Chapter One

It was unseasonably warm for the time of year in Rosewood. In fact winter as a whole had been uncharacteristic for Pennsylvania with temperatures not once going below forty-three degrees during the day. The sky had deceived the population only once with a drizzle of snow flurries but even that had just lasted an hour or so.

Friday night was no different. The air was chilly but still. Paige McCullers sat on the hard, wooden bench in the rear of Rosewood's Police department. She'd spent the first few moments of her wait watching some of the other officers. A group of four hovered around a computer monitor on the left side of the room, laughing at some video of a rookie getting playfully hazed. Apparently the rookie was among the four as one of the guys got to his feet and started bowing as the group laughed.

That had been nearly ten minutes ago. The group had moved on. Paige remained.

She prayed this wasn't an indication of what she'd gotten into; she'd heard of Rosewood's idealistic history. Pulling her cuffs from their case, Paige began a rhythm of twirling one around her finger a few times before pushing the teeth through the housing. She was bored.

Atlantic City had always been so busy. Paige had to actively concentrate to recall the layout of her last station house; she'd always been on the streets. The seemingly quiet life she was now faced with unnerved her for some reason.

"MaCall!"

Paige jumped and nearly flung her cuffs across the bench at the sudden, unexpected summons. She was just able to catch the metal rings as a head poked out from the doorway to her right. "Are you the transfer?"

"Yes, sir." Paige acknowledged as she rose to her feet and quickly tucked her cuffs back into the case on her right hip. "Paige McCullers."

"Inside." The head disappeared from the doorway just as quickly as it had appeared. Paige straightened her slacks around her waist before picking up her brand new cover and following directions.

Once inside she was able to study the man closer. He appeared to be in his early-fifties with greying brown hair, a thick waist and tired eyes. He took a seat behind a large desk and pulled open a file. She took the few moments while he read to study his desk. It was unkempt with a handful of open case-files, several dried up ink pens, two photos of what she assumed was his family and an empty cheeseburger wrapper.

"McCullers, right." He mumbled as he reminded himself of her accomplishments. "A year in A.C., two meritorious notations in that time. Correct?"

"Yes, sir." Paige nodded slightly as her gaze settled on the gold placard bearing his name: Captain K. Rowe.

The captain lifted a paper and scanned another page. "I see that you requested a transfer but didn't specify your reason. Care to share?"

"Not at the moment, sir." Paige stated before relenting with vagueness. "Irreconcilable differences."

Captain Rowe pursed his lips before closing the file and tossing it on another desk behind him. "Very well. Welcome to Rosewood. I'm sure you know about the latter of command. I'm always here, of course, should you require." The man seemed to be delivering a rather dull speech as if hoping he could bore her enough to never approach him with a problem. "Cavanaugh! You'll be partnered with one of my best. Local boy, knows the town better than anyone on the force."

"You rang," A low, monotonous voice came from behind her. Paige turned. Her surprise was evident as the man at the door fought off laughter.

"Eh, Lurch. Meet McCullers; show her the ropes, yea." Rowe nodded toward Paige. "And tell that fiancée of yours, she's in deep for missing Estelle's New Years party."

The man chuckled as he nodded in return, "You got it, Cap."

Paige strode out of the room behind her new partner as Captain Rowe began to dig around his desk mumbling something about knowing he'd had a cup of coffee somewhere. From behind him Paige began to size up her new partner. He wasn't much taller than her, wasn't much older either; even through his uniform she could tell that he was lean but muscular. Cavanaugh was polar opposites from her last partner in Atlantic City. She had been an overweight, lazy cry baby.

"So what's the plan?" Paige asked as the pair walked out into the main squad room.

"Well," Cavanaugh said as he ducked into a u-shaped cubicle with two computers, two swivel chairs and a printer sitting against the cubicle wall opposite the tiny entrance. His desk was clean and organized. Paige noticed a few framed photographs on the desk between his computer monitor and his desk phone along with a small potted ivy plant. "That one's yours." He pointed to the bare desk opposite his. "We're on patrol tonight. Boring, tedious work but someone has to do it."

Paige stood awkwardly behind her partner as he bent down, opened a drawer, retrieved his weapon and holstered it. "I think that's the first normal thing I've heard since I walked into the building."

"Yo, Cavanaugh!"

Paige looked in the direction of the outcry as her partner rose back to full height, looking in the direction of his name. In the front of the office stood another young, dark skinned officer with his hand resting on the shoulder of a young girl with blonde-brown hair and a bored expression. She could instantly see the change in her partner's demeanor. He audibly sighed as he nodded toward the other officer, "We got it."

Once more Paige found herself following her partner as he approached the girl. She turned her gaze as he stopped in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest and bending slightly. "Don't you have a curfew?"

"Oh, Toby, you're such a superb detective." The girl quipped.

Toby sighed ever so softly as he rose up, taking a step toward her and turned her around by the shoulder. "Come on," He told her as he lead the way to the front door.

Again Paige found herself a spectator as she followed behind her new partner and the mysterious girl. By estimation she couldn't make herself believe that the girl was his daughter; then again, Toby could be blessed with younger looks.

"Are you kidding me?" Paige was drawn back into her surroundings as Toby stood holding open the back door to a cruiser. "The back? What if my friends see?"

"Relax, Lex." Toby breathed, rolling his neck. "It'll go with the image you're trying to achieve. You can even sit on your hands to make it look realistic if you want."

With a groan, Lex climbed into the back seat, buckled her seat belt and ducked down as low as she possibly could. Toby caught Paige's eye as he closed the door, winking quickly as he swung the keys around his finger and proceeded around the back of the cruiser toward the driver's door, "Just a quick stop and we'll be on our way to boredom."

"Does that come with stale donuts and really bad coffee?"

"No," Toby shook his head, opening his door. "No, those rewards are reserved for stakeouts."

Paige laughed as she climbed into the passenger seat, buckled herself in before glancing over her shoulder to the girl. She had already forfeited herself to blankly staring out the windows at the town square. Paige had only been in the small town for a few days; long enough to unpack and arrange her loft apartment, find a peaceful trail through the park and a patch of woods to jog twice a day, as well as fall in love with the coffee shop that doubled as a small bookstore.

"So," Toby spoke as they pulled out of the parking lot and onto Main Street. "McCullers, was it? Where was your last assignment?"

"Atlantic City," She answered before receiving a low whistle. "Sixteen months."

Toby's reaction, from what she could see in the dark cabin of the vehicle, showed how impressed he seemed to be of his new partner. He gazed in his side mirror as he turned into a residential area. "Well I hope you won't be too devastated at the lack of excitement here in Rosewood."

Silent memories appeared instantly within her cerebral cortex. Judgemental, disgusted eyes leered at her as she shifted slightly, holding her right side as a dull phantom ache resonated from just below her ribcage. "I think I can do without excitement for awhile."

Toby glanced toward her, instantly noting her tone and the mystery that lived just below the surface of them. "Hey," Turning his attention back to the road, he made a left: Serenity Lane. "You alright?"

"Mhmm," Paige nodded, smoothing her uniform down over the area. "Career hazard."

"Shot, huh?"

Again, she nodded silently. "About three months ago."

Toby stopped the car against the curb in front of a two-story light colored home. In the darkness, Paige couldn't exactly make out the actual color. "Be right back," Paige nodded as Toby got out of the car. A few moments later the door behind her opened and the young girl retreated without a word.

"Alright, Lex," Toby spoke before closing the door and muffling his voice. "You know that you're suppose to be home by eight…"

His voice faded as he led the girl up the walkway. Paige looked down at the computer between the two seats and typed in the time of their stop. Glancing back up, Toby was standing at the open doorway with a slender woman. The dark-haired girl had her arms crossed over her chest and looked inside the house before speaking. Toby suddenly looked toward the car and held his hand up, causing the girl to look in her direction before nodding slightly. Toby took a half step forward, kissed her on the cheek and made his way back toward the cruiser.

"Your fiancee, I assume." Paige smiled as he returned to his seat.

"Huh," Toby looked past his partner as the woman remained in the doorway. "Emily? No, she's just a friend. She's my fiancee's best friend, too, actually."

"You're best friends with your fiancee's best friend?" Paige inquired.

Toby smiled, buckling his belt once more and held up a hand as farewell. "It's a long story."

The week passed peacefully, aside from a few curfew violations. Friday had arrived, along with a shift change for the two partners. Toby sat at his desk, typing away on his computer while his phone seemed to be glued to his ear. From the sound of the conversation he was talking to his fiancee, Spencer, making dinner plans. "No, babe, I'm about to leave. Yeah." Paige turned her seat around and leaned back as she watched her partner. He had finally proceeded to logging out of his computer and was gathering the paperwork to stuff in his desk drawer.

Climbing to his feet, Toby noticed Paige looking up at him with a small smile. "She's had a busy week. Second semester of law school and already she's looking into internships, in true Hastings fashion." He pat at his pockets as if going through a checklist in his mind: keys, wallet, phone. "We're going to grab dinner at the Grille; if you don't have any plans-"

"Oh, no." Paige shook her head, looking at her desk. "I think I'm just going to go home, maybe have a beer or two."

Toby nodded silently, looking around the small cubicle they shared. "You ever thought of putting a little personal touch to your desk?"

Once more she gazed across Toby's desk at the photographs of a girl she could only assume to be Spencer, along with one in a black frame of Toby dressed in his uniform with two girls on either side of him. "I don't really have any family."

Paige briefly thought of the two people who had brought her up into the world. She wasn't sure she could actually call them parents when they'd made a habit of dropping her at some relative's house for the weekends. Once she'd turned fourteen and was able to relatively take care of herself, they'd stopped doing that. Paige had spent most of her high school years living in the family home all on her own. The only thing her parents had been good for was paying bills and providing her with shelter while she took care of herself.

"Cavanaugh, McCullers," Another officer leaned his arms along the top of their cubicle wall. "Got a call about another teenage party over on Townsend."

"Shit," Toby mumbled looking at his watch. "Spence is going to kill me."

"Why?" Paige chuckled lightly.

Her partner sighed as he pulled out his phone. "Clarke helps me intercede the noise complaints on the weekends." Noticing his partner's confused gaze, Toby dropped his hands to explain further. "Lex, the girl you met the other night, she's my friend Emily's foster-daughter. She's been acting out a lot lately and hanging around an older, influential crowd of kids; she's already been kicked out of two homes."

"Sounds like she needs some discipline." Paige commented.

Toby shook his head. "That's just it; everyone gives up on her, she's come to expect it."

Paige thought about that for a moment. It reminded her of something she'd read back in college. "You know what," Toby looked up at her as he dialed Spencer's cell number. "Go ahead; go to your fiancee. I'll grab Clarke and get Lex."

It had taken a few minutes of convincing before Toby agreed to let Paige and Clarke go to break up the party. The two had taken separate cars- Clarke in a cruiser along with his partner, Paige in her own personal car- to the location of the party. It hadn't taken a second look to realize that alcohol was being disbursed to the group. Clarke began the tedious task of administering breathalyzer tests.

"Lex," Paige grabbed the arm of the familiar girl and pulled her off to the side. "Do you remember me?"

The girl rolled her eyes as she rubbed at her arm. "You're Toby's shadow."

"I'm his partner; he sent me to take you home." Paige suddenly felt like she was part of an episode of Scared Straight as the young girl crossed her arms over her chest and grumbled something under her breath. "Hey, now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Were you drinking?"

She studied the girl as she looked toward the three girls standing in front of Clarke. Paige snapped her fingers in front of her face and asked the question once more.

"Hell no," Lex whispered harshly. "Are you kidding? That stuff is disgusting and…" She paused before inhaling deep. "No, I wasn't drinking."

Paige leaned forward slightly as Clarke stepped up beside them. Lex looked at the device in his hands and looked up at the pair incredulously. "Seriously, I just said-"

"Then you don't have anything to worry about, do you?" Paige told her. "Blow. If you pass, I'll take you home; fail and you'll join your friends at the precinct."

Lex growled as she clasped the mouthpiece between her lips and blew into the device. Clarke looked at the readout, showed it to Paige for a moment and then returned to his partner to take the three girls out to their cruiser.

"Okay, let's go." Paige said.

"Wait," Lex cried. "What's going to happen to my friends?"

Paige grabbed the girl by the shoulder just as Toby had done before and led her out of the house toward her car. "They'll be taken to the station, fingerprinted, their pictures will be taken. Tomorrow, they'll go in front of a judge; if they're extremely lucky they'll get off with community service. Bright orange vests to catch everyone's attention while they're out in broad daylight picking up garbage. Ultimately showing all of Rosewood just how uncool they really are."

Lex looked up at Paige. Instantly the young girl scoffed. "Well maybe not but that is where those girls are headed." Paige opened the passenger door of her car. "Why exactly are you friends with them?"

Lifting a single shoulder in a shrug, Lex spoke as if it was the most obvious reason. "They're cool; they're popular."

"Popular," Paige mumbled to herself. "Alright, tell me: what do you get from their popularity?"

The girl paused as she slid into the passenger seat and looked out the windshield, completely ignoring the question. Paige nodded, "Thought so." Closing the passenger door, Paige took the long way around the car. The girl induced memories that Paige had long ago tried to forget. Memories of when she herself had attempted to befriend some older, more popular girls in an attempt to survive high school all on her own.

Paige climbed into the vehicle, started the car and pulled out of the driveway. The ride was silent as the woman made her way across town toward the direction of Serenity Lane. She pulled out her phone and looked at the display screen that showed the route she needed to arrive at the house of Toby's friend's house. The girl could only imagine what the reaction Emily would have when a stranger showed up at her door with the girl that she was in charge of.

"Turn right in one hundred feet onto Serenity Lane; your destination is on the right."

A few moments later, Paige stopped outside the house she'd only seen once before. Outside, the porch light was on and she could see the shadow of a figure walking in front of a window. Lex sighed as she also noticed the shadow. "Looks like your mom is waiting for you."

"She's not my mother," Lex spat, opening the door and climbing out.

Something that Paige couldn't quite put her finger on nagged at her until she also climbed out of the car and raced after the girl. Toby had mentioned that Lex was only fourteen and the influence that her friends had on her would lead her onto a negative path in life. "What are you doing?" Lex asked as she joined her side.

"Making sure that you understand the consequences of your actions." Paige told her as she rang the doorbell before Lex could open the door. Perhaps another officer in uniform showing up with the girl would force the woman to really see the seriousness of Lex's behavior.

The door opened and Paige was temporarily blinded. "Alexis?" The woman spoke as she made eye contact with the young blonde. However, the name barely registered in Paige's mind as she looked at the woman in front of her. She had seen her in a photograph on Toby's desk. Long dark hair, bright brown eyes, beige skin- Emily was beautiful.

"Officer?" Emily's tone broke the trance that Paige had seemed to fall into.

"McCullers," Paige told her. "Toby asked me to bring Lex home."

Emily looked relieved and curious at the same time. "Where were you? You were with those girls again, weren't you?"

"They're my friends." Lex spoke, raising her voice defensively.

"Those girls are not your friends," Paige told her instantly. "How many times did you pretend to drink-"

"You were drinking?" Emily broke in, taking the girl's arm.

"Luckily, for her, she wasn't." Paige answered for the girl. "Do you generally allow her to hang out with older students? Doesn't her social worker check on her occasionally?"

Emily stiffened as she looked at the woman in front of her. Toby had told her about his new partner but hadn't mentioned how much of a jerk she was. Reaching out, she ushered the young girl into the doorway. "Living room, now." The teenager groaned as she disappeared inside the house, leaving the two women staring at each other in the doorway. "Thank you for bringing Lex home; I'll be sure to talk to Toby. I'd appreciate it if you stayed away from Alexis from now on."

Paige couldn't believe the gratuity she was receiving from the woman in front of her. The group of girls that Lex was allowed to be around was infuriating. "I'd appreciate it if you'd keep a closer eye on the company your daughter keeps; it'd sure make my job easier. Probably yours too; unless, of course, you'd rather visit her behind plexiglass in a few years." Paige smiled lightly. "Have a good night, ma'am."