Back at the station, Valeria sat at her desk trying to look busy with paperwork while other officers moved around her with the kind of confidence she envied. She hunched over the incident report from her traffic stop, second-guessing every word she wrote.
Halfway through the form, she realized she’d forgotten to get the driver’s insurance information. Her stomach dropped. She’d have to call the tourist’s hotel to get the missing details.
The phone rang four times before someone at the Fate Mountain Lodge answered. “This is Officer Reynolds with Fate Mountain PD. I need to speak with one of your guests about completing a traffic citation.”
“Hold please.”
Valeria waited, drumming her pen against her desk and hoping no one was listening to her conversation. After what felt like forever, the tourist came on the line.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “I already got the ticket.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I need your insurance information to complete the report.”
He rattled off the details with obvious irritation, and Valeria scribbled them down, her handwriting getting less legible with each word.
“Everything okay, Reynolds?”
Valeria looked up to find Officer Holt standing beside her desk, concern written across his face.
“Yes, sir. Just finishing up some paperwork.”
He nodded and moved on, but not before she caught his doubtful expression. She was fooling exactly no one. As the evening shift began filtering in, Valeria overheard two officers talking near the coffee machine.
“Chief Reynolds really cleaned up this town,” Officer Stone said. “Crime rate’s down thirty percent since he took over.”
“Gabriel Reynolds is the best detective we’ve got,” Officer Hoffman replied. “That guy could solve a case in his sleep.”
Valeria kept her head down, invisible in their conversation.Everyone expects me to be as good as Dad and Gabriel. What if I’m just not cut out for this? They all see ‘Chief’s daughter’ instead of ‘Officer Reynolds.’
An hour later, Valeria pulled into the driveway of her childhood home. The scent of fresh baking drifted from the kitchen windows, and she could see her mother moving around inside. Rosa had been stress-baking again.
The dining room table was set for four, and the kitchen counters were covered with fresh cookies, banana bread, and apple turnovers. Rosa appeared in the doorway, flour still dusting her apron.
“Perfect timing, mija. Dinner’s just about ready.”
Her dad, Chief Heath Reynolds, sat at the head of the table in his usual spot, still wearing his uniform shirt but with the collar unbuttoned. Across the table, her brother Gabriel looked relaxed after what had probably been a successful day of detective work. Valeria took her seat and dished up her meal, her stomach still knotted from the afternoon’s disasters.
“How was your shift today, sweetheart?” Heath asked, cutting his meat.
“Fine. Just routine patrol stuff.”
“Speaking of patrol. I handled a domestic this morning. The guy had three outstanding warrants,” Gabriel said.
He launched into a story of tracking down the suspect, complete with a high-speed chase through the mountain roads. Valeriahalf-listened, wondering how her brother made everything sound so exciting while her day had been nothing but embarrassment.
Rosa watched her carefully from across the table. “Valeria, you’ve been pushing that chicken around your plate for ten minutes. What’s wrong?”
Valeria looked up to find her mother’s knowing eyes fixed on her. Heath and Gabriel paused their conversation, both turning their attention to her. Valeria sighed and put down her fork.
“I dropped my citation book today. Papers went everywhere. The tourist asked if I was new at this.” The words came out in a rush. “I feel like everyone’s watching, waiting for me to mess up.”
Heath’s expression softened. “Takes time to find your rhythm. I made plenty of mistakes when I was a rookie.”
Rosa nodded. “Sometimes the hardest battles are the ones we fight with ourselves, but you’re stronger than you know.”
“Hey, at least you didn’t accidentally arrest the fire chief on your second day like I did,” Gabriel said.
Valeria managed a small smile, but the weight in her chest didn’t lift. Her family meant well, but they didn’t understand. Dad and Gabriel were naturals at the job. She was just trying not to embarrass the Reynolds name.
