Page 55 of Rookie Days

“True, but you would be surprised at how over-confident this type of perpetrator can be, actually. It makes them stupid. This one has killed twice already, which shows he thinks he can get away with it. Has to believe he’s way smarter than us. So, let’s keep quiet about our progress and we can creep up on him without him realizing how close we are.”

“Okay. Great. I’ll be at the hospital if you—”

“Nope.” Quinn pinned her with a commanding stare. “You need to get some sleep.”

“Argh,” Ellie grumbled. “Yeah, I know. But I’ll just—"

“That’s an order by the way. Say‘Yes, Lieutenant’.”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Ellie sighed, too tired to go a round with her on that.

“Good.” Quinn pulled a sleeping bag out of the storage unit behind her desk and lobbed it to her. “I’m going out so you can use my office to rest your eyes. Three hours, minimum. I’ll know if you cheat, rookie, so don’t.”

She never made empty threats, and Ellie just nodded.

“Are you going to speak to Janet?”

“I’m going to go see her in person.”

“Great. Um… When?”

“As soon as I leave here.” Quinn eyed her with a flash of healthy suspicion. “I’ll pass on to you any relevant info she may have. Happy with that?”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

Once she was gone, Ellie figured she may as well lie down for a bit. She drew the blind down on the single window, kicked off her boots, and snuggled inside the thick, warm sleeping bag. It smelled faintly of lavender and she chuckled at the notion of her kick-ass lieutenant dabbling with essential oils in her sparetime. Not really Quinn’s style, but… Maybe it was her wife then, Ellie mused, taking care of her in little ways. It was an appealing idea, one that probably never would have occurred to her in the past. On impulse, she took out her phone, then hesitated. Quinn was on her way to meet with Janet. Officially unofficially. Ellie didn’t know how she could avoid mentioning the new victim to Janet if she called, and she should definitely let her CO take care of it. She stared at the screen, torn between duty and the urge to check on her...My what?she wondered.Friend? Girlfriend?Well. Janet was a girl, for sure. Woman.All woman…And so beautiful that—

“Oh, shut up.” Ellie muttered under her breath.

She’d call when this did not interfere with her lieutenant’s plans, and when lack of sleep also did not make her own brain trip over absurd definitions. Resolutely, Ellie let go of the phone, closed her eyes, and focused on emptying her mind. The quicker she could recharge, the quicker she could get back to the case, alright. Motivated by that thought, she forced herself to let go of all others. Succeeded. And swore when the damn phone went off less than five minutes later. Withheld number. Unimpressed, she answered roughly.

“Yeah, James.”

“Hello, Detective.”

The smooth sound of Janet’s voice, so unexpected in light of her own decision, sent a delicious tingle racing down the length of Ellie’s spine.

“Janet.” She pushed up on an elbow. “Hi. Are you okay?”

“Sure, I’m fine. Just got to work and thought I would check in with you.”

Ellie experienced a powerful stab of pleasure at the words, and also noticed an old, ingrained reaction to fight it. This time, she very consciously chose not to.

“I wanted to call you as well but work got in the way,” she admitted.

“Ah, yes…” Janet sighed audibly. “Quinn texted to say that she’s on her way, and with you getting called out last night, I can guess what this might be about, unfortunately. But listen, Ellie: I’ll talk to Quinn. This call to you is personal, okay?”

Ellie allowed this last sentence to settle. It felt good. Really good.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “I appreciate you being clear about it. I was thinking about you too.”

“Oh yeah? Nice?”

“Yes, it is. I like feeling connected to you.”

“You’re not used to that, are you?”

“No… How do you know?”

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