Chapter 4.

Dennis Booker stared across the small, dim room, his dark eyes deeply pondering how to get through to Hoffs. Her back remained turned to him, Judy's slim brown figure accentuated by the strings of a pink bikini top, her thick curls loose and pushed to the front of one shoulder. Dennis averted his gaze down to the blue tile floor, his confidence admittedly shaken. Her words still hung in the air, I wonder what's keeping Hanson. Booker knew that for whatever goddamned reason, the woman who held his own heart was feeling another man. But he didn't have to accept it. He began to pace back and forth, staring down at the cheap, chipped floor, still wearing only a bathrobe, his dark hair and features contrasting against the white.

"Dennis, what's wrong?" Hoffs interrupted his trance, her brown eyes wide and showing concern, blue earrings dangled delicately at the sides of her face, a warm breeze entering the room through the open patio doors. "You've been acting odd all day."

"Judy…" Booker said softly, dark eyes cutting back across the room to where she stood. Her expression seemed startled, the seriousness of Booker's tone even surprising himself.

"The beautiful weather has you down?" Hoffs joked back, clearly nervous. She moved past the motel room's two full beds, headed to the outside door. "Hanson is probably waiting for us. I think we should go look—" Booker stepped softly in front her, his body blocking her way and hand pressing against the white door.

"Okay. But give me just one minute to say this. Please?" Booker's usual bravado had all but disappeared, rendering him able to speak softly and earnestly in a way that few people ever saw. Judy had seen it before though. Booker lifted his hand to brush the side of her face, running the back of his hand down and across her collar bone slowly.

Hoffs stepped back. "Dennis. I thought we agreed a long time ago to be just friends."

"I know." He paused, looking at her still, an unusual openness in his chiseled face. "But I was wrong, Judy. Truthfully, you could never be 'just' anything to me."

"Dennis…" she began. Hoffs forced a smile again, tentative, trying to ease the thickness of the mood. "Come on now, Detective Booker. What is this? 'Rocky?'" She motioned with her eyes to his body blocking her passage through the door.

"I saw you outside the chapel with Hanson earlier," Booker interjected, stepping back. Hoofs blinked, and then sincerely relaxed her posture, laughing.

"So that's what this is all about. You and Hanson, and the never ending rivalry. Geez Book—" she started in again before he cut her off.

"Judy I'm in love with you," he said loudly, softly grabbing her by the arms to bring Judy's eyes to meet his own. "I always have been. Never mind Hanson. My feelings for you are my own."

Judy turned her head to the side, momentarily avoiding Dennis' gaze, speechless. She thought back to when Booker used to work as part of the team at Jump Street, remembering the first day they met at the chapel. He'd started flirting with her immediately. They spent one night together, just talking, getting to know one another. Hanson got so mad. After Booker admitted to being IA, Judy lost some of her trust in him and told him so. That's when he said that they should just be friends and maintain a professional relationship. She might never have spoken to him again after that, except Booker stayed on at Jump Street and proved himself to be a real friend. She remembered a night not too long before he had to leave the program, after they closed that fake hate crime case with the college radio DJ, and how Dennis had called her out on-air, apologizing for a misunderstanding between them and telling her how much he cared about her as a friend.

"I'm with Hanson now, Dennis," Judy finally gathered herself and said apologetically. She tried to smile and dissipate the energy between them in the room. She tried to step away from him again, her back now pressed against the door, Booker's hold releasing. "Besides, you said yourself once before that it could never work between us." Booker inched closer. This time keeping his hands down. He tilted his face down level to hers, only a few inches between them. Hoffs could feel Booker's body heat on her own, the open folds of his robe dancing against her skin.

"Nah, Judy. I never said 'never.'" Dennis held her eyes with his own intense gaze. "And for that matter, neither did you."

"Dennis, I—"

"I wanna be with you, Judy. Like cut the bull, no games, no cool guy. I wanna be your man… pretty much more than I've wanted anything else in life." As Booker looked down into her eyes, Hoffs looked back, clearly confused. He did not take for granted that she hadn't said 'no.' Dennis moved in closer, their two faces barely apart.

"Give me a chance, Judy. That's all I'm asking you. If you can honestly tell me that you don't feel anything between us, then I'll drop it right now. But if you can't…"

Just as Booker pressed forward to kiss her, they both heard and felt a loud banging on the door and Judy fell forward into Dennis' arms suddenly, both of them stumbling to stay standing.

"What the heck guys! You're all taking for-ever!" Doug Penhall barged into the room, looking around, totally oblivious to the moment he'd just interrupted, hair slicked back and floral shirt left unbuttoned and open.

"Jesus, Penhall!" Booker fumed at his friend, releasing Judy. "Don't you knock?"

"No, he doesn't," Harry Ioki replied flatly, walking in behind Doug. Unlike his more brash partner, the scene they'd just interrupted hadn't been lost on Harry. He looked slowly from Hoffs to Dennis.

"Where's Hanson?" Penhall asked, still oblivious, plopping down on a bed.

"You okay, Jude?" Harry asked his close friend and partner, noting her apparent surprise. Harry shot a suspicious look at Booker who turned away.

. . . . .

Tom Hanson watched as his new admirer Lydia, small but pushy, latched a hand onto his left shoulder. Her bright turquoise bikini matched the hot tub water so much that she appeared to be floating, beside him, instead of sitting back along the tub wall. To her left, Hanson noticed a young couple whispering playfully into one another's ears, giant glass bottles in each of their hands.

"They've got cans and cups around here, you know," Hanson pointedly stated in the couple's direction, to no response. He felt irritated, but not by the kids, but because of having started the undercover assignment early, before being able to spend time with Judy. I'm taking off soon if this girl doesn't offer a good lead on any party drugs, Hanson thought to himself, raising a wet hand to push back the hair from his brow.

"You feel totally tense, Tommy Ryans," the Lydia girl purred into Hanson's ear, as if on cue. "I can help." She pushed him slightly forward and moved her own body to slide behind his. The girl flipped her long dark hair, yet again, in a way that she clearly though to be sensual. Hanson forced a tight smile.

"I thought you said there'd be… 'party favors' here," Hanson said to her, fishing for information to help the case. "All I see are cheap six packs and moldy bongs." Before he could continue, Hanson felt Lydia press her chest and stomach against him from the back and start to massage his shoulders.

"I know something better you might like," Lydia giggled into his ear. She nearly fell face forward into the water when Hanson stood up quickly and turned to get out of the whirlpool. "What's the problem, Tommy?" The young girl giggled again and grabbed onto his waist from behind.

Two human shadows cast over them on an otherwise sunny, tropical day.

"Well 'that' doesn't look like too much fun to me," Detective Hoffs spoke sternly and mocking, suddenly at the side of the hot tub, hand on her hip and glaring down at the girl in the bright turquoise bikini. Judy really wanted to laugh out loud at the sight of Hanson clearly being unnerved by a 90-pound girl, but she played tough, also forcing the thought of Booker's earlier confession out of her head. "What about you Dennis?"

"Tommy. You gonna introduce your big brother to your new friend?" Booker replied, also refocused on business, his head cocked and looking devilishly at the new girl. Booker raised his eyebrows in a dramatic appreciation.

"This is Lydia," Hanson said quickly looking up at Judy. He got out of the pool and slid an arm around Hoffs' slim waist. He nodded toward Booker. "My brother, Dennis Ryans. And, my girl, Judy McQuaid."Hanson then looked down to keep from laughing to himself. Booker rolled his eyes.

"Oh…" Lydia replied, her bright blue eyes looking embarrassed—and intimidated—by the dramatic and icy stare from Hoffs. "I'm really sorry…"

"I'm not," Booker piped back in, and reached down, motioning for Lydia to accept his hand to get out of the pool. She smiled and squealed as he pulled her out, like a doll, then once she was on land kissed her hand. "Forget about him, sweetheart. You're just now meeting the best part of our family." Booker winked seductively. Lydia smiled, clearly already moving on from her previous crush.

"So we just got here," Booker continued, his deep eyes focused on Lydia. "You know where we can find a party that's not such a geek fest?" Booker raised his arm and motioned around the pool and courtyard to young people passed out on lawn chairs and throwing up in bushes. On the opposite side of the courtyard, he saw Penhall and Ioki chatting with a group of young guys, all standing in line for a game of beer pong.

"My sorority sisters all got invited out to a big rager later tonight out on Playa del Rey," Lydia answered, focused on Dennis and flipping her hair more boldly. "It's a real pretty beach about ten miles from here. Lots of private spots."

"I don't know if you and your girls are really the type of people I feel like hanging out with," Hoffs cut in, still pretending to be salty over Lydia's play for Hanson. "Besides," Judy began, appraising the younger woman bitchily, "you don't look like the sort to really party."

As if on cue, Lydia flipped her hair once more and stepped up to Judy for a potential face off.

"Look chick," the girl began, "I said I was sorry about your boyfriend. But I'm over that." Lydia glanced back and winked at Booker. "So we can all party together. Or you can stay in your room all night and sulk, while I take him out. Oh, and I don't know where you're from, but me and my girls can hang. As a matter of fact, we've got a hook up to some stuff that'll make you feel, like, out of this world."

"Promises, promises," muttered Hanson.

"I'm serious!" Lydia replied annoyed.

"Hmph," Judy said, shrugging her shoulders, and pushed back her own long curls in a mocking gesture that Lydia clearly missed. "So you'd share?"

"For a new friend, I would." Lydia looked back at Booker again, then extended her hand to Judy. "Call it even?"

"Even," Judy consented.

"Sounds like things are about to get interesting," Booker added.

"Good!" Hanson declared loudly. So when and where can we meet you two? Later."

"Two hours from now," Lydia grinned. "Right back here. You can join up with my gang and we'll all head over to the beach together. "For now, you can definitely come with me, Dennis. I have a feeling that you and I are going to get along great."

As Hoffs and Hanson turned to leave, Booker felt his heart sink. "Hey! Take care of her, brother." Booker called out. Judy may have just been adjusting her swim top, but he thought he saw her look back at him before continuing to walk away.