“Yeah, well, I got word from the higher ups and I thought I should deliver it in person. They were a little annoyed you didn’t pull in the taskforce on this bust, but not even the captain couldn’t argue with the results.” Martin glanced over at Anatoly. “You brought the priest along?”
“I waited in car, I assure you,” Anatoly interjected and Maggie nodded.
“He’s been a big help on this case, I figured he deserved to finish things out with me,” Maggie explained, even though she didn’t want to. Answering to Martin still ruffled her feathers.
Suddenly the front door slammed open, shaking the entire hovel.
“Where the hell is she?” Declan’s voice announced his presence even as he stepped over the threshold and into the room. His wild eyes landed on Maggie and he pointed a finger accusingly at her.
“You should have looped me in, Detective,” he growled. “Working the copycat angle didn’t give you the right to swipe my collar out from under my nose!”
Maggie snorted at that, her temper rising though she fought to keep it in check. Seeing Declan at all was infuriating enough without him daring to shout at her in front of half the department. “What the hell are you on about? I did work the copycat angle and found the copycat. The serial killer is still out there?—”
“Not according to the brass,” Declan interrupted. “They think there’s enough evidence to put Richards away for all seven murders.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Maggie blurted without thinking. She knew the serial killer was a vampire, but she couldn’t exactly say that detail to her superiors. “How do you explain the drugs in only two victims? Or the fact that Jean Thomas was a counselor and not clergy?” she countered instead.
Declan snorted. “I’m sure the defense will argue both of those points, but it’s thin as hell, Maggie, and you know it. Richards is the guy.”
Maggie was shaking her head before he ever stopped talking. “With an attitude like that, no wonder you couldn’t find the real killer…” She muttered the words before she could stop herself.
Silence fell over the room and even Anatoly looked surprised, but Maggie refused to back down. She was right and these jackasses were about to screw up and leave another killer on the street.
“You forget your place, Detective Boone,” Declan scolded her like a child, puffing his chest up like the peacock he was. “I outrank you and I will not tolerate insubordination.”
Maggie couldn’t help but laugh at that. She’d just made a major arrest and found enough evidence to lock Jack Richards up for years, and instead of being patted on the back like any other officer would be, her shitty ex-boyfriend was yelling in her face.
She glanced over at Martin and caught him looking at his feet like the worthless sack of shit he was.
“I remember. I was there when you threw me under the bus to get that promotion,” Maggie shot back. She wasn’t going to back down and let him steamroll her again. This time, she was going to stand up for herself and the only way she could do that was to pivot.
Without warning, Maggie reached for her badge and holster, unclipping them from her belt and then laying them both on the paper-covered table. “Consider this my resignation,” she announced as she took Anatoly’s hand and started toward the door.
Martin and Declan both tried to stop her, but she ignored them, focusing instead on the worried whisper from Anatoly. “Maggie, are you sure about this?”
She nodded. “Sure am. I’m done being kicked around.”
Deep down, she knew she’d miss the job itself, but her career with the police department was over. It had been circling the drain since it came out she’d been sleeping with Declan, and while she had nobody but herself to blame for that, that he got promoted and she spent years wallowing on the night shift was an injustice she could no longer ignore. If he decided to come after her for insubordination, it would only further kill her career. Better to severe ties now and move on. There were other jobs she was suited to. Hell, she could go into private investigation if she really wanted to.
All of this ran through her mind as she marched to the car with Anatoly in tow. She probably should have been explaining her reasoning to him, but she was too angry to get the words out of her mouth right now.
Once they were in the car though, he seemed to find his voice. “Are you okay?” he asked.
Maggie didn’t answer right away. She had to consider how she was feeling before she could put her state of mind into words. “I went out on a hell of a high note, Anatoly. I finished the case. Richards is going to spend a lot of time in prison and I… I am going to be just fine.”
“I am worried for you,” he admitted, reaching tentatively across the center console to touch the back of her hand with his fingertips.
“What? Why? Because I just quit my job?” She smiled at him, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s been a lot of years coming, Anatoly. Please, don’t worry for me. I’m okay, really. I could probably get a job tomorrow at the Dimond Center Mall as a security guard if I wanted. I have plenty of options and plenty of savings to figure out those options.”
She realized as she spoke that she was trying to convince herself as much as him, but Maggie didn’t admit this out loud. She focused on the road ahead, determined to come back stronger than ever.
Chapter Fifty-One
Maggie went the next evening to clear out her stuff from the station with the promise that she would meet Anatoly afterward. She could tell he was worried about her, and she hoped that in the coming days she’d be able to reassure him that she was doing okay with all of this.
Cleaning out her desk and locker hadn’t been the easiest thing she’d done, but neither was it the hardest. She had weathered far worse storms than turning in her resignation for a job that she had come to resent. A job that had worn her down into a cold, callous individual who existed day by day with no light in sight at the end of the day.
Now she had Anatoly and a bright future doing whatever she could possibly want. After more than a decade on the police force, Maggie was ready for a change. It had taken staring Declan in the face to realize that she’d been chasing her tail like a fool for far too long. Now she was free and it felt damn good.
