In The Dark. We Pray

Chapter 5

"How is he?"

Detective Molly skimmed over the text messages from Tara, begging him to have Greg come home, after seeing yesterday's incident with Greg at the Timm's residence on the news, Tara was now a worried wife.

Captain Morrow sealed another manilla envelope and pulled the next document from the pile on his desk and began skimming it for signature blocks with an irritated huff.

"Not good Chris, I'd say not too good at all."

"Maybe I'll head down to twin sisters after I'm done here, check in."

Morrow glanced at the detective.

"No, you won't."

Molly raised in eyebrow, "I won't?"

The captain leaned back in his chair, offering a moment of silence, giving Christian Molly an opportunity to let the weight of the situation set in. When it was clear he was still lost, John began.

"Greg's fucked up. I've been debriefed on the scene. Even your ex-wife. Is blowing the up the department landlines, trying to figure out what the fuck happened."

"Shanda? Why the fuck would she care?"

Morrow leaned back, "She's always cared Chris, it was your affair with this fucking job that cause your problems there."

"I'm his partner, I'm going to go see the man, you can't just walk past that shit. It eats you up."

"Exactly, Molly, this is why you're going to stay away from him. I have it on good authority that Greg requested time off."

Chris choked back a scoff, "Demmer would never step away from an investigation that's starting to heat up."

John nodded, "You're right, he took time, because I pulled him off the case."

Molly stood up in shock, "which case? The Pearson's case? The Timm's case?"

"All of them, this is too personal for him."

Chris stared at his phone, Tara's messages still bleeding into his palm.

"Fuck you, Marrow. You're taking all that man has, it's his job."

John shook his head, "Give me a god damn break, I have internal affairs wanting to run him through psych evals, the WC42 plastered footage of him being carried out of the scene by the blues, all over the 9pm newscast, and now, I have the state police, ATF and FBI calling authority over our investigation, because of the call to the DA that your precious partner made for the Morris warrant."

Molly cocked an eyebrow, "what?"

The captain kicked his feet up on the desk and crossed his arms, his portly gut making the action look more uncomfortable than it probably was.

"Oh, you didn't know? There's a chance this is being perpetrated by a cult. Which makes this a jurisdiction battleground. A federal judge is how you got your warrant for the Morris devices."

Molly threw his phone across the office, shattering the standard issue, iPhone into pieces.

"That's fucking bullshit, and you know it. What the hell are you playing here?"

John sighed and put his head in his hands, rubbing his temples, "Molly, it's out of my hands, you have 24 hours to find something. Talk to the Morris girl. Follow up on the Clarey autopsy, talk to Timms, and tomorrow evening, you can meet with the team and see where you fit into the new plan."