Help Me Heal

Chapter 24

That evening, at Kalinda's suggestion, Hank and Erin were joining her for drinks at a local bar. Hank and Erin would be ordering food too, Erin having decided not to bother cooking once she had received the invitation for the night out. Hank was pleased that Kalinda had encouraged him to ask Erin to come along. It showed that she really did want to get to know his daughter and hopefully form a bond with her, if that was the right way to think of it.

Because both of them wanted to be able to drink alcohol, Erin had ordered an Uber to take her and Hank to the bar where they were going to meet Kalinda. During the journey, Hank had just informed Erin that he had made an offer to Kim Burgess to join their private detective service.

"Getting Kim would be huge," Erin gushed. "Of all the people I've ever worked with, she's right up there with the best. I know you rate her very highly too. The question is do you think she'll go for it?"

"Honestly? I think that decision could go either way. In our favour, work that's less dangerous, as well as fewer and better hours. Those will all be big considerations for her now that she has a family. Plus she nearly died a year or so ago when someone shot her twice."

"Holy shit. I don't know that story."

Hank gave it to her in brief.

"Damn," Erin said, shaking her head. "That kind of experience would mess with anyone's head. She's done amazingly well to return to Intelligence after that. Like you said, work that isn't as dangerous is bound to have appeal after that."

Hank nodded. "On the other hand, she's about to start studying for the promotion to detective. There's potential for further promotion in CPD too. Plus she gets to work with Adam where she is now. So, as I said, I figure she could go either way on it."

"So the rest of the team know you're leaving?"

"It's a strange situation. Kim knows because I told her earlier. Adam will know by now because Kim will have told him. They obviously need to discuss her next move. Kalinda knows because I'm in a relationship with her. Hailey won't care because she's a couple of days away from moving on, and she's already got a job lined up. So the only people who need to know are Kevin and Dante. The thing is, the people who do know aren't aware that anyone else knows, so I'm going to announce it to the whole team tomorrow. I guess half of them will have to pretend to be surprised."

Erin chuckled. "Yeah, I guess they will."

The Uber pulled into the parking lot at the bar they were going to visit. It seemed quite busy based on the number of cars in the lot.

"I don't think this place was here before I moved away," Erin said. "Certainly don't think I've been here before."

"I came here on a case once, trying to track down a suspect who had been seen here. Haven't been as a customer."

They thanked their driver and got out of the car.

"You said Kalinda's friends recommended the place? Have you met them yet?" Erin asked.

"No I haven't," Hank replied. He hadn't thought about that until now. It seemed likely that Kalinda would want him to meet the friends she had lived with for a while, probably sooner rather than later.

"Let's get inside. There's a gin and tonic with my name on it."

"I'll stick to beer," Hank said dryly. "Those fancy drinks have never done it for me."

Erin laughed. "You'd look good with a G and T in your hand."

"Sure I would."

They went into the building. Seeing no sign of Kalinda, they stood at the bar and Erin insisted on getting the first round in. Once he had his beer, Hank turned his back to the bar and surveyed the room. It was fairly busy, but not crowded. People seemed to be having fun, chatting, playing pool or enjoying the music. It was what Hank thought was called dance music - not to his taste but pretty standard fare for a bar. The atmosphere was good, as Erin seemed to agree.