In the Blink of an Eye

Chapter Two: Shock of a Lifetime

I arrived at the precinct early on Monday morning, about ten or fifteen minutes before I was due to start my shift. I went to the front desk and gave my name, and was told to go upstairs to meet with the captain, whose name, I was told, was Joseph Harrison. I thanked the receptionist and took the elevator up to the eleventh floor and went into a lobby, where I gave my name to a second receptionist. I was told to sit and wait, and took a cushioned bench up against the wall, taking off my policeman's cap and crossing my ankles.

Within a few moments, the door of the office opened; in gold plate letters, the letters which formed the words CAPTAIN HARRISON were nailed to the door. A young woman who looked to be a year or two older than me, who had her straight blonde hair tied back in a tight bun, looked annoyed as she spoke to the captain, biting her pink lop-glossed lip.

"I don't want some out-of-state rookie, Captain!" she yelled. "Come on! You know me better than that!"

"You'll take who you've been reassigned to, Collins. That's an order." He looks past her to me, and looks me up and down. "Margaret Holbrook?"

I get to my feet and put out my hand. "Maggie," I reply, flashing him a polite smile and looking past him to the woman he called Collins and back to him as he shakes my hand. "So, I suppose I'm the out-of-state rookie?"

"Yes, I apologize for these circumstances," he says, looking at the woman with steely eyes. "Samantha Collins, meet your new partner, Maggie."

I decide to be polite and put out my hand to her. "Nice to meet you, Samantha. It's an honor to serve with New York's Finest."

"Yeah, yeah, don't try and get all cozy and buddy-buddy with me," she snaps back at me, leaving the captain's office.

"I do apologize for her, Maggie. She's my niece," he explains, standing back and allowing me into the office and shutting the door behind him. "I received a call from an old academy friend of mine over the weekend," he tells me, crossing the room and taking a seat at his desk, indicating for me to do the same. "Do you know a Donald Cragen?"

"Manhattan Special Victims' Unit," I reply. "They took a case of mine back when I was vacationing here two years ago. I think my former captain made mention of it in the file..."

Captain Harrison opens my file and skims it and nods. "Oh, yeah, I read about that all right." He shakes his head. "I'm so sorry to hear that your first trip to New York ended in such a bad situation."

"Oh, I was born in New York, sir," I reply, smiling. "My mother and father raised my two older siblings here for almost a decade when they found out they couldn't have any more children, so they adopted me when I was two months old. We moved from New York to Seattle when my father's firm decided to expand to the West Coast."

"So you've got the law on your side, then?" Captain Harrison asks.

I nod. "I suppose I do, sir."

"You also must have deception on your side as well, due to the fact that your mother is a plastic surgeon."

"Or renewal," I say with an innocent smile.

Captain Harrison smiles tightly at that. "Yes, I suppose you're right." He looks over the files before him and nods. "Okay, everything seems to be in order." He raises his eyes to mine. "Your captain back in Seattle—it was Captain Rhonda Briggs, wasn't it?"

I nod. "Yeah, she was amazing."

"Yeah, she's actually from here as well—Yonkers," he explains. "We did the academy together but then she got married and decided to move out to the West Coast, rather like your family."