Nothing To Lose: Part 2

Nothing To Lose: Part 2

Jonas walked into the offices and took the staircase up to the second floor to see Amanda. After seeing the crime scene, if she was there, he knew why she was so choked up and struggled to ask him for help. He was still struggling with seeing Danica that way. If he hadn't seen the scene, he wouldn't have believed the way she died.  

When he got to the upstairs hall, Jonas could hear Amanda on the phone. She was talking in riddles, barely making any sense from her side of the conversation. He walked slowly, seeing that most of the offices were cleared out. Half the department was likely at the crime scene.  

When he got to Amanda's office, he stood outside and waited. She was still in tears, and from the sound of it, talking about Danica's death. He couldn't quite tell who it was she was speaking with, but from the sounds of it, their discussion was rather intense. When Amanda turned and saw Jonas standing there, she told the person on the other end she'd have to call them later.  

"Sorry," she told him as she hung up.  

"It's alright. It's been a rough day," he admitted, alluding to their friend's murder.  

Amanda motioned for him to take a seat. She closed the door and sat in her chair, opening a locked desk drawer. He knew what that meant. She needed a belt as much as he did and kept a bottle of Tennessee's finest in her desk for just such occasions. As she poured each of them a glass, she looked in his direction as if expecting something.  

"I've been to the scene, Amanda. I know why you called," he told her, before taking his glass.  

"Then, you know why I'm hoping you will take the assignment," replied Amanda. "I don't have anyone with your unique abilities."  

Jonas knew what she was referring to. He wasn't sure what she wanted him to do, specifically. While he'd gone down this road before, it had been a while since a chief, or anyone else for that matter, requested he use his special skills to solve a case. While Jonas wanted to find the truth behind Danica's murder, he didn't know that he had it in him to play the game the way he once did. At least, not presently.  

Jonas started during a transitional period. He was trained by one of the last old timers. The old timers were a different breed. Most of them couldn't avoid a jail cell by current standards, and yet, they were the most effective and respected of their generation. Jonas was a chameleon of sorts. He'd learned the best, most effective ways of doing things from the older generation, and what constituted the worst of their style of law enforcement. He'd learned the best of the new breed and knew how to play both sides of the job.  

"What are you asking me to do?"  

Amanda looked at him, running her long red fingernail around the rim of her glass. She couldn't tell Jonas what she was thinking. It wouldn't have been proper for her to admit it, particularly not in the office.  

"I need the Jonas that will stop at nothing to get his man," she hinted. "The tireless hunter."  

He could see it in her eyes. She wanted him to unleash the part of him he'd buried years ago. Jonas slammed the rest of what was in his glass, putting it on the table and tapping the edge. Part of him wanted to make her say it. It wasn't that he didn't trust her. He didn't trust anybody anymore.  

"And when I found the suspect," he sighed. "Do I get a bonus?"  

"It doesn't work that way, my friend."  

Amanda poured them both rounds and raised her glass. She proposed a toast, a toast to finding who killed their friend, and making sure they couldn't hurt anybody ever again. Jonas knew that meant locking somebody away for the rest of their life or putting them in the ground. He agreed with the sentiment and tapped his glass against hers.  

"So, does that mean you'll take the lead on this one?"  

He had conditions. First, he didn't want to be only half in. If he was going to take the lead, he needed to run the show entirely. Second, he needed someone he could trust. Jonas didn't trust half of the investigators in the department. Too many of them were running their own games on the side.  

"Alright," she agreed.  

"I need someone who is competent and can take orders without second guessing every move," he insisted.  

"I think I know someone like that," she assured him.  

"Alright, I'll run this one," he agreed.  

Jonas knew it wasn't a good idea, but after seeing the crime scene, he wanted to find whoever could do that to someone and put them down. In his condition, it wasn't a smart call. He just didn't trust anybody else to do it.  

"Thank you," she smiled across the desk. "I mean that."  

Jonas left the office, went back down the back stairwell, and out to his car. He ran across the parking lot, through the ankle high water. It was raining harder than a tropical storm. Starting his car, Jonas cranked up the music and worked his way out of the lot and onto State Street. He didn't live in one of those fancy gated communities the way Danica did. But he had a place north of Bay City that was on the waterfront, had a great view, and provided him with some resemblance of peace.  

Right now, Jonas needed some peace and quiet. It had been a long day, and he wasn't seeing any easy ones in his future. There was a toxic load of pills waiting for him to start on, and what the doctors told him would be a rough time until his body got accustomed to the new meds. He had that, the pain that would come, and the investigation to contend with.  

But, he wondered, "What do I have to lose?  

It took longer than normal to get home due to the heavy rain and road closure. As heavy as it had been raining, Jonas wasn't surprised by the mudslide. When he did get home, he pulled up outside his place and sat in the dark, listening to the rain tinging off the roof of his car. He knew that it was forecast to rain this way for the next few days, so he would have to drive his Escalade tomorrow.  

Stepping out in the rain, he walked up to the porch, turned and sat just under the roof. His feet were still down the stairs enough that it wasn't going to be long before they were soaked, but he didn't care. Jonas lit up a cigarette and sat there, contemplating how to tell the small circle that mattered to him. There weren't many at this point in his life, but he had a few very close friends, a sister, and an ex-wife he'd need to call.  

"Fuck!"  

"Feel better?"  

"Hey," he acknowledged his sweetheart coming out onto the porch.  

He'd have to tell her, eventually. But today wasn't to be that day. Jonas didn't think he could handle that right now.  

"Do you remember Danica Johnson?" he asked Susan.  

She looked at him, trying to remember where she'd met this person. Eventually it clicked, as she watched Jonas's face change. She could tell the news wasn't good, so she put her hand on his shoulder.  

"What happened?"