Replica (Original Work)

Chapter 7 - Running Hot

Sometime during my rest, I awoke to the sound of tapping at my door. I lazily lifted my head off the desk, and squinted. How many hours had I been out? Who knows.

"Come in," I said.

To my surprise, it was Eva who poked her head in. "Hi Lucy."  She seemed uneasy. Skittish.

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was hoping we could have a talk since, well, you're the only other woman on the team."

Wasn't that unusual then.

"Eva, I'm probably the worst person to ask about whatever it is that's on your mind if that's the logic you're following."

She made her way inside, disregarding the hint, and made herself comfortable in the chair across from my desk.

"It's about Aaron," she said, twiddling her fingers and looking at the ground.

"What about him?"

"Well." She seemed hesitant, like she didn't know which words to pick. "I kinda have a thing for him."

I put my palm to my face and shook my head. "Eva I'm definitely the worst person to ask when it comes to that. Besides, aren't office relationships against policy?"

"It's not like they don't happen," Eva protested.

"Look, I've never felt anything like that, but if I did, I'd like to think you know how I'd handle it. I'm a blunt person. Just tell him how you feel if you aren't worried about the fallout from corporate."

Eva's face lit up, as though the suggestion was a eureka moment for her. "Maybe I should!"

"Is there anything new on the case, or was that all you wanted?" I asked. "I'd like some more sleep. I don't know how long I've been out but I definitely don't feel caught up yet."

"No. Nothing yet. Thanks Lucy! You were a big help!"

Eva merrily went on her way, and I slipped my head back onto the desk and fell back asleep. In retrospect, the memory is almost like a dream. That was probably the last time I saw Eva be her happy, upbeat self.

The next person to wake me didn't bother to knock. It was Cutter, for some reason wearing body armor and smoking his usual cigar. He rapped his knuckles across my desk. I looked up at him, groggy and still mostly out of it.

"C- could you not smoke in my office.

"Shake it off Luce'. Time to suit up. We've got more trouble," Cutter said. His voice was ice.

I rubbed my hands across my face, trying to peel off the last vestiges of sleep that clung to my psyche. Shaking my head, I looked back at Cutter.

"What kind of trouble?"

"We have a suspect to apprehend."

"Oh? Eva get something?"

"Yeah, she and Aaron got something alright. Run off the road."

All at once, the last bits of drowsiness started to disappear. Adrenaline surged through my system. Awareness took me in a jolt. Somebody was targeting the forensics team too now?

"How are they?"

"Eva is stable, it looks like Aaron took most of the impact on the driver's side. He's in critical condition. We just got word from the local hospital. Dunlap managed to isolate and track the vehicle that ran them off with Hexadyn's satellite network, chief Wade wants us to go get the guy."

"Bastards. You and me, we're soldiers, we expect to be on the front lines, but targeting the techs?" I stood up, pressing a button under my desk that triggered a false wall to the right of my office. Weapons and gear hung behind the facade. I took my body armor out of one of the bottom containers, then grabbed a few extra mags for my nine millimeter.