to?”
“Nope. You’re fine. I guess I’m used to riding shotgun when I’m on duty.”
“Old partner always drove, huh?”
“Technically, he was my boss,” I said, “but yeah, he drove more often than not.”
Beth shifted into drive and pulled from the front of the hotel. She put on her directional to make a left at the lights. “So he was what? A lieutenant?”
“He was a lieutenant. He’s the captain of Tampa homicide now.”
“What was he like?”
“What was he like?” I thought for a moment. “I don’t know. It’s kind of hard to jam years working daily with someone into a few words. Um. Put it this way, aside from being a damn good cop, I could call the guy from any place in the world, at any time, and he’d be there to help.”
“Can’t really ask for more than that,” she said.
“What’s it like being out in the field with Bill and Scott?” I asked. “I assume you’ve worked investigations with them like we are now.”
“Yeah, I’ve been in the field with both Bill and Scott a handful of times each. Ah, it’s kind of hard to describe, for me. When they go out together on an investigation, they come back with stories and such. I’m not sure what the bond that partners have is called.”
“Friendship, maybe,” I said.
“More like brothers. I guess I don’t really see that when I’m out with them. It’s basically do your job and head back. And then that’s the end of it. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman.”
I didn’t really have any insight to provide, so I remained quiet. I definitely didn’t want to get into a conversation about how I felt about working with her—we hadn’t spent enough time together, and any answer I provided would probably be taken the wrong way.
“I’m okay to work with so far, right?” she asked.
Shit.
I needed to answer fast. “Yeah, sure,” I said. “Hell, you’re showing me the ropes. It’s appreciated.”
“Well, I think you’re doing fine so far. I’ll make sure I give you a good report. Ball wanted me to evaluate how you did out here.”
I hadn’t known I was under evaluation, but that made sense, it being my first investigation and all. “Damn well going to do my best,” I said.
She nodded. “I’m sure you will. Yeah, the last guy we brought into the team didn’t do so hot in the field. Ball, unfortunately, had to let him go after his first investigation.”
“Oh,” I said. “Who did he go out in the field with?” I looked over at her.
Beth’s eyes didn’t leave the road in front of her. “Me,” she said.
I nodded but didn’t respond.
“Yeah, he didn’t really do anything wrong, per se, and we actually caught the guy, but he just didn’t seem like a good fit to the team. So I let Ball know, and he kicked him loose. I kind of felt bad about it. I mean, the guy moved here from out west. He had a couple of young children. I think his wife was in poor health. It just didn’t work.”
I looked over at Beth again and furrowed my brow. She was laying the story on pretty thick. Beth was looking out the driver’s side window. I caught her reflection smiling in the glass. She was bullshitting me as I expected from her last few comments.
“Sure. You have to be able to work well with your coworkers,” I said. “So the report thing… is that the sheet that Ball gave me that said Peer Evaluation at the top? I just glanced at it before I left Monday, but it looked like I was supposed to fill out what I thought of working with you.”
Her head snapped toward me. “Peer evaluation sheet?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know. It looked like some kind of official form. It had your name on it and a bunch of questions.”
“And Ball gave it to you?” she asked.
“Yeah. He just said, ‘Fill this out after you’re through.’”
She said nothing.
I gave her a second to stew.
“I was actually kidding about the report and whole coworker getting let go thing,” she said.
“Yeah, I
“Nope. You’re fine. I guess I’m used to riding shotgun when I’m on duty.”
“Old partner always drove, huh?”
“Technically, he was my boss,” I said, “but yeah, he drove more often than not.”
Beth shifted into drive and pulled from the front of the hotel. She put on her directional to make a left at the lights. “So he was what? A lieutenant?”
“He was a lieutenant. He’s the captain of Tampa homicide now.”
“What was he like?”
“What was he like?” I thought for a moment. “I don’t know. It’s kind of hard to jam years working daily with someone into a few words. Um. Put it this way, aside from being a damn good cop, I could call the guy from any place in the world, at any time, and he’d be there to help.”
“Can’t really ask for more than that,” she said.
“What’s it like being out in the field with Bill and Scott?” I asked. “I assume you’ve worked investigations with them like we are now.”
“Yeah, I’ve been in the field with both Bill and Scott a handful of times each. Ah, it’s kind of hard to describe, for me. When they go out together on an investigation, they come back with stories and such. I’m not sure what the bond that partners have is called.”
“Friendship, maybe,” I said.
“More like brothers. I guess I don’t really see that when I’m out with them. It’s basically do your job and head back. And then that’s the end of it. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman.”
I didn’t really have any insight to provide, so I remained quiet. I definitely didn’t want to get into a conversation about how I felt about working with her—we hadn’t spent enough time together, and any answer I provided would probably be taken the wrong way.
“I’m okay to work with so far, right?” she asked.
Shit.
I needed to answer fast. “Yeah, sure,” I said. “Hell, you’re showing me the ropes. It’s appreciated.”
“Well, I think you’re doing fine so far. I’ll make sure I give you a good report. Ball wanted me to evaluate how you did out here.”
I hadn’t known I was under evaluation, but that made sense, it being my first investigation and all. “Damn well going to do my best,” I said.
She nodded. “I’m sure you will. Yeah, the last guy we brought into the team didn’t do so hot in the field. Ball, unfortunately, had to let him go after his first investigation.”
“Oh,” I said. “Who did he go out in the field with?” I looked over at her.
Beth’s eyes didn’t leave the road in front of her. “Me,” she said.
I nodded but didn’t respond.
“Yeah, he didn’t really do anything wrong, per se, and we actually caught the guy, but he just didn’t seem like a good fit to the team. So I let Ball know, and he kicked him loose. I kind of felt bad about it. I mean, the guy moved here from out west. He had a couple of young children. I think his wife was in poor health. It just didn’t work.”
I looked over at Beth again and furrowed my brow. She was laying the story on pretty thick. Beth was looking out the driver’s side window. I caught her reflection smiling in the glass. She was bullshitting me as I expected from her last few comments.
“Sure. You have to be able to work well with your coworkers,” I said. “So the report thing… is that the sheet that Ball gave me that said Peer Evaluation at the top? I just glanced at it before I left Monday, but it looked like I was supposed to fill out what I thought of working with you.”
Her head snapped toward me. “Peer evaluation sheet?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know. It looked like some kind of official form. It had your name on it and a bunch of questions.”
“And Ball gave it to you?” she asked.
“Yeah. He just said, ‘Fill this out after you’re through.’”
She said nothing.
I gave her a second to stew.
“I was actually kidding about the report and whole coworker getting let go thing,” she said.
“Yeah, I
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