“A lot of life is about doing things we don’t want to do,”Beck had said to her once. They’d been dispatched to a dead-body call, a person who had been dead for a week. The beat car had weaseled out of it, and Lainie was not happy when Beck answered up to take the call.
“Don’t be the cop who shirks your clear responsibility. Do your job, the best you can all the time, no matter the call.”
There was a lot of wisdom in Beck’s training that applied to other areas of life, not just police work.
“Mom, how do I forgive Stan? I never liked him. And honestly, a part of me doesn’t want to forgive him.”
Mom sighed. “I think we’ll have to work on it together, Lainie. Remind each other every day that as we are forgiven, we need to forgive. Forgiving Stan will help Evie, and Evie deserves our support.”
Lainie’s mom hadn’t been gone long when her phone rang again. The caller ID said Callen West.
Why on earth would he be calling me? His story was already written; it’s not like he was asking for a comment.
She picked up the phone but didn’t answer it. West didn’t leave a message.
The next call was from Ben, and she answered.
“I wondered how you were doing,” Ben asked.
“I’m tired, but overall, okay. How about you?”
“About the same. Did you read the article about the incident?”
“The one with the jibe at me?” Lainie nodded. “Yeah.”
“What was up with that?”
“Callen West doesn’t like cops. I guess he decided to pick on me today.”
“Did he have some connection to the Daphne Sparks case?”
“No, he’s probably twenty-five years old. He would have been ten when she was killed. Why do you ask?”
“The old reference to Vine,” Ben said.
“He’s a reporter. I’m sure he’s read the old stories.”
“Well, I hope he doesn’t take any more shots at you.”
“You and me both,” Lainie said.
CHAPTER 59
The next morning, Lainie woke up with a smile on her face. Finally feeling rested and thinking about the promise in her relationship with Ben, her mood was better than it had been in days. They’d chatted a bit the night before. He’d told her that the ledger had already given them some good information on some out-of-state criminals. The code was still proving difficult, but they were optimistic about cracking it.
A phone call from Dr. Reynolds’s office couldn’t even dampen her mood.
“We have an opening in the office this morning if you feel up to dropping by.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”
She’d already planned to go into the station to check on the status of the investigation and pick up her gun again. She could not put off talking to Reynolds anymore, so she was glad to get that over with. Most of all, injured arm notwithstanding, Lainie wanted to get back to work. She felt like she’d been away from her caseload for a year.
Thinking of Ben had Lainie whistling in the car as she drove to the office. Evie being rescued and meeting Ben Isaacs were the two positive things to come out of a very negative situation. Putting Vine behind bars would be the next positive, she was certain.
“The Feds are working hard on that book,” Shea told Lainie when she popped into the homicide office. “How are you? I’m surprised you’re here now. Your arm okay?”
“I’m good. It’s sore but healing. I need to talk to the psych today. I kept putting it off. When his office called to see if I was okay, they said they had an opening this morning.”
