No Fear by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blake Pierce
Published: 2022-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

Officer Mitchell handed the Styrofoam cup to Charlie. The coffee was hot. But it was warmer than the room at the old police station. The room was bathing in a buzzing, failing fluorescent light. The walls were a cold white, and the paint covering them had cracked in several places.

The police station was located in the town of Thornlake, near Indianapolis. It had seen better days, and so had the grizzled figure of Officer Mitchell, who sat across a creaking wooden desk from Charlie.

Charlie felt the Styrofoam cup in his hand, a relic from the past.

"I thought they didn't make these things anymore?" he said, pointing to the cup. He knew they were bad for the environment, but he didn’t want to irk the elder police officer, not when he was there to find out information. He needed to know about the patients on the Wendel Institute list of those released after its closure.

Thirty minutes after sending a request to local police departments in the area with the names, Charlie received a call from Officer Mitchell, and so he’d headed over there right away, still exhausted, but he felt he had at least another few hours in him before he would absolutely require rest.

Officer Mitchell looked at his own Styrofoam cup and took a swig. The way he drank it, Charlie wondered if there was something more than coffee in there.

Mitchell eyed Charlie and then said gruffly: "They don’t make a lot of things these days. They bring in new things, but they’re rarely better.” The officer smirked.

“If I listened to all of the advice people put out here these days,” he continued. “I’d be better in the grave: I shouldn’t drink off duty. I shouldn't eat steak. I shouldn’t get so damned angry at my job. But, I keep doing all that. Life’s for living. You learn that when you see so many people cut down at a moment’s notice."

Charlie nodded in partial agreement.

A phone sitting on the officer’s desk rang abruptly.

He answered it without even apologizing, “Mitchell.” He announced to the caller. “Uh huh. God dammit. Let me look.” He started rummaging around some drawers in his desk, pulling out files and pieces of paper that Charlie was certain were part of a unique filing system.

He’d known guys like Officer Mitchell back in the army. They were hedonistic. Work hard, play hard.

Whenever their tour came to an end or they got a break from where their camp was stationed, they’d head out and live life to excess.

Charlie didn't agree with it, necessarily. It was a reckless way to be, but sometimes he admired that sense of abandonment. He wouldn’t have minded cutting loose now and then when things got tough. Just to blow off some steam.

But Charlie had chosen his life. He was a father of two, a husband and a partner. He had responsibilities he would never sacrifice for a quick thrill. It was his commitment to those around him that had seen him through some of life’s hardest moments.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.