Broken Toy [Suncoast Society] (Siren Publishing Sensations) Read Online Free

needed. More than she needed, actually, but she couldn’t find any studio units for purchase in decent buildings.
    She wouldn’t waste her money on rent when she could buy and possibly resell it later at some point.
    As she bumped the water temperature to just short of something boiling up out of the bowels of Mordor, she started creating a list in her mind. If she was banished to Sarasota for what would actually be four weeks, when she figured in weekends, she’d make sure she took what she needed with her.
    Lil Lobo, her stuffed wolf given to her by one of the kids in a case several years earlier, topped the list. No matter what, it always went with her. Followed by her personal laptop, a MacBook Air with a dodgy charger. She hadn’t made herself buy a new charger yet because, technically, the old one still worked.
    Well, I could crochet.
    It was the only thing coming close to a hobby that she allowed herself. She crocheted hats, blankets, stuffed animals, and various things to donate to the local children’s hospital and other charities. Unfortunately, she usually didn’t have a lot of time over the course of the average week to indulge in it. She could rationalize it as a valid pastime because it was creating something helpful and productive.
    One of the few things Maria had allowed her to do for “fun” as a kid, and just about the only thing left over from her childhood that she didn’t resent. She liked helping people, being useful. It was one of the reasons why she went into law enforcement in the first place.
    And it was one of the few things, besides long, hot showers, that allowed her to totally clear her mind and zone out, focused only on the soothing, repetitive movements of the hook through the yarn, and not hear Maria’s voice.
    The only other thing that gave her such mind-numbing solace was going to the range and burning through a couple of boxes of ammunition.
    By the time she stepped out of the shower, she’d adjusted her attitude and completed her list. If Walker was going to make her go, well, she’d go. It didn’t matter that she disagreed with his assessment of her mental state. She knew it wasn’t uncommon for law enforcement officers who specialized in her field to end up with alcoholism or other issues due to the extreme stresses of the job. She’d read the literature and talked to her fair share of department psychologists as part of routine personnel reviews.
    She wasn’t, however, typical. She didn’t need downtime.
    She didn’t want downtime.
    If anything, work was the only thing that kept her sane no matter how crazy it got.
    It was the only thing she lived for.
     
    * * * *
     
    When she got dressed, she donned, as she always did, a gun. Since she wasn’t going to work, she put on the .380 Bersa she liked to carry. Tucked into a built-in elasticized holster in a pair of stretchy undershorts she could wear beneath her jeans, it saved her from having to keep a special holster hooked to her belt or under her shirt. It was a much lighter and simpler rig than what she wore for work to carry one of her two 9mm Glocks.
    One of the Glocks, however, would make the trip with her as well. I’m sure I can find a local range and get some time in that way. He didn’t forbid that, at least.
    By the time three o’clock rolled around, she was packed and ready to go. She didn’t have much in the way of perishables to clear out of her fridge, and would, hopefully, beat the worst of rush hour traffic to get out of the Miami area.
    Her personal cell phone rang just as she was getting ready to leave the condo.
    Walker.
    “You on the road yet?”
    “I would have been in my car if a nosy somebody hadn’t just called me to check on me.”
    He chuckled. “Sorry. But I know you.”
    Not as well as he thought he did, or he wouldn’t be ordering her gone. “I should be in Sarasota in a few hours, depending on traffic. You going to put a BOLO out on me if I don’t disarm the alarm by a certain