Chapter Four

"Well, based on what you have explained in your statement, Agent Warner, I'm questioning why your gun had even been out in the first place." I said, leaning back in my chair, watching as she sighed, still frustrated that I didn't have the same viewpoint on the issue as she had. We had been arguing like this for about an hour now after I had found some problem areas in her statement.

I watched as she crossed her right leg over her left, leaning back on the chair before answering me again. I knew she had to think about every answer that came out of her mouth because if she slipped, she'd be cut from my team. "C.A. Bevier, as I had explained in the report, we hadn't known what was going to happen in that situation. Based on the suspects background, I had found it necessary to have my firearm out at the time." She repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. I sighed in frustration at her childish mind, starting to shake at how pissed off I was getting at how dumb she was acting.

"Agent Warner, do you know the hiring process I go through to have all of the agents that I do on my team, including you?" I asked, getting up from my chair, moving around my desk to lean on the front of it, resting a few inches from her crossed legs as she straightened them to maintain distance from me. "No, Ma'am." She said, I could tell she had started to grow nervous as she switched her sitting position yet again, crossing her legs in the other direction. "Well, I am in contact with the best agency's all over the country. All of you come with highly qualified backgrounds. Every so often when I lose an agent due to them being removed, I send out recommendation requests to all of the agency's then review who they recommend. Not one of you came because you knew someone, and I make sure you would all be a highly valued asset to my team." I said honestly, watching her nod her head in understanding, running her hand over the back of her neck.

"With that being said, do you really think I believe the bullshit excuse you wrote in your report?" I questioned, her eyes no longer meeting mine as her face turned red, not being able to answer my rhetorical question. "You were in a crowd full of innocent people, you could have had a casualty, which I do not put up with. In all of your teammates reports, none of them had their firearms out. They chose the smarter route and had their tasers, which were pointed to the ground. In a crowd that size, you can't risk it, you just can't. Now, if you were in my position, what would you do?" I asked, noticing how red her face was getting as she refused to meet my eyes.

"I would have myself removed." She finally stated weakly, her hand shaking as she ran it over the knee of her black pants. I took my time to respond, thinking of all of her accomplishments she had during her time with my team. I can't let her go, even if she had acted incorrectly. "Since I am feeling generous today, and may I add that any other day I would have already removed your ass, I am going to suspend you for two weeks. Is that understood, Agent Warner?" Her head flew up in surprise as she stood, her gaze finally meeting mine as I looked into her blue eyes. "Yes C.A. Bevier, thank you ma'am, once I'm back I won't let you down." She said before walking out, leaving me alone in my office.

Once I was alone with my thoughts, I remembered the piece of paper that was still in my pocket, where it had been housed for almost a week now. Everyday, it felt like it was going to burn a hole through my pants and skin, but I had yet to pull it out and open it. I had only moved it to put in a different pair of pants, still not brave enough to stare at its contents. I sighed and sat in my chair again, closing the file that I did not have the heart to finish. There was now two different piles of files on my desk. One for my team, the others that would be put in a locked drawer once I left my office, the confidential files.

I leaned back to stare at my beige ceiling when Monty burst in, not even knocking. His eyes immediately finding the gray files that were next to the beige files. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, making himself comfortable in the chair across from my desk. "Because it doesn't pertain to you?" I replied, raising my eyebrow as he chuckled and shook his head. "What did you have planned today?" He asked, wearing a random shirt and blue jeans, his pistol at his hip. "I was going to go home and clean my guns, then maybe go to the gym." I said, hearing his laughter boom and hit the walls of my office, making it ten times louder. Why the hell was this oaf of a man even this loud, and my god why did I tolerate him enough to call him my friend?

"That's just hilarious Bevier, holy shit you should be a comedian." He said, wiping a fake tear from his eye. What the hell was he up to, why was he reacting this way to something I usually did on a Saturday night? "What do you want Monty?" I questioned, starting to feel anxious by his antics, knowing he had something planned. "Here's what you're going to do Bevier, you're going to pull that damn piece of paper out of your pocket and you're going to ask her out to lunch. THEN, you're just going to hang out with her, get to know her. AND, lastly you're going to apologize for being an asshole that night, do you understand?" He said, steel lacing his voice as he stood, leaning over my desk to try and intimidate me. Honestly though I could have killed him three different way just from where I was sitting, so I wasn't nervous at all.

I started to grow angry at him, feeling as though he was pushing me into her. He was not letting me do this at my pace. But to be honest, my pace was that of an elderly snail. I sighed, flicking my hand at him. "Out" I simply stated, watching as he faltered slightly and left, I knew I was starting to piss him off with how stubborn I was being.

My eyes fell on the empty space on my desk, staring at it as my mind went blank, trying to push away all of the thoughts I had of Lyndsey. With crushing force, the thoughts flew back when I had least expected them to, causing me to close my eyes and sigh again, taking the piece of paper from my pocket. I opened the small piece of white paper, finding messy handwriting that said Lyndsey's name along with her phone number. I pulled my phone out and dialed her number, hearing the dial tone in my ear as I started to grow nauseous, hoping and praying that she wouldn't answer my call.

"Hello?" I heard from my phone, causing my heart to tremble as I heard her soft voice fill my ear, causing my lips to curl into a small smile. "Hi, it's um... it's me" I said, realizing how dumb that actually sounded. How on earth would she know who me is, would she even be able to recognize my voice? Why in the hell was I so awkward with this, if there was someone watching me I would assume it would be just painful to watch. "Oh hey Audrey, I didn't think you would call me." I heard her respond, my eyes staring at random things as I thought about a reply. I was actually surprised that she would even still want to talk to me after I had been rude to her. But, she had offended me, and I don't take that lightly. This is why I am not able to maintain a relationship, I have no clue how women work, I was really at a loss here.

"I was um... I was wondering if you'd like to go to lunch today, say in an hour?" I asked, finding that I felt nervous that she would actually tell me no. In all honesty, I had never in my life had a woman tell me no. "Sure, I'd love to. I know just the place, I'll text you the address." I heard her end the call after this, leaving me alone with my thoughts as I put my phone down on the desk; putting the gray files into their locked drawer before standing, hearing my phone vibrate with a text from Lyndsey. I looked at the address for a few seconds before I decided to go home to change. Your girl was going on a lunch date, an actual lunch date. God help me.

I continued to stare at myself in the mirror, trying to judge if this outfit was suitable for a lunch date. I was wearing black vans, black pants, with a nice red sweater, my gun holster securely in place as I tied my hair back. My hair never looked right when I left it down, so the only time I would let it down was for a shower, and to sleep. I checked the time on my Timex watch, realizing I had only a few minutes to get to the restaurant. I hurried up and jumped into my car, starting to drive towards where I was to meet Lyndsey.

I sat in the restaurant parking lot for awhile, trying to assess the people that were going in. This looked to be the type of restaurant that middle class or even upper middle class people went to. They were dressed nice but the prices on the menus would still seem affordable to them. After I realized I was taking too long with my assessment, I stepped out of my car and into the cool air, checking the time to see it was 13:00 in the afternoon, I was right on time. I was hoping that she would already be there, but that I hadn't kept her waiting for very long.

I stepped into the large restaurant, peoples conversations filling my ears as the smell of good food filled my nostrils, making me realize how little I'd eaten today. One of the waiters noticed that I had been standing by the podium, staring at everyone in the room. "How can I help you ma'am?" He asked, watching as his eyes went down to find my pistol, looking slightly nervous. "I mean, officer." He corrected, forcing myself to smile at him. "Well, I'm meeting someone but I'm not sure if she's here yet. She has long blonde hair, she's maybe a few inches shorter than I am." I said, trying to generalize my thoughts of her. I had wanted to tell him that she was the most beautiful person in this restaurant, but my definition of beauty and his wasn't going to be the same.

"I think I know who you're talking about, right this way." He then took off in a random direction in the restaurant, weaving me by people eating and having conversations. Some of the people would stop mid bite to look at me, not hiding the fact that they had been staring, some people even had the audacity to smirk and wink at me as I battled to hide my disgust at them. Finally I had seen her back facing me, her long hair falling behind her back as I saw the edge of the opened menu fill my gaze. I watched her slowly turn the page of the menu, my eyes shooting down to look at her ass.

I shook my head at the inappropriate thoughts as I startled her, watching her eyes smile before her actual lips did, putting her menu down to greet me. "Lyndsey." I greeted, watching her smile and tilt her head to the side, assessing me. I looked her up and down completely, not letting any inch of her covered body escape my eyes. She was wearing nice shoes, black pants, and a nice loose fitting white shirt, her black bra showing through. I took this time to stare at the tattoos that were on both of her arms, trying to make them out without seeming like I was staring for too long.

"Audrey, I wanted to apologize for-" I cut her off by raising my hand to silence her, watching as her eyes met mine. I felt myself begin to melt, loving the way the light in the restaurant hit her face. It made her all the more captivating. "You don't need to apologize for anything Lyndsey, you didn't know. I overreacted when I shouldn't have. Most of the things that you find normal, I haven't done, it's that simple." I said, watching her nod in understanding. She lifted her menu again, reading over it as I did the same, staring at everything that looked good. The waiter came a few minutes later, asking what we had wanted to drink. The waiter seemed to be in his early twenties, his hands behind his back as he leaned towards us to hear our answers.

"Water" I simply stated, listening as Lyndsey ordered the same thing before he was off to find the pitcher of water. She then lowered her menu slightly, I could feel her begin to stare as I struggled to continue looking at my menu, watching her out of the tops of my vision so she wouldn't know I had caught her. She then leaned back in her chair, fully putting the menu down, taking a full assessment of me while my mind raced towards the conclusions that she could come to. She could find me unappealing, unintelligent, annoying even after I had overreacted towards her seemingly innocent comment. She might even view me as sheltered and unsocial.

I placed my menu down as well, my eyes finding hers, daring her to look away as she continued to stare at me. What surprised me the most was when I pulled my eyes away first, staring at the waters the waiter had just brought over. "What will you be having today, officer?" He asked, looking down at me as I tried to contain my annoyance with him. "I'll have the steak, medium well." I replied, watching as he memorized my order then looked at Lyndsey, waiting for her. Once the waiter had left, there was a silence between us that I couldn't break, I have no clue what people talk about on dates, do they talk about their jobs, their past loves, what is it?

My eyes found Lyndsey's hands as she moved the silverware and clothe napkin from in front of her, placing her elbows on the table as she leaned up, looking at me. "Why did he call you officer?" She asked, causing me to smile. "Because when people see someone with a gun, they automatically assume they are an officer." I responded, watching her smile and chuckle as she shook her head. "So, where are you from?" She asked as I continued to take in her beauty.

"I'm from Springfield, Illinois." I lied, watching a look of surprise fill her face as she nodded. "Wow, you're far away from home then. I'm from Lowell, Massachusetts." She responded, causing me to actually laugh at her response. "What are you talking about I'm far away from home, you're farther than I am!" I said, causing her face to turn red as she laughed along with me. "What do you do with private security?" I heard her ask, running her fingers over the tablecloth as she looked down at it. I watched her fingers move over the material, trying desperately to fight the urge to have her run her hand down my cheek.

"Well, it can consist of a lot of things. For me, I make sure that the safety features of a building are up to code, I make sure no one gets in that's not supposed to. I keep in constant contact with the owner to ensure a good relationship. For me, I'm a private contractor so I'm not only working for one person, I can work for several." I said, watching her absorb all of the information I had just told her.

"So you're always working?" She asked, causing me to nod. "How is the music going?" I asked, watching her face light up. "We're actually working on new stuff right now, but nothing will be released for awhile." She said, watching as her face filled with joy. "I really enjoyed the show awhile back, you have such a beautiful voice." I said earnestly. Her face turned red as our food was placed in front of us, her eyes too afraid to meet mine again. "Thank you." She said shyly, causing me to smile. It was clear that I had an effect on this woman, but I wasn't sure how to go about showing her that she already had an effect on me. Was I supposed to kiss her? Hold her? How the hell do you even hold someone correctly? Would I just know how to?

All of those questions went off in my brain as we began to eat. After a few bites I began to pick at my food, thinking about how to show her that she was so captivating to me. I watched a shadow fall onto our table before I looked up, looking directly into Vivian's eyes. "Vivian." I stated, watching as Lyndsey put her silverware down, staring at me, then the woman standing to the side of me with confusion on her face. "Hey babe, looks like you're having a good time. Is this your new whore, is one not enough for you any longer?" She questioned as my eyes shot over to meets Lyndsey's, her mouth falling open in hurt and shock. "Lyndsey no." I said before she got up, I watched as she went into the bathroom, Vivian following her.

I growled and followed behind them, throwing a hundred dollar bill onto the table before pushing the bathroom door open, stopping in my tracks. Vivian had Lyndsey pushed back against the wall of the bathroom, her hand wrapped around Lyndsey's throat as Lyndsey tried to grab at Vivian's hand. Without thinking I grabbed the knife from my shoe, placing my hand underneath Vivian's chin, lifting up to expose her throat. I held the knife close, cutting into the delicate skin slightly as I watched both Vivian and Lyndsey's eyes grow wide. "You let her go or I'll make you." I stated, a glare on my face as Vivian immediately let go of Lyndsey.

Good, she's safe now. That's all that I was really concerned about.

I grabbed Vivian by the throat, pushing her roughly into the wall as Lyndsey began to cough to get more air into her lungs. I watched as Vivian tried fighting my grasp to no avail, her face turning red. "If I wanted to I could crush your windpipe, killing you due to lack of oxygen. If you come anywhere near me again with this bullshit, you're not going to be so lucky, do you understand?" I questioned, loosening my grip to allow her enough air to get words out. "Yes." She choked out before I let her go. Before she was able to bend down and gasp for air, my fist connected with her jaw. I watched as she fell into the side of the stall next to her, still choking on air as she struggled to leave the bathroom, knowing damn well I would have continued if she hadn't of left.

I then realized how this had looked to Lyndsey. She's probably so afraid. I turned to find her looking at me with shock written all over her face. "I need to go." She finally said, leaving me alone in the bathroom. Fuck.

My feet immediately followed after her, not letting her out of my sight. "Lyndsey please, allow me to explain." I called out to her, pushing past people in the parking lot, trying to follow her. I watched as she took a few turns before I fully sprinted, catching up to her in an alley way. "Lyndsey please, stop walking." After the words had left my mouth she stopped, turning fully to look at me, tears in her eyes. It killed me when I saw those tears, they felt like a punch in the face, something that I had never wanted to see her do. "Who was she? Are you really like that?" She asked as I stopped walking towards her, my chest growing heavy as I stepped closer to her slowly.

I felt as if I had to tell her everything, that I needed to show her every part of me. "Lyndsey no, it's not like that. Yes, she was a girl that I had slept with for awhile, but that's it. I'm not sure if she thought we were actually dating but no, we weren't. I've never even had an actual relationship before, and I never wanted one until I had met you. You're just, my god you're so captivating and intriguing to me; I want to get to know you better but I have no clue how to. I have no clue on how to do any of this, Lyndsey. I'm really at a loss here. I understand if you don't want to continue whatever this is, just know that you've captivated my interest." I gushed out, her eyes immediately halting the tears as she continued to look at me, trying to assess if I was actually telling the truth.

To my surprise, she turned and walked away from me again, leaving me to stand in the alley. I caught up to her as she walked into a random apartment parking lot, grabbing her wrist gently to stop her. My heart was pounding, I had never felt this nervous in my life. I quickly turned her around to face me as she gave me little resistance and allowed me to push her back into a random car, pressing my body into hers, my lips inches from hers.

There was that smell again, the same one from after the concert, that one smell I had hoped I wouldn't crave. My mind was completely blank, I could only focus on how close she was to me, how I wanted her to be so much closer if that was possible. She rested her hands on my arms as I opened my eyes to look into hers, feeling my skin heat up at how close she was, I could feel her warm breath hit my face as her breathing picked up. "Lyndsey... Please tell me to stop." I begged softly, resting my forehead on hers. I felt drunk, that's the only way I can put it. It felt as if I was so intoxicated that my motor skills were jumbled, everything felt slow, it felt as if I didn't have control over anything I was doing.

"Audrey, I can't." She finally breathed out, igniting the heat in between my legs and in my stomach. I lost the last ounce of my composure as I closed the small distance between us, capturing her lips with mine. It had felt like time had stopped, my ears went deaf, my eyes blind, the only thing I could focus on was the eruption in my stomach, trying desperately to calm it as one of her hands went to rest on my cheek. My god this woman was amazing, I felt as if I had taken the best drug, she was giving me such an amazing high. I knew that if I had ever kissed another woman after her, I'd never get this feeling. I could search for years and never find anyone as intoxicating as her.

She began to move her lips against mine, her tongue gliding over my bottom lip as I allowed her entrance, her tongue exploring my mouth. Yes, I had kissed women before, but not one of them had the effect that she had on me. My hands grabbed her shirt, pulling her warm body closer to mine, hearing a soft noise escape her lips.

"Um... guys... I kinda have to get to work.." I snapped back to reality, looking to my right to see a guy that looked to be 18 standing next to us, wearing a McDonald's uniform. "Fuck.." I heard Lyndsey say softly as she stepped out of my grasp and away so that he could get into his car. I looked down at the ground, trying so hard to fight the urge to kiss her again, to feel that amazing high. I felt out of breath, that no amount of air would please my lungs, that no matter how many pumps my heart made, it wouldn't slow its pounding in my chest.

My heart continued to pound in my ears, causing me to lose a small amount of my hearing as I felt Lyndsey touch my arm to get my attention. I looked over to find that her face was as equally flushed as mine. Her hands grabbed the sides of my shirt, pulling me against her as she backed herself up against the wall next to her. If she didn't stop this, I felt as if my body would explode or shut down from all of the emotions I was feeling. It was a slightly uncomfortable feeling because nothing but her touch would ease it, but I wouldn't always have her touch. Before I could think about the emotional assault wrecking havoc on my body, her lips crashed against mine again, her hands still grasping the sides of my shirt.

My hands instantly cupped her cheeks, her soft skin greeting me as I smiled into the kiss, running my thumb over her cheek. I had no idea what I was doing; none at all. I had never had a kiss this passionate before, everything felt so exhilarating and foreign. My teeth sank into her bottom lip as I gently pulled, hearing a soft moan escape her lips as the oxygen got caught in my throat, almost choking me. And I thought her singing had been beautiful.

ringgg*

I jumped away from her as my phone started to ring, quickly trying to catch my breath before answering Monty's call. "What the hell do you want?" I asked angrily, looking over to find Lyndsey also catching her breath. "The team needs your guidance, I need you to get over to headquarters." He said, hearing the slight distress in his voice. When it was a small matter, Monty was my second in command, meaning he could lead the team if I wasn't there. I guess this one was more complicated than he had thought. "I'll be right there." I said before hanging up, meeting Lyndsey's gaze. "I.. I need to go." I said, not knowing how to say goodbye to her. I simply walked away, not looking back as I rushed to my car, driving straight towards headquarters.

"What do you need help with?" I demanded, walking into the command center, monitors aligning the entire wall. He had a headset on, which was used to keep in contact with the entire team when we weren't able to be there with them. He could speak and know all of their locations using the monitors on the wall. He tore the headset off, handing it to me. I put the headset on, looking through the camera on the leading agents body cam. "Tell me what's happening." I said, hearing him sigh, lowering his rifle slightly. "We're stuck C.A. Bevier, we can't get out." He simply said, I could hear the helplessness in his voice. What the hell were they doing? I didn't remember signing anything off to Monty before I had left?

I looked up at the monitors, seeing the locations of all the targets, they were blocked in. "Alright, you may lose some teammates, I'll be honest with you, there's no way around it. Now, what you need t-" I cut myself off, realizing what was happening.

I could seethe targets.

I took the headset off as slowly and calmly as possible, setting it back on its mount, turning to look at Monty. I cleared my throat, hitting the red button that was on the control panel, hearing the walls move back into place, my teammates also taking off their headsets. "Monty, would you like to tell me why you couldn't lead my team in a fucking scenario?!" I yelled, rage taking over my body as he looked at me, slightly afraid. My hands were shaking, I swear I could have beaten his ass for this, I really felt like I could have.

"Y... You said to call if I was ever in a bind and I was!" "It's a scenario Monty, no one was actually going to die if you failed. God are you honestly joking right now? I had to stop making out with Lyndsey to help you with a fucking scenario!" I yelled, throwing my hands into the air, watching as his jaw dropped. "Hold up! Little Bevier had her first real kiss!" He yelled, picking me up in a hug. "Monty I swear to god, if you don't put me down I'm snapping your neck." I growled, feeling him put me back down. "And don't call me little Bevier, that's just annoying." I said, his big smile still across his face, ignoring my comment.

I watched as he opened the command center door, allowing me to exit before him. "I'm sleeping over and we're talking all about this!" He squealed, grabbing my car keys for me.

I swear he's more of a sister than a best friend.