Marital Bitch (Men with Badges) - By Jc Emery Page 0,36

I know that you can never make it through Noah and Ally’s reunion without tearing up—,” there’s more, but James stops reading, thank God.

One of the rookies whose name I’ve forgotten takes the opportunity to rag on Brad. “I want all of you, forever!” he shouts to Brad. James is still laughing his ass off, though he won’t be for long—not after I tell Mama and Darla about this.

Big brother, you’re going down.

John claps his son on the shoulder, trying to withhold his laughter. “You know, son,” he clears his throat, “There’s no shame in liking those girly movies.” Brad pulls away from him, his back to me.

My dad takes the opportunity to chime in. “John’s right, kid,” he rubs his mustache thoughtfully. “Those movies keep Louise’s engine going strong, even with the on-set of menopause.” I cringe and James verbally protests. I can hear John in the background agreeing. If I wasn’t so mortified and sorry for embarrassing Brad like this, I would be thoroughly disgusted by our fathers’ topic of conversation—our mothers’ libidos.

Brad leans in close, his voice icy. “So that’s your game, Frasier?” he snaps. I gulp. This is not how you go about impressing your husband. Not at all.

“Patrick,” I correct him, nose firmly in the air. He knows damn well what my last name is.

“Okay, then,” he smiles in the most unfriendly way imaginable. “Game on, Patrick.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

(Brad)

My wife just declared war on me.

I WAKE UP to the buzzing of my Blackberry. The alarm clock says it’s four in the fucking morning. I twist around and grab it off the nightstand before it can wake up Colleen—not that much wakes her up—she snores as loud as a semi-truck coming down the turnpike.

“Patrick,” I mumble into the phone, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

“I hate to wake you up, Sugar, but you gotta get down here,” the soft voice on the other end says, sounding as beat as I am. I stretch and kiss the back of Colleen’s head before crawling out of bed.

“What’s going on, Vicky, you back?” I ask. If Vicky’s calling that likely means she’s off suspension and back on the streets. It’s about damn time.

“I wish, Sugar. They got me on dispatch. Listen, a lady called in a 41-C on the 600 block of East Broadway around midnight, but then disappeared before our guys could get there. I just got a report of a D.B. at the same location. Caller thinks the vic was a pro. Could be the same vic. James is already on his way.”

“Shit. Good morning to you, too, Vicky,” I bitch into the phone. I hate getting a call like this. When I joined the academy, I never thought I’d be dealing with rape victims and dead bodies, but somebody has to do it. “10-4, L-30,” I say letting her know it’s going to be a good half an hour before I get to the scene.

“No time for a good morning wank, eh?” she laughs, knowing how hard my morning problem had been since Colleen moved in.

“Shut up, Vic,” I grumble and hang up on her. Goddamn women.

I WALK INTO the lobby from the squad room, finding Vicky at the front desk. I yawn and plop down on the free chair beside her.

“I’m gonna tell you how this is gonna go, okay? I’m gonna sit down here and play with the phones all day and you can go work the 10-16 I woke up to this morning,” I say. I let my head fall back and close my eyes.

“Nice try, Detective,” Vicky laughs. “Now, get to why you’re really here. You only come to talk to me for one reason… so out with it—what’s your girl done now?” Now I’m laughing, because this chick doesn’t mess around. She gets straight to the point. Always.

“Nothing,” I say and let out a heavy sigh.

“Bullshit. You two are always fighting.”

“That’s just it. She hasn’t done anything and it’s making me edgy,” I admit.

“So, it’s all marital bliss at home, then?”

“Yeah,” I whine in probably the least manly way possible. “And the messed up thing is that she’s playing June Cleaver or something. She’s always trying to help. And she makes me dinner; and even when it tastes like crap, it’s great, ya know? Or—she orders pizza that she knows I like; and if I’m not home for dinner, she puts it in the microwave for me to heat up. She’s being so damn nice and I don’t know what to do with