Fire Water by Jaye Wells

Author:Jaye Wells
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2015-01-06T05:00:00+00:00

That night my best friend, Pen, knocked on my door about nine o’clock. I opened the door to find her holding a six-pack of beer. Pen wore jeans and a pale pink shirt that made her brown skin glow. Her long, dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. “Beer faery!”

I laughed. “Thank God. But we’ll have to be quiet because Danny’s sleeping.”

She tiptoed across the threshold. “I was going to call, but I was already in the neighborhood so I took a chance.”

I frowned. “Why were you in the neighborhood?” Pen lived in a nicer part of Babylon that didn’t have a freakhead on every corner.

“T-Bone needed some help.”

“Ah,” I said. “He okay?” T-Bone was the new Arcane Anonymous member Pen sponsored. He had been struggling with his new sobriety, but he had been lucky to get an accredited psychologist like Pen as his sponsor.

She nodded. “Just a minor freakout,” she said dismissively. She’d been down the same road as T-Bone herself.

I cracked open a beer and handed it to her. “Sounds like we both need one of these.” After she took it, I opened my own beer and took a healthy swig.

“Uh-oh? Trouble on the high seas?”

I leaned against the kitchen counter. “I don’t know. This guy I’m assigned to is frustrating.”

“How so?” She was standing on the other side of the counter and leaned her elbows on the surface.

“He’s retiring soon, so he’s avoiding doing any real police work. It’s almost like he’s afraid.”

“Makes sense. If he’s that close to freedom, he probably wants to avoid anything dangerous.” Pen had made no bones about how much she worried about my new career path. Don’t get me wrong, she supported my decision to become a cop, but I guess it made sense for her to worry that I might get hurt.

I shook my head. “Today we saw a potion deal going down on the river. I wanted to go intervene, but he refused.”

“You’re sure it was a deal?”

I nodded. “I think so. It had all the hallmarks of one. Regardless, it was shady enough looking that any cop worth his salt would have gone to question the parties involved.”

“I take it you argued with his decision?” A knowing smile tilted her lips.

“Of course! I didn’t join the BPD to cruise along the stinky river all day. I want to arrest people.”

“You’ll have plenty of opportunity to do that once you’re sworn in. Why not enjoy the easy gig until that happens?”

I sighed and shook my head. “I’m just ready to get started, you know?”

She reached across the counter and patted my hand. “You’ve worked so hard to get here, I’m sure it’s frustrating to be on the verge of everything coming together.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Besides, you only have what? Two more days until this last detail is over? Then you’ll be sworn in next week and can go kick all the ass you want.”

I chuckled and took another sip. The best thing about having a psychologist for a best friend was always having access to the voice of reason.

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