“Have you lost your mind?” That was what Kyle said over the phone as soon as she said “Hello.”

“Kyle, I’ve just spent an hour hashing this out with Micah. My head hurts. I don’t want to do this with you right now…”

“You think I give a shit when you want to do this, Angel? Since you were ten years old you’ve been telling me that girls can do anything boys can…only better. So, when was the last time you saw one of your fellow detectives falling in love with a felon and giving up their life for them? I’ll tell you the last time I saw it happen. I’d been on the force about six years and I collared a gang member for a murder. But it turned out he had an airtight alibi. He was seeing his parole officer at the time. But you know what we figured out later, Angel? He was seeing her all right. He was fucking her. But, he wasn’t seeing her the day he shot the rival gang member…she was lying for him. I saw her not too long ago. You want to know where I saw her?” Angel didn’t answer him. He was going to tell her whether she wanted to hear it or not. “She was my waitress at Denny’s. She served up one hell of a Grand Slam.”

“Kyle, this doesn’t have anything to do with women versus men on the job. You know I’m a good cop.”

“Good cops do not fall in love with the bad guy, male or female.”

“Humans can’t help who they fall in love with, and if you trusted me as a cop, you’d believe me when I tell you that Dax Marshall is not a bad guy. He’s gone out of his way since he’s been president of the Skulls to get them into more legitimate businesses. He’s the reason that we haven’t been cleaning up bodies all over town for the past ten years. It’s not the Skulls you need to worry about. It’s the Sinners. They’re the ones causing all of the chaos and if you trusted my intel, you would know that.”

“I did trust your intel…right up to the point where you told your fiancé that you were in love with a thug. Listen to me, Angel. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot waltz into the captain’s office and announce that you’re quitting in the middle of an investigation like this. That’s going to cast all kinds of suspicion on you.”

“Suspicion? I haven’t done anything wrong, Kyle. I did my job. We collared the guys that burnt down that house. We have them on murder and arson charges. I’ve given up every piece of information I had on the Skulls and the Sinners both. So far, no one has been able to make any kind of charges stick against the Skulls, but that’s not my fault. I’m not going to make things up.”

“Angel, you’re being naïve. Even if I believe what you’re saying, do you honestly think the rest of the department is going to? Jesus, I knew this was a bad idea. I should have been there for you more…after Dad…”

Angel sighed. “Kyle, this isn’t about Dad. I told Micah and I’ll tell you, I’m not having a breakdown. I miss Dad. I worshipped him. He was my hero.” She felt as guilty as hell too, because she knew that his death was her fault, “But I’m not making decisions for my future based on how much I’m hurting over that loss.” Besides, Dax was the one there for her when her dad died…even if he hadn’t known it.

“You’re making shitty decisions, and Dad would be so disappointed in you.”

“That’s not fair.” Angel felt tears begin to sting her eyes, but they were tears of frustration, not sadness. She looked over at the mantle, where she kept her favorite photo of her dad. It was from last Christmas, and he was sitting in his favorite chair with his Santa hat cocked to one side, laughing at whatever was in his hand. You couldn’t see what it was in the photo, but it didn’t matter. His smile and his laugh had always been infectious. You didn’t even have to get the joke to be laughing right along with him. She missed him. She hated that her mistakes were why he wasn’t here any longer, but she refused to wallow in it. She knew he wouldn’t want her to and she knew that no matter how badly she wanted to, she couldn’t change what happened. She could only set it straight. And she intended to do just that. She didn’t believe that he would ever be disappointed with her, and if she could talk to him right that minute, he wouldn’t even be angry. He’d tell her that he knew she’d done her best, and never would she ever purposely do anything to put him or any of the rest of her family in jeopardy. He had raised her to think for herself, make her own decisions, and go after whatever made her happy. That’s all she was doing, deciding about her own future. Everyone else acted like she was trying to tell them what to do with theirs.

“Angel…I’m not trying to be mean here. I just need you to understand…”

“I have to go, Kyle.” Angel ended the call while Kyle was still talking. She put the phone down and walked over to the fireplace mantle. As she picked up the photo of her handsome father, she felt the tear slide down her cheek. “I’m going to make this right, Dad. As right as it can be without you being here. But Micah and Kyle are wrong about Dax. He’s not a rebound because I’m depressed over losing you. I’m stronger than that. He’s a good man and he loves me and I know in my heart that’s all you ever wanted for me…to be loved for who I am.” She said all that out loud to the empty room, and the “who I am” seemed to echo off the walls. The truth was that Dax didn’t know who she really was. Would he still want her when he did? What if she gave up everything and then he didn’t want her? “Are you disappointed in me, Dad?” she whispered. “Do you think I’m doing the wrong thing?”

The sound of the phone ringing startled her. It wasn’t the phone on the counter, it was the one in her purse. Dax was calling.