Never Just Friends by Katerina Winters
Chapter 6
Sitting in the unmarked patrol car, Maritzia waited for Cade outside the deli. It was well after lunch, and this was the first time all day, they had a moment to spare for lunch. Sitting back in the worn, leather seat she stared past the steering wheel and watched the passing cars go through the light as her mind turned back to Victor.
For the past few weeks, Victor had been acting so strange. It made her feel odd. On the outside, it looked as if he was trying to do better to be more relaxed and chill like he was when they first met. That was what initially attracted her to Victor. No matter when she saw him, he always seemed to have a positive demeanor seeing the best in everything. Where she was serious and reserved, he was forever optimistic, letting nothing truly bother him. But, for what seemed like a year now, that had all changed.
Something was always wrong. There was constantly something she failed at in his eyes. Something that always deserved a "serious discussion" as he would call them, but really it just meant an argument when his "discussions" didn’t go his way. Maritzia was tired of it. So tired of trying to live her life in between his moods and dreading going home when he was in them.
Except recently it had been different. Maritzia could see that he was trying to do better. When she came home late from work, she could see the tension in his body and the want to make a comment on the time, but he said nothing. Date nights were now a thing he practically demanded every weekend. Which was great—the first couple of times. But every weekend? She had tried to drop little hints here and there telling him that staying at home and lounging on the couch would be just as appealing as going out to a restaurant, but Victor wouldn't hear of it. There was some sort of plan in his mind, some sort of blueprint on how he wanted things to go, and no matter what she said he would not deviate from it.
She told herself to be happy and be grateful he was trying harder after their last blow-up. When Carlos had called and told her what Victor had the nerve to say to Cade, she had been furious. She couldn't remember the last time she had ever gotten so angry. Who the hell was he to tell Cade that? Cade was her partner, her family. She had gone years without him, the last thing she would ever do was ban him from her home. Closing her eyes, Maritzia pinched the bridge of her nose as she remembered that heated exchange. She hated getting angry. Even thinking about it made her cringe as she remembered Victor's shocked face and the glimmer of fear in his eyes when she asked him "just what the hell were they doing in this relationship?"
She didn’t mean to scare him…she was just speaking…just repeating the whispering thoughts from the back of her mind. Yet scaring was exactly what she ended up doing, wasn't it? Now the overly sweetness Victor poured into every action: the overly intense morning kisses, the extravagant date nights, his broad smile that felt strained, and worst of all, what he had said last night were all signs of his fear at her words.
God, she didn’t want to think about it again.
Adjusting in her seat, Maritzia's eyes flicked from her rearview mirror to both side mirrors in habit before looking to the deli she was parked in front of to see Cade leaning against the counter with his arms crossed over his wide chest, talking to the guy on the other side. Though it was still very brisk in New York this time of year, Cade was already dressing as if it were June. His short-sleeved silvery blue shirt was a thin cotton blend material that draped perfectly across his wide, sculpted chest, accentuating the planes of his hard muscles. Looking away with a smirk, she reminded herself to tease him about dressing so provocatively, especially around Sergeant Milford.
Taking her mind off her dimpled partner, her thoughts pulled themselves like a magnet back to the memory of last night and Victor's words. They had been watching TV. She was playing on her iPad at one end of the couch when the show cut to a commercial about diapers.
"I think you would be an amazing mom."
And here they go again, she had thought, as she smiled thinly back at him. They had talked about this countless times in the past year. She was just not ready to have kids. Could he really think she would want to have kids with him so soon into their relationship? Out of two years of dating, only one had been bearable. And not to mention her career. That topic had been another of their various arguments over the past year. His occasional passive aggressive comments about her golden career path while he had to work so much harder.
Maritzia would not apologize for her family's connections. She would not apologize for the privileges she was given. She worked hard at her job. Her and Cade's promotions came at a high cost—a demand for absolute perfection. Each month, her uncle personally saw to it that their caseloads were triple the amount in comparison to other detectives. Each case was expected to be extensively noted and properly resolved by the end of the month. Her uncle had risked his own credibility promoting them, and she was determined that he would not regret the decision. All facts Victor seemed to ignore.
The passenger side door opened and Cade slid down into the seat, the subtle scent of his aftershave wafting in the air. "Okay, here is your sandwich and coffee." He handed her the warm white paper cup of coffee and then the plainly wrapped club sandwich.
"Thank you," she said, setting her drink in the door's cup holder.
They ate in silence listening to the murmuring chatter of the police radio that sat in the dash between them.
"I was watching you through the deli window," Cade said, and Maritzia could feel his steady gaze looking at her now.
Swallowing the painful lump in her throat, Maritzia didn’t say anything. Brushing the crumbs off her gray slacks, she stared down past her sandwich in her lap to the dark floorboard below. The police radio chattered and with each passing second, the lump in her chest expanded painfully until finally, she looked back up at him. There was pain and anger in his eyes, but his voice was so gentle as he spoke again.
"I watched you yesterday as you stared out the window next to your desk for a full ten minutes," he continued. "And a few days before that as you sat in your car in the parking lot, you looked as if the last place you wanted to go was home."
Swallowing another bite of her food, she tried to think of an argument to that, but Cade shook his head and gave her a level look.
"I know that look, Ritz." His voice was even softer and it made the lump of emotions in her chest flare in pain. "Trust me, I know that look," he stressed, his narrowed eyes never leaving her face. "I lived it for damn near three years."
There was a prickling in the back of her eyes, but Maritzia fought it back with all her self-control and looked away from him to the cars whizzing by outside her window. "It's fine. I'm fine," she said.
"It's not, and you're not," he paused and she could feel the space filling up with an indescribable tension. Cade let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I know you're not ready to face it, hell, probably even acknowledge it. But…just know you don't have to live like this. It took me a while to realize it myself, but no matter what anyone says—love isn’t supposed to be suffering."
His hushed, solemn voice wrapped around her and she couldn't stop the moisture from forming in her eyes as she stared down in her lap, but she did at least stop them from falling. She watched as his hand came sliding into view and rested partially on the center console and at the edge of her thigh. Silently, she took his hand and squeezed it back.
"Whatever you decide, I'll support you," Cade said, his voice low and warm as he looked at her. "I just want to see you happy again."
So did she.
~*~
"Is it sad that I kind of wish they won't be here?" Finally wearing his jacket, Cade jogged up the concrete stairs ahead of her to the building of their last follow-up visit for the day with his hands in his coat pockets.
Having been there earlier that morning, with no answer to the door, they were trying to chase down one last lead to a missing person's case.
"Why? You hoping to get back for a hot date?" Maritzia teased, though the thought of Cade dating again made her stomach knot.
Cade made a scoffing sound as he held the door open for her. "If by hot date you mean a piping hot microwave meal, then fuck yeah. I want to beat traffic home so I can get to that Manly Man meal as soon as I get back. This one comes with a brownie," he added happily as he followed her in through the dingy but somewhat clean entry hall.
Maritzia paused with her gloved hand on the grungy elevator button and looked at him with horror.
"Oh God, tell me you haven't been eating that for dinner each night?! What has Carlos been eating?" she asked, thinking of the sodium count in those awful meals.
"It's not every night…just the past few nights," he admitted, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "because I'm too lazy to cook. And Carlos has been spending the past few nights at some girl's place."
That seemed about right, she thought. "Well, just come over to my-"
"Oh no," Cade shook his head as they stepped onto the dinging elevator. "I have no energy to fight your fucking boyfriend tonight—maybe tomorrow—but tonight, I just want to-"
"You won't have to fight him," she informed him with a serious expression. "He will be out with his dumb friends until late. Just come over and at least eat dinner. I made my mother's sancocho last night and there’s a lot left over."
"Oh God," Cade gave her a salivating look that reminded her of the hungry wolf in old cartoons. "The one with that white stuff…what's it called?"
"Cassava," she supplied as they stepped off at the twenty-third floor.
"Mmm, God yes," Cade's eyes went a little dreamy as he stared up at the ceiling, probably imagining the taste of the rich stew. Looking back at her with a serious expression, he nodded firmly. "I'll follow you home."
Walking down the long, dingy hall Maritzia examined the graffiti marking the dirty brown walls. Earlier that morning when they tried visiting with no success, she had focused mostly on the numerous signs from the building's management lining the walls, threateningly warning tenants with the police for any violation. Now, as she examined the illegible scrawl of spray-painted graffiti tag signs, she wondered if anyone other than the artists could actually read them.
Stopping in front of unit 2348, Cade stood to the side of the door and knocked. Unlike him, she hoped that someone would answer this time. They were tracking down friends of a missing teenager and she wanted to close this case with a positive note. Maybe the teenager was hiding out in here with friends or maybe they knew where they were hanging out. Either way, Maritzia was eager for answers. Standing on the other side of the door frame against the wall, she listened for sounds inside of the apartment and frowned.
The sound of a baby crying and a dog barking stole her focus. Turning her head, she stared at the door across the hallway, 2349. Maritzia listened intently, holding up one hand as Cade prepared to knock again.
Cade paused at her signal.
There was frantic scratching on the other side of the door followed by the same ongoing yipping bark, all the while chorused by the desperate angry crying of a baby. Maritzia's gut tightened as a heavy tension filled her chest. Stepping closer to the other door, she pressed her ear against it and listened to the distressed sounds. As if sensing her presence, the dog scratched and barked louder.
Stepping back Maritzia banged her fist on the door, causing it to shake under the thundering noise.
"NYPD, open the door," she yelled, her voice bouncing off the hall as she glanced at Cade's questioning face. "This baby was crying like this when we were here earlier. Same with the dog," she said, pointing down to the sounds of the dog’s scratching and barking near the bottom of the door.
Frowning, Cade stepped closer and took her place at the door, and banged his fist much harder at the door, causing it to rattle on its hinges. "That was damn near five hours ago," he growled.
A door to the right of them opened up and Maritzia could see a lady poke her head out. Dressed in a fast-food uniform, the woman gave Maritzia a curious look.
"Are you looking for Mina?" the woman asked tentatively.
Maritzia nodded and pointed to the apartment in question. "Is that who lives here? Mina who? Do you know her last name?"
"Yeah, and I think it's Radowsky or something like that. I'm not sure. I got her mail once or twice." The woman shrugged and looked past Maritzia to Cade who was banging on the door and announcing himself once more. "I haven't seen her. Last night I went over because her baby was crying, but she didn't answer."
The tension in Maritzia's chest grew and she nodded to the woman before heading back to Cade. Pulling the yellow and black stun gun from her belt, she looked up to Cade.
"The baby has been crying since last night. The tenant, Mina, hasn't been seen or contacted," she explained. "We need to get in."
Without question, Cade stood back and pulled out his phone while she did the same. Punching in a few commands, Cade called dispatch, telling them what they intended and to send a few more officers and Child Protection Services. As Cade wrapped up the call, Maritzia put her phone to record and snapped it to the front phone clip on her belt, using it as a bodycam. Snapping his own phone to his belt clip, Cade nodded at her and pulled out his stun gun, and took one step back.
With one heaving kick, Cade kicked the door from its frame. Walking past the splintered wood, Cade stepped in first, calling out in a deep, booming voice. "NYPD—is anyone in here?!"
Stepping through the apartment, Cade ignored the fluffy little dog that ran back and forth growling and barking around his legs as he went to check the bedroom.
Scanning the kitchen and living room, Maritzia stepped towards the screeching cries coming from the crib sitting in the middle of the room. Looking down into the crib, blue watery eyes met hers and for a moment the cries tapered down to a desperate keening sound.
"It's all clear," Cade called out as he walked back towards her and they both holstered their stun guns.
Immediately Maritzia reached for the baby and pulled him from his crib. Red-faced and angry the baby cried out his fury as she laid him back down on a nearby changing table.
"It's okay," she soothed as she began unsnapping his blue and green onesie. "It's okay, I got you. Let me get you cleaned up. I know you probably need it," she cooed in a light voice as she reached for the neat stack of diapers on the nearby shelf.
"It's not what I expected," Cade commented dryly, his usually humorous tone gone.
Looking over her shoulder, Maritzia's eyebrows shot up in surprise before grinning. Though his tone denoted an air of seriousness she found him walking slowly along the living room, examining it while carrying the dog under one arm. With the back of its ears being scratched, the dog, a fluffy black and brown little thing, was calm and content in Cade's care.
Replacing the soiled diaper with a clean one, Maritzia nodded. "No, it's not. This place is clean and organized. The TV is on mute, there is halfway prepared food sitting on the cutting block, and I think I saw a purse on the table."
"Yeah," Cade murmured, already standing by the purse and going through it carefully with the tip of his pen. "I see a wallet and a driver's license. The neighbor was right—Mina Radowsky is the tenant."
Picking the wailing baby up, Maritzia hugged the little boy close and began to make soothing little noises under her breath, bouncing him gently as she walked. "I didn't see any signs of forced entry on the door, and it was locked; the place is very tidy and nothing looks missing," she thought aloud as she carefully retraced Cade's steps around the apartment so she could examine the rest of it.
"Yeah, I agree. I don't think there was any foul play in here at least," he muttered, standing in front of the white shelf of neatly stacked baby toys. "And by the looks of it, she doesn't seem like the type of woman to just abandon the baby. So, where the hell is she?"
A few minutes later backup arrived, as well as the local news. Without much choice, Maritzia and Cade found themselves with cameras in front of their faces. Still holding the baby on her hip and Cade carrying the dog under one arm they both made statements to the reporter.
~*~
"A nine-month-old baby was found by two NYPD detectives from the forty-eighth precinct here in The Bronx today while investigating a missing person's case just across the hall," the pretty news reporter explained to the camera, as a blue banner with white text sat at the bottom of the screen reading Two Bronx Detectives Save Baby. "Detective DeLeon explained that after coming back to follow up with a possible witness to their open missing person's case, they could hear the same cries from the baby and barking from the dog they heard earlier that morning at nine a.m. Knowing that something was wrong, the detectives broke down the door, fearing for the child's safety."
The scene on the TV changed from the reporter to footage of the apartment and pictures of the baby. "However, the question remained: where was the child's mother?" Shifting back to the reporter, she stood in front of Maritzia who still held the child on her hip, and Cade standing behind her holding the dog. Leaning the mic to Maritzia the reporter asked her how they found the child's mother. "After asking some questions and going through our own records, we found that last night a woman was struck by an oncoming vehicle and taken to St. Barnabas. Currently, she is in a coma, however, with no identification, there was no way of anyone knowing that Mina Radowski had a child left at home. Judging by the small bag of groceries and the witness account of Jameson's bodega, which is right across the street from the apartment building, this was simply an unfortunate case of a single mother popping downstairs to get groceries, taking only some cash and her keys."
Cutting to an interview with the same neighbor they talked to earlier, the woman, now dressed in casual clothes, spoke to the news reporter. "I feel so guilty, I heard the baby crying last night, I just thought…I don’t know, I just feel bad. I wish there was more I could have done."
Stepping aside the news reporter spoke directly to the camera in a final wrap-up. "Staff at the St. Barnabas hospital says the patient is doing good, and should wake up soon, with only a few broken bones and a concussion. As for the child and dog, we have been informed the child's grandmother is on her way from upstate to come and take care of them. Thanks to the quick thinking of these officers, a true crisis was averted today."
The mounted TV flicked off and for a second, Maritzia saw all three of their reflections in the black screen of the TV before turning back around to see her uncle's unreadable face. Sitting behind his modern wood and metal desk, Andres DeLeon leaned back in his high-back, leather office chair and looked from her to Cade in silence.
"This was not what I expected to see today." His calm voice was just as unreadable as his impassive stare, making it hard for Maritzia to judge his mood.
Glancing over to Cade standing at her left, she frowned at his relaxed posture and easy-going smirk. Did nothing ever bother the man? Here she was with millions of things going through her head. Like what if they said something wrong. What if they should have waited for backup or anything? Just looking at her uncle's naturally stern face and waiting for him to say what he thought of them was killing her.
Her uncle stared at her for a moment and Maritzia felt herself pale a little before she caught his smirk.
"You did well," he finally declared.
Maritzia felt herself wither where she stood, all the tension within her suddenly releasing, making her feel exhausted.
"Next time, however," Andres added, his eyes boring into her. "Let Child Protection Services take the child without an argument, okay?"
Maritzia winced but nodded. After getting the little boy, Nicholas, to calm down and stop crying she had seen no point handing him off to a stranger. She had been content enough to wait a few hours for the grandmother to get there, but after a verbal sparring match with the social worker, Maritzia had no choice but to relinquish the baby.
"And you." The Chief pointed a finger to Cade and cast him a piercing look. "Do not carry a dog on camera again. You looked like an idiot holding that damn dog."
"I thought I looked good—friendly even."
"More like idiotic."
Knowing he would not win this battle Cade conceded with a nod. "Yes sir."
"Good. Now go. I had Tala order you some food. Good job today," he said dismissing them.
Walking out of the office, Maritzia let out a ragged breath.
"I told you, you were worrying for nothing." Cade's eyes sparkled in amusement despite the notes of fatigue she could see within them.
Grabbing the two plastic bags of food sitting on the empty assistant's desk, they walked out of the office down the dark hallways. It was late, almost midnight, and this part of the station where the administrative departments were located was practically deserted. The lights in the offices and the halls were all turned off, making the building feel alien from its normal daily activity. Going down the elevator, they stopped on the third floor and found an empty meeting room that faced the street. Not bothering with turning on the lights, they both took off their holsters and badges from their belts and tossed them on the big, empty meeting table.
Pulling her own phone from her pocket, Maritzia didn't bother reading the notifications and put it on silent before sliding it across the table to the pile of their belongings. Sitting down with a small groan, she gave Cade a tired smile as he sat catty-corner to her. Lights from the busy street outside cast moving shadows into the empty meeting room.
"Sorry about the sancocho. I'll bring you some tomorrow," she said as she tiredly pulled the food from the bag and ripped the spork from the plastic pouch.
Leaning back in his chair, Cade stretched out his long legs until she could feel their presence on either side of her chair. With an exhausted but handsome smile, he shook his head. "Don't be sorry. Today we did the type of shit we dreamt of doing as kids. Being heroes." His eyes glittered in the low lighting coming from the big window. "Today was a good day," he added, his eyes flicking towards the window lost in thought.
She smiled a large genuine smile at him and let the meaning of his words sink in. They had dreamt of this. Growing up, they both used to watch all sorts of crime dramas and police procedural shows in her living room while her brothers played video games in their room. It had been both of their dreams to be police officers, but even more, it had been their dream to be partners. They had laughed as they thought of cool names they would call themselves, or the tag lines they would say when they caught the bad guy. At some point, she had forgotten the excitement and fun of those dreams that had turned reality for them both. Lately, her mind felt swamped with worries of Victor and how to act and not act around him and how to make this so-called relationship work, she had forgotten to realize she was living her actual dream.
Cade was right. Today they were heroes.
Her face brightened in a smile. "Yeah, it was a good day. Wasn't it?"