Hand of Retribution by K. L. Bedwell

Author:K. L. Bedwell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: K. L. Bedwell
Published: 2022-07-19T17:25:54+00:00

The rumblings from Rosie’s patrons simmered to low murmurs by the time Alyssa pushes away from her empty plate. She watches Pete lean back in his seat and scan across the table, his gaze falling on the empty glasses and bottles surrounding their almost picked clean dinner plates. Without pausing, he takes a sweep of the bar and surrounding booths.

“You’re never truly off duty, are you?” says Alyssa.

“What’s that?” asks Pete, snapping his attention back to his table companion.

“People don’t get it. Even when you’re off duty, you’re still working,” says Alyssa as she nods toward the dining area and bar.

“Yeah, it can be a bit—”

“Of a curse,” says Alyssa as she snags a fry off Pete’s plate. She flags down Rosie’s lone waitress passing their table. “I’ll have another bourbon, please. Pete?”

“No, I’m good, but thanks.”

“What, you’re gonna make me drink alone?” asks Alyssa, shooting Pete the most giant pair of hazel eyes she can muster.

“And I thought my ex… Never mind. I’ll have a beer,” says Pete.

“We all have a past. You can talk about her. I don’t mind, really.”

“There’s not much to talk about. For the most part, our story isn’t any different than anyone else’s. Maddy and I went to Darton University, out near Pittsburgh. A mutual friend introduced us in our junior year. Guess you could say we hit it off from the start. Within six months, we were inseparable. After graduation, I got accepted into the police academy through the Pittsburgh City PD. Maddy accepted a position at the UPMC Mercy Hospital as an RN. Life seemed to be going as planned.”

“Until?” asks Alyssa with a sly look.

Pete cracks a smile and settles against the booth’s wooden backing. “The until didn’t come until much later. Many of our friends never thought we would last, let alone get married and have a family. Four years after graduation, we’d accomplished all the above. Now with Bobby in our lives, Maddy said we belonged closer to family.”

“So, you guys decided to move to Cullton?”

“No. Philadelphia. I wasn’t ready to settle into the routine of a small-town cop.” Pete rotates his beer bottle on its bottom’s edge. “I made detective inside of two years and lieutenant in another three.”

“Impressive,” says Alyssa, raising her glass to her lips. “Maddy had to be proud.”

“You would think. Even with a thriving career of her own at the Pennsylvania Hospital, Maddy still wanted to come back to Cullton.”

Alyssa leans to the side, drawing one leg up under the other before leaning back into the table. “But you don’t have any family here? Do you?” She watches Pete take a swig of his beer as she finishes her bourbon. Before he sets his bottle back on the table, she flags the waitress down and orders another round for both of them.

Pete raises an eyebrow while letting out a slight chuckle. “You really don’t like to drink alone, huh? But to answer your question, I don’t. Maddy does. Well, more like did. Her parents died six months apart from one another.

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