Twelfth part – Stand by

Song : Syml – Wildfire

When I woke up, I was alone in my bed. Street was not there. I didn't dream : yesterday night, he came back to my apartment and lay next to me. He had felt asleep very quick. I should have done the same shortly after him. I heard noise coming from the kitchen. Street had to be there.

I got up and found no one in the kitchen, neither in the apartment. The noise I had heard was the curtain hitting the window. I was disappointed. I was alone. Street had gone and we didn't have the chance to talk about what had happened last night.

In fact, I didn't know if I was ready to talk. I just admitted to myself maybe it would be a good idea to make words on what had happened since the last 6 weeks. I went for a run in the afternoon. It was the first time I ran since the explosion. It was like I was born again. I felt free, finally myself. I was very careful and didn't run for long as the doctor had ordered me.

I spent the rest of the weekend at home. I watched movies and TV shows. My uncle Sarzo came to visit me. He was glad I was doing fine. He confessed me all the family was very anxious about what had happened to me. I really loved my family but sometimes they were worrying about me too much. I knew they were not happy I was a cop. They would have loved me to choose a job less dangerous. They always supported me by the way. But they remained stressed about what could happen to me when I was on the job.

On Monday morning, I woke up at 6. I was so hurried to go back to work. I had so missed this! And honestly, I needed something to forget about my personal life. It was so messy… I forced me to put barriers between my professional life and my personal life. Especially after what had happened with Thompson. Then, Street entered my life and everything was upside-down.

I arrived to the headquarters very early. It was good to be in the locker room, smell the sport room and hear the sound of shoot room. I meandered in the headquarters for about half an hour before the team took its shift. As I was walking to the briefing room, I saw Street. He said hello by nodding at me. I smiled and kept walking to meet the team. The guys arrived just a couple of minutes later. Street was the first to enter and before we had the time to share a word, Hondo, Tan, Luca and Deac entered the room. It was so good to see them! They hugged me and told me how they were glad I was finally back. I was happy to be here. I couldn't stop smiling.

Stret finally came to see me and like the others, he hugged me. But this time, it felt different. I was happy when Hondo, Tan, Luca and Deac had hugged me but with Street, it was not the same. I hugged him harder. I didn't want to let him go but I had to. We had to start to work.

Rokker and his team and located the Sczenik cousins in a warehouse near West Hollywood. Since Saturday, no one had got out of the place. Rokker and his men had looked after the warehouse for the whole weekend and nothing had happened. What could they prepare? Why did they get out of their hideout? Why now? Hondo told the guys they had to go there and arrest the guys and I couldn't stop worrying. What if it happened the same thing it had happened last time? I could stop thinking about the explosion and Hondo and I getting hurt…

the cousins Street looked at me and understood I was scared for my team, for my friends, for him. He squeezed my arm as a way to tell me everything was gonna be OK. He slowly came closer to my ear and whispered "Everything will be OK. No need to worry. We're gonna arrest these guys and send them to jail….Especially after what they did to you…". This guy could really read in my mind and it was disturbing. I looked at him in the eyes. I couldn't say a word even though I wanted to thank him for everything he did. I gave him a smile to show him I was reassured or at least, to make him believe so.

The field operation was stressful. I bit my nails". Hicks saw me and told me everything would be over soon, that I had no need to worry. Hondo and the team were good. This time, the Sczenik cousins had no idea they had been noticed. They didn't even know they were about to be arrested. And he was right. The operation was a full success. The team arrested the cousins so quickly, I didn't even realize the case was over for good.

When the team came back to the headquarter, I asked Hondo to be one of the questioners. I really needed to take an active part in the arrest of these guys. They hurt me so deeply, they made me lost a part of my confidence, they hurt my boss, my pride. I had to take them down even if I couldn't be on the field. Hondo approved my request. I came in the first interrogation room with him. I saw the others go the next rooms.

When I entered the room, I was face to face with Roman Sczenik. Roman was the head of the gang, the mastermind of the group. I asked all the questions, Hondo let me lead the interrogation. He probably knew I needed it to feel better. At first, Roman was arrogant. He made me understand he was the one with the power. He couldn't stop taunting at me. That was then I got out the file I was hiding under my jacket since the beginning. I listed all the clues we had against him and his cousins. He kept mocking.

So I used the second list I had in my file . It contained the confessions of the security guard we arrested early on, the reports of their old criminal activities in Poland and in the US and most important, the file included incriminating evidence against his wife and the wives of his cousins. As soon as I told him about this information, he became paler and paler. Her mocking smile had gone away. He seemed lost, afraid… Then, I hit him with the explosion and the fact that it almost killed my boss and I. I told him that he'd better be confessing … At least for saving his wife because he – for sure was going to jail for a long time. That was the moment I knew I had broken him. His face was motionless, he lost every trace of mockery or disdain. He confessed his role in the robberies, how he planned them with his cousins and other accomplices, where the money was hidden and how they planned to flee from the US in the next days.

I did it! He confessed and all because of my work! Oh God, How I loved my job ! Hondo congratulated me and offered drinks to the whole team. We went to the locker room, the day was already over and we went to our favorite bar. It felt so good to be back with them, to be part of the team, to work, to try to make the world better.

We left the bar hours later. As I was about to call a taxi, Street asked me if I needed a ride. I nodded and sat behind him. It was good to feel him so close. We didn't say a word during the ride. I thought each of us was lost in mind. He dropped me in fornt of my building. I thanked him and he drove away. Even if I had had a great evening, the beginning of my night was a little bitter.

I came in my apartment, took a shower and put my pajamas. Before going to bed, I ate some biscuits. Then I reached my bed and lay down under my quilt. I was thinking about this day, my first day back at work, this magical evening. I smiled, I was a lucky girl whatever I could have thought earlier when Street dropped me by my apartment.

All of a sudden, I panicked. A key noise was coming from my door. Someone was in my living room ! I had to find my gun and... Before I had the time to make any move, I saw Street opened the bedroom door. He stared at me , said no word and the lay down next to me. I was so scared I sat in my bed. He remained still, didn't say a word. I lay down and put the quilt over me. That was when I felt her arm around my waist. I didn't push him away. We needed each other more than we could say.

The morning after when I woke up to go to work, he was still there. Her am was still on my waist and I didn't know why we both smiled...