Summer of the Cicadas by Chelsea Catherine

Author:Chelsea Catherine [Catherine, Chelsea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Hen Press

I get to the precinct fifteen minutes early. My head is throbbing, and I’m so angry and sad I really just want to pound the shit out of something. Instead, I storm into the main room and drop the jar with the cicada on Mason’s desk. He sits there with a cigarette behind his ear and his twisted ankle propped up on a stool, wrapped in a splint. He smells kind of like a hospital—antiseptic and cleaning supplies.

“The fuck is that?” he says.

“What’s it look like?”

He arches an eyebrow. “How’d you get it?”

“I got lucky.”

He picks it up. The bug is massive, bigger than I first thought when looking at it. The body is at least five inches long, and the wings slap against the side of the mason jar. He peers through the glass. “That is one ugly motherfucker.”

“Where are the Feds?”

“On their way. Can you show them out there?”

My irritation sparks, then wanes. I lean over the desk. “What about Tommy and Junior?”

Mason smiles. His skin is grayish but he’s still got that spark in his eye. It’s what makes me respect him. He works hard, and he loves what he does. He doesn’t care about protocol, or who is popular, who is wealthy or connected in this town. “They might get lost,” he says. “Do you mind?”

I look at him and he looks at me and I’m right back where I was before the strip club and the cocaine and the breakdown. Like I’m worth something, like there’s a tiny bit of hope somewhere. “Not really,” I say. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

I nod and head to my office to pick up a map of the town. Brenda is on the phone in the hallway, speaking loudly. My boots squeak as I head down the hall and into my old office. My desk sits there, the wood polished smooth. Some dust lines the lamp but otherwise it looks like it’s ready for me.

“Jessica,” Brenda calls. “The Feds are here.”

I grab the map, shut the door to the office, and head to the front of the room. The sun shines, as always. The day is new and fresh inside this building, while outside, the trees rot, and the stink of decay carries on the wind.

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