Raven
Stepping out of the café and into the bright morning light was like stepping into the freezer section of your local grocery store. I kinda liked it. Stepping further out onto the sidewalk, I closed my eyes and breathed in the heady scent of a small town in winter. The air was crisp and I could feel my throat ache at the cold, but I didn't mind it so much. Not when it carried the scents of warm food and drinks coupled with the faint scent of exhaust. The sounds of the café behind me mingled with the sounds of far off voices and vehicles as Polis began to wake up from a night of revelry.
I opened my eyes and smiled slightly as I recalled last night. It had been the right call to accept Lincoln and Lexa's invitation to attend their New Year's Eve party. I felt my smile grow even wider as I recalled exactly how I spent the first few hours of the new year. I shook my head to keep myself from going back and having my way with Frankie one last time. Instead, I focused on my surroundings and noticed that Clarke's truck was still parked where she'd left it last night. It made me wonder where she had spent the night or if she'd gotten a ride back to the house.
Walking closer, I noticed someone poking around the truck. I picked up my pace and recognized Anya.
Getting suspicious, I demanded, "What the hell do you think you're doing? That's not your truck."
Anya jumped and spun around at the same time. Looking guilty, she replied, "I'm, um…It's an unfamiliar vehicle and I was just checking to see if there's anything identifying the owner."
"That's not what it looked like from my point of view," I countered, glaring at her.
Becoming defensive, she replied, "Look here, as Deputy Mayor it's my responsibility to make sure that unfamiliar vehicles are safe. What if this was a bomb? It could potentially take out this whole block."
"Oh, that's bullshit. If that was true, you would have immediately called the sheriff's office. Now, tell me what were you doing to my friend's truck."
Anya's eyes widened in mock surprise and said, "This is your friend's truck. I had no idea."
"Yeah, right. I'm pretty sure you took note of everyone's vehicle when you came to pick Lexa up from our house. Try again."
"I don't have to tell you anything," Anya said, body tensing as she snarled and glared at her.
"Then I suggest you take a hike before I call the sheriff's department and have you arrested for tampering with a vehicle," I threatened, stepping into Anya's space.
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me, Cheekbones. I'm not afraid of you or your position. I've dealt with worse people than you," she growled.
"I'm done with shit," Anya said, backing up, spinning on her heel and beginning to walk away.
Needing to have the last word, yelling after her, "That's right. Walk away while you still can."
Anya's response was to throw up a middle finger, making me laugh derisively. As soon as Anya was out of sight, I bent down to look underneath Clarke's truck. Testing the break lines to make sure they weren't loose and the nuts that held the hard lines in place. I didn't find anything that she could see just giving it a cursory look. Hopping back up, I tried every door to make sure that they were still locked which they were. I sighed in relief but decided I didn't want to take a chance and have Clarke drive it until she was able to really look it over.
Pulling out her phone, I Googled the closest tow truck and called them to come and take the truck to their house. Since I had about a twenty minute wait, I called Clarke to let her know what happened and to find out exactly where'd she spent the night.
Clarke answered on the third ring and the first words out of my mouth was, "Hey, Clarkey, so there's something I gotta tell you…"