“What’s worse?” Alex said.
“I have to put you on leave until this gets resolved.” He sighed. “Which means you can’t test on Tuesday. I’m sorry, man. Suspension’s not gonna look good in your file either. Might be wise to let this blow over before you try to promote again.”
“Shit,” Alex muttered. Assault charge and a work suspension? Thatwasworse. Any decent lawyer should be able to make it all go away, but the odds of that happening before Tuesday were zilch.
His captain asked that he keep him in the loop and hung up after offering another apology.
Alex dragged himself out of bed and into the shower. After a breakfast smoothie, he called his brother Mitch to get some advice before talking to the cops. Mitch had been a police officer for many years before retiring early.
“Don’t say anything without an attorney,” Mitch advised. “I’ll ask around and find you the best. Make sure he or she can meet you at the station before you say one word.”
“All I did was defend a friend,” Alex said. “You really think all that is necessary?”
“Maybe not,” Mitch said. “But let the attorney figure that out. If things blow up and don’t go your way, you don’t want an assault charge on your record, do you?”
“Of course not, but—” A knock interrupted him. “Shit. Someone’s at my door. I’ll call you later.”
Alex frowned at the door. He’d lived here a year and was pretty sure no one had ever knocked on it. That was one benefit of living in a secure building with only four condos per floor. He tossed his phone onto the couch and slumped to the door, thinking it must be the cops ready to haul him off to jail.
Not the way he intended to spend his morning.
When he cracked open the door, wide blue eyes stared up at him. It was the neighbor kid from the fire station.
“Hey…little dude,” Alex said, unable to remember the boy’s name. “What’s up?”
“Do you have an Xbox?” the kid asked.
He did, but wasn’t sure the kid’s mother would appreciate Alex inviting him in for a game ofCall of Duty.
“Does your mom know you’re here?” he asked, poking his head into the hallway, looking right and left.
“I wrote a note.”
“Okay.” Alex drew out the word.
“I tried to call you, but the lady didn’t know where you was.”
“What lady? And how do you have my number?”
“You said your phone number’s 911.”
“You called 911?”
At the kid’s nod, Alex left him standing in the doorway to retrieve his phone. He dialed the nonemergency number for dispatch, identified himself, and gave a brief rundown on what might have happened. “Just wanted to make sure there wasn’t an open call to my building.”
“Oh, I know just who took the call. Carol told us about a little boy, looking for his friend, the firefighter.” She laughed. “Hold on. I’ll transfer you to her.”
He heard a click and then, “Dispatch, this is Carol.”
“Hey, Carol. I understand I may need to apologize for a 911 call you took this morning?”
The kid wandered into Alex’s kitchen and was attempting to climb the high barstool at the island. Alex shot him a pointed stare while listening to the operator.
“Oh, yes. I’m glad you’re following up. I was second-guessing myself about not sending anyone, but he said his mom was fine. He wanted you to come over and play LEGOs. I explained that 911 was only for emergencies. He said okay and hung up.”
“All right. Well, sorry about that. I’ll make sure he understands.”
The kid had finally climbed onto the stool and looked around like he was waiting to be served breakfast. Shit, was he?
