Page 8 of Rookie Days

“Right. Okay, thanks for telling me.”

It would not make a jot of difference in how she treated the guy, and Quinn knew that, of course. But Janet was still glad to know the score.

“Yeah.” As Quinn held her gaze, anger and frustration were pretty obvious in her own eyes. “He knifed her, then Ellie beat him to a damn pulp.”

Janet was also quick to read between the lines and put two and two together. So, it sounded as if the detective had lost her temper in the field and used excessive force.

“In self-defense, I presume?” she prompted.

Quinn’s silence said it all.Ah… Maybe not, then.Well, fine. What Janet may think of Ellie’s over-reaction to a guy trying to slice her up like a piece of steak would not be helpful at this point. And whatever price the officer would have to pay for it was up to her superior officer. Quinn, in this case. Janet would just make sure that the loss of control did not end in a death for the man in question, and hurt Ellie even more. This was clearly her friend’s message in telling her.

“Got it, Quinn.” She squeezed her shoulder and flashed her a familiar grin. “You know me, right? By the time I’m done with this guy, he’ll be better than new.”

???

Quinn stopped just long enough on the way back to Ellie to find herself an empty room and answer a Facetime call from her wife. Before she could say more than hello, Lia’s smile disappeared and a stricken look flashed across her eyes.

“Is that blood on your cheek?”

“Uh. Yeah, but—”

“Quinn!”

“It’s not mine,” Quinn reassured her quickly. “Everybody’s fine here.”Or will be.“Sorry, I haven’t had a chance to clean up yet, but I didn’t want to miss your call.”

Lia’s expression softened and she touched her fingers to the screen.

“I wish I could touch your face.”

“Me too. I miss you. Are you okay?”

“Yes, pretty good. Now, off the record: what happened?”

Quinn smiled at the turn of phrase and her slightly sharper tone, indicating that Lia’s tough reporter persona had switched on. That side of her never failed to make Quinn weak. Lia may no longer be reporting from the frontlines of the Middle East, but her mind was just as inquisitive and keen. In her capacity as public relations officer for Lewiston P.D., she had spent her first year in the job on the ground, shadowing officers performing their daily duty. The resulting feature-length documentary had won her prestigious journalistic awards upon release, and even a special prize from the Sundance Film Festival. Lia often laughed about it, and said that the best prize she’d won was the hot cop who became her wife. She understood police work, the risks and the rewards, and Quinn shared it all with her now.

“Ellie’s the last person I thought would do something like that!” Lia’s stunned reaction to the news was no surprise. “Aside from you, she has to be the most grounded and level-headed woman I know!”

“Yeah,” Quinn groaned. “I trained her.”

“Looking on the bright side, at least she didn’t kill him.”

“The way she was going at it, I think she would have done if I’d not been there to stop her.”

“Gosh… That bad, uh?”

“Yeah.”

“Was it just rage, you think?”

“I don’t suppose she was crushing his bones into powder out of love and affection.” Quinn smiled faintly at Lia’s weary raise of an eyebrow. “Sorry, babe. It’s a good question. She was crying, so I guess something else was going on too.”

“You’re worried about her. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Yeah. She scared me.”

“Quinn, I’m going to catch the first flight back, okay?”

“Why? Your conference isn’t over yet.”

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