Falling On the Sword (4 page)

“
I could still be a police, you know? I chose not to after I got shot because of that little girl in the next room. I don’t remember much from my time in intensive care, but I remember this. This was like right after the second surgery. The doctors still think it’s a coin toss to see if I’d live. So Carter and Beth, Carter’s ex, brought Alisa to see me, thinking that seeing her would give me something to fight for. I couldn’t help it when I saw her. I cried. I didn’t want her to seem me like that, but she saw me.” And Rakowski broke into tears himself. “And she says to me ‘Don’t worry, daddy. It’s gonna be okay. I’m gonna take care of you now.’ And he grabs my hand as tight as she could. And I knew everything really would be okay.”

Rakowski looked Locke in the eye. “Please don’t take my little girl. Do whatever you want to me, but don’t take my little girl.”

“
There’s nothing I can do. It’s the law.”

“
A father will do anything for his child. You have a father, you should know that he would do anything for you. He was hurting my little girl so I killed him.”

Locke snorted out a laugh. “You don’t know my father. He’s too busy worrying about his career to worry about me. “

“
Then, I’m sorry. Your father should be ashamed of himself then. If you were my child, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. That’s what a real parent does. It doesn’t matter how old your children get, there’s nothing a parent wouldn’t do for a child.” He grabbed Locke’s wrist and said, “Please. Not my little girl.”

Locke broke free from his grasp and backpedaled away from his until her back hit the door. She scrambled out of the room. She looked at the ceiling so that the room would stop spinning. She breathed so hard that she couldn’t hear anything else.

NINE

Carter had his hand on Alisa’s. “You just keep saying your dad did it. Don’t get creative. Just say he did it.”

“
I don’t know if I can.”

“
You can and you will.”

Alisa put her forehead on the table. “The fuck did I do?”

“
What you had to do. And that’s what your dad is doing. What he has to do.”

“
He’s all I have left. What am I going to do?”

“
Don’t worry I’ll be there. I’ll protect you. Me and Dylan, we’re your family now.”

Locke busted through the door as though she were raiding a stash house. She pushed Carter out of the way.

Alisa jumped.

“
Okay,” Locke said. “Enough of the bullshit. I know you shot the asshole. And to tell you the damn truth, I’d have shot him too. But it doesn’t change the fact that it was wrong. It’s against the law. That’s all that matters. The law.” Locke felt pressure welling up in her eyes. “The law. You broke the law. I’m gonna take you down stairs and administer the GSR, which will prove that you were the shooter. That evidence will be used to convict you in the murder of Richard McCullough, Jr.” A tear streaked down her face.

Alisa gave her a weak smile. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re just doing your job.”

She stood up, sticking out her hands. “Let’s get this over with.”

“
Alisa,” Carter said. “No.”

Locke pointed a finger at him. “Shut up.”

“
Yeah,” Alisa said.

They exited the room, Locke holding on to Alisa’s shoulder, more pushing than leading. The office was still empty.

“
You know,” Alisa said, “I wasn’t thinking about myself when I did it. I was thinking about the next girl.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes doing the right thing, isn’t doing the right thing, you know?”

Locke stopped. She studied the bruises on Alisa’s face, tensing, biting her bottom lip so hard that it broke skin.

Locke said, “You look like you could use the bathroom.”

“
What?” Carter asked.

Locke turned to him. “We wouldn’t want to have a law suit against the city because we denied this citizen her civil rights of taking a piss.” Locke faced Alisa. “You do have to take a piss, right?”