Page 3 of Chasing Forever

I’d been so entrenched in thoughts of Merritt and the file I’d been piecing together that I hadn’t heard my partner come up behind me until he clapped me on the shoulder and moved to take a seat at the desk butted up to the front of mine. “What’s got you so focused over there?” Harrison asked as he kicked back in his chair and propped his booted feet on his desk. “We catch another case?”

I slapped the folder shut and slid it into the top drawer of my desk. “Nah, just a personal thing. No big deal.”

Harrison silently arched a brow, knowing me well enough to know I was holding something back, but he didn’t push. I trusted my partner with my life, and usually, he would have been the first person I went to with what I knew, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that telling him was a betrayal of sorts. It wasn’t my secret to share. Hell, I wasn’t even supposed to be investigating. I just couldn’t seem to help myself where Merritt was concerned.

“Whatever you say, brother.” He took a sip of coffee from the mug in his hand before adding, “Just know, if it’s anything you need help with, I’m here, just ask.”

“I do. And I will.”If I can, I tacked on mentally.

It wasn’t like this was an actual issue. At least not any longer. Merritt was gone. Living her life somewhere else, free of the monster who had hurt her. She was probably never coming back.

I rubbed at the dull ache in the center of my chest. Christ, why did it start to hurt every time that thought popped into my head?

A pained groan vibrated from my partner’s chest, pulling me out of my own head. “Ah hell. It’s too early for this shit. Better brace, my man. Shit’s about to hit the fan.”

I lifted my gaze to Harrison, my brows pulling together. “What’s—” The rest of the question died on my tongue as I twisted in my chair and spotted who was stomping up the steps into the bullpen.Son of a bitch.

Harrison was right. It really was too damn early to be dealing with Sue Ellen Mayfield. Not that there was ever a good time to have to deal with the pit viper or her particular brand of bullshit. That woman had been a blight on this town since I was a kid, and she had only gotten worse with age, at least according to my mom and all her friends.

The other detectives and uniformed officers in the bullpen either hunkered down, pretending to be engrossed in their work, or took off in the opposite direction. Even Harrison. The bastard hunched closer to his monitor, eyes scrunched as he studied the screen like whatever he was suddenly staring at held the answer for world peace.

Cowards.

With a resigned sigh, I rose from my chair and pinned a polite smile on my face. “Ms. Mayfield.” I tried to recall if her last name was currently hyphenated, or if she was between husbands once again, but I couldn’t remember. The woman ran through marriages like a stomach virus in an elementary classroom. It was impossible to keep up. “To what do we owe the honor?”

“You know good and well why I’m here,” she snapped, stopping five feet in front of me and slamming her hands down on her hips. Her mouth was pinched tight into her ever-present unhappy pucker that no amount of Botox could fill out as she narrowed her eyes at me. “I have been complaining formonthsabout my neighbors, and not a single one of you can bring yourselves to get off your lazy behinds to take care of it.”

The woman once worked at the front desk as a receptionistyearsago, and because of that, felt she had the right to barge in and start making demands whenever the mood struck. And the mood struck often, unfortunately.

I inhaled a deep breath as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Ms. Mayfield,” I started as calmly as I could, trying to keep the exasperation out of my voice. “I’ve told you several times already, if you want to make an official complaint, you need to go through the proper channels. You can’t just come in here barking demands whenever you feel like it. That’s not how things work. And I’ve also told you there is nothing the department can do for you simply because you don’t like your neighbors.”

“What if I were to tell you that I thought one of them was selling drugs out of their house?”

I arched a single brow, already knowing that wasn’t the case. “Do you actually believe that?” I challenged, lifting a single finger to cut her off and added, “And please keep in mind, Ms. Mayfield, it’s against the law to file a false police report.”

Her glare intensified. I wasn’t sure how she could see anything given how narrow the slits between her eyelids were. ‘Should have known I couldn’t depend on you to serve and protect unbiasedly... given who yourmotheris,” she sneered.

I might have taken her dig personally if she hadn’t, at one time or another, pissed off nearly every person in this town. Sue Ellen Mayfield wasn’t exactly popular in Hope Valley, especially with my parents and their inner circle of friends.

I braced my feet and crossed my arms over my chest. “The fact remains, your neighbors haven’t done anything illegal, and you know it.” The only thing they’d done was band together in an effort to make the miserable woman’s life even more difficult in the hopes that she’d eventually move away. They made sure to keep everything above board, though, acting more like nuisances than criminals. “Maybe you should look at the fact that you are the only person on that block with any sort of problem and figure out why that is. From where I’m standing, the answer seems pretty clear.”

Sue Ellen’s gaze shot over my shoulder, directing a withering look at my partner when he let out a snort of suppressed laughter. If it was possible, her features pinched up even more, to the point I worried she might swallow her own face. “Well, Inever?—”

“We all know that’s a damn lie.”

My head swiveled around at the new voice, and I had to tamp down the desire to smile as Captain Walker joined the fray. Age hadn’t done much to tone down the fierceness years of military and police service had instilled in the man. He was practically family, but that didn’t mean he took it easy on me... or anyone, for that matter. He expected the same level of dedication from all his officers, no matter their rank. The same level he put into the job day in and day out. Where other people in his position used to play the politics game, Hayes made it clear he couldn’t give a shit what the local politicians thought of how he ran the department. It was his job to uphold the law and protect the citizens, not pander to them. It was one of the many reasons he made such a good captain and why he had the respect of all of us who worked under him.

Hayes stood behind me, lifting his hands to brace them on his waist, the move drawing attention to the badge and gun clipped at his hip. He was wearing that intimidating-cop face of his that used to make my balls draw up into my stomach when I was younger and got into trouble for something stupid.

“What’ve I told you about stormin’ into my bullpen, Sue Ellen?” he asked, his voice only a few steps up from a growl. Like I said, my mom’s crew weren’t fans of Sue Ellen. Apparently there wasn’t an age restriction on being a mean girl—though, the older she got, the more pathetic it looked—and each one of them had been targets of her particular brand of nasty more than a few times, including Hayes’s wife, Temperance.

“Well, I wouldn’t have to storm into anything if your officers weren’t cherry-picking who they choose to help.”

The vein in Hayes’s forehead began to pulse, and I took a cautious step to the side. “There isn’t a single officer under my command who would ignore a viable threat. Keyword there beingviable. But I’m not wasting their time or taxpayer dollars on a whiny, entitled brat throwin’ a hissy fit. Which isexactlywhat you are and what you’re doin’. You have a problem with me callin’ it like it is, file a complaint. In the meantime, next time you set foot past that front desk without permission, I’ll personally make sure you’re given a very thorough, verylongtour of one of our holding cells. You understand me?”

I had to curl my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing out loud, but from the snorts and snickers around the bullpen, not everyone around me was as successful.

Sue Ellen’s face turned a violent shade of red before she snapped, “Oh, you can rest assured I’ll be filing a complaint against you. Against this whole department! We’ll see what the mayor thinks about this,” she barked, waving a finger in an arch over her head. “See how long you keep your cushy position then.”

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