2

Caleb dropped a new file on Emma’s desk and she gave it a skeptical look.

He grinned. “Don’t worry. This one is for real. We got a tip of a possible drug ring running out of Brooklyn. I got permission for our first stake-out, tonight.”

As he was talking, she flipped through the file, looking it over, quickly. “It’s thin. I’m surprised you got approval.”

He shrugged. “You have to start somewhere, right?”

“Why wait until tonight?” She looked up at him. “Why not go now?”

He chuckled. “You’ve clearly never done a stake-out before. It takes some preparation. We need equipment and we both have to be ready to sit in a car for a while…”

She nodded and stood. “Well, let’s get started then. Where do we get the equipment?”

He looked at her for a moment before smiling again. “I like your enthusiasm.” He directed her to the right place and returned to his desk to make sure all the paperwork was in order.

Jameson walked over and clapped him on the shoulder. “You dog.” He chuckled. “Way to get the only attractive girl here to spend time with you so you can seduce her.”

Caleb shook his head. “Not everyone thinks like you, Jameson, and I can’t help who is assigned to be my partner.”

Jameson continued to grin as if he knew a joke that Caleb should be in on. “Don’t give me that. We all know you’re the golden boy and you could have any partner you wanted.” He winked. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He went back to his own desk, much to Caleb’s relief.

Once he was gone, Caleb got on his computer and pulled up her file. There was something odd about Emma, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He knew he shouldn’t take any interest in her. He should back off. He’d done too much already, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He wanted to know her.

“So what was it like?” Kate asked at lunch, knowing Camille and Tyler had done the deed after the game.

Camille considered the question, carefully. “Wet.”

“Ew.” Kate giggled. “Seriously, though, were you nervous? Was it good?”

“Yes.” Camille looked down at her dubious school lunch and smiled. “And yes.” She looked back at her friend. “I mean it wasn’t great. It hurt a little, but…it’s supposed to hurt the first time, right?”

Kate was nodding before she finished the question. “Yeah. It’s a major thing, but after the first time, it’s supposed to get better.”

“Well, mostly it was like we were all tangled up. I didn’t know what to do with my legs and arms.” She gave a sheepish grin. “I felt really awkward the whole time, but I guess that will get better, too.”

Kate looked at Camille with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Are you going to do it again?”

Camille smiled and bit her lip. “Who knows?” But she already knew. This was something special between her and Tyler. She loved her boyfriend and wanted every time after to be with him.

Caleb sighed as he scrolled through the file. It was as dull as most files. She’d gotten promoted after breaking a case with a drug dealer by going undercover as a junkie. It sounded like she was pretty good at her job, but there was nothing outside of that. She came from a small town in the middle of nowhere, worked odd jobs for a few years and joined the police academy before working her way into his department. He had expected something more. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he realized he wouldn’t find it in the official file.

“I got the equipment signed out. Now what?” Emma stood in front of his desk. Fortunately, that put the monitor out of her line of sight.

Caleb smiled as he closed the screen. “Now, we get to work.”

“How was school?” Julia asked when Camille came in, straight from the bus stop, as was expected of her when she was grounded.

The teenager smiled. “It was fine. Nothing interesting happened, really.”

Most teenagers might rebel or act moody when grounded, but Camille knew better. She had been living with Julia for two years and had quickly learned the meaning of “reap what you sow”. Julia was kind and patient, but she didn’t allow for misbehaviors. Camille heard a scream and turned to see her foster brother, Kevin, on the floor. He was a year old and just learning to walk. Apparently, gravity was not his friend.

“Oh, Kevin, did you fall down.” Julia rushed over and helped him onto his feet, hugging him, gently. “I know it’s not fun, but we all fall down. We just have to get back up again.” She released him and Kevin resumed his awkward steps as though nothing had happened, his wet eyes the only indication of the recent disaster.

Camille’s foster sister, Bethany, came in, then. She was bright and cheerful, having just gotten off the elementary school bus.

Julia smiled at her, standing back up, now that Kevin had found his footing again. “You look like you’re in a good mood.”

Bethany nodded. “I did three cartwheels in a row on the playground.” She held up three stubby fingers for emphasis. “Just like you showed me. And all the girls thought it was really cool and everybody wanted to play with me so I could show them how to do it.”

Julia had been a national-level gymnast in college. She had sprained her ankle her senior year and never gone farther, but she was happy to teach some moves to her charges. She had taught Camille the tricks that got her on the cheerleading team and continued to help her become the team captain.

“That’s great.” Julia smiled at Bethany. “I hope you were careful.”

“I was,” the child was quick to assure her. “Nobody got hurt.”

Their foster mother nodded her approval. “Alright, then. My girls need to go do their homework and I’ll start dinner.”

“Kevin’s on the chair,” Bethany announced.

Julia looked over to see the toddler had, indeed, climbed in one of the child-sized chairs and was standing on it. She snapped her fingers and pointed. “Feet on the floor.”

He quickly obeyed and Camille smiled. She’d seen Julia snap her fingers at the smaller children countless times when they were doing something they shouldn’t. She rarely raised her voice, but snapping her fingers was a signal that she was losing her patience and it was best not to push your luck. Most of the kids caught on quickly. Julia was just barely five feet tall, but she had a presence that didn’t allow people to ignore her.

She looked back at the two girls and waved her hands towards the steps. “Upstairs with you, now. I know you both have homework.”

Camille and Bethany exchanged a look, then smiled at her and, in perfect unison, replied, “Yes, Julia.”

Julia stared at them blankly for a moment, then put on her best fake-anger look and chased them up the stairs to the bedrooms. The girls giggled as they disappeared into their separate rooms.

Camille lay on the bed and pulled out her books. She hadn’t always been the best student, but living with Julia had set her straight. Having her own room and someone to make dinner for her was a dream-come-true for the orphan. Her parents had died when she was eight and she had been to enough foster homes to know when things were good.

There was a knock at the door and she called out, “Come in.”

Bethany opened the door and stood awkwardly. “Can you help me with my homework?”

Camille smiled and patted the bed. “Step into my office.”

Emma and Caleb sat in an unmarked car a little ways away from a run-down building with more traffic than was reasonable for such a place. However, there was nothing particularly suspicious around the building and the pair had been there for two hours. In that time, they had managed to talk about nothing. All their conversations had been about the weather or their thoughts on how much longer the building would remain standing.

“I’m not sure it will make it through the week,” Greene commented. “If there’s a drug ring running out of here, it may be stopped by a strong wind before we take it down.”

Emma shook her head with a smile. “You’d be surprised how long these places can last.”

“Have you stayed in a lot of places like this, then?” Caleb tried to make it sound casual, but he was hoping the opening would lead to some answers about her past.

“Not really.” Her vague reply was decidedly unhelpful to his cause. “You?”

He shook his head. “I had an apartment in Brooklyn for a while, but it wasn’t quite this bad.” He looked at her. “What’s the worst place you’ve lived?”

“Under a bridge,” she replied in a serious tone, making him uncertain about whether she was joking until she looked at him and smiled. “You think I can’t tell when someone is being nosey?”

He shrugged and looked away. “I’m just curious about my partner.”

Emma looked back at the building, as well. “I will tell you anything you need to know as my partner. Apart from that, I prefer to keep my personal business to myself. We all have our secrets, right?”

Caleb shrugged again, not wanting to respond.

She nodded as though he had answered in the affirmative. “I’ll promise not to pry into yours if you agree not to ask about mine.”

He considered that for a moment before responding. “Fair enough.”

Camille lay in bed, trying to catch her breath. Her whole body was covered in sweat, making her glisten in the dim lights. “It really is better the second time.”

Tyler smiled and rolled over on top of her, kissing her gently. “Want to see how the third time goes?” He gave her one of his heart-flipping smiles.

Camille giggled and kissed him back, then pouted her lips. “I have to get home. I don’t want to get grounded again or we won’t have a third or fourth time for at least a week.”

“Hm…” He kissed her neck. “Alright, but only because you promised a fourth time.”

She giggled again and pushed him, gently. He rolled to the other side of the bed with a grin. The sweat on his chest outlined his abs, almost making Camille change her mind about staying. Before she could, she turned her back to him and pulled on her clothes.

She arrived just before curfew and Julia was her usual, cheerful self, sitting on the couch and reading. “Out with friends?”

“Kate,” Camille replied, immediately, knowing her friend would back up her story. “We were just hanging out.”

“Well, I hope you had fun.” Julia returned her attention to her book. After two years with the girl, Camille had earned quite a bit of trust from her foster mother.

The teenager smiled. “I did.”

“Do you see what I see?” Emma asked, staring out the window.

Caleb followed her gaze. “You mean a brand new Lexus in a place where most people can’t afford a bicycle?” It was getting dark and he could just make out the car in the streetlights.

“That would be it.” Emma lifted the camera and snapped a few pictures, making sure to get one of the license plate. “They’re stopping outside the building.”

“I see that.” He put the car in gear, preparing to follow. Someone approached the car and spoke to the driver for a moment before the car took off; the driver, never seeing the plain, unmarked car following.

Camille stepped out into the living room, dressed in her new graduation outfit. Julia smiled, enthusiastically. “Oh, you look so beautiful.”

Camille did a little turn, her grin almost as big as her foster mother’s. “Thanks, but nobody actually looks good in a cap and gown.”

“Well, you do.” Julia walked over and straightened the cap. “I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe you’re graduating in just two months.”

“Well, believe it.” Camille brushed her tassel out of her face. “I’m graduating and taking on the world.”

Julia laughed. “Well, let’s get you through final exams, first.”

Camille took a picture on her phone and sent it to Tyler, letting him know how happy she was to be graduating with him. Everything in her life was going just right. She had a wonderful boyfriend and a bright future ahead of her. What could possibly go wrong?

“What could they be doing here?” Caleb knew Emma didn’t have the answer, but he asked anyway.

The Lexus had travelled into a nice neighborhood where the lowest salary tended to be higher than the combined pay of the NYPD.

Emma didn’t bother to reply as she snapped pictures and made note of any places the car stopped. The pauses were usually brief. The car would stop, the driver would get out and knock on the door, and, almost immediately, someone would answer. The driver would usually hand them a magazine or newspaper. For all appearances, he could be an upscale delivery man.

Emma continued to snap pictures as she spoke. “Looks like home delivery for rich people. I guess they don’t even get their drugs normally.” Several of the houses he stopped at didn’t even bother to turn on their porch lights when he came, as though that would make them less conspicuous. “But that’s just a hunch. We haven’t seen anything we can arrest anyone for, yet.”

Caleb nodded. “Not yet.” He continued to follow, slowly, making sure they knew everywhere the Lexus went.

Senior prom was everything Camille had hoped it would be. It was a masquerade and she wore a silver mask with blue swirls to complement her shimmering, princess-cut gown. She wasn’t crowned prom queen, but that was fine.

After the dance, the real party began at an abandoned, old barn. By this point, she had changed into a short party dress and ditched her heels. She still wore her mask, as did most of the participants. Some people still wore their formal clothes. Tyler had lost the jacket and bow tie, but still wore the black pants and formal shirt, although the top buttons were undone.

She was dancing with some of the girls when and he came up behind her and whispered, “Come with me.”

Swept up in the pounding music and the heat of the bodies pressed together, she allowed herself to be led away into the empty silo.

Tyler dragged a cinder block in front of the door and she giggled as she watched. “What are you doing?”

He grinned at her, his voice breathless. “Getting us some privacy.” He wrapped her tightly in his arms and kissed her neck, passionately.

She squealed, excited, but surprised. “What if somebody comes in?”

“That’s what the block is for.” He pushed her back against the wall, his hands moving to the ties the held her dress up.

She pushed him away for a moment and pulled off her mask, then gave him a sly grin that could barely been seen in the firelight filtering through the door cracks. “If we get caught, I’m killing you.”

He smiled and grabbed her more tightly, fiercely pressing his lips against hers as he untied her dress and let it drop to the ground. Her nimble fingers made quick work of his shirt buttons and it fell away. He slipped his hands under her thighs, lifting her up and pinning her against the wall. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the fear of being seen adding to the thrill. Her heart pounded in time with the music and her skin felt hot. In that moment, she needed to feel his flesh against hers as much as she needed to breathe. She let out a sigh of relief when he finally entered her, their bodies moving in time with the beat.

“But it’s obvious what’s going on,” Emma argued as she and Caleb sat in the car on another stakeout.

They had tried to get a warrant, but the judge said they didn’t have any probable cause. A car being driven to different neighborhoods wasn’t enough.

Caleb just shrugged. “It’s obvious to us, but I told you there wasn’t enough evidence. For all we know, he could be a Jehovah’s Witness.”

She rolled her eyes. “He’s not a Jehovah’s Witness. He’s a drug dealer.”

“Is there a difference?” He kept his eyes on the building, searching for anything that might be considered probable cause.

She gave a short laugh and sighed. “I don’t know why we’re here. I doubt we’re going to find anything we don’t already know.”

“Well, I don’t know how they run things in narcotics, but we tend to be more patient,” Caleb replied. He held up a bag of crackers. “Have one. It will ease your nerves.”

“I’m not nervous.” She took a cracker, anyway. “I’m just bored.”

He smiled. “Well, life can’t always be exciting.” He looked at her. “You should learn to enjoy some peace and quiet when you can.

The rest of the night was a blur of pleasure and excitement for Camille. She had vague memories of getting dressed and leaving the silo. Her mask had disappeared, but she didn’t care. After that, there was dancing closely with Tyler and having him kiss her softly as he dropped her off at her door, way past her usual curfew, but allowed because it was prom night.

“How was your night?” Julia asked, having waited up.

“Great,” Camille replied, blissfully, as she climbed the stairs to her room. She fell into her bed and slept peacefully. For a moment, everything was perfect.

And then the moment ended.