The Pig

Breathe, man, just breathe, Joe scolded himself. He could feel himself starting to sweat. Guests at the surrounding tables were staring at him. Or was he just being paranoid. He discreetly checked his armpits. His dress shirt was slightly damp but nothing to really worry about. Good, because he was already worrying. He’d planned this night for months now, booking a reservation to this restaurant well in advance. When he wasn’t Pig-hunting, he was practicing his proposal. Practicing it in his head during his morning runs, at Lou’s office, or in the shower. And the ring-Oh, the ring! How could something so small feel so goddamn heavy in his pocket? He tapped his fingers against the table to keep himself from pulling out the box and looking at it again. With his luck, Beth’d walk through the doors the second he had it out. Yeah, he just had to be patient…She was just an hour late…Just an hour…And not answering her phone…Just caught up in the rain…

Red and blue lights suddenly flashed across the nearby window, lighting up the inside of the restaurant. All of the guests perked up. Some began whispering nervously to each other. The police cruiser turned off its lights and a few minutes later a female police officer entered the building.

“Selene?” Joe stood up and waved. “Hey! Selene!”

She saw him and walked past the woman at the front desk. “I’m with him,” she said to her. Selene was still in full uniform, holstered gun and everything. She also had a yellowing bruise beneath her left eye. She was a tall woman. Maybe a few inches shorter than Joe, who stood just under six feet. Her dark hair was up in a tight bun. Despite all of his time interning for her father, Lou Sachs, a private detective, and knowing her for years, Joe had never seen her all suited up before. Though, to be fair, she was still mostly a rookie, with not even a year on the force under her belt. He would have thought her very pretty, even in uniform, if he wasn’t starting to panic.

“Beth!” he said before she could say anything. “Is she okay?! What happened?!”

Selene showed him her hands. “Whoa, Joe,” she said quickly. “She’s okay.”

“Oh. Good,” he said shakily. “Er, why are you here?”

Selene hesitated before pointing at the chair opposite him. “Can I?”

“Um. Sure.”

She sat down. After a moment, so did he.

“How are you doing, Joe?” Selene asked, seemingly ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at them. Likely wondering if she was arresting him. Joe was starting to wonder the same thing.

“…I’m very confused, Selene,” he answered. “Just gonna be honest.”

“Because I’m a cop or your-um, Beth’s little sister?” Selene asked.

“A little of both. Where’s Beth?”

“Still at your place. I think.” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and started looking around. “She told me about this place. Supposedly their crab cakes are to die for.”

“This is where we had our first date,” Joe said. His heart was pounding against his chest.

Selene lowered her eyes. “Yeah. She told me that.”

Joe licked his lips anxiously. There was no doubt about it now. He was sweating. “Why isn’t she here? And not answering her phone? Why are you here?”

Selene took a deep breath. Despite the uniform, she looked like a little kid who desperately didn’t want to be called on in class. Not because she didn’t know the answer, but because she knew the teacher-in this case Joe-wasn’t going to like it. She finally said, “I’m here because big sis is a coward. Called me toward the tail end of my shift, begging me to come here instead and tell you that…Well…”

“Tell me what?” Joe pressed, his voice trembling.

“That she doesn’t want to marry you.”

She might as well have drawn her gun and shot him in the chest. He slumped back in his chair. He could only stare at her.

“That is why you set up this date here, right?” Selene asked carefully. “You were going to propose.”

The ring in his pocket felt like an anchor dragging him down into hell. “I…Yes,” Joe managed to say after a few tries. And then, in a very hoarse voice, “Why not?”

Selene suddenly pointed a finger at him. “First you gotta make me a promise,” she said. Her voice became deeper, more commanding. Goodbye, schoolgirl Selene. Hello, Officer Sachs. “You gotta promise that you’re not gonna do anything stupid. That you’ll stay sitting at this table and hear me out. Now I’ve always thought you were a decent guy, Joe. You’ve got every right to be pissed. But I’ve got my sister’s safety to think about. If I feel like it’ll be better for everybody if I take you in, I will.” She showed him her hands again. “Don’t wanna, but I will.”

The brave waiter came over. “Are you guys ready to order?” he asked, his eyes lingering a little longer on Selene’s uniform. Or really, her firearm.

“Oh, I’m not,” she began.

“Go ahead,” Joe said numbly. He slid a menu across the table to her. “Not like she’s coming. You just got off work. So order something.”

“Joe,” Selene said, pained.

“Please. You can try out the crab cakes. Or anything. It’s on me, Selene. Really.”

Selene hesitated before then looking the menu over. After a moment to consider she turned to the waiter. “Sirloin steak, medium rare. With a parmesan pasta on the side. Along with some of the crab cakes and a tea. Unsweet, please.” She peered over her menu at Joe. “What about you, Joe?”

“Same,” he said.

“You sure?”

“I don’t care.”

“Well, alrighty then. I’ll have your order out in no time,” the waiter said. He took their menus and then practically bolted out of there.

Joe looked at Selene. Really tried to look at her through this terrible fog clouding his mind and vision. He touched his left cheek. “What’s up with that?” he asked.

“Drunk I pulled over a few days ago. He tried to make a run for it,” she replied. “Managed to tackle him to the ground but not before he elbowed me in the face.”

As she spoke Joe suddenly realized that this was the longest conversation they’d ever had. They’d exchanged countless “hellos” and “goodbyes” over the four years he’d dated Beth, sure. And he’d been in the same room with her at birthdays or holidays, but Beth would always pull her away quickly and they’d spend the rest of the night joined at the hip. During these occasions, Joe would almost always end up hanging out with their father. He and Joe’s father had even been friends before the Pig showed up. Apparently there was usually always at least one cop in every generation of Sachs. The calling had skipped Beth, who was an elementary school teacher, and pinned the badge on Selene instead.

“Don’t think it looks too bad anymore, though,” she was saying, though she still touched at the bruise self-consciously. She tried for a small smile. It really lit up her face and nearly turned the bruise invisible. “But maybe I should just be thankful, right? That I managed to keep both eyes.”

“Yeah,” Joe said with a small laugh. “Beth always did say you were tough. That you’re the one who fought off the bullies when you guys were young…So why doesn’t she want to marry me?”

Selene’s smile vanished.

“…There’s someone else, Joe.”

Boom. Another bullet to the chest, right through the heart.

Joe’ voice sounded far away, as if someone else spoke the word, “Who?”

“I’m not gonna tell you that,” Selene replied. She’d crossed her arms, rested them on the table, and was staring at them solemnly.

“But you know,” Joe guessed.

“Yes.”

“For how long? How long has she…and he…?”

“I don’t know exactly…”

“So guess,” he pressed.

“Maybe…half a year now.” She groaned and shook her head. “I know this sucks, man. And I swear I told her to just tell you but Beth…Beth doesn’t like being the bad guy. You know that just as well as I do.” Her eyes drifted upwards and she looked him over. Joe wasn’t sure if she was genuinely concerned or sizing him up as a potential time bomb. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but you can talk to me. I’ve been there. Breakups suck.”

Joe couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that. It made all the eavesdropping guests jump in their seats. But not Selene. Her dark eyes widened with pity but she otherwise let Joe get it out of his system. “You’ve been there?” he asked incredulously. “Any of your boyfriends ever send their little sister to break up with you? Huh?”

Selene grimaced. “Okay. That’s fair.”

“I can’t believe this!” Joe buried his head in his hands. He tried to concentrate on simply breathing. On not screaming. Yet his entire body felt like it was done. Like it just wanted to come apart. Explode. He forced himself to look back up, to keep talking. “So is she home? Is she going to move out? Go live with you or move back in with your parents or…?”

Selene looked like she was struggling to maintain eye contact with him, as if it physically hurt her to look at him. “Joe, I really don’t wanna be honest with you right now.”

“…Would saying she’s going to live with you or your folks be a lie?” he asked.

“…Yep.”

“…She’s going to go live with him, isn’t she?”

“…Yep.”

The last block suddenly fell into place. “And she’s moving out right now. That’s why you’re here. To keep me busy until they’re done packing her stuff.”

Selene’s jaw audibly clenched.

“I am so sorry, Joe.”

“Aaaaaaaaaand your food has arrived!” The waiter rolled up a cart carrying their food. He gave them a once over and then set their plates and drinks down on the table as fast as humanly possible. He then added the check for good measure. “Here you go,” he told them, already backing away. “No rush.” And they didn’t see him for the rest of the meal.

Joe and Selene stared at their food in complete silence.

He was the one who finally picked up a fork and started in on his pasta. Looking relieved, Selene followed his lead and did the same while sipping her tea. All while trying to ignore the tears sliding down Joe’ cheeks and onto his food. It wasn’t until he’d finished his first crab cake that he cleared his throat and said to her, “I’m sorry that you got dragged into this. You’ve probably got better things to do.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Selene replied quickly, reaching for a crab cake herself. “And right now I’d just be procrastinating on writing the report on the idiot who elbowed me. Just paperwork-OHMYGODTHISISAMAZING!” she declared through a mouthful of crab cake. She noticed Joe staring and quickly swallowed. “Sorry,” she murmured, her cheeks turning red.

“Don’t be sorry,” he repeated back to her. He grabbed his knife and began cutting into his steak. “So what did he do right?”

“What’s that?” Selene asked.

“The new-Well he’s not ‘new’ now, is he? The other guy. Where did he go right where I went wrong?” Joe raised an eyebrow at her. “I know you know, Selene. You know more about my relationship than I do apparently.” He shrugged. “And the more you talk, the longer I’m here and the more time she has to…Well. Move out of my life. GOD!” He dropped his utensils and slapped both hands on either side of his head. “Okay, okay, okay!” He forced eye contact with the very concerned policewoman. “Okay. Tell me. I can take it!”

She looked less than convinced.

“Joe, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “What’s the point?”

“So I can be better,” he answered fiercely. “For next time.”

“Next time,” Selene repeated. She frowned at him and then at her steak and then back at him. “Okay. But just so we’re clear, this is Beth talking. Don’t shoot the messenger. Especially not one who, y’know, has an actual gun.” Joe waited. “…You’re too…not-there apparently. She says that talking to you is like talking to a shadow. And it’s because you’re obsessed with finding the Pig.”

The Pig. The serial killer who specifically targeted officers of the law. They’d seemingly vanished over a decade ago. There were no leads on who they were except for one living witness. A little boy who’d been forced to watch the Pig torture and kill his father, Sergeant Theo McGuiness, and then been seemingly let go. A little boy named Joe.

“He killed my dad,” Joe said. Now his body was beginning to shake again. Yet it wasn’t because of sadness or a sense of betrayal. It was rage. The rage that was always there in the basement of his mind. The same place where he kept all of his memories of that night. “Selene, he let me go and then just disappeared. I need to know why.”

“And I get that,” Selene told him. “Selene-the-Cop gets it. But Selene-Beth’s-Little-Sister can see where she’s coming from.”

“But your dad’s an ex-cop,” Joe growled. “Her dad! It could’ve been him the Pig killed.” He gestured to her uniform, at the badge on her chest. “It could be you.”

“It could be,” Selene conceded. “IF the Pig was still active.” When Joe scoffed at that she pressed on. “It’s been ten years, Joe! There haven’t been any missing cops since. No corpses matching his MO. Dad’s told you the same thing. I overheard you guys talking in his office last Christmas. He’s given you all the files. The ones he and his investigation team pooled together on the Pig back in the day. All. Dead. Ends.” She took a deep breath and then another sip of her tea. “And that’s another reason.”

“What is?” Joe asked.

“Beth’s convinced you only dated her to get to Dad and those files.”

“That’s not true,” Joe instantly said. “I fell for her-”

“Eventually,” Selene finished. “But you had motives. It’s fine. Every guy’s got motives. But Beth doesn’t want to be a consolation prize. And she knows that you’re never gonna be happy unless you’re out there chasing the Pig.” She leaned forward so as to force him to really look at her. “Is she wrong?”

“Yes,” Joe wanted to say. Instead he heard himself say, “But I love her.”

“Yeah, but you loved your daddy first,” Selene replied in a quiet but firm voice. “And more than love, I think you want justice. Justice for him. And for you. Search your feelings, you know it to be true.”

Joe blinked repeatedly at her, shedding any lingering tears. “Did y-you just quote Star Wars at me?”

“No. I quoted Empire Strikes Back at you, son,” Selene corrected him. Her pants suddenly buzzed. She pulled a phone out of her pocket. “That’s the signal,” she said guiltily. Her eyes slid back and forth as she read the message. “She says that she hopes you can respect her decision and not to try and call her or try to contact Mom and Dad. Or to go to the school. She’ll talk when she’s ready. And if you’re gonna break the lease on the apartment she’ll give me the money covering her half. And,” Selene rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Beth?”

“Finish,” Joe said. “Please.”

Selene’s nostrils flared but she granted his wish by reading aloud, “Hope that we can reach a place in our lives where we can both still be friends. I also hope that he’ll finally go get professional help so that he can come to terms with the tragedies in his life and move on.”

An elderly woman sitting directly behind Selene turned in her seat and said, looking disgusted, “I’m sorry, dear, but your sister’s a real bitch.”

Selene’s shoulders sagged. “Have to agree on that one, ma’am. Unfortunately.” She pocketed her phone and looked over hers and Joe’s mostly uneaten steaks and the remaining cakes. “Doggybags?” she tried.

“No.” He pushed all of his remaining food towards her. “You can have it.” He then stood up. So did she.

“I can drive you home,” Selene offered. “Or to your office.”

“No thanks.” Joe was already looking past her and towards the doors. “It’s stopped raining finally. I…I think I’m just gonna go for a walk.”

“Joe.” Selene started to reach out for him as he walked on by but caught herself. The entire restaurant was dead silent as everyone watched him go. “Just please don’t do anything stupid.”

“Oh, I won’t,” he called over his shoulder as he walked out of the restaurant and into the night. “I’ve got a Pig to catch, remember?”