Free Toronto Tales 1 - Cop Out by KC Burn

rambunctious, noisy family at Finn’s.
M
ONDAY morning, a huge dark-haired man followed Inspector Nadar out of his office toward Kurt’s desk.
    “Kurt, this is Simon Trent, your new partner. Simon, this is Kurt O’Donnell.” The inspector pointed at Ben’s desk. “That’s your desk. Kurt can show you around the rest.”
    Kurt stood and held out his hand to shake. Amazingly, he had to look up at Simon. And the man was big, not fat, just big. Probably four or five inches taller than Kurt’s own six feet.
“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted. Tomorrow, you’re back on active duty.” Nadar retreated to his office.
    Oh, thank God. Simon didn’t ask about the last statement, so Nadar must have filled him in about Kurt’s injuries.
“I’m sorry about your partner, man.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Kurt refrained from further comment.
    Increasingly, he had a hard time reconciling the partner he thought he’d known—the partner he’d lost in more ways than one—with the man he was coming to know and possibly dislike. Made him feel disloyal, which Kurt hated, so he didn’t want to dwell on it.
Instead, he changed the subject and gave Simon an overview of the basics he’d need.
    “
R
EADY to break for lunch?” Simon asked a few hours later. Kurt peered at him, wondering if this was yet another attempt to coddle the injured man, but then Simon’s stomach let out a loud rumble. Anyone that big had to stoke the engine regularly.
Kurt laughed. “I could eat. There’s a lot of good places within walking distance. Anything you feel like?”
     
“Greek?”
     
“Yep, just a few blocks over.”
“S O
,
WHAT made you transfer from the RCMP?” Law enforcement
was law enforcement, but there was a certain mystique about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, even if they rarely rode horses anymore.
    “I got married a couple of years ago. Jen, my wife, wanted to move back to the city, and I wanted a change, so I applied to the police force here and in Vancouver.”
Kurt’s eyebrows rose. “So, any city would do?”
    Simon speared another roasted potato. “No, but Montreal was out, because I don’t speak French, and I was stationed in Halifax. A move’s a move, right?”
“How are you liking it so far?”
    “It’s good. Faster paced, though. We’re getting settled in, and Jen started her new job this week too. We don’t know many people, though. Hey, did you want to come over for dinner sometime? If you’ve got a wife or girlfriend, bring her along.”
    If he needed company, he could probably convince one of his brothers or Davy to come along, but the offer melted away tension Kurt didn’t realize he was carrying around. Simon had already opened himself up to Kurt more in the past few hours than Ben had done in three years.
“No wife, no girlfriend, but I’d be happy to come over, thanks. Just let me know when and where.”
    Simon smiled, pleased by Kurt’s response. He’d known Simon for half a day and already knew the dynamic of their partnership would be different than his previous one. With Ben so much older and experienced, they’d fallen into a novice-mentor relationship, but with Simon, it would be a partnership on much more even footing.
Chapter Six
     
    A
UGUST was hell. A month of heat-wave-related violence and murders kept Simon and Kurt hopping—lots of overtime and not as much progress as either of them hoped. Kurt had been following the investigation of the guy who’d killed Ben, but they weren’t any closer to any kind of arrest or sting. He owed it to Ben, and himself, to put that fucker behind bars. Unfortunately, as soon as they realized who was behind it, the investigation had moved out of homicide. Not that Kurt was under any illusions—his boss would never have allowed Kurt to remain involved in the investigation.
    Closing this case would be beneficial for Davy… help him heal a little more. Kurt had a chance to take Simon up on his offer for dinner only twice, and