Rogue Alliance

THIRTY-FOUR



“Shawn.”

“Yeah, this is Shawn. Is that you, Shyla?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Hey, listen. Can you give me a ride to work this morning? My car won’t start.”

“Yeah, of course. Hey, are you okay? I dropped by your place on Saturday, but there was no answer. I’ve been worried.”

“I just needed some time, Shawn. But I’m okay, now. So how long before you get here? I want to stop at the espresso stand.”

“Uh, sure, give me ten minutes. I was just about to walk out the door anyway.”

Shyla hung up and finished cleaning up the kitchen. Up since four-thirty, she’d been cleaning up the apartment. Over the course of the past few weeks, she’d neglected her place and it showed.

After Carmen left, she’d slept off the booze. When she woke up around five, she had wanted a drink. But she refused to give in to the craving. Not only did she not want to leave the apartment, she wanted to be sober for the night. She’d avoided reality for far too long. It was time to think clearly and make a decision about her future.

The instinct to run away from all of it was strong. But that’s what she had always done. She’d shirked away from her dad all her life, but didn’t fight him off until that one day when she finally snapped. She and her mother never really acknowledged what was going on, even though it was a big, sore thumb in their lives at every moment. Even after the incident, she tucked away all the shame and dove into her books. When she graduated, she moved away and buried her sorrow with work. She kept partners at a distance with sharp sarcasm and she couldn’t remember having ever made any close friends. Running away and burying her head in the sand was what she was really good at. Now, she had to decide if that was how she was going to handle this situation.

Distraught and agitated, she finally drifted off to sleep around midnight. Just over four hours later, she woke up, surprisingly alert and clear headed. Suddenly she knew what she would do. It wasn’t even a question anymore. It just was.

She would stay. Like Carmen had asked, she wouldn’t give up. But she was going to do things her way.

She closed the dishwasher and pressed start. There was a knock at the front door.

Grabbing her gun and badge, she headed toward the door. She wasn’t under cover anymore.

“Good morning.”

Shawn’s blonde hair looked a bit disheveled and he had a strung out look in his eyes. She imagined he hadn’t been sleeping well either.

“Morning,” he said, “you ready?”

“Yep, let’s go.”

Once in the mustang, she went for it.

“I lied. My car is running just fine.”

His glance was quick and uneasy.

“Um, okay.”

“I just wanted you to give me a ride.”

“Well you didn’t have to lie to get a ride,” he said, “I would have given you one anyway.”

“Yeah, I figured, but…well, it just seemed easier to lie at the time. Listen, we need to talk. If we’re going to work together then we need to get this thing that’s between us out in the open.”

“Thing, what thing?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Shawn. You know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not sure what exactly is going on, but the first few weeks after we met, you acted like you couldn’t stand me. Then out of the blue, you walk into my apartment, kiss me, and walk back out.”

He opened his mouth to say something.

“Nope, nope,” Shyla interrupted, “just let me finish. We need to establish some boundaries if we’re going to work together. Now, it doesn’t really matter how I feel about you or how you feel about me, but we both know that as long as we’re working on a case together, we have to keep it professional.”

“But you’re off the case.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, well, that’s a matter of opinion. That was decided to keep me safe. I expect now that my cover is fully blown, it won’t be an issue anymore anyway. So, it can only be assumed that you and I will continue to work together.”

“So, how do you feel about me?” Shawn asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” Shyla sighed, “I mean, you’ve been kind of jerk most of the time and, if you haven’t noticed, I’ve been pretty preoccupied lately.”

“How’s your neck?”

So he was changing the subject. She squelched the reflex to touch the area in question.

“It hurts to swallow. But I’m fairly tough. Nothing’s damaged beyond repair.”

Shawn slammed his palm against the steering wheel and his face reddened. “Dammit,” he said, “I just want to have a few moments alone with that guy, without his bodyguard and without guns, just fists.”

Shyla reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Look, Shawn, I appreciate it, but ‘that guy’ will get what’s coming to him eventually.”

“Yeah, well, I wish you would have let me arrest him the other night.”

“Why would I do that when I’m going to do it myself later this afternoon?”



*



Shawn held the door open for Shyla when they arrived at the department.

Her entrance raised a few eyebrows amongst the staff as they took note that she was wearing jeans and a button down shirt as opposed to her secretarial garb of slacks and a blouse. She even caught the sound of a gasp as someone noticed the hue of color encircling her neck. Either that or they had eyeballed the gun on her hip. She couldn’t be sure which.

Bypassing everyone, she headed straight for Hal’s office.

“Good, you’re here,” he said waving her in. He was on the phone and looked distracted. When his eyes lit on her they widened in alarm. “Oh, hey, I’m going to have to call you back. Holy shit, Shyla. When did this happen?”

She closed the door and stood with hands on her hips.

“I want back on the case. The cover is blown wide open. From now on, I’m a cop, I work like a cop, and we take this from a whole new angle; straight on.

“First things first, though, take my statement and take some pictures,” she said, pointing to her throat, “I’m done playing cat and mouse. I’m gonna arrest this son-of-bitch. They’ll let him go, but we’ll just stay on his ass and arrest him at every opportunity. One of these days we’ll get something so big that no one will be able to fight against it. He’s going down eventually.”



*



Shyla’s cell phone rang as she was climbing into the front of the police cruiser. There was no way she was going to make the arrest without the guys by her side. They wouldn’t have it and, truth be told, neither would she. Who knew how Victor would react?

“Hello, this is Shyla.”

“How are you doing?” Brennan’s voice was oddly comforting.

She glanced at Shawn in the driver’s seat, then back to the road.

“Funny you should ask, I’m on my way out to your place. I have a warrant for your friend’s arrest.”

The line was silent.

“You shouldn’t do this,” Brenna said, “it’s a waste of time.”

“Well, you know, I’m a sucker for abuse and I got nothing better to do, so what the hell.”

“Listen, I…I wanted to check on you and…well, I just wanted to say, that I appreciate your help the other night.”

Again, Shyla sneaked a glance toward Shawn. Uncomfortable with the turn in conversation, she tucked the cell phone tighter to her chin.

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. It was a bad decision on my part, but seeing as you helped me out last Friday, I figure we’re even now, so let’s just agree to move forward, keep it simple.”

“Fine,” Brennan said, “we’ve been expecting that you’d pay us a visit today. We’ll see you in a bit.”

There was a small click in her ear. The confidence that Shyla had been relying upon all morning was waning fast. Brennan’s stoic, quiet, manner was always unsettling. Everything about him was. The hardest part was that no matter how she tried to be indifferent toward him, it was impossible. They knew each other’s secrets, and they’d protected each other. They may be even, but nothing about their dynamic was simple.