Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 99040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
For his club, of course.
CHAPTER FIVE
TWO WEEKS LATER, Jo found herself in a standoff with her partner and their lieutenant.
“You have got to be kidding me,” she said, hands on her hips as she stared at the two men in disbelief.
Andrew chuckled. “She’s a real champion for justice, this one.”
She blinked at him. “Uh… we’re cops. Isn’t that our job?”
“Our jobs are to uphold the laws in the state of Florida,” Lieutenant Hooper said, frowning at her. “And today that includes arresting this woman.” He handed over a piece of paper with an address.
“We’re arresting a woman for protecting her son from an abusive husband. You realize how fucked up that is, right?” Why was she the only one outraged by this?
“No, you’re arresting a woman who failed to deliver her son to his father’s house according to their court-ordered schedule. This is the fourth time it’s happened, and she’s been warned of the consequence should she continue to be noncompliant.”
Jo threw her hands in the air. “So, no one cares about the bruises she’s found on the kid? Or the fact that he freaks out every time he’s supposed to go to his father’s house?” She and Andrew had been called to her home the last time the woman refused to turn over her son. This kid’s desperate screams for his mother as she’d been forced to hand him over had broken Jo’s heart. The mother, a single woman in her early twenties, had sobbed nearly as hard.
The entire situation was bullshit.
“That is for CPS and the court to figure out.” He glared at her, standing only an inch or two above her five-foot-eight height. “If they decide the father is unfit to see his son, then the visits will stop. If they decide the man needs to be arrested, then we’ll do so. But for now, the only person breaking the law on record is the mother. So will you get your ass over there and arrest her, or do I have to make you the shortest-term employee in the department’s history?”
“She’ll arrest her,” Andrew said as he grabbed her arm and towed her out of their superior’s office. “I’ll make sure if it. Thanks, LT.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to remove your lips from his ass long enough to arrest this poor woman?” Jo muttered. She yanked her arm from Andrew and stomped through the station. Curious eyes tracked her, but she didn’t give a shit if she put on a show. They could stare and speculate until their brains melted for all she cared.
She had to arrest a woman for protecting her child.
Insanity.
“Jo, wait,” Andrew called as he caught up to her outside in the parking lot.
She slowed. Even if she hated this situation and his easy agreement with their LT, Andrew was still her partner. She had to find a way to play nice or risk a miserable working environment.
“What?” She jammed her hands on her hips and turned to face him.
He lifted his hands in the universal don’t-shoot stance. “Jo, you gotta rein it in. LT’s not one to fuck with. He’ll stick you down in the evidence locker and trust me, as a new cop, that’s a death sentence. You’ll never rise the ranks, never see any action, never see the fucking sun shine.”
Yeah, that would suck, but some things were more important than her career. “How can you be okay with this?”
“Because I’m a cop,” he answered as though it were so damn simple. “It’s my job, as LT said. There’s a system for this shit, and we’re part of it. She’ll get full custody if that’s what’s best, but she’s shooting herself in the foot by ignoring the court order.”
“System.” Jo snorted. “The system sucks.”
“Sometimes,” Andrew said with a shrug. “Look, if I wanted to let my heart bleed over every case, I’d have become a victim’s advocate. But I didn’t. I believe in the law and think it’s important for the order of the world that we uphold it. So, I became a cop. As did you.”
Did she? Or did she become a police officer to prove to her family that she could? To laugh in the face of all those pageants and countless hours of dress shopping, hair styling, and makeup application. She’d hated every second and always found herself wishing she could be out catching bad guys with her brothers. Not once did she picture herself arresting a woman who loved her son enough to protect him from the world regardless of the outcome to herself.
But it seemed her hands were tied. If she didn’t do as ordered, she’d lose her job. Getting fired six months into her time on the force would be career suicide. Not something she could afford. So she sighed but nodded. “All right. Let’s do this. You’re driving.”