Love Will Keep Us - Book 5

Cop Chats on The BLVD

STEF POV

A month has passed since arresting the one mother and her boyfriend in the house with the young boy, and there's not a night that goes by that I don't think about him. I hadn't gotten his name as Mike had been the one to fill out the majority of the paperwork. Of course, he had asked me if I wanted to read it over, but knowing how thorough he could be and how tired I was feeling at the time, I told him no and had signed it anyway.

I could have asked him the young boy's name, sure, but I kept telling myself that the less I knew about him, the better off I really was. Why this particular case came around to haunt me day in and day out is beyond me, and all I know is that I'm not sleeping well at night,  I'm more impatient than ever, and the fact that this young boy looked so familiar really bothered me. What in the hell was it and why was I feeling this way?

"Do you think we'll pull out anytime soon, or do you plan on staying parked all night?" Mike breaks through my thoughts as I hadn't realized that the keys to the ignition were still in my hand and not in the car.

"Okay, smart ass! Geez! Let's go!" I start the cruiser, and we head on out on El Cajon Blvd near 54th street where we would patrol for the night along with the surrounding area. It was also pretty close to where we had picked up that couple with their little boy as my mind continues to go back to that night.

"A penny for your thoughts," Mike turns the radio down as I glance over at him quickly.

"Well, I hope you're dripping in money, Mike," I joke as he laughs and I take a sip of coffee Lena packed in my thermos.

It was still hard for her that I worked in such a bad neighborhood and I knew that. I knew how much she hated it and that she wasn't the fondest of my job. But the one thing about Lena is she still supported me and always had. Even if it made her nervous. One day I planned on transferring to a better neighborhood to ease her fears for I just didn't want to be selfish.

"That bad, huh? Kids giving you even more trouble?"

"Actually, no. Since I started my own version of boot camp, I've not had any complaints. Seriously, though, I'm glad I thought of it since they were about to send me and Lena to an early grave. Even if I have to give the credit to my dad."

"Ya, I remember those boot camp type of things with you and your brothers," Mike sips his coffee as I pull our cruiser off to the side of 54th street and park for our first patrol of the night. This street was always dripping with crime and Mike and I knew we always had to be on high alert. Especially lately.

"Ya? I didn't have to go through them but one time, and that was when I was caught smoking behind the garage, remember that?"

"Don't I ever! Frank, Jr was PISSED because your dad tore his room to shreds and found his actual hidden stash of weed! Boy was he on a rampage screaming that he was the oldest and how dare he bring that shit in his home, yadda, yadda!" Mike laughs as I shake my head and look out the window.

"I felt like shit, myself, Mike."

"Why so, Stef?" He asks as I light a smoke peering at the convenience store across the way.

"I'm not sure my parents ever trusted Frank, Jr. to take me anywhere after that alone. Being he was eight years older he of course could supervise me and always had for the most part. Maybe you know how he let me sip his beers a few times and let me get into things I should not have but I knew he cared and I knew he loved me. But after that day Frank always had to have another one of my brothers with him, and it was usually Taylor because Dad and Mom knew that Taylor would tell the god honest truth in a heartbeat whereas, I'd try and cover for Frankie. I had always tried to cover for him no matter what...well, because we were close, and I knew how badly he was struggling."