Voices echoed off the wooden shelves. The books bore witness to the silence that filled the air. The soft rug curled wondering over the blood that would be undoubtedly spilled. An intercom remained silent and still, hoping beyond hope that it would not be called on and betray it's nervous tension. A plaque sat in resignation, know what no others knew. The visitor would not have her way.
"Sir, I'm sure you'll find that my work has been more than satisfactory. In this past week I've provided valuable insight in several cases that led to the prompt arrests and convictions. I'vecleared box after box of missing person's cases in the past month, boxes that gathered dust in the store rooms. Families finally have the closure they needed years ago. I'm a huge asset to this city and the crime units." Minna gripped the edge of her chair. Her knuckles turned white, manicured nails digging into the wood.
The mayor furrowed his brows. "Miss, as much as you are helpful, what you are doing is illegal. We can't allow that. Also your work isn't insured. We can't trust that you wont be hurt or cause damage."
"Sir, please, this is what I'm good at. You know what I'm like from my records. Homicide keeps me on a tight leash. A little good faith is all I ask." Minna held her breath. Her muscles tensed, becoming a wound up coil ready to burst. A traitorous little voice echoed in her head as the mayor stilled, "You're being selfish, don't even try painting it any other way."
"I'm sorry. If you were older, we might allow this, but you're not and as such there is nothing we can do." The man sighed. "I can't look to one person's interest over that of the city."
"Bentham's utilitarianism, the best for the greatest number, the theory derived from majority rule in democracy." Minna sighed. She wrapped her left hand around her right wrist feeling the tip of her middle finger touch her thumb."I understand, sir. I've filled outall the necessary nondisclosure agreements. Thank you for this opportunity to plead my case. I completely understand."
The man rubbed his beard and settled back in his chair, a slight smile appearing over his face. "You should have gone into law instead of criminal justice. I'm sure some of the boys in my class would have wanted a memory like yours. I know the DA has an internship position open. Get the form from my secretary."
He couldn't resist a sigh at her crestfallen face. A person the same age as his child shouldn't the involved in things like this. He knew he would never allow it. "Don't take this personally. I'm trying to do what's best for all of us."
"I won't, sir. You will want to note the growing dissent against the cuts in education in your next official press release." Minna got up from her seat and walked out, feeling like she dropped a little part of herself every time she moved. She nodded goodbye, shutting the door quietly behind her.
The mayor shook his head. Why crime? Really, she could have gone into law, he hadn't lied when he said that. There were internship forms. He highly doubted she would take one.
Robert Tracy turned to the window that over looked his series and wondered if he would still be in office when she was a member of the force. He knew one of the two at least to be an absolute guarantee.
Gregory rubbed his nose. Darn super sniffer. He could smell the perfume off every woman in the area and identify them. Sandal wood and mint off the woman passing. Jasmine, lavender, with a slight hint of musk gave the a woman in a slinky navy pencil skirt a seductive, lustrous aura. Vanilla and amber gave the paralegal coming down the steps something more refreshing. Her pale blonde hair stood out in the crowd. She smiled at him alluringly, all puckered lips and velvety red lipstick.
He smiled at her tapping his badge and holding a finger to his lips. The universal, sorry, I'm on duty. She blushed and winked. She stepped into a cab and waved to him as she passed. No such luck then. He'd pulled out his note pad for nothing.
A man brushed past Gregory filling the air with the heady scent of musk and tobacco. Not a cologne, underneath it all he smelled smoke, ash, and Irish Spring.
"Gregory?" He turned to make some sort of snarky remark. She tapped a roll of paper on his nose and he distantly wondered if one could get paper cuts on their nose. What was he going to say again? She shook her head. Gregory shook himself.
He opened the door and ushered Minna inside. "Why do you always stand downwind?"
"Aw... You'd get tired of my scent." She beamed up as he slammed the door and dodged a hailstorm of honks.
"Damn. Stupid traffic." Gregory dropped into the driver's seat and pulled on his seatbelt. Minna laughed as he maneuvered out the parking space.
The passed Market street a few moments later with Gregory's blue eyes staring hard at the red Camero in front of him and Minna reading whatever it was she had in her hands.
"How did it go?" He asked feigning nonchalance. She didn't look up from her roll of paper. He felt the air tighten around him and squeeze.
"Badly."
He sighed, something unavoidable these days. "'Arrested and indicted' bad or 'got away with a few scratches' bad?" Both were legitimate in his eyes, depending on whether she used "the antisocial child who really needs corpses to function" or "condescending kid who bore a blatant disregard for rules". One or the other. These were the moments he was glad his shade of blonde hid grey until he had a full head of it. He was getting there.
"'Not going to work for the city until I turn eighteen' bad, which isn't all that bad." Minna stared at the roll. She wasn't reading, he noted. Her eyes scanned the page, taking in every word but hot taking in the meaning. "He offered me an internship at the DA's office."
Gregory breathed deeply. What was that they said about not quitting your day job? "What are we going to do? You've practically moved in to my office and it's only been two months."
She turned, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. A frown languished on her lips. "Our one month anniversary passed?"
"We sat in the break room and wrote reports together after hours." He remembered that because he'd heard Askar talking about it later and, no, he wasn't the girl in this relationship. Especially when there was a girl in the relationship and it wasn't him. Now, he had to stop being a big girl's blouse about the whole thing and figure out what that would mean for his success rate. What if that meant Lawson would start dragging him along again because the one thing that kept him away, his hatred of short brunettes (really, it was almost a pavlovian reaction to disappear whenever one appeared. Gregory could only assume his wife was one), was gone? Really, the older man needed to keep his hand to himself and since they were still partners more or less he'd be stuck with it.
"That's not unusual." Minna leaned back in her seat, eyes sliding shut. She hated paperwork with the same amount of fury as any beat cop. Problem was she had more of it.
Gregory made a turn. "Minna, these are the moments when I remember we are both workaholics."
"You need it to keep you in check," she sighed, brushing back her chocolate bangs. When had they gotten so long? He was a cop. He was supposed to know these things!
"And you're any different?" he asked.
Her green eyes curled at the ends into an emerald smirk. Her pink lips paused, still. "Yes. I'm 'going through a phase' as my psychiatrist puts it. I believe to compare the two of us to the same scale is a false analogy and so the case is moot point." A beat. They laughed. His deeper tenor rising and falling around her sharp alto soprano.
"What are you going to do now?" he asked. The station appeared around the corner and he slid into the parking lot, smooth as silk.
She laughed drumming her fingers on his dash. "Make you procure evidence boxes from Peter and help me move my things."
He sighed and turned off the engine. "Minna, what did I say about taking city supplies for personal use?"
She pursed her lips into a pout and clipped him with a light punch. "I bought you all a Keurig machine and this is how you repay me?"
Gregory ruffled her hair. Minna shuddered at the contact and batted his hand away. A slight crinkle at the edge of her eyes brought him a sense that, yeah, it would be alright.
And that was that. The officers loved their shiny new coffee maker almost as much as they loved getting the collar.
Okay, so let put this out there. As much as I love Minna working for the SFPD (well, not exactly; she's like a daughter to me so you can imagine how we'll that goes over), it is really not a feasible enterprise. She has been in legitimate danger and the only reason why there isn't a strike team ready to arrest someone for, firstly, child labor, and, secondly, negligent abuse is the simple fact they've been pawning it off as theiwooden work. She was going out on a limb when she told the mayor about those cold credit for cracking the box was given to the officers an all nighter run. Reports state she happened to be there checking up on them and pointing out a connection they missed. A majority of case reports look like that. Don't worry, Minna will still be poking her nose where it shouldn't be, albeit from a more clandestine position, if I keep writing.