Better the Devil You Don't Know by Mairsile Leabhair & Mairsile Leabhair

Author:Mairsile Leabhair & Mairsile Leabhair [Leabhair, Mairsile]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-12-25T05:00:00+00:00

***

Waiting on Josh to come in to work, I sat at my metal desk reading the report he had written about his shift last night. There wasn’t much about the actual shift; it was a very detailed report about the victim found in the parking lot. I read his and Dorey’s summaries, and then I looked at the photographs Dorey had taken. Her report detailed her photographs and as I looked at the pictures, something began to nag at me. The single bullet left at the crime scene. There was no way to tell if it was placed there, or if it had been there before the girl was murdered. I pulled out my cellphone and sent a text to Becky, asking if there had been any drive-by shootings in the area recently. That could explain the bullet, although there should have been more than one bullet in the area if that were the case. A knock at my door broke my concentration.

“Enter,” I said distractedly.

“In answer to your text, no, there had not been a drive-by shooting in the area,” Becky said, walking into my office holding her cellphone in her hand. “And, anticipating your next question, no, the killer had not left a shell casing at any other murder. I think the bullet is a fluke, and not part of the case.”

“It does seem to be an anomaly, doesn’t it? Listen, I’m sorry about earlier.”

“No, you’re not, but that’s okay,” Becky said with a smile as she sat down. “I was out of line. I just don’t understand why she won’t help us catch this guy.”

“First time going up against a shrink?”

She laughed and nodded. “Yeah, are they all that tough?”

“I’m afraid so. I was a detective for eight years and never got even one of them to cooperate.”

“I guess you could tell that this is my first time flying solo?”

At that moment, she seemed more like a little girl than a police detective. “Yeah, I figured as much. It does get easier, I promise.”

“Why did you stop being a detective, Casey?”

That came out of the blue, and I wasn’t prepared to answer it. “Have you seen someone shot before, Becky?”

“Yes, and I was the one who shot him,” she replied assertively.

“Have you ever had a child die in your arms before?”

Her mouth opened but no words came out. After a moment, her eyes softened and she shook her head. “No, thank God. I have not. Is that what happened to you, Casey?”

Fire stung behind my eyes as my mind went back to the scene. I dug out the bullet from my pocket and rubbed it as if I could rub away the pain the memories brought back. I couldn’t. “This is why I quit the force,” I stated. She was staring, an unasked question on her lips, so I put it back in my pocket and wiped the moisture from my eyes. Clearing my throat, I asked, “Why are you here, Becky? Anything new in the case?”

Thankfully, she let it go and reached into her shoulder bag.

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