Page 51 of Callahan

“Ouch I don’t like baseball bat or concussion. But breast milk works. Let’s go with that.”

“How aboutbite meinstead?”

“I mean, it doesn’t have as nice a ring to it asbreast milk, but we can go with that if you prefer.” I winked at her as I opened the door. “Talk to you later.”

“Hmph,” she replied with pursed lips.

“Lock the door behind me.”

I didn’t shut the door when I left and couldn’t help but smile when I was halfway down the stairs and heard it slam shut, and the locks engaged.

I loved that Lainey was feisty as hell. She’d answered the door wielding a baseball bat, like she thought she was a badass or something. But I’d also seen the vulnerable tears, that I was an asshole and took advantage of, no matter what she said.

I know that letter had scared her.

Hell, it’d scared me, too. And I was determined to find out who’d sent it. Hopefully the camera Brian had ordered had arrived, and I could help him install it before nightfall.

Chapter Twenty-One

Adam

“Do you think the guy who assaulted you yesterday is the same person who wrote this?” Brian asked as he glanced at the paper in his gloved hand.

“It seems like too big a coincidence that I got jumped outside her place yesterday morning, then she gets that today, don’t you think?”

“Totally agree.”

“Good, because if you hadn’t, then I would have to reconsider taking the job.”

“You have good instincts. You’re going to do great.”

“I don’t know. I totally fucked that letter thing up.”

I hadn’t thought to wear gloves when I handled the letter and lamented as such when Brian reached for his gloves before touching the evidence.

“Yeah, but in your defense, it sounds like Lainey just handed it to you without telling you what it was. How could you have known?”

I appreciated him trying to help me not feel so bad about fucking up.

“I know I have a lot to learn about being a cop.”

“You’ll learn a lot of what you need to know in the academy. But honestly, common sense and a cool head will get you through ninety-five percent of the shit you’ll encounter in Haven Springs. What happened to you, then this letter, are the most perplexing things, from an investigative standpoint, that I’ve dealt with since joining the force seven years ago.”

“That makes me feel better.”

“Good. Now, let’s talk about your list of demands for the Chief before you accept his offer. He wasn’t joking when he saidyou could name your terms. I’d shoot for the moon if I were you.”

“Tell me what I should ask for, sensei,” I said with a grin.

~~~~

I almost felt bad for how easily Chief O’Shaughnessy had capitulated to my “demands,” and how he’d only negotiated on two points—the ones Brian told me he’d buck me on.

Brian had explained that Angus’s hands were tied by the state charter regarding when I’d be vested for retirement and how much the department contributed to it, so I didn’t try to negotiate those points. But after I laid out what I wanted regarding an hourly wage, the amount of paid time off, and the percentage of my health and dental insurance the department paid without the Chief batting an eye, I asked for a shorter probation period than what he’d originally offered.

“I can’t go shorter than a year for your probation,” he’d said with a frown as he sat behind his metal desk in his messy office at the police station.

“Then it needs to be a year from the day I report to work, not when I finish the academy.”

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