Guardian of Justice (3 page)

FIVE

As Kira walked toward the home, she took a deep breath, saying a quick prayer for God to give her wisdom to help this family. She paused before going inside, wondered which foster home, if any, had space available for two kids tonight. “Lord, would you prepare a home for these children while I go through the paperwork? I know the system is full, but I need a miracle, again.”

“So, that necklace is more than just a decoration, huh?” Dallas said as he rejoined her again.

“Definitely. I couldn’t get through a day without God. Some days we have a lot of talks. What about you?” Kira glanced quickly at the attractive officer, trying not to stare into his touch but tender gaze. He’s nice looking,she thought.

“We have an on-again off-again relationship, it seems,” he said quietly as they reached the door. “In this line of work, you can’t survive without God to cover your back, but the attendance records in any church are pretty dismal.”

“That’s the nature of the job, unfortunately.” Kira didn’t have time to think about his comments now. She had work to do. While the drug task force evaluated the contamination threat of the home, Kira and Dallas convinced the mother that she had no options left. Finally, Shirley gave the information Kira needed about parents and possible extended family members who might be able to take care of the children while she was “away.” Kira explained that a family group conference would be scheduled to meet with a review committee from Social Services to discuss care of the children. In the meantime, Kira would investigate the suitability of each family member.

The mother was angry, Cody quiet and Betsy just plain afraid. A female officer came and sat with the kids in the other room while Kira talked with the mother.

“Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration will be here soon,” Dallas said, prompting her to finish up. “They’d like the kids out of here before they arrive. We need to have a doctor make sure the kids haven’t been exposed to any harmful chemicals or drugs.”

The mother began swearing again as they were taken away.

“What about the drugs,” Kira asked quietly. “Are they making them in the home, too?”

“No, it’s not a kitchen, so we don’t have those risks to deal with. But just in case, they’ve had the children change clothes. And since it’s become such a big problem in the area, we have those new regulations to follow. We need to have the children checked out at the hospital. As for Mickey and Shirley, their problems are much bigger than you can imagine. Best we just get the kids into a home, where they can move on.”

Her jaw dropped.

“Come on, how soon will you be ready?” Dallas motioned toward the kids’ bedrooms. “Let’s get their things and go, so that the DEA can do their work.”

Kira looked around each child’s room. There wasn’t much that they would be allowed to take, yet somehow they’d filled a few bags. “Anything else you need?”

“I want my bear!” Betsy demanded.

Dallas knelt down next to the girl. “I have a brand-new stuffed animal I’d like to give you, Betsy. I know it’s not the same but—”

“I want mybear.”

Kira offered Betsy a hug, while Cody hit them all over the head with the cold, hard facts. “They had to take it, Betsy. Mickey stuffed it with drugs, remember? The police have to take it now.” His voice was filled with bitterness.

“Mama…” Betsy whimpered.

It never failed to amaze Kira that children clung to the familiar even when it wasn’t worth holding on to. Getting the kids’ essentials together drained her, for it brought back too many memories of her own childhood misery.

“We need to leave now,” she said softly. “I’m going to find a nice home for you to stay at until I’ve had a chance to talk with your aunt.”

“No, I want Mommy,” Betsy whined, running down the hallway.

Dallas caught her and lifted her into his arms. “Come on, Betsy, let’s find that new toy I have for you.” He carried her to the patrol car while Cody lagged defiantly behind.

What little rapport Kira had managed to build with the girl diminished just as quickly once Betsy figured out she was being taken away from her mother. She wanted nothing to do with Kira now.

Cody caught up with Officer Brooks immediately when Betsy screamed for her mother.

“I’ll take care of her, she’s my sister.” Cody puffed his scrawny chest out and reached for Betsy. Officer Brooks relinquished the little girl without a word.

That surprised her, but why, Kira wasn’t sure. She studied him a moment before turning to watch the boy’s response to his sister’s fear.

“It’s going to be okay, Bets,” Cody said in a soothing voice. “I promise, I’ll take care of you.” He paused only long enough for Dallas to open the back door of Officer Williams’s patrol car. Williams had taken Dallas’s cruiser to the impound lot for the investigator to run prints and record the damage. They didn’t want the kids to see the destruction Mickey had done. They’d already been through enough.

As Cody waited for his sister to climb into the car, he turned to Officer Brooks. “Thanks, man,” he said quietly.

Kira couldn’t believe what she thought she heard. She shot a quick glance at Dallas just in time to see him deliberately wipe a smile from his face. “Just doing my job.”

Kira carried the children’s belongings, feeling slightly left out. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had thanked her for removing them from a dangerous home setting. She waited for Dallas to close the door before she said anything. “What was thatabout?”

“It’s our job. You can’t let feelings get in the way.”

She stood there, stunned, while Dallas took the grocery bags holding the kids’ few belongings, and put them into the trunk. She knew he was right, but it didn’t stop the pain. She was the one who’d been terrorized, she’d found Betsy, then she’d convinced Dallas that they needed to be removed from the home. Yet he received the thanks, the hugs and the glory.

How dare he claim they couldn’t let themselves get emotionally involved? “How, exactly, do you turn off the emotions, Officer Brooks?”

“I thought we agreed that you’d call me Dallas. I’m doing my job. There’s no room for emotions.”

She didn’t believe him for a minute. “Job well done, then. If you wouldn’t mind taking us to the police station so I can get my car, I’d appreciate it.”

“I’ll be happy to, after we have the kids checked out at the hospital. Hopefully, that won’t take too long, since the house wasn’t where the meth was cooked.”

Kira called the Social Services number and discussed the case with the staff member on duty. A few minutes later, as Dallas and Kira waited for clearance from the hospital, she said, “The intake caseworker is having trouble finding a home where we can keep the children together. As usual, we’re overloaded with children, and understaffed with foster homes.”

While she was talking, Dallas dug through a box in the trunk filled with stuffed toys. Finally he pulled out a golden bunny. “Think she’ll like this?”

“It might distract her for now.” Kira knew it was unlikely that a new stuffed animal would console Betsy for the loss of Fuzzy Bear, but it was worth a try. What Betsy wanted was security, and right now, that felt a long way off to a little girl.

Dallas tossed the golden-yellow bunny into the air and caught it with his other hand. “It’s going to be a long road for these kids, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so,” Kira agreed.

“Here.” He handed the toy to Kira. “You give it to her.”

She caught it, startled by the unexpected gesture. The softness of the fur surprised her as well. When she looked up to thank Dallas, he was already in the car.

After a slight hesitation, she opened the back door and climbed inside. “Dal…” She caught herself. “Officer Brooks found this for you, Betsy. We know it won’t be the same as Fuzzy.” She paused to brush the soft fur one more time. “But if you close your eyes and snuggle her, it feels soft and fuzzy like your bear.” Kira handed the toy to Betsy. “Look, the bunny’s fur is the same color as your hair.”

Betsy closed her eyes and brushed the bunny against her cheek. A tiny smile replaced the pout. “Thank you.” She hugged the animal and held it up for her brother’s approval, and it even brought a brief smile to his face.

Two hours later, both kids had a clean bill of health and Kira was on her way to the short-term foster care home. It would be a couple of days before Social Services could evaluate the aunt’s qualifications as a kinship provider. Unfortunately, the only place in the county that had room for both children on short notice was thirty minutes away. Since the intake caseworker who was on call lived in the opposite direction from the foster home, Kira had agreed to drop the kids off on her way home. “Are you two hungry? I can stop and get you a hamburger.”

“That would be good, thanks,” Cody said quietly.

Kira turned into the only fast-food restaurant in town with a drive-up window. If the kids had a full stomach, they would be more content, the drive would go quicker, plus they would have something to keep them busy. They had enough to think about right now without hunger being one of them.

The children gave her their order and Kira pulled forward to wait for the food.

“I want Mommy,” Betsy whimpered.

Kira glanced into the rearview mirror at the little girl, who kept a tight grip on her brother with one skinny little arm.

“Mom’s sick, Betsy. She needs to go to the doctor and get help,” the teen said.

The words of wisdom startled Kira, even while she knew the anger he expressed earlier wasn’t gone. It couldn’t be. According to their files, Cody had to know what was coming. They’d been through this before. Betsy probably didn’t remember going through it the last time. She had been just a year and a half old.

Kira had read their file while the intake caseworker had finished up the paperwork. How could their mother have come so far and then let herself slip up again?

SIX

Dallas typed out the report and sent it to the shift supervisor’s electronic queue so he could move on with his evening. His thoughts sped back to Kira and how she wore her heart on her sleeve. He admired that, even though he knew it would one day backfire on her.

He kept the radio on, hoping to hear that Mickey had been apprehended. No such luck. If Mickey Zelanski was easy to locate and apprehend, he wouldn’t be on the Most Wanted list.

As the image of the doper replayed in his mind, Dallas shook his head, wishing there was something he could do to make the evening’s events disappear. He despised it when innocent bystanders became victims, especially when drugs were involved.

“How’re you doing?” the shift supervisor asked from the doorway.

Dallas flinched at the sudden voice over his shoulder. He hoped Sergeant Shaline didn’t overreact to his edginess. He’d have had the same reaction any night. Tonight was nothing out of the ordinary. “I’m done with the paperwork and ready to get back on patrol.” He glanced over his shoulder.

“Stop in my office for a minute before you do.”

“Aw, come on, I’m on top of it.” Itbeing watching for any signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Shaline nodded. “Good. We’ll talk about it in a few minutes.”

Dallas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I’m fine,he thought silently. He, of all people, didn’t want to lose another three years of his life to PTSD. He wouldn’t let himself. It was out of the question.

Dallas headed over to the sergeant’s office. “So you want to know how I’m feeling,” Dallas said sarcastically, waiting impatiently to be released.

“No, I want to know whatyou’re feeling.”

Dallas didn’t respond, as he was still thinking about the answer.

“Humor me, Brooks. Just talk it through for a few minutes. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t speak with you about this. And you wouldn’t have been hired at all if we didn’t think you were ready to be back on the job. We just need to make sure we don’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend it never happened.”

Dallas grumbled. “If you want to become a psychologist, Shaline, go back to school. Besides, you don’t even have a couch to lie on.”

Shaline leveled him a look and Dallas dropped into the chair. “I’m angry that I was caught off guard,” he admitted, after thinking a minute. “I’m angry that an innocent woman was caught in the middle.” Kira again flashed into his thoughts and he shoved them away. “And I want to get back out there and do my job. I’m not going home.”

“I wouldn’t let you if you wanted to. It wasn’t your fault. Miss Matthews is also trained to go into homes, most often without backup.” Shaline stood up and closed the door. “None of us would have been expecting this.”

“You’ve talked to her?” Dallas said, cringing.

“No, should I?”

He shook his head. “It’s just that she made the same point, about social workers.” Her spunk scared him. She didn’t seem to realize that even good intentions could end in disaster.

“I hear she made a call on the radio. What did you think when you heard that?”

Dallas felt his jaw tense. “I didn’t think it was her. It didn’t sound like her. I was talking to an uncooperative mother and her son….” No one could absolve him from his guilt. “I didn’t hear anything going on outside, but I should have listened instead of ignoring the frantic tone of her voice. I figured it was the dispatcher’s job to radio an official response. I didn’t turn my radio down all the way.”

The sergeant was quiet.

“If we’re done here…” Dallas stood to leave.

“Not so quick,” he admonished. He issued the required reprimand, followed by another reminder that he himself would likely have reacted the same way. “And while we’re talking about Miss Matthews…”

“Were we?”

“Did the topic of officer response time come up?”

“What? Why would that come up?” When Shaline waited, Dallas told him, “No, it never came up. Practically as soon as I got into the car I got the call for a hang-up.”

“She was here to observe officer response time to Child Protection Services calls.” He had a way of talking with his hands, and made an all-encompassing gesture. “This problem isn’t about you, or tonight.”

Dallas jumped to his feet. “Thanks for the heads-up,” he said indignantly.

“She showed up unannounced and requested the officer not know ahead of time.” The sergeant motioned to the chair and waited for Dallas to sit down again. “There have been several complaints over the last few years about law enforcement officers’ response time when backup is requested by caseworkers. She’s talking with all law enforcement agencies in the county. Tonight you showed that slow response time isn’t the norm in our department. Thank you for that.”

Air hissed through Dallas’s teeth.

Shaline continued. “What happened didn’t likely help her overall opinion, but I think we’re okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, Dallas. It’s a learning experience for all of us.”

“Did the DEA know there were kids in the house?”

Shaline shook his head, shrugging his shoulders at the same time. “I don’t know. None of it should have gone this far. There’s some confusion about Mickey’s address. The kids are safe now, and hopefully, soon, DEA will have another supplier in custody. In the meantime, I’d like you to stop by Miss Matthews’s place and see how she’s doing.”

Dallas couldn’t believe it. “Tonight?”

“Don’t let her walk away scared, Brooks. When you fall off a horse, get back on and ride it. You ought to know that better than any other officer on the force.”

Dallas swallowed hard. “Excuse me, sir, but it took me three years to work through it and get back on that horse.”

“But you did,” Shaline said. He went into the story about his daughter’s first car accident. “The hardest thing I ever did as a parent was to pick Sami up at the scene and put her right back behind the wheel to drive us both home. But she needed to know I had confidence in her.”

Dallas silently wondered what any of this had to do with what had happened tonight. “And I’m sure it made her a better driver in the long run, right?”

“It did. It was the worst ride-along I’ve ever done, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“You’d do anything for Sami.” Dallas looked at his watch. “Miss Matthews could misunderstand if I show up in the middle of the night.”

Shaline laughed. “So call her first. I don’t think she’ll mistake your concern. You’re a professional following up on a bad situation. She’s an excellent addition to Child Protection. We can’t afford to lose her. See if she’d like to finish the ride-along.” He handed Dallas a slip of paper. “Here’s her address, and the phone number she listed on her release form. And take car number 38. I’ve made arrangements for investigations to dust for fingerprints and look for any other evidence on your cruiser before they send it in for repairs.”

Dallas took the paper and went directly to another patrol car, driving an hour before coming to terms with what he had to do. There was no way he was going into Fossil Creek looking for her address at midnight. Dallas drove around the block, then pulled into the grocery store parking lot on Main Street. He took out his cell phone.

The phone rang four times, then went to voice mail. “Hello, this is Kira Matthews with Poudre County Child Protection Services. If this is an emergency, please dial 911. If it is in reference to an urgent child protection case, please press number 4 and you will be directed to the twenty-four-hour help line. Otherwise, please leave your name and number. I will return your call the next business day.” The woman didn’t leave anything out.

Dallas smiled, ignoring his annoyance with being told to follow up on her. He wanted to think he’d have done it himself at a more suitable hour.

He heard the beep and automatically left a message. “Hi, this is Dallas Brooks—” he was feeling a little punchy this time of night and decided maybe Kira could use a laugh, too “—with Antelope Springs Police Department. I believe we met at a crime scene this evening. I’m calling to make sure that you’re okay and to see if you’re interested in finishing the ride-along…sometime. I’ll also need you to come into the station and fill out a report. My cell phone number is 555-4357.” He ended the call and put the phone in the clip on his belt.

When he began his patrol again, a shadow of Kira kept him company. They had been together only a few minutes, he realized, once he considered the time he’d been inside the house. So why was he still thinking about her? Maybe it was the nagging realization that he had no business going by Miss Matthews’s house at any hour. As if that wasn’t enough to eat at his conscience. He dragged in a deep breath, wishing he was the kind of guy who could keep it casual with women. He wasn’t, and never had been. Therefore, he had to get her big brown eyes out of his mind. He had already caused her enough pain.

He figured he’d get a call back on Monday, but an hour later, his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number. “Dallas Brooks,” he answered.

“Dallas, this is Kira. I just got your message.”

“You’re back at the office? Or are you stillat the office?”

“Oh no, I’m home. I’m just trying to wind down. There are a million and one questions going through my head.” She sounded tired and vulnerable. To be expected after what she’d been through. “How do you turn it all off when you get home?”

Dallas pulled off the street into a parking lot and stopped. Was he really willing to open Pandora’s box? How could he tell her that there were nights, still, when the visions never completely went away? “Most nights are so quiet after a big call that the boredom gives me plenty of time to unwind.” Dallas kept his eye on traffic while he talked. “Sergeant Shaline wanted me to check on you and see if you want to finish your ride-along tonight.”

“I’m doing fine, Officer Brooks.” Her voice had that business tone to it again. “Overprocessing is normal for me, but no, I don’t want to go back out tonight. I was riding along to discuss my own agenda, and I have to admit, that’s not on the top of my list now.”

Dallas could sympathize with her. “Yeah, I didn’t suppose you would, but I thought I’d ask.” The take-charge person wanted to compartmentalize her life. Put everything in its place. He knew what she was going through. It wasn’t easy to pigeonhole this kind of incident.

“So you can report back that I’m doing just fine.”

Ah, so she didn’t mind when it was him asking, but if he’d been told to, she didn’t want to talk. He had been wrong to bring up the sergeant’s name, apparently. “How did the kids take to the foster home?”

“Fine,” she said abruptly. “I’m fine, they’re fine, we’ll allbe fine. That’s what you want, right?”

She was part shrink, too, apparently. He took a deep breath, remembering his own anger at being told to talk it out. She was right; he did want everything to be “fine.” Unfortunately, this was the real world he was working in again, where dysfunction was the norm. If it wasn’t, he likely wouldn’t have a job. “Kira, I’m sorry. I wish none of this had happened, and that I could have prevented you from experiencing such an ugly side of society.”

She didn’t speak, but he could hear her breathing. Was she crying? Or trying to stuff the emotions away? He wished he was with her now.

“I don’t blame you for being angry. It shouldn’t have happened,” he added. “I know how upsetting it is.”

“You don’t have to console me,” she insisted. “I’m not upset.”

“I understand,” he said. He wasn’t going to argue. “If you do decide you need someone to listen, I’m here.”

“Dallas, have they caught him yet?”

“Not that I’ve heard, but the Drug Enforcement Administration agents have taken over. They’re working with the Drug Task Force officers on it, so I probably won’t hear much now.”

“That’s a lousy excuse.”

“It’s a lousy situation, but that’s the way the system works. They have a case to build, and this incident threw a kink into their surveillance. We have to let them deal with it now.”

Their call was interrupted twice when dispatch called to check his status. Yet Dallas noticed that Kira never actually made a move to get off the phone.

“The DEA works pretty quietly, at least as far as not involving the street cops. We’ll probably not have too much to do with it unless Mickey gets stopped for a traffic violation. That happens quite a bit, in fact.” He explained a few cases where drug dealers had gone to prison for charges totally unrelated to their drug involvement.

Finally, Kira agreed to ride along again in the near future. “Will that convince you and Sergeant Shaline that I’m not abandoning my mission to get our agencies to work out our problems?”

“I don’t know about the sergeant, but it makes me feel a little better, even though I don’t know anything about why you really came tonight.” Dallas didn’t know much about her mission, but it seemed like a good idea to keep it on the back burner right now. After what had happened tonight, it wouldn’t take much to boil over into an ugly situation. “However, I don’t think I can wait a week to see you.”

Kira was silent, and Dallas wondered if she’d hung up on him. “Kira?”

“You…can’t?” she said in a whisper. Her voice had an odd note to it suddenly.

Was she okay? “No, not really,” he said cautiously, trying to read between the lines. “I know the evening didn’t exactly go as you had planned. We hardly got a chance to talk.”