I’d already called Quincy to whine about the pain, and she’d made appropriately sympathetic noises until she’d gotten a call from Detective Maginot and had to go. I was glad I’d called her the other day—with everything that had been going on, I’d gotten so stuck in my own head that I’d kind of forgotten that there were other people out there, like Quincy, who actually cared about me.
It was a good reminder that there was more to life than the Community and the corruption and religious fanaticism that orbited it, reaching—clearly—as far as Staunton and other parts of Augusta County.
God, it was so easy to fall back into the insular isolation of my childhood. To forget that there was anyone else in theworld. Anyone who might not think I was a pathetic and sinful disappointment.
I’d then proceeded to text Lacy with an update, letting her know about my knee surgery and the fact that it was going to take me a bit longer to get back. She’d immediately called.
“Holy shit, Seth. Are you okay?”
I felt my neck flush, even though Lacy wasn’t here to see it. “I’ll be fine, it’s just…”
“Ofcourseyou need time to recover,” she interrupted. “Don’t even think about coming back until you’re totally cleared.”
“I’m really sorry,” I told her. “This has just gotten away from me.”
“Seth Mays, someone tried tokill you. You get to take some damn time off.”
I was deeply grateful—so much so that I had to swallow back the tears so that she wouldn’t be able to hear it in my voice. “I really appreciate that,” I told her, when I thought I had myself under control. “And I am sorry. I’d much rather be working, honestly.”
“No shit,” came her reply. “But life doesn’t always work that way. I do have some good news for you, though.”
“Yeah? I could use some of that.”
“Borde is finally gone.”
Douglas Borde, the barely-competent interim medical examiner for Shawano County, was one of the most annoying people I’d ever had the misfortune to work with. He tromped all over my crime scenes, usually insulted me—which he also did to Lacy and Roger, so I didn’t take it particularly personally—argued with the detectives, and generally made himself abrasive and irritating. He was also habitually late, forcing all of the rest of us to wait around for him to show up before we could finish our jobs and go home.
“Does that mean we have no ME, or did we get someone who has a basic level of competence this time?” I asked her. “And are they permanent?”
Lacy chuckled. “Fingers crossed, this guy’s supposed to be long-term. His name’s Beaumont and he’s a baby, but so far he’s not stepped on anybody’s toes or pissed in their porridge.” Lacy had some fun turns of phrase occasionally.
“I’m jealous,” I told her.
She laughed. “We’ll try not to scare him off before you get back,” she told me.
“Seriously, Lacy, I really, really appreciate the fact that you’re holding this job for me.”
“Oh, hell, Seth, you’re better than any of the rest of us, with more experience in homicide and crime than most, if not all, of the rest of the department, maybe the chief excepted. We’d be stupid to not wait for you to get back—especially since you are coming back, right?”
“God, yes. I literally can’t get out of here soon enough.” I sighed. “I wish I’d gotten out of here weeks ago, but?—”
“They did let your brother out, right?”
“Yeah, they did,” I confirmed. “And now my father’s dead?—”
“Oh,shit, Seth, I’m so sorry.”
“He’s the one who killed my mother and tried to kill both Elliot and me,” I told her grimly. “I can’t say that I’m all that sorry.”
“Shit,” she repeated on a sharp exhale. “I don’t blame you. You really are having a bad couple of weeks, aren’t you?”
“I really want to come home,” I admitted, although I was proud of myself for keeping the quaver out of my voice.
“I would, too,” she told me. “We’ll be here when you do. Promise.”
“Thanks,” I told her, meaning it.
After we hung up, I at least felt a little better about my job security, even if I knew that I’d probably lost another three months of firefighter training and CFI classes. If I didn’t want to drive down to Milwaukee, that also meant I’d probably have to put off the exam for a whole year… which made Milwaukee seem like a more attractive option.
