Nora walked into her father’s house, praying he wasn’t home. His sedan was parked in the driveway but it was possible he and Daddy Kevin were out together.

When she was younger, Nora had been ashamed of her two dads and afraid she would lose them at the same time. She would avoid situations that required parents and never had people over. Now, she considered herself fortunate to have grown up in a home with two parents who loved her and each other. It was more than most people her age could say.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” her father said. Phil Baker sat in his recliner petting his poodle, Liza, and eating popcorn.

His curly red hair was a mess and a sure marker that he was her biological father. He had paid a woman some amount of money (he would never tell her how much) to have his baby. The two of them lived together and posed as a couple until after Nora was born. Then the woman left and Phil’s friend, Kevin, moved in. The neighbors pretended they didn’t know the two men were lovers at first, they never caused trouble and the home improvements were good for the neighborhood, and by now didn’t care.

“Hey, Dad,” she replied.

“You look like shit,” he said. “Who’s outside?”

“Gee, thanks. I feel so loved. It’s my partner, Dukes,” she answered. “He gave me a ride, so I’m in a hurry.”

Phil raised one eyebrow and grunted before leaning back in his recliner and shaking his head.

Since she and Shane split up Nora had been staying with her dads in her old room. It looked the same as when she left for college, which she sometimes found comforting but drove her nuts at other times, like now. She was standing in a child’s room regretting an immature decision.

Bon Jovi stared at her from his place on her closet door with a knowing look on his face. “Shut up,” Nora said to the poster.

Her shower was quick and cold. The water in the old house had always taken too long to heat up, but the cold water helped pull her out from under whatever she had been drinking the night before.

Before she made it to the living room Nora could hear laughter, the deep rolling laughter of her father and another, less familiar one. Dukes was sitting on the sofa talking to her father and laughing. Nora stood in the doorway and stared for a moment.

“I thought you were waiting outside,” she said, going over to kiss her father on the cheek.

“Settle down, honey,” he said, lifting his cheek to meet her lips. “No need for the man to stay in the car. We’ve just been shootin’ the shit.”

“He was just telling me about the time he and his friend, uh, Kevin, tried to teach you to swim,” Dukes said between laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, I sank to the bottom, nearly drowned, then asked to do it again. Cute. Let’s go,” Nora said. She couldn’t help but be irritated. She asked him to stay in the car because she didn't want him in her home, with her dad. This was her space and it meant something for her to introduce someone to her dad; anyone, much less the man she just screwed.

“You coming home tonight?” Her dad said, smiling. He just had to get one last jab in before she left.

She gritted her teeth and squinted her eyes at him. “Definitely will be home tonight,” she said.

The glint in her father’s eyes showed his amusement at her discomfort. She silently thanked God that Daddy Kevin wasn’t home. His teasing would be too much.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Your dad seems nice,” Dukes said once they were back in the car.

“Yeah, he’s great.”

“Did you tell him about us?”

“There is no us,” Nora snapped. “Do you think I tell him every time I get laid? Jesus. I told you to stay in the car.”

“I needed a drink,” Dukes said.

“Bullshit.” Once again Nora kicked herself for her bad decision making. Her car was still at the bar but instead of getting it before going home, she had decided to get it later in order to avoid being late.

At the office Nora stopped at Paula’s desk as usual, hoping if she acted normal no one would think it was strange, or even notice, that she and Dukes had shown up together.

“Messages?” she asked.

Paula was looking into her compact mirror applying yet another coat of bright pink lipstick. Nora rolled her eyes at her stupidity for thinking Paula would notice anything.

“You’ve got a doozy this morning,” Paula said. “A real whopper.”

Paula pinched a yellow slip of paper between two fingers. Nora figured she had recently painted her fingernails by the way Paula held it. “Her sleep was meant to be eternal but she woke up and walked away. If only you had been quicker, you could have saved the sweet thing. Now we both hunt,” she read then extended the paper to Nora.

“He asked for you specifically,” she said.

Nora took the paper from Paula and read the message again. She wondered if it was the man from the other day. He had also asked for her and he had mentioned a sleeping woman.

“Whatcha got there?” Dukes asked as he sauntered up behind her.

“God, you’re nosy,” she said and shoved the message into his chest before walking away. Dukes followed.

Nora wondered if she annoyed Bill this bad when they were first partners. Bill was in the bureau far longer than she and could teach her a lot. She remembered how eager she was and how the other agents laughed at her behind her back. But Bill had always been patient with her, especially after she started seeing Shane.

Bill was a local, he grew up in Prosper, so he’d known Shane since he was born. In fact, he had dated Shane’s mom for a few years when Shane was in grade school. And even after they’d broken it off, he still looked after Shane, bailing him out of jail when he was arrested for fighting as a teen, talking to him about what it meant to be a man, and when Shane’s mom couldn’t attend one of his football games, Bill would be there.

Bill only had three months until he could retire when he and Nora went to follow up with Anton Miller. Anton was a suspect in a series of murders in Tulsa. Nora and Bill had been put on the case after links between victims indicated a serial.

They knocked on the door of the apartment Anton stayed in with his mom and when the door swung open, Bill was face to face with the barrel of a Glock 19. Anton got off one shot before Nora pulled her service weapon and returned fire. That shot went into Bill’s left eye and he died.

Not only did Nora lose her partner that day, but she also killed a man. And while Shane had a difficult time with Bill’s death, it was Nora who, six months later, still couldn’t sleep at night without Bill visiting her dreams.

And before that was Olivia. Their sweet little Olivia.

“Who’s this from?” Dukes asked, pulling Nora from her thoughts.

“Same guy from the other day, I think. Makes sense anyway,” Nora said. “I should have taken the first message more seriously.”

“I don’t know that you should take this one seriously,” Dukes replied.

“So you think it’s a coincidence that I get the first phone call telling me about tucking someone in, an empty, no abandoned, grave is found, and then I get this message? They aren’t connected at all?”

Dukes stood quiet for a moment. Then he shook his head slowly and handed her the written message, holding onto it a second too long. “I think it’s a reach,” he said.

Nora looked at the message suspended between their two hands and took a step toward Dukes. He was several inches taller than her so she had to look up at him. “Last night?” she said. “It was a mistake, so don’t do this. Don’t hang on to shit when you hand it to me so our hands touch. Don’t give me lingering looks or meaningful glances. And don’t assume just because I fucked you, that I think you’re a better agent. You were a mediocre lay I found at the bottom of a bottle.”

She snatched the paper away from his hand and walked toward SAIC Avalos’ office. She could hear Dukes laughing behind her.

“Mediocre?” he called after her.

“At best,” Nora said.