Raven: A political thriller Read Online Free PDF Page A

have been a good life, but she would have been willing to give
up a lot of things to have him home more often. Especially raising three boys.
They needed their father at home, not chasing criminals around a city that
seemed never to really care about the lives of the men who serviced it.
    “We also had a picture on the mantel to remind us what he looked
like.”
    “Your father was a good man. He did his best.”
    Don quickly got up. He didn’t like arguing with his mother, and
certainly not about his father. In all actuality, he’d loved his father. He was
a hard-working cop killed in the line of duty. It was hard on the family once
he was gone, but his anger over his not being around during his youth always
seemed to come up in his arguments with his mother. He regretted now not being
able to let that go. All he could do was shake his head and turn to Maggie.
    “Ma, I’m not saying he wasn’t. It’s not easy being a cop and having a
life too.”
    Maggie was tired of waiting for grandchildren. All she could muster up
was to turn and stare at Don. None of her sons were married. One lived out on
the West Coast and worked for one of the largest tech firms out there. He lived
the footloose and fancy-free life of a bachelor and wasn’t about to give that
up any time soon. The other was a stockbroker in the Big Apple with a penthouse
apartment who only dated models, so she never felt like offspring were in the
picture for him either. Her only hopes for grandchildren were from Don, but,
given his history of failed relationships, she was almost to the point of
giving up all hopes of ever hearing the pitter-patter of little feet in his
future.
    “You didn’t give it a chance. You never do. It was a place to hang
your hat and nothing more. What can you expect from any respectable woman?”
    Don just got up. It was useless to argue with his mother. He walked
over to his suit jacket on the hanger near the door. He quickly put it on and
took the keys off the key rack and then finally turned to his mother.
    “I’ll stop off and get breakfast on my way in,” he said as he put his
jacket on. “You have a nice day, Ma.”
    Don turned and glanced at Maggie. The look on her face was that of
sadness. He quickly walked over, bent down, and kissed her on the cheek. Don
knew what she wanted and, as much as he would like to oblige her, he just
hadn’t found the right woman to settle down with yet. The women nowadays wanted
more from a relationship than two ships passing in the night. He liked his job
and wasn’t about to give it up at this point in his life. Don glanced down at
the dog sitting at the empty food dish as if expecting more. The canine just
stared up at Don and bared his teeth. The dog was actually Jackie’s, but in the
end he was too much to care for. So, when she kicked Don out, she made sure
Bear, her once faithful Rottweiler, went with him.
    Don whispered in Maggie’s ear, “I’m sorry you thought Jackie was the
one.”
    Don shook his head and then turned and walked out. He would have loved
to take his coffee with him in a travel mug, but after his conversation with
Maggie, taking coffee with him was the last thing on his mind. It was going to
be a long drive to the station house. His only alternative was a drive-thru.
    When he finally reached the drive-thru of the first fast-food joint he
saw, he ordered a large black coffee and two breakfast sandwiches to go. The
large coffee would be the only thing he had going for him to make sure he would
make it through the day. The breakfast sandwiches would be enough to stop the
growling in his stomach because he hadn’t had food since early yesterday
afternoon. This was not going to be an easy day for him, and he only hoped
there were no new homicides to investigate.
    Don walked into the station house with the bag in one hand and the
large Styrofoam cup in the other. Fred was busy on the phone as Don walked up
to his desk and set the bag and cup of coffee down. There