“As much as I love your wives, my first priority will always be you and your brothers’ happiness. Whatever this is with Olivia will tear you both further apart. Neal has waited years—”
“Mother, I don’t care. If he wants to stand with me, a spot is open. But he needs to make sure his wife knows where she stands, and that needs to be far away from me. I no longer trust her.”
“If you can’t stand her now, as the wife of your brother, how will you stand her as daughter to your President? You’re the ones elevating her status. Remember, Frankenstein was not the monster, but the doctor.”
I hated when she did this. “You’re going to drive me to smoke, Ma.”
“Smoke? Not drink?” She laughed.
“Dad did that years ago.”
Before she could reply, my phone went off; a blocked call trying to come in. Only one person had this number…Brooks.
“Callahan.”
“Sir, I got your calls. I couldn’t speak…”
“What’s going on?”
“The FBI is drafting up a visa, all they need is for her to say the words. I think she has a son across the border.”
“You think?” Why the fuck did everyone think and no one knew? “Brooks, step up and fix this. Find a way to let her know what will happen if she opens her mouth. Our public image will not be tarred by this, do you understand me?”
“I’m on it sir.”
BEAU
Closing my phone, I looked up at all the badges in front of me. Most of them greeting me as they walked around.
“Way to go, Brooks.”
“Brooks, working your way up.”
“Congrats, Brooks.”
All I could do was nod, take a deep breath, and ingest the scent of sweat and stale coffee, before repeating the same old line: “Just doin’ my job.” For years, I was nothing but a beat cop, and I never asked to be much more. My real job was to watch the streets. Now, word around the department was that I was on the shortlist to becoming a detective.
I needed to get to that maid as soon as possible, but the FBI had her on lockdown in the back of the precinct. They wanted their names on this since they couldn’t get their tags on the President’s wife. But collaring the Callahans was as close to first place as they came.
“You think it’s true?” my partner asked. “If it is, we need to be on this case.” He leaned against my desk.
“You’re a pup, Scooter. Stop trying to bite off cases when you don’t even have teeth,” I told him, eyeing the water bottle on my desk. I had a plan, I just needed more time.
“They say the Callahans are the worst thing that happened to this city since Al Capone. That they murder men, women, and children, no problem. They move drugs in the mist; weed, cocaine, heroin. If it’s illegal, they sell it and make millions all over the country, yet they’re still…”
“That’s because we have nothing!” I yelled, drawing attention towards us. “Has anyone ever spoken to a dealer that pointed a finger at a Callahan?”
“Everybody knows it’s ‘cause they’re scared.”
“Who is everybody? Is everybody going to testify at trial? There has never been any evidence to prove that the Callahans are anything but upstanding citizens of this city. We don’t even have a parking ticket to pin on them. All I’ve ever heard were just rumors from one cop to another, told over a cold coffeepot. We got officers trying to make cases out of thin air to try and prove themselves. Prove that they could do what so many others had failed to do. Give me evidence and I’ll slap the cuffs on ‘em. But until then, save your ghost stories and ‘drugs in the mist’ for your playmates and get the hell out of my face.”
He took a step back, biting his lips before placing his hat back on his blonde head. “Well, we got a maid, their maid.”
“No, we got an illegal immigrant who feels jilted after being fired, and is now blackmailing the U.S. government for a visa.”
“You know what Brooks? All of us are doing something. We’re trying! We’re trying to save our city. To bring it back from the mobsters and thugs, the Callahans. Why don’t you start supporting the team?”
That stopped me. It took everything not to sock him in the face. “Support my team?” I laughed, pulling on my coat. “Kid, I’ve been here for seven years. I’ve been shot at, ran over and almost blown up. I work cases I can get arrests for. This ain’t a game, boy. My coat says ‘Chicago P.D.’ not Team Cop. My badge says Officer Brooks. You want to prove your stripes? You want to see the Callahans go down, even though you have no clue who they are? Fine, whatever. Just meet me in interrogation in five minutes.”