Joanne was sitting at her desk at her home office when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind. She patted Maureen's arms.
"What's up, Honeybear?" she asked.
"I'm bored," Maureen complained. "Are you almost done?" Joanne put down her pen.
"I can take a break right now for you." Maureen began to kiss Joanne tenderly. Joanne stroked Maureen's cheek softly with the back of her hand. The phone rang, ruining the moment. Joanne broke off the kiss and picked up the phone on her desk. "Hello?" Maureen leaned against the large desk that fit in the far corner of the room. "Oh hi Olivia!" Maureen looked up. "What can I do for you?" Joanne stopped while Olivia replied. "Of course, we'll be right down. Okay, bye."
"What did Olivia want?" Maureen asked after Joanne hung up the phone.
"She wants us to come down to the precinct right away, it's important," Joanne replied. Maureen's heart skipped a beat; she didn't know what to think of this emergency.
Olivia looked up from her mountain of paperwork to see Maureen and Joanne entering the precinct. She stood up and to greet her old friends.
"How are you doing, Maureen?" Olivia asked.
"Pretty good," Maureen replied.
"That's good. Why don't we go into the room over here to talk? Elliot should be joining us in a second." Maureen and Joanne followed Olivia to a free room to talk in private. As soon as they sat down, Elliot came into the room.
"Hello Joanne, Maureen," he said.
"Hello."
"Hi." Elliot took a seat next to Olivia across from Maureen and Joanne.
"We got a call from Rikers Island today, where Dan Keyes has been detained for the past year," Olivia started. "Somehow, Dan managed to escape from police custody while being transferred to another facility." Maureen's face fell.
"What? That bastard's loose somewhere in the City!? I thought you were going to keep me safe!"
"We are going to keep you safe," Elliot said. "That's why we're going to have an officer stay on your apartment twenty-four seven. If Dan tries to get near you, someone will be there to protect you." Maureen was still crying. Joanne wrapped her arms around her to calm her down while Olivia went to go get her some water.
"What's being done to find Dan?" Joanne asked Elliot.
"We have people working around the clock to find him. Everything that can be done to find him is being done." Olivia handed Maureen a bottle of water. Maureen opened it and took a small sip.
"We'll get a squad car to talk you home," Olivia told her and Joanne. Joanne nodded gratefully.
"Thank you," she said. Once Maureen had calmed down a little, she and Joanne got in a squad car to get home. The entire way home, Maureen stared out the window silently. Joanne rubbed her thigh to keep her calm. Both were trying to figure out what the next step in the healing process was.
A/N: Yet again, another short chapter. My apologies.
Tina101