Good Cop, Dead Cop

Officer Louis Delaney pulled the squad car round to the side of the precinct and pulled into the kerb. He sat quietly for a moment listening to the engine idling before flicking the key and letting it die. It was Monday morning again the weekend already a fading memory, not that he had done anything of particular note. He had ate with his family, had a couple of small rows with his wife and chided the kids for not completing their homework on time.

In some ways Louis relished the chance to return to work, a police officer’s lot was rarely a happy one. Especially in San Francisco during the hot summer months with temperatures that remained scorching when they were at their coolest. However after twenty years on the job the routine became as familiar as an old friend. There were times when the work threw up surprises, many of them unsavoury but then he had appreciated that when he had transferred to San Francisco in 2038. That had been five years ago, now Louis was like everyone else on the force. A little older, a little wiser and too stubborn for his own good to quit.

Louis flicked the buttons on the dashboard and watched as the windows of the car slid effortlessly down. The squad car was new, the fresh smell of leatherette and plastic betrayed that instantly. The back seat still held the car’s brochure as its passenger, proclaiming the unbeatable fuel economy of its twin cell electric engine and the durability of its plasteel safety cage.

He casually picked up the brochure and began flicking casually through its pages. The heat had already permeated the car leaving the atmosphere hot and clammy. The air conditioning barely improved the situation and Louis could already feel the perspiration on his brow and the sweat stains starting to streak his shirt.

Louis tossed the brochure into the passenger footwell and began drumming his fingers impatiently on the dashboard. This wasn’t going to be easy, it had been a month since the incident downtown and he hadn’t seen Ken since then. Louis wondered how he would feel about having his old partner back after a month away. Especially considering the circumstances.

Louis cast his eyes across the kerb and to the small door framed in the wall of the precinct. He fixed the door with a cut glass stare and found he was biting his lower lip. A habit that always surfaced when he was on edge. He returned his gaze to the road ahead, watching the early morning traffic as it filtered back and forth to its various destinations.

Ken had always hated mornings, he had moved with his wife Ella to a quiet suburb in a bid to escape the continuous rumble of the city. Louis remembered how Ken told him about his difficulty in catching a good night’s sleep. He had always been a three or four hour a night man at best. Louis reckoned his problem was down to his copious intake of coffee during the day.

Ken had always just smiled....

Louis wondered if Ken would be smiling now.

The door in the side of the precinct slid back slowly and Louis sucked in a deep breath of anticipation.