• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

As the clock ticked closer to seven, the other trainees filed in. Blaylock was last. He was still moving slowly, but he was talking more easily with the guys, kind of like he was getting used to himself. He took a seat up front, shuffling his long legs around to fit.

Abruptly, John realized someone was missing. Where was Lash? Good God…what if he’d died? But no—somebody would have passed that news along.

Down in front, Blaylock laughed at one of the other trainees, then bent over to put his backpack on the floor. As he came back to level, his eyes met John’s across the room.

John flushed and looked away.

“Hey, John,” Blaylock said, “you want to come sit with me?”

The whole class went quiet. John glanced up.

“View’s better from here.” Blaylock nodded to the blackboard.

Silence followed. The kind where the Jeopardy! theme plays in everyone’s head.

Not knowing what else to do, John grabbed his books, walked down the aisle, and slid into the empty seat. As he parked it, conversation sprang up again while more books landed on the tables and papers rustled.

The clock overhead clicked, the hands showing seven on the dot. As there was still no Zsadist, the talk got even louder in the room, the guys yanking around in earnest now.

John ran his pen in circles on a blank page, feeling awkward as all get-out and wondering what the hell he was doing up front. Maybe it was a practical joke on him? Shit, he should have stayed—

“Thank you,” Blaylock said quietly. “For throwing down for me yesterday.”

Whoa…maybe this wasn’t a joke.

John surreptitiously slid his notebook over so Blaylock could see it. Then he wrote, I didn’t mean to take it that far.

“I know. And you won’t have to do it again. I mean, I can handle him.”

John eyed his classmate. No doubt, he wrote.

From over on the left, one of the guys started humming the Star Trek theme, for God only knew what reason. Others chimed in. Someone lit off with a William Shatner: “I don’t know…why I have to…talk like this, Spock…”

In the midst of the chaos, the sound of heavy boots coming down the hall drifted into the room. God, it was like there was an army out in the corridor. With a frown, John looked up to see Wrath walking past the door to the classroom. Then Butch and Marissa went by next. Then Vishous.

What were they all so grim about? he wondered.

Blaylock cleared his throat. “So, John, you want to hang with me and Qhuinn tonight? We were going to chill at my house. Bang some beers. Nothing special.”

John whipped his head around, then tried to camo his surprise. But wow. First time any of them had suggested meeting up after class.

Cool, John wrote as Zsadist finally came in and shut the door.

Downtown at the Caldwell police station, Van Dean smiled at the badge in front of him, making sure his face was showing a whole lot of No Big Deal. “I’m an old friend of Brian O’Neal’s, that’s who I am.”

Homicide detective José de la Cruz measured him with smart brown eyes. “What did you say your name is?”

“Bob. Bobby O’Connor. I grew up in Southie with Brian. He moved away. I did, too. Then I came back east recently and someone told me he was working as a cop in Caldwell so I figured I’d drop by. But when I call the CPD main line? No Brian O’Neal. And all I got was the he-doesn’t-work-here runaround.”

“What makes you think showing up in person will change the answer?”

“I was hoping someone could tell me what happened to him. I called his parents in Southie. His father said he hadn’t talked to Brian in a long time, but last he knew his son was still working as a cop. Look, man, I’ve got no ulterior motive here. I just want some answers.”

De la Cruz took a long drink out of his black coffee mug. “O’Neal was put on administrative leave back in July. He did not return to the force.”

“That’s it?”

“Why don’t you give me a telephone number? If I remember anything else, I’ll call you.”

“Sure thing.” Van recited some random numbers, which de la Cruz wrote down. “Thanks, and I’d appreciate a call. Hey, you were his partner, right?”

The other man shook his head. “No. I wasn