#FlashFictionMagic: The Rose

Declan “The Rose” Rourke - so called because of his flaming red hair - couldn’t have a cop in the family. No, Maeve hadn’t been on a date with this guy yet, but she hadn’t been able to shut up about him at Sunday dinner. “Jonah said he’ll get my mail while I’m gone next week,” she’d informed their parents. Five minutes later, she brought up his name again. “Jonah says the gym closer to his work has better hours.”

His work. Did she even know where he worked? Did she know that Jonah Lockwood and his partner, Nate Fowler, were tracking her little brother’s every move, lying in wait to lock him up? Maeve was so innocent. Their parents had coddled their only daughter, and the result was an idiot who didn’t know it was stupid to get involved with police officers. 

The solution was simple and tricky at the same time. Declan had taken a chance passing that security camera in the alleyway, but odds were it was for show and not functional. Now, with his black hoodie pulled up and a ski mask on his face, he completely blended in with the shadows on the motel balcony. He’d been sitting there almost twenty minutes when the door of the room where Lockwood had responded to a noise complaint burst open. The Rose wasted no time in bearing his thorns. 

Running full-tilt, Declan charged Officer Lockwood. When Jonah raised his arms instinctively to block the onslaught, Declan grabbed him by the wrists and flung him backwards over the railing and into the dumpster below. Without a backward glance, he disappeared down the stairs and into the night. 

One hour later, several blocks away, Maeve stood at the window, phone to her ear, leaving a voicemail. Did she have the date wrong? The time?  Jonah wouldn’t stand her up without a really good reason, right? 

The sirens in the distance were mere suburban background noise, and it didn’t occur to Maeve to think they had a thing to do with her.