Officer Amy Stewart - Good Cop, Bad Cop

“You wanted to see us, Chief?”

I nudged open the door to find Chief Rachael Donovan lounging behind her desk, reading a report with far too much amusement for eight in the morning.

“Officer Amy and Officer Shannon, my favorite dynamic duo.” She tossed the report onto her eternally cluttered desk and waved us toward the chairs. “Got something right up your alley. An open-and-shut case.”

I settled into the left chair, coffee in hand, while Shannon took her usual stance against the wall. Some things never changed, like her refusal to sit during briefings or me starting my day with a decent breakfast.

“We caught someone breaking into Mayor Scott’s house last night,” Chief said.

Coffee nearly went up my nose while Shannon let out a low whistle. “The mayor's house?” I asked.

“Indeed. We caught some kid named Kyle,” Chief continued, clearly enjoying our reaction. “Mayor's got his re-election coming up in less than a month, so he wants this handled…” She paused, searching for the right words.

“Delicately?” I offered.

“Quickly and thoroughly,” she corrected. Right, it was easy to forget how often politics mixed with our jobs. “Kid’s guilty as sin, or at least, it looks that way, but we need to know if he was working alone. He’s got no criminal record to speak of.” She stood, circling her desk. Then she stopped, her eyes sharpening. “No way he broke in by himself, not with those weak arms.”

Shannon rolled her neck, releasing tension from her back as it cracked. “I can be very persuasive.”

“After we try it my way first,” I reminded her, fighting back a grin. Our partnership worked because of this balance. Her intensity and my patience had suspects spilling secrets before they knew what hit them. The whole precinct knew our routine by now.

Chief Donovan handed Shannon the case file. “That’s exactly why I called you both. Get me answers by end of shift.”

“You got it, Chief,” I said, following Shannon to the door.

“And Amy?” she called after us. “Try not to go too easy on the kid. He got a real chip on his shoulder.”

Shannon’s laughter echoed down the hallway as I shook my head. “No promises,” I replied.

***

I frowned at the arrest report. Something wasn't adding up.

“What's up?” Shannon was practically bouncing on her heels, ready for interrogation.

“First, look at this.” I pointed to the initial entry. “Kid supposedly breaks into the mayor’s house… by knocking on the front door?”

Shannon leaned over my shoulder. “Maybe he's just stupid?”

“Then there’s this.” I flipped the page. “The responding officers took him for ice cream. At Scooper's. At…” I checked the timestamp twice. “11:45 PM.”

“That place closes at 10.”

“Exactly. And they got him two scoops. Uncuffed, in the back seat.”

Shannon blinked at me, silent for a moment. “He thinks he can mock us.” Her jaw tightened as she finally snatched the file from my hands and snapped it shut. “Let’s get this kid talking. Now.”

I carefully rose from my desk. “Don’t you think we should question the officers first?” I asked, glancing at the report that was firmly in her hand. “It sounded like something… unusual happened last night.”

Shannon’s eyes narrowed, her grip tightening on the file. “‘Unusual’ is one way to put it. But whatever game this kid is playing, I’m not in the mood to waste time.”

“What if there’s more to this story?” I offered. “Officers don’t just break protocol for ice cream runs at midnight, especially not with an uncuffed suspect.”

Shannon ran a hand through her hair, her tell when something didn’t sit right but she wasn’t ready to admit it. “He’s barely 25, Amy. What’s he going to do, take control over the department?” But her voice had lost some of its edge. “Those officers were probably just… I don’t know, having a weird night.”

I’d seen that look before, when she was trying to convince herself more than me. But once Shannon locked onto an approach, changing course was like trying to redirect a freight train.

We stopped outside Interview Room 3. Through the one-way glass, I could see our suspect. Kyle didn’t look like your typical burglar. He sat too straight, too calm. Most perps fidgeted, but he looked like he was waiting for someone at a restaurant.

Shannon checked her watch. “Ready to work your magic, good cop?”

"Always do." But as I reached for the door handle, that nagging feeling returned. Something about this kid’s posture, those officers’ behavior…

Shannon must have caught my hesitation. She squeezed my shoulder. “Hey, we’ve got this. You’ll soften him up, I’ll knock him down with the one-two punch. Same as always.”

Same as always. Right. So why did this feel so different?

“What the hell?” Shannon muttered, pressing closer to the glass. “Is that a phone?”

I followed her gaze. Kyle sat casually scrolling through his cell phone like he was waiting for coffee, not sitting in an interrogation room at the precinct. My stomach dropped. First ice cream, now this?

“Maybe someone let him…” I started.

But Shannon was already moving.

Inside, Kyle didn’t even look up as we entered. The soft tapping of his thumbs on the screen filled the silence. No nervousness, no tension. He might as well have been in his living room.

“Good morning, Kyle,” I said, taking my seat.

He responded with a casual “hey,” eyes still fixed on his screen.

Shannon slammed the case file onto the table. Nothing. Not even a flinch. She caught my eye, and I gave her the slightest nod. We'd done this dance a hundred times before but usually suspects at least pretended to pay attention. A quick phone grab would do the trick, standard procedure to get his focus where it belonged.

Instead, the phone hit the wall. The crack of plastic and glass shattering made me jump. This wasn't our routine. Shannon played tough, but destroying evidence? That crossed a line.

Kyle just chuckled, actually chuckled, and pulled a second phone from his pocket. "Should I call a lawyer?" He slipped the phone away with the smooth confidence of someone holding all the cards.

I shot Shannon a warning look as she twirled a pencil in her fingers to calm her nerves. Something was very wrong here.

“How are you doing, hun?” I kept my voice gentle and professional. “Anyone give you trouble last night?”

Kyle’s grin widened as he leaned back. “Nah, everyone was on their best behavior.”

The way he said it like he was letting us in on some private joke made me giggle. Wait, giggle? Was that… right? I mean, it felt like you missed the joke but you laughed anyway so the other person knows you weren’t distracted.

“Really?” Shannon asked, raising an incredulous eyebrow at me as if I had done something wrong. “Hasn’t been five minutes and you’re already buddies with him.”

I scoffed. “I’m just following the routine,” I shot back. Unlike some people.

Kyle continued to watch us with an amused smirk, his head tilted like we were performing for his entertainment.

Glancing back at Shannon, I watched as the lead crumbled and her pencil melted into a lit cigarette before she put it in her mouth. I shook my head. No, I saw that wrong. She came in here with a cigarette. I shouldn’t be surprised given how much she smoked in a day.

Blowing a cloud of smoke into Kyle’s face, which got him to cough, Shannon started off the interrogation. “You expect us to believe you broke into the mayor’s house by yourself? I bet you can barely break a wet paper bag let alone break into one of the most valuable homes in the city. You obviously had help, so why don’t you do yourself a favor and say the names?”

Kyle’s smirk didn’t falter, even as he waved away the smoke. “Help? Nah. It’s flattering you think I needed it, though.”

Shannon leaned in closer, exhaling another puff. “You’re trying my patience, kid. You know what happens when I run out of it?”

Kyle’s gaze flicked to me, ignoring Shannon’s glare entirely. “Is she always like this? All bark, no bite?”

“She bites plenty,” I said calmly, but something in my tone made him laugh again. That laugh. It wasn’t nervous or defensive, like most suspects. It was confident. And… it made me laugh. I wasn’t sure why, but I liked that Kyle was enjoying my presence. I mean, I was playing good cop, and suspects are supposed to like me and Kyle seemed to like me more than Shannon.

“Is something funny?” Shannon asked, glaring at me. Then, her anger faltered. “Where did you get the gum?”

I tilted my head. “What gum?” I asked as I tossed a stick of gum into my mouth. Oh, that gum. Funny, I forgot I even had gum. Though, admittedly, I was practically addicted. Maybe not as bad as Shannon and her smoking habit, but I couldn’t recall a day that didn’t involve me chewing less than five sticks of gum. “From the vending machine.” I then turned to Kyle and stuck my arm out as I chewed. “You want some?”

Kyle’s smirk stretched wider as he stared at the gum in my outstretched hand. “Nah, I’m good. But thanks for the offer, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart? I feel I was supposed to frown at the dig but couldn’t bring myself to. Gosh, it was so hard to think, and not just because of Shannon’s smoking and the sound of chewing filling my ear. It was taking more effort than usual to keep my attention and focus. If Shannon was feeling the same thing, she wasn’t showing it.

At least she can frown for the both of us.

“Are you two done playing patty-cake, or should I come back later?” she snapped.

“Shannon,” I said evenly, trying to defuse the tension. “He’s obviously stalling. Let’s not give him the satisfaction of a reaction.”

“Exactly,” Kyle chimed in, leaning back in his chair with ease. “No need to get all worked up, Detective. We’re just having a friendly chat.”

Shannon slammed her hand on the table, making my gum almost fall out of my mouth. “Friendly chat? You think this is some kind of joke?”

Kyle shrugged, his calm unshaken. “Depends on your perspective.”

I stepped in, steering the conversation back to safer ground. “You mentioned you didn’t have help. Why don’t you walk us through it, then? How’d you pull off a break-in like that all on your own?”

Kyle’s eyes sparkled with amusement, and for a moment, I thought he might actually answer. Then, he leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “You really want to know?”

I nodded, Shannon watching him like a hawk.

“I knocked on the door,” he simply said. “The look on Mayor Scott’s face when he saw me partying with his staff and wife. Priceless. You ask me, they needed to loosen up.”

Shannon scoffed, holding her cigarette between her fingers. “Partying?”

Kyle raised an eyebrow as he leaned his chair forward. “Did I stutter?”

“It’s just,” I interjected, “there’s no mention of any ‘partying’ in the arrest report. Just you breaking in.”

He shook his head as if I had gotten a movie trivia wrong. “Why don’t you two read the report again? I partied last night at the mayor’s place. I would have invited the mayor himself, but he was busy.”

Shannon gave a low, frustrated growl. “So now you're a party planner?” she snapped, her fingers tapping on the table. “You’re telling us you just waltzed in, and no one stopped you until the mayor himself came home?”

“Um, Shannon,” I said, tapping on her shoulder as I opened the report and popped a bubble. I could have sworn the arrest report said Kyle broke in. We must have misread the document. “You might want to look at this.”

Shannon’s eyes narrowed as I handed her the arrest report. She snatched it out of my hands with a grunt, flipping wildly through the pages. I could feel the heat of her glare even without her looking directly at me.

She then slammed the folder to the table, the papers spilling out as her cigarette fell from her grasp. “Let’s go,” she whispered, downing a long sip from her whiskey.

“Really? Drinking on the job?” I asked, looking at the glass in my partner’s hand.

“I don’t even care anymore,” she replied before taking a long look at the cup, almost as if she was surprised to see it. “We’re done.”

With that, I reluctantly stood from my seat and collected the report papers. For the first time, Kyle’s grin faltered. “Wait, where are you two going? Aren’t you going to keep yelling at me?”

“There’s no point,” Shannon answered, her speech already slurring. “There was no break-in, you have no names to spill, and the guests were happy to see you there. The mayor is going to be pissy, but you haven’t broken the law.” She hiccuped. “At least, I don’t think so.”

Yeah, my partner was right. Even if the party at the mayor’s house was too excessive, it wasn’t enough to keep Kyle for long, let alone strike a deal with him. Strangely, Kyle looked as if he lost or was disappointed that a game was over too early, but at this point, my head was too fuzzy to ask why or care as I loudly chewed my gum. The chewing helped make my head feel good. It also gave me enough clarity to try an experiment and leave the door unlocked.

Something told me that if he really wanted to leave, he could sneak out of here without breaking a sweat.

Exiting the interrogation room, we stood face to face with the chief, who was fuming. “You two, in my office.”

Shannon groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose as she muttered under her breath. “Of course. Just what we need.” She staggered a bit, catching herself on the wall as I steadied her.

“Maybe we should... uh, grab some coffee first?” I suggested, my voice trailing off as the chief’s glare intensified.

“Now,” she barked, her voice booming through the hallway.

We followed her into her office like two kids called to the principal, Shannon mumbling something incoherent as she shuffled along. The chief shut the door behind us with a heavy thud, turning to face us with arms crossed.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded, shoving us to the chairs. “You had Kyle Grant in there for hours, and you’re telling me you’re letting him walk out of here? No charges? No nothing?”

“Hours?” I asked, probably chewing my gum louder than I should. “We’ve only talked to him for like five minutes. Ten minutes top.” The chief just stared at me like I had grown a second head.

Shannon slumped into a chair, her cigarette long gone but her fingers twitching as if they missed it. “Chief, there’s nothing to hold him on. No evidence of a break-in or group effort, no complaints from the partygoers. Hell, even the mayor’s report is shaky at best.”

“Partygoers?” she snapped. “What the hell are you talking about? The kid broke into the mayor’s house with a group. Am I the only sane person in this building?”

“It’s in the report,” I slowly said, popping a bubble. “There wasn’t any break-in. Only a party that went a little wild. No harm.”

The chief sighed, rolling her temples as she paced. “I want you two to use your brains,” she finally said. “Don’t you think it’s odd that some nobody kid shows up inside one of the most secured houses in the city?”

Shannon groaned, rubbing her head like the chief’s words were giving her a migraine. “Odd, sure. But not illegal. Unless you’ve got something else to share, Chief, we’ve got nothing to keep him on.”

The chief slammed her hand down on her desk, making me jump and nearly swallow my gum. “The kid has a talent for attracting weirdness.” Suddenly, she stopped and stared at us. “O’Malley, have you been smoking and drinking? There’s literally a sign that says no smoking. And Stewart, what’s with the chewing? You’re not a cow.”

We both shrugged. Were we not acting like ourselves?

Passing her hand over her face, Chief Donovan let out a long sigh. “I know you two still got it in you. You two will go back and get that kid to explain why weird shit keeps following him. If I see something I don’t like, I swear I’ll grab you both by the ears if I need to. Have I made myself clear?”

Shannon gave a half-hearted salute, “Crystal clear, Chief.”

I nodded quickly, still chewing my gum as if my life depended on it. “Got it. Weird kid, weird stuff, get answers.”

Chief Donovan’s eyes narrowed, her voice dropping into a deadly calm. “And, for the love of all that’s holy, Stewart, spit out the damn gum.”

Reluctantly, I grabbed a tissue from the desk and disposed of the gum, feeling oddly deflated and empty. “Better?”

“Barely,” she said, pointing to the door. “Now get out of my office. I want that kid’s story nailed down so tight, he can’t wiggle his way out.”

Shannon and I exchanged a glance as we trudged back down the hallway. She lit up another cigarette the moment we were clear of the chief’s line of sight, puffing away like it was the only thing keeping her sane. “You think the chief’s onto something, Amy?” she asked. “Or is she just losing it like the rest of us?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted, popping a new stick of gum into my mouth. “But something’s off and Kyle is at the center of it.” I paused, glancing over my shoulder as Chief Donovan followed us. “At least the chief will be watching us from outside. So, if she sees something we don’t, she’ll shut it down.”

Shannon snorted, exhaling a plume of smoke as we approached the interrogation room. “Yeah, because the chief is totally the picture of rationality right now. You saw her back there. If she’s watching us, it’s just as likely she’s looking for an excuse to chew us out again.”

I shrugged, chewing my gum thoughtfully. “Better than going in completely blind.”

We stopped outside the interrogation room, the faint sound of Kyle playing music from his second phone filtered through the door. Shannon tapped ash onto the floor, mustering whatever energy she had left for her bad cop role. “You think he knows we’re coming back?”

“Oh, he knows,” I muttered, reaching for the unlocked door handle. He wanted to be here. Now, all we needed to do was figure out why.