Neon Cop's Arc

Chapter 6 of 10

Neon Cop bent over his notepad in the surf shop backroom when his phone buzzed. It was Chief Parker, and his voice was tight. Bander's men had shown up at the snack stall near the pier. Julie had been there with Mrs. Wilson. Two men in dark shirts had leaned over the counter and asked the little girl her name. Neon Cop dropped the pen and ran. He found them behind the striped umbrella of the food stand. Mrs. Wilson, his mother, stood with her arm locked around Julie's shoulders. Her hands shook. "They asked her about the cookie tin," she whispered. "They knew her shirt. They knew she was yours." Julie, his five-year-old stepdaughter, pushed her black sunglasses up her nose. Her shirt read NEON COP JR. in bright orange letters. She looked up at him, small and brave. "I didn't tell them anything," she said. "I just ate my fries." She wiped her mouth and grinned. His chest ached. Bander had reached the two people he loved most. Parker arrived in the patrol car and stepped out. His gray mustache twitched. "They're gone," the chief said. "Cruised off before I got here. But they'll come back. They're using the girl to squeeze you off the case." Neon Cop knelt to Julie's level. "You did good, kiddo," he said. Then he stood and faced his mother. "I can't keep moving you around town. They find you every time." Mrs. Wilson's chin lifted. "I hid those papers for you. I'm not scared of that man." "I know," he said. "That's why I need you gone. Somewhere they can't guess." He turned to Parker. "The old boathouse. The one down the marina. Nobody's used it in years." Parker frowned. "It's hidden. Could work. But once you stash them there, you're on your own out here. Bander knows your face now. He knows your family." "Then let him watch the wrong places," Neon Cop said. He drove them to the marina himself. The boathouse sat back from the water, its weathered doors bolted, its windows dark. Rope hung from the pilings. He unlocked the door and led them inside. Dust floated in the light. It was safe. It was quiet. Mrs. Wilson set down her bag. Julie ran to a window and pressed her nose to the glass. "Are we hiding, Dad?" "Just for a while," he said. He hugged her, then his mother. "Stay put. Don't open the door for anyone but me or Parker." He stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him. His family was hidden now, out of Bander's reach. But the fear on his mother's face had changed something in him. Bander had stopped hiding. He had come for a child. Neon Cop got in the car and gripped the wheel. He was done working the case slow. He was going after Bander himself.