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CHAPTER NINE
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FALCO
I was mentally kicking myself all the way to the car. How could I be so stupid? Did I really ask her if she had a condom? What an idiot I was. A fantastic first day had just blown up in my face. Now, things would be awkward and uncomfortable. I slammed the steering wheel once I got into the car. It was just like me to fuck things up like this.
The moment I first saw Hicks, I was determined to not end up in bed with her, again. We had clicked as partners, falling right back into the groove we had established in the academy. I knew it would end in awkwardness. I knew it but I once again allowed my dick to run my brain.
The evening had gotten chilly. It was no more than forty degrees outside, if that, and the wind had started kicking up. I turned on the car and its heater and sat for a moment while the engine warmed. I looked at the clock. It was about ten-thirty.
I pulled out of the lot and headed home, trying to think of what I’d say and how I’d act in the morning.
“How’d you sleep last night, Hicks? And how about those Yankees?” I mocked to myself out loud, chuckling at the absurdity. This was not good.
I was ten minutes from home when I passed hobo’s palace. I saw the soft amber glow of the fiery steel drums cutting through the blackness. My thoughts went to the young girl whose coat had been stolen. I wondered how she was faring this evening with this sudden temperature dip. I remembered she had a blanket but it was thin and worn and totally inadequate for this evening. The older homeless lady, Sally, said the younger gal was shy and didn’t talk. She had to be freezing out there without a coat, and if she couldn’t talk she couldn’t even ask strangers for help.
I decided to pull into the area. I parked the car and grabbed my gym bag. In it were several articles of clothing, including a long sleeve t-shirt and a sweat jacket, certainly not enough to face the cold alone, but it was better than nothing, I thought.
There were ten to twelve people huddled around the makeshift campfire as I approached. Several of them stared at me as I approached, making me realize for the first time I was out of uniform. They followed me with their saddened, nearly lifeless eyes. No one said anything as I passed them, heading for the spot I’d last seen the young woman who had her coat stolen.
The area was clear and I saw no sign of her. Outside of the people warming near the fire, the rest of the community looked bedded for the night, huddled under makeshift tents, blankets, newspapers, whatever they could find.
“Are you the cop from earlier in the day?” I heard a female voice say from behind. It was Sally, who I’d spoken to earlier.
“Yeah, I was looking for the girl who lost her coat earlier,” I replied.
“You look different out of your uniform. That for her?” she asked, pointing toward my sweat jacket.
I nodded, “Where is she?”
“She left about an hour or so after you did,” Sally said.
“Where’d she go?” I asked.
She shrugged, “Like I told you, she doesn't talk.”
“Where would someone like her go?” I asked. “It’s cold out there.”
“It’s cold here too, in case you hadn’t noticed. The men all hog the fire. Hell, I don’t know where she went. She probably thought she’d find someplace warmer. She could be anywhere.”
Or when I approached her earlier with my shiny new badge, it made her nervous and she took off, I thought. It was possible she had a warrant out on her.
“Thanks, Sally, I’m going to look around a bit.”
“Suit yourself but she ain’t here.”
I wandered around the homeless community looking for some sign of her. Sally was right. The young woman wasn’t here. I began walking back to my car.
I reached into my pocket and pulled a business card, handing it to her, “My number’s on here. If you see that girl again, would you do me a solid and call me?”
“All depends,” she said.
“On what?”
“Whether you give that sweatshirt to me. I could sure use it,” Sally said.
I smiled, tossing her the sweatshirt.
“Goodnight, Sally.”
“Good night officer, and thanks.”