Rookie Mistake (California Dreamers #4) (10 page)

“Was I speeding?” His voice cracks. The poor kid is starting to shake he’s so nervous.

It’s difficult for him to even gather the requested documents he’s trembling so badly.

I inspect his license when he hands it to me. He’s only seventeen, probably still in high school.

“We believe we saw a baby in your lap?”

He frowns then realization seems to cross his face. “It’s not a baby. Not a real one anyway. It’s a cry baby for a school project. Parenting class. It’s like a doll, but it simulates being a real baby. I threw it in the back seat.”

“Do you mind if Officer Jackson retrieves it?”

“Go ahead. It started crying and I was trying to make it stop. The thing’s a pain in the ass.” His big brown eyes grow even wider. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say
ass
.”

Cody opens the back door on the driver’s side and retrieves the simulation baby doll. I have to give the manufacturers credit. The thing does look lifelike.

“Be more careful with this.” I indicate the doll. “You don’t want anyone to think you’re abusing your baby.”

“And I don’t want to fail the class.”

I hand him back his documents. “Drive safely.”

As soon as the kid pulls away Cody and I crack up.

“Can you believe that?” he asks. “It was a doll.”

“What I can’t believe is that you haven’t already starting singing a song.”

He grins then starts singing
O-o-oh Child
by the Five Stairsteps.

***

“Have you let your partner park his train in your station again?” Zoe asks as she plops down on my daybed.

“Of course not.” I sit down next to her. “We’re playing things by the book until he’s completed his field training.”

“And then what? Isn’t there some kind of rule that you can’t date a fellow officer?”

“I guess I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.”

“And you’re supposed to be the sensible one.”

“I guess if we decide we still want to be together one of us would have to transfer to another department.”

“Would you be willing to do that?” She raises an eyebrow.

“That’s a good question.”

“That’s why I’m asking,” she says pointedly. “And I am going to wait for a real answer.”

I heave a sigh. “I have no idea.”

“It’s not a trick question. I want to know what you’d be willing to do for love.”

“I never said anything about love,” I correct.

She crosses her arms in front of her and glares at me. “You can lie to me, but please be honest with yourself.”

“I’ve never lied to you,” I protest.

“Really? I know you have feelings for your rookie. You can’t deny it. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Maybe…”

“That’s all I get?
Maybe
?”

“You want me to be honest?”

She nods.

“I’m afraid to admit how I feel because I don’t want to get hurt again. I want to see what he’s willing to do first.”

“He knows you’re a cop and he still wants to be with you?”

I nod.

“He knows you’re single-minded and often driven to obsession and he still wants to be with you?”

“He has seen that side of me on occasion.”

“He knows that you’re a stick in the mud who does everything by-the-book and he still wants to be with you?”

“It seems that way.”

“Then why are we even having this discussion? You need to do whatever it takes to hold onto that man. He’s obviously a saint or he’s been blinded by your magic hoo-ha. Either way, don’t ever let him get away.”  

***

“Today I’m going to have you take the lead on our calls,” I tell Cody as we approach our vehicle.

“You are?” He sounds a lot less excited about the plan than I thought he would be. He actually sounds extremely apprehensive.

“It’s the third week of your training. I think you’re ready.”

“I assume that means you want me to drive.”

“That’s why I had you study maps of the area.”

The color drains from Cody’s face. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”

“I’ll be right there with you,” I assure him.

He takes in a deep breath. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Nope.”

For the first time since he started field training Cody gets into the driver’s seat and I take the passenger side. I have to admit that I have some apprehension about the transition myself. Not because I don’t trust Cody. It’s more about me not wanting to give up control.

But allowing him to take the wheel, both literally and figuratively, is an important part of his training.

Once he gets signed in and we’re on the road he seems to relax a little bit.

“Are you going to the recital Friday night?” he asks.

“My sister’s performing. I wouldn’t miss it.”

He doesn’t respond.

“And I heard this rumor that you’re conducting the string quartet,” I tease. “I have to see that.”

“The kids are doing a great job.”

“Hadley said you’re a decent conductor.”

He scowls. “Decent?”

“She said you’re the best music teacher they’ve ever had. Is that better?”

His face lights up. “Much.”

I have to admit that I enjoy seeing him happy. It’s not very often that he seems to be, especially on the job. His joy only seems to surface when the discussion is focused on music.

Our first call of the morning is a domestic disturbance.

“Great way to start the day,” I joke.

“As long as someone doesn’t try to hit me with a frying pan I’ll be happy.”

“You do realize that it’s not just cookware that could come flying out the door. I wouldn’t want to be at the receiving end of a soaring clothes iron. An airborne dictionary would probably hurt pretty badly too. There are a few types of women’s shoes that could do a number on you if it was the heel speeding towards your face.”

“I get your point.”

He pulls the patrol car up to a rundown bungalow.

“This is it.”

The place is just a few steps above a complete dump. We both get out of the car and approach the place with caution. The entire house is dilapidated. All of the paint is peeling off of the front door.

“I guess I have to knock on the creepy front door?”

“I’ll be right behind you,” I remind him.

He gives me the stink eye before he pounds on the door.

We wait several moments before there’s a shuffling noise on the other side of the door. When the door opens we’re greeted by an old woman in a bathrobe and slippers. She looks almost as decrepit as her house.

“Did you phone the police?” Cody asks her.

The woman gives him a shaky nod. “My husband has some rocks in his box.”

“Rocks in his box?” Cody asks. “What does that mean?”

“Bats in the belfry.”

Cody still looks confused.

“Cocoa loco.”

“I think she’s saying her husband is a little nuts,” I whisper to him. “That’s the clinical term.”

“May we come in?” he asks.

She opens the door wider to allow us entrance.

“What’s your name?” Cody asks the woman.

“Mrs. June March.”

That’s an unfortunate combination.

“He hasn’t been right since Vietnam,” she tells us as we step inside.

“That was forty years ago,” Cody replies.

She harrumphs. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Where is your husband now?” he asks.

“He’s wandering around the backyard.”

We follow the old woman through the kitchen then out the backdoor. Her husband is also in bathrobe, but he’s wearing combat boots rather than slippers. What’s left of the man’s wavy hair is completely askew. It looks like a hair salad on top of his head.

“Shoot on sight,” he shouts as he marches towards some bushes.

“Does your husband have access to any weapons,” Cody asks. 

Mrs. March shakes her head. “Absolutely not.”

“We should still proceed with extreme caution,” I whisper to Cody.

He nods in agreement.

When the man finally turns and marches back towards us he stops just short of Cody and salutes him. “All present and accounted for, sir.”

“I’m Officer Jackson and his is Officer Navarro. We’re police officers.”

The man’s eyes dart back and forth between the two of us.

“Can you tell us your name?” Cody asks him.

“March, sir. Private March.”

“Do you know where you are?”

The man glances around the yard. “H
uế
.”

“Do you know what day it is?”

“February 2, 1968.”

“That’s the day his brother was killed in Vietnam,” Mrs. March whispers to me.

Cody glances in my direction. “We should probably take him to the hospital so he can see a physician and a psychiatrist.”

“Good call,” I tell him.

“Sir, we’d like to take you to the hospital.”

The man shakes his head. “The guys in my squad need me.” He points to the few trees on the other side of the yard.

“You may have been injured in the line of duty,” Cody tells him. “We’d like to take you to get checked out.”

The man seems to consider this for a few moments. Then to everyone’s horror Mr. March sucker punches Cody right in the nose.

I react more quickly than my brain has time to process what’s going on. I immediately place Mr. March under arrest and handcuff him.

  There’s so much blood pouring from Cody’s nose it looks like he’s been injured a lot worse than being punched.

“Please don’t hurt him,” Mrs. March yelps.

“Hurt him?’ Cody fires back. “Look what he did to me?”

“He didn’t mean it,” she cries. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

She’s probably right. Her husband is a few sheets short of a full load. Regardless, he still attacked a police officer.

As we escort Mr. March out of the backyard his wife continues to beg us not to harm him.

“He’ll be safe with us,” I assure her.

The front of Cody’s uniform looks like a crime scene and it doesn’t look like his nose is going to stop bleeding anytime soon.

“There’s a First Aid kit in the trunk,” I remind him. “I think I’d better drop you off at the hospital on the way to the jail.”

“Good thinking.” He’s trying to stop the bleeding with pressure on his nose, but the blood is streaming down his arm.

Luckily we’re not far from the Emergency Room where I leave Cody.

“I’ll phone you as soon as I can,” I tell him.

I have just enough time to get Mr. March processed before I receive another call. All hands on deck at a home where they suspect crystal meth is being produced and distributed.

By the time I get there quite a few of our officers who are on duty have already responded, including the K-9 Unit.

“What’s happening?” I ask one of the other patrol officers who is waiting next to the K-9. Officer Polo and I started working for the department around the same time. 

“The house is occupied by two brothers and their girlfriend.”

“
Girlfriend?
Singular?”

Officer Polo shrugs. “They believe the suspects are armed. They don’t want to go in because there are small children in the house. The siblings are cousins, if you catch my drift.”

“The brothers both have kids with the same girlfriend.”

“You’ve got it.”

“It will make for interesting family reunions.”

“If they live that long. I don’t know why anyone would expose their kids to all of those chemicals. We’ve got to wait for a HAZMAT team to deal with that shit.” He glances behind me. “Where’s your partner?”

“He got punched in the nose.”

“Ouch. Was there a lot of blood?”

I nod. “I dropped him off at the ER.”

“I got elbowed in the face once trying to break up a bar brawl. Blood was gushing from my nose. I didn’t think it would ever stop.”

“Looks like something’s happening.” I point to the front door as it cracks open.

A young woman with straggly blonde hair wearing ragged old clothes walks out of the house with her hands up. “My kids,” she shouts. “I’m worried about my kids.”

“Will you bring them out?” The lead officer yells to her.

The woman nods then disappears back into the house. A few moments later two kids, who both who look under the age of five, run out of the house. The woman follows holding a toddler on one hip and cradling an infant with her other arm.

She’s definitely been busy with her brother lovers.