We had a sick, twisted sense of humor. In all honesty, laughing was used as a stress reliever, so if the PD could get a laugh out of my pain, then Oorah!
“You know, if you were a vegetable, you’d be a cabbitch!” The old man yelled.
I cracked a smile as I led him to the car, one of my hands around his scrawny arm.
“That’s the problem with you Jarheads. So goddamned stupid. I could’ve outrun you, you know. Hey, why am I naked? Did you steal my pants?” He eyed me speculatively.
That was about the time that Downy burst out laughing, covering it by turning away from me as I put my hand on the man’s head and lowered him into Roscoe’s car.
Roscoe was still a rookie so it was fun to give him the bad stuff because we all knew he wouldn’t complain about it.
He would eventually, but right now, he was still trying his hardest not to offend people, and doing a damn fine job of it.
Thankfully another officer had placed a towel down so he wasn’t rubbing his balls on the seat.
Most cops didn’t sit back there, but it was the principle of the matter.
“Take him to the hospital. They’ll be able to get to the family from there,” I instructed Roscoe.
Roscoe nodded.
Closing the door, I turned back to the three other officers who had turned around the moment I had, acting as if they’d been busy as I apprehended the old man.
“Alright, boys. Show’s over,” I drawled, eliciting chuckles from the crowd that’d formed.
There were plenty of smiles as they all got in their cars and left, except for Downy.
“You wanna go to breakfast?” He asked, looking at his watch.
All that excitement, and it was only seven in the morning.
“Sure. I promised Katy I’d pick up some cookies at the bakery on the corner,” I said, indicating the new store that’d just opened. “Wanna try there?”
He looked at it skeptically. “It looks like a frou-frou place. I was more thinking a plate of eggs and twelve pieces of bacon from The Back Porch.”
“That’s fine. I can run by the bakery first and then I’ll meet you there,” I offered.
He glared. “Guess we’ll never know if it’s any good if we don’t go.”
I nodded.
I wasn’t a big fan of bakeries, either.
However, I’d do just about anything for my girl. Kind of like going to see a freakin’ movie about princesses. Then staying for a double feature just because she wanted to.
Although, I guess it didn’t go all bad.
I’d gotten to see a certain school nurse.
What would she be wearing today? Were all of her clothes superhero themed? Was her hair up or down?
“Meet you there,” Downy said, breaking into my thoughts.
I nodded and got into my car before calling into dispatch. “Dispatch, this is Unit 6. Going 10-19.”
“10-4,” Dispatch confirmed.
I found a front row parking spot, pulling my cruiser through to allow Downy to park behind me.
As I stepped out of the SUV, I looked at the cherry red 1970 Dodge Charger in mint condition parked at the back of the lot.
I’d seen it as soon as I’d turned the corner, spotting it from several blocks away.
My feet carried me unwillingly to the car, and I walked around it, checking out the paint, the sharp lines. The magnificent body. The interior.
To most it’d look like I was inspecting a suspicious vehicle. But I wasn’t. I was admiring it.
The thing was sweet, and my curiosity was peaked as Downy and I made our way inside twenty minutes later.
“You know you just wasted ten of our precious breakfast minutes looking at a car, right?” Downy asked dryly.
I nodded, not replying.
Downy was a truck man. He liked his vehicles big…so if push came to shove, he could get out of any situation. Mainly by running them the fuck over.
Me, I liked to be able to outrun my problems.
“Yes, my boy,” I replied.
My curiosity, which had been at a fever pitch, died the moment I walked through the door behind Downy and saw her.
It’d been years since I’d seen Lydia, but she still looked exactly the same. Long black hair, emerald green eyes. Fantastic hips. Lush lips. Long eye lashes. A killer smile.
Yet not a single thing did it for me anymore.
Instead of the woman that I’d previously compared all my potential conquests to, I only saw Lydia. The bitch that had refused to be with me because she hadn’t wanted my kid to live with us. She’d wanted her own children…just not one that wasn’t related to her by blood.
Oh, and the little part where she still lived off of daddy’s money, and didn’t want to give that up.
Turning my face away from Lydia, I scanned the room as I usually did.
The woman currently sitting in a table next to the door, though, really did it for me.
In her Hulk scrubs with the massive fists all over, I found the desire to smile.
So I did.
She looked up in time to see my lips twist into a grin, and her face blushed prettily.
Seeing as there was only one car in the lot, I knew immediately whom the ride in the lot belonged to.
I just hadn’t figured her for the type.
“You know what I like. You’re buying anyway. You owe me. Oh, and don’t forget the cookies,” I said, trying my hardest to avoid the woman who was looking at me with longing in her eyes.
As if she’d been starving for a lifetime and had seen her salvation the moment I walked in the door.
I walked slowly towards Reese, coming to a stop next to her table.
“Mind if I sit down?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. I won’t be here long, though.”
I nodded and took a seat. “Neither will we. I have about twenty minutes until I’ll have to go back on patrol.”
She grimaced. “Back? How long have you been on patrol?”
I looked at my watch.
0720 hours.
“About four hours now. I was called in since an officer had to go home because of a stomach bug,” I replied.