Trouble came after I climbed out of the shower.

I stayed overnight at Everly’s house often enough to keep most of my crap there. When I wasn’t on duty, I spent most my days with her. No matter how much the warm water relaxed my muscles, it couldn’t ease my worry. Everly would pull through. I had no doubts about that, but what if something like that happened again?

Drive-by shootings weren’t unheard of on that side of town, but nobody ever shot up the aquarium. It was almost like someone knew where Everly would be that night. I only told a few people. My good friend Larry, who let me use the place, and some of the guys on the force knew. But that was it. Maybe Everly told some of the gang members too? Word could’ve traveled like the wind about where she’d be. There was no telling how the fucker found out.

When I stepped out of the bathroom carrying my filthy clothes, I figured the clicking sound I heard had to be my ears screwing with me. Being sleep-deprived didn’t help either. A cold draft made me shiver as I crossed the hallway. It wasn’t until I reached the kitchen when I realized something suspicious was going on.

A red bicycle laid in the middle of the driveway. It didn’t belong to either me or Everly, and I couldn’t imagine any of the Voiceless Rebels riding child-sized bikes. I tossed my blood-stained clothes on top of the washer and made my way outside to investigate. Before walking out on the porch, I realized the living room window had been shifted open. Someone had been inside the house while I showered.

I stayed quiet so I wouldn’t alert whoever snooped around my girlfriend’s house. I wanted to catch whoever it was off guard. Creeping over to the wooden gate, I carefully lifted the latch. Crisp leaves crunched under my boots as I pressed my back against the exterior of her house.

The culprit hid by her festive Halloween display of fake pumpkins and scarecrows. Everly never took down decorations. She had fucking scarecrows in the backyard and frosty the snowman stickers on her front door.

I got closer to get a better look at the kid. He couldn’t be any older than thirteen, crouched down in front of the bedroom window with a camera, snapping photos. Little pervert. He should’ve been in school studying or grounded in his own bedroom.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, scaring the living hell outta the kid.

He opened his mouth to speak then clamped it shut. Backing away from the window, he held his camera in shaky hands.

“What’s the matter? Were you expecting to find someone else in there?”

The boy’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say a word. He kept stepping back as if that would help him.

I tried again. “Why were you taking pictures of my girlfriend’s house? You know this is illegal, right? You could get thrown in jail.”

“No, I can’t. I’m a minor.”

“Well, look at that. You can talk. Now, why don’t you tell me what you were up to. I’m a cop. I could have you arrested for trespassing right now.”

“You ain’t a cop. You don’t got a badge.”

I groaned. “I’m not on duty today, you little shit. Cops don’t wear their uniform every day. Just delete those photos here in front of me and scram. If I catch you around here again, I won’t be so lenient.”

“I’m not deleting nothing, old man. I’m getting paid for these photos.”

I frowned. “I’m not an old man... You know what? Never mind that. Who paid you to take pictures of this house?”

“None of your business.”

Before I had time to react, the brat snatched one of Everly’s plastic pumpkins up and threw it at my head. He knocked over her ugly scarecrows and plastic lawn chairs as he made a run for the fence.

For a puny brat, he was fast. He pushed the garbage cans over to slow me down. Stepping over plump smelly bags only fueled my anger. When I got my hands on the little shit, I would break his camera.

My partner, Chris Bailey pulled our police cruiser up the driveway right on time, as I’d been expecting him. Just when I thought I had my hands on the little brat, I tripped over Everly’s stupid flamingo statue and slammed my face down in the muddy grass. The annoying kid’s laughter rang in my ears as he hurried to his bike.

“Oh shit. Adam, are you alright?”

I looked up as Chris tried to hide his grin, offering his hand out for me to stand. I didn’t accept it and pulled myself up off the ground, wiping the disgusting bits of grass off my mouth. The boy had already climbed back on his bicycle. He turned his head back at us as he peddled down the sidewalk, flipping us the bird.

“Son of a bitch.”

“What just happened?” Chris asked.

“That fucking brat was taking photos of Everly’s house like a creep,” I explained, looking down. “Dammit. I just showered, and now I’m gonna have to do it again.”

Mud stuck to the side of my face and covered the knees of my gray sweatpants. It looked like I fell in a pile of shit.

Chris chuckled. “It was probably just a dare his friends made him do. Kids do stupid stuff like that. No need to get so upset.”

“You know what? I think I’ve changed my mind about having kids.”

“What? Come on now. It’s not that bad. You’ll be a great Dad someday.” Chris smiled. “I grew up with four little sisters and it was a lot of fun helping my folks take care of them. Don’t get me wrong though. They had their bad days.”

I folded my arms over my chest as strong gusts of wind blew our way. “You mean that?”

“Of course.” Chris followed me up to the porch. “Just try not to be too hard on them.”

“Something about that kid who just ran off was weird,” I said. “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling about it. I know a lot of kids are like that but he said someone paid him to take those pictures.”

Chris frowned. “Really? That is weird. Why would someone do that?”

“Beats me. I thought it was creepy. That’s why I chased after him. He can’t live very far. I’m sure if we keep a close lookout on the neighborhood while patrolling we could find him again.”

“Yeah, definitely.” Chris agreed.

A small reptile head popped out from Chris’s hoodie pocket. He tried to shove it back down before I saw.

“What the hell did I tell you about bringing that damn lizard everywhere?”

“I’m sorry. Lionel just likes to get out for fresh air.” Chris pulled the lizard out of his pocket. “Here, hold him. You’ll see he isn’t harmful.”

I jumped back when he held the scaly beast out to me. “Hell no. Throw that thing back outside where it belongs.”

“He’s my pet. I’m not throwing him outside.” Chris put his lizard back in his pocket.

“Fine. Just keep the damn thing out of sight. I’m gonna go shower. Again.”

“Alright. I’ll just wait here and brew some coffee. You wanna go look for that kid when you’re done?” Chris asked.

“I promised Everly I’d be back at the hospital by lunchtime,” I replied. “She needed me to bring her some stuff. But before I head back, I want you to come with me to where everything happened last night. I need to see the scene of the crime again, in broad daylight. Maybe... Just maybe there’s something everyone overlooked in the dark that could lead us to the person who hurt her.”

Chris nodded. “I’ll help in any way I can.

“Thanks. This means a lot. I know you’re not supposed to be here on your shift, so I appreciate it,” I told him. “But I better not catch you with that damn lizard anymore. Today’s the last day I better see it. I swear I’ll throw it out the window if I find it in the cruiser again.”

Chris smiled innocently. “Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.”

I had a bad feeling that I’d be seeing Lionel the lizard again.