A/N: AHHH! What do you guys think of the first chapter? I'm overjoyed to see the amount of favs/follows I received for this story. I wouldn't mind some reviews now and then. It helps with updating and all. Motivation is key! Motivation! Motivation! And I would like to have some, especially this fanfic.
I had this idea for a fic for awhile now. I'm actually interested in writing mystery thrillers, like write an original book, so I'm kind of using this fic as a practice template on how to layout a book of this genre. Yes, this fic is going to be long one.
Anyways, I have some Levy in this chapter since we didn't have much of her last chapter (except the prologue). The first five chapters will be updated weekly and chapter six and onward will be bi-monthly.
Chapter Two: Gold or Silver
Another routine day.
The morning commute had died down and the streets were fairly quiet for the late September morning. There was a slight chill in the air, though it wasn't drastic enough to pull out the sweater and scarves. Not that Levy minded the fall, she was actually looking forward to Autumn. Her lunch breaks would be spent on the terrace, drinking the seasonal pumpkin spice latte with an extra shot of espresso, losing herself in a relaxing or suspenseful book for thirty minutes. The last three months of her summer Levy spent most of her breaks reading and signing off on tedious robbery reports. Majority of the reports that would come in were from divorce couples breaking into each other's' houses when one was on vacation. Levy liked those, because they were straight to the point and one less report to deal with.
September so far showed promise to Levy as her work load had dropped significantly. Now, she was there during regular business hours; nine to five. She gets to go home to her two bedroom apartment along the Magnolia Strip, above the last standing classic bookstore she spent most of her life in, and have dinner while continuing where she left off from lunch. Levy would get use to this life again. As long as the books are being written, Levy would read them.
"Another round, Detective?" Levy pulled her eyes once she finished the sentence to see the usual barista smiling at her. He pointed at her tepid unfinished latte, thin layer of film already made itself at home inside her ceramic cup.
"N-No, thank you." Levy shook her head, blue wavy curls danced alongside her face. "I'm okay for now. Thanks." She blushed red when he continued to smile at her. "And it's still Officer…"
"Ah! I didn't know. No cases today?" He asked. He had bright blue eyes, hidden behind long blond lashes that shimmered in the almost mid-morning sun. Despite working in a coffee shop, he had a bright pearly smile to match his sparkling eyes.
"No," Levy chuckled. "I left them on my desk." She lifted the book. "Instead, I'm reading a crime thriller."
"Ah!" His eyes beamed more brightly than before. If that was even possible. "She was in town for a book signing last month. It's one of her new books, correct?"
"Yeah," Levy nodded. She was starting to forget that day. Levy was supposed to go to her signing, but a big robbery case had her calling insurance investigators and suspects that could be targets. "Unfortunately, I had to miss it."
I always miss her signings.
"She's going to be in town next month for All Hallow's Read." He mentioned to Levy. "Maybe if you aren't busy…maybe you want to go together?"
"I—" Levy was interrupted by her cell phone ringing and vibrating loudly on the metal table. "Excuse me. It's work." He nodded and slowly moved back towards the cafe, awkwardly looking for anyone that witnessed what may look like a possible turn down. Levy made sure he was away from ear shot before she answered.
"Hello." Levy answered, stiffening at the other voice in the end. "Sir! Yes, this is McGarden! I mean—Officer McGarden! Sorry. I will remember for next time, sir." Her hands closed the book in front of her, not caring that she forgot to slip the bookmark where she left off. "Tonight? No, sir. I—" She paused again to listen to him. "I didn't hear about it. I'm on my break." Another pause. Her other ear picked up something. Police sirens and helicopters were making its appearance in the coast district. "Sir, I think they are looking for them. Yes, sir! It'll be done, sir."
Levy heard the click on the other end and removed her phone from her ear to see the call ended. She finally sighed and focused on the wailing cars zooming pass the cafe. Bystanders and cafe patrons all looked at the speed fiasco, asking basic curious questions that might be answered by the news. She quickly stuffed her book into her bag, gulped the rest of her latte and swiftly moved out of the terrace.
Somehow she could feel those cool blue eyes looking through the glass windows as she skidded to her ocean blue Jeep. She muttered an apology that only she could hear. Levy wanted to go back and accept his offer, but she knew it was impossible for her to have a simple life. The channel radio was off and as soon as she hopped into her Jeep it was turned on into a hailstorm of chatter to dispatch. She tried to understand the bits and pieces from their frantic conversation. What caught her ear was the two officers were killed along with a lawyer. Another lawyer and a civilian were shot and were sent to the hospital to get treated. An All-points bulletin was made out for a black SUV with tinted windows.
Levy focused on the road and the radio, but something else tried to keep her thoughts elsewhere. The phone call. Right now, it was only time to be vulnerable. She kept sighing just thinking of what comes next, throwing her head back against the waterproof headrest, feeling the wind coming through the opened window and hitting her face. The only time she could be herself before she would have to head back to her precinct. Levy wished Cana was still in Robbery at the Seventh. It wasn't the same ever since she transferred to the fourteenth.
"Oh c'mon!" Levy fisted her steering wheel, rumbling and shaking as her car slowed down. Something was wrong with the wheels, feeling the pedal rattle against her feet. This weekend, she would have to take a look at her car. "Baby, just last until the weekend, please?" She patted the dashboard, releasing caked dust from the black surface, and whirled in the circulating air. She waved her hand in front of her face, diverting the dust out the window.
"Lincoln Echo 230 to Dispatch." The radio buzzed. Levy's eyes widen at the familiar voice buzzing over the radio.
"Dispatch to Lincoln Echo 230, do you read?" Levy knew that radio number; Cana.
"I need a twenty on 2 Echo 40? Over." Levy tried to remember anybody with that code name.
"Sergeant Redfox is en route west on Paisley and south on Lotus. Shall I contact them? Over."
"No," Cana's voice said. "I'll take it from here. Over."
"Roger that, Lincoln Echo 230." Dispatch signed off.
"Sergeant Redfox?" Levy pondered at the name. "He's a Sergeant now, huh?" It'd been seven years since that night in front of the courthouse and she learned to forget about that night. Publicly humiliated with her childhood friends like pieces of meat. Ridiculed to the point where Jet and Droy had to drop out of the academy, though the stares and whispers didn't stop her from becoming who she was.
"Officer McGarden." Bisca Connell greeted her as she walked into the frenzied robbery floor. "How was your Code 7?"
"Hard to catch up on reading with the whole city on Code 5." Levy laughed, setting her bag under her desk. "I heard the comms, what's going on?"
"Shooting down at the courthouse." Bisca explained, tapping away on the keyboard. "The final hearing for the Secretary Killer was sabotaged and the defendant escaped with possible mercs aiding him. Sounds like something from one of your books, huh?"
"That's unfortunate." Levy eyed the new pile of paper ready for processing. "I heard Cana over the comms."
"She's keeping busy at the new job." Bisca smiled, eyes still glued to the screen. "I'm envious of the old days." Levy's eyes flickered to the little family photo on Bisca's desk. Bisca and her husband, Alzack, were part of the Magnolia SWAT unit. He then was injured on the job and was given early retirement and honorable discharge. And because of their beautiful six year old daughter, Asuka, Bisca left SWAT and traded her Firearms shield for a detective shield, and Alzack was a Firearms training officer at the academy.
"I don't!" Levy snorted. "I rather solve cases here at my desk and file paperwork than go on patrol."
"Only you would say that." Bisca laughed. "I feel naked without old Betsy." She broke from her typing to pat the handgun in its leather holster, sitting right beside the picture of her family. Levy glanced over to her top right hand drawer of her metal desk, where she kept her service weapon. The last time she used it was before she became a paper pushing officer.
"Levy!" The strangely cheerful voice called from an office across the room. "Can you please come to my office?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Levy nodded and looked over at Bisca, who shrugged her shoulders. She sighed and smoothed out her lavender blouse, fingers grazing her silver badge clipped to her dark gray straight slacks. It was rare for the Captain to call her alone to the office. Usually, the Captain would come to her desk if she needed anything, though this time she was called in like any other detective.
"Levy," Captain Mira Jane Strauss was an upbeat woman working in an environment that clearly did not suit her personality. She didn't like formalities like Sir or Captain; Ma'am was acceptable. She would call her detectives by their first names and not by their title or last names like most Superior Officers. Mira Jane Strauss looked like she belonged in a high end fashion magazine, and in the case of wearing a fitted black pencil skirt, matching black jacket, unbuttoned to reveal an eye popping scarlet red blouse, Mira looked like a J. Crew model. It brought color to her wavy white hair, cool blue eyes, and porcelain ivory skin.
"Mira Jane." After working there for a year, Levy would never get use to calling her Captain by her first name. "You wanted to see me?"
"Yes," She smiled and pointed to the mango colored upholstered chair. "There is something I like to discuss with you." Levy's eyes darted away and her jaw hitched, afraid where she was going with this.
"Sure," Levy cleared her throat. "What would you like to talk about?"
"Your promotion." Mira Jane sat down and slid an ivory letter with the Magnolia's crest inside a service shield; a simple magnolia flower in the foreground with scales and a seabird. "This is from the Deputy Chief. He sent it to me this morning." Levy picked the letter and instead of reading it from top to bottom, her eyes immediately read the name; Deputy Chief Gildarts Clive. "And another recommendation came in too from a former partner of yours, Cana Alberona." She slipped the letter to Levy and she didn't need to pick it up, knowing it would mirror the letter she was holding.
"I don't know what to say…" Levy stared at her S.O., speechless in her eyes, not knowing why this was happening. She wanted to tell Mira how much she was comfortable being a desk clerk, doing all the work that most detectives hated to do. She quite enjoyed filling in details, solving easy cases, and read anything else that other officers would miss. It was her comfort and she didn't want to change that.
"With Cana's transfer and a need for more on-field detectives, it would be fitting for you to take the job." Mira Jane explained. "Unfortunately, the filing and paperwork wouldn't decrease because of your promotion. For the last year you work in this department, you know how much paperwork this job entails."
"Yes, I do." Levy nodded.
"I don't know if you are so excited that you are rendered speechless or you are not excited about the news." Mira Jane told her. "I didn't see you smile since I said, 'promotion.'"
"No!" Levy forced a smile, setting the letter on top of Cana's letter of recommendation. "I'm excited! I just don't have the words…"
"Well, good!" Mira Jane smiled, interlacing her fingers together and resting her chin on her hands. "I would hate to see such talent be wasted behind a desk. And I would hate to break the news to the Deputy Chief." There was that deceiving grin again. The one that she heard so much about. Rumors and research of her own had told her about Captain Mira Jane Strauss's infamous history. A former freelance gang detective, she was a lone wolf that would ruthlessly hunt down her suspect just to bring them in for questioning. Her overzealous emotions when an innocent bystander murdered by gang related activities would bring on her renegade side. Which appeared well on her record as she had the most closure rating than any other detective during her time and the streets were a little safer. Crocus Penitentiary consisted of harden gang criminals that were there because of Mira Jane. Demon Detective Strauss was her nickname by all criminals and the police force.
When Levy transferred to Robbery, all the rumors appeared to be false when she was greeted by an informal, kind, laid back, newly appointed Captain that called her by her first name. It was hard to believe she was a gruesome detective that did everything and anything to solve her cases. Though, there were moments where the Demon would appear when you least expect it.
"Let's go." Mira Jane pulled something compact from the drawer of her desk and stood up. Levy was confused and followed with the two letters in her delicate hands.
"What are you going to do?" Levy asked. Mira Jane stepped out of the office.
"Everyone!" Mira Jane shouted, making everyone pause at what they were doing. "I have an announcement to make." Levy looked over to Bisca, who was staring at her confusingly. She then looked around at the staring eyes looking at the tiny woman wearing high heels hiding behind their Captain's back. "I am proud to announce our new field agent. Robbery Detective Levy McGarden." The Captain turned around and faced Levy. "Your gold shield." She held out the same badge with the same badge number, but this time in plated gold. She reached out for the badge and ran her fingers over the grooves. "Congratulations!" She applauded along with the rest. Some nonchalantly following and others cheering wildly.
"Thanks," Levy tilted her head, shyly averting her eyes to the floor. "It's truly an honor." She lied of course, but for the sake of formality. Anyone of these people could have loved the opportunity, however, she knew this day would come whether she liked it or not.
"Now, back to work people!" Mira Jane shouted once more. "Congrats, Levy." Mira Jane winked and returned to her office. Levy paced to her desk, accepting and thanking her fellow officers from their congratulatory handshake or pat on the back.
"Welcome to the club." Bisca smiled. "I hope you remember how to use your gun." Levy sheepishly smiled in response. She stared at her new badge, glistening like the sun in the palm of her hand. To many detectives, it was a long thing coming, knowing that most of them dreamed of their golden shield. Some might only think of it as an increase pay and paperwork. To Levy, the badge was just a formality. She knew the repercussions of this shield. The reason for this shield barring her detective number was far more compelling than what her Captain or Bisca would have imagined.
Levy tugged on her old badge and set both badges next to each other in front of her. Silver and gold; alike in every way possible in appearance, though the responsibilities were different. It would be fitting to say gold weighed more than silver, but to Levy it was far more than that. It was the start of what she trained for the past seven years; the reason why she worked hard to get to where she needed to be.
Her fingers encompassed the badges; one in each hand. The felt the same in her hands, just like their appearance, though something chilling came off of the gold one, and Levy didn't like it one bit.