home to grab more clothes.
“Meg, are you almost done?”
Frowning, I leaned in closer. “Damn it, is that mascara?”
“No, it’s not. Let’s get going or we’re going to be late. My mother does not like late.”
Panic set in as I quickly spun on my heels and grabbed my purse. “Shit! Why didn’t you tell me we were running late?”
Grayson laughed. “I did, when you said you only had one more piece of hair to curl.”
“How late are we?” I asked as I pushed past him and ran into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and reached for the seven-layer dip Grayson had asked me to make. The moment I felt his hands on my ass, I knew we were both in trouble.
“Damn, Meg. You look so fucking hot in this dress.”
Turning, I set the casserole dish on the island. My body was on fire just from his touch. His finger came up and traced along my jaw line as his name passed softly through my lips.
“We’re late,” I giggled as his hands moved down my body.
“So what, my mother can wait.”
I shook my head as I sucked in a breath while Grayson lowered his body and ran his hands up my legs then he pushed my dress up and around my waist.
His eyes lit up when he saw the black lace panties. His head moved in as he kissed me through the thin lace. “Oh God,” I panted as my head dropped back.