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Finding the Line
Chapter 1
This is going to be a great day, I thought as I pulled the car in my parking spot. Up before the sun, a run—since the guy I brought home didn’t want to spend the night, a hearty breakfast, no delays on the drive, and the bakery had my order ready when I got there. Yep, this is going to be a good day.
I took my phone out of its slot in the dash, causing the engine shut down, and put it in my jacket’s pocket. I grabbed the box off the passenger seat and closed the door. I stopped as I caught sight of my reflection in the glass. Damn it, how had I missed that when I groomed this morning? My whiskers were getting long. They’d started drooping, and I hated that.
I wrinkled my muzzle for a few seconds and made faces, trying to get them to straighten, but of course, nothing worked. They were just too long. I’d have to take care of them when I went home tonight.
Box in hand, I entered the precinct, stopping by the desk sergeant.
“Good morning, Mike,” I greeted the older Doberman.
“Hey, if it isn’t the donut cheetah,” he replied jovially. “You know, cause you’re a cheetah, and you bring donuts?”
Why did he do that every morning? “You know Mike, that wasn’t funny the first time you said it, what, two years ago? And it still isn’t funny.”
“Come on, of course, it is. One of these days you’ll find your funny bone.”
I smiled. “How about I tell you a joke?”
“Oh sure, you know I love jokes.”
I looked him in the eyes. “I didn’t bring you any donuts.”
He frowned. “That isn’t a joke.”
I grinned. “It is, and it’s hilarious.” I turned to leave.
“Wait,” he called after me. “You’re joking, right? You did bring me one, right?”
I thought about making him suffer, but except for this bad joke, he was a good guy. I turned and opened the box for him.
He reached in, took out the raspberry-filled powdered donut, and bit into it, smearing powdered sugar and filling over his dark brown fur.
“Just stop it with the donut cheetah, okay Mike?”
“Sure thing, Dent.”
Right, I could always hope. He buzzed me through the door, and I had to step out of the way of a uniformed officer.
“Morning, Detective,” she said, not waiting for me to reply. She was a nice woman, witty and hard-working. She’d make detective in a couple of years at the most.
I put a muffin each on Flint and Reilly’s desks; they’d be here in a few minutes. I was curious to see how it was going to go this morning. I entered Captain Sherman’s office and put an eclair on his desk.
“Damn it Brislow, can’t you ever knock?” The lion glared at me.
“Sure I can.” I knocked on his door as I left the office.
My next stop was down the stairs, where three chipmunks were waiting for me.
“Good morning, Detective,” Claire sighed. Her sisters, Britney and Johann, made eyes at me. The three of them were from a family of scientists. Johann was the first to join the crime lab, Claire a year later, and the next year Britney. They had been trying to charm me from the moment the three of them were together.
“Good morning. How is the science lab today?” The sisters were in charge of the daytime shift.
“It’s much better now that we get to see you,” Johann said. I handed her the maple-glazed donut. The chocolate one went to Claire and the old-fashioned to Britney.
“I’m happy I could brighten your morning.”
Claire held my hand. “You know detective, tonight is our family dinner, and the three of us are going to cook a killer lasagna. You should come over, we would make it a memorable evening.”
I knew why guys liked me—I was magnificent in bed—but the three of them would never experience that. All I could think was that they hoped to convert me. I smiled silently, then made my escape.
I made a left atop the stairs, went to the end of that hall, and knocked on the door marked surveillance. A moment later, Ryan said to come in.
Ryan was our surveillance expert. He was a white ermine and autistic. Because of that, he was able to follow all the screens on the twelve-foot-wide wall before him. He joined three years ago, after going through the full training course, and since then, overall response time had been cut by twenty-five percent.
I put the pumpkin spice with caramel icing on the designated plate.
“Thank you, Denton.” Ryan didn’t look in my direction; his eyes never left the screens.
“Anything I should know about?”
“If there were, I would have already told you.”
Ryan was direct and rather tactless. “Have a good day,” I said on my way out.
“If I do, you won’t.”
Back in the squad room, I put a velvet donut on the desk facing mine, and the last one, a blueberry cruller, was mine. As I sat, Reilly and Flint got to their desks.
Reilly took the muffin and dropped it in the garbage can next to his desk. It had been cranberry maple walnut, his favorite. He didn’t look in my direction, but he knew I’d put it there. Each morning it was the same thing.
Flint, his partner, looked at the strawberry bran muffin on his desk, at me, then at Reilly. Him I never knew one morning to the next what he’d do. I did know his reaction depended a little on Reilly’s mood.
I could never read the German shepherd’s mood; he spoke to me as little as possible. I had no idea why he didn’t like me, and while Flint also didn’t like me, the fox’s animosity wasn’t quite as high.
Reilly had to be in a good mood today; Flint ate the muffin.
I took out my phone and inserted it into the slot on the edge of my desk. The display surface lit up and indicated it was waiting for the RF code. I unclipped my badge and placed that on the top. The area under it lit up red, then turned green. The desk clicked as the drawers unlocked. I put my weapon in the top one. I didn’t like wearing it while I was in the precinct.
I ate my cruller while I waited for the desk to negotiate with my phone, update the information in it with anything that had happened since I’d taken it out last night, then launch the display. Now, my phone’s drive contained all the information I’d need when outside the precinct.
It was my responsibility to make sure no one got their hands on it. But, as an added security layer, the precinct information needed my personal code, as well as the RF chip from my badge to be accessed.
The desk asked for my code as I saw my partner enter the bullpen. The holographic display then came up, giving her gray fur a green tint. She made a straight line for our desks, holding a large coffee in her hand.
“Morning, Alice.”
“Dent,” the rabbit replied, clearing a spot to put down her coffee. She put her badge next to it, then sat and slotted her phone in the desk. If she wasn’t past the one-word answers, it wasn’t safe to talk to her yet. I focused on my display, setting the opacity at eighty percent. I still had to finish the report for the domestic dispute we broke up yesterday. I wasn’t a fan of filing reports.
I’d forced myself through it for ten minutes when Alice spoke.
“Thanks for the donut.”
“You’re welcome.”
For the next hour, we both filed reports.
“Come on.” Her voice came behind me. “We have a 10-71.”
I hadn’t noticed she’d left. I put my gun to my belt and grabbed my badge and phone, shutting down the desk. “Really?” I grumbled. “Can’t they at least give us time to wake up before they start shooting each other? And how did you manage to beat the system notice?” I put my jacket on.
“I was in dispatch, so they told me. Come on, hurry up. I thought you cheetahs were supposed to be fast.”
“So by that logic, you should be hopping to it?”
The rabbit smirked and flipped me the bird. We headed to the car pool.
Yes, I ran for exercise, but I didn’t like to rush otherwise. I had a bad history of making stupid decisions when I rushed into things
I took my phone out of its slot in the dash, causing the engine shut down, and put it in my jacket’s pocket. I grabbed the box off the passenger seat and closed the door. I stopped as I caught sight of my reflection in the glass. Damn it, how had I missed that when I groomed this morning? My whiskers were getting long. They’d started drooping, and I hated that.
I wrinkled my muzzle for a few seconds and made faces, trying to get them to straighten, but of course, nothing worked. They were just too long. I’d have to take care of them when I went home tonight.
Box in hand, I entered the precinct, stopping by the desk sergeant.
“Good morning, Mike,” I greeted the older Doberman.
“Hey, if it isn’t the donut cheetah,” he replied jovially. “You know, cause you’re a cheetah, and you bring donuts?”
Why did he do that every morning? “You know Mike, that wasn’t funny the first time you said it, what, two years ago? And it still isn’t funny.”
“Come on, of course, it is. One of these days you’ll find your funny bone.”
I smiled. “How about I tell you a joke?”
“Oh sure, you know I love jokes.”
I looked him in the eyes. “I didn’t bring you any donuts.”
He frowned. “That isn’t a joke.”
I grinned. “It is, and it’s hilarious.” I turned to leave.
“Wait,” he called after me. “You’re joking, right? You did bring me one, right?”
I thought about making him suffer, but except for this bad joke, he was a good guy. I turned and opened the box for him.
He reached in, took out the raspberry-filled powdered donut, and bit into it, smearing powdered sugar and filling over his dark brown fur.
“Just stop it with the donut cheetah, okay Mike?”
“Sure thing, Dent.”
Right, I could always hope. He buzzed me through the door, and I had to step out of the way of a uniformed officer.
“Morning, Detective,” she said, not waiting for me to reply. She was a nice woman, witty and hard-working. She’d make detective in a couple of years at the most.
I put a muffin each on Flint and Reilly’s desks; they’d be here in a few minutes. I was curious to see how it was going to go this morning. I entered Captain Sherman’s office and put an eclair on his desk.
“Damn it Brislow, can’t you ever knock?” The lion glared at me.
“Sure I can.” I knocked on his door as I left the office.
My next stop was down the stairs, where three chipmunks were waiting for me.
“Good morning, Detective,” Claire sighed. Her sisters, Britney and Johann, made eyes at me. The three of them were from a family of scientists. Johann was the first to join the crime lab, Claire a year later, and the next year Britney. They had been trying to charm me from the moment the three of them were together.
“Good morning. How is the science lab today?” The sisters were in charge of the daytime shift.
“It’s much better now that we get to see you,” Johann said. I handed her the maple-glazed donut. The chocolate one went to Claire and the old-fashioned to Britney.
“I’m happy I could brighten your morning.”
Claire held my hand. “You know detective, tonight is our family dinner, and the three of us are going to cook a killer lasagna. You should come over, we would make it a memorable evening.”
I knew why guys liked me—I was magnificent in bed—but the three of them would never experience that. All I could think was that they hoped to convert me. I smiled silently, then made my escape.
I made a left atop the stairs, went to the end of that hall, and knocked on the door marked surveillance. A moment later, Ryan said to come in.
Ryan was our surveillance expert. He was a white ermine and autistic. Because of that, he was able to follow all the screens on the twelve-foot-wide wall before him. He joined three years ago, after going through the full training course, and since then, overall response time had been cut by twenty-five percent.
I put the pumpkin spice with caramel icing on the designated plate.
“Thank you, Denton.” Ryan didn’t look in my direction; his eyes never left the screens.
“Anything I should know about?”
“If there were, I would have already told you.”
Ryan was direct and rather tactless. “Have a good day,” I said on my way out.
“If I do, you won’t.”
Back in the squad room, I put a velvet donut on the desk facing mine, and the last one, a blueberry cruller, was mine. As I sat, Reilly and Flint got to their desks.
Reilly took the muffin and dropped it in the garbage can next to his desk. It had been cranberry maple walnut, his favorite. He didn’t look in my direction, but he knew I’d put it there. Each morning it was the same thing.
Flint, his partner, looked at the strawberry bran muffin on his desk, at me, then at Reilly. Him I never knew one morning to the next what he’d do. I did know his reaction depended a little on Reilly’s mood.
I could never read the German shepherd’s mood; he spoke to me as little as possible. I had no idea why he didn’t like me, and while Flint also didn’t like me, the fox’s animosity wasn’t quite as high.
Reilly had to be in a good mood today; Flint ate the muffin.
I took out my phone and inserted it into the slot on the edge of my desk. The display surface lit up and indicated it was waiting for the RF code. I unclipped my badge and placed that on the top. The area under it lit up red, then turned green. The desk clicked as the drawers unlocked. I put my weapon in the top one. I didn’t like wearing it while I was in the precinct.
I ate my cruller while I waited for the desk to negotiate with my phone, update the information in it with anything that had happened since I’d taken it out last night, then launch the display. Now, my phone’s drive contained all the information I’d need when outside the precinct.
It was my responsibility to make sure no one got their hands on it. But, as an added security layer, the precinct information needed my personal code, as well as the RF chip from my badge to be accessed.
The desk asked for my code as I saw my partner enter the bullpen. The holographic display then came up, giving her gray fur a green tint. She made a straight line for our desks, holding a large coffee in her hand.
“Morning, Alice.”
“Dent,” the rabbit replied, clearing a spot to put down her coffee. She put her badge next to it, then sat and slotted her phone in the desk. If she wasn’t past the one-word answers, it wasn’t safe to talk to her yet. I focused on my display, setting the opacity at eighty percent. I still had to finish the report for the domestic dispute we broke up yesterday. I wasn’t a fan of filing reports.
I’d forced myself through it for ten minutes when Alice spoke.
“Thanks for the donut.”
“You’re welcome.”
For the next hour, we both filed reports.
“Come on.” Her voice came behind me. “We have a 10-71.”
I hadn’t noticed she’d left. I put my gun to my belt and grabbed my badge and phone, shutting down the desk. “Really?” I grumbled. “Can’t they at least give us time to wake up before they start shooting each other? And how did you manage to beat the system notice?” I put my jacket on.
“I was in dispatch, so they told me. Come on, hurry up. I thought you cheetahs were supposed to be fast.”
“So by that logic, you should be hopping to it?”
The rabbit smirked and flipped me the bird. We headed to the car pool.
Yes, I ran for exercise, but I didn’t like to rush otherwise. I had a bad history of making stupid decisions when I rushed into things
