Page 41 of Special Agent Murphy

“Yeah. He’s a good guy, sweetheart. You’re lucky to be working with him.”

“Yet I’ve been warned by others to be on guard.”

“Yeah, well, ignore those nosy assholes. The man’s a star and has been many times over. He has eyes that won’t accept bullshit. He sees right through it and kind of pins you to the wall. I’d rather have him by my side than most of the others who believe the crap about him.”

“The crap… what actually happened that day?”

“No one really knows but him. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s taking the fall.” Bud, good-looking and clean-cut, shook his head sadly. “Poor bastard would do anything for his partner, Tim.”

The other agent listening kicked in, “And Tim knew it.”

She turned back to Bud, “You’re making him out like he’s a giant.”

“I know, right? The man’s shorter than me, maybe he’s six feet, if he’s stretching, but you’d swear he was another five inches taller and a hundred pounds bigger. There’s a charisma about the prick that makes you watch your words and tow the line.”

She’d laughed. “Yet you call him Black.”

Bud chuckled, “It’s to mess with him. I went through the academy with Murph. In fact, we lived in the same building. Another guy there, a real show-off prick didn’t like the way Murphy had no time for him or gave any credence to his bullshit. Said whenever Murph entered a room, it was like a black cloud forming overhead. The nickname stuck, we just shortened it to Black.”

She smiled with the other two and added, “I’m not sure why they picked me to work with him, but I’ll put up with anything if in the end, we find Misti.”

Bud sobered. “That culprit Draper better be prepared to either kill Black or give up, because he never will, not if he figures he’s right. And, he’s seldom wrong. He gets in a fight, or trails a killer, and he’s in all the way.”

“You know, you talk about him like he’s a legend. He’s not that old.”

“That’s the thing, he’s only in his thirties. The legend began when he was a rookie and grew.”

A smile still on her face, her eyes closed, she jumped when Murphy, who’d been leaning against the doorframe watching her, stepped into the room. “Sure would like to know what you were thinking about just then. Did anyone ever tell you that you have a very expressive face?” He picked up his beer and sat beside her in his chair.

“I know. It’s a curse, one I try hard to cover up. This career doesn’t bode well for a cop who’s an open book. Everything okay next door?”

“Yeah, I got him into bed. Looks like he’d tried to stand and just slid off his chair instead. It’s a bloody shame to see him like this. He wasn’t always a drunk.”

“What happened?” Kayti snuggled into her chair, her knees under her and turned his way so she could watch his face.

He shrugged as if to drop the subject, but thinking better, his deep voice told the story. “Before Mary got killed years ago, Rob was a good cop. Put his life on the line more then once to save others and never bitched about everything the way the rest of his squad did. He’d invite me over to play poker with them even though I was younger and in training. Never looked down on me, treated me with respect.”

“Yet he’s a drunk today.”

“He blames himself for her death and drinks to forget. A few years back, he tried to help a kid out. When he busted him with a small bag of weed, deciding to be magnanimous, he gave him a warning and let him go. It was their anniversary, and he’d made plans to give Mary a special treat, a date to make up for all the overtime he’d been putting in lately.”

Her stomach dropped from expectations of the bad ending to Murphy’s story. “What happened?”

“Kid followed him home. While they were out, he broke into the house. They’d left to take Talin to the sitters, but Mary had an earache. Deciding she couldn’t enjoy the evening in pain, they turned back. She caught the kid who’d found Rob’s gun in his night table, and he used it to shoot her before Rob brought him down.”

“Oh my God, the poor man. Did he kill the kid?”

“Almost. After hearing a gunshot, I arrived a few seconds later. He had the weapon pointed, his finger on the trigger. It was shaking almost as much as the druggie pissing himself and begging for his life. Took me forever to talk him down. Only by bringing up Talin, and how much he’d need Rob now, did I get through to him.”

“Poor, poor man.”

“Mary’s sweetness kept them grounded and happy.”

“What made the kid come to his house?”

“Turns out, he was after a gun. His supplier promised him free weed if he stole a weapon they could use for a holdup on a rival grow-op. He died in prison after serving six months.”

“Oh Murphy, that’s a sad story. What a terrible waste. I’m so sorry for them, but for you too.” She wanted to go to him, comfort him, but being intimidated by his attitude, scared she’d be rejected, she stayed where she was.

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