Shielded In The Shadows

A blanket and pillow were on the couch, like someone had just taken a nap. Three remote controls lay on three different cushions. And there was an ashtray filled with cigarette butts.

“Have at it,” Luke said, waving an arm toward the rest of the small house. Picking up a remote, he dropped down to the couch and flipped on the television.

Jayden knew Thursday was Luke’s day off from the restaurant where he worked as a busboy. But he also knew Luke had to be at the convenience store where he stocked shelves later that afternoon.

The free morning had been partially what had brought Jayden straight to Luke even before Jayden’s day had officially started. He’d more than half expected the man to track down his daughter.

Home searches were a fairly normal part of his job, and Jayden knew well what to look for. And where and how to look. Messy housekeepers often simplified the job. At the leg of the twin bed frame and mattress set up in the room designated as Luke’s, he found a torn piece of cardboard: part of the top of a box of ammunition.

Finding the weapon and more bullets was fairly routine. Luke had them both stuffed inside the pillow, which was inside a pillowcase matching the one on the couch.

So much for building rapport with his offender. Who was now a reoffender. Which put Jayden in a bit of a prickly situation. He was alone in the house with a man who could be considered dangerous—one of the few of his parolees that he’d struggled to believe in at all. He’d had to give Luke the chance the courts had granted him, but the man had never looked him in the eye. Not once. That didn’t set well with Jayden.

Sore ribs were the least of his worries as he made a split-second decision. If he made a call, requesting backup, chances were he’d be overheard. Luke might run. Or attack.

Percentages said he’d run. Jayden might or might not catch him. And being a hunted man would make Luke more desperate to see his young daughter—since it could be the last time in a long time he’d have the right to do so.

Jayden could make the arrest on his own, and hope all went well.

Or he could pretend he hadn’t found the gun, leave, keep a watch on the place, and call for backup. During which time Luke could arm himself with the gun hidden in the pillowcase. Or do something with it so Jayden couldn’t find it again.

Texting Leon, he went to the living room to make the arrest.

* * *

With back-to-back hearings on two different cases in two different courtrooms, Emma spent Thursday morning fully engrossed in work. She was just getting back to her office, her feet hurting in the three-inch heels she’d put on that morning because they made her legs look sexy. She was cursing herself for letting her shadow side out long enough to influence her wardrobe choices that morning—knowing full well they’d been made with the thought in mind that she might run into Officer Powell.

The black slim-line short skirt and matching jacket was her power suit because of the red cami she wore with it. She’d left her hair curly and wild, rather than trying to tame it as she usually did.

And after a morning in the courtroom, she was disgusted with herself for her early-morning lapse. Her feet hurt.

“Hey, boss, this came your way this morning. I figured you’d want it first thing.” Kenny punctuated the last two words with his typical head bob, as he came into her office with a file in hand.

“What is it?” she asked, taking and looking at the file. Kenny would give her a speedier and as equally accurate rundown as her cursory glance was going to do.

“That probation officer, Jayden Powell, requested that it come to you specifically,” Kenny said. “One of his offenders, Luke Lincoln. You know him?”

“Yes!” She looked at the front page of the file.

“Jayden made the arrest?” She looked up at Kenny.

“Found a gun during a home visit this morning,” Kenny said. “Powell’s lucky he didn’t get himself shot again. You’d think, after what happened Tuesday, he’d at least have had backup there.”

You’d think. If you weren’t Ms. Shadow who found the man’s courage rather admirable.

“He was there alone?”

“That’s what I hear. He had the guy down on the ground at gunpoint and then called for officer backup.”

Wow. Emma was impressed. Thankful. And a bit wary, too. Powell didn’t play by the safety book. Officers like that muddied waters, too. Powell finding that gun—it could come down to his word against the offender’s. And Emma would be left to prove who was telling the truth.

She hoped to God Jayden had some definitive proof that he hadn’t planted that gun just to keep the guy away from his daughter. She could hear the defense already.

And while she admired Powell’s ability to get his job done, his dedication to keeping innocent people safe, she also had to wonder just how big a risk he’d be willing to take to do so.

Like planting a weapon?

Why, after having just been shot, had he gone to the home of a serious offender alone? Unless he hadn’t wanted anyone else to be privy to what he was doing. Hoping to cash in on the fact that a panel would believe him over a dangerous offender.