CHAPTER TWO - LOGAN
It had been ten years since my wife was shot and killed. Yet I still found myself attending parole hearings for her murderer. We had just gotten married and were out for a stroll, enjoying the warm summer breeze. Detroit was different back then—booming and lively. Walking through the streets wasn’t quite as dangerous as it is now. The guy was a punk kid who had been in and out of jail his whole life. He cornered us, and when I didn’t have enough cash in my wallet, he took my wife’s life instead. Just watching his smug face from across the courtroom brought back all the emotions I felt that night. That was the night I decided to become a cop.
After working the beat for six years, I was promoted and now ran security details for people placed in the witness protection program.
I nodded at the judge as he scanned the courtroom, listening to the perp’s pathetic plea to be let out. Ten years wasn’t nearly enough time for taking someone’s life, and I was here to make sure he didn’t get out. I was slated to testify against him, but after his pathetic acting and the prison’s warning statement about his violent habits, the judge decided not to waste any more time and denied his request. As they led him out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he looked over at me and smiled. I clenched my teeth and straightened my uniform, refusing to give him any more of my time.
“Hey,” a voice came from behind me. I turned around to see David Woback, the district attorney, moving toward me. We had gone through the academy together, but he had gone on to become a lawyer because he wanted to put the perps away, not chase them through the street.
“Hey,” I said, leaning in and giving him a quick hug.
“I knew he wasn’t going to get parole,” David said, looking over as they took the prisoner to the back for transport. “He needs to stay in there for life.”
“You're telling me,” I replied. “So what can I do for you?”
“I was hoping you’d follow me over to my office. I have a case for you,” David replied as he stepped to the side and motioned toward the door.
I nodded, and we made our way through the crowded courthouse. It was a Wednesday and probably the busiest day of the week for trials. I walked past countless of worried and grieving faces, wondering what they had been through that brought them to criminal court. Since I was on protection duty, most of the time I didn’t get called in to work cases. Part of me missed the excitement of the beat, the adrenaline and thrill of chasing down a perp and taking them in. Also, I could never turn David down.
When we got to the office, I took a seat and watched as David pulled out a file and threw it down in front of me. I opened it up and looked at the pictures of the victim. It looked like a gunshot wound to the head at close range. I glanced over the pictures briefly, then pushed them away.
“Two men and a woman were fighting in the alley by that nightclub Pistols. Guy gets pissed, pulls out a gun, and blasts the woman. The thing is, a girl from the club is out getting some air and witnesses the whole thing. Cops start chasing the perps, they catch one, but the other got away. The other guy got a real good look at this girl before running off, so we had to place her in protective custody until we catch him.” David reached down and flipped up the pages to a picture of the girl.
Holy shit. I forced myself to remain professional, but she was gorgeous.
“Her name is Kailey Powell,” David continued. “It was her twenty-eighth birthday party. She is pretty shaken up but more pissed that we wouldn’t let her get her own things from her house before taking her into custody. She’s waiting for transport at the Ninth Precinct.”
“Are we taking her to the Hudson House?”
“Yep,” David said with a deep breath. “I know this one isn’t too exciting, but it shouldn’t take long to catch this guy. His buddy rolled over on him, so we have full details. He is, however, armed and extremely dangerous. Apparently he is pretty heavily involved with the cartel, so we need to make sure this girl stays safe. Catching this guy might lead us to other arrests, and we will need her testimony.”
“Got it,” I said. I stood and reached out to shake his hand. “I’ll go over there now and grab her.”
“Thanks, buddy,” David said. “And, Logan, I’m glad that scum isn’t back on the streets.”
“Me too, man. Me too,” I said, walking toward the door.
After a parole hearing, I would typically find myself holed up in my house, looking at old pictures and drowning my memories with a bottle of scotch. I was glad duty called. I took my job seriously, which was why I never lost a witness. People tended to hate being locked up in the middle of nowhere, but it was for their own good. I grabbed my gun from the security check and hopped in my unmarked squad car. The Ninth was across town, so I stepped on it, not wanting to keep this girl out in the open any longer than I had to.
When I got to the station, I checked in at the desk and walked back to the holding cells where they kept witnesses. The sergeant on duty walked me back with a grin on his face. He put the key in the door and started to turn the handle. He stopped and looked back at me.
“Good luck with this one,” he chuckled. “She’s quite a handful.”
As he opened the door, Kailey turned toward us, her hair a mess and her mascara staining her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy and it was evident she’d been crying. Now, however, she just looked pissed. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips. and her mouth was turned down in a scowl.
“Finally,” she said with a sigh. “This place sucks. I really want to take a shower and relax. It’s been a really long night.”
“She’s all yours,” the sergeant laughed.
She was hotter in person than she was in her picture. Her long, dark wavy hair accented her piercing blue eyes. She was still wearing the dress from the club, and it was so short that a strong wind could show the world everything underneath.
Her body was out of this world, and it was obvious that she took great care of herself. I looked at her smooth porcelain skin and big, pouty lips and cleared my throat. Immediately I knew I was in trouble. I shook my head, trying to force the inappropriate thoughts from my mind. She was a witness to a major crime and not some chick to pick up at a club. I walked over and picked up her bags that one of the female officers had gone to her house to collect. Though the safe house was fully stocked with food, the department didn’t provide clothing or toiletries unless absolutely necessary.
The particular safe house we would be using had a special meaning to me. It was the first house I ever ran a protection detail on. The witness had escaped a serial killer’s attempts to skin her alive. She saw his face and knew his name. They caught the bastard just a few days later, but not in time to save the other girls he had already abducted. I could hear Kailey shuffling along behind me as we walked through the precinct. All the beat cops stared at her as we moved along. If they hadn’t known the situation, they might have thought she was just an incredibly hot prostitute. It didn’t seem to faze her, though. With her looks, she probably got a lot of attention. As we walked toward the side door, she stopped and looked at me, fear crossing her face.
“We park out in the alley to get you out without being seen,” I explained.
“Allies haven’t exactly brought me good luck lately,” she groaned.
I held the door open for her as she passed through, my eyes naturally falling to her firm ass, barely covered by the thin spandex material of her dress. I took a deep breath and blinked, regaining my focus. Being around Kailey was going to be hard, but I had a job to do.