Page 9 of Dirty Cops Next Door

4

Toni

“Let me help you with those.”I turned as I heard Grant come up behind me, his hands reaching out for the bags of groceries I was trying to carry in. “Damn woman, you’re strong!”

I laughed as he took the weight of the nine bags I’d been attempting to get into the house in one run.

“No, just determined not to get rained on.” I glanced up at the sky before heading to unlock the front door.

“Good thing I was checking the mail when you pulled up then. You shouldn’t have to carry all of this by yourself. Eric at the diversion program?” He followed me into the house and set the bags on the long oak table in the kitchen. We had a dining room but Eric and I both preferred to eat in the kitchen, there was more light in the morning.

“Yeah, he started it this week. He had to wait until his stitches were out. The doctor wouldn’t release him until then.” I started putting boxes of food away, hanging fruit and vegetables in baskets. “He seems to be alright with it so far.”

The program was a sixteen-week course designed to take young offenders from community service through litter pickup all the way up to visiting the elderly in nursing homes. Fridays were spent testing and focusing on skill development.

“It’s a great program, really.” I turned to Grant after putting the milk away. “It’s just so expensive!”

He cringed as he heard my tone and looked sheepish.

“Yeah, it is, but it’s meant to be so there’s a total impact. It’s designed so guardians know that they have to pay attention to their kid’s future, and so the kid knows their life choices have costs. It’s kept David and the chief happy so far, and that’s what matters for Eric.”

“I don’t think he could have been charged with anything, could he?” I held out a bottle of white wine, giving Grant a questioning look.

“Sure, I’ll have a glass with you.” He gave me a cheeky grin, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

Being with him was so easy, so comfortable. I just had to remember to watch what I said around him. He took a sip before answering my question.

“I don’t know if he could have been charged with anything or not. We talked to the chief to keep him out of it. Mark’s dad has a really expensive lawyer that’s keeping his kid’s name out of it all. If nothing else, they were witnesses to a crime and should have been questioned. You know that, don’t you?” He didn’t look like he was trying to push me into knowing I owed him, it was more like he wanted me to know Eric had to be more careful.

“Yeah, I know.” I came to sit at the table next to him, my leg brushing against his as I did. I felt aware of him in more than the usual way of being able to smell him and feel him. I felt like I could close my eyes and still feel exactly where he was. “It’s been over two weeks now. I can’t get him to stop hanging out with that kid.”

“Mark’s trouble, but Eric is smart. He’ll figure it out.” Grant looked as though he wanted to take my hand but something stopped him. He took a sip of the wine instead.

“He says he wants to save Mark. That it’s not his fault his dad is a drug dealer.” I took a sip of my own wine to hide my face. I knew I wore every thought I had, and I wasn’t sure what I felt just now so I wanted to hide it.

“Eric’s right. It was a kid like Eric that saved me, you know.” He leaned forward onto his elbows, staring out of the window into the darkness across from the table.

“What do you mean?” I asked quietly, not wanting to break the mood of the moment. I wanted to know more about the man I’d been spending more time around but barely knew anything about. “Was it David?”

“No, but a guy like David. Strong, serious, tough as fuck.” He looked sheepish for a moment but kept going when I didn’t protest the bad language. “He was a fighter but he fought for good; he set me on a new path.”

“Was?” That wasn’t a good sign. I leaned forward, wanting to hear more.

“Yeah. We lived in a town called Portsmouth, ever heard of it?” He paused long enough to let me shake my head in the negative. “It’s a port town, on the coast. Has lots of Navy types floating around, people with huge yachts and bad habits. Tim was a couple of years ahead of me in high school when I met him, took me under his wing, kept me out of trouble.”

He paused, taking a sip of the wine and I knew he wanted something stronger but I didn’t have it. I waited for him to gather his thoughts.

“We were at the basketball court at my mom’s apartment complex. Just shooting hoops, you know? He’d kept me out of the drug scene, even after he graduated. He was trying to get into the state police academy but a bum knee was giving him problems. He’d come around in the evenings, almost like one of those guys from the Big Brother program.”

I shook my head again, dreading where this was going. I had a horrible suspicion.

“Drugs were bad in my neighborhood. Crack most of the time, some weed and heroin, but usually crack. That shit made people crazy! I just wanted to finish school and get the hell out of that place, and Tim was trying to help me do just that.”

He paused again, swallowing what was left of his wine so I poured him some more.

“This car came creeping by. Slow, with the lights off. Tim saw it first and tried to pull me to the ground, but he was too late. They’d already started shooting.” His voice broke and he looked out into the night again, the memory obviously replaying in his mind. “He fell on me, and all I could do was sit there and pray that the bullets wouldn’t hit me. The car sped away and that’s when I felt something warm spreading along my back.”

He gulped down more wine.