Chapter 1.

Dispatcher's Life

Mondays… Whoever came up with them should be glad they're already dead, because I would have killed them myself. I, as anyone who knew me could tell, wasn't a big fan of Mondays. The alarm clock blaring in my ears didn't help the fact I could tell today was going to be one of them days where I should have called in sick to work. I had worked at least six hours over time last week and the weekend wasn't long enough to recuperate from the long hours. And that was just an easy week.

After realizing the horrid noise wasn't going to shut itself off, I rolled over with a groan and slapped the button. Once the silence took over my ears were ringing, exactly why I hated the stupid thing. Deciding to give myself a few more minutes of peace and quiet, I rolled back over on my stomach, snuggling up under my blankets and closed my eyes. I listened to my breathing as I thought of nothing.

I was just dozing off when my phone started to go off on the bedside table. Almost screaming, I rolled back over and grabbed my phone. I didn't even look to see who it was; I just pressed the answer button.

"What?" I growled loudly.

"Geez Roe," my brother's voice came through the phone. "You don't have to be so grumpy. Let me guess, I woke you up."

"Not exactly. I was just dozing off for another fifteen minutes of sleep – maybe longer. What do you want, Adam?"

"Just wanted to see if you were still coming by the station, around two for lunch?"

"Don't I always?"

I rolled over on my back and put my hand over my eyes. These were the times where I could just kill my brother. The same routine happened every Monday, and he never got the hint I wasn't in the talking mood just after waking up. I really wasn't a morning person; haven't had been and probably never would be. You'd think he'd figure that out because of the twenty-five years he's lived with me.

"Yea, you do," Adam stated. "I was just making sure."

"Can't you just ask me in the evening on Sunday like a normal person?" I asked him. "You do live with me. You do remember that, right? It's not that hard to ask."

"Yea, but it's not as fun."

"Sure, it isn't… What time is it anyway?"

"Did you look at your alarm clock when you turned it off?"

"No, of course not."

"Well it's ten."

"Ten? Damn it Adam, can't you at least call and ask me questions an hour after I get up?"

My voice was coming out a whine, but I really didn't care at this point. Considering I didn't have to work till later this evening I could have at least slept another hour. But my brother always was the one who liked to piss me off most of the time.

"Now is that really me?" he asked, with a laugh.

"No," I muttered, "but I wish it were."

"No, you don't. You love your big brother just the way he is."

"That is questionable some days."

"Come Princess Roe Roe. Lighten up."

"You call me Princess Roe Roe one more time and you're going to wish you'd never been born."

"You say that every time, but you should be used to it by now."

"Well I'm not, and one of these days it'll happen."

"No, it won't Sis. You love me too much."

"Uh-huh."

I heard someone talking on the other side of the phone, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. My only guess was it had to be my brother's partner. They had a case going on which had pushed my brother to the edge. If they didn't get a lead soon he was going to lose it.

"Okay Al," my brother called. "I'll be right there… Hey Sis I have to go. We got a lead on this case. I'll see you at lunch."

"Sounds good," I agreed. "Call me if anything changes."

"I will."

"Bye Bubba. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye Princess Roe Roe."

"Adam!"

Just as I opened my mouth to say something he had already hung up. He was going to wish he hadn't called this morning. I threw my phone down on the bed and groaned. Now that I was fully awake, I might as well get up and get dressed for the day.

~J&M~

Once I was clean and shaved out of the shower, I just threw on one of my favorite shirts my brother got me when I first became a dispatcher about five years ago. It was dark blue with writing on the front which said: "911 Dispatcher"; with a headset around it. On the back it said: "It became my problem when you dialed 911." It went with my job, so it worked for me. I then put on some comfortable jeans that still hugged my curves. I'd change into my uniform once I woke up from my nap.

When I was done getting dressed I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. My hair was starting to dry, and curls were making their-self known. As I thought about what to do with it I looked myself over. I was around five feet three inches tall, with a muscular build. With the help of working out, I think the muscles I had went good with my height. My eyes were a light blue, with some yellow around the pupil, and my hair was a medium red; almost to the small of my back. As for the rest of my face, my lips were a little full and a light shade of red, with high cheekbones and a slim nose. My skin had a slight tan to it and it was only going to get darker as the summer went on. I was lucky when it came to my skin – most red heads I saw, burnt instead of tanned so I wasn't complaining.

I have been known to be called pretty – or even beautiful – by a lot of men, but I would never agree with them. There was only one thing they wanted and that was to get into my pants. With the job I had, I got to hear all the calls that ended in tears, with the women who believed the wrong guy. After a few months of getting those types of calls, the last thing I did was believe every man that came along. The only man I trusted was my brother, and that was it. Okay, I take that back. The men my brother worked with were trustworthy, so I guess they counted too. But sadly, that was about it in the trust department.

My mind was heading to a bad place, so I shook my head and went back to wondering what I was going to do with my hair. I decided to just put it in my ponytail considering my very kinky curls were unruly most of the time – today probably wasn't going to be any different. Next, I put on a little mascara to make my eyes pop and I could say I was good to go.

I looked at my phone and it was around twelve thirty. I still had a little time before meeting my brother, so I thought it would be a good idea to go out and do some errands. They weren't going to do themselves, after all.

~J&M~

By the time I was done with my errands it was about time to head to the station to meet up with my brother at the Bull Pin. When I got there, I ran into Kim Burgess and her new partner – who I, by the looks of him, wouldn't trust as far as I could throw him – just before I walked into the building. After Kevin Atwater got promoted to intelligence it was hard for the female cop to keep a partner. I didn't blame her; if I was a cop I would want the best partner to have my back. Not someone who got me into trouble or put me in danger. She did tell me some of her stories about the new partners that she had, and I was glad I wasn't her.

Kim and I said hello but didn't talk long because they were going out on a call and I was going to be late meeting my brother. When I walked in Trudy Platte, the desk Sergeant, buzzed me in without a second glance in my direction. I told her thank you as I opened the gate door and climbed the stairs to the open second room office. The room was almost empty with just a few detectives I could see. My brothers desk was around the corner so I hadn't spotted him yet.

I could see Antonio Dawson sitting at his desk, along with Erin Lindsey and my brother's partner Alvin Olinsky at theirs. Looking back at the Sergeants office in the very back, I could see Hank Voight – my brother's boss – sitting at his desk reading papers from a file. It seemed like everyone else was either out for lunch or out on a lead.

Erin looked up to see me walking down the hall and smiled. I put a finger to my lips to tell her to stay quiet. She nodded her head and I glanced around the corner and saw my brother was reading some papers like Voight was.

"You know," I said, watching him jump ten feet in the air, "if I knew I was going to have to wait I would have just stayed home."

We both knew I was being a smartass, but he glared at me anyway. I just smiled my sweet smile – the one he couldn't resist – and he stopped glaring. Everyone in the room was looking in our direction right now, but that wasn't new. This was a side of Adam they rarely saw, and they liked to see him with his little sister.

"Come here Roe," Adam ordered, patting a chair that sat beside his desk. "Just give me a few more minutes then we'll go to lunch."

"Alright," I shrugged.

I sat with him for about five more minutes – as quiet as I could be – and he was done. We walked a couple of blocks down to our favorite place called Hashbrowns and we were seated right away. We've been there so many times everyone knew us. All the waitress had to ask us was do we want our usual – after getting our drinks – and went to go tell the cook.

"So, what's your schedule like this week Sis?" Adam asked.

"I work from ten p.m. till eight a.m. all this week," I told him. "Then I'm off Sunday and Monday. Next week I work twenty-four hours Wednesday, and Friday; I go in at noon and get off the same time. Tuesday and Thursday, I work nine p.m. and get off at five a.m. Then my boss was nice enough to let me have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off."

"That doesn't sound very fun."

"It's not a new thing for me, remember."

"Yea. It's not very fun for me either."

"You're not the one working."

"No, but I'm the one who has to put up with your cranky ass all the time."

"You're not the only one who has to put up with me."

He didn't get a chance to say anything, our food was brought to our table. I had the Hashbrown wedge salad; it was an eight ounce New York strip steak with grilled chicken breast served with a wedge of lettuce and buttermilk ranch dressing. Adam got a BBQ chicken wrap; it had grilled chicken breast, bested in BBQ sauce with melted Swiss cheese and wrapped in a flour tortilla.

We talked here and there as we ate; enjoying each other's company, like we always did. He asked me if I was going to try and get some sleep before work and I told him that's what my plan was. I was going to be up all night anyway so it was best I slept. That way I wouldn't fall asleep on the job, which was hard not to do sometimes. It depended on how many calls we had.

When we were done, it was time for him to go back to work. We walked to the station, but this time I didn't go in. It was time for me to go back to bed. He gave me a hug and a kiss on the top of my head.

"Be careful Sis," Adam whispered.

"Don't worry about me Bubba," I told him.

"I always do. Do you have that gun I gave you?"

"I never leave the house without it."

"Good."

"Will you be home before I go to work."

"I don't think so. This case is almost wrapped up."

"Okay."

"Now go get some sleep. I'll see you at dinner – instead of lunch – tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir."

"Bye Roe. Love ya."

"I love ya too. Bye Bubba."

We pulled apart and went our separate ways. As I made my way to my truck in the parking garage, I could have sworn someone was following me, but when I turned around I didn't see anybody. Putting my hand in my purse, I grabbed my 9mm Beretta, but kept it concealed. I slowly looked from side to side, but I still couldn't see anyone. After making sure no one was around I almost ran to my truck.

That wasn't the first time I thought I felt like someone was either watching or following me. This has been going on for a while. I thought about telling my brother but didn't want to worry him. It was probably nothing anyway.

~J&M~

I set my alarm so I would be up an hour and a half before I was supposed to be at work when I got home. Jumping in bed it didn't take me long to fall asleep. When my alarm went off it took me about five minutes to realize it was screaming in my ears. I was in the middle of a nightmare, and I couldn't get out of it. I shot up into a sitting position, my hands flying up to my face. Shaking hard, I breathed a sigh of relief when I was finally awake, and hurried to turn off my alarm.

Breathing hard, I noticed I was covered in sweat. The nightmare still swam through my brain and it was hard to shake. I was running as fast as I could to get away from him, but it wasn't enough. He grabbed me and through me down on the ground, jumping on top of me. His face was angry and he wouldn't stop hitting me, no matter how many times I told him to stop. When he finally did, I watched as he grabbed my gun, pointed it at my face and then pulled the trigger.

I sat in my bed for a few more minutes as I calmed down. When I felt like I was fine I got up and put my uniform on. Once I was done with that I made myself a snack for work. Next I made dinner for Adam to warm up when he got home; leaving a note on the fridge to let him know.

When I realized I didn't have anything left to do, I headed out the door around nine thirty and made it to work around nine fifty. Things didn't pick up at work until around two in the morning. This is when the bars were closing and people were starting to get rowdy. I was starting to wonder if my usuals were going to call and right on que the phone rang.

"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" I asked, after pressing the answer button on my headset.

"Yea, I would like to report my husband threatin' me," the familiar voice slurred over the phone, "and he's been hittin' me."

Holding back a sigh I rolled my eyes and tried to sound like I was there to help. The caller was someone I talked to at least once a week. The woman's name was Tammy and she always called whenever her and her husband Bill got drunk. Supposedly he was always hitting on her but she never left him. There wasn't much I could do there.

"Alright," I muttered. "Is this Tammy?"

"Yes, it is," she grumbled. "How do you know?"

"We've talked before ma'am."

"We have?"

"Yes ma'am. Would you like me to send officers down?"

I knew even if I did she wasn't going to do anything. I knew her husband had been in jail at least six times in the past year, and she, herself, had been in jail about three. They were from the south and they were drunks who knew they were going to get into trouble, but did nothing to change. This wasn't anything new to me; it happened more than people realized. I started hearing Bill in the background, screaming at his wife.

"Yes, do it now," Tammy mumbled. "Bill get away from me."

"Where are you located in your house?"

"I jus' got into the bedroom."

"Alright."

Doing my thing, I pressed another button so I could hear Tammy screaming at me to send someone over as soon as possible – but she couldn't hear me – while also looking for the closest possible unit to send to the scene. I got on my computer and oddly enough Kim and her partner were the closest car. They were going to like this. I put Tammy on mute as I started the process of getting ahold of the unit I had in mind.

"Hey," I called, "Kim are you there?"

"10-4," Kim answered.

"Yea, this is Monroe, and I have a 415 for you and your partner."

"Let me guess; Tammy and Bill."

"You got it. She says she's in the bedroom."

"When is she not? She needs to find a new hiding spot."

"You're telling me."

"Alright, 10-4 we're on our way."

"10-4."

Knowing they were on their way, I got back on the line with a still screaming Tammy. I rolled my eyes again, but still stayed calm. All I needed to do was to get through this call.

"Are you sendin' someone or not?" she slurred.

"They're on their way Tammy," I told her. "I'm going to stay on the line with you until they get there."

"They better hurry. He's gonna break down the door."

'Of course, he is,' I thought to myself.

"They're not far ma'am," I said instead, as I heard the sirens getting louder. "I can hear them pulling up."

"Oh, thank god. Took 'em long enough."

For the third time, I rolled my eye and shook my head. These calls were getting out of hand, but until one of them left or both of them stopped drinking they were just going to keep happening. All I could do was sit back and do my job, which I loved most days.

"We're at the scene," Kim informed me, over my scanner. "Stand by."

"10-4," I answered.

"They're at the door," Tammy said.

"Okay ma'am. I'm going to let you off the line so you can talk to them. Alright?"

"Yea."

I didn't even get a chance to say bye before she hung up. I sighed and leaned back in my seat, waiting on Campson and Kim to get back with me. About a half hour later Kim called for me on the scanner.

"Monroe?" she called.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"We arrested the husband. He was really drunk and wouldn't sit down to talk. Then he tried to attack Campson, so he's going into the drunk tank tonight."

"Sound good. You two be careful on the rest of your shift."

"10-4."

"10-4."

~J&M~

The rest of my shift wasn't that bad to be honest. It was still busy but none of the calls were as annoying as Tammy and Bill's – I actually got to help people. When I got home, Adam had already gone to work. Not even bothering to eat, I stripped down to my underwear and threw on one of my brother's old t-shirts – then got under my blankets, curled up with my body pillow, and fell asleep.