“I shit you not. Whole trunk was full of dildos and stuff that still gives me fucking nightmares. And boy did she want Cunningham. That woman was on a mission. Kept telling him how handsome he was and what a nice ‘package’ he had.” He laughed harder, shaking his head. “We didn’t want to handcuff her at first, she was ninety-two years old, but when she started grabbing for his ass and dick we had no choice.”
“That is the best story I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“It was definitely a night I’ll never forget. We were rookies then so we caught hell for it. It was six months before we stopped finding granny panties in our squad car before each shift.”
I chuckled. “That’s terrible.”
“I miss it, you know, being out on the frontline.”
Silently, I wondered if Reid missed it, too.
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about your brother.”
“Thanks. It’s been seven years but sometimes it feels like it was yesterday. It hurts like hell.”
“I know what you mean. I lost my sister nine years ago.”
“Oh my gosh, Mike, I’m so sorry.”
“Drunk driver hit her on her way home from work. Thankfully, the piece of shit died, too. Otherwise, I would have gone to prison for killing him.”
Mike and I were more alike than I thought.
“That’s how I knew he’d lost someone close to him, the grief he carried around was hard to miss sometimes because I was carrying my own. But I never asked him about it. He only spoke of you and Bodie in passing, but I could tell he cared about you both. It wasn’t until he called me yesterday that I even knew the full extent of what happened.”
Tears began to fill my eyes, the lump in my throat growing more painful with every word I spoke. “I just wish he would let me in.”
He shrugged. “We’re men. We like to keep shit buried. It’s just the way it is.”
A sad smile curved my lips. “Well, sometimes you men suck.”
“Sometimes,” he agreed. “And sometimes we lick, too.”
I laughed as my heavy heart became lighter. “Better watch yourself, Officer, Reid might think you’re flirting with me.”
He grunted. “I can take his ass any day.”
Smiling, I asked, “Do you have someone, Mike?”
Pain flickered in his eyes before he turned his attention to Nitro. “I did once. Gave up everything to follow her to L.A. so she could pursue her dream of acting.”
“What happened?”
“She made it all right. Slept her way right to the top.”
I winced. “I’m sorry.”
“I was bitter for a long time. But then I realized that it wasn’t me who lost her. She lost me. And if I don’t mind saying so, I’m a damn good catch.”
“Do you ever want to settle down?”
“Well, yeah. If I ever find the perfect girl.”
“And what’s your version of the perfect girl?”
“Oh, I don’t know, a woman who likes to drink beer and fuck a lot.”
I shook my head, laughing. Mike was a trip.
