“Hey kid. How are you doing?” I ask leaning off the car hood.

“How dare you tell me to wait in the car? I may be new but I can make my own damn decisions.” She snapped back.

Damn. A lot more spunk than Shaw that’s for sure. Maybe she will make it in this world. I sit in the passenger seat and stare into her tear filled blue eyes.

“Listen. I told you to leave because he needed to be alone with me to talk.”

“Oh… Ok well I’m sorry.” She answers in a sorry tone.

“Ashe… Are you ok?”

She takes a big shallow trembling breath while clutching the steering wheel.

“Ya. I just don’t know what could drive someone to do that.”

“One of the best things I’ve ever been told was by my first partner. Old bastard who should've retired years before. He said that every person is like a combination lock. Sure some are shitty, others and nearly impossible to crack but the truth is. Every lock can be opened. Every marking event in our lives is just another attempt at picking it open. And when that combination is pulled. There’s no way of knowing what’ll happen. We have to be extra careful. Most people experience these moments only a couple times in their lives. We live it almost every day. So you need to look out for yourself. Got it?”

There’s this moment of silence. I can’t tell if she about to thank me or tell me to fuck off. She turns to me with this toothless smile.

“Here the captain told me you were mean and rough around the edges. Do they know you’re a big softy?” She says, stifling a laugh.

“Fuck you.”

Softy? I’m just trying to comfort the damn girl. She’ll never admit it but I could tell she was about to lose it. That wavering stance in the room was making even me dizzy.

She lets out a full laugh and begins driving the car. The rest of the day went by pretty smoothly. A couple investigations here and there but nothing worth remembering tomorrow.

We are pretty deep into the night when we decide to call it quits. It’s starting to drizzle outside and the fall winds are getting sharp.

“Hey kid I’m going to get going. Good job today.”

“You’re walking home?” She asks,concerned.

“Ya.” I say as I make my way into the cold of night.

“Sir!” She yells.

“Seriously? Enough of this Sir shit. I’m not your boss.”

“Sorry. I just wanted to see if I could buy you a drink. You know. Thank you for having me as a partner.”

“Wasn’t my choice. Probably should ask the captain.” I replied while continuing to walk away.

“I know a good whisky bar just down the road.”

Damn she’s good. Guess I’m all out at home. I let out a big sigh and turn around.

“Fine. But you better be top shape tomorrow. We’ve got an interrogation to do.”

The bar she picks is pretty good. Some hole in the wall I’ve seen a couple of times but never really thought of going into. Got this look of an old time prohibition bar with bartenders in bowties. A little new age for me but I’ll give it a shot. I make my way to the bar and order a tincan on the rocks. She takes the same. Funny. I’d take her for a daiquiri kind of girl.

“Quite a hard drink for you don’t you think.”

She looks down at the glass, holding it in two hands and shrugs her shoulders forward.

“My dad got me into drinking whisky. We used to have this bar in the basement that he built. It was poorly stained and would give you a splinter just by looking at it. But he loved it. He would dream about opening his own bar someday. A lot like this one.”

“Well you’re pretty young. I’m pretty sure he’s not too old to try. “

She continues to look at the glass deeply observing every wrinkle in the drink.

“He passed away about six years ago now.”

“Sorry.”

Looks like I’m an asshole.

“It’s ok.” She says lifting her head up high.

“How did he die?”

“He was doing a liquor run. For the bar… and some guys just threw him in some alley a couple blocks from the store. They killed him for three bottles of whisky.”

Bet that’s why she joined the force. Protect other people from having that experience.

“That sucks kid.” I say giving her a pat on the back.

She takes a moment to regroup herself and says.

“It’s ok. That’s not why we are here. I just wanted to thank you for our first day.”

She raises the glass at eye level looking me dead in the eye. I can see how she’s hiding the pain. A pain I’m far too familiar with. The pain of the victims family when you have to tell them there’s nothing more you can do. Sure you can maybe find the son of a bitch who did it. But that doesn’t bring them back.

“Cheers kid.”

“You don’t have to call me kid by the way. I may be new but I’m not a child.”

“Ya I know. Too bad you don’t get a say in it.”

There we go. That stupid ear to ear smile from when she introduced herself. She whips her body up towards me.

“So Detective.”

“Hanes… Come on, are you trying to put a target on my back?”

“Sorry! Hanes. Why did you join the force?”

“Is this a fucking job interview? I thought we were just grabbing a drink.”

She laughs loud enough that some people start to turn their heads.

“Come on! It’s not like I’m asking you what your 5 year goal is.”

I can help but grin for a sec. Been a while since I was able to talk to someone and they weren’t intimidated.

“Fine. After the war I found it hard to work in a factory so I figured I’d get guns pointed at my face again.”

“You? In a factory? That I’d like to see.”

“Ya well loud engine noises made me uneasy.”

I down my drink in one shot. The burn down my chest wakes me up a little.

“Another!” I yell across the room to the barkeep.

“And gunshots don’t scare you?”

“Are you kidding? They scare the hell out of me. I just get to shoot back in this job.”

The barkeep comes by with the bottle. Ashe grabs her glass that she was only sipping at this point and downs it before he makes it to us. Dad taught her well.

“So…” She takes a moment to sip her drink. “Everyone told me that you are an asshole.”

“Is that all they said?”

“Well no. But I don’t think I can repeat the rest.”

“Fair enough. They’re right.”

Who am I to argue? It’s been years since I’ve been out for a drink. They stopped inviting me to the Christmas party, how much I tell people no.

“I don’t think so.”

Give it a week.

“Feel free not to answer, but is it because of your wife?”

Someone is sticking their nose in pretty deep.

“What about her?”

“It’s not exactly a secret. I was told you used to smile occasionally. Not to mention the one decoration in your office is the newspaper from that day.”

“You’ve seen my office?”

“It was part of the tour. It’s disgusting by the way.”

I let out a little chuckle. Not sure how to act to that. Let alone how fucking bold she is.

“Ya I think I sleep there more than at home. I just love the couch.”

She gets serious for a moment.

“Too many memories at home?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been back. I moved out the next day.”

“Ya I hear running from your problems is very healthy.”

“You should talk to my fucking shrink. You’d get along.”

I finish my drink and stand up. I pull a ten out and throw it on the table.

“That should cover it. Thanks kid. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She stands up to follow.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I...I…”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re a good kid and you work hard. But I gotta go.”

Walking home is shit. Wind’s picked up and the rain has become jagged and cold.

Guess part of me feels bad for leaving. But that was enough talking about myself for today. As I make my way home I can’t help but think about today.

“When I heard the click.”

The moment the trigger was pulled he came to. Just missing himself. Maybe they can only push to the limit. But it’s up to you to pull the trigger. How the fuck am I going to do this? I’ve been looking into this for four years and all I’ve got is people tearing each other apart and a closet full of bad memories. It’s the perfect crime. No fingerprints and no witnesses. Just this burning in your skull while your body overheats. All conscious thought gets locked in the back of your mind. It’s a living hell. Some people call it seeing red. I don’t know if it’ll ever go away for me. It’s always a little bit there. Ready to explode if the button is pushed.

I kick off my boots and tear away at my skin tight soaked socks. I leave my gun and holster on the coat hook. Not going to need it tonight. As I take off my rain weighted coat I hear the phone ring. It’s too late to be a telemarketer and Shaw has called me once since I’ve known him.

“Hello?”

“Detective Hanes.” the voice answers in a soft tone.

“Do I know you?”

There’s a long pause before he talks.

“No. But you will.”

I can’t seem to place the voice. Gotta get him to keep talking.

“Ya well I’m not exactly the most social person so why don’t you tell me who the fuck this is so I will know you when I meet you.”

“Detective Hanes. I hear you are pretty good at what you do. I look forward to seeing you first hand again.”

From tonight?

“Again huh? You know if you wanted to buy me a drink you could’ve just asked.”

“You are a smart man Detective Hanes. I think we both know when we saw you.”

We? Could he be talking about…

“You’ll get to see more of our work first hand.”

The line goes dead.