Chapter VIII

Things That Go Bump In The Day

Sofia finished and filed her last report around six am, spent three and a half hours in trial prep with Nick Stokes and Miley Stevens, an ADA, and had been almost to the door when the Under Sheriff caught up with her and asked for an update. When two bodies were found practically in the middle of The Strip, the brass wanted the case closed and quick. It made them look so much better on the evening news. Assuring the Sheriff's crony that the best people in the department were working round the clock had killed another hour. Of course, they had yet to identify the John Doe, had no idea where a college kid would get a vaginal booby trap and the cut-to-the-bone budget didn't allow for overtime. The Sheriff's crony still left smiling. She, or at least her breasts that the leach talked directly to, had talent like that. By the time, she got out and all the way to the car it was eleven in the morning, the mercury was already solidly in the triple digits, and she was thoroughly disgusted.

There was no reason to keep her foul mood to herself though. She had put off grocery shopping until all she had was mostly empty and definitely questionable carton of orange juice and some peanut butter that was under recall. Not to mention that there was a week's worth of dry-cleaning waiting to be picked up due to a slight mishap at Lake Meade, the acne-ridden Cingular repair kid still had her cellphone, the prognosis was iffy at best. What a wonderful morning.

Dry cleaning was the first and easiest stop. The Seventeenth Street Dry Cleaners was the PD's choice for dry cleaning. Edgar Mone had married a State Trooper and had produced a Narco Detective, a SWAT Officer and his daughter was a cadet at the academy. It wasn't the fanciest place in Vegas, but it was the only place Sofia trusted with her Dress Uniform and Court Clothes, plus there was a Police Discount. Like most cop-haunts, she couldn't get in and out of The Seventeenth without stopping to talk shop with three fellow officers and discussing UNLV's playoff chances with Zach, Mone's youngest son and cheapest laborer. After extricating herself from the web of baby pictures, back in the day stories and 'How's your Mother's, Sofia headed to the grocery store with an inordinate amount of relief.

The Grocery Store, a tri-state chain that she had grown up with, was packed with mothers and small screaming children. It was, in other words, a headache in the making. The store was conveniently located about halfway between work and her condo, and had a Starbucks on one side of it and a branch of her bank on the other. Sofia promised herself an extra tall iced double-whipped cream -- more calories, caffeine and sugar than should even be possible -- drink if she got out of the Produce aisle without hurting herself or others. She picked through bruised tomatoes, debated between organic and non-organic celery, and fended off a six year old who wanted to know if she was a real cop. The cold cereal aisle was a coupon-clippers free-for all so she would do without her Wheaties and she headed straight for the main staple in her diet, the frozen food section. She made sure to get a selection from each of the main food groups, Lean Cuisine, Stouffers, and Hagendaas. A quick dash to get bagels, bread, coffee creamer, the all-important French Roast Folgers, a few odds and ends, in case she was suddenly struck with culinary enthusiasm, and she was done. She spent fifteen minutes locked in a battle of wills with one of the "convenient" Self Check-Out Machines and made it out of the store one hundred dollars poorer and with her sanity just barely intact.

A quick stop at the ATM told her that her car-payment had automatically drafted from her checking account, and she was left with a small number of dollars to stretch until the next paycheck. Groceries bought and packed into her somewhat frivolous, but definitely worth the penny-pinching cost, convertible, Sofia looked over at the Starbucks with something very much like lust bubbling up in her chest. She needed coffee and, if she waited much longer to get it, she would start to get shakes and go into caffeine withdrawal. She had been drinking coffee since she was eleven years old, lived on cups of it on-duty and off. She still blamed Greg Sanders for her addiction.

The cafe was doing brisk midmorning business. Sofia could see a line through the partially tinted windows. There were corporate suits on their early lunch breaks, tired tourists, regulars dressed in everything from running clothes to casino uniforms, and the usual mix of college students on their laptops. To the right of the door, leash looped through the armrest of a patio chair was a dog with an empty water dish. Sofia's hackles went up and she wanted to curse the irresponsible pet owner, but the quickly-evaporating puddle on the sidewalk and the dog's own wet feet told her that the Lab had made a mess of his own water bowl. Since there was a half-empty bottle of water sitting on the bench, she could only assume that the owner was inside getting a java fix. Sofia looked at the line and then back into the dog's big brown eyes. It would be wrong not to give the poor animal water. He didn't help much by whining and pawing at her leg.

Sofia blew out a sigh, "You better be glad I'm a sucker for big brown eyes." She knelt down on one knee and opened the bottle of water while the dog licked her face.

She smiled for the first time since she'd stepped into the morgue last night and pushed him away, "Hey, none of that on a first date, Fido." She patted the large mass of dark blonde hair on the side, and poured the remaining water in the floppy nylon travel bowl. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a cup of coffee."

The jingle of bells at the door made the dog look up and when he jumped up, tail thumping against Sofia's leg, his over sized paws spilled the newly poured water all over the sidewalk. "Damn it, Riley!"

The woman beside her was obviously the dog's owner. "I was in there for eight minutes tops. I'm sorry-"

Sofia started turning as the woman spoke, "It's okay, he sort of reminds me of a guy I kno-"

Sara Sidle, dressed in black lycra running clothes and dark sunglasses looked down at her.

Her face instantly changed from politely apologetic to amused, "Flirting with my dog, Detective?"

Sara juggled her coffee cup and a trademark-embossed plastic bag and offered her a hand up. Sofia stood and looked from the frazzled brunette to the completely innocent looking dog.

They were some pair. "Well, he is a step up from Sanders."

Sara grinned, "I don't know about that, he's just as bad of a flirter."

As if on cue, Riley stuck his cold wet nose into Sofia's crotch. Sara pulled him away, "Sorry. He gets over excited."

Sofia only laughed, "Don't worry about it; it's the closest I've come to a date in three months." Chagrinned, Sofia looked down at Riley, who looked like he was smiling around his lolling tongue. "Next time, Fuzzball, bring flowers and candy, okay?"

The two women laughed and Riley was just thrilled to have two people petting and paying attention to him at the same time.

An hour, an iced coffee a piece and another bottle of water for Riley later, Sofia pushed her sunglasses harder against her nose. "So I spent three hours with Nick doing his Gentlemen Cowboy routine for the new ADA."

Sara wrinkled her nose, "The redhead who could double as a stripper?" She held her hands out in front of her chest to indicate large breasts as she spoke, "She didn't fall for it, did she?"

Sofia snorted, "She was giggling during her practice cross examination."

Sara let her head drop back. "I hate her already."

Sofia agreed, and pantomimed a gun with her thumb and forefinger, "Another blow to woman kind."

Sara sucked the melted dregs of her drink through the straw, "That's nothing. I'll call your flirting Nick and raise you a pissy Catherine." Sofia chuckled, "I'll see you that and an hour with the Under Sheriff." Sara, who knew very well how the Under Sheriff treated anyone who had two x chromosomes grimaced, "I fold."

Half of the statement was lost in a yawn. Sofia looked down at her watch, "You know I think it's past yours and Riley's bedtime. How long have you been up, anyway?"

Sara only smiled as an answer and stood. "We know when we're not wanted, huh, Riley?" She unraveled the leash and patted her thigh to catch the dog's attention. "I'll see you around, Sofia."

Sofia nodded her head, "Definitely."

The blonde Detective watched woman and dog jog off together without moving. Her eyes followed the two through the parking lot, back onto the sidewalk and around the curve until she couldn't see them anymore. Only then did she move, she leaned forward, elbows propped on the table, hands cupping her chin and went over what had just happened. It was not often that she sat outside in one hundred plus temperatures talking to Sara Sidle. Of course, she could count the number of times she'd talk to Sara outside of work on one hand and have fingers left over. The difference was like day and night. Even with a case looming over their heads, they had not spoken of work at all. Sara, in the early afternoon sunlight had looked tired, but at the same time, lighter. Perhaps it was being away from the confines of work, or maybe Riley had a calming effect on the woman, Sofia didn't know exactly, but she liked it. She liked the Sara of the day a lot.

Sofia got up and shot her empty plastic cup into a trashcan. She wouldn't mind seeing Riley and Sara again sometime. She fished her keys out of her pocket and belatedly realized that she had left her groceries, most of them frozen, in her trunk. She almost cursed, but decided it had been worth it. It wasn't every day she got to spend a carefree hour with a beautiful woman and her dog. It wouldn't hit her until she was navigating through traffic on her way to her condo that she had called Sara Sidle a beautiful woman and meant it.

Author's Note: What's that? Sara has a dog. Why yes, yes she does. His name is Riley and we'll find out more about him later. Happy Veterans Day to all and now I am going to go and sleep. Hooray sleep.