Got Your Six

Chapter 1

Cameron

Ding. The sound of my text tone echos through my car speakers as soon as I drive into the Dunkin' parking lot. It's five a.m. on a Saturday morning and I ran out of breakfast food the previous day, thus the last minute decision to stop and get a coffee before headed to work. I glance down at the touch screen and catch the sender's name just before it disappears. Bro. Pulling sideways across two empty parking spaces, I shift into park and grab my phone to see what he has to say this early in the morning.
You going into work today? The text reads. I reply with a simple "Yeah" and drop my phone back into the center console. I figure it'll take him a few minutes to reply, due to the fact that he's already working.
Calvin is five years older than me and just started working for our hometown's police force a few months ago. We don't talk everyday but I'd say our relationship is still pretty solid. Both of our schedules are pretty full, but with his shift ending soon after my shift at the foundry starts, he stops by every now and then to chat before I head into work. We worked together for a week at the Little Giant Iron Foundry before he finished up school and got started in his career.
My car speakers begin blasting my ringtone as soon as I had shifted out of park and began making my way toward the Dunkin' drive through.
It's a bit strange he is calling, Calvin normally shows up to my place of work. I accept the call anyway and greet him with a simple "hey" to let him know I'm listening.
"Are you at work yet?" Calvin asks. It's an hour before my shift starts but his question is justified. I normally get to work an hour early. It sounds ridiculous but I want to make sure I don't get stuck by the train that blocks the only entrance to my job.
"Nope, I'm getting some coffee and donuts since I didn't have any cereal at the house," I proudly inform him. My mouth starts salivating at the thought of the donuts. I spent five years right out of high school as a Military Police solider in the Army. Maybe it's just something about having that cop label on you that automatically makes you like donuts. Whatever the reason, I can't seem to get enough of those jelly donuts.
"Okay, let me know when you get to work and I'll meet you in the parking lot," he tells me, sounding like he's slightly distracted with something on the other end of the line.
"Okay, what's up?" I ask with a bit of inflection in my voice so he knows I want a bit more information.
"I've just got some questions for you," Calvin says as if it's the most regular thing in the world. I suppose for him it probably is, given his job. It shouldn't be too strange for me either given the fact that I was the one questioning people for a decent amount of time. That's what was strange to me though, I have done the questioning, but I have never been questioned by the police for any reason.
"About what?" I ask intently. It's then that I realize I've been sitting in the middle of the parking lot for the last couple minutes. I pull my car up to the menu and roll down my window.
"I'll let you know when you get here," Calvin says at the same time a voice tells me "good morning" through a speaker under the menu.
"Hold on," I tell Calvin. He must have seen it coming, I did tell him where I was after all. "Can I get a frozen mocha coffee with a breakfast sandwich and a jelly donut?" The voice in the menu tells me how much I owe as my attention is adverted back to the conversation with my brother and I pull forward to the pick-up window.
"Just let me know when you get to work," Calvin instructs me before ending the call.
My bass-heavy music kicks in right as I get to the pick-up window and I quickly press the button on my steering wheel to lower the volume. The girl at the window looks like she's in high school and I almost feel bad that she has to be up so early on a Saturday morning but then I tell myself it's preparing her for the adult world, where it seems you get up earlier and earlier the older you get.
"Have a nice day," she says as I grab the last of my food. Her drive-thru window closes between us and I drive out onto the road, taking a nice long sip of my frozen coffee. For some reason, I've never been too much of a fan of coffee, but when it tastes like I'm drinking a chocolate milkshake with just a hint of coffee, I'll drink that all day.
Driving through town can be nightmare, but at five in the morning it's easy driving though all these green lights I would never get during the day. I almost wish I would hit a red light so I could have some time to think about what Calvin wants to question me about. Instead, I turn up the volume on my radio and let the bass fill the car the rest of my way to work.
I've got my coffee a quarter of the way gone by the time I park my car and send Calvin a message telling him I've made it to work. I don't mind him coming to talk to me, but this is my time to watch the wrestling highlights on Youtube TV. I prop my phone up on the gear shifter and grab my breakfast sandwich out of the to-go bag. Delicious sensations overwhelm my tastebuds as I sink my teeth into the bacon, egg, and cheese goodness. I'm able to scarf down half of my sandwich before Calvin's police cruiser pulls up next to me in the parking lot. I give myself one more bite as I close out the YouTube application and roll down my window. The chilly morning air sends a chill down my skin and I resist the urge to let out a shiver. It's early April but in Minnesota, the weather always takes awhile to actually warm up above fifty degrees.
"What's up?" I say with a mouth half full of food.
"That looks good. What is that?" Calvin asks with genuine interest.
"Just a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich," I tell him as I watch him pull a small notepad from his vest.
Calvin nods his head as he clicks his pen and looks back toward me. "Do you know a guy named Gavin who used to work here?" He asks me, jumping straight into it.
I give myself a moment to swallow another bite as the name jumps to the front of my memory. "Yeah," I say confidently. "He's African American right?" I ask, just to clarify that we're talking about the same person.
"You tell me," Calvin says quickly. "I can't tell you that."
"Oh okay, well, yeah he is." I tell him, a bit confused. I'd think he would know at least a little bit about the guy he's asking me about. Then it clicks in my head and I understand. Calvin can't tell me anything about him because it could affect my answers to his questions. For a second I think Calvin might have noticed the moment of understanding I just had to myself but then he continues on with his next question.
"Do you know his last name?" He asks me. Another question that I'm sure he already knows the answer to but I'm sure he just has to ask to make sure I know what I'm talking about as well.
"Yeah, uhh, it started with an 'm'," I inform him as I rack my brain for the guy's full name. Calvin waits patiently, noticing that I'm trying to remember these small details of someone I worked with for such a short amount of time. "Murphy, Gavin Murphy," I blurt out. As if rewarding myself for remembering the answer, I take a sip of my coffee and another bite of my sandwich.
"When did he quit working here?" Calvin asks, finally readying his pen as if he might actually write down my answer this time.
"Well, he got fired, he didn't quit," I inform him. This must've been something he genuinely didn't know as he starts scribbling on his notepad.
"Oh, he was fired?" A tone of surprise fills his voice.
"Yeah, he got fired for calling in too many times," I clarify, then take the last bite of my sandwich.
"Okay, when was that then?" Asks Calvin.
"Soon after I switched to first shift. So, must've been sometime in February," I tell him while my hand digs into the to-go bag to fish out my jelly donut. I catch his eyes glancing at the donut in my hand as I take the first bite. We're both pretty slim people, Calvin just a few inches taller than me, but we do enjoy a good donut every now and then.
"Did he ever seem sketchy when you worked with him?" Calvin asks me.
I don't even have to think about this question before giving him my honest answer. "Oh yeah, he was always super friendly with everyone and that alone is just sketchy to me." Calvin lets out a small laugh at my answer but I ignore it and keep talking anyway. "I'm not kidding. I never trust anyone who's that friendly, those kinda people usually have an ulterior motive. The guy was a compulsive lier as well. He lied all the time for no apparent reason. Just to give you an example, he posted on his social media that he was the new supervisor as soon as he started working there."
Calvin starts laughing again and I can't help but let out a laugh with him. "What an idiot," Calvin says with laughter in his voice.
"Yeah, and there were rumors going around that he always asked people if they wanted to buy some weed. He never asked me though so I can't say how true that is. I wouldn't doubt it though, he seemed like that type of guy. Like I said, he's gotta have some sort of ulterior motive for being that nice all the time," I take another sip of my coffee as Calvin scribbles some more words on his notepad.
"Interesting," says Calvin as I await his next question. "Was there anyone he was close to?"
"Like I said, he was friends with basically everyone," I tell him just before a vague memory pops into my head. "Actually, there was one guy I know he didn't get along with. This guy Otis said he saw Gavin pop some pills at work one day and then look at Otis all bug eyed. They didn't like each other though, I knew that much," at this point I feel as if anything I remember pertaining to Gavin, Calvin was going to want to know about it. I begin racking my brain for anything else I might remember about the guy but Calvin distracts me with the next thing he says. 
"What color was the pill?" He asks as if this might be the most important detail I could remember.
"I don't know. Otis didn't mention that to me when he told me about that incident," I tell him, feeling like I failed some sort of quiz all of a sudden.
"If it's a blue pill, don't touch it," Calvin warns me.
"What?" I ask, instantly getting lost in the conversation we seemed to be having.
"I stopped Gavin for a traffic stop earlier tonight. Then, later in the night I responded to an overdose and we saved the guys life. He said he used to work here too. Name's Lucas, you know him?" He asks, stopping in the middle of his explanation.
"Yeah, he's a tall guy. Didn't really talk much from what I saw. Didn't really seem like the type of guy to be into drugs though either," I admit, realizing it's tough to know anything about someone when they don't talk much like Lucas.
"Well, Lucas died tonight and we brought him back to life," Calvin says nonchalantly.
"What?" I say, interrupting him in the middle of his sentence.
"His heart stopped for a little bit and we got him breathing again. He was so freaked out that he gave us the rest of his stash and spilled his guts to us. He said he got the pills from Gavin. Which pisses me off because I literally had the guy on a traffic stop earlier in the night. Anyway, the pills are a drug called fentanyl, it can get in your system by just touching it. It's a blue pill, so if you see one, don't touch it," Calvin warns me again.
I've never done a single drug in my life so I didn't fear getting mixed up in the stuff. It's just a little shocking when you learn about someone you knew involved in such a dramatic situation. Especially someone who seemed so quiet and innocent like Lucas did when I worked with him.
"Also, he's known to carry a gun. So, if you see him anywhere, don't try to approach him or anything," Calvin advises me.
"I wouldn't want to anyway, I wasn't exactly friends with the guy," I remind him.
"When's dad get here? I wanna know if he knows anything about this guy too," Calvin informs me, seemingly ending the questions towards me. 
"He's usually here by now, must be running late this morning," I take another long sip of my coffee, finishing it up, just as I see our dad's truck turn onto the street.
Calvin moves his cruiser into an actual parking spot and we both get out of our vehicles right as dad parks his truck behind my car. I grab my portable radio out of my trunk and set it next to my car. Without my speaker, work would be too boring to get through a whole shift with my sanity intact.
"What can I help you with officer?" Dad says jokingly as he walks up to join us standing next to my car.
"Did you know a guy named Gavin that used to work here?" Calvin asks him right away.
"Nope," dad replies with no hesitation at all.
"Seriously?" Calvin asks. "He used to work here. You didn't even think about it."
"He worked in finishing," I inform our dad.
"No, I don't know him. I don't know too many people outside of my department." Dad is a pretty straightforward man. He runs the casting department in the foundry and has one of the best running shifts, I think that's probably because everyone is just scared to piss him off.
"Okay then," Calvin says, sounding slightly defeated. "Is Otis working today?" He asks, averting his attention towards me.
"I don't know. I'd have to check the schedule inside. He's on second shift anyway, so he wouldn't be here 'till later," I inform him, knowing Calvin's shift will be over in a little over an hour.
"Well, let's go inside and I'll see if there's anyone else I can talk to," Calvin suggests, and we all begin making our way across the road to the front entrance.
I end up leading the way across the street with Calvin and our dad following close behind me. I am first to the locked door but I wait for the other two to catch up before scanning my ID and leading the way into the main lobby. Just behind us, Brady comes through the door. Calvin instantly looks to him for anything he might know.
"Hey, how's it going?" Calvin asks him in a courteous way.
"Good, it's been awhile," Brady responds with a friendly smile.
They exchange a handshake before Calvin jumps straight into the questions. "Do you happen to know anything about a guy named Gavin that used to work here?"
"Nope, sorry, I didn't really work with him too much," admits Brady. They continue with some small talk for a few short minutes while dad and I stand awkwardly to the side. Brady ends their conversation, telling Calvin he needs to get ready for his shift, just as James walks in the entrance.
"He might be able to tell you a little about him," I say to Calvin, gesturing towards James, who's making his way to the locker room.
"Hey, you got a minute?" Calvin calls after him, just before he reaches the door.
"Yeah, what's up?" James responds, making his way towards the three of us.
"You know anything about Gavin? He worked here a few months ago," Calvin says in what I assume to be his police voice.
"Yeah, I know a little about him," James admits, clearly having no clue what the situation could be about.
"You mind if I ask you a few questions?" Asks Calvin.
"Sure," says James, almost enthusiastically.
"You could use the office" Our dad tells Calvin, nodding to the opposite side of the lobby.
"That'd be great, thanks," says Calvin as James is already leading the way.
James just recently got promoted to a supervisor position and had worked alongside Gavin a few times before his promotion. I'm sure he'd be able to help Calvin with his investigation in one way or another. At the very least, James could be another sort of character witness.
The dark office lights up as the two enter through the doorway, triggering the motion censor lights above them. As they head off to talk about Calvin's suspect, dad and I head towards the locker room to get ready for the shift ahead of us. Luckily I only have a half day ahead of me, but regardless, I am not enthused about having to work on a Saturday.
After changing into my work pants and putting on my safety glasses, I head out onto the production floor and grab a pair of ear plugs, pulling my speaker behind me like a suitcase. The foundry was always quieter on Saturdays, mostly because they didn't produce anything on the weekends. It was mostly a time for my department to catch up on all the work we were behind on and the other departments to clean all day. Regardless, ear plugs were mandatory even on the weekends because even if the foundry wasn't making noise, everyone was still playing their speakers on full blast. Even I was guilty of that.
After walking across the plant to my department, I checked the overtime schedule and noticed Otis wasn't signed up for today. I pulled out my phone and sent Calvin a quick text to let him know.
Otis is signed up to work next Saturday, not today.
Just as I slide my phone into my pocket, Russell walks up to me with his usual YETI in hand that I know is filled with an energy drink and not coffee.
"Hey, I saw your brother was here. I walked in and was wondering why the cops were here," Russell says with a chuckle.
I let out a fake laugh to amuse him and then he walks away. As if I can't catch a break, Amanda walks up to me right after Russell is out of earshot.
"Hey, why are the police here?" She asks with a high level of concern in her voice. "I saw an officer in the office when I came in."
"Oh yeah, that's my probation officer," I tell her, doing my best to hold a straight face. Amanda stares at me with confusion smeared across her face. "I'm just kidding, that's my brother," I say with a laugh and then walk away, taking it amongst myself to end the conversation.
My smart watch dings as I'm putting on my gloves, letting me know I have a new message. I yank my phone out of my pocket and read the text from Calvin.
Alrighty.
Thanks for the info!
I take the glove off my right hand to type my response, trying to get it done before the clock strikes 6am when my shift is supposed to begin.
Yup! Hope I helped. I never liked that guy, he was too friendly and that alone was sketchy to me. No one is that friendly without an ulterior motive lol.
Just as I'm about to put my phone away, my watch dings again.
Lol. Hopefully I can step out with the guy again tonight, Calvin's text reads. It takes me a brief second to figure out what that means exactly until I realize he was referring to catching him on another traffic stop. Calvin sends another text right after I figured out the meaning of the last one. Idk how many people at The Little Giant know him or bought from him so don't tell anyone we talked about this guy.
I won't. I don't really talk to anyone here anyway, I reply back. That statement was completely true, I kept to myself while at work for the most part. I really only talked to people when they came up to me or needed my help. I'm not really a people person but oddly enough, I am good at working as a team and getting the job done.
With no reply text from Calvin, I put my gloves back on and get straight to work, looking for the easiest project to waste away the next four hours. That turned out to be helping other people get going on their machines, as we always had a bunch of new people at the plant. After getting everyone else going, I did a few tasks involving moving boxes and pallets with the forklift. I consider myself the assistant lead man on my shift because I run around helping everyone half the time.
My watch sends a vibration through my wrist around 7:30am, another text from Calvin.
Hey, I looked up Gavin after I got back to the station. His name has come up in a lot of older drug cases but we've never been able to charge him with anything. I read Calvin's text a few times, wondering if this is information he should really be telling me but then shake that thought out of my head to send him a reply.
So, what does that mean then? My curiosity always takes over in times like this. Usually I try to steer clear of drama, but it's a little harder when it's someone I know. I just want to get all the juicy details I can. I haven't been involved in anything this juicy since my time in the service.
Calvin's reply comes fairly quick, as if he was just staring at his phone, waiting to continue the conversation. Well, I talked to the captain and he told me that this guy is suspected to play a big role in the drug ring around town, but we haven't been able to get enough evidence on the guy. Apparently, they've been looking into him for a while. It's not quite official yet, but he's at the top of our list for people we want to take down.