Badge of Dishonor

Passion In James County X: Badge of Dishonor

Chapter twenty-seven

"Luke, you did a good job this morning, as far as I'm concerned," Tim Jackman said after the young deputy explained what had happened that morning and, to some extent, the evening before. "You could have been hurt, but you weren't, and neither was anyone else."

After the E.R. doctors were finished with him, Luke had been moved upstairs and admitted to the hospital. The doctors assured him he'd only be staying overnight to make sure no further problems developed. That didn't make him too unhappy.

"How's Sergeant Mills doing?" Luke asked. "Is she OK?"

"She's got bruised ribs," Tim said. "She was luckier than you. She got to go home. Kind of rough to breathe, is it?"

"A little," Luke replied. "You know, it's funny, I hardly felt the pain when all that shit was happening, but..."

"I've been there," Tim said. "I know exactly what you mean." He told Luke about a shoot-out he was involved in years earlier, when he was a rookie on the Jamestown Police Department.

"I never heard about that," Luke said. "I'm glad I didn't wind up killing anybody, though. That's got to be hard."

"It's a bitch," Tim said. "But you finally realize you did what you had to do, and learn that it's a heck of a lot better for us to do our job right than for the bad guys to win."

"Yeah, I guess so," Luke said. "I don't understand, though. What makes a guy like Billingham go bad? I mean, he had a pretty good reputation on the patrol as far as I know."

"If we knew things like that, we probably wouldn't need cops," Tim said. "Look, Luke, you take care of yourself. I've got to get down to the station and start on the reports. I'll check in with you later."

Tim had just left when Luke's landlady, Lorraine Keeler, walked into his hospital room. Her eyes were red, as if she'd been crying. She walked to his bed and clutched his hand. "Luke, are you really all right?" she asked. "I...I was so worried when the officers came to get me and...and said you...you'd been shot."

"I'm fine, Lorrie," Luke said. "I was wearing my vest so I...I've just got a couple of broken ribs. I'm getting out of here tomorrow."

"Where were you last night?" Lorrie asked. "I was so worried when you didn't come home."

"Ah..." Luke wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't lie to her, but he knew the truth would be painful for her. But, since she'd raised the issue, he might as well get this over with. He took a deep breath, which hurt a little, then he began. "Lorrie, I...I stopped for coffee on my way home like I sometimes do, and..."

Luke could see the pain forming in Lorrie's eyes as he explained what had happened. He wished there was some way he wouldn't have had to put it there.

"I'm really sorry about this, Lorrie," he said when he was finished his story. "I...I really didn't intend to hurt you, but..."

"Oh, Luke," Lorraine said. "I know you didn't want to hurt me. And...and I think I knew something like this had to happen sooner or later. What you...you and I...well, we probably shouldn't have been doing it in the first place, and..."

Luke grabbed Lorrie's hand and squeezed it. "I love you, Lorrie, I really do," he said. "It's...it's just that I...I'm not in love with you..."

She squeezed his hand back. "I know, Luke," she said. "I'm just glad you're all right. This woman, Lise, who you were with last night. Is it Lise Bachman, the girl you talked about wanting to go out with when you were in high school?"

Luke, surprised Lorrie remembered that they'd once had a conversation about Lise, nodded. He'd forgotten the conversation himself.

"You had a crush on her back then, didn't you?" Lorraine asked.

"Yeah, sort of, I guess," Luke admitted.

"And you still do, don't you?" Lorraine went on. She began smiling for the first time since she had walked into the room.

"Yeah, I guess so," Luke admitted. "I mean, I guess I really didn't know how much I felt for her until I saw her in the diner last night. It didn't get any easier when she told me what had been happening in her marriage. And then, when she asked me to stay with her, because she was scared, I..."

"Well, now, Luke" Lorrie said, surprising him by how quickly she'd accepted the news. "I do believe you really care for this woman."

"Lorrie!" Luke said, feeling his face get hot. "What are you...you know...going to do now?"

"I guess I'll just have to start dating men my age, won't I?" Lorrie said, grinning at him. "If any of them want me."

"I can't see how they wouldn't, you're so pretty and all," Luke told her.

They were sitting there, blushing at each other, when Alex and Jennifer Martin walked in.

"Well, honey," Alex said, "Deputy Thomas is quite the boy, it seems. He's already got an attractive visitor." He smiled at Lorraine. "I'm Alex Martin, Luke's boss. This is my wife, Jennifer."

"Sheriff, this is my landlady, Lorraine Keeler," Luke said.

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Keeler," Alex said. "I hope you realize your young tenant, here, is a bona fide hero. His quick thinking and prompt actions helped keep what happened this morning from turning into a tragedy."

"Really?" Lorraine said. "Luke, you didn't tell me that part."

"Aw, Lorrie, I was just doing my job," Luke replied. "I didn't do anything the other guys in the department wouldn't have done."

"He sounds just like Alex does when he talks about work," Jennifer said. "There's something about cops that won't let them admit they're heroes."

"I'm not going to stay, Luke," Alex said. "I've got to get back to the office and talk to the Prosecuting Attorney, but I did want to make sure you were OK and let you know I think you did a helluva job this morning."

"Sheriff, I...I really didn't do all that much," Luke protested. "I...I don't know why everyone is making such a fuss."

"Yeah, sure," Alex said. "In spite of the fact that you'd been shot, you made sure Sergeant Mills was OK, then you went in pursuit of the suspect and didn't let him escape. The way I look at it, that's going just a little above and beyond the call of duty."

"Thank you, sir," Luke said.

"Look, I've got to get going," Alex said. "You take as much sick leave as you need, you hear?"

"All right, sir," Luke said. "And thanks for stopping. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Keeler."

"Please, from now on, you call me Jennifer," Alex's wife said. "It was nice meeting both of you."

After the sheriff and his wife left, Lorraine turned to Luke. "I don't believe it," she said. "You're a hero. Well, now..."

"Lorrie, come on!" Luke said. He wondered about Lise. Where was she? What was she doing? Was she OK?

"Mom, I'm fine, I really am!" Lise protested. "I really should go to work. Alex is going to need help getting all of the reports for this case typed." Her mother had insisted she take the day off and Lise didn't really want to stay home. She didn't just want to go to work, she wanted to go visit Luke, to make sure he really was all right.

But her mother was very insistent. "The kids need to see you so they know you're OK," her mother had said. "When that police officer came to the house this morning, it really frightened them. And we need to figure out how, and what, we're going to tell them about their father, too."

"I...I know, Mom," Lise said. She wasn't sure what to tell her kids about their father, or how to begin. "Alex told me I can check with the department psychologist."

"About the kids?" her mother asked.

Lise nodded. "About anything," she said. "It's very likely the boys will need some professional help before all this is over, and I intend to see they get it."

"You may need professional help, too, honey," her mother said. "My God! Thank Heaven that young deputy was there. You could have been killed!"

"It was Luke Thomas," Lise told her mother. "Remember, I knew him in high school?"

"Was that who it was?" her mother responded. "It certainly is a small world, isn't it? Imagine, your life was saved by one of your high school classmates."

Lise knew her parents, and her sons, would have to know the truth about where she'd been the night before the incident occurred, and who she'd been with, but she decided this wasn't the time to discuss that. What she wanted, more than anything, was to talk with Luke, to hear his voice telling her he was OK. Maybe, after she got to her parent's house, she could find time to call him.

As it turned out, Lise, her parents, and her sons, talked until the wee hours of the morning. When, at last the boys were in bed, it was way too late for her to call Luke. "Maybe tomorrow," Lise thought as she slid into her old bed, pulled the covers over her, and went to sleep.