Chance and Reason

Chapter Sixteen

A/N: Hello again! There is nothing more for me to add, so I hope that you're having a good day and are still enjoying this. I really should be doing my homework but, once again, Camren has taken priority.

"That's strange,"

Camila looked up from her laptop and glanced across to Officer Ally Brooke, who was frowning down at her tablet. The pair were sat cross-legged at opposite ends of the sofa as they did most mornings now, enjoying one another's company and getting some work done.

"What's up?"

"It's from Shawn," Ally replied, scrolling through the email, "We have to go into the police station,"

"Do you think they've caught the people?"

Small acts of sabotage had been continuing on since Lauren's departure. Anything from graffiti on Camila's building, to envelopes of hate mail and threats arriving on her doormat. They were less frequent now than they had been at first, but were still conducted with the same malicious intent.

"He doesn't say, but we had better get going. He wants to see us there in an hour,"

With a groan, Camila closed her laptop and deposited it on the table beside her. She really did not want to move; her space on the sofa was so warm and cosy.

"Come on, Cabello," Ally chuckled, giving her a jokey swat on the back of her head, "Get up,"

Ally's teasing earned her a flick to the ear as they made their way out to the car.

"That'll teach you!" the journalist giggled as the officer, clutching her ear, chased her down the stairwell and onto the street.

Part of Camila now always felt deeply hesitant about going outside. She had become so used to finding some sort of devastation lying on her doorstep that the idea of just leaving her home made her feel ill.

The constant strain and worry was having more of an effect that she would let on, although Ally had been a wonderful source of support for her, never failing to make her feel safe. Thankfully when she looked around now, there was no evidence of any vandalism, and so they drove off without a problem.

The police station was not too far away, but the traffic made them late, and both women had to hurry quickly across the car park and through the revolving doors into the main entrance.

"Here to see Officer Mendes," Ally panted to the woman on the front desk, trying to catch her breath.

The receptionist gave her a strange look, but admitted them anyway. Camila peered around with intrigue at all the uniformed men and women rushing back and forth in the offices. It was exhilarating to be in amongst the nerve centre of the city.

Shawn Mendes's office was one of a few sat at the far end of a large open plan workplace. Ally led Camila through the maze of desks and cubicles, the noise of ringing telephones and people shouting reverberating in her eardrums. When they knocked twice on the office door, he admitted them instantly.

"Good to see you," he beamed, pulling up two chairs and gesturing for them to sit, "Are you well?"

Camila nodded, "I am, thank you,"

Shawn and Ally then dived straight into conversation, and Camila found herself unable to keep up with all of the police jargon. Her focus drifted, and she found herself gazing out of the glass walls of Shawn's office. She almost had a cardiac arrest when she recognised the woman stood at the other end of the enormous room.

Lauren.

She talking to a colleague and dressed impeccably in a long-sleeved white blouse and suit trousers, with her hair falling in loose waves over her shoulders. Even from a distance, it was clear that something had changed in the way she stood. The posture, while still as intimidating and self-assured as it had been before, now looked somewhat more relaxed and comfortable. She looked more comfortable.