Part 4
A new day, a new partner, and a new headache!!

You ever just have those days where your eyes pop open and a sense of your destiny is all so present? That’s how I woke up this morning at 5:30 am, half an hour before my alarm clock radio was due to turn on. I have never really been one of those that believed in foreboding, that sense that your entire life is about to change and it’s not necessarily all for the better neither. But there it was, like a big stone cold bolder sitting right in the center of my chest. Now I’ve heard of other detectives get these senses of a gray cloud that was going to follow them around all day, but then again they did end up being killed in the line of duty. Or they’d just pay closer attention to their inner-voice and some how not only make it out of the day alive however fortunate they were, also, able to save some else’s life. Some of them have even said this has happened to them off duty, too, it was those days when one of their parents would die or suffer a heart attack or a stroke. Even some of said to have found their future bride or husband when they paid close attention to what their guts were telling them. In some cases, all of the above have happened. Just not on the same day and usually decades a part.

I lied there wide-awake, staring up at my ceiling as the outside world began to get lighter and my dog, Lester, laid on my belly allowing me to scratch behind his ears lazily. Dread, sheer absolute dread filled me. I was not wanting to get up this morning, the first time ever, and report for duty. I ran over the arrangements that I’ve made in my head, should anything happen to me, just like any good cop does at the beginning of their careers and routinely goes over, as well as, updates. My will was in order (as of last week, due to Dan’s promotion), burial arrangements were up-to-date, and current letters to the members of my family-as well as, Dan-were all locked away securely in my safety deposit box as of last night; when I visited the bank in the early evening hours. You might think it’s morbid to go through such extensive arrangements while so young, but like I said I am a good cop and this is a dangerous job. Everyday could be your last, you rack up enemies left-n-right, and unless you are some kind of orphan that’s never made any friends or found someone to love then it’s just a precaution. As to spare your family any undue and unnecessary planning and work; it’s hard enough to grieve without having the extra load of providing a proper funeral and burial of someone you love. And I just thought I would head it off at the pass, so my family and Dan would not have to delay their grieve. I want them all to work through it and move on with their lives as quickly as possible should anything happen to me. God forbid.