Free Avenged by Janice Cantore Page B

find out what this morning. She said good-bye and left for her car, knowing that it would be a miracle if she got any sleep today.
    •••
    That night, Carly slid into the squad meeting expecting she’d draw a solo car. Kyle Corley was off, and everyone else was partnered up. She figured it was just as well because she was tired and cranky. Dean Barton had gotten under her skin, and she knew she needed to rise above his taunts. To be on the safe side, she filed a short memo to Sergeant Barrett about the morning incident with the parolee.
    And there was a conversation she’d had with Joe before leaving for work that nagged at her. She called to check up on him and mentioned the task force offer.
    “I have to have surgery,” he said. “Pretty soon too. I’m likely to be off work at least six weeks. You just thinking about the task force, or did you accept already?”
    “I’d like to go over the job description with Nick, and we haven’t had the time,” Carly said, anxiety rising because shefeared the more she read, the more she’d want the job badly and Nick would advise against.
    Joe’s advice was the opposite. “Maybe you should take it,” he said. “Christy wants me to look into a detective position. She worries about me in the car. And, well, I’ve been in one for over five years. Maybe this injury is telling me I need a change. I guess I might be deserting you. But she worries about me, and she has a point—if I work days, I’ll be home with her and A.J. every night. And you have options. I’d hate to think of you turning down a plum job offer because of me.”
    The conversation had left her with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach that she’d worked her last night in a patrol car with Joe. Though taking the task force offer would have meant the same thing, somehow it hit harder when it was Joe leaving first.
    Was this a sign that she should accept Wiley’s offer? Or maybe it was time to move to detectives like Nick suggested. What he and Joe both said was true—she had options. She’d hated juvenile because it had been a forced transfer. If she were able to go to a detail she chose, maybe it would be different.
    The idea of detectives, while not as attractive as the task force, didn’t tweak her so much now. She wouldn’t have to deal with pukes like Dean Barton in a detective detail. Or stand in skirmish lines. But then, she wouldn’t have to do that on a task force either. And the task force would be more challenging in a good way. But with a detective slot, she’d still be here in Las Playas.
    Her mind was a jumble, filled with pros, cons, and all the changes available to her and the adjustments she would have to make. A new wardrobe. A new daytime schedule. A new partner. But maybe it was time. Time to think about a new career direction, maybe starting a family . . .
    “Ah.” She gave an involuntary shudder and sat up straight. The officer next to her raised an eyebrow, but she just shook her head.
    I cannot wrap my mind around having a kid.
    “Okay, everyone listen up.” Sergeant Barrett brought the squad meeting to order and Carly’s thoughts shifted.
    “The Oceans First people have been quiet today, which is good because things are tense in the field right now over the shooting. There was a no-hit drive-by on Ninth Street earlier with the suspects still outstanding. We’ve had an upsurge in fight calls with one beating of a Playboy that resulted in a broken arm. There’s also been a boatload of tagging going on. Marshall from gangs is here to update everyone on the situation.”
    Fernando Marshall traded places with Barrett. He was a slim black man who’d been on the gang detail almost as long as Mickey T. Nick had told Carly that Nando, as he was called, had a lot of street smarts and a great rapport with most of the known gang members in the city.
    The gang detail normally worked afternoon shift, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Gangs were creatures of the darkness. But in