One
Erica Stokes
“Officer Stokes, in my office, now!” Captain Montgomery bellows through the Caraway County Sheriff’s Department.
What does that man want now? I roll my eyes, but get up from where I’ve been sitting filling out yet another report. I hate doing reports. He’s been riding my ass since the day I started working here and hasn’t let up since. I can’t ever get anything right, and he keeps reassigning my partners. I get the sense he thinks it’s my fault with the way he looks at me. I wonder if he got my letter of resignation yet? I placed it on his desk this morning. You would think he’d be happy about it if that’s what he’s hollering about.
Captain Montgomery is standing at the door to his office waiting for me to enter. Once I do he slams the door shut, but remains facing it, hands braced against the door frame. He’s typically a brusque man with a short fuse, mostly with me. Today he seems strung a little tighter. “Is everything okay Captain? You seem a bit-”
“A bit what, Officer Stokes?” I’m reticent to tell him how I really feel, worried about how he’ll react if I’m honest. I shift on my feet, not knowing what to say or do at this moment.
“Take a seat.” He commands, and as much as I’m intimidated by the man, I’m equally attracted to him. In his late thirties, the guy is a fox. I sit immediately in one of the two chairs facing his desk.
He sits down in his chair behind his desk and picks up what looks a lot like my resignation letter, except now it shows signs of being crumbled up.
“Do you want to tell me what the hell this is Stokes?” He asks, holding, yep, my resignation letter up for me to see.
I shrug and look around his office. I’ve been in here hundreds of times, but I couldn’t tell you much about the man from his minimalistic style. He doesn’t give away much of himself. I only know what other people in the department have said in passing and how he treats his people. He made captain when he was thirty-five, and now, three years later he’s helped turn the department around internally, bringing up morale and efficiency.
“I’m pretty sure it’s self-explanatory Captain Montgomery. I’m resigning.”
His jaw ticks and he glares at me. “Why?”
I can’t believe he needs me to spell this out for him. “You know why. I don’t belong here. I can’t even keep a damn partner for Christ’s sake.”
“Watch your mouth young lady.”
“Yes, sir.” My cheeks burn with embarrassment.
“Is this what you really want? You are the first person to resign since I’ve been in command here.”
“Don’t worry, my resigning has nothing to do with you or how you have led this department. You can sleep well tonight knowing it isn’t your fault I’m leaving. I’ll make sure to write that in my exit interview too.”
“You think I’m worried about how this will reflect on me?”
Shit. The man sounds pissed, was that the wrong thing to say?
“Absolutely not. I just meant. I mean it seemed that. I thought-”
“Finish a damn thought already. You thought what?” He snips at me.
My eyes fill with tears, but I refuse to let them fall. I’ve always been what my grandmother referred to as ‘sensitive.’ My brother Jacob wasn’t like that though. He was strong and courageous. He wanted to make a difference in our world. I was so proud of him and all that he’d accomplished even after we lost our parents as teenagers. Then our grandmother, our only living relative, died when I was eighteen and he was twenty-one.
While I was in my sophomore year of college Jacob, who had been in the Army for a few years, was killed in action. I hadn’t selected a major at the time and decided the best way to honor him would be to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer. I finally chose my major and two and a half years later I graduated with a degree in criminal justice. Three years later and I just can’t do it anymore.
“Officer Stolls. Erica?” He asks sharply.
“What were we saying? Oh, right. Captain Montgomery, like I wrote in my resignation letter, I’m not cut out to be a police officer. To be honest, I don’t even enjoy it very much.”
He studies me for a minute before he replies. “What are you planning on doing to support yourself? Do you have another job lined up?” He asks, speaking as if he cares.
“I haven’t quite figured that part out yet. I might travel, move maybe. Nothing is tying me to Caraway. All my family is gone.”
“There are people here. Friends. People care about you, Erica.”
I smile sadly at him and appreciate his attempt, but it’s utter bullshit. “Thank you, Captain. Is there anything else? I have a report to finish before I can leave for the day.”
I watch as he struggles to put into words whatever it is that he’s thinking. The man is friendly with most people, but always professional. Except with me. I don’t know what I did to upset him so, but I’ll be glad to not have to work under his scrutinizing eyes for much longer.
“That’s all. Have a great weekend.” He says as if he were chewing glass.
I don’t say anything to him, not a smile or a nod. I just walk away. The man unnerves me and the power he has over me is almost too much to bear. I finish my report, and by the time I get up to clock out, I can’t help but get one last look. Surprisingly his office door is shut and his lights off. The man who never leaves before six o’clock is out the door before four-thirty. Strange, I didn't even see him go.