Nano 2015 # 9

Slow day and it started so well. One of those mornings where everything just turns out fortuitously.  Like I couldn’t find my black sweatshirt with the hood so I took an extra three or four minutes looking for it. Once I found it, it started to rain. But I was still at the house so I could put on a rain coat before I went out. If I had found the sweatshirt right away I would been gone already before it started to rain. Hey, sometimes you have to embrace the simple things, like not getting drenched while walking the dog.

Anyway, none of my characters wanted to work today. They all insisted on going back to bed with a book, lazy bastards. I ground out my words in dribs and drabs at the coop and then once kiddo went to bed. It ain’t pretty but it’s written. Who was it who said you can edit bad words into good ones later but it’s hard to edit a blank page? Totally there today.

Words written today: 2386

Time spent: 2.5 hours at the coop and an hour tonight.

Total Words: 13601

Estimated Completion Date: Dec 4. – Getting better.

Excerpt:

Friday morning Spence managed to finish his WOD and take an entire shower, shave, and brush his teeth before heading into the office. Friday at nine the entire Dismember Killer task force, all three of them now that Tom was on leave, met to discuss where they were at, what likely options they could pursue next, and how to deal with the pressure from the media to make an arrest when they didn’t even have any possible suspects. He decided to pop by Krispy Kreme (can I use this?) on the way into the office. Yeah, the whole cops and donuts thing was way over blown and cliche but everyone made an exception for Krispy Kreme. He dropped the dozen box on the center of the table and went back out to get a cup of coffee from the machine in what constituted a break room. He had to wait while the pot finished brewing but that was preferably to coffee left over from the night shift. Detective Scott Barnes was at the table in the middle of selecting a donut when Spence returned.
“Morning.” Spence greeted him.
Barnes provided only a head nod in response. But since Barnes rarely said anything until after his third cup of coffee, Spence didn’t take it personally.
At twelve minutes after nine, Detective Melanie Witlow rush through the door. “Sorry, I’m sorry. Lars is out of town and I got stuck in traffic while dropping Junior off at my mothers.”
Spence nodded. Barnes took a second coffee cup out of a paper bag at his feet and set it in front of Witlow. She smiled her thanks before helping herself to a raspberry filled donut. She took a bite and groaning said, “Was this you Spence? You’re a god among men.”
Spence smiled and nodded a chuckled.
“He’s just trying to make up for the fact that his partner screwed us.” Barnes growled.
Ahhh, here it was. This was indeed the reason Spence picked up donuts. Not that he was trying to make up for anything but he hoped with their mouths full of the best donuts known to man, they might be a little sweeter in their words.
“Did Tom really blab all that information to Stephanie Lewis?” Witlow was direct.
Spence shrugged. “I don’t really know what’s going on. Tom isn’t allowed to talk about it during the investigation.”
“All these years, we’ve all debated what it might take to bring down T2, turns out it’s one bleach blond bitch with a big mouth.”
Barnes snorted. “Say that three times fast.”

Character Sketch:

Witlow and Barnes: Partners for three years, since Witlow became a detective, they rarely need to actually communicate. Witlow does most of the talking for the pair of them. She can interpret his grunts and facial expressions into real words. They’re good solid detectives who grind it out day after day because they believe in what they do. They believe in the positive effect they can have on the world. Barnes is ex-military with three ex-wives. Witlow is a small town local girl on her first husband and child.