Page 49 of Diamonds in the Mud

“They don’t open for another hour,” I said. “What’s the issue?”

Both men nodded to the building. I heard it then. Something inside broke followed by a shout and then another scream.

Pulling out my service weapon, I banged on the door. “Police. Open up,” I shouted.

“We tried that,” Owen said. “We were just about to go in.”

Without hesitating, I broke the glass with the butt of my gun and pushed through the door.

Declan O’Malley was kneeling over the unconscious body of Evelyn Hart. I shouted for him to get his hands up as the other two officers held weapons on the man.

Then I watched Declan’s arm jerk back as if he prepared to hit Evelyn and something deep inside me snapped. I flew across the room and jumped on the man, taking him with me to the ground.

We scuffled for a few seconds, during which time I made sure my elbow connected to his gut and groin before rolling him over and slapping my cuffs on him.

I prayed that the man would continue to fight me. Thankfully, he did. Two quick moves and he was pinned like a pig under my knees.

“Call an ambulance,” I said when Evelyn coughed up blood.

“I didn’t do nothing,” Declan screamed. “It’s not me. I didn’t do nothing,” he said again. “Someone else did that to her.”

“Well now,” I said leaning right next to his ear, “this time she doesn’t have to file charges since you just had three officers witness the whole thing.”

Declan bucked, trying to get free from my hold. I shoved my knee deeper into his back and heard him grunt.

“I’m playing nice,” I warned him. “You know the drill. This time, you’re not getting off so easily.”

Then Declan started screaming. “You’ll pay, bitch.”

Seeing the man hauled away and locked in the back of a patrol car had to be the highlight of my afternoon.

Seeing Evelyn being taken away in the back of an ambulance dulled that moment of justice for me.

“We can handle this from now,” Abe said to me.

“This is mine,” I told him, meaning it. I wanted to see this one through. It mattered to me. Evelyn mattered.

I’d spoken to the woman a handful of times in the past week. Warned her about Declan. Talked to her about her six-year-old son, Tristan.

From the amount of blood coating the floor and her clothes, she’d be lucky to survive the night. Her head and face were so swollen that the only way I knew it was her was by the color of her hair and the clothes that she was wearing.

Jesus, this job sometimes made me think.

After talking to witnesses, and making sure the crime scene photographers took enough photos of the mess, I headed back to my office to work on the paperwork to keep Declan locked behind bars.

When I finally saw the text from Jameson, I had just sent my report over to my captain.

“Heard you had a productive afternoon. I’ve got to call tonight off since I have work now that Declan’s busy. Rain check for tomorrow?”

Well, shit. There went my evening. I had been looking forward to a repeat of the night before. Still, I knew I’d probably be better off catching up on my sleep.

“Sounds good. See you then. Sorry I didn’t tell you. I’ve been kinda busy,” I responded.

“Understood. Night,” he texted back almost immediately.

Glancing at my watch, I sighed and rolled my shoulders as I leaned back in my chair.

I watched Quincy walk into the bullpen. He eyed me and made a beeline towards me. Shit.