Thirteen

“You’re making me regret this, Mark,” Chris said quietly as she stirred the cup of coffee in front of her. “Can’t you go back to regular police work?”

They sat in the diner that belonged to the Seal Rock Inn, a small motel way out at the west end of the city, overlooking the Pacific. They sat huddled together at a small table, the one farthest away from the windows. The meeting place had been his call, one he’d made on the fly. It wasn’t great, and he couldn’t be seen being here for long, not in this place, not with a woman who was so obviously not a hooker or a pusher. But she’d sent the text, using the code they’d together set up before he went underground. She’d sent him the code that meant it was desperate, and he’d texted back to meet at the first place he could think of that would be safe, using the least amount of time.

“Look,” he told her, “I’m close now. I’m moving up the chain. I’m close.”

She shook her head. “When you said you wanted to be cop? Back after college? I thought you’d be in homicide or something, capturing murderers. Maybe even moving up, getting promoted, so you wouldn’t even be out on the streets with all the crazy, dangerous people.”

“I know,” he answered. “But to get to that, I need to make a case for myself and my abilities. That’s this work, Chris, the work I’m doing now.” He sat back. Looked out the windows at the ocean. What he wouldn’t give then to just be on a boat with her and Anna, sailing away to a new life.

“What if something happens to you? What if something happens to Anna, and I can’t reach you?” She shook her head. Took a sip of her coffee. “It’s too dangerous. I’m not sure I’m cut out for you being on this duty.”

“Come on,” he said, reaching out and stroking her hair, “you know that even if I agreed with what you were saying, you know it wouldn’t be right away, right? I just can’t … disappear. And do you think Stevens, or the guys above that fucker would let me just walk away? Now? I can’t, Chris.” He took her hand. Held it to his chest. “I promise you, once this case is over, I’ll see what I can do to get pulled … to other duty. But right now? Right now I need to bring in these guys and send them to jail.” That’s what Monster Mallen would’ve done, and that was a fact.

She looked into his eyes then. Really studied them. He’d let her into his life more than any other person that he’d ever known. Even more than his own parents. If there was one person who could read him, it would be her.

After a long moment, she looked away. Took a sip of her coffee. Looked out the window. “Okay, Mark,” she said, “I’ll wait for this to be over.”