My stomach dropped. Someone huffed in disgust—Stanton probably—but it was Frank I focused on, and his expression tightened. Warning. Sympathy. Something likebrace yourself.
Now what?
Stanton followed Davis in, back straight, acting righteous. I followed and shut the door behind me, then sat because he gestured to the chair next to Stanton. The captain’s office felt smaller today, cramped and heavy, blinds half-closed to keep out the glare.
Davis didn’t let the silence sit long.
“Stanton, rein it in,” he snapped, voice low but carrying. “You want to act like a child, do it on your own time. In this department, we work as a team. Rosen is one of our best detectives, and we’re not closing a case this size if half the squad is too busy pissing in corners.”
Stanton stiffened, jaw flexing. “I’m just saying?—”
“No,” Davis cut in. “You’re shit-stirring because you can’t let go of the past. You think you were the only one who lost cases because of Rosen Senior? I had three homicide cases collapse in court. I was shot by one of the men that asshole got off free.” His gaze slid to me—defensive, protective, and raw. “And I still show up and work with the man’s son because Levi is not his dad, and he’s a good cop who earned his place here.”
That shut Stanton up—for about half a second. “Well, sir, while we’re being honest, how aboutRosenexplains how he’s so damn quick at getting information he shouldn’t know?”
Ice dropped in my stomach. “It’s called police work,” I said, voice flat. “Instead of bitching about the past, you should try it sometime.”
Stanton’s head snapped toward me as if he’d been yanked on a wire. “You little—” He rounded on me, lip curled. “Careful, Rosen. One day you’ll find out the hard way that no one cares what you say… only what they can pin on you.”
“Go on,” I said, turning to him fully. “Say it. Because maybe if you’d been a better cop back then, when I was a fucking kid, you could’ve stopped my dad before he burned half this department to the ground and ended up getting my brother killed.”
The vein in Stanton’s temple turned purple. He leaned in just enough so only I could hear: “Keep talking, Rosen. One slip—one mistake—and IA will eat you alive. And I’ll make damn sure they know where to look.”
“Fuck you, asshole!”
His chair scraped back two inches as he surged up, but Davis slammed a hand on the desk.
“Enough,” Davis barked. “Sit down, Stanton, before IA gets gifted a brand-new fistfight to investigate.”
“I apologize,” I lied in my best fake-apologetic tone. Stanton was an asshole, and yeah, I felt for him getting caught up in mydad’s shit, but fuck that noise. No one got to revisit my dad’s sins on me.
No one else lost their older brother to a revenge killing or watched grief kill their mother.
After a pause, Stanton sat, but he stared ahead and refused to engage with me.
Davis exhaled slowly. “Stanton, as lead, carry on your work with the unidentified remains. Rosen, you and Frank get out of the fucking office and take point on the medical records for our newly ID’d victim. And for the last time—” His gaze swept over both of us, hard and unyielding, then he focused directly on Stanton. “We work this as a team. Do you understand?”
Stanton muttered something that might’ve been agreement.
“Detective Rosen?” Davis pressed.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
“Good. Stanton, get the hell out of my office and do your job.” I stood to leave as well. “Rosen, wait.”
As soon as the door shut on Stanton, Davis relaxed and regarded me with something like compassion. “How are you holding up?” he asked.
The question rocked me harder than if he’d yelled. I blinked, caught off guard. “I’m fine, sir.”
He didn’t buy it. “This case is hitting too close to old territory. Organ harvesting, bodies dumped, hospitals ignoring protocols, MC crap in the middle of it, cartel connections… You must understand the kind of mess your dad’s team got stuck in back when is going to affect how people look at you.”
“I know.” My throat was tight, heat crawling under my collar. I stared at a spot on his desk, so I didn’t have to meet his eyes. “It’s all good.”
“You look like you haven’t slept,” Davis said quietly. “Do you want to talk about that?”
“No.” It came out harsher than I meant.
“I’ve noticed a couple of the other older guys giving you the cold shoulder.” He waited for me to fill in names, but I still had to work with them, and hell, most of them would be gone in the next couple of years. Davis tutted at my silence. “Do you want to take any action?”
