Stroke of Luck

<20>

Sitting in her recliner Nat rocked slowly and watched the door. The tapping of her fingernails rubbing against the leather keeping her senses on full alert.

"Why aren't you going to sleep?"

The blonde tilted her head at the worn out girl, her eyes drowsy and her head heavy. "I will soon." Biting her bottom lip Nat watched Mays eyes close as she pulled the blanket up further to cover her cool body. The day had passed slowly leaving the younger girl an anxious mess. Her lover was there to put her at ease however. "When they knock on the door, don't say anything ok?"

May's eyes fluttered open and stared down at the floor as she nodded almost remembering everything that had happened. It seemed to hit her in waves.

Sighing the older woman looked at her watch, it wouldn't be much longer. Rubbing her own tired eyes Nat took a deep breathe in to calm her nerves. She never in a million years would have imagined herself in this situation. Covering up a murder for her 20 year old lover.

Even though the situation was not ideal she felt a calmness, a certain focus that was holding steady. The only thing she really felt unsure about was herself. She knew she had done nothing to hurt May but for some reason she felt it was all her fault. She was under her protection but still got hurt, making it go to the point where she had to protect herself.

Looking around her house the darkness of her living room surrounding her until the reflection from a car shined through the window and turned off. Getting up from the chair and opening the curtain she squinted her eyes as a man and woman in uniform walked up the steps slowly.

Going to May and kneeling down she stirred her slightly. "Go to the bedroom and don't come out unless I call for you." She made sure to leave a lasting kiss on her cheek.

Listening, the girl hurried to the room and shut herself and Frank behind the door. Nat watched for a minute to make sure the young girl was going to stay put and turned her head to the front door as the door bell rang. She got up from her kneeling position and made her way over slowly.

Letting her hand rest on the knob she waited until the second ring before cracking the door open.

"Good Evening Ms. Simmons my name is detective Teller and this is my partner detective Lett."

Furrowing her brows as harshly as she could Nat rubbed her eyes to show how tired she was. "Is everything alright?"

"We are looking for May Booth. Have you seen her?"

"She's sleeping..." Nat shifted her weight. "What is this about?"

The two officers glanced at each other before looking back at her. "Would you mind if we asked you a couple of questions?"

The blonde nodded and leaned on the doorframe to support her weight. Never allowing them to peak inside.

"How long has she been here?"

"A few weeks. If you know her name you know her home life." The blonde licked her lips thinking about the right way to go about things, "Would you like to come in?"

"Of course ma'am." The young woman chimed in. "Thank you."

Natalia nodded and opened the door to let the two enter and closed it behind them slowly. "I still don't even know what this is about."

"There's been a murder and May's parents are our main suspects." The man stated sitting in the recliner and getting out his notepad. "We just need to know a few more things."

Covering her mouth as if she was surprised Natalia leaned on the armrest of the couch. "Would you like me to wake her up?"

"Maybe not." The woman crossed her arms refusing to sit down. Her stern face ready to get answers and leave. "Long story short we found the connection between you two and we thought it would be a good idea to look at all areas. We went to the store where you two work and saw you were both on double shifts, but we had trouble placing both of you at the time of the murder."

"Oh-" The blonde held her head. "Oh god."

The man raised an eyebrow and looked up from his paper. "Where were the two of you between the time 4:00 and 5:00?" 

Looking down at the floor Natalia tried lowering her voice, "I can't say."

"Ma'am you don't have much of a choice." The woman spoke again becoming impatient.

Shaking her head Nat rubbed her forehead. "If I say can I be promised it won't get out?"

The two looked at each other again. "No we can't promise that, but not cooperating is a crime."

Picking at her nail she nodded, "We um-" she looked between the two knowing their attention was peeked. "We had snuck away and gone to the park together."

"For what?" The man asked scribbling down their conversation with a tiny pencil.

"For- sex."

He looked up again "You two are in a romantic relationship?" The surprise in his voice disappeared as he cleared his throat.

"Yes." Scooting up she held her hands out, "You can't tell anyone this or I can get fired."

The woman smiled and looked at the woman then at the bedroom door.

Closing his notepad the man got up. He didn't seem mad or aggravated he seemed almost relieved. "thank you for your cooperation."

"You don't need to talk to May?"

"We almost felt like it was more important to talk to you. It was a cop that died, Reggie." The woman shifted her weight, "We know you were friends with him too."

Looking down at the floor Natalia nodded, she wondered if she was acting surprised enough. To think about her old friend getting shot for what he did made her want to smile. He deserved a lot worse for hurting her, but of course that was something she couldn't show.

"It's basically a closed case." The man patted her shoulder reassuringly. Like they had all lost a dear friend. "That family has been a huge pain in our ass for years, we can't believe they finally snapped."

"They ran, their drugs were out." The woman shook her head disapprovingly, "He was probably just responding to a call."

Trying not to squint her eyes the blonde sniffed and looked back down at the floor. She decided it best not to say anything.

"I'm glad you got her out of there." The man whispered. "I've known her since she was a little munchkin. Her dad used to be in the force. He always raved about how smart she was."

The blonde clenched her jaw and nodded like she was following along with their conversation. She wondered why May had never mentioned that, that her dad was a cop. She couldn't imagine how that felt, to come from a family of trustworthy officers to being taken advantage of by the same people.

"Looks like he was right." The woman smiled again and the two got up and headed to the door. "You have a good night and tell May we are proud of her."

Waving as they tipped their hats the blonde watched though the window the two walk down the steps.

Leaning back and letting go of the huge breathe she felt like she had been hoarding, she smiled. May was safe.

*unedited.*