Dixon's Duty by Jenna Byrnes

Marcus? Who’s that?”
    “Your last victim.” Mac took the suspect by the handcuffs and shoved him towards the patrol car that had just joined them.
    “Victim? What?” Reese looked terrified as they guided him into the backseat of the vehicle.
    “Read him his rights,” Mac told the uniformed officer.
    Dix rubbed a hand over the dent in the hood of his Navigator.
    His partner returned to stand beside him. “Is it bad?”
    “Nah. Nothing the body shop can’t knock out.”
    “I should have held on to my ’72 Ford construction truck. That puppy was made of steel, not fiberglass. Woulda taken more than a scrawny kid to dent that thing.” Mac got in the passenger seat.
    Dix climbed behind the wheel and glanced over at him. “No doubt. Were the floorboards rusted out so you could see the road beneath your feet as you drove? My old man had one the same way.”
    “Well, yeah, but a nice floor mat covered that up.”
    “Right.” Dix chuckled and drove back to the Wilson Beverages parking lot. They waited for the crime scene unit to arrive and search the truck before impounding it. He drove them back to the station and glanced at his watch. Nearly six o’clock. “I need to make a quick call.”
    Mac nodded. “Me too.” They went their separate ways.
    Dix dialled Bryan’s number.
    “Hey, sexy,” the man answered.
    “One word of advice. If anything happened to me, and someone wanted to notify you, they’d use my phone to call.”
    Bryan chuckled. “Oh, shit. Point taken. Second rule about being friends with a cop?”
    “You could say that. But I think we’re quickly moving past the ‘friends’ business, don’t you? I haven’t stopped thinking about you all damned day. Well, except for that time I was chasing a suspect through an alley. My mind was kind of occupied then.”
    “You chased a suspect? Oh, my God, Dix, are you okay?” His tone sounded amazed and terrified, all at the same time.
    Dix was touched. “I’m fine, but I’m pleased that you asked.”
    “You got him, then?”
    “We have a suspect in custody, yes, which is the reason for my call. I need to question the man. I’m not sure tonight is going to happen.”
    “Oh, it’s going to happen all right. Just might not be the schedule we’d outlined. Call me when you’re done, I don’t care what time it is. I’ll wait up for you.”
    His heart filled with warmth. “Sounds nice. I’ve gotta go, but I’ll check back when I can. And Bryan? Thanks.”
    “Don’t thank me, I haven’t done anything. Yet.” His voice grew husky. “Later, you can thank me. I know I’ll be thanking you.”
    Laughing, Dix ended the call. He met Mac in the hallway outside the number one interrogation room, which had a large two way mirror. Peyton and the captain were there, studying Reese, who was handcuffed to the single table in the room.
    Alvarez looked at him. “Abby wants this guy’s DNA ASAP to process it and see if we have a match. Instant test results aren’t conclusive, but should be enough to hold him if we’ve got a partial match.”
    Dix nodded. “Is there a CSI tech around to do the swab?”
    “Yes. You get him to agree, and we’ll send one in.”
    “Okay.” Dix straightened his jacket. “We’ll start there.” He entered the small room. The mirror took up a good portion of one whole wall. The others were bare. He looked at Reese. “I’m Detective Dixon. I’ll remove those cuffs if you promise to behave yourself.”
    “I know who you are. And I haven’t done anything,” Reese insisted.
    Dix unfastened the cuffs and dropped them in his pocket. He sat in the chair opposite the suspect. “If that’s the case, why did you run? Innocent people don’t usually take off like that.”
    Reese sighed. “I panicked. I got pulled over by the Sedalia police a few nights ago for suspicion of DUI. I didn’t get a ticket, they just gave me a warning.”
    “DUIs are bad, but if it’s your first you wouldn’t do jail time.”
    “I drive