A Blade of Glass

Chapter 18

As he pulled into the parking ramp, Dale couldn't help but feel annoyed at the glaring sun beating down on his car. He honestly felt that the day should've been overcast, that it should've matched the day he was having, but he knew that he didn't have the power to change it, and that nature rarely matched what went on in the lives of the little people so far beneath it.

He normally wasn't so morose, but a day spent interviewing members of the mob tended to do that to him. He knew that it was part of his job, but it wasn't one that he particularly enjoyed. He also knew that there was no one else in the squad that could've done it, except maybe the boss, who would've taken a completely different approach, but he was otherwise indisposed, so he had to do it, but that was little comfort when he was worrying about getting whacked.

Then there was the traffic, he knew he should've listened to the radio about what was going on, but he'd been in such a hurry to get away from his last interview that he hadn't bothered, especially since he knew where his next stop was, which resulted in him getting stuck in traffic for an hour.

By the time he pulled into the ramp, he was in a state, cursing geokinetics like Titan with all of his heart. He knew that the hero hadn't targeted him in particular, and that he should really be blaming the idiots who'd committed the crime in the first place, but was it really necessary to rip an entire intersection up in the middle of the day?

Some part of him knew that he should be grateful that the incident hadn't happened a few hours later, but even so, he doubted that it would be cleaned up by rush hour, so it would mess up the commute for everyone.

Maybe he should leave early, he thought as he entered the bullpen.

The only person there was his partner, who was bathed in the ghoulish glow of his monitor. He barely looked up when Dale entered, giving a half-hearted wave.

"Still staring at this stuff?" Dale asked, looking over his shoulder at the traffic cam footage. "Must be nice."

"You think so? I'll trade with ya." Came the grumbled reply as Matt shifted in his chair, trying, and probably failing, to prevent his butt from falling asleep.

"Considering the day I've had, I'd take it."

"Jeez, how bad was it?"

"Let's just say, I probably lost most of the years I had left. Talking to mob men isn't exactly what I want to do, ever again."

"Ah, come on, it couldn't be that bad, could it?"

"Put it this way, I've seen enough tracksuits to fill a stadium."

"Woof. You win."

"Oh, I haven't even got to the best part yet."

"Well, don't hold out on me now partner."

"After listening to various threats on what they'd do to me if I ever suggested that they harm a kid, and plenty of excuses about how Lorenso had gotten out so they didn't hold a grudge against him and how it would be wrong to go after him now and all that stuff, I get stuck in traffic for over an hour while some wanna-be villains cause the city to get torn a new one."

"What happened to them?"

"Titan."

"Ouch, you win."

"So, what'd you find out?"

"That's the depressing part, nada. Zip. Zilch, Diddlysquat. I spent the entire morning sifting through this crap, and I've got nothing to show for it."

"I feel your pain."

The two of them shared a sigh, used to listening to each other bitch about their day. "I would still be stuck in traffic if one of the traffic cops hadn't recognized me."