Chapter Three

During her two-week leave, Faye had spent the entire time holed up in her apartment until eventually she drove herself crazy enough to emerge into the cold, winter sunlight. Her arm was still securely wrapped up in the plaster cast, but she had stopped using the sling and was getting more comfortable using her right hand.

It felt strange, roaming the streets in the middle of the day without a particular destination in mind. Her hand kept drifting to her hip, but both her gun and badge were in her apartment. Faye shivered; it was almost like being naked.

She realized how long it had been since she had thought like an average civilian. Faye had spent so long training herself to think like a bounty hunter that she had almost forgotten what it was like to go about life without checking over your shoulder or heading toward a planned position or following the movements of a target.

Without realizing where she was going, she ended up outside headquarters. She peered through the front doors at the activity inside. Scratching absentmindedly at her wrist, she turned and headed back the way she had come.

She managed to unlock her front door with relative ease and headed immediately for the phone. Closing the door with a nudge from her boot, she bounced up and down, waiting for Jack to answer his phone. After the fifth ring, he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Jack!"

"Who is this? Is this Faye? Why are you calling me? You're supposed to be resting!"

Faye rolled her eyes. She tried to interrupt him. "Jack. Jack!"

"It's barely been two weeks, Faye; you can't possibly be well enough to be up and about with the severity of that break. Why are you calling again? You didn't say."

"Jack! Can you stop talking for a few seconds? I'm fine, first of all. And I didn't tell you what I was calling about because I couldn't get a word in edgewise. I was actually wondering if … if maybe I could come back to work soon."

Jack exhaled noisily. Faye could hear his chair squeak as he leaned back; she could almost imagine him running a hand over his shaved crown.

"Look, I don't know. You really haven't been gone that long, and things seem to be fairly under control here."

"Not from what I've heard. My scanner has been switched on. What's going on with this bounty, Jack? And what were those background checks for?"

"Look, that information is granted on a need-to-know basis; we shouldn't even be having this conversation." He sighed. "All right, all right. You can come back tomorrow." Jack had to pause as Faye crowed her delight. "But- Hey, are you listening? If I see that you aren't up to par yet, you are going straight back home! Do you understand me? Faye? Faye?" He held the phone away from his ear and gave it a puzzled look. She had hung up on him.

For the first time in two weeks, Faye woke to the sound of her alarm. She switched it off irritably, wondering why it had gone off, before she remembered her conversation with Jack. She leapt out of bed and set the kettle on the stove to boil. She hummed to herself as she brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her hair. Pouring a mug of coffee, she rushed out the door, the comfortable weight of her gun resting on her hip.

Jack had told her that, if she were to come back today, she would be monitored closely. Faye glowered at the thought but decided that it was better than sitting at home for another week doing nothing.

Besides, she thought to herself, I already feel like someone is following me.

It was just in her nature and experience with bounty hunting that made her glance over her shoulder constantly. At first she had felt rather foolish, but it had paid off enough times that she didn't care what she looked like any more.

Headquarters seemed brand new in her eyes. She laughed at the thought, but two weeks was a very long time to spend cooped up in a one-room apartment. The receptionist squeaked as Faye came through the front doors and immediately picked up the phone. Faye rolled her eyes and wound her way through the maze of hallways and cubicles until she reached her desk. Stacks of paperwork crowded for space on the cramped surface, and Faye raised an eyebrow.

I haven't brought in a single bounty for over two weeks, she mused, so what is all of this paperwork for?

She glanced at a few of the piles and realized that the papers were a series of questionnaires. As she sifted through them, she grew more and more incredulous. If she filled out all of these forms, the department would know almost everything about her.

Faye slid into her chair and switched on the computer. A bright yellow post-it note stuck to the screen caught her attention.

"Jack wants to see you in his office. Now."

She snatched it off the screen and crumpled it up, dropping it in the garbage as she left her cubicle. It hadn't taken long for Jack to decide he needed to check up on her, apparently. Various hunters welcomed her back as she passed them before going back to work. Faye couldn't help noticing that, while the hunters worked alone and rarely, if ever, cooperated on a bounty, the entire department seemed to be working together. Hunters stood around in groups comparing various sheets of paper while others laid out maps and charts in the only conference room.

She was still watching them in confusion as she stepped into Jack's office. He was on the phone, as usual, so Faye settled herself into a chair and waited.

"He's here? All right, you can send him along. Yes, yes thank you. Ok. Goodbye."

Faye raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Company?"

Jack grinned. "You could say that."

She scowled. Whenever Jack wore that smug expression and that tone crept into his voice, something had made him incredibly happy, usually involving her misery.

"Jack, what're you up to? Don't look at me like that! What's going on?"

"Why don't you stop by your desk? There's a … surprise waiting for you."

She tried to pry more out of him, but he wouldn't say another word. Defeated, she raced back to her desk but slowed down as she neared it, unsure of what she would find there. She turned the corner and almost jumped out of her skin.

A man was sitting on her desk, idly swinging one leg back and forth. He held her badge in his hands, running his fingers over it. He looked up as he noticed her standing at the entry to her cubicle. Faye placed a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes.

There's some boy on my desk wearing sunglasses. Indoors. In November, she thought to herself in exasperation.

The man stood and Faye was taken aback by the sudden increase in stature. She hadn't realized how long his legs were while he was sitting down. She guessed he was about six-foot-three, and fairly thin. Copper hair swept across his brow, skimming the tops of the sunglasses. He offered her a crooked smile and extended his hand.

"You must be Faye Hatchett."

She took his hand and shook it. "Yes, that's me. And you are?"

He laughed and took off the sunglasses, setting them on the desk. He continued to examine the badge, head bent. "So they haven't told you? I'm your new trainee. Connor Davies."

Faye let out a gasp of surprise. So that's why Jack was so pleased with himself! "So, let me get this straight. You're a trainee bounty hunter, and you're going to be following me around and stuff?"

He nodded and looked up at her. "Looks like it."

Faye leaned forward, peering closely at him. His eyes were a grey-blue so pale they were almost white. She glanced at the badge and thought about the way his fingers had traced its surface.

"You're blind!" She paused, processing. "I, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to be-"

He waved a hand and cut her off. "Don't worry about it; I probably should have just told you. Not every day you get a blind man trying to be a bounty hunter, is it?"

"As far as I know, there's never been a blind hunter, at least none that were any good. Are you sure you-"

"I've made my decision. I didn't get to where I am today by doing things the easy way."

Faye shrugged, suddenly consumed with a pressing need to have a little chat with Jack. She turned and hurried back to his office, where he was leaning back in his chair, feet up on the desk and hands behind his head.

"Enjoy my surprise?" he asked her, smirking.

"No, Jack. No I did not enjoy your little "surprise" at all! Are you crazy? I'll bet this is why you were willing to let me come back so soon, wasn't it? Can't you put him with someone else? I can't deal with some trainee following me around all the time!"

"Faye, you know I can't do that. We're having a really tough time with this bounty, and I've got all of my upper division working overtime on it. They can't afford to be distracted right now."

"And you think I can? I'm not working top-priority cases so I get stuck with an inexperienced would-be hunter? Oh, and to top it off, he's blind, Jack! You really are crazy, you know that? How am I ever supposed to teach a blind hunter? He probably can't even find his way around!"

Jack coughed and flicked his eyes toward the door. Faye spun around and froze; Connor was standing in the doorway.

"Hey Jack, sorry to interrupt. I think the guys need you out there; something about a smoking computer?"

Jack rolled his eyes and heaved himself to his feet. "I swear, if he ruins one more computer…"

Faye peered after him as he went, suddenly remembering what she had wanted to ask him. "Wait, Jack! What is all that paperwork on my desk for? Jack?" She sighed, and then cleared her throat nervously as she remembered Connor standing there. He made no comment and gave no indication of having heard her outburst, so she brushed past him and headed back to her desk, hoping he wouldn't follow her.

She logged on to her computer, typing awkwardly with her right hand.

"What happened?"

Faye jumped as Connor spoke behind her. "What are you doing? Didn't anyone ever teach you not to sneak up on people? How did you know I was here, anyway?"

"I followed you. That's what I'm supposed to do, right? You didn't answer my question. What happened to your arm?"

"It isn't really any of your business, and … how did you know I hurt my arm?" She turned around in her chair and stared at him.

"My hearing is a lot sharper than yours. I heard the cast hit the desk, and you were typing incredibly slowly and with one hand."

Faye shook her head and went back to navigating through the files on her computer. Eventually, she found a memo that had been sent out while she was gone. All hunters were to fill out the forms to provide in-depth information for the continuation of the background checks. Faye sighed and looked at the stack of papers.

"Come on, Connor. We're going on a field trip."

She wound her way through the halls, Connor close behind her, until they reached the mailroom. Connor ran his hands over the mailboxes and traced the perimeter of the room.

"How many boxes are in here? Does every hunter have one? How are they arranged?"

Faye raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Well, there's a box for every hunter, and no, I haven't bothered counting them. They're arranged by rank, highest on the top." She knelt at her own box and pulled out the papers inside, all of which were flyers for updated equipment. She tossed them in the recycling bin by the door on her way out.

Connor, who was still examining the room, did not notice as Faye left. He paused when he couldn't hear her and left, wandering aimlessly in the general direction of her desk. He passed by the high-level offices on his way, and one of the hunter's voices made him stop. Jaiden was on the phone with another hunter, agitatedly pacing across his office. Connor couldn't help feeling he had heard the man's voice before, but he shook it off and tried to find Faye.

When he finally returned to her desk, she was already leaving it again, a small slip of brightly colored paper clutched in her hand. A boy stood in the cubicle, a messenger's bag slung over one shoulder.

"Let's go, trainee; work to do." She brushed past him, and Connor was about to follow when the boy cleared his throat and held out a hand. Connor rolled his eyes and paid the boy, then hurried after Faye before she found another chance to lose him.