He lay here, quietly thinking about all the things he could do with his life, realizing it was definitely time for some decision-making. He hadn’t expected to be here or to even want to stay here in town, but the decision had been made for him. As he lay here, his phone buzzed. Badger. Kurt went through his messages and then ended up calling him. “The shepherd’s beside me,” he said. “I sent you a picture.”
“I know. I just saw it. Looks like she’s in decent hands.”
“I don’t want to give her up,” he said.
“You don’t have to,” Badger said. “I’ve cleared it with the commander.”
That was terrific news. He hugged Sabine gently. “Good,” he said.
“And of course the commander wants to know that you’re capable of keeping the dog in good health and shape.”
“Meaning, do I have a job and all that other good stuff.”
Badger laughed. “Something like that.”
“Doing a lot of thinking about that right now,” he said, “considering where I’m at.”
“And how’s your son?”
“Well, I’ve met him. He’s the spitting image of me, that’s for sure. He’s a big strapping kid, and he’s just thirteen,” he said. “I still find it hard to believe.”
“Well, you’ve only had a couple days to digest that new info. Even now that Kat’s pregnant,” he said, “it’s taking us quite a bit of adjustment time. So you’ve got an almost-adult ready-made son, and it’ll take time too.”
“We’ll have a barbecue tomorrow, as a family,” he said, “but I’m staying at her house tonight in her bedroom on the floor,” he said for clarity, “because she had an intruder in the backyard today.”
“What?” Badger’s voice sharpened. “Is it connected to what’s going on with the dog or with you?”
“Well, the gang certainly gave her a hard time, and I stepped in. Of course then we had the older guy, trying to shoot Sabine,” he said. “The local detective from my youth still has it in for me. So we’ve made some enemies in a very short time frame.”
“You can always judge a man by his enemies.”
“Well, we got a bunch of them on our ass right here, right now, so, whatever it means, this latest guy wasn’t here for tea and cookies.”
“They never are,” Badger said. “What do you need?”
“Well, I’d love a weapon, but I don’t have one, so I’ll make do without,” he said. “Did I mention that the detective here is still a pain in the ass?”
“Yep. I’ve already made a few phone calls about him. You should be getting a couple phone calls about it.”
“In what way?”
“Well, one was a discussion about a job,” Badger said. “I said I wasn’t sure where you would end up and what you were up to or what thoughts you had about a new career.”
“What kind of a job?”
“A watchdog for the cops.”
“Something like internal affairs?” he said, frowning.
“Not quite. You wouldn’t be doing the investigations into their behavior, but you would be keeping the reports and going over them, how they’ve acted, depending on various circumstances. More like pointing out where they could improve.”
“Well, the detective certainly wouldn’t like that,” Kurt said with a laugh.
“I don’t know if I’d like it either. But it’s a good-paying job, and it would be something that you’re uniquely qualified for,” he said. “They would like to talk to you.”
“Interesting,” he said. “Is that for the city?”
“In this case it would be a federal overseeing position.”
“Ah. So did the governor put this in place?”
“He’s been looking for somebody for quite a while. It wouldn’t be just that city necessarily, but it would be for the state. And, once he found out that you were there and that you were potentially looking for a local job, he immediately asked if you’d be interested.”
“Well, I would be interested,” he said. “I’m not too sure how I feel about any of it though. And they may not take it kindly when I’ve got such a bad rep myself in this town.”
“Sure, but your past is also what makes you uniquely qualified for the position. You were on the other side growing up there. Now you’re on the good side.”
“Hmm. I certainly have to think about it.”
“Well, you have until tomorrow morning. Then he’ll be calling you.”
“Wow,” Kurt said, “that’s not exactly giving me a whole lot of time.”
“Nope, but life’s like that. Besides you’ve got a wife and a son now, don’t you?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said. “I hardly have that yet.”
“What! Then you’re not the guy I thought you were,” Badger said in a teasing voice. “I’ve never seen you hesitate.”
He snorted. “I want to get it right this time.”
“Sometimes you have to go by instincts and figure out what’s right as you go along.”
“Well, right now, I’m making sure that no asshole comes up this damn trellis to attack her,” he said. “My son apparently is staying with his best friend overnight. So I need to make sure that, while he’s gone, I capture the asshole planning on giving Laurie Ann a hard time.”
“And didn’t you say also one of the gang guys knew your son?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Just want to make sure he doesn’t get involved.”
“That’s not the plan,” he said.
“You already know that somehow, sometimes, plans go sideways regardless. So take care and watch your back.” With that Badger rang off.
Kurt lay back down beside the dog. He thought about it. A watchdog over law enforcement. Wouldn’t that be something? He smiled and realized that, although he had a college education, he hadn’t told Laurie Ann about it.
But Badger knew, and he had probably passed that on. Kurt had a degree in behavioral sciences and law enforcement. Maybe, maybe, he had another pathway after all. With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Chapter 10
It was hard to go to sleep. Laurie Ann read a romance book for another hour, even as she half listened to sounds in the house. She heard Kurt on the phone but not the conversation itself. Just lying here and waiting was deadly. When she finally fell asleep, it was already close to midnight. She tossed and turned, and, when she woke again, it was only one a.m. She groaned, pulled the covers up to her neck, rolled over, and fell asleep. She woke up again to find it was two a.m. She knew it would be one of the worst nights she’d had in a long time. She needed sleep in a bad way.
Just then she thought she heard a noise and froze. She couldn’t imagine what it could be, and she lay here, straining her ears. She hopped softly out of bed and went to the door. As soon as she opened it, Kurt’s voice whispered, “Don’t move.”
She froze and realized that something was going on and that he already was on top of it. She didn’t want to ask, in case the silence was just as important as no movement. She waited and waited, and finally he moved, approached her.