CHAPTER SIXTEEN

          THE BRUNETTE WAS NOT HAVING A GOOD SHIFT AT WORK. It was busy, they were understaffed and one child had to be transferred to the ICU at another hospital, which led to lots and lots of paperwork. The headache was already pounding behind her eyes and it wasn't even eleven yet, eight more hours to go.

Lucy was charting her patient that had been transferred and leaned against the nurses station with her pen between her teeth as she concentrated on the words before her.

"Honey, there's a police officer to see you."

Her older co-worker squeezed her arm lovingly and motioned behind the woman. Lucy looked up from the forms and glanced over her shoulder with a grimace. Jimmy Turner shot her a wave as he made his way towards her. His badge dangled from his neck and he thanked her co-worker with a charming smile.

The brunette stared at him openly and took the pen from her mouth, twirling it between her fingers instead.

"Good morning, Miss Moreau." he smiled, clasping his hands together as he leaned against the desk beside her.

"Hi," she drawled, confused.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you at work." he confessed, but she doubted there was any truth to his words. "I was in the neighbourhood so I thought i'd stop by."

"How do you know where I work?" she wondered, still as polite as ever. "I find it a bit strange that you're looking for me at my job when I thought you were just doing a routine search of the neighbourhood the other day? Or do I have it wrong?"

"Funny you ask that." he nodded with a wry grin. "I have reason to believe you might know someone we're looking into. Would you mind looking at some photos?"

"Does it have to be now? I am, as you can see, working."

"It will just take a moment." he said, reaching into his jacket to take out a photograph. "Have you seen this man around?"

Lucy let out a soft sigh and slid her gaze towards the picture in his hand. Her heart sunk down to her stomach but she kept her face blank. It was Rio, clear as day as he got out of his Cadillac at Beth's home the day of Kenny's birthday party. Her brows furrowed, as if in thought as she took a closer look.

"I'm sorry, I have never seen this man before."

"You've never seen this guy?" he wasn't convinced. "Because from this angle it looks like he's coming out of your friends house. And I know this because i've spoken to her too."

"I'm sorry, I can't help you there."

"Oh, okay." he nodded, sliding out another photo and handing it to her. "What about this one?"

Lucy kissed her teeth as she looked at the other photograph, mind reeling as to how to get out of this fucked up situation. It was a picture of Rio, standing beside his car with herself on the other side, ready to get inside the vehicle. She was so utterly fucked right now.

"Because this makes me think you do know him."

"Fine," she nodded, meeting his amused gaze with a clenched jaw. Lucy needed to speak with Rio as quickly as possible. The woman had to come up with a clever story as to why she had lied to the FBI and it better be believable. "I'll talk, but I can't do this here and not right now."

"Then I think you should come by my office." he said, sliding the pictures back into his pocket.

"Tomorrow okay?" 

"Today's better."

"I can't." said Lucy as she looked around the unit, worried that somebody might have overheard their conversation. "I have work till seven. I'll come by tomorrow."

"It's a date." he smiled, offering her a last smile before stalking off.

✧✧✧✧✧

GOD, SHE WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT THIS ENTIRE SITUATION THAT SHE WANTED TO THROW UP. Sitting in a random parking lot at the edge of town overlooking an empty field with a gang leader beside her wasn't how she wanted to spend her morning.

He had picked up the moment she had pressed the call button and gave her hell about hanging up on him the last time she had called. The woman had let him, not in the mood to argue with anyone. 

Now, he was seated beside her with his head resting in the palm of his hand as he turned to look at her from the passenger seat.

"What am I supposed to say to him?" she asked, staring at the trees at the other side of the field.

"To who?" he asked.

"The FBI." she retorted, not bothering to look at him. His Cadillac was parked beside her Jeep in the empty parking lot and he rested his head against the headrest with a small grin on his lips. "What do I tell them?"

"Relax, ma." He shook his head, amused by the evident panic in her voice. "They ain't got nothin'."

Lucy took in a sharp inhale and met his dark gaze, almost taken aback by the way he was currently looking at her. "They have a picture of you. Hell, they have a picture of us standing outside your car, too."

"That ain't special." he chuckled. "I'm on Facebook, too."

"But ... the picture of us -" she tried.

"Listen," he sighed and dropped his palm away from his chin before turning in the seat to face her. "In my line of work, if you don't have the FBI on your back, you ain't making noise."

"I don't want to make noise." Lucy pressed her tongue into her cheek in annoyance and he followed the movement with narrowed eyes. "They're gonna want to know what someone like me is doing with someone like you."

"What are you doing with someone like me?" he mused, sucking his lip between his teeth as he waited for her answer. He enjoyed every minute of this and she knew it, which only grew her annoyance for the man at the moment.

"Nothing." she retorted with a shake of her head. "Absolutely, nothing."

"Are you sure about that, ma?" 

Lucy shot him a glare. The only thing she wanted was to solve this situation and get agent Turner off her back.

"Right ..." he grinned, watching her with hooded eyes now and she had to look away to stop her cheeks from betraying her. "A'ight, tell them I was hitting it."

"What?" she hissed, as she jerked her gaze back.

"Oh, i'm sorry, sweetheart." he grinned, looking her up and down. "Tell them we're making love."

Lucy wanted to open her mouth but not a sound came out, cheeks visibly reddening at the words he had used. She wasn't dumb, she knew what 'hitting it' meant but she hadn't expected this to come out of his mouth at all. The woman glanced back toward the tree line and clamped her mouth closed.

Suddenly the scent of his cologne was too much and she itched to open one of the windows. He was all around her and he knew exactly what he was doing and it was vile.

"I am not saying that." she argued with a shake of her head. "That's insane and they'd never believe that."

"Suit yourself." His eyes burned the side of her face and she couldn't help but meet his gaze. "If you have a better idea let me know, yeah?"

Rio went to open the passenger door but Lucy grabbed onto his forearm in a desperate attempt to stop him. He looked at her hand, all the way up her arm and at her face. The woman dropped her hold and leaned further into her seat. Rio closed the door and heaved a sigh as he got comfortable again.

"This might be all fun and games to you," she started. "but I am genuinely worried. I've never been questioned by the feds before and I don't know what the hell i'm supposed to be doing. What if I say the wrong thing and get you arrested? I'd get a bullet between my eyes the moment that happens."

Lucy almost flinched when he carefully brushed a strand of dark hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. It was surprisingly gentle and her brows furrowed at the movement. His hand lingered there for a moment before he dropped it to his lap.

Jesus, why on earth did her stomach flutter at that? It was disgusting. And at the same time she wanted more of it. Much more.

"You ain't got nothing to worry about, ma." he assured her as his eyes raked over her face ever so slowly. "Make up some excuse where you met me, tell them we had some fun here and there and that's it."

The woman pursed her lips and nodded her head slowly. "Okay, i'll try."

"That's my girl." he grinned and slid from the passenger's seat. He leaned down as he stood outside to get another look at her. "Make me sound good, though, yeah?"

He slammed her door shut and got into his own car, driving off a second later. Lucy watched him disappear through the rear view mirror and let out a frustrated scream.

i'm not too happy about this chapter. i've written the last car scene multiple times but i think this is the best it's going to get for now. Also, this story is almost at 10K reads, thank you so much!!!!