Marrying the quarterback

Chapter Four

Every crowd loves a ringmaster and Maxwell Johnson was that guy. He was the entertainer on the field with his brash self-confidence. Everyone loved him aside from his teammates, opponents and coaches who weren’t reluctant with sharing their feelings.

The women of course loved Maxwell and couldn’t stop talking about him—calling him a saint. (Who would want to deny their feelings for the blue-eyed and blonde bachelor look?) I wasn’t sure they even knew the definition of the word saint—Maxwell was far from being a saint and I had the honours of seeing it for myself. My opinion didn’t change about him being a jerk, it only progressed and I could see why someone wanted to shoot him.

Maxwell hasn’t been dating in years but he has been sexually active with girls that are in relationships. It almost started to seem as if the crime could have been committed by a lover who found out that their girl was with Maxwell.

We also started with another theory that he owed some very high up in the chain money but our clues and theories started to go cold and we were left with nothing but the bullet they pulled from Maxwell’s shoulder.

“Burgess,” The lieutenant called out from his office. I looked over at Kurt and the rest of my team when I recognized the captain’s voice. He was getting frustrated that the leads were drying up.

I entered his office with the case file when I found Maxwell’s and his mother seated at the lieutenant's desk. I didn’t even know he was released from the hospital.

“This is Detective AJ Burgess and she has been working around the clock on finding the man who shot Maxwell,” The lieutenant explained when the door behind me opened up and Rick walked in.

I was being to get suspicious because last time I was aware that the FBI wasn’t involved in this case.

“Detective Burgess,” Rick greeted me with a smile and a curt nod of his head.

“Agent Cardoza,” I greeted back keeping everything professional.

“This is FBI agent Rick Cardoza,” The lieutenant introduced to Maxwell and his mother.

“We’ve combined evidence and came to a conclusion that there isn’t enough evidence to find who shot Maxwell,” Rick explained.

Maxwell’s mother didn’t look pleased.

“You’ve had the FBI going through my notes without so much informing me?” I asked, taking a step forward displeased with how this case is getting handled.

“You took too long to solve this case,” Rick remarked.

I arched an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Burgess,” Lieutenant Steele said my name in a lecturing manner.

“You told me and my team that you wouldn’t get the FBI involved because this wasn’t in their jurisdiction,” I calmly reminded the lieutenant.

He nodded. “Yes, but they are not taking this case over. They are only assisting,”

I shook my head in displeasure. “You have someone go over my notes making sure I don’t slip up,” It was already tough on me being a young woman in law enforcement and I had to work twice as hard to get this position.

“We can talk about this later, Burgess,” Lieutenant Steele added with a steady stare.

He then gestured for Rick to continue.

“Nobody shot your son, Mrs Johnson,”

I shut my eyes at Rick’s statement.

“What are you saying?” I heard the anger and shock in Maxwell’s voice.

“We are not going to continue with further investigations,”

I know I have a relationship with Rick outside of work but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything that pours out of his mouth.

“We’ve checked Maxwell’s finances and he has been quite the busy man with girls who are involved with other men,”

Imagine a mother has to hear that her son’s life isn’t important enough for the FBI because he is an athlete who has debt. Imagine if we have to judge victims on their financial statistics, we will never be able to solve cases and let murderers roam free.

“I already debunk that statement,” I remarked bluntly.

“Mr Maxwell doesn’t owe anybody any money, he doesn’t even have a loan. He sends his parents money every month,” Everyone was looking at me at this stage.

“Also, our testimonies from his teammates, coaches and opponents prove that they hate Maxwell but none wanted to kill him. The girls he has been sleeping with, their relationships weren’t working out and that was even before meeting Maxwell,”

“So, what are you saying, Detective Burgess?” Maxwell’s mother asked with a hopeful look in her eye.

“There is a shooter and he wanted to injure your son,” I ignored Rick’s glare.

“What does that mean for us now?” She queried.

“We place Mr Maxwell Johnson under protective custody,” Rick suggested.

“You are going place an athlete’s life on hold by taking him to a safe house under a different alias?” I get they want to protect him but I know how this goes for an athlete. With every year passing, they grow old and their sports life grows shorter. It can take us months to years to solve this case and by the time it’s over, so is his career.

“And it’s Maxwell Johnson we are talking about, he is going to stand out like a sore tooth no matter where you take him,” I argued.

I couldn’t believe I was standing up for this jerk but Rick challenged me by challenging my notes and evidence. I wasn’t going to stand down just because he had s*x.

“We can always place an agent under cover posing as his wife,” The lieutenant offered.

Rick came up with a few names since he suggested protective custody and their agents are used to going undercover but the captain was locking eyes with me.

“What about Burgess?”

There was absolutely no way I was going to pose as his wife. “No,” I said firmly.

“Burgess, we have to lure the shooter out and you are the best shot we have,” The lieutenant encouraged.

“Aside from all the men in the law enforcement, you know a lot about football more than any man in my precinct. There won’t be a need for us to waste time educating you,”

“This is an insane suggestion, Lieutenant Steele.” Rick protested.

“You suggested it,” I pointed out.

I shifted my gaze over to the lieutenant. “One problem though, I was in the room with Kurt taking testimonies,”

“We’ll discuss this with Maxwell’s teammates and coaches,”

“Wouldn’t that alert him?” I asked.

He shook his head. “On the contrary, it will make the suspect nervous and we can draw him out,”

“I hate the spotlight,” I remarked, getting a smile from him.

“I know but if you want to find your shooter and solve this case, then this is your chance, Burgess.” Lieutenant Steele acknowledged.

“You haven’t asked Mr Johnson how he feels about getting hitched to just one woman,” I remarked looking at Maxwell.

“I can handle it, sweat pea. It’s you who is going to struggle to keep your hands off me,” Maxwell’s mother gave him a warning look.

“I can handle you, your dirty mouth and how you mistreat women but if you so much step out of line, I have a gun and I will use it,”

Lieutenant Steele suppressed his smile because he knew how much I disliked this man and how low I think of him.

“So, does it mean we can finalize the paperwork and start arranging for you two to get married and move in?” Lieutenant Steele confirmed.

I noticed the unhappy look Rick was giving me and it fired up the ambition to solve this case. “Yes,”

Lieutenant Steele nodded. “Good, you are free to go,”

I said my goodbyes to everyone and left his office. I didn’t expect Rick to follow me up.

“AJ, wait,” He pleaded, grabbing me by my upper arm and whirling me around to face him. “Everything in there was just work,”

“You mean by calling my work weak while it was your own work that didn’t have supported evidence?”

“I just thought we were going on a limb here,” He noted.

“Why because it’s Maxwell Johnson?” I softly snapped at him.

“We were wasting resources when he could have done it to himself and I thought when it’s finally over we can spend some time finally together,”

“So, you used your badge and position to speculate because I was spending too much time away from you?” I was very displeased with how he was handling the importance of this case.

“There can be a real shooter out there and all you care about is I am working too hard?”

“Well, Rick. You are the reason why I am going undercover and it’s going to be more than just a few weeks.”