Heartless Love

Chapter Three

As the car pulls back into the station parking lot, Tamara lazily wakes up. "Good afternoon, Lewis," Bryce says with a little chuckle. Tamara rubs her eyes awake and asks, "How long was I out?" "Mmmm...about twenty minutes," he replies with uncertainty. With a groan, Tamara exits the car and begins to walk to the entrance door to the station. Bryce quickly catches up with her as she enters the elevator. He presses the button to floor thirteen. Still slightly sleepy, Tamara rests her head against one of the cold metal walls. The elevator comes to a halt, and Tamara pushes her palms against the sides of her head. "I see you still get elevator sickness," Bryce states. Tamara ignores his statement and exits the elevator. Alyce comes speed walking towards her and whisper yells, "Detective Hayes has called for you three times now." Tamara nods in acknowledgement as she turns on her heel and heads back to the elevators. "Maybe I should go with you," Bryce suggests. With a simple shake of her head, Tamara continues the walk to the elevators.

When she gets in front of Detective Hayes' office door, Tamara takes a deep breath, before placing two sharp knocks onto the door. "Come in," Detective Hayes says from inside. With slight hesitance, Tamara turns the doorknob and opens the door. Detective Hayes looks up from his desk. As he sees her, his face turns slightly red. The change in his facial pigmentation causes Tamara to bite her bottom lip. "Detective Lewis...please sit down," Detective Hayes says in a slightly frustrated tone. Tamara keeps her eyes on Detective Hayes as she sits on the chair. Once she is fully seated, Detective Hayes continues, "Now the reason why I called you in here is because I got a call from Ms. Barlowe. The ex-wife of the late Mr. Barlowe. The man whose murder you and Detective Gates are trying to solve. She called to inform me that one of my detectives came to her home and threatened to arrest her if she didn't tell them everything she knew. Now, I'm a man who believes that there are always two sides to a story. So, Detective Lewis, what do you have to say for yourself?" "Detective Hayes, Ms. Barlowe was withholding information, which in the case of murder is a criminal offence. I believed that persuading her with a negative ultimatum would get her to share more than she originally did. I was correct in that assumption, because we did discover some new information," she replies. After exhaling sharply, Detective Hayes leans forward on his desk and says bluntly, "Three things Detective Lewis: One, persuasion and threatening are two different things. We are the police. Our job is to arrest those who threaten others, not do the threatening, even if it will help our investigation. Secondly, never assume anything. Assuming things only makes an ass out of you and me. Lastly, the only new information you retrieved was the fact that Mr. Barlowe called Ms. Barlowe to tell her that he was in big trouble. With whom and for what reason, that we still do not know. So, the only thing you accomplished in your visit was angering a woman who has just recently lost her ex-husband." Tamara looks down at her hands and thinks of what to say. After a while, she responds, "I apologize Detective Hayes. I will try not to make the same mistake again." "You won't try anything Detective Lewis. You are a part of the NYPD. You only do; you never try. Understood?", Detective Hayes asks sharply. "Yes Sir," Tamara replies.

"What happened?", Bryce asks as Tamara exits the elevator onto the thirteenth floor. Tamara looks at him with annoyance and replies, "I was reprimanded for threatening Ms. Barlowe. Apparently, she called him after we left her house." "Luckily, Detective Hayes didn't take you off the case. Otherwise, who would I have to compete with?" Bryce asks playfully. "I'm sure you would have been happy if I had been kicked off," Tamara replies dryly. Bryce scoffs, before changing the subject and suggesting that Tamara stop for the day and go home. "You could use the rest. We can resume on the case tomorrow," Bryce says thoughtfully. Tamara looks at him with suspicion. "I think I'm good. I much prefer staying here and digging more into the case," she says. Bryce shakes his head and asks, "Guess you won't let me have a jumpstart on you?" "You bet," Tamara replies as she heads back to the room where all the crime scene evidence is being held.

Tamara looks at the investigation board with extreme focus, as Bryce continues to rereview the personal statements. "Frank Barlowe was found in an alleyway, Sam Thorton on his back porch, and Jim Sutton in his car at the hospital parking garage," she states. "Yeah, and from what I'm seeing, Sutton is the only one that had an actual job," Bryce says as he continues to review the document. Tamara looks at him with curiosity. "He was a doctor at Rochester General Hospital," Bryce answers. "What would a doctor be doing with a gang?", Tamara asks rhetorically. "That's what we are going to find out...partner," Bryce replies with a slightly smirk. "This is not the time to be smart Bryce," Tamara snaps back, "I understand why Barlowe and Thornton would be involved with a gang, but why would a successful doctor be involved?" "Look Lewis, it's late and I'm dead tired. Can we please just continue this tomorrow morning?", Bryce pleads. After looking over the board a few more minutes, Tamara concedes with his request, and wraps it up for the night.