Read Unauthorized Obsession (Unauthorized Series Book 3) Online
Authors: Lisa Ladew
Kara greeted everyone she passed with a smile and a kind word. Even the few officers that weren’t her favorite people got the same treatment. It was damned hard work being a cop and every single officer in here deserved her friendship and respect so she always tried to extend it. She ducked behind the sergeant’s desk and found Joe sitting at a computer station. He looked up when she came in, then rode his chair across the room to the printer that was boxed in between radios and emergency satellite phones. He grabbed several sheets of paper off the printer tray and handed them to her with a flourish.
“Here’s all the reports we’ve made so far.”
She bent to kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks.” He smiled at her and she was struck by how handsome his smile made him. He had a mouthful of straight, white teeth, with only one endearingly crooked canine on the left side. He was one of those men with thick dark hair who always looked like he had a 5 o’clock shadow, no matter how often he shaved. His eyes were dark and kind and his smile came easy and often. She always wondered how he seemed to have such bad luck with women. He just wasn’t very good at picking them. His last two girlfriends both had cheated on him and left him devastated. Especially the last one. He’d been thinking about proposing to her when they came upon her on her knees in the parking lot of a bar one night. The man she’d been in front of hadn’t even had a chance to tuck himself back into his pants before she was up and swearing that it wasn’t what it looked like.
Kara shook her head. Those women didn’t know a good thing when they had it. Joe Bristow was one of the kindest, most thoughtful, caring men she had ever met. Plus he was handsome and funny. At least she thought so.
“Where is everybody?” she asked. Usually the room was swamped with uniforms this close to shift change.
“Out on calls. It’s slamming. There is a twelve car accident on the highway and a murder-suicide in the industrial area. Everybody that has come in so far for third watch has been sent out on a call.”
“Damn, I better get upstairs before they send me out too. Any of the recruits show up yet?”
“No. But the assignments are on the board. You’re going to be pissed.”
Kara pursed her lips in irritation.
Great.
Normally she and Joe rode together, but tonight was the first night that the recruits hit the road. She and Joe were both field training officers which meant they would be split up for the next five months while they each rode with a recruit.
She stalked to the board and ran her finger down the row of officers and their assigned recruits. Next to her name it said Seth Howell. She thought hard. Wasn’t that the guy with the red hair and stutter?
Joe was right, she
was
pissed. She had a standing agreement with the Chief that she would be paired with a female recruit, and that she could cycle through all of the female recruits for at least a day. It was hard work being a cop but it was doubly hard work being a female cop. The public treated you different, the other officers treated you different, even the dispatchers gave you a heavy workload because they didn’t think you would complain like the guys did. She’d seen several female officers who weren’t prepared for this quit before they’d even been on the road for six months. Add to that the fact that even the strongest woman was likely not as strong as most of the men they were going to be arresting and they needed some extra tips and tricks to be sure to come home safe from each shift. If that wasn’t enough to deal with, then there was the emotion. Kara had seen it time and time again, even experienced it herself. Female cops didn’t want to admit or think that they were any different than the male cops, but emotionally, they did react differently, especially during that time of the month when the hormones were running high. But Kara had been around long enough that she knew how to steer the female recruits into reactions that would work best for them, and keep them out of trouble. She thought the department needed as many female cops as possible - one reason was they balanced out the heavy handedness of some of the men - and so she had made it her personal mission to talk to as many of the female recruits and evaluate their street style with an eye towards helping them be as safe and effective as possible.
She gritted her teeth and looked through the rest of the list. Ivy’s name was with Joe and that almost made up for the fact that she had a male recruit.
Almost.
Ivy would be on third watch with her and Joe would keep her as safe as was possible. Checking the list again, she found Jen’s name: with Yeager. She grunted her disapproval. Yeager was a bit lazy, and definitely heavy-handed. Then she found Ryker. Ryker was with Casey. Casey was OK.
Kara gritted her teeth and glanced at her watch. She only had thirty minutes till her shift started. She’d better get upstairs.
When she turned around Joe was grinning at her. “So was I right? Are you pissed?”
“Yes. I’ll have to have a talk with the new Chief. But at least Ivy’s with you. That makes me happy.”
Joe waggled his eyebrows licentiously. “Yeah, I get to take your little sister out every night.” he said, his voice full of innuendo.
“You better not let her boyfriend hear you say that.”
“Who’s her boyfriend?”
“He’s a recruit too. You know, the one who looks like a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.”
Joe’s eyes grew wide. He clamped his mouth shut and looked around quickly, like perhaps said boyfriend might have already heard and be heading in for a hard tackle. Kara laughed and threw him a wave as she strode out the door towards the elevators, her mouth instantly going dry as she prepared herself mentally for what she was about to do.
“Hi Glynda, did you manage to get me an appointment with someone?” she asked the efficient but sometimes difficult woman behind the desk.
Glynda turned a hard and unforgiving eye to Kara. “Yep. Gale. She’s right there.” Glenda raised her chin to the left of her. Kara thanked her and headed that way. Sgt. Gale? Kara gulped and rummaged in her pocket for some gum. Why couldn’t she have gotten anyone but Sgt. Gale? Sgt. Gale was a legend in the department, one of the few women who had ever served on the SWAT team. A hard-charger who never made mistakes, never got emotional, and always closed her cases. A gorgeous blond with a chilly stare who had an unshakable marriage and a pedigreed background. Kara tried to imagine how Sgt. Gale was going to react to this old, cold, butchered case and couldn’t do it.
Kara approached Sgt. Gale’s desk, a tentative smile on her face. Sgt. Gale didn’t look up. Kara touched the back of the chair that sat opposite the desk and cleared her throat. “Sgt. Gale? Glynda said you would see me about my case.”
Finally, the Sergeant looked at Kara, her gaze as cold and gray as her expression. Kara’s smile faltered. She felt anxiety build in her chest. This was exactly what she didn’t need right now. She and Joe had bent a few rules and she didn’t want to deal with some hard ass who was going to rub that in her face. She knew Gale had to be a hard ass with the men, but did she have to keep that persona with women cops? Holding her hand steady, she presented the reports she had brought with her to Sgt. Gale.
Gale waved them away and motioned to the papers on her desk.
She already had the reports. Damn.
She must have searched through the computer as soon as Glynda told her there was an officer-involved stalker case. “Why didn’t this get sent up to my office four months ago?” Sgt. Gale stabbed at the reports with one hand. A glint of metal in her fingers caught Kara’s eye and she followed it. A paper clip.
Kara swallowed hard and tried to think of what to say. She shrugged and sat down. “We didn’t think it was a big deal.”
“Not a big deal? Don't start my day by lying to me. A cop has a stalker and that stalker cuts off a prisoner’s hair and that’s not a big deal?” Sgt. Gale bent the paper clip in half several times while she was talking. Finally it split and she tossed it under her desk with a short, angry jab. Kara heard a soft clink of metal against metal. Sgt. Gale opened her upper right desk drawer and pulled out another paper clip. Kara shook her head slightly, trying to pull her attention away from Gale’s hands.
“We looked into all of that. No one knows who cut off Dawn Reinold’s hair. Officer Bristow went to the prison and talked to the prisoner and the guards. The investigation is at a complete standstill because nobody saw anything or will say anything. The best we can figure right now –”
Gale interrupted her, spitting fire, the split paper clip forgotten for a moment. “A complete standstill? Because two
patrol
officers couldn’t get any information out of some prisoners?” She spit out the word
patrol
like it was a diseased gland. “You
know
all cases regarding officers are to be forwarded to the detectives within twenty-four hours. Who is your desk sergeant?”
Kara’s hopes fell into her shoes. This was not how she had wanted this to go. She didn’t want to get anyone else in trouble. She had asked Joe to make the report without ever telling the desk sergeant what it was about, that way she could cover her butt with a report and start an official investigation, but she wouldn’t get any undue attention. “The desk sergeant didn’t know,” she said softly.
“Who is your desk sergeant?” Gale repeated, her face as hard as ever.
Kara told her, silently cursing whoever this stalker jerk was who was doing this to her. She didn’t need this right now, or ever. If she got in trouble for this it could hurt her chances at being the first female Police Chief in Westwood Harbor. That was one of her most personal and secret dreams and she had never shared it with anyone yet. Not even Joe. Not even Ivy. Not even her dad, although she thought her dad suspected. He knew about her someday political aspirations and he was smart enough to put two and two together. But here she was in the detective’s office hearing those aspirations swirling down the drain, not to mention being reamed out by the one female cop on the force who could probably beat her there.
Gale wrote the name down and started in on her again. “This case is cold now. Your actions have prevented us from catching this guy early. And now it’s going to be four times as hard just to find anything on him -”
The black, old-fashioned phone on Gale’s desk began to ring, cutting her off mid-sentence. She ignored it and continued her tirade. Kara shrunk into herself. Besides not wanting to mess up her career, Kara hated it when anyone disliked her for no reason. She always went out of her way to be kind and polite to people and when the rare person reacted to her like this, it pushed her anxiety buttons.
From across the room, Glynda yelled something. Kara couldn’t tell what it was, but she saw Sgt. Gale scowl and break off her ranting for a moment, paper clip number three held in one hand. She picked up the phone and spoke into it, her one word a clipped spear. “Gale.”
She eyed Kara with distaste, then handed her the phone.
“Hello?” Kara said tentatively, whooping with joy inside at the interruption.
It was the desk sergeant. “Price, I need you to go on an alarm call, intruder seen entering the house, in the Edgewood district.”
“Okay, I’ll go with Joe.”
“Negative, he is already out on a domestic with his recruit. I’ve got your recruit down here. You guys can start a few minutes early.”
“Okay,” Kara said, gritting her teeth and handing the phone back to Sgt. Gale. The only thing worse than going out on a call alone was going out with a brand new green recruit who you hadn’t even had a chance to talk to yet. But anything was better than staying here.
“The sergeant says I have to go on a call.”
Gale’s jaw tightened. “This isn’t over. You get your ass back here when you’re done.”
Kara nodded and hurried away.
Like hell
.
Back downstairs, she grabbed two radios and the keys to a patrol car. She passed the sergeant at a jog, heading to the exit. “Where’s my recruit?” she threw over her shoulder as she moved.
He lifted his chin towards the bathroom and she rolled her eyes. As she passed the bathroom her recruit came out and Kara was immediately confused by his appearance. His uniform was rumpled, almost like he had slept in it. His boots looked dull and dirty. Disingenuously though, his mildly red hair and much redder goatee were strikingly neat. It was like he was a different person above and below the neck. She couldn’t quite place his age. Maybe thirty-five or forty? Old for a recruit. He seemed to trip over his own feet when he saw her. Inwardly, she groaned. Why was she stuck with a slug? Her few interactions with him so far had given her the impression of someone dull-witted and slightly slow. Not exactly what you want in a police officer.
“Howell. You’re with me. Quickly,” she barked at him and pushed her way out the back door without waiting to see if he was keeping up.
Blocking the afternoon sun from her eyes, Kara slid behind the wheel of patrol car number eighty-two and started the engine, then called into service with dispatch and asked for the address of the emergency they were being sent to. She noted her recruit’s movements as he cautiously settled into the passenger seat. She threw the car into reverse and backed out of the stall, flipping on the lights immediately but holding off on the siren until they got out of the parking lot.
They would be to the call in under ten minutes, giving her no time to get anything through to this recruit. She looked through his window past him and then weaved the patrol car through the stopping traffic on his side. His face wore a vapid expression of nervousness.
Great
. She could imagine him tripping over his own feet at the call and getting them both shot. He needed to stay back and stay out of the way and not do anything until she said it was okay. Kara was already in a black mood and the day seemed to be going downhill. Not what she wanted to deal with her first day with a new recruit.
“We are headed to an alarm call with an intruder seen inside the house. There should be at least four of us going on this call, but we are the only two officers available. Now listen very carefully. This is the most important thing I’m going to say to you today and if you don't do exactly as I tell you, I’ll make sure you never get a chance to fuck up again. Got it?” She snuck a look at him. His formerly inane expression head turned wide-eyed and concerned. Good. She knew from experience the recruits normally didn't listen well their first day on the road unless you got loud with them. But she had his attention. Very good, since they would be at the call in about four minutes. “Keep your gun in its holster. The only way you pull that gun out of your holster is if I’m already shot dead. Got it?” She knew that recruits tended to be one of two ways – either they took way too long to resort to deadly force even when it was authorized and put everyone around them in danger, or they grabbed straight for the gun in every situation even when it wasn’t authorized, and put everyone around them in danger. She wouldn’t have a chance to figure out which way he went until it was too late so she was taking the easy way out.
He grunted a yes and she looked at him again. He looked like a different person suddenly. His face was all hard lines and angry tension. He was pissed, and she didn’t understand why. Maybe because she was younger than him? Maybe he had a problem with women? She didn’t know, but it would bear watching.
She flipped their siren off as they entered the neighborhood, then rolled down her window and found the house easily. The blaring whoop whoop of a house alarm emanated from a large white tri-level on the middle of the street full of noble and grandiose older houses. She had always loved this neighborhood. Kara pulled in front of the house and put the car in park, then told dispatch they had arrived on scene. She got out and rounded behind the vehicle, her eyes crawling over the house itself. “Stay behind me,” she growled at her recruit as he exited his side door.
Here we go
, she thought, dividing her mind equally between observing her recruit and keeping them both safe.