AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I heard Sarah whisper shouting in the hall the instant the door closed behind her. "Annie Knox, you wait."
Instantly there was a nurse, being far louder and shushing her, and I knew she'd be held up for just long enough.
I hit the next hall at a dead run.
"Young lady!" That was yet another shocked nurse.
I said, "Sorry!" and fled. Ahead of me there were stairs. I sprinted to the exit, grabbed the knob, and went up instead of down.
Sarah followed and I heard her cursing as she came through the metal fire door, then heard her footsteps descending.
I spent a quarter of an hour on the stairs, breathing and thinking. I couldn't talk to Sarah. She made demands and if she got nowhere with me she'd go to mom and mom had to have my number. Sarah had no clue what I did. She probably thought I was some kind of Charlie's Angels private investigator.
Sarah could get me killed.
So could the anxiety that was kicking its way up inside me again.
I didn't go home. First there was coffee, then there was a bar where I bought shots of Patron and downed them like they were antivenom. No one came near me. Obviously when I'm on the job, doing my best at being a high school student, I don't put out vibes of being a cop.
But sometimes in a place like this it's all too obvious. The uniform's still there, even if you haven't worn it in over two years.
The bar wasn't any good for thinking. The bartender wanted to take my keys. I lied and told him I’d come here by bus. No way I was getting stranded a city far away from where I lived.
More coffee after the shots sobered me up. By late afternoon I was ready to head back to Seattle with way too much time to think.
I needed to get back on the job. I was running toward the end of my month anyway and I was clean, or at least I would be by the time day 30 rolled around. Get back to work. Get Samuels to find me a new undercover because that shit was still out there on the streets. Maybe Jesse was gone, that didn't mean someone hadn't instantly moved into his role.
There'd be a period of time that I’d be inhouse, doing paperwork, maybe talking to IAD. I might even have to talk to them about my Dad's case. That was fine. It wasn't like IAD didn't know who I was.
But most of the department didn't know how deep I was. Not when I was working. Only Samuels and whoever he answered to.
So he was the one I needed to talk to.
"Knox?"
"Yeah?" It came out kind of a question, not because I didn't know who I was. Because I didn't know who he was. He wasn't Samuels. A second later I had it. "Charlie?" Tad Charles, big, buff, black and beastly, everyone said. I thought he was a pussycat but maybe only because he actually liked me.
"Damn, girl, you've picked a bad time to resurface. You wanna stay low."
My heart started thudding hard in my chest. Charlie was talking low, trying not to draw attention, though honestly in the PD that probably drew it more than anything else.
"What's going on?" My voice came out harsh and demanding. I was standing on a corner in Portland, not wanting to look too closely at the impulse that had led me to call in while I was still three hours away.
"Clusterfuck," he said. "This one came home. Loot's still in charge, but there's been some rearranging the furniture."
I considered pulling the phone away from my ear. Instead I sighed. "You want to tell me this in English?"
"Not so much," he said, but his voice cleared, and he stopped the hoarse whispering. He must have been alone. "Samuels is out."
That actually made me stagger back a step, my back catching against the wall of one of those bus shelter things. "What? Why? How?"
"Maybe 'cause he's dirty?" Charlie said. "Maybe because he didn't bring you in but hung you out. Don't worry, Annix." That was Charlie's weird nickname for me. "Admin can figure out why you needed the time but they're not saying anything and that means you're still true blue. You're not the first that got her dick wet."
I laughed aloud at that. "And that translates to?"
I could hear the smile in his voice fade. "You okay? I'm not gonna say why I'm asking. I think you know."
I swallowed hard several times and looked out at the Portland day. "I know. They know?"
"They suspect, and that's different. Nobody's bringing anything to your door. Not about that. You've done a lot of good. You come back healthy, they'll let it slide. But Samuels – you worked with him. So give it some time."
That was all he was going to say about it. Honestly? That's probably all I needed to know. Fucking Samuels had fucking sold me to that maniac St. Martin. I couldn't be sorry he was gone, just frustrated I was hung out here until the month ended. With the rising anxiety and everything going on in my life, a month felt like a threat.
It felt dangerous.
