The Next Generation: The Legacy (Book 3)

Chapter 2 - Getting to work.

Chante

I couldn’t believe I was so nervous. I had heard about officer Freddie Campbell who went mad after the loss of his friend and his girlfriend. I wasn’t scared of him. I was just nervous being around him. How could they make a crazy person a police officer? I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts. My dad had done far worse things! Officer Campbell was in shock.

“Officer Simmons, are you even listening to me?” His voice interrupted my thoughts and I realized I hadn’t heard a word he said.

“No, I’m sorry, sir.” I sighed, feeling like an i***t. I knew my first day was going to be hard, but I was making so many stupid mistakes and I hadn’t even started working properly yet! “Did you know my dad? I mean, did you work with him?” I frowned when he burst out laughing.

“You are talking as if he is dead!” He looked at me only for a moment before returning his attention to the road. “Yes.” He sighed deeply. “We worked together from time to time. Listen, you can’t let the rumours discourage you. I’m sure you joined the force not just because of your father.” He looked sympathetic and I nodded.

“Yeah, my lineage goes back a long time. I remember when I was little, I always saw my dad as a hero …” Tears stung the back of my eyes and I had to swallow hard to try and get rid of the knot in my throat.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it. I also have stuff I prefer not to talk about.” He looked sad but only for a moment. “What do you do at a traffic stop?” He changed the subject and I was relieved. I ran through what we were taught in college, and he gave me a tip or two to keep in mind. We drove on in silence for a short while before he questioned me about some more protocol, and we were actually having fun when a call came in for a domestic dispute.

He seemed happy that my book knowledge was sufficient to answer his questions. As we arrived at the address, we could hear a female voice shouting at the top of her lungs. I looked at Officer Campbell and he nodded. His hand was in front of me, indicating that I should stay behind him when we knocked on the door.

“Police! Open up!” He looked so confident, until I noted his pinkie twitching over his gun. The door flung open and a furious woman with wild blond hair and bright blue eyes glared at us.

“What?!” She shouted as her husband appeared behind her. He was twice her size and looked very fit.

“Ma’am, we have received a complaint…” Officer Campbell started to explain, but the woman didn’t give him a chance to finish his sentence before storming out onto the porch screaming.

“Oh, yeah? Who was it this time? The nosy neighbour next door or the old woman spying on my house from across the street! These people have nothing better to do with their damn time! I swear! If I had a …” She was about to say something she really shouldn’t in front of us when her husband stepped in front of her.

“I’m sorry. We will keep it down. It was just a small misunderstanding.” He smiled, but I instantly noted the frown on my partner’s face.

“Officer Simmons, would you please take Mrs. Eldridge to talk over there while I speak to her husband.” Officer Campbell frowned and I nodded.

“It’s Miss! We never married!” The furious woman spat at my partner and I had no idea what to say to that. We had a standard list of questions we had to ask to make sure that nobody was in danger and, from what I could tell, this woman was the danger. I kept a close eye on my partner, and he seemed to do the same as we finished our questions. There really wasn’t much we could do after that. Neither party seemed to be injured, so Officer Campbell just gave them a warning to keep it down and we left.

“Did you notice something about them?” He asked me as we climbed into the car and drove off.

“Something was seriously off. I just couldn’t …” I shook my head. “Nah, it can’t be.” I laughed, and he didn’t look very happy with me.

“Statistics show that more men are abused by their partners than women. Men just feel too ashamed to report it.” He sighed.

“No, but he is so huge!” My eyes grew wide and he laughed.

“His size makes no difference. Do me a favour, check out their address. How many times have we been there for the same problem?” He frowned, and I typed the address into our computer. I was shocked.

“Twenty-six times in the past six months alone!” I gaped and he shook his head.

“I can promise you that today wasn’t the last time.” He sighed deeply as we got another call. We drove out to the address and were on high alert as soon as we pulled up. Someone had called in a tip of a possible robbery in progress and I called for back-up before we got out of the car.

“Should we wait for back-up?” I frowned and was relieved when he nodded.

“We don’t know what we might be walking into while the robbers are still in the store.” He nodded to our right and I noticed the second squad car pulling up. He had a quick chat with his fellow officers when, all of a sudden, all hell broke loose around us. Shots were fired in our direction by two males who rushed to the car that was parked in front of the store. I reacted so fast that I was even impressed with myself as we returned fire. The suspects fled in the car, and we pursued them and I had never felt as alive as I did at that moment!

Freddie

She wasn’t half bad. She had good instincts and a fast reaction time, but those were the things that were worrying me. I was worried she was there to replace her father. I wanted to broach the subject, but I had to be very careful. The last thing I wanted was to accuse her of anything or make her feel as if she was being accused. The rumours flying around the station were already bad enough. I needed her mind clear and focus when we hit these streets.