Page 21 of Love Me Fierce

After I set up Logan in the conference room, I settle behind my workstation. I need to get started on the paperwork regarding the Taurus. It’ll take our evidence team at least a week to process the vehicle for prints, so any match that would give me an ID will have to wait. But what if I can dig up traffic cam footageof this guy?

I call Glory Holes, hoping to catch Nate before they close.

“Glory Holes, Nate here.”

“Nate, it’s Everett.” I tap my pencil eraser on my desk.

“Hey, what can I do for you?”

“Did you hear about that reckless driver in your parking lot on Saturday?”

He huffs a sigh. “Yeah, Miranda told me. I was in the back when it happened. Did you catch him?”

“Working on it. Do you happen to have footage from around that time?”

“Uh, sure,” he replies followed by the clicking of keyboard keys. “It was like around nine, right?”

“Yes.”

“Got it.” He asks for my email address. After more furious key tapping, his chair gives a loud squeak, like he’s leaning back. “Done.”

I thank him, and I’m about to hang up when he adds, “Vivian’s okay, right?”

“She wasn’t harmed. Is that what you’re asking?”

I wait through a pause. “Yeah, that’s what I meant.”

The edge of frustration in his reply hints that there’s more here. "You have something else to say, I’m all ears.”

“I feel guilty.” He releases a tight sigh.

“Why? This guy has nothing to do with Glory Holes. It’s not your fault.”

“Right,” he says, but there’s little conviction in his tone. “Let me know if there’s anything I can to do help.”

I agree and we end the call.

I’m fast-forwarding through the footage to get to nine a.m. when Zach comes in from patrol, heading for his cubicle adjacent to mine.

He cocks his head to the conference room. “Logan have a half day today or something?” he asks.

“Uh, no. He was in a fight at school.”

Zach winces. “Heokay?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, William went through a rough period his sophomore year.” He shakes his head, like he’s reliving hard memories. “He got into some pretty serious fights.”

I cross my arms. Zach’s younger brother, William was the star quarterback for the Finn River Falcons, helping them to win two state championships before getting a full ride scholarship to play for the University of Oregon.

“How’d you get him to stop?” I ask.

Zach cocks his head, like he’s thinking this over. “Some of it was Sofie’s guidance. She’s just so patient, and she helped him unpack some of the shit he’d been carrying, helped him see he had choices. Then there was me putting the fear of God into him that if he didn’t quit using his fists to solve his conflicts, he’d lose football.”

“That sounds rough.”

“Honestly, there were days I wasn’t sure we were going to be okay. He had so much pent-up anger about what happened to our family. He’d held it all inside for so long. Helping him learn to make choices when it came to channeling it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

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