Darkness Falls

Chapter 4

Aleia gripped the sides of her desk, trying to keep her patience and emotions in check. But it was a damned near thing. Any second now, she was ready to chuck the phone across the room and be done with it.

Leave it to me to talk with Mr. Grouchy! She reflected with some grim amusement while she listened to Jerry prattle on about department protocol and the illegal use of police resources.

"Jerry–" she started to break in–hoping that her mollified voice would help defuse some of the tension that she was sure both of them were feeling at the moment.

Neither one of them would systematically budge on certain issues–with each side being completely dedicated and totally passionate about the subject in question.

But Aleia had to make Jerry see reason, even if he was being obstinate and a collective pain in the ass about it.

"Jerry–" she began again, hoping to break stride with the ongoing rambling conversion that she was being subjected to.

"No," she breathed in heavily. "I'm not trying to override your authority on the subject at hand." Then she glanced up at a pen holder sitting across the other desk and sighed; listening to Jerry's sharp rebukes of indignation.

The woman sighed heavily, feeling like she was wasting time trying to convince the inconvincible. But she just couldn't turn away a potential lead and some help to boot.

Tilting the phone away from her ear, she decided at that instant to put them both on speaker phone so she could give her poor migraine a much needed break.

"...you have to deal with this on your own, Aleia. I don't want my people involved in your little wild goose chases." The woman could hear his acrimonious tone spell things out in no uncertain terms.

"So you're just going to have me force the issue, Jerry?" Aleia muttered incredulously. "Because you know what happened the last time I went over your head."

"I made policy not to deal with any more shifters. No matter what the connection may be."

"The connection, Jerry, is that this took place at night on a rainy highway just outside of Birmingham–involving high speed and alcohol to boot. A lot of people died." She tried to emphasize sympathetically. "A lot of people died–including this poor soul who probably didn't even know what was happening."

"A shifter is still a shifter, Aleia. I won't waste resources and personnel on a hunch."

The woman stared at the phone in disbelief. A hunch? Is that what you think this is? That I somehow dreamed up this shit at the last moment just to get a provincial rise out of you?

"Goddammit, Jerry!" She exploded outright in rage. "I'm trying to solve a mystery and you're being a total asshole about it!"

"My mind hasn't been changed on this, Aleia. I'm sorry. But I just can't get involved."

"Is it because of what happened four years ago with the last shifter that blew through town and caused quite the ruckus? Is that why you've suddenly clammed up because of what happened to your niece?"

There was dead silence on the speaker phone as a result of the woman's blind charge.

"Don't you dare bring Camille into this. What happened wasn't directly her fault."

Aleia's emotions cooled down a set degree as she nodded in abject sympathy.

"Yes, I know. I was the one who had to process her death certificate." She said softly. "But that shouldn't stop you from doing your duties when it comes to protecting the lives of the innocent. Or even the guilty."