Page 16 of One Final Target

Tara nodded. “I went to the funeral of his partner, Rick Farmer.” She made a face. “I hate cop funerals. I’ve been to way too many. I asked one of the SB guys about the crash. Gresham and Farmer were stopped at the scene of an injury crash on the 10 freeway. Fire hadn’t gotten there yet.”

“I hate the 10 freeway even on good days,” Jodie murmured.

“Yeah, me too. Gresham was out of the car checking on the two or three people involved in the crash. He glanced up at the last minute and saw the car coming and saved the lives of the people he was standing with. When the drunk hit the patrol car full speed, it pushed everything Gresham’s way.”

“Wow” was all Jodie could say. There was a saying in patrol about a flashing light bar on the freeway being a drunk driver magnet. When she was in patrol, she only made stops on the freeway if the violation was egregious.

Tara nodded. “Nightmare, huh? Gresham gets up and runs back to his patrol car, which now looks like a smart car. It bursts into flames with Farmer still in it. The SB guy said Farmer died instantly at impact anyway, but Gresham tried to pull him from the flames. The fire department arrived and pulled him away, but he was on fire. The right side of his body. Supposedly his ear melted off.”

“His ear did look a bit odd, and he wore a glove on his right hand. But he fired his weapon with no problems. He saved my life.”

Tara studied Jodie. “You attracted to the guy?”

Jodie felt her face flush. “You know my rule: I don’t date cops.”

“Rules were made to be broken.”

“Hey, I just met him.” She held her hands up.

Tara smiled. “Like I said, he’s a superhero.”

Jodie pondered the meaning ofsuperherofor a long while.

CHAPTER9

DESPITE BEING STIFF AND A BIT UNCOMFORTABLEin his new suit, Sam was glad to be back at the station. Because of the attempt on Jodie’s life, he reported to work early on Sunday, instead of waiting until Monday. Even though the cop shop was Sunday quiet, Sam relished the sights, sounds, and smells of his once-upon-a-time second home.

Being here was bittersweet. Memories of Rick were everywhere. Not only had they worked together, but they’d also grown up together. Sam couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t friends with Rick. They went to high school together, enlisted together, were only apart for a couple of years because Sam worked with bombs and Rick didn’t want anything to do with them. Rick’s greatest fear in life was being killed in an explosion.

Remembering the night they talked about career aspirations, Sam winced, the loss still raw.

They completed their military service, both in one piece, and joined the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department together. Brotherly competition dominated their relationship, and they finished the academy one and two. Then Sam was Rick’s best man when he married Gina. Rick had planned on returning the favor. Sam remembered talking right before the stop about his upcoming wedding to Vanessa Reilly.

Now, everything from that day was gone. Rick in the crash and Vanessa afterward.

“I can’t do this. Gina is wrecked. I can’t go through what she’s dealing with. I can’t marry you and then worry every night whether or not you’ll come home from your shift.”

She’d returned his ring while he was in the hospital. Losing Vanessa had stung—he’d never deny that. But Sam had made peace with it. She was honest enough to walk away. If she’d stayed quiet and they’d married, his work would have always been a source of conflict.

Sam shook the memory away and kept walking through the station. Another memory, this one fresher, took its place. He’d needed a ride to the rental car office and George was occupied. So Sam called his mother. Leslie Gresham was a neighbor of sorts, living in Lake Arrowhead, so coming to get him wasn’t a big deal. Her four-wheel drive handled the freshly plowed roads without a problem. He explained about the incident with Jodie King. His mother made no comment, which, where she was concerned, was usually worse than if she read him the riot act. In the end, the conversation was brief, and she agreed to give him a ride down the hill.

“I like your new place,” she said, gazing out the window at the thin layer of snow on his deck. “It’s beautiful here.”

He handed her a cup of coffee. “I like it too. Much quieter than it was in Redlands.”

She sipped her coffee and Sam stayed quiet. He could tell she had something on her mind and it was best to wait her out. After about a minute, his mother looked at his workbag, sitting by the front door.

“Sam, are you sure you’re ready to go back tofieldwork?” She faced him, frown on her face, probing his eyes.

He held her gaze. “Yes, Mom, it’s time. I’ve had enough desk work.”

“I don’t doubt your ability to do the job. I’m concerned you haven’t processed all that happened when Rick died.”

Shades of Doc Roe and George Upton. Sam sighed. “I can’t change the past. Neither can I sit around and rehash it over and over like you and Doc Roe seem to want. I needed to be back at work. Ifinally got Doc Roe to agree. I’ve been back at it a month without issue. What more do you want me to do?”

She didn’t answer the question. “You have nothing to prove.”

“It’s not about proving anything. It’s about doing my job. Can we talk about this in the car?”

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