The diner was one of Holdway's favorite places to meet with his detectives. Usually moderately full, you were able to have a conversation without fears of being overheard, yet be at ease that having the sort of chats he and his underlings had would not gain suspicion from onlookers. Today, this would bee extremely important. Just a few days ago, an anonymous tip came from a man in the Caribbean that there would be an attempted heist on a local diamond wholesaler. Over a hundred million dollars worth of stones just there for the taking. Well, not if he could help it. As the new police chief of the station, he felt that he had to prove himself to the local precincts, and busting the heist of the century was just the way to accomplish this.
His fingers drummed lightly on the diner table as he waited for Detective Nuendyke, a young, ambitious officer, to arrive. He swore the boy had to have a death wish to willing take such an assignment, going undercover in a group of infamous criminals. But who was he to complain? At least he didn't have to put some unwilling man with a family on the job. Plus the ones with ambition always seemed to do a little bit better than the more seasoned vets anyway. Like himself, they felt that they had to prove themselves to the rest of the station.
With his mind on such thoughts, a man slipped into the other side of the booth across from him, folding his hands on the table. "You rang, Holdway?" he said in his usual, casual tone. As with most of his men, it was strange to see them out of the office, his usual uniform being replaced by a pair of faded blue jeans and a football t-shirt. His hair was not slicked back like it usually was on the job, but was parted casually down the middle, his sides framing his forehead in almost a heart like manner.
"I did. Glad to see you showed up. Now let's get down to business." He said, leaning across the table slightly and lowering his voice. "You said you wanted to accecpt this assignment, and this is what it entails. You're going to go undercover."
"That much I fucking know already."
"You're going to become one of the thieves who you are trying to bring down." Holdaway continued as if he hadn't even heard Freddy's interruption. "To do this, you're going to have to learn to put on quite a fucking show. You're gonna have to earn their trust, to locate their weaknesses, and when the time comes, fucking exploit them." Holdway explained. "You think you can handle that?"
"That's why I'm here, right?" was Freddy's confident, albeit cocky resonse.
"Good. Because no matter what you think, buddy, this ain't gonna be easy."
"No shit."
"So that's why you're gonna have a partner on this one."
Freddy's eyes widened in shock. There was no fucking way he was going to work with a partner. He worked alone. It was safer that way, especially for him. On more than one occasion he had found himself in a fucked-up situation because the man who was supposed to have his back had slipped up along the line.
"And Detective Anderson, your partner, should be arriving any moment.
Great. Just fucking great. Freddy thought, his eyes focused on the diner entrance, looking for signs of anyone who he might have seen around the station. He really didn't talk to many of the other guys there; he just did his job, went home and slept, work up the next morning, and returned to work. With all his luck, it would be some bumbling rookie on his first case who would end up blowing their cover and getting them both killed.
"Just please tell me this Anderson fellow isn't some rook whose going to fuck both of us over." Freddy pleaded, hoping that his boss would disprove his latest worry.
"Oh, I'll let you determine that one for yourself." He said causally, a small smile flickering across his face as he said those words. "And you won't have to wait too long, because she's here now.
Freddy looked up from the chief. Standing in front of him was a lady that he had never seen at the prescient before. Dressed in a professional skirt suit, her auburn hair was pulled back at the base of her neck with a simple clip and left to fall in a straight group down her back. She was a stark contrast to the other two men at the table, both of whom were wearing jeans and t-shirts.
"Chief Holdway. Nice to see you again." She said coolly, extending out her hand.
"Same here, Detective." He replied, shaking her hand. "And I would like to introduce you to your partner on this assignment, Detective Freddy Nuendyke." He paused as Anderson acknowledged the other man with a slight incline of the head. "Detective Nuendyke, I would like to introduce you to Detective Christina Anderson."
"Nice to meet you." She replied in the same, professional manner that she had used with her boss, offering her hand to her new partner.
Couldn't say the same thing on this end. Freddy thought as he lied between his teeth. "Likewise." He said, scooting over slightly so Christina could sit down.
"And now that we all know each other, we can continue. Christina, I believe I briefed you already." He said, his comment being made with a nod of acknowledgement from the lady sitting across from him.
So she already knows what the fuck is going on. Freddy thought, Just fucking wonderful "So since I'm the only one who doesn't know what's going on here, how about we stop the chit chat and give me the damn information.
Christina shot a sideways glance at her partner, only furthering the anger that he felt towards both her and Holdway. Out of all the detectives on the force, why had he chosen a woman? He was going to send him into a situation with thugs with this twig for back up? He might as well shoot him in the fucking head now because if he entered that job with her in tow, it would probably be his death.
"I was in the middle of doing just that, but you kept rudely interrupting me." Holdway replied, narrowing his eyes slightly at the young detective. "Now both of you two have a lot that you need to work on. Christina, we're gonna have to get you some more physical training. I don't want you going into a room full of fucking dicks without being able to protect yourself. You're one of our best at blending in, but you were never that fucking good with a gun."
A rueful grin spread across the female dective's face as she heard these words. "That's because I've hardly ever had to use my gun." She told him, "You usually don't when people don't figure you out until it's too late for them."
"True, but I'm taking no precautions on this one. You're to receive more physical training. And Nuendyke, you're awesome in the field, but you're as transparent as a window sometimes. If that happens while you're with these guys, you're gonna blow your fucking cover. We'll work on that." He said, stopping his little speech as a waitress approached.
"And can I get you all something all to drink today?" she asked, her voice rhaspy and sounding as if she had smoked her fair share of cigarettes in her younger days.
"Coffee, please. Black." Replied Christina.
"I'll have the same."
"Same here."
"Okay, then. I'll be right back with those." She replied, he gaze straying a moment too long on Detective Nuendyke. Christina seemed to notice this and gave him a small wink. What it was supposed to mean, he didn't know, but he took it to be some sort of insult.
He opened his mouth to make some sort of retort, but before he could think of anything suitable, the waitress arrived back with the coffee. Handing each of them a steaming glass and leaving a pitcher on the table, she returned to her rounds, yet again staring a moment too long upon Anderson's new partner.
"Now to get back to business." Holdway said, taking a gulp of his coffee. "You two are to help each other out with these little training sessions, 'cause once you enter their world, you two are all you've fucking got. One of you screws up, you're probably both fucking dead. And I don't want to have to fill out all that paperwork." He joked, extracting a small smile from the two detectives seated at the other end of the table. "So now, I'm gona leave, let you two get to know one another a bit more. If you're gonna be working together on this, you might as well get used to being around one another." With that, the older man drained his cup of coffee, placed some cash on the table, and left the diner.
Once her boss had left, Christina slid over to the empty side of the booth. "So." She said, "So far all I know is your name."
And all I know is that I got saddled with a partner who is going to fucking get me killed. He thought. "Yeah. Same here." He replied.
"So, what brought you out to LA?" she asked, "Where are you from originally?"
"Originally, I'm from Massachusetts." he said. "Went to school out there, traveled around a bit, and found myself out here, working at the precinct. What about you? What makes somebody like you become a cop?"
"Long story short, it's a complicated story. Some guy killed a neighbor of mine when I was younger, and I guess you could say that I just wanted to make sure that nothing like that ever happened to a little kid again."
"So you left some town to come to LA to be a cop?" he asked, trying to understand her logic.
"Well, it seemed as good a place as any." She replied with a shrug of her shoulders, raising her coffee cup to her lips. Her eyes were still locked on Freddy's, her gaze just as impassive as it had ever been. It was one of the rules she had always lived by: never take your eyes off of anybody you've just met, that's how you end up getting stabbed, shot, or raped.
"Married?" Freddy asked. It only seemed like a normal question to ask. After all, who would take such an assignment if they had somebody to go home to?
"Nope. Guess you can say I'm married to my job." She joked, "How about you."
"Your words about summed it up for me." He said, the actual first hint of a smile coming across his face. "Well, at least that gives us a little strength." He said, "We don't have to worry about our families as we go out on this mission."
"Too true. Isn't that why we took it? A chance for unaldurtered glory?"
"Guess you could say that." Freddy replied. At least he was stuck with a partner he could somewhat hold up that basics of a conversation with. The last guy he had been stuck with was always so fucking quiet, and when he did speak, it was so unnerving that he didn't know how to respond. "But what was your specialty? From what Holdway said, you're quite the little actress." Freddy couldn't help but grin as a small patch of pink appeared on her pale face.
"Usually, I'm the person they send into a situation to gather up information. I guess you could call me a rat of sorts, because I get people to trust me, tell me their secrets, and then I go and run them to my superiors." She explained. "But what about you? What's your area of exerpertise?"
"Mostly undercover stuff. Drugs, guns, stuff like that." He explained. "Why I'm so good with a gun." He added as an afterthought with a grin.
"Then I guess you're going to have to do as Holdway said and teach me some of your tricks. After all, I have to have your back when we go in there, right?"
"You better have my back." Freddy said, "Because I'd hate to be you if you didn't."
These words made Christina chuckle slightly. "Well, if you want to kill me, you're just going to have to take a number and get in line. Half of the prison wants to do me in for placing them in there, so you'll have quite a wait before you get your turn."
Now it was Freddy's turn to laugh. "You're really that good, are you." He teased.
"Even better than rumor says." She winked. "I guess the same could be said about you."
"Yeah. Guess so." Freddy said, his eyes wandering to his watch. Was it eleven o'clock all ready? He had to wake up for the early shift tomorrow, and it was never a good thing to show up tired. "Gotta go." He said casually, first shift tomorrow. Don't want to piss the chief off because I spent all night up chatting with you and showed up to work tomorrow a zombie."
"Guess you're right." Christina laughed, "Holdway's a nice guy, but I wouldn't want to anger him." As she spoke these words, she slid out of the booth, walking towards the door. She was almost outside when she heard a voice behind her.
"Oh no you don't." Freddy said, walking up beside her. "With your nonexistent skills with a gun, there's no way in Hell I'm letting you walk outside in a dark parking lot by yourself. Are you asking to get mugged, you're a prime target." He said, eyeing her tailored suit. "And honestly, as much as I dislike working with a partner, I really don't want to have to go through the trouble of getting to know another one."
"Fine. I wouldn't want to inconvience you by dying." She said, a hint of sarcasm dripping into her voice, allowing him to open the diner door and escort her to her car. Opening the door for her, he saw her safely behind the wheel, then closed her inside. "I'll see you tomorrow at the office. If I'm not busy, I'll bring you out to the shooting range. Get you some practice in so I know I'm covered out there in the field." He said.
"Sounds like a plan, Detective." She replied, giving him a small, polite smile as he walked across the lot to his car. Following him along the way, she waited until he had shut the car door behind him. As she slowly passed by, she stuck her head out the window. "Just wanted to return you the favor." She said as she left the parking lot and headed towards her apartment on the other side of town.