Colton (Cerberus MC #14) - Marie James Page 0,12
seat across from me, but she ignores the traffic code on the corner of my desk.
“Most of them, either that or they’re divorced.” I study her when she frowns. “Dresden’s marriage won’t last either but I wouldn’t suggest getting in the middle of it right now.”
“I wouldn’t,” she snaps, sounding offended. “So, there’s a high divorce rate among police officers?”
I can’t stop the snort that leaves my nose. “The first thing the training officer told my class during the academy was to get the first marriage out of the way.”
“Really?” Her cute little nose scrunches up as if she’s disgusted.
“I take it your parents are still together?”
“Aren’t yours?”
“Well, yeah, but my dad isn’t a cop.”
She nods, conceding the fact, but she still looks curious. “How old are you?”
“Old enough.”
“Yet acting twelve with that response.” She leans back in her chair, arms crossed over her stomach, and fuck, that damn shirt is going to be the death of me.
“Thirty-five, and before you have the chance to ask, I was divorced before I was old enough to even go into the police academy.”
I turn my attention back to the stack of cases on my desk, shuffling through them until I find the one that needs to be worked on today.
“What?”
“We have everything we need to clear this case today, but I’d like you to look through it and see if there’s anything that catches your eye.” I offer her the folder, effectively shutting down whatever questions she could want to ask next.
I keep my work and personal life separate for a reason, and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon.
“A drunk driving accident?” she asks, but her eyes keep scanning the file. “Isn’t this open and shut? The man blew a point two-nine at the scene. By the time he got to the hospital for the blood draw it was even higher. Oh God. The entire family?” Emotion clogs her throat, but for some reason it calms me.
I lost sleep last night questioning her lack of response to the scene with the elderly woman yesterday.
“The mother, father, and their four-year-old son,” I confirm. “They were on their way back from a playdate.”
“This is awful.”
“The worst. Ramshaw was the first on the scene. He’s a stronger man than me.”
“Was he able to hold it together?”
I shake my head, dropping my eyes to my desk when she looks up at me. Man, people hurting kids. It’s just something I have serious trouble dealing with.
“He worked the scene. Gave the breathalyzer. Handcuffed the man. Made sure to transport the drunk driver to the hospital to get everything we would need to make sure he’s locked away for a long time.”
“Isn’t that what he’s supposed to do?” I nod. “But not what you would’ve done?”
I lift my eyes to hers. “I would have unloaded both my magazines into him.”
She looks back down to the folder, brushing a tear off her cheek. There was no judgment, no disappointment on her face before she broke eye contact.
“He’s twenty,” she gasps.
“In his statement, he said he was too scared to call someone for a ride. Since he’s underage, he knew his parents would lose their shit about him drinking. He decided to take the chance.”
“My dad would be livid if I called home drunk and needed a ride home,” she whispers. “But I still wouldn’t get behind the wheel of a car. How selfish.”
“Who would you call?” I ask.
“Anyone but Dad.” She looks up, winking at me, and the sadness filling the office fades away. “Who would you have called?”
“If I were that young and in trouble?” She nods. “My dad. It wouldn’t be the first time he had to bail me out of a life changing situation. Do you drink often?”
It’s a college student’s rite of passage, right? I mean, I wouldn’t know because my college courses were taken several years after high school graduation, and responsibilities kept me from living that type of life.
“Not really. I mean, I can have a couple beers at the clubhouse, but there’s always a bed to crash in or someone able to take me back home.”
A bed to crash in. Why does that sentence bring up a little green monster?
“I can’t get drunk.”
“Never? Didn’t you go away for college?”
“Albuquerque,” she confirms. “And what Daddy doesn’t know, doesn’t hurt him.”
Another wink.
Another erection I’m going to have to talk down before I can stand from this desk.
“If you’re ever in the situation and need a ride, you can always call me.”
“I don’t