Still Alive

Brady walked into work with a huge smile on his face, as he always did. Smile, laugh, smile. Everything was good, fine.

"What are you so happy about?" Ciara Didrick, his new partner, asked him nonchalantly.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just happy," Brady told her.

"Hey! Griffin!"

"Not so happy anymore," Brady said in an undertone.

His boss, William Keller, strode up to him. "Griffin, I thought I told you to place your report on my desk last night?"

"Well, I did...Well, I was going to...Well, I thought about it...Well...I forgot," Brady told him.

"Yeah, I noticed. I want that report on my desk by eight, Griffin, got me?” Keller said adamantly, leaving no room for debate.

“Yeah,” Brady said quickly, nodding his head. “Right away, boss.”

“Good. Chief wants me in five. Griffin, you got point,” Keller told him.

“Yeah, got it, boss,” Griffin said unconcernedly.

“Why does he always get point?” Ciara asked, slightly perturbed. “I think, in the time I’ve been here, I’ve already proven myself more mature, serious, adultlike.”

Keller smiled inwardly. “So, you think you’re superior to him?”

“A little,” Ciara honestly shrugged. “I mean, when I first met him, I was surprised he was allowed to be a cop.”

“Hey!” Brady chirped.

Keller held up his hand to quiet Brady. “What can I say? He’s my Senior Detective.” Keller made to leave to meet the Chief. Brady smiled faintly at Ciara, who, for her part, rolled her eyes. Keller looked back briefly and called, “You’re not, by the way.”

Ciara looked up from her desk inquisitively. “What? I’m not what?”

“Superior to him. The two of you are equal,” Keller explained at the elevator.

Ciara bemusedly asked, “Then, why--?”

“Griffin has seniority, Detective Didrick!” Keller said before he rode the next car down.

---

“I don’t see why you can’t just listen to me like a normal person?” Brady called, frustrated.

“Maybe because you’re not a normal person,” Ciara quipped.

“Oh, ha ha ha!” Brady laughed sarcastically. “That’s oh so funny, Ciara! But, as you can see we have nothing and Keller is gonna be back any minute now.”

“That true, Griffin?” Keller said, behind him.

“Boss, I would love to know how the hell you do that,” Brady told him.

“That’s interesting, Griffin. You find my killer yet?” Keller changed subjects with ease.

“Well, we...No, not at all,” Brady answered sullenly.

“Why not?” Keller asked sternly.

“Because, I’m not as good a leader as you are, boss?” Brady said, hamming it up.

“Griffin,” Keller said with a facetious smile, “I want you to know that we got this case yesterday. Now right now, the two of you have gotten nowhere. So, I’m gonna tell you right now, if you don’t get some sort of information soon, you’re gonna be the next body on the good Doctor’s table. Understand?”

“Yes, boss,” Brady said, throwing a glare at Ciara as the two ran back to their desks to find something, fast.

The case in question was a dead man found in his home. The man, Mr. Michael Johnson, was stabbed several times in his chest. He was placed on the family room couch in his home. TV on, he appeared to be watching television. That’s how it appeared to his seven-year-old son, Sam, who had come to talk to his dad. The man had fallen on one side when the boy had touched his arm.

“I’m going to see McAllister,” Keller said, as he quickly stood up and headed for the elevator.

“You looking at his background, Brady?” Ciara asked her partner.

“Yeah, from the time he was born. You can check his records; phone, finances, you know the drill,” Brady offered from behind his computer screen.

“Yeah, okay,” Ciara said. After about twenty minutes, she looked up and quickly told Brady, “I’m sorry about before, Brady. You had point, I should’ve listened to you.”

Brady shrugged and glanced up, untroubled. “Don’t worry about it,” he told her, his way of letting her know he forgave her.