Chapter One
Nick slammed his locker door shut and sat down heavily on the bench in the changing room. DB entered the room with a sigh and popped open his own locker, shrugging out of his vest.
"Boy, I can't wait to get home. The wife is made my favourite tonight. My son is home for a few days too- bringing his new girlfriend." DB smiled, but Nick didn't respond.
"You okay there, Nick?" He asked, giving him a measured, sidelong glance. Nick glanced up at him, smiled, nodded and averted his gaze to the floor. DB knew better than to believe this affirmation.
"It's rough when things like this happen." He said wisely. "It makes you temporarily blind to how good the world can be." He eased himself down beside Nick on the bench.
"This innocent little girl was bullied and bullied, and eventually was murdered by her classmates, and the whole thing was covered up by the teachers so that they could keep their jobs. How am I supposed to see the good in the world right now?" Nick leaned forward onto his knees, running a hand over his buzz cut hair.
"Well," said DB thoughtfully. "On the bright side, those teachers didn't get away with it- because you wouldn't let them. This story will hit the news tomorrow, and everyone will be made aware of just how serious and deep the bullying problem is in this country. And most importantly, you brought some closure to that little girl's parents." Once again, Nick didn't respond.
"Nick, you should go home. Spend some time with Sam. He is the epitome of good in the world." DB clapped him on the back.
"Yeah I guess so." Nick could not stop thinking about the girl in the morgue downstairs.
"Come on. We'll walk out together." DB motioned for him to stand, and he did. He wasn't in the mood to disagree. Shortly afterwards, they were standing in the halo of light created by the lamp posts in the parking lot.
"Go home, Nick. Get some rest. You have a couple of days off now, so make the most of them." DB smiled and patted Nick's arm, heading for his own car. Nick sighed.
"Yeah…get some rest." He got into his car and started on his drive home, looking forward to seeing his dog, Sam.
When he got home, Sam was waiting for him, acting like it had been days since he had last seen Nick, and it was exactly what Nick needed. He decided to immediately head out to the dog park with him to let him run around and burn off some energy. The dog managed to lift his spirits and soon Nick was laughing. He threw a tennis ball and watched Sam run like mad to fetch it.
"Allez Sam! Allez, vite!" He called. Soon, Sam was running back, tail wagging proudly behind him. They continued to play for the next hour or so and then, when the early morning risers began to make their way to the park, Nick walked home with Sam, who looked sufficiently tuckered out. When they got home, Nick gave him some food and headed for the shower to rid him of the final remnants of the horrible night at work before heading to bed while everyone else headed to work.
After only a few short, restless hours, Nick was up and getting dressed. He decided to go run some errands, do some grocery shopping and such. After that, he headed back to work to use the gym, which ended up being a bad idea because it made him remember the little girl. It didn't help that some guys on the machines next to him were having a conversation about it and trying to get him in on it, since he worked the case. By night time, he wanted to be anywhere but home, so he put on a pair of jeans and a grey button down shirt, got in his car and drove. He had no set destination and somewhere along the way, he found himself pulling into the parking lot of a bar just off the strip. He took the key out of the ignition and sauntered slowly to the entrance. Once inside, it took a minute for him to locate a seat (not uncommon) and finally found one at the end of the bar. When the bartender came near, he asked for a beer and leaned on the bar, watching the band performing onstage; really not paying attention to anyone in particular.
Shortly after starting on his second beer, he noticed a woman sitting at a table not too far away from him and just slightly in front of him. She was being approached by a man that had a little too much bling on to be any kind of gentleman. He watched as she repeated shook her head in the negative to whatever questions he was asking her. She made a motion with her hand over her drink as if to say she didn't want another one. Nick couldn't believe that this guy was still trying. This girl was clearly out of his league and not even willing to give him a chance- and he couldn't blame her. He watched as the man tried to touch her cheek and she jerked her head away as politely as she could.
"Alright, enough, you douchebag." Nick eased off his bar stool and slid his beer along the counter until it dropped off the end, carrying it nonchalantly by his side. He stepped up behind the woman but faced the jerk that was hitting on her.
"Come on man, she said enough." He tried to reason with him. The woman turned to look at her defender, but Nick continued to watch the man intently. He looked like he wasn't ready to back down. "She's clearly not interested. Why don't you try hitting on some of the girls at that table over there?" Nick pointed to a table full of hookers, which he was able to recognize quite easily because of his job.
"How about you mind your own business and let me finish talking." The man gave Nick a warning look. Nick hated pulling this card, but he didn't want it to escalate into an even bigger scene. It was supposed to be a non-work related night out. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and quickly flashed his ID.
"Look, I'm with LVPD, and I'm gonna need you to step off and go find someone else." At first, the guy didn't seem interested because it wasn't a shiny police badge, but LVPD was clearly displayed as a watermark behind the ID information.
"Yeah, fine. I was just looking for some ass." He shook his head and walked away. Nick shuffled over a few steps and looked at the woman. He couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was.
"Are you okay ma'am?" He asked, setting his beer down on her table, but not sitting down. He didn't want to intrude on her night out, although she looked like she was alone, which he found strange. She smiled and nodded at him.
"Yes. Thank you very much. I could have handled that myself, but I appreciate your help." She offered her hand. "I'm Lily." Nick smiled and shook her hand.
"Nick."
"And you are with the police department? Are you a cop?" She asked. Nick shrugged it off.
"Sort of with the department, not a cop." Lily noticed his demeanor changed with the subject of work, as if he started to withdraw.
"Well, Nick. It's nice to meet you. Would you like to join me? I promise we don't have to talk about work." Nick smiled, unable to figure out how she knew he didn't want to talk about it. Nevertheless, he sat down at her table.
"Thanks." He tilted his head towards her. "Hey, what are you doing here all by yourself?" He asked her, taking a swig from his beer.
"Who would I go with?" Lily shrugged. "I'm new in town and don't know anyone." Nick took a swig of his beer and set it back down on the table, absently twisting it around in his hand.
"Welcome to Las Vegas! Where are you from?"
"I came here from New Orleans, but I'm originally from Alaska." She leaned in a little to better hear him, her arm resting on the edge of the table.
"Wow! You move around a lot." Nick's eyebrows rose. "Did you leave for work?"
"I left Alaska for school when I was eighteen, then went to a few different schools around the country; once I graduated, it was all for work." She reached for her own beer, sitting in front of her with a graceful, manicured hand.
"So you do move around a lot." Nick confirmed. She nodded.
"Alaska wasn't the right fit for me. I loved the natural beauty, but I needed to see more.
"A lot more apparently." He smiled.
"I like Vegas though. It's almost like it has a life force of its own rather than staying with the conventional."
"So you will be staying awhile?" He asked, draining his beer.
"I hope so." She smiled. "I have a few things lined up here so I think I will be staying."
"Well, you know that I'm with the police force, but what about you?" He asked, leaning back in his chair. He couldn't help noticing how pretty she was, but he wasn't about to go down that route. Every time he got together with a woman, she ended up dead.
"I'm a librarian...of sorts." She swigged the last of her beer and placed the bottle back on the table; enjoying talking to Nick and watching his eyebrows shoot up on his forehead in surprise. She could see that he was a good guy and decided he would be a great friend.
"A librarian? No way. You're lying." He laughed.
"What makes you say that?" She smiled, folding her hands in her lap.
"You are way too beautiful to be a librarian. Aren't they all like...crabby, sixty year old cat ladies?" He scooted his chair closer, he was definitely interested now.
"Not all of them; although, I do have a cat." She confessed with a quiet laugh.
"I knew it!" Nick joked. "You know what; it's hard to hear in here, do you want to take a walk with me?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't think he was a creep. To his surprise, she didn't hesitate at all.
"Yeah, that would be great. I think I've seen my fill of the band anyway." She reached for her clutch and stood. Nick chuckled when she stood. He couldn't help noticing that even wearing heels, she was the same height sitting at the high table as she was standing. The other thing he noticed was that she was hot. Really hot. She was wearing a black dress that fit her like a glove, her long, silky brown hair was braided loosely over one shoulder, and when she turned to head towards the exit, he noticed the back of her dress, which was backless, and there were colourful straps sewn diagonally across the back near the top of the dress. He shook his head. He couldn't get into a relationship with this girl. Just a friendship. Nick couldn't help wondering how this girl was still single.
When she got outside, Lily turned to face Nick, her blue eyes shining in the lamp light.
"So? Where to? Show me Vegas." She smiled a toothy grin. He grinned back.
"I don't know, walk along the strip in those heels?" He nudged his chin in the direction of her shoes. Lily laughed.
"Well, maybe you are right. I can run home and change?" She offered. Lily wanted to spend some time with Nick, get to know him better.
"Would you be okay if I drove you home? I don't think running is such a good idea either." Nick winked, knowing she probably meant cab it home, but he offered nonetheless.
"That would be fine by me." She smiled and before he even offered, she slipped her arm in the crook of his elbow, and started walking in the direction of the parking lot to the bar. Nick smiled, unable to comprehend Lily and her independent ways. She literally had no clue who Nick was, but not only was she willing to go out with him, but also willing to let him drive her to her place so she could change. He felt like she wasn't scared of anything.
