A/N: Here's another chapter! Thanks to Loafer and Lawson227 for reviews!
They sat at the table in silence for a few minutes looking at the menus. Their waitress came over and introduced herself as Mary. They declined the wine samples and ordered. Carlton ordered a coke and an expensive steak. Karen ordered iced tea and lemon shrimp with pasta.
When the waitress left, Karen looked at Carlton across the table and smiled at him. He was staring blankly at the door. Karen looked around the room. Everywhere, couples were talking, holding hands or kissing. She and Carlton were just sitting there. She reached down and grabbed her purse, feeling for the security that was her loaded gun. She touched the cold metal and then set the bag back on the floor.
"Carlton," she said quietly, reaching across the table to take his hand. "What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry Ch, I mean Karen, I was just thinking."
"About work?"
"No. Can I, would it be okay to ask you for some personal advice?" he asked. He looked so unsure, so nervous, like she would shoot him on the spot for even asking.
"Of course Carlton," she said, holding his hand in both of hers.
"It's about, well, I, I think I have feelings for someone..." he said sheepishly. He looked so adorable when he was uncertain, Karen thought.
"Carlton that's wonderful! Who is she?"
"It doesn't... I'd rather not say. It's a... Difficult... Situation, you see, she's married and in love with someone else, and I'm still technically married..."
The waitress set their drinks on the table.
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" She asked, looking at Carlton's hand and frowning. Karen looked at their intertwined hands. Was there something wrong? She wondered. Then she realized, Carlton had no wedding ring. He must have finally taken it off after Victoria left.
"We're good, thanks," Karen said firmly.
"Carlton, I'm so sorry, first Victoria and now this..."
"Please Chief, I'd rather not talk about Victoria," Carlton said.
Karen giggled. 'She is so beautiful when she does that.' he thought.
"What? What did I say?" He asked.
"You called me Chief!" Karen said.
"Er, sorry, Karen, it's a habit…"
"Back to the issue at hand... Is she someone I know? I know you once had a thing for O'Hara."
"Karen, no, no, she's my partner. That's completely, that would be out of line."
"It didn't stop you before. I saw the way you look at her, when you think no one is watching. The way you show off whenever Mr. Spencer is around."
"Karen, I never had a "thing" for O'Hara. She is my partner. She's a good detective; she's good at what she does. And I don't show off when Spencer is around."
Karen smirked. She was right and she knew it. He had had a thing for Juliet. Quite possibly, he still did.
"Alright Carlton, if it's not your partner, then why do you always act differently when you and O'Hara are meeting with Mr. Spencer and Mr. Guster in my office? At briefings?"
A sudden movement caught her eye, but it was just their waitress, moving to talk to the hostess across the room. Karen read her lips.
"That couple over there," she said, jerking her head towards them, "I went to serve them drinks and I heard the man say he has feelings for someone else, but was still technically married, and he doesn't have a wedding ring on. It sounded like he was admitting to an affair, but the woman didn't seem to mind, she just looked at him," the waitress said.
"That seems a bit suspicious. I know we were told to keep an eye out for strange behavior today, and report anything we saw to security... Do you think I should call?" The hostess said.
"Wait until I bring their food out, I could have misheard."
"Carlton," Karen whispered, leaning across the table towards him. "We need to talk about something else. Our waitress thinks we are the suspicious behavior they were warned about."
"What? How? We are…" he said furiously, moving to pull his badge out of his pocket.
"No Carlton. When she brought the drinks she thought you were admitting to an affair. And you're not wearing a wedding ring," Karen said.
"Shoot, I'm sorry Karen."
"Here, just switch hands, put your left under the table, now scoot your chair over here," Karen said.
"Why don't I just casually slip my badge onto the table when she brings the food?" Carlton argued.
"Someone else might see it," Karen whispered. "Now scoot your chair over this way." Carlton obeyed, and put his left hand under the table, holding her hand with his right. They were now sitting next to each other, which decimated their full circle view of the restaurant. The waitress brought their food. She eyed them suspiciously as she set down the plates.
Carlton looked at Karen. Karen looked at him. He leaned closer and closer until his lips met hers. She was a little shocked. 'This is Carlton Lassiter kissing me,' she thought. 'But it's for the case. It's not cheating on James if it's for the case,' she thought, and she kissed him back.
'Her lips are so soft, he thought, as he reached up to cup her cheek. Karen leaned away from him.
"Carlton, I see them," Karen said. She picked up her purse just as her phone started ringing.
"Vick," she said, answering it.
"Four young male suspects just entered the restaurant. Do you see them?" Juliet asked.
"Yep. What's the next move?"
"Sit tight until we have enough PC to arrest them. We're working on it," Juliet said.
"Okay," Karen replied. In the background she heard Juliet arguing.
"Is everything alright, O'Hara?"
The arguing continued. Then Juliet said, "Yeah."
"Who were you just arguing with?"
"Shawn. He wanted to talk to you, but it's not important, so I told him it could wait."
"Okay. Keep us posted," Karen said before pressing the end call button. She left her purse in her lap and her phone on the table.
"And now we wait," she said, and picked up her fork. The group of men were seated at a nearby table, and ordered their drinks. Carlton offered her a bite of his steak, and she accepted, eating it off of his fork as if that was normal. She offered him some of her shrimp and held out her fork.
They talked about normal things, like the weather, and their hobbies, and how little Iris was doing. They didn't talk about work, or about Karen's husband or Lassiter's mystery crush. From an outsider's point of view, they looked like a couple, not undercover cops, while all that time they were watching the suspects table.
They had long since finished their lunches and were just sitting talking when the men pulled their guns under the table. Karen's hand shot into her purse and grabbed her gun and badge. She slipped the lanyard over her neck and stood up; her purse falling from her lap. She kept the gun hidden under the table as she loudly announced to the room,
"Everyone get down, now. SBPD, get down, now," she yelled flashing her badge.
Couples all around the room ducked under their tables. The men at the table jumped into action, two pulling their guns on the detectives, the other two trying to flee. Karen and Carlton ducked behind a decorated support beam as the men began firing at them. SWAT flooded the room, surrounding the shooters, and chasing the two that tried to escape. Karen peeked around the post and fired a few shots at the shooters. SWAT was closing in.
Karen ducked back, narrowly avoiding the barrage of bullets that came whizzing past. Carlton peeked around and fired, and didn't duck back fast enough. Karen watched, horrified as he fell out into the open. She crept as close to him as she could, but she was still too far away to tell how badly he was hurt.