Green Table

NINE

Coopers heart raced as he burst though the door to his apartment, hearing crying though the door. It was Renae for sure, but why would she be crying? Was she hurt? Did something happen? He was only gone an hour. Grabbing ahold of the wood handle of his revolver, rubbing the notches in the wood as he snuck his way to the source of the sound. There was a possibly she wasn't alone, and he didn't want to be caught unarmed. It was coming from the living room, whoever it was they must have wanted to make a spectacle of there appearance. There they were sitting on the couch, crying.
His heart settled as he saw it was just Renae. Her eyes puffy and red, she must have been crying for quite some time. "Hey come here." Day said as he holstered the pistol and came around to her side, pulling her into a hug on his lap. Wet dark brown hair covered her eyes, and his nose. He could smell his sandalwood shampoo on her, revealing at the thought of Renae smelling like him. Her sniffles drew his attention back to the upset woman in his arms. "Alice Levitts." Who was that, Cooper thought to himself. "We have another name to run Alice Levitts." Wiping away her tears she looked up at Days green eyes, "Hunter called me, he was worried so he asked a buddy of his at Princeton about Janet and Tom. Well turns out before she was Janet, she was Alice." Cooper nodded his head showing he was listening, this couldn't be what made her upset. Further proving his thoughts, she continued "that name. Alice Levitts. I heard my parents talk about her all the time before they went missing. In fact I believe they were scared of her."
He couldn't believe it, Renae being hired had been a calculated choice. How much of her life had been plotted out, how long had they been keeping tabs on her? Cooper hated that it all seemed so much bigger, it was like her and him against the whole EIA. The crying started again. "Renae I won't let them hurt you, I promise." Cooper meant every word he said, as he pulled her even closer to his chest. "She got away with hurting my parents, she took them away from me." Renae sobbed into his chest. "I know she did, but this time she won't be getting off the hook. I'm on this case, we will get the proof to at least put her away for your parents disappearance." She nodded, trusting that he would keep to his word. "This is all the more reason you'll need to learn to shoot, we might get split up or worse they try and take over the station while you're in it." He hadn't thought of that before, it seemed whenever she was alone there was a chance of her being in danger. Especially now that he knew this had all been premeditated. What unnerved him more than anything was that he wouldn't be able to be by her side every waking moment. At night he could stake out in front of her motel, and in the day is when he could work more on the investigation. But what help could he even be if he was running on fumes. He would need to figure out something to make sure she would be safe. If Dottie really was behind her parents, then what else would she be capable of. "Cooper I'll be okay, I promise to put up a good fight," she smiled weakly trying to make him feel better. She could see the concerned look on his face, grabbing his sharp jaw pulling his face to look down at hers. "Everything will work out, just don't strain yourself." Her words comforting him as he melted at her touch, red spreading across his cheeks. Breaking off the gentle touch, standing up and making his way to the front door. Leaving her in silence to settle himself down. He knew he was starting to feel for her, and it only grew more and more prominent each time they got close to one another. He wanted nothing else to be near her, but he knew for his and her safety it would have to wait until this was all said and done.

"I'm sorry, I had to step out for a moment." rubbing the nape of his neck, he was beyond nervous. "I grabbed this on way back though." In his hand was a black cardboard box, stamped on the top was the logo for Glock. "This is for you to learn on, it's standard for officers to use. I figured it would be best to start with." "It will be perfect. Thank you." Looking down at the box she nervously pried it open, she had never held a gun before. Let alone see one this close in real life, it was scary to hold this much power in her hands. Inside was a sleek midsized Glock 22, it black and covered in greases and oils. The shape of it boxy. "Don't take it out just yet, I think you should learn some safety at the range before we have you hold it." Renae nodded, he was right it was a good idea to learn the ropes before handling it. "Let's go to the range then." Renae stated, ready to get the move on.