Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

MADDEN

I'm one of the only members of the Laurel Springs PD who didn't rush out of here like their ass was on fire. While I enjoy The Café, I don't have the personal connection that everyone else does. Instead, I stay back, and finish my reports.

Donut shifts at my feet, and it's then I realize I've been hunched over the laptop for almost two hours. Stretching, I yawn loudly and move my neck from side to side. My body is stiff from sitting here for so long, but I'm done for the night, and now I can go home.

"You ready to go?" I ask Donut, who stands and wags his tail.

Gathering up our stuff, I log out of my laptop and then we head toward my truck. As we're leaving, I see Becca doing the same. We step outside at the same time.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asks, but I'm looking at her, and I'm not sure what she's talking about. "The sunrise. I hate working overnight, but when I get to leave and see the sun breaking over the horizon, I'm reminded of the brand new day, and excited for the possibilities."

I tilt my head to the side. "That's a very introspective way of looking at things."

"I've had to be introspective the last few months."

This is the first I'm hearing about anything changing in her world, but then again, we don't normally share lunch or breaks. We only see one another during working shifts if we're here at the same time. "Is everything okay?"

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, as if she's contemplating on whether to tell me what's changed in her life. "I have custody of my eight-year-old nephew, and it's been difficult."

I slow blink. "Wow, that's a lot of responsibility to take on."

"Someone had to." She shrugs. "There weren't many people who could, and I refused to let him go into foster care."

"Who watches him while you work over nights?" What if there's a man in her life she doesn't talk about?

"Our cousin. She and I are roommates because rent is so expensive these days, and she helps watch him when I have to work. It's hard, but we're leaning on each other." She pushes her hair back from her forehead and sighs heavily.

"Can I ask where his parents are? If you don't want to tell me, I get it."

She rolls her lips together and crosses her arms over her chest. I get the feeling it's more to protect her from her feelings than to ward off the slight coolness of the night. "He's my brother's son. My brother has a drug problem, and he's doing time in Birmingham right now. His mom died of a drug overdose when he was six. It's not been a great situation."

My stomach drops as she describes her family life. "I'm so sorry. I know that's difficult."

"It's not." She sniffs, her nose red as we continue to stand outside. "But if I don't do it, no one else will. My parents have gone no contact with him, and unfortunately that includes Mick, my nephew."

I can't imagine punishing a kid because of something their parent did, but then again I've never been in their shoes. "That's hard." I grip Donut's leash. "If you ever need anything, I'm around. Let me give you my cell number."

"Madden." She shakes her head, holding up her hand. "You don't have to do that."

I recognize the look on her face. It's the same one my sister has every time I point out she's a single mother and she should accept my help when I offer it. "I'm not doing it because I feel like you need assistance, I'm doing it because I want to be your friend."

She licks her bottom lip before pulling it in between her teeth. "I don't have many of those, and I could always use more."

"Then let me help you. What's your number?" I ask her, pulling my cell from my pocket, fingers poised to input the digits. She rattles it off, and I take it, firing a text off to her. "There, you have mine in case you ever need it. You can text me, even if you don't need me, and just want to talk."

She glances down at the phone in her hand, watching as the screen lights up. "Thanks. I appreciate it more than you know. It's been lonely, because no one my age has an eight-year-old. Nor did they not have a child one day, and then have one the next. I'm trying to figure out where my life goes from here." She shrugs.

"How long is your brother in prison for?" I can't help the questions coming out of my mouth. Truth be told, I could look this information up, but I want Becca to trust me. I'd prefer for her to confide in me, not me bulldoze the information out of her.

"Ten years, but if he has good behavior, and if he'd talk about the people he was working for, he'd not have to serve all of it. Instead, he's keeping his mouth shut, and he's going to be stuck serving the entire sentence."

"You say that as if you want him to rat out his friends."

Her jaw's working overtime, grinding her teeth together. "They were never his friends. They were users, and he had a substance abuse issue. He played right into their hands." She presses her lips together, eyes glowing with tears in the dim light of the morning.

"I'm sorry. People like him are easy to manipulate. I wish you didn't have to deal with that."

"Yeah, me too. Look, I gotta go." She reaches up, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "I'll see you around?"

"I hope so." I give her a smile. "Be safe going home, and remember, if you need me; call me."

I watch as she walks away, getting into a late-model Honda CRV, starts it up, and makes a turn onto the main road. Donut and I wait until we can't see her tail lights before we get in my truck, and head home.