Worth the Reward

CHAPTER 4

It was nine o'clock on the dot when I strolled into the police department with a box of two dozen donuts in hand. Denise should be at reception today, and I had a jelly-filled donut right on top just for her.

When she saw me coming, she pushed back slightly in her chair –a nervous reaction more than anything else- and her eyes darted quickly to the phone, then back to me.

Not good.

"Hey, Denise."

"Um... You're not supposed to be here."

Yeah. I'd only just learned that fifteen minutes ago when I got a text from Dad telling me not to step foot in the office today.

"It's alright," I said, putting my hands up in surrender after I'd placed the box on her desk. "Donut?" I flipped open the lid and gestured to the one on top. "It's strawberry."

She leaned forward, eyeing it with what could have been suspicion before her expression changed and she smiled sweetly. "You remembered."

"Mhm." Your strawberry jelly donut is as frequent as Jenkin's daily eight a.m. shit, Denise. I'm just observant. "Hey. So, I think I left my wallet in the break room yesterday morning. Do you mind if I-"

"Oh, I have very strict orders from Captain Dodds," she said apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"I understand." No. I most certainly did not understand. Why was he going to such lengths to keep me away? I sighed, my patience running thinner than I'd like. Now I needed to alter my plan just slightly; instead of sneaking into the back to check a computer, I'd just have to use hers. "Would it be okay if you checked for me?"

She hesitated, glancing around.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in-"

"No," she interrupted, quickly wiping her hands against her hips, smearing light streaks of powdered sugar. "No, I can go check."

"Really?" I was probably laying it on a bit too thick, playing it a little too innocent. "If it's not too much to ask..."

"Not at all, honey. Just... stay here and I'll see if it's there."

I gave her my best smile. "Yes, ma'am."

I watched as she turned and disappeared through the door, and then I hurried around to her keyboard. After exiting out of her current game of Solitaire –she'd never win at the rate she was going- I logged out of her desktop and into mine, then pulled up the incident logs. I skimmed over the entries as I urgently scrolled.

Countless assaults. Multiple murders. Emergency service request after emergency service request, all of which after yesterday morning had been denied. Way more action in the last week than I'd seen in my entire time as an officer –given, it had only been about six months, but regardless.

My stomach instantly dropped when I saw the officer deaths. Richards, Gerst, Nichols, Abney, Yaley, Klein, fucking Jenkins. All killed while on duty. And the list went on. No. This couldn't be accurate. I'd just seen them all last week.

It was too much to sift through, too much to process. Not enough time.

I logged out, and without the time to try to guess her password to get her logged back in –honestly, it could've been one of three different generic options- I opted to just shut the computer down. I'd just have to get out of here before she noticed.

She came back through the door just after I'd made my way around to the other side of the desk. I kept my expression carefully neutral, gave her a small smile.