Hot Pursuit

KELLY

I just got home after an exhausting day of being on patrol. I drew the short stick again and had to ride with the newbie. He’s getting better though. He’s not as skittish as a feral cat now. Now, he just wants to make a name for himself. Which means he’s looking for stuff when there’s nothing there and it’s exhausting.

I spent most of my day looking up tag numbers of people who were going only three miles over the speed limit or watching as he warned people to walk within the designated areas ‘cause Lord knows he’d hate to have to give a ticket for jaywalking.

I finally grabbed the laptop that was equipped in the car and started doing a background search. I knew I wouldn’t find much without going across state lines, but I typed the name Rayna Callaway anyway.

As I thought, nothing came up under that name. So I tried Rayna Anderson instead. Still, not much came up under that name either, just the last known address and phone number, which looked to be her parents.

Crossing state lines for information can be tricky. Sometimes we can do it with no problem. Sometimes, we end up in a lot of heat with the State Department where we are searching, so usually, we just call ahead of time, just in case. It’s all about respect. I understand that. I just didn’t have a good reason or probable cause to need the information.

My mind was screaming at me to just leave it alone. She’s leaving soon and will be gone before long. It wasn’t worth a possible write-up to try to figure her out. Or why the man who seems to be her soulmate is now her ex-husband.

But as I was thinking this, I looked at the database for New York and typed Rayna Callaway. Still, not much came up but an address, last known place of work, driver’s license info, college history, tag numbers—just the normal stuff. But then I scrolled to the bottom to find new documents. There, in front of me, was a divorce decree.

My mind screamed not to click on it as I hovered my mouse over the link, but then I clicked anyway. Reading over it, all I saw was uncontested. Both parties agreed. I quickly closed out of the system, which left me with more questions than answers.

***

I take off my vest and am just about to sit down when there’s banging on my front door. On instinct, I make sure my gun is loaded as I head to see who it is. That’s when I hear her. Rayna. And she sounds pissed.

“Kelly, open this door, damn it! I know you’re home! Your car is in the fucking driveway!”

Well, at least she used my name instead of “detective”. I put my gun in the drawer, away from a pissed-off woman. I’m starting to believe Weston was right about her being a spitfire. She hasn’t quit banging on my door yet.

“Kelly!”

I kind of like hearing my name come out of her mouth. The moment I open my door, she immediately pushes me backward, and either I’m not prepared for it, or she’s stronger than she looks.

“What the hell, Kelly? If you wanted to know so damn badly, all you had to do was fucking ask!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you talking about?”

“Did you get enough information? Or do you need more?”

There’s a sinking feeling in my gut right about now. There’s no way she could know I looked her up.

“By the look on your face, it seems you may know where I’m going with this. It doesn’t feel good to get a call from my boss telling me my divorce case has been flagged because the Alabama police have opened it! By one Detective Kelly Hawthorne. It took me a damn hour to make sure he wouldn’t press charges for going over state lines for information!”

I think my face turns white. Actually, I know it does because I felt all my blood rush to my feet. This woman has every right to be angry with me. Plus, she probably just saved me my job.

“I’m so sorry, Rayna.”

“You know how tired I am of you men telling me how sorry you are? But in the end, it doesn’t mean a damn thing, does it? You do whatever the hell you want anyway! What do you want to know, Kelly? What’s so goddamn important that you would risk going across state lines without proper permission to search about me?”

This is probably the only opportunity I’m going to have to get the information I was searching for. Let’s hope it doesn’t bite me in the ass.

“Every time someone hears you’re back in town, they ask about a man named Miles. They ask if Miles is with you. I can’t hear your name without his attached to it. When they find you’re divorced, they are genuinely shocked. Why? You and Miles are soulmates and have been from day one. So yeah, I was curious to see why two soulmates ended up divorced and why he was stupid enough to let you go.”

I watch as all the anger leaves her. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. Maybe it was too soon to bring up her divorce. From the date on the documents, it’s been months, but people heal in their own time, especially someone as close as she and her husband were. Her once piercing yells have subsided, and now her voice carries a subdued tone.

“Because I wasn’t enough. Miles always knew he was going to be somebody important. He’s a cardiothoracic doctor at Mount Sinai and a damn good one. But he always wanted more. More out of his job, more prestige, more money, more excitement, just—more. But no matter how much more he wanted out of life, he always said his feelings for me never changed and he always came home to our bed every single night.”

“Until?”

She looks up with those amber eyes. “Until he didn’t.”

***

“He didn’t fight you?”

By now, we are sitting at my table eating a frozen pizza I threw in the oven and drinking beer. Rayna has calmed down, and as we eat, she shares the fact that she found Miles with her best friend and left the same night.

“No. Matter of fact, the day we sat across from each other to divide assets and agree on custody was the first time he saw me or talked to me in months. He couldn’t find us. Logan and I were staying at an apartment my boss leases out and he had no idea.”

“Yet he didn’t fight for Logan.”

“He knew better. I was the one who went to the teacher meetings, the awards ceremonies, the doctor appointments. Not that he wasn’t a good father, he was, but he was always busy. But Miles always made time for Logan’s football games.”

“You ever thought of moving home?”

“Home?”

“Yeah, here. Where you started. You know as well as I do, it’s football central down here. Logan would have scouts from all over watching him.”

“I don’t know. Miles is still in New York. Not that I care, but I’m not sure what it says in the divorce about moving states.”

“Umm…nothing. You can transfer Logan as you see fit.”

She nods. “Of course, you read it.”

I just shrug.

“I have a job to get back to. They were the ones that helped me with my divorce.”

“I don’t know who you work for, but they did one hell of a job with it. Miles pretty much has no say whatsoever when it comes to Logan, other than asking, ‘How much?’”

She laughs. “That’s what happens when you go in with four lawyers to his one.”