A/N: okay, this is what I get for staying up past 1am. Thanks to everyone for the reviews and let me know, as always, your opinion of this one.

Chapter 15

Candy walked into the breakroom where Randi had told her she could find a cup of coffee and-or a soda. She had been working with her new boss at the NYPD since yesterday and had managed to avoid any of the real trouble-maker-type cops, the kind that looked down on women like her. Randi had told her that if she ever had any trouble with those kinds of cops, or if anyone gave her any kind of trouble, to let her know and make sure she got the name of the cop as Randi would make sure the problem was rectified immediately. She was not going to tolerate having her new secretary bullied or looked down on by a bunch of cops with attitude problems and that was a direct quote.

Wanting to dress to impress her new boss today, Candy was wearing hand-painted boot-cut jeans, a nice t-shirt that was a bit snug but not overly hookerish, and a simple denim jacket with platform heels. Her shoe selection was a bit limited due to her previous job but, knowing she got paid every two weeks, she promised herself she would get some proper footwear and decent clothes to reflect her new job. To her surprise, Randi had loved her painted jeans and wanted to know where she got them. That had caught Candy completely off-guard, not used to such compliments, until Angel had touched base with them a bit later and quietly explained to the woman that Randi loved clothing that was deliberately different. She had once seen Randi visit a client in a proper Japanese kimono outfit, complete with sandals and obi!

Candy was finding she didn't mind working at the NYPD, thinking it was kind of cool to see the things ordinary civilians and perps never got to see. She had already met Stella Bonasera, Danny Messer, and Lindsey Monroe but she hadn't met the other three men Randi had mentioned; Don Flack, Mac Taylor, and Sheldon Hawkes. However, Randi had assured her that they were all pretty good people. Candy believed her so far, having taken a liking to Stella and Lindsey. Danny was kind of cute in a puppy-dog sort of way and he treated her decently enough.

Now Candy took a bunch of coins from her coin purse and punched in an order for black coffee from the vending machine. As she waited for the machine to do its thing, a burly cop with black hair came into the room and when he saw her, his eyebrows shot up and not in a nice way. Candy cringed; she recognized the guy and he was one of the cops with the attitude problem.

"Well, well, well, what a sight to see. Who let you out of the jail cell?" the cop, Andrews, sneered.

Hold your head up high, girl. You ain't done nothin' wrong. You're goin' straight and clean and you're workin' with a very respectable lady. He ain't got nuttin' on you, Candy told herself determinedly. She leveled her head him and said, "I'm working with Randi Wilcox, the appraiser."

"What, as her pussy-licker?" Andrews snorted.

Candy's face went warm as she said proudly, "No, as her secretary."

Andrews snorted. "Yeah right. You, a secretary for that nutcase, Wilcox? God knows she's nuttier than a clown in a nuthouse."

Candy felt her blood boil but she tried to temper it. "It doesn't matter what you think about her. You're just one person and I can think of a lot of other people who think she's a good person. After all, she took me on."

Andrews walked right up to her and sneered, "One thing you stupid sluts just don't get; once a slut, always a slut. No matter how you fancy yourselves up, you'll never change. You're in the gutter and you always will be, so why don't you be a good little whore and crawl back to where you belong?"

Candy had absolutely no idea what to say, or at least what to say without landing herself in a heap of trouble. As it was, God seemed to take care of that problem for her.

"That's enough!" barked a male voice laced with anger.

Both Candy and Andrews snapped around. Standing at the doorway was a tall white man dressed in a nice suit and tie, with black hair and pale blue eyes. Standing next to him was a black man in a long-sleeved shirt and slacks and neither looked too happy about what was going on.

"Officer Andrews, I don't give a damn about your views of prostitutes, you will not speak to this woman like that again!" the white man said, hands on his hips as he glared at the officer.

I owe you one, Father, Candy thought silently.

"But sir, she's just a hooker! She doesn't belong here, so what do you care?" Andrews shot back angrily.

"Her past doesn't matter, nor should her choice of former professions. She is to be treated with the same courtesy and respect as any other woman," the man said, coming right up and getting in Andrews's face. His eyes were chips of ice and Candy involuntarily shivered as she moved away from the pair.

The black man came up to her and moved her out of range of Andrews and the other man, and quietly said, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you in any way?" There was genuine concern in his eyes and something about him made Candy want to trust him.

"I'm, I'm okay. I know not all cops don't care much for us girls and I wasn't tryin' to cause trouble, really," she said.

He studied her with a critical eye and nodded. "Don't worry about him; once Flack gets through with him I don't think there'll be much left of him. Are you Candy, by any chance?" She nodded. "I'm Dr. Sheldon Hawkes, CSI. Randi's told us about you and it's a pleasure to meet you."

That explained the eye, Candy thought. He was checking her over visually like a doctor.

In the mean time, Flack had continued to rip into Andrews. "I catch you speaking to or even treating the lady or any other prostitute like that again, you will be demoted so far down the damn ladder you'll be walking the beat in the worst part of the Bronx for the rest of your damn career!" he yelled. "As it is, I will be speaking to your supervisor about this and I will mention it to Randi and sit back and watch as she has her bit of fun with you and your supervisor. She may be a bit eccentric and a bit of a whirlwind on occasions but you keep your damn opinions about her to yourself, you got that?" Andrews gulped nervously and nodded. "Now get the hell out of here before you put your damn foot in your mouth again!"

Andrews glared at both Candy and Flack but got the hell out of the room. Flack approached Candy and said, "You okay?"

Candy nodded. By now, she'd gotten her coffee from the vending machine and was sipping it as she tried to calm her nerves. The incident with Andrews had rattled her quite badly.

"Detective Don Flack," he said, introducing himself.

"Candy, Randi's secretary," Candy said.

"We've heard of you. How's it going with her?" Flack asked as he got himself a cup of coffee.

"She's… a regular whirlwind," Candy said, trying to describe her new employer.

Both men laughed. "Yeah, that's Randi all right," Flack said. "With her, accidents just seem to happen around her, especially if she brings her dog, Fabio, with her."

"I know about Fabio. I've got three Chihuahuas and they're my babies," Candy said, finding herself becoming at ease with the two men.

Sheldon's face lit up while Flack cringed. "Have they met Fabio yet?" Sheldon asked as he got his coffee.

"No, not yet but Randi said it would be a good idea if they did soon," Candy said.

"Regular ankle-biters," Flack groused, grinning as he recalled some of his own experiences, not all of it good, with small dogs, particularly Chihuahuas.

"Only if you run," Candy shot back, also grinning.

Then a man Candy recognized came into the breakroom. "Okay, who did you ream out this time, Flack?" the man asked. "I heard the yelling all the way down the hall."

"Officer Jake Andrew. Jackass got a bit too mouthy with Candy for my liking," Flack said. "Candy, this is Detective Mac Taylor. Mac, Randi's new secretary, Candy."

"We've met briefly before, even though no names were exchanged," Mac said, shaking Candy's hand.

"That's right! The little café where I had my interview with Randi. I remember you," Candy said.

"Randi says you're settling in nicely," Mac said.

"Randi's pretty cool to work with but I think that storage room is gonna drive us both up the wall. I'm pretty good at organizing things but even I gotta admit, I'm seriously startin' to think we're not getting' paid enough to deal with the crapola that's in there," Candy said.

"That bad, huh?" Sheldon said. Candy nodded. "What have you found so far?"

"Case files dating back to the Flappin' Twenties," Candy replied. "We don't know what to do with the darn things and Hodges, the head muckity-muck ain't helpin' much. He seems to be avoiding her."

"I think I know why," Mac said. Candy raised an eyebrow at him, curious. "There was a little incident involving Fabio, the squad room, and Fabio's retractable, thirty-foot long leash about a few weeks ago."

Both Flack and Sheldon started snickering at the memory as Mac explained what had happened. By the time he was done, Candy was giggling. "Poor Randi," she said. "So that's why Hodges is avoiding her; he's probably afraid of another accident. But we gotta do something about those files."

"Well, if Hodges won't help, then I know someone who can," Flack said. "Sergeant Pete Belross. He'll know what to do with those old case files. I'll have a word with him about that for you."

"Appreciate it and I'm sure Randi will too," Candy said. "Now I just gotta figure out how to get back to the storage area."

"I'll take you," Sheldon volunteered.

"And I'm going to go have a word with Andrews' supervisor," Flack said.

"Tell Randi I'll catch up to her later," Mac said.

"Will do." Candy said. She thought for a moment then said, "Tell you guys what; if you ever need an ear with the ladies, let me know. I hear things and the girls talk to me."

"We appriciate that," Flack said, smiling. All three men knew every willing ear they had on the streets was one more source of information they could access during a case.

Candy smiled back as she tossed her now-empty cup into the garbage bin and followed Sheldon out of the breakroom.

As Sheldon escorted her back to the storage area, they made polite chitchat. He was charming and friendly and Candy felt herself being drawn to him like flies to honey.

He left her at the door of the storage room with a smile and as he walked away, she found herself yelping, "Damn, boy, you want some fries with that shake?"

He looked back, grinning, even as she swore his ears went red, and continued walking away. Behind her, she heard Randi choking with laughter.