Page 81 of Compassion
“The number one pain in the ass for the precincteveryNew Year’s Eve?” Lieutenant Jenkins humorously nods. “That’d be her.”
“Why’s she yelling?”
“From the sounds of it, argument with her husband.” He respectfully removes his hat from his head. “I heard what I believe to be glass shattering, so I went ahead and called it in. Foreveryone’ssafety.”
She beams proudly up at him. “Of course, you did, Dad.”
His stare cuts to me and rather than wait for his daughter to remember I’m present or that we haven’t officially fucking met, I push my shoulders back and extend an open palm his direction. “Lieutenant Jenkins, I’m Archer Cox.”
“Charles.” He tucks the hat under his arm to shake my hand. “It’s nice tofinallymeet you ‘Pizza Dude’, especially considering the fact youlivewith my little girl.”
Our grips drop and so does my gaze to his cringing daughter. “I know I probably should’ve told you sooner, and I wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn’t want you to do the thing where you start pulling his records-”
“And what? Discover that he spent a weekend in the drunk tank after a bar fight two years ago?”
“It was warmer than the street, sir.”
His brown stare she obviously gets hers from lands on mine. “You were living on the street?”
“I was.”
“Why not with family?”
“Orphaned and never adopted, sir.”
“Friends?”
“Died in combat, sir.”
“A shelter?”
“They were at capacity, sir.”
“Can we maybestopinterrogating my boyfriend for a minute?” Jaye squeakily interjects. “You know the very thing I wanted to avoid, bynottelling you sooner.” His attention snaps back to his daughter prompting her to ask, “Not that I hate unannounced visits, but why the drop by? And in your uniform?” Her hands slam themselves on her hips in disapproval. “Did you wear thisjustto intimidate him?!”
Honestly not intimidated. Not by his outerwear anyway. The look of rage and murder lingering just on the other side of his gaze on the other hand, has me wishing we would’ve met in a public setting. With cameras. And witnesses.
“Lucky coincidence there.” His grin is undeniably teasing. “I’ve got a charity event to attend this morning and wearing my uniform is required.” Charles shifts his hat from one side to the other. “And I didn’t drop by unannounced. I called.Twice.I also texted. Not receivinganysort of response from my daughter who isalwaysup at this time, did have me nervous, but your mom insisted it was just the attire making me more suspicious.” He casually extends the bundled objects in his hand towards her. “Thisis the reason I was stopping by. You forgot it after dinner, and I knew you needed it for work.”
She winces again as she accepts the offering. “Right…The training manuals.”
He slowly nods prior to sighing, “And I know dinner last night wasn’t…the best…which is why you were in a rush to leave, which is also probably why you forgot them.”
The books become cradled to her chest in a guilty fashion.
“What I wanna know is why didn’t you tell us last night?” His set of questions hone in on her to both our surprises. “Why didn’t you take the opportunity right then and there to come clean? To – at the very least – tell the two of us that you are involved with someone? I can understand not wanting to tell your mom right away that you were living together – which I want on record Ihateyou doing that without giving me the opportunity to properly meet-”
“You meangrill,” Jaye sassily corrects.
“-first– but you should’ve saidsomethingto us. You’re a grown ass woman, Jaye. You don’t have tohidethe individual you are involved with from us. That’s disrespectful tousas well as him.”
Holy. Fuck. I did not see this going that direction.
Suddenly, the heat of his glare is swung to me. “You have a shit ton to answer for too, grunt, but for now, I have a few things, I’d like to say to my daughter inprivate.”
“Dad-”
“I understand, sir.”
