Solving for Myself

Chapter 2: Rude Awakenings

Carson entered the passcode and swiped his ID card and it took it a few seconds but it opened up. He walked into a large room that resembled a CEO's office. There was a desk on the left, another on the right, and a small meeting table on the wall in front of the desk. The walls were oak paneled and the floor was green carpeting. At the desk on the far right sat a woman, she was very beautiful with reddish caramel skin, long black hair, and a very serious Aura. She was very normal-looking and he had a hard time believing his report on her.

He walked over to her and said "Hello, I'm Carson, nice to meet 'ya". She looks at him, nods, and continues working on her work. He leans over to look which causes her to say"Excuse me?" and he says "You're excused...I'm trying to look and see where you're starting from so I can save some time when I get to work". She looks at him and says "You'll get my report in a few days, then you can build off of that until I give you my next one". Carson looks at her and says"We're supposed to be working together and I apologize but your method is illogical and unacceptable".

She grins and says"don't like it then walk, I was doing just fine before you came in and I'll continue to do fine long after you're gone, sir". Carson smiles before walking away and then right back over to her desk and saying"Ma'am if you've got a problem with me then I suggest you spill it right now". She looks at him and says" I'm not afraid of you, so knock off the tough guy persona, it doesn't suit you, You men are all the same".

He looks at her and says"Excuse me, ma'am?" She looked at him and said, "You heard me". He nodded and said"I understand you're hurt about your childhood....I mean no woman should ever take that type of abuse from anyone but understand that just because I'm a male, doesn't mean I am anything like those men were". Stella's eyes opened wide before she said"H-how d-did you" he said, "2 years ago, your uncle was facing child trafficking charges in Texas...it was my job to compile every mention of his name in sexual abuse files and your's was one of many I had to sift through".

He sighed and said"Apparently your therapist wasn't a very good guy as all your testimony from your sessions word for word were leaked and sold to bidders who would use it to kidnap you for sex work. The only reason you're still here is because me and my boys shut that operation down and the French police handled the rest from their end". Stella yelled"bullshit, your a liar you're just trying to intimidate me".

Carson plopped his suitcase on his desk and removed a USB drive. He said, "I'll tell you what, I'll trade you those files for these here which contain all my case data for that and several over cases". He said"Does that sound like a deal?" she nodded and handed over the files and he handed over the flash drive. He took certain papers and made copies before setting the files back down on her desk. For the next 2 hours, she kept her eyes glued to that monitor, going over the data until she collapsed into tears on the floor. She said, "I-I'm sorry for my behavior...p-please forgive me...I literally owe you everything".

Carson said "You don't owe me anything" as he picked her up off the floor and held the distraught woman until she calmed down. After she was okay, he said "We'll do this your way but I'm adding a twist; you pick your section of the old report and I'll pick my half after yours, we'll be able to cover more documents that way".She nodded, sat the box down, and grabbed the first bundle of files in the box labeled"last 3 years"; Leaving Carson with the bundle labeled: "first 3 years", which in hindsight was the best place to start. The two worked late into the evening sifting through evidence that included gory pictures, distressing cases of sexual assault, and even trafficking. What was more extraordinary was that both of them did it without shedding a tear...to them, this is what came with the field of work.

Around 3 am, Carson heard a thud which caused him to look around for the source of the noise. He didn't look far before finding the source of the noise which was Stella, who had fallen asleep, causing her head to hit the desk with a thud. He chuckled a bit before walking over to her desk, picking the woman up, and carrying her down the long hallway that connected the rest of the place to their work area. He walked past rooms that were for storage, forensics analysis, and even a gun range. At the end of the hall, he found a bedroom that looked plain and simple. He figured it was her's since it had the smell of her perfume and some suitcases on the floor. He walked into the large, beige-colored room with brown carpet and over to the queen-sized bed in the corner.

He gently sat her down and pulled some spare covers out and laid them on top of her. He found himself staring at her for a second and the first thing he thought to himself was"She really is beautiful when she isn't being angry". After snapping himself out of it, he walked over to the door, turned off the lights, and quietly shut her door before heading back up the hallway to his room in the front.