"We have a new Training Officer joining us this morning, Detective Nyla Harper. Nyla?" Grey says while looking around for her while in the briefing room
He spots Nyla outside the room chatting with another officer. Grey goes over to tap on the glass and motions for her to get into the briefing room.
"What's up?" She asks
"You're late for roll call." Grey tells her
"Oh, that's still a thing?" Nyla asks
"Take a seat. As I was saying, Detective Harper just completed four years of undercover work. She has volunteered to bring her wealth of experience to the FTO program. Officer Nolan, I'm sure you'll learn a lot." Grey says
"Looking forward to it, sir." John tells him
"If you need anything, ask Lopez and Bradford. They'll bring you up to speed." Grey tells Nyla
"Yes, sir." Harper says
"All right, that's it. Be safe out there." Grey says and Tim and I walk up to Nyla to talk with her
"Hey. Sophia Lopez." I say
"Hi." Nyla says
"He's Bradford." I tell her pointing to Tim
"Surprised to see a detective volunteer as a TO. Most would see it as a step backward. Except for Sophia here for personal reasons." Tim says
"While clearly, you've never moved forward. I get the appeal, though, surround yourself with kids who don't know enough to see through your bull." Nyla says
"Look, solid policing is anything but bull. Whereas cops like you spend so much time over the edge you don't even know where the line is." Tim says
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, handsome. I'm not saying you're not tough. I'm just saying you're not me." Nyla says and walks off while I am slightly laughing
"I love her so much." I say to Tim with a smile on my face
****
Me and West get out of our shop after seeing two boys shoot there paintball guns where homeless people stay at.
"Drop the guns now! Show us your hands!" I tell them
"Okay, okay." The first one says
"You got 'em?" I ask West
"Yeah. Let's go." West says and he escorts the boys over to the shop while I turn and walk towards the homeless woman in her tent
"Police. Is someone in there?" I ask
"I-I don't want trouble." The lady says in there
"Are you okay?" I ask her
"I'll move. I just need my cart." Alice says
"We're not clearing you out. We're here to help. We'll take you to a hospital. You've been hurt." I say
"I'm fine. I'm fine. Just lea - Leave me alone." She says
"Okay, um, no problem. I just need some information for the report." I tell her
"No, I got - I have to go." She says
"At least tell me your name." I say
"Alice. Sheldon. Alice Sheldon." Alice says
"Thank you, Alice. I'll make sure those boys never hurt you again. If you need anything â" I was saying and hand Alice my card and went and picked up the paintball guns and go back to join West in the shop
"We were just protecting our neighborhood. My dad said they're tanking the property values." The first kid says
"She's a human being. I'm not so sure about you two." I tell them
****
"What are you doing?" West asks me
"Raiding the lost and found." I tell him
"Why?" West asks
"For Alice. The transient those kids were paintballing. I ran her name. 10 years ago, she was on the tenure track at UCLA, teaching chemistry. Had a house, a couple dogs, then everything fell apart." I tell him
"That's awful." West says
"But, I mean, we interact with homeless every day. You don't bring them care packages." West then adds
"Those kids took away her dignity, tortured her for fun. She deserves a little compassion." I tell him
"Look, I, uh, have a couple sweatshirts in my car. We can grab them on the way out." West says
"Sounds good." I tell him
****
"Looks like she moved on." West says after we made it back to where she was staying at
"She left some stuff behind." I tell him
"Hey, you know where the woman who was attacked went? Have you seen her? Whose stuff is this here? What's that?" West asks me after asking other people questions
"I don't know, but Alice was trying to protect it." I tell him
"Could it be her daughter?" West asks looking at the photo
"No, she didn't have kids. Control, I^ need you to run a name. Katrin Arnoux." I say to dispatch
"I show a Katrin Arnoux as the victim of a hit-and-run in 2009." Dispatch says
"Homicide?" I ask
"Negative. Victim was left paralyzed." Dispatch says
"Any suspects?" I ask
"Negative. Would you like contact information on the investigating detective?" Dispatch asks me
"Yeah. Send it to the box." I say
"Wait, you don't think that â" West says but I interrupt him
"10 years ago, this girl was paralyzed by a hit-and-run driver. And right after, Alice fell apart, ended up here. Sure sounds like guilt to me." I tell him
"We gotta find her. She's a fugitive." West says
****
"Where - Where is it?!" Alice says looking in her cart
"Looking for this?" I ask holding out the photo
"That's mine! Give it!" She says and takes the photo out of my hand looking at it
"Who is she?" I ask her
"She's, um It's no one. I j- It's not anyone. It just- I like it." Alice says
"Her name is Katrin Arnoux." I tell her
"N-N-No. No. No." Alice says
"But I think you know that. What happened 10 years ago, Alice?" I ask her
"Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I have to go." Alice says
"I think something did. Something that destroyed your life." I tell her
"N-N-No. N-No, no, no." Alice was saying
"It was late. Maybe you were tired. You never saw her. You tried to convince yourself it was an animal, but then you saw the news. And you tried to move on, but it haunted you. Poisoned every part of your life until you ended up here." I say
"I don't know what you're talking about." Alice says
"You do. And I think some part of you is relieved it's finally out." I tell her
"I never meant to hurt anybody." She says with tears in her eyes
"I'm sorry, but you're under arrest." I tell her and have her turn around while cuffing her
"Okay. Okay." Alice says
****
"What is she wearing?" I ask Tim after seeing Nyla in clothes other than her uniform throwing cuffs down to Nolan
"More importantly, what's she doing in our house? Detectives don't go back to patrol. It's got to be a demotion." Tim says them looks at me giving me a sorry look
"Jackson heard she has a golden ticket. And don't worry I know your not comparing her to me
"She had her pick of assignments, and she chose this? Nah. Something wonky's going on." TIm says
****
"That's really her?" Katrin asks looking at Alice
"We think so." I tell her
"She looks so- so pathetic." Katrin says
"As far as we can tell, her life fell apart after she hit you. It's almost impossible for a transient to hang on to anything. Belongings are stolen, confiscated by the city. But she held on to your picture for 10 years in conditions worse than prison. She never let herself forget. Even for a moment." I tell her
"What are you saying? She's suffered enough?" Katrin asks
"Back in the day, if she was arrested, she would have gotten three years in prison. Maybe five." West says
"Instead, she's been punishing herself for the last decade. She ran but didn't escape." I tell her
"I'll never run again, Officer Lopez." Katrin tells me
"Yes, ma'am. I apologize. I wasn't trying to excuse what she did to you. Only-" I was saying till she interrupted me
"Only what? She destroyed a part of me. And you have the nerve to plead her case?" Katrin says
"She was out of line." West says after Katrin left
"No, she's right. I overstepped." I tell him
****
"Ms. Arnoux. Thank you for coming in." I tell her
"I didn't like the way we left it. I shouldn't have unloaded on you like that." Katrin says
"I was completely in the wrong. I made your situation about me, my own issues. It was insensitive, and I'm sorry. If there's anything I can do to help you through this process, I'm here." I tell her
"Your own issues?" Katrin asks
"I was married, my husband died undercover and I was a detective until I decided to do patrol once again, and I'm upset that he died undercover leaving me behind. After what happened to him, I went into a dark place, and I guess Alice's guilt just triggered something in me. Really, if you need anything, here's my card." I tell her handing her my card
"Wait. When it happened, I thought she had taken everything from me. But the truth is my life is amazing. I have a husband who I met at physical therapy and two kids who are my whole world. I've gained so much more than I've lost. Can I tell them that - the DA? Will it help?" Katrin says
"Yeah. A statement from you could mean the difference between hard time and treatment. That's very generous of you." I tell her
"No. It costs me nothing." Katrin says
****
Me and Angela were out in the town talking about random stuff and we stopped at this diner because we were hungary.
"So, how are you and Wesley doing?" Angela asks me
"Good. I met his mom a couple days ago." I tell her
"Oh. Does she know you were ever married before you and Wesley met?" Angela asks me
"No. I rather not tell her that I was married and that James died undercover. Plus, she knows that Wesley would not be with me if he didn't have any reasons not to be with me." I tell Angela
"Well, I personally, can't wait for the day you two get married and then when you guys decide to have kids." Angela tells me with a smile and I laugh and soon after we finished up at the diner we left and continued talking about random stuff and it was a good day
****
A/N
So sorry for this wait. Thank you guys for being patient can't wait to finish this book. Have a great day or night! Also the reading goal is 20,000 reads!