Max drove back to the city on autopilot, not seeing the rolling farmland that surrounded the women’s prison. Normally he took time to appreciate his surroundings, but today he couldn’t get out of his own head long enough to take notice of anything else. The way there he’d been anxious, even worried, about the result of the hearing, but not knowing which was better. Keith certainly wanted Molly to remain in prison for as long as possible, but his wife, Sara, had a more forgiving nature.

The whole situation was crazy in Max’s opinion, but he supposed everything in life had the potential to turn upside down, least of all who you fell in love with. He was sure Keith had no intention of marrying his druggie baby’s mother’s cousin, but that’s exactly what happened. Molly had relinquished her parental rights, twice, but Keith still worried that she’d change her mind and try to get visitation with his son Carter. Sara, bless her heart, still worried about Molly, even after she’d forced Sara to drive her car into a brick wall, nearly killing them both. And that was after a heart attack inducing chase on the highway, and Max wasn’t just saying that, he’d been there and witnessed it all.

Luckily nobody was permanently injured, and property damage was minimal. Molly had been arrested on the scene and never made bail. Even Sara couldn’t persuade Keith to go that far, and Molly had no one else who cared whether she was in jail or not. No one except her grandmother and she happened to think jail was exactly the right spot for Molly. Not because she didn’t love her, but because she desperately wanted Molly to get the help she needed.

From what Max had seen of her this morning, she’d definitely received the care she needed while inside. She hadn’t turned around, so he’d only seen her from behind and caught a glimpse of her profile when he’d stood to address the Board. Her hair had returned to its natural auburn color from the garish bottle red it had been the last time he saw her, and she’d put on a few much-needed pounds.

Everything he saw told him she looked healthy and put together and he didn’t mean that she was dressed nicely and made up.

No, he meant that Molly looked present, in the moment, not high as a kite or falling over drunk. And not miserable and depressed because she wasn’t high or drunk. Max couldn’t explain how he knew she had recovered, maybe it was his years of experience as a cop, but he just knew. There were no jerky or twitchy movements, no head hanging or defensive bravado. Sure she was tense, but that was to be expected as she sat in the hard, wooden chair and awaited her fate. Max had no doubt that Molly was one hundred percent there, at least as far as he could tell from the fifteen minutes he watched her from the back of the room. There was a chance that it was all an act, or an extremely good show of rehabilitation for the board, and it would dissolve in a puff of smoke as soon as she left the room, but he sincerely hoped not.

The Board granted her request for early release and Molly would soon be facing much tougher situations than sitting in a closed room with a guard watching her every move, trying to gain freedom. Soon she’d be back in the real world, trying to find a job and learning to live without the escape of alcohol and drugs.

At least it would be a few more weeks until she was released, and, based on Max’s experience, more than likely it would end up being closer to two months. Molly had hoops to jump through and plenty of red tape and paperwork ahead of her. They had to find a place for her to live, but then her counselors would also have to give the final approval to her being released into the world. They’d likely written recommendations for the Board, but this was a fact hidden from the inmates, if they felt like there was any backsliding by the inmate, the counselor could post-pone the release until they determined the person was ready.

While he was sure Molly was eager to get out, Max was thankful for the additional time she’d spend in prison. It would give her time to get ready to make the transition, and it should have given him time to break the news to Keith. But, Keith would be calling him tonight to find out what happened, and Max wouldn’t lie to his friend, or sugarcoat the news. Keith was a straight shooter, just like their mutual friend Derek, and expected the same from his friends. It was astonishing that Keith wanted to have anything to do with Max considering the only reason they met was when Derek called in a favor the night Sara took off with Molly and ended up in the hospital.

After that, Max had been welcomed into their circle of friends, which included Keith’s older brother Kevin, and Nate, another friend of Derek’s that worked in the same factory as Keith and Kevin. They were all around the same age, and they had wives or long-term girlfriends, which Max thought would be awkward at first. Fortunately, all the women were friendly and approachable, and Max never felt like a third wheel. Occasionally there’d be a few other single guys from the factory in the mix, but even when there wasn’t, hanging out with this group of people was always a good time.

Keith and Sara were particularly welcoming to him, probably because he’d kept in close contact since the accident. He’d acted as a sort of liaison between them and the legal proceedings since Sara wasn’t well enough to attend, and Keith didn’t want her to anyway. The couple endured the stress of Sara’s recovery and Molly’s sentencing, and now, Max dreaded being the bearer of the news that Molly would be back in town.

He pulled into the station an hour later, and parked in one of the only available spaces left this late in the day, all the way in the back. Balancing the two coffees, he’d swung through the drive-thru to pick up a few minutes before, along with the case files he’d brought home last night, Max began the trek to the building.

This station was the largest in the city, right in the center of downtown, and included the department’s administrative offices and the main jail. Max had worked hard to earn his spot in the narcotics division here after spending a few years in one of the smaller districts as a junior detective. His time in an area that was almost the ‘burbs had been incredibly boring, but some days he wished he was back there. Lately he wondered how much longer he could keep watching people throw their lives away or hurt those around them in order to get high. He never imagined there would be a day when the job felt draining, especially not at the ripe old age of thirty, but the past few months he found himself thinking a change might be good. Not to mention he’d like to settle down sometime soon. Maybe.

After walking what felt like a mile, Max finally reached the front door, but couldn’t figure out a way to get the damn thing open without dropping his files or spilling hot coffee all over his white dress shirt.

Before either of those outcomes occurred, the door swung open from the inside, much to Max’s relief. Unfortunately, when he spotted his savior, looking smug and self-satisfied, his relief faded.

He’d almost rather have spilled the coffee than encounter Tina Roundtree immediately upon arrival, especially after this morning. Not that she was tough on the eyes, not at all. Tall, thin, with chestnut hair that flowed halfway down her back, Tina was gorgeous. An almost model perfect woman. Except her looks were definitely only skin deep. Max had firsthand knowledge of why everyone’s least favorite administrative assistant was decidedly unattractive on the inside.

Shortly after she started six months ago, she asked him out for coffee. He made the mistake of accepting her invitation which somehow led to him picking her up for dinner the following Friday. Max still wasn’t sure how it happened. One minute he was drinking a double espresso, wondering how one person could talk so much about themselves in twenty minutes, and the next she was sending him an email with the details of the reservations she’d made before their coffee date, including helpful instructions about what he should wear and when he needed to pick her up. To make matters worse, she immediately blabbed to everyone in the station that they had a date, even dropping hints that they were on their way to something serious, so Max couldn’t back out without looking like a complete jerk.

The following Friday found Max rushing home from work to shower and put on his charcoal suit, like Tina demanded, and picking her up at six thirty on the dot. But that was the end of his compliance. He’d spent the week being hassled at the station by everyone from his partner to woman who worked the front desk. Apparently, Max was the only person in the building that didn’t know Tina had set her sights on him, and was determined to catch him, whether Max liked it or not. If she thought he’d roll over easily she had another thing coming. He wasn’t the type of man to be led around by his balls. Sure, he respected women and would cherish the right one when he found her, but being told how to dress and where to go by some lady who didn’t even try to pretend to be interested in him made Max want to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Tina seemed to think that her looks gave her a free pass to treat anyone she decided was beneath her like a peasant, and him like an accessory. During their coffee date, in between her ramblings about shoes and exercising while eating nothing but salad, she asked question after question, clearly on a fact-finding mission. By the end of the hour, Max had divulged that he owned his own home in a decent part of the city, that he had a currently vacant apartment over his garage, drove an SUV during the week and a motorcycle on the weekends in the summer, and was considering taking the lieutenant’s exam in the future. She was an obvious gold digger, though Max didn’t think his salary could get her quite as many pairs of shoes as she may have assumed.

Her behavior after that day made it obvious that she thought their future was already a foregone conclusion, or at least a good bet. Max couldn’t figure out how someone could be so superficial as to make that decision without knowing anything but basic facts and figures, but he had no plans to try and solve that puzzle. No matter how hard she tried, Tina would never be the woman for him and, he decided before he picked her up, before the end of their ‘date’ she’d get that message loud and clear.

When they arrived at the fancy restaurant Tina let him straight to the bar without bothering to ask if he wanted a drink before dinner, which he didn’t. Prolonging this evening was the last thing he wanted. At that point Max hadn’t said anything to her except hello, but of course she didn’t even notice. Tina was able to fill the silence spectacularly without any help from him, droning on and on about how her boss, Max’s lieutenant, was a demanding asshole and she couldn’t wait to quit. Somehow Max managed to keep his thoughts to himself despite knowing that the rumor was the lieutenant couldn’t stand her either

Before Tina could order him some fancy cocktail, Max requested a beer, and then proceeded to drink it straight from the bottle just to annoy her. As soon as it was empty, he asked the hostess to seat them, and found that their reservation wasn’t for another hour. Luckily, he was able to persuade the lovely young woman to move them up, and Max informed Tina he was ready to eat. She looked like she’d swallowed glass at the news, and Max thought he’d won for a second, but she stifled the outburst he knew was on the sharpened tip of her tongue, and followed him into the dining room.

So Max upped his game. He ordered her meal without asking what she wanted, cut her off when she tried to change it and drank another cheap, domestic beer. Whenever she attempted to speak, he interrupted with a commentary on the local sports teams and how they were playing. As the evening wore on he watched her become more and more frustrated, but she persevered. The final straw came when he refused coffee and dessert, saying he needed to get home and go to bed. From the shock on her face Tina clearly thought the night would end a different way, with him in her bed. She even tried to make a few suggestive comments on the drive home, but Max wasn’t responsive. She finally got the hint when he dropped her off at home, dodged her play for a kiss, and didn’t move to get out of the car to walk her to the front door. Then she blew her top, telling him what a horrible man he was, and that he’d ruined her night. Max only shrugged in response, which infuriated her even more, and to Max’s delight, had her jumping out of his car without a backward glance.

Max almost felt mean for the way he’d treated her… almost, but not quite. She’d pushed and manipulated him into taking her out, so he figured she got what she deserved, and hopefully that would be the last he’d hear from her.

Fate had other plans though, or at least Tina did. The request for a new admin by his lieutenant was denied, so the poor man was stuck with Tina. Human Resources refused to explain the reason for the denial and everyone ultimately concluded that she had friends, or more likely relatives, in high places. That meant the lieutenant, and Max, were forced to deal with her on a daily basis. Much to Max’s chagrin his poor treatment of her didn’t push her away, though she did back off somewhat. She managed to turn up in his space at least twice a week, always with a reasonable or helpful excuse for being around. Of course it was always pure coincidence. Yeah right.

Like now. Max presumed she’d give him a lame excuse for her presence that did not include the fact that she was stalking him when he wasn’t at his desk at nine sharp.

“Oh, Max, good thing I just happened to be hanging up some new posters on the bulletin board for the lieutenant,” Tina said, motioning towards the large community boards in the lobby. “Or else you would have been in quite a pickle there, wouldn’t you?”

As always, she tried to get him to acknowledge her by backing him into a thank you, which he refused to give her.

“I’m sure I would have figured it out, Tina,” Max replied, quickening his step in an effort to move ahead of her. It was sad that he was reduced to practically running away from the woman, but he couldn’t give her any indication, however small, that she had even the remotest chance of attracting his attention. What had started out brazen and bold had now become desperate and humiliating, and everyone in the station could see it. Except Tina.

“Can I help you carry one of those, Max?” she asked, eyeing the coffee in his left hand when they stopped at the elevator. “It’s not for me, is it?”

“It’s for Grayson,” Max answered, not relishing the idea of being enclosed in a small metal box with her. Maybe someone else would get on board that he could talk to. Anyone else. He didn’t care.

Time ran out and they got on together, alone. Max made sure to put as much space as possible between them, knowing she’d try to close the distance eventually.

“Did you have a doctor’s appointment this morning?” Tina asked randomly.

“No, why?”

“You’re late, and you’re never late. So I wondered if you went to the doctor.” Her tone was bordering on accusatory and it made his hackles rise.

“I don’t owe you an explanation of my whereabouts, Tina. It’s none of your business,” Max said, fighting the urge to yell as he turned to face her petulant stare. “I’ve told you before, and now I’m telling you again. Leave me alone.”

The doors slid open before she could reply. Max exited first, refusing to even give her the common courtesy of letting her precede him. If he did, she’d only take it as a sign that he was softening towards her, no matter that not twenty seconds before he’d clearly told her otherwise. It had happened before.

“See you later, Max,” she called after him, not in the least bit upset at his rudeness. He ignored the smirks from his colleagues and stalked to his desk in the corner. He didn’t have an office, just a desk on the open floor with the rest of the detectives in his division.

He set the extra coffee down on the desk next to him before sinking into his chair. Grayson grunted in acknowledgement, but didn’t turn from what he was doing.

“Rough ride up here?” Grayson commented, just loud enough for Max to hear.

“You could say that.”

“Did she try to jump your bones in the elevator again?” Grayson asked, finally looking up from the report he’d been reading on the computer screen.

“No. This time she decided it was her business to find out why I was late.”

“Did you clear up that misconception for her?” Grayson asked, smirking as he took a sip of his coffee.

“I tried,” Max replied, making Grayson chortle. “But I don’t think it did any good.”

“You’re going to have to do something about that woman, Max.”

Max sighed and turned in his chair. They’d had this conversation multiple times, but Max still hadn’t changed his mind. Yet.

“I’m not ready to file a complaint against her, Grayson. Maybe she’ll just give up on her own.”

“Weren’t you the one who just said that whatever you said to her in the elevator didn’t do any good?” Max could feel his friend’s stare and reluctantly turned back around.

“You know I don’t want to look like a wuss by going to HR about this. Everyone’s already laughing at me. And don’t tell me they’re not, I see their looks.” Max cut off Grayson when he opened his mouth to argue. “And it will ruin her reputation.”

Grayson shook his head in frustration. “No one is going to think anything about you going to HR. Everyone has seen her following you around, putting herself in your face when you want nothing to do with her. If anything, people will be relieved that you’ve finally done something about the situation.”

“Why do you say that?” Max asked.

“Because we’d rather you report her then jeopardize your own ass by losing your shit one of these days.”

“I would never hit her, if that’s what people think.” Max couldn’t believe his co-workers would think he’d be that kind of man. Sure she pissed him off and made him want to pull his hair out, but he’d never strike her.

“No, no one thinks you’d hit her.” Grayson assured him. “It’s just that, if one of you has to go, everyone would rather it be her. You’ve been a saint for dealing with her for this long, but it’s been long enough. You need to shut her down, officially.”

“First of all, I’m nowhere near a saint when I deal with her. I’m an asshole.” Grayson started to interrupt, but Max cut him off. “Yes, I know what you meant but I can’t imagine anyone thinks I’m a nice guy anymore. Second, I’ll think about filing a report. You’re right. It’s been six months and she hasn’t let up, not even a little bit.”

Grayson eyeballed him for a few minutes, trying to gauge his sincerity. He must have found whatever he was looking for because he nodded, then changed topics.

“How’d this morning go?” Grayson knew where Max went, and why. Or at least some of why.

“It went well for her. They granted her early release into a halfway house,” Max said, careful to sound disinterested.

“What’s the cousin going to think of that?” Grayson asked.

“The cousin will probably be happy for her, that’s just the type of woman she is. The better question is what’s the cousin’s husband going to think?” Max said. He answered his own question without Grayson having to ask. “He’s not going to be quite as happy. I’m sure he’s worried about whether she’ll keep her end of the bargain and stay away from the kid.”

“Do you think she will?”

“I don’t know. How would I be able to make a guess like that?” Max replied, a little too quickly, and much too defensively.

“You’ve been monitoring this case for two years,” Grayson replied, holding up his hands in surrender. “I figured you’d be able to make an educated guess since you just saw the woman this morning.”

Max relaxed slightly and tried to play off his odd reaction. “I saw her for all of ten minutes, from behind. I got there late and didn’t say one word to her.”

That wasn’t entirely true since the reason Max arrived at the hearing late was because he’d been speaking to Molly’s counselor about her progress. They’d run into each other in the hall after the counselor gave the Board her opinion on Molly’s early release.

“Tell me again why you’re so interested in this woman,” Grayson demanded.

“We’ve been over this before. I’m friends with Keith and Sara, and it’s easier for me to keep tabs on things then for them to do it. Keith can’t stand Molly and he’s afraid Sara will just forgive and forget, so he doesn’t want her around Molly either.” Max knew he’d have to confess to his partner soon, but not right now. If he could put him off for a few more weeks that would be good. Then he’d tell him, after having a couple drinks in a well-lit bar. With plenty of bystanders present. Because Grayson was going to lose his mind when he found out Max had been keeping something from him for years.

“What are we working on today? The Sixth Street gang?” Max asked, in an obvious attempt to change the subject. Grayson didn’t look like he was going to give up, but after a tense moment he turned back to his screen.

“Yeah, the Sixth Street gang.” Grayson took a deep breath, and then spoke so only Max could hear again. “Someday soon you’re going to tell me the truth, buddy. I’m not buying your bullshit for much longer, you hear me?”

Max let out a sigh, grateful his friend had relented, but dreading that conversation. “I hear you,” he agreed.

They started talking about the proliferation of crappy heroin on the west side of the city over the past few weeks, and the suspected source, the Sixth Street gang. They reviewed their case files like normal, when Max felt anything but. He didn’t know how to tell his friends the truth, or what their reactions would be when they finally found out that he and Molly Saunders had history.