Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 69155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 346(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“I’m good, how are you?”
“Wonderful. Jayden was a little gem today; he’s such a good boy.”
“Takes after his father.” Reece grins, pressing another kiss to his son’s cheek before turning to me. “Can I take him a day earlier?”
Reece has Jayden Friday to Sunday, and it works out well. I trust him, I know he’s safe with him, and I know that he loves his time there. I also hate having to give him up. I find it so hard to part with my little boy, even though it’s for the best.
I hesitate, and Reece’s eyes flash as he steps forward and tells me, “You can come too, if you like?”
“No,” I say, my voice a little scratchy. “No, I have to work. You can take him for the extra day. He has daycare tomorrow, though, don’t forget.”
Reece nods.
I turn and disappear to grab Jayden’s things.
Every step brings a new ache to my heart.
This is too much sometimes, even for me.
“ZARIAH!”
I exhale over the stack of papers I’ve been given to work through because I’m treated like a god damned idiot at work even though I’ve passed all the same tests as the men. I’m not sure what it is about my department, but I know that no other women get treated the way I do. I’ve applied for a transfer, but without good reason, I’m not sure I’ll get one. I mean, if I go and tell them that they treat me the way they do, I’m probably going to get laughed at.
I look up from my desk to see Officer Reginald Carson walking in. He’s middle aged, but well-built and handsome. He’s also a giant dick. He makes my life here super hard, even more so than Bennett used to. The two of them were close, and I have more than a little suspicion he too is involved in the Dax case, but proving it is next to impossible, especially now he knows we’re investigating it.
He’ll be squeaky clean; I know there is no point in even try to find something on him.
He’s too smart.
“Yes?” I answer, my voice tight.
I wish I didn’t have to answer him, I wish I could kick him right in the god damned balls, but he’s higher than me and, right now, alongside of Blart, he’s my supervisor.
If I want to keep my job, which I do, then I have to do as I’m told.
“We got a disturbance downtown. A domestic. You can go.”
“I’m busy, Carson,” I mutter. “I literally have a thousand papers here because none of you are capable of doing them yourselves.”
He leans over my desk, a big smile on his stupidly handsome face. “Well, you’re going to have a late one then, aren’t you? Now go.”
Fuck me.
I stand up and grab my badge, gun, and belt. I strap it on and give him a look that tells him exactly what my mouth cannot. That I hate him and wish he’d walk outside and get hit by the closest god damned bus.
“Now, now, Zariah, there’s no need to give me those looks.” He chuckles, turning and walking out of the office.
Jackass.
I get my things, get in my car, and attend the disturbance which is just a drunk couple fighting because he wouldn’t agree to watch what she wanted on the television. They got into a fight, screamed at one another, and the neighbors called the police. After sorting it out and issuing a warning, I am back on my way to the stack of papers that are forever piling up on my desk.
I want in on a case.
I’ve been here long enough.
I’ve done the hard work.
But they will not put me on a decent case. They continue to keep me locked out of anything good, which is part of the reason I decided to work with the club. It’s a risk to everything, but it also gave me a chance to do what I have always dreamed of doing—investigating and solving a decent case.
I start contemplating that transfer again, but that means Jayden would be away from his father, and I’d be away from my friends. I can’t do that to him.
God damn it, there are so many days I wish I was a whole lot more selfish.
I finish up my day with two drunk and disorderly calls, another domestic, and a one-person car accident because the girl was texting and driving. It’s all part of the job, I understand that, but I’m becoming tired of the same old thing, on the same old days. I’d do anything for more adventure, more excitement.
Anything but this.
Heading home to face another weekend alone makes my heart ache. I miss Jayden when he isn’t around, but mostly I miss who I used to be. The fun, free-spirted, wild girl who enjoyed her life and had so many dreams. Those dreams feel a whole lot more like a distant memory now. With Waverly in New York, I don’t even have her to fall back on.