fire and rain // forheadedrose

50. Lawmen pt.3

M A R T I N

I watched Barton roll his garbage can to the curb, he noticed me sitting in my dark pickup and scoffed.

"Detective Riggs." He said walking up to me.

"Any reason you're waiting outside my house?" He asked, I smiled.

"Well, there was a string of burglaries in the area, and I just wanted to make sure, you know, you and your family were safe." I smirked up at the crooked officer.

"Aren't you the perfect gentleman?" He smiled, "Well, just returning the favor, really." I said laying my head back.

"You know, after you showed an interest in the Murtaugh's, you know, hey, his wife, in particular, I understand." I rambled because Trish was beautiful and strong.

"Boy, you LAPD guys are so sensitive. Not so surprising coming from Murtaugh, but from what I understand, you've got thicker skin. You're not such a-a team player over there. Isn't that right?" He smirked and I looked over at him.

"Well, the thing is, the Murtaugh's are my team." I smiled.

"Right, right. Because that pretty little blonde was raised by them, right? Like a foster family?" He snickered as I gripped my steering wheel.

"Because she's never had one? Isn't that right?" He said stepping closer to my truck.

"Now you're just trying to charm me." I pointed at him.

"Looked at you, camped outside my house, doing this, trying to scare me a little." He chuckled.

"You know, if I think about it, I'd say that you and I, we're not that different." He said and my jaw clenched.

"Well, you know, there is one thing that's different. I ain't ever killed a cop, right?" I pointed at him and clicked my tongue.

"There's a difference." I said starting my truck and Barton stayed quiet, "Well.." I sighed, "Not yet, anyway." I smiled at him.

I pulled away from his house. Trying to breathe after he talked about my wife like that, so I drove home to her.

To my wife and daughter, instead of going and getting in a bar fight or getting flat out wasted.

I came home to find my wife singing to our tiny baby.

"She's imperfect, but she tries. She is good, but she lies." She sang quietly, I don't know how but I've never heard her actually sing, but she had a beautiful, angelic voice.

"She is hard on herself. She is broken and won't ask for help." I listened to her sing as I stood in the doorway of our bedroom, she was so focused on the small baby who dozed off beside her.

"She is messy, but she's kind. She is lonely most of the time." Deja smiled as she sang, lightly tickling Delilah.

"She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie." She sang before she glanced at me, I smiled softly and her smile grew.

"She is gone, but she used to mine." She finished as Delilah finally dozed off, her small brown eyes fluttering closed.