Page 8 of Necessary Evil

She hung up before he could ask her to meet him at the airport or send a car for him. Lucy would help him find a job and a place to stay, but he had to meet her halfway. She wasn’t an enabler anymore. Or at least she tried not to be.

As she was getting out of her car and opening the trunk to take out the cookies, a tricked-out pickup truck pulled into the parking spot next to her.

Internal Affairs detective Travis Munson nodded to her as he hopped out and moved around to the back of the pickup. He pulled down a hand cart and muscled a keg out of the bed.

“Why do we even bother?” Lucy asked him, indicating the four bags she was carrying.

“Because one of these days they’ll realize we’re all on the same side.”

They looked at each other for a moment and then burst out laughing.

“Yeah, right,” she said. “Fuck it, and fuck them.”

He blinked at her in surprise.

“Sorry,” Lucy muttered. “Had a disturbing phone call just now.”

Travis gave her a sympathetic look, and they walked toward the rec center together.

“I suppose we could go the other route,” she mused.

“What do you mean?” he asked, grunting as he lifted the keg up the few stairs to the door.

“We could become the most hated couple since Brad and Angelina. Want to go out for dinner sometime?” Lucy was only half serious, but it still stung when Travis gave a polite snort and smiled without answering.

All righty, then.

They parted ways without another word. He went toward the multipurpose room, where the makeshift bar was being set up, and she walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, Lucy.” Her paralegal, Jenny, was already there. She was cutting slices of tomato and onion to go on the burgers.

“Put those over there.” Mara, one of the dispatchers, pointed to a table where there was already a fruit salad and a whole watermelon.

Lucy waved to some of the firemen as they lugged in coolers of soda and beer.

“Anything else I can do?” Lucy asked after setting up the trays of cookies.

“Can you take this out to McKinley?” Mara asked, handing her a huge sack of frozen burgers.

Lucy’s hopes for a pleasant day sank. McKinley was a douche.

“Sure,” she said. She straightened her shoulders and marched out the back door to where the grills were set up. She was surprised to see Evan and a few of his friends hanging out, sharing a beer with some of the guys. Some women circled their bikes, like sharks in tight pants and cropped shirts. Lucy felt a little frumpy in her tan Bermuda shorts and navy polo shirt, but she didn’t dare dress sexy. Not with this crowd. Evan’s crew, however, looked like the sexy thugs they were. Evan wore a tight white T-shirt under a denim vest that had a patch that proclaimed him EVIL.

Yeah, like he needed an article of clothing to tell people that.

“What the hell are you doing here?” McKinley barked when he saw her.

Evan looked up and gave her a slow once-over. She tried not to trip over her own feet as she made her way over to McKinley.

“I bring meat, O great fire god,” she said to the detective, hoping to lighten the mood.

But McKinley wasn’t having any of it. She’d have liked to blame it on him having a few, but the fact of the matter was, he was always an asshole.

“Set any killers free lately?” he asked, nearly ripping the bag from her hands.

“Put any innocent kids behind bars today?” Lucy bared her teeth in a semblance of a smile.

“Fuck you,” he snarled.

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