“Hey, Dad?” she called out.
“Yeah?” he answered from the bathroom. He came out, wiping his mouth off with a hand towel. “Did you call me?”
“Yeah. I’m going to head over to Frank’s place. I really would like to talk to him one more time before this transition starts.”
Her dad nodded, and she thought she saw a flicker of worry in his eyes. If hewasworried, he decided to keep quiet, though.
“Sounds like a good idea,” he said. “You okay?”
She walked over to him and gave him a small hug. “Yeah, I’m good.”
She left the apartment and opted not to hail a cab. She could walk to Frank’s apartment in roughly twenty minutes, and she thought the walking might do her some good. She walked the familiar streets at night, enjoying the lively feeling of it all around her: the hum of traffic, the murmur of conversations, and the overall sense of being in the midst of such a large and thriving place that, even as it suffered from the recent financial crisis, still seemed to be vibrant.
It helped bolster the growing excitement about working in a new place. Yes, she was upset about being removed from Frank but the positive aspects of it were becoming harder and harder to overlook. And as she thought about the inner workings of the plan that Captain Minard and Chief Freemantle had put into place, she couldn’t help but wonder if her father had been right. Maybe she’d been given the mantle of detective at first with no other reason than Minard hoping she’d crash and burn right away, sweeping her under the rug. But if that had been the case, that plan had backfired in spectacular fashion. Rather than mope and complain about it, maybe the NYPD had decided to use it to their advantage. Maybe they recognized that they could use her brief but mostly stellar track record to help bolster the image and motivation of other precincts.
She’d gotten so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she’d come to Frank’s apartment building until she was standing at its steps. She went inside and walked to the second floor, to his very small and basic apartment. Because he’d thought it was so important to get to know her family, they’d only ever come to his place a handful of times. And even now, as she steppedtoward his door and raised her hand to knock, she realized just how much she felt like it was a new, strange place.
She knocked and waited, but got no answer. When she knocked a second time, she leaned forward, nearly placing her ear to the door.
“Frank?” she called.
She could hear no signs of movement from inside. She wondered if he had stayed behind at the precinct burning the midnight oil as it were, as a way to keep his mind off of what would be taking place tomorrow. He had clearly taken the news harder than she had but had opted not to say anything. She’d sensed this at work but had known better than to try to pull it out of him.
Feeling silly and a little defeated, Ava knocked one more time. When she still didn’t get a response, she considered going to the station to look for him. But by the time she got to the front door, she rejected the idea. Even if hewasthere, he wouldn’t risk speaking about something so emotional and personal at the office, in front of other officers.
She was just going to have to let it go for now.
She stepped back out into the night and looked in the direction of her own apartment. But as she did, she reached into the pocket of her jacket and fingered the small object she’d been keeping inside the pocket since yesterday. It was a book of matches with the simple logo of a place called the Ash Lodge. She’d taken it from the building where she’d nearly managed to apprehend the man that had killed her husband—a slippery little goon by the name of Jim Spurlock.
The night was wide open before her and if she chose to do so, she could look into this place. She’d yet to check in records and research at the precinct, knowing that it would send her down a deep, dark rabbit hole. And she’d beenfartoo concerned about the meeting with Minard to give it much thought.
But now…if she wanted to, she could find this place and figure out how it was connected to Spurlock. She assumed it was just one of his little haunts, somewhere he fooled around with his fellow criminals. Then again, she doubted such an establishment would go and give away their name by placing it on the covers of their matchbooks.
She decided to just go back home. There was too much at stake, too much going on tomorrow. The last thing she needed was to stay out late chasing down leads that may, for now, be nothing more than phantoms. She retraced her steps, heading back home, wondering what Frank was up to right now…and wondering if her relocation might serve as the beginning of the end for their whirlwind relationship.
***
Frank had been sitting on his lounge chair, flipping through some old case notes when someone knocked on his door. He was certain it was Ava. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone other than Ava had knocked on his door. His first instinct was to answer it, but he thought better of it at the last moment.
He knew the conversation that they’d have, and he wasn’t ready to delve into it yet. It wasn’t just because he wanted to avoid the conflict, but because he honestly wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He hadn’t told her, but he’d been dealing with another unspoken issue even before Minard had tossed out the re-assignment news.
He’d been really struggling with how obsessive Ava had become over finding her husband’s killer. At the heart of it, he thought he could understand the drive and determination. Someone had killed the man she loved, and her son’s father. Hell, he even respected her for it. But the deeper she went into it, the more dangerous it became. Not only did he fear losing her,but he was also reminded each and every time she found a new lead or clue just how much she’d loved Clarence.
And quite frankly, he wasn’t sure if he could contend with that. He wasn’t sure if hewantedto contend with it.
He cringed when she knocked a second time. And when she called out his name, he set the folders and reports down on the small table by his chair. He stared at the door, almost calling back to her.
But he let out a shaky sigh and sat back in the seat. He didn’t move again until he could hear her faint footfalls walking away from the door, further back down the hallway.
He’d loved and lost before, so he was used to heartbreak. He knew that if Ava went to another precinct and excelled, she’d take her passion for finding her husband’s killer with her. And before too long, he’d simply be pushed out of her life. Maybe not on purpose—he didn’t think she had a cruel bone in her body—but it was bound to happen.
He figured he’d be doing her something of a favor by simply stepping aside now, before they got too deep into their relationship. Selfishly, it was easier this way for him, too. He’d never been particularly good at goodbyes.
As Ava’s footsteps faded into silence on the other side of his door, he was pretty sure he’d just avoided a very big and painful one.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ava opened the door to the Seventeenth Precinct having no idea what to expect. So when she found a station that was considerably smaller and not quite as frantic as the precinct she’d been calling home for the last four months or so, she found herself baffled. Taking her first few steps inside, several faces turned toward her. All of them were male, most of them were young, and all of them looked just as uncertain as she felt.