HER NAME WAS LISA
A Man At The Crossroads
*********
Detective Hank Adler’s life had become a deck of consternation and confusion, as his problems with women were stacking up.
Twin card of disappointment was an acrimonious divorce, combined with a rebellious daughter’s relationship with a reckless beau, was what frayed upon this father’s nerves. Beyond Hank’s strained family ties, there was a card of pleasure in the shapely form of a raven-haired, restless lover.
Set in his ways; Adler was far from being an enlightened man, as a crimp in this alpha’s armor was a new partner which he didn’t want to be burdened with in doing his own heavy lifting on the job and hers too. Murder victim being the wife of wealthy man, propelled the brass at police headquarters into pressuring Adler and his new partner to find the killer in a snap.
For all this man was in the process of dealing with – ex-wife, daughter, lover, partner, murder victim; his worry with women seemed to be a set of five cards of discontentment.
The last thing that Detective Hank Adler needed was another card placed upon the deck of disruption that could upend his agitated life even further.
With that reshuffling deck of chaos in his life, a new card turned up; one which could put an investigation of Hank Adler himself in the middle of his current case.
*********
“I didn’t mean to step over a line in what I just said. It’s just the way it is”. In somewhat of a roundabout way, Hank Adler was attempting an apology to her.
“Adler, you can really be a rotten son of a bitch”, Martin’s tone was not that of a weak woman being offended by his arrogant rambling; but a fellow member of law enforcement who had earned the right to be where she was in her career at that moment, “You talk to me about pulling weight…” She took a deep breath and gave insight on her own pathway, “At first, I didn’t want to let Freddy down on his faith he’d shown in me. And, from there, I didn’t want to let myself down by not giving 110%”. Stephanie Martin wasn’t about boasting or bragging on herself and the abilities she brought to the job, but stood firm in who she was, “Hank, the job has a way of twisting you in knots and pulling you apart. People don’t know the sacrifices we make to wear the badge, live by the badge. And, we are put in places that bring us to the brink of dying for the badge”.
Stephanie actually made a breakthrough with those words to the man sitting next to her as the ice finally melted between them for the first time they’d been together. She lifted the bottle of beer to her lips and sipped slowly.
Hank pulled the dark brown wallet out of the back pocket of his pants and removed a slender item, “My baby girl”, Showing a picture of his daughter in pigtails at age 11 to her, “Deana”.
Stephanie placed her beer onto the counter and remarked at the young woman in the picture, “Pretty girl”.
Hank tapped the image with his fingers and exhaled over the oncoming reality of his daughter being of legal age very soon, “She’s turning 18 at the end of the year and hates me”.
“She doesn’t hate you, Hank”, Stephanie shook her head when thinking back to when she was turning that age, “She’s just trying to spread her wings”.
“You say spread her wings like its’ a good thing”, Hank’s disbelief was evident on his face and in tone of speech.
“If she hated you, she would have never reached out to you, Hank”, She supportively spoke.
Hank felt a sense of defeat in not being able to make everything right for his relationship with Deana, “Some things you can’t fix”.
“You’ve got time, Hank”, Martin tried to show the positive aspect of having another chance in being a positive force in his daughter’s life.
“Maybe not, Steph”, Hank thought about his promise to Deana and if it could be possible to make amends for the type of father he’d been to her; even as far as what was done by going to see Chucky Wilson to set things straight.
Stephanie wasn’t going to pry beyond the surface of what Hank had told her about the state of Deana’s current life. But, she felt a smidgen of obligation to lay out the cards of her own life on the table to him, “Talking about Freddy, I didn’t tell you the whole story”, She touched back upon day of dire consequences, “We were on an undercover sting and it went to shit”, Reaching behind herself, she pulled a bottle of pills out of the left, back jeans pocket, “You see these, Hank”, She shook the prescription bottle slightly, allowing the pills to make a swirling sound inside, “I’ve been taking them ever since I was discharged from the hospital after my…” Single word of deepest loss escaped her lips, “…Miscarriage”, She bit her bottom lip bitten to stunt any flow of tears.
Adler’s voice fell low, “Stephanie, I-I didn’t know”.
A whisper came, “Nobody did”, Gathering her bearings, “Up until now it was only Carrello”, She continued, “And, now you, Hank”, Stephanie paused, “I didn’t tell you this for sympathy or any kind of gut punch effect”, A bit stunned over her own revelation to him, she wanted Hank to realize the gift he had in having child to maintain a connection, “You see, there’s always hope. Even when you might not see it directly in front of your eyes in this moment, it’s there”.
“What if it’s too late to turn things around for me and Deana?” Hank brushed right hand through is graying hair, “Maybe it’s too many missed teacher meets, school plays, pageants, or whatever the fuck they call those moments a father’s supposed to be there for his kid”.
“If there’s a crumb of a chance to patch things up with your relationship with Deana, take it, Hank”, Her advice was clear, as was the firmness in her voice, “Even if today or next week she doesn’t want to talk to you; keep pushing. She’s going to need her father. Whether or not you may think she does”, She began to nod head in knowing how it felt to once be on that cusp of womanhood and thinking of having all the answers to being an adult, Stephanie added, “She needs you, Hank.
Even after making that promise to Deana in the bucolic atmosphere of the grounds of Morningside Meadows, he remained unsure of how things would turn out. Hank thought back to his own failings as a father, “When Deana was a little girl, she actually used to look up to me”, He let out a half-hearted chuckle in thinking back to those days and how far ago it seemed in the present, “Can you imagine my kid was proud to have me as her father?” Needing some liquid fortitude in continuing this conversation, Hank lifted his beer and swallowed heavily, “And, her mother…” He could only scoff when thinking of that fractured relationship with Paula, “Well, that’s another thing all together”, He placed the half empty bottle down onto the counter.
Martin wasn’t going to touch the subject of an ex-wife with Adler, but remained more than eager and raring to go with speaking about his daughter, “If you want to be a father to Deana”, She shrugged her shoulders, “Then be a father to your daughter, Hank”, Stephanie placed her elbows onto the bar with a sense of ease in motion, “Won’t be simple, won’t be easy. But, it is possible”, Reclaiming her beer and taking a few more sips, voicing her opinion on the unflappability of youth, “You may think you’ve got all the time in the world and nothing can stop you when you’re younger, is probably what Deana is thinking”, As a woman knowing from first-hand experience and heartbreak how life could turn on a dime, her words had poignancy when she spoke to him, “Second chances are miracles and if she picked up that phone to talk to you or want to see you”, Martin held to out a branch of possibility to this faltering father, “Accept the miracle, Hank”.
Hank smirked with disbelief to her, “No questions asked?”
Tension was visibly released as she exhaled, “Not a one, Adler”, Broad smile came to Stephanie’s face, as she relaxed and finished her beer.
As their conversation continued a while longer, they gazed out that window at the sun setting in the horizon. Stephanie popped a few peanuts to snack on, while Hank looked at the ocean waves.
A brief thought of standing in the Ellis’ master bedroom came to this man’s mind when gazing out of Landon’s window. Having been in the presence of a man who seemingly was steel of exterior as Desmond Ellis appeared to be, was in actuality just a wounded being of broken heart and bruised soul; this embittered detective knew of that reality. In some ways, Hank Adler for all his outward bluster was fragile also.
Relaying the outlines of truth about Deana had cautiously been stirred into the mix of this conversation at sunset to get Martin off his back, as seeing Lisa again face to face became burnished in Hank’s soul.
He had to forget her and hope she would forget where he was seen side by side with Lomaxx outside of Ginger’s. High hopes were Hank’s.
Book One - Detective Hank Adler, veteran of the Palo Alto Police Department and his new partner, Detective Stephanie Martin have just begun a high-profile murder investigation of the murdered wife of a real estate tycoon.
In the first two chapters (“Grind” and “Shape of Things”) of “Her Name Was Lisa”, Hank Adler’s past and present is unfolded.
Book Two - For Hank Adler, being a cop was a road of ease; find them, cuff them, read them their rights, and throw away the key. On the other hand; as for being a family man with a wife and daughter, that was a rocky road which led towards an acrimonious divorce and an addiction leading to a rehab center.
In the third and fourth chapters (“Valleys & Bridges” and “Clear”) of “Her Name Was Lisa”; a parents’ promise, leads to an unforeseen chain of consequences.
Book Three - Detectives Adler and Martin have a double murder investigation added to their caseload, as Hank comes face to face with the unlikeliest person who could blow his career apart in a single revelation – Lisa.
In the fifth and sixth chapters (“Lisa” and “Straight No Chaser”) of “Her Name Was Lisa”, Hank Adler’s world is shaken by a woman who would change his life forever.
Book Four - As the murder investigation into the murders at Ginger’s heats up, what Lisa reveals to Detective Hank Adler upturns his life and leads him and his partner into danger.
In the seventh and eighth chapters (“Upturned” and “Get Low”) of “Her Name Was Lisa”, Hank Adler has a choice to make of whether being a pariah or protector of Lisa. As bullets start to fly, self-preservation is paramount for a weary soul.
Book Five - Lovers, liars, lawbreakers, heartbreakers are all in a deck to be dealt with inside the world of Detective Hank Adler.
Question is, are they aces or jokers?
In the stunning finale of “Her Name Was Lisa”; a fallen soul rises to a personal triumph, as the road to redemption is filled with doubts, detours, and determination.
EBOOK/PAPERBACK - AN AMAZON EXCLUSIVE
