Fractured by Wendy Byrne

Hopefully she’ll have some information I can use regarding Lou.”
    â€œI’ll see you then.” He stood, put his plate in the dishwasher and slipped on his shirt. “Whose car we taking tonight?”
    â€œWhat kind of criminal are you?” She’d finished half her sandwich and wrapped up the rest for later. “We’re taking the El.”
    â€œRight.” He smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
    She yanked him by the front of his shirt and gave him a ‘real’ kiss. When he kissed her back, she wound her arms around his neck and enjoyed the ride, the whole time trying to brush back the feeling of how good it felt.

Chapter Eight
    The more Landry thought about it, the more convinced he was that Malone suspected somebody was using Isabella. Somebody was yanking the strings around her like a puppet and enjoying the show. Given that scenario, it made sense Malone would keep her in the dark. If she got wind of it, there’d be trouble for anybody in her path.
    For all he knew, Lou might be tied into this mess. Even if the kid didn’t seem like the type.
    Or it could be Ramirez. The guy had connections all over the city and could coerce people into doing his bidding out of fear or blackmail. Good money would be on him for a possible mastermind. For right now, he’d have to sit tight and hope Isabella didn’t find out what he was up to.
    Landry entered the locker room at the station, still unable to shake the bad vibe. Maybe it was all about loss of control. Maybe it was about what a jerk he was for not being truthful with Isabella.
    Then again, maybe it was about not being truthful with himself, his family and everyone else in his life. They all thought he was a career cop, waiting for his opportunity to move up the ranks. No one knew he’d taken the detective’s exam a couple of years back, had passed with flying colors, but had decided to choose another path.
    Family tradition and expectation had driven him into choices he wouldn’t have otherwise made. But that only got him so far. Acknowledging he wasn’t cut from the same Taylor cloth had been the first step.
    He was different. He always had been. But unlike Isabella, he’d internalized the struggle, never gave anyone the inkling that he wanted something different for himself.
    Pulling the acceptance letter out of his wallet, he read it through for the tenth time in the last two days. Could he pull the trigger, so to speak?
    With no good way of separating this out in his head right now, he changed into his uniform and went outside to the squad car. It was his turn to drive, so he slipped behind the steering wheel and started the engine.
    Jonas joined him a few moments later. After buckling in, he took a sip of coffee and settled in.
    â€œMust have been a bad night if you’re inhaling caffeine at this hour.”
    Jonas looked like crap. He had circles on top of circles under his eyes. His youngest kid had been acting up big time for a couple of years now.
    â€œDon’t get me started. I swear that kid is going to be the death of me.”
    â€œWhat’s he doing now?” There’d been a litany of trouble since the kid was thirteen or so, which coincided with the time Jonas and his first wife got divorced.
    â€œStayed out all night, then came home higher than a kite. We plunked his butt in rehab this morning, but to tell you the truth, I don’t know how much more my pocketbook can take. Between the legal fees and the insurance co-pays, I’m mortgaged up to my eyeballs.”
    â€œThat sucks.”
    â€œDamn straight. Forget the kid, let’s talk about something else.” He took a long sip of coffee as they pulled out of the lot. “What’s going on with you and Sanchez? Are you hot and heavy again?”
    â€œShe’s staying with me, if that’s what you’re asking, but nothing’s going on.”
    â€œOnly a matter of time, my man.