Under Cover

As expected the moment I returned from a day out on the job my friends began to tease me about my “big arrest” on the first day.

“Oh yeah? What did you do today?” I asked Dylan.

“I found a missing kid who got lost and got him back to his mom.” he grinned.

“Fuck you guys.” I huffed, only making them laugh

“Come on. Let’s go over to Rocco’s for a drink.” Luke said. “You look like you could use one.”

“I’ll meet you there.” I told them.

After taking a little extra time to change out of my uniform I headed over to the bar a few blocks down from the station, seeing my friends sitting at a table together. However, as I was about to go over another officer caught my eye. Now that I had a proper look at him I couldn’t help but feel like there was something familiar about him, but I didn’t know what. I took a deep breath then walked over to him.

“What do you want?” he asked grumpily.

“I um… I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I jumped the gun and got too excited to get my first arrest so I wasn’t thinking clearly. It won’t happen again.” I said.

He looked at me for a moment then nodded.

“It’s fine… Rookie mistake. It happened to the best of us.” he said, making me feel a little relieved. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

“I won’t, Sir.” I promised, letting him go back to his drink while I walked over to my friends.

Harry’s POV

I looked over at the girl who arrested me earlier. I had been so pissed off about it, but when I remembered who she was that anger seemed to disappear. Her father had been a mentor to me when I was a rookie and I saw a lot of him in her. I remembered meeting her once at a police event, but she was younger then. I had just started the job and she was fresh out of high school and ready to go into the academy.

“So that’s Tom’s girl?” I asked Jensen who sat next to me a few minutes ago.

“Yeah. She’s quite the little spitfire that one.” he chuckled.

“Yeah, she is. And thank you by the way for letting her arrest me.” I said as I turned to look at the older man.

“What? I couldn’t just flat out say that you were a cop. It would have completely blown your cover. At least now you can salvage the relationship with your informant.” he said.
As much as I hated to admit it I knew he was right. I let out a small sigh then finished the rest of my drink.

“See you tomorrow, Jensen.” I said as I left the bar, deciding to call it a night and go home.

I swung by the cemetery on the way home, letting out a soft sigh when I stopped at my mentor’s grave. There was never a body to bury, but they decided to put a marker there anyway since everyone assumed he was dead. The Irish mob he was infiltrating had a history of disposing of bodies with no trace so it wouldn’t be a surprise if they did the same to Tom.

“I promise I’ll protect her, Sir.”

~The Next Day~

Charlie’s POV

I walked into the locker room, getting my expected dose of teasing from my fellow rookies. I ignored them of course and went to the conference room in order to get my assignment for the day. My luck seemed to get even worse when I discovered that I would be with Harry instead of Jensen now that he was off the streets. I mentally groaned at the thought of dealing with the guy I mistakenly arrested for the rest of the year until I was promoted to officer. After we were dismissed I made my way over to Harry with my gear.

“I hope the whole tackling an undercover officer isn’t going to be a normal thing with you.” Harry teased.

“No. I learned my lesson.” I said, pouting slightly as he teased me.

“Come on, Rookie. We have work to do.” Harry said as he started walking.

I followed him, deciding to stay quiet even though it was seriously bothering me how familiar he was. I knew I had seen him before so it was driving me nuts not knowing. It wasn’t until we had issued a few parking tickets and responded to ridiculous calls from people wanting us to settle stupid arguments over whose dog pooped in whose yard that I finally asked him.

“I know this is going to sound really weird but have we met before yesterday? You look so familiar and it’s been bothering me all day.” I said to him.

“I’m a little disappointed that you don’t remember me… Your dad was my training officer. He trained me right out of the academy and I was there for one of his holiday parties shortly after you graduated high school.” he said to me, causing the memories to come flooding back.

*Flashback*

“Dad, do I have to come down?” I pouted as I sat on my bed while he stood in the doorway.

“Yes. Come on. Jensen is here and some of the new rookies.” he said.

I sighed deeply and just nodded, following him downstairs after I finished getting ready. The yard and downstairs were full of cops that I had known since I was little, but there were a few who looked not much older than me. Before I could slip off to hang around Jensen my dad dragged me over to the newcomers to introduce me.

“Rooks, this is my daughter, Charlie.” My father introduced.

“Ah so this is Charlie. Jack talks about you quite a bit. Mostly about how much he hates your boyfriend.” One said with a chuckle.

I raised a brow at my dad who just shrugged and pretended that he was needed elsewhere.

“Of course he runs.” I mumbled. “So which one of you unlucky guys got stuck with him?” I asked them.

“That would be me. Though he’s not as bad as you make him out to be.”

I looked over at the guy with bright green eyes and my first thought was how attractive he was. He was only six years older so I could date him…

“You must not know him very well then. He’ll get worse. Trust me.” I said.

“I suppose I’ll have to come to you for some advice then.” The man smirked and a dimple popped out on his cheek.

“You just might.” I smiled.

*End Flashback*

“I remember that. You were flirting hard core that night.” I teased as I looked at him.

“I wouldn’t say hard core flirting. Just a little friendly conversation.” he said, though the smile on his face told me he knew I was right.

“Oh whatever.” I laughed, shaking my head as I heard him chuckle beside me.

“Alright, maybe I was…. But I stopped because Jack told me he would shoot me if I tried anything with you.” he said.

“That sounds like him.” I laughed a bit, my smile fading at the thought of him.

I still couldn’t believe it had been nearly two years since he disappeared. His old office was now covered in case files and photos that had been taken during the months that it was investigated. There was something that everyone was missing and I had yet to figure out what it was.

“How is your mum doing?” Harry’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Good… She’s good.” I said simply, not wanting to explain that my mother didn’t even know who I was anymore. Or that I had to place her in a care facility because I couldn’t be around enough to take care of her when she went into her episodes. It was a decision that still weighed heavy on my heart.

I saw Harry look at me from the corner of my eye but thankfully he just let the subject go and continued to drive until I spotted something out of the ordinary. A man in a hood followed close behind a woman and I could see his eyes on her handbag.

“Harry, stop the car.” I said, just seconds before the man took off with the purse. “Stop the car!”

Harry slammed on the breaks and I quickly got out of the car, running after the man and calling out for him to stop. Behind me I heard the sirens being turned on as Harry raced off to cut the man off in the car. We went down an alley and Harry stopped the car on the other end, leaving the man with no other choice but to turn left into a dead end.

“Police! Put your hands up!” I demanded as I pulled out my gun, but it was too late.

BANG!

Notes