Page 21 of Whispers Left Behind

“Alex, it’s over.” Laura brushed her bangs to the side. Sam’s voice drifted out from the open door. Once she had assured herself that her partner was still otherwise occupied, she continued while Alex was still grappling with the ease in which she could end things between them. “We had some fun, but we both knew it wasn’t going anywhere.”

That wasn’t the case, but Alex wasn’t going to debate his feelings on the matter. He had been honest with her from the start, and never once had he ever indicated he believed their relationship was casual in any sense of the word.

“Mitchell! You’ve got to see this!”

“Coming,” Laura called out while making no effort to join her partner. “Alex, it never would have worked out between us, and you know it. I’m ten years older than you with a daughter in college. We’re at different stages in our lives. You want diapers, and I want to focus on my career.”

“And I told you that I was willing to forgo—”

“Please, Alex.” Laura reached out and touched his arm. “I need for this to be a clean break.”

Alex didn’t take his gaze off the scuff marks on the wall behind her, and he remained silent as she walked away. He was running on little sleep, hunger had basically burned a hole through hisstomach, and now his emotions were as raw as the hamburger meat sitting on the top shelf in his fridge. It was best not to say a word.

He slowly made his way to the elevator before jabbing the top button. He had been willing to make concessions. There hadn’t been any need to compromise on her part. Removing himself from the department wouldn’t have been ideal, but he would have done it for her.

He had only ever been willing to make such a concession once before. Unfortunately, that relationship had pretty much turned out the same. He was batting a thousand, and he didn’t even like baseball.

It didn’t take him long to ride the elevator to the lobby and make his way out of the building. The overcast sky pretty much matched his mood, and the chill seeped through his jacket as if it were trying to leech what warmth remained in his bones.

He hated this time of year.

He entered the police station and found Kinsley waiting for him on the other side of the metal detector. With a nod to Earl, whose back injury had relegated the officer to a desk position, Alex emptied his pockets and placed his firearm in the grey bucket. It didn’t take him long to walk through the opening and collect his belongings.

“Anything come out of your interview with Tobias Zayn?” Alex asked, clipping his side holster to his belt. If he kept their conversation to the case, there was a chance she wouldn’t notice he was off his game. “By the way, in addition to the lack of missing hair, Wally is certain our perp is taller than Gantz.”

Kinsley was wearing one of her long sweater coats that she preferred over a jacket. The temperature would have to drop close to freezing before she would cave in and switch to heavier apparel. They were complete opposites when it came to the seasons. He would rather be anywhere else in the winter. If hewere being honest with himself, he would give half his pension to be anywhere else but Fallbrook today.

“I know I said this earlier this morning, but you look like shit.”

Alex stepped back when the elevator doors slid open. The three officers inside apparently weren’t in a hurry, and their casual departure gave him time to curb his temper. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that the tension had eased from Kinsley’s shoulders, and that was no doubt due to confirmation regarding Gantz’s noninvolvement in their investigation.

The fallout from last year’s trial had created a lot of tension between Kinsley and her family. She believed that her reputation within the department had been tarnished after the ruling, and Alex had witnessed her slow recovery from that dark time. Having Gantz’s name uttered around the watercooler again wasn’t conducive to regaining popularity among the masses.

Alex could only imagine her anxiety over the possibility of Gantz’s return. It was the only reason that he checked his response. His bad mood didn’t give him the right to drag her down along with him.

They both entered the elevator at the same time.

“Have you given a statement to the press yet?” Kinsley asked as she pressed the button for the fourth floor. “The sooner that’s done, the faster we’ll have some breathing room.”

“Not yet.” Alex leaned his head back against the paneling and closed his eyes. When Laura’s face materialized in the darkness, he forced himself to straighten and pay attention to the conversation. “I’ll draft a press release and email it to Bridget in Public Relations.”

The elevator hummed as it ascended, the red numbers above the doors changing slowly. Kinsley shifted her stance so they were facing one another. He raised a hand to let her know that he understood the urgency of clearing any misconceptionthe media had concerning Gantz, but Kinsley surprised him by changing the subject altogether.

“There is an office pool going around on whether you and Laura are hot and heavy. It’s only a matter of time before Thompson hears about it, so you might want to—”

Alex's hollow laugh bounced around the small enclosure. This day kept getting better and better. He pressed his fingers against his eyes, but the effort for relief only made the burning sensation worse.

"They're wasting their money," Alex muttered, thankful when the elevator chimed their destination. “Trust me. You’ll want to take the other side of that bet.”

The elevator doors parted, and Alex pushed away from the back panel. He didn’t bother waiting for Kinsley as he exited before sidestepping the glass partition. The bullpen wasn’t busy, which meant a lot of the detectives were either on calls or coming in for the late shift. He would take advantage of the lull, type out the press release, and then call it a day.

Not bothering to remove his jacket, he pulled out his chair and took a seat while simultaneously moving the mouse to his computer. By the time Kinsley had taken her seat across from him, he was already typing in his password.

While waiting for his email to update, Alex leaned forward so that he could access his wallet. He pulled out a crisp twenty. With a quick scribble, so both of their names were included, he shoved the money and card back into the blue envelope.

“Want me to spill coffee on her keyboard?” Kinsley was staring at him intently from across their desks. “Slash her tires?”

Leave it to Kinsley to lighten the moment. This was the old Kinsley who he hadn’t seen a lot of in the past year.

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