Chapter
2: Torn Existence
Sara
strode into the precinct, her head down, her face hid behind her long dark
chocolate brown hair and her eyes to the floor hoping to avoid any unwanted
attention. So far, no one had said a word to her, but that would change as soon
as she entered her office and found her other partner, Danny Woo, sitting at his
desk, intently staring at his computer screen. As he heard Sara enter, he held
up a large cup of coffee. She took it gingerly and sipped the luscious dark
liquid. It burned her tongue, but she didn’t care. At least it gave her
something else to think about besides that night.
“So,
partner, what’s new?” Danny asked as Sara sat down across from him at her
desk and quickly booted up her computer to make sure nothing had been put up on
the precinct message board about her
“Nothing,”
she softly replied, her eyes remaining on the screen avoiding him all together.
“Pez,
something’s up. I can tell,” he observed, her tone being the obvious
indicator that she was hiding something from him.
“It’s
nothing,” Sara shot back, a little more harshly than she expected.
“Now I
definitely know something is wrong. Come on, spill,” Danny sternly answered,
looking directly in her direction until Sara’s head rose and their gazes
caught. She looked as if she had been hit by a bus. She had dark circles beneath
her eyes and a trail of dried tears running down her face indicated by the runny
black mascara. “Sara, why have you been crying?” he asked softly, trying to
keep her temper from rising.
“Because,
Danny, I really fucked up yesterday,” Sara snapped. She rubbed her face with
her hands, her head still spinning. “I did something I regret enough to want a
reassignment to another precinct in another state.”
“Ouch,
that bad, huh? What did you do?” Danny kept questioning. Sara knew he was
cornered. She had to tell him the truth. After all, Danny was her best friend.
He wouldn’t pass judgment, would he?
“This is
just something I don’t want to discuss right here, right now. There are too
many people around and I really don’t want McCarty walking in here, so maybe
some other time,” Sara tried to steer the conversation away from the subject.
But deep inside, she had to tell someone, someone who would listen and hear her
out before she made another big mistake.
“Okay,
let’s go. You need to get this off your chest, and I know exactly where,” he
replied, grabbing her hand and pulling her up off her seat. Sara reluctantly let
herself be dragged through the precinct before she stopped cold in her tracks.
As they
neared the parking lot, she spotted Jake making his way towards them, his gaze
down at his shoes as he got closer. Danny watched silently as Sara glared at
him, her eyes almost turning to fire as he passed her. Jake tried to make it
look like he was trying to find someone ahead of her, but failed miserably. He
caught her eye line and immediately froze. Sara could feel her heart begin to
race as he stood in front of her, unmoving, his deep blue eyes locked on hers.
“Get out
of my face,” she growled.
“Okay,”
Jake mumbled as his head slumped to look down at his shoes once again. He walked
past her, never noticing Danny as he stared, confused by what had just taken
place.
“Come
on, Danny,” Sara said as she made a b-line towards the car.
“What
did he do to you last night?” he asked, slowly beginning to piece things
together.
“Take me
to wherever you’re going to take me and I’ll tell you there,” she
answered, slipping into one of the unmarked police cars in the motor pool.
Minutes later, the two of them entered a small café a few miles away from the
precinct. All was quiet except for one or two people sitting among the many
tables situated around the seating area. Sara took a seat near the window and
instantly slumped down, her eyes avoiding any contact until Danny sat down
across from her.
“Now
will you tell me already?” he questioned. “What happened with Jake last
night? I thought you two went over to the pool hall to shoot some eight ball.
Did he really beat you that bad?”
“We went
to the pool hall and I did kick his ass, but its what happened afterward that I
really don’t want to discuss right now, but since you can’t seem to get that
through your head, I guess I have to,” Sara grumbled as the waitress passed by
their table and poured them two coffees. “I got really drunk last night. And
when I say really, I mean really. I couldn’t walk, so Jake took me home. When
we got to the loft, I started getting a little frisky, to put it mildly, and he
took it a bit too far…”
“You
slept with McCarty?” Danny nearly squeaked, but kept his voice low enough so
only the two of them could hear it.
“Yeah,”
Sara reluctantly answered as her head hung low on her shoulders again. Danny
could tell that she was on the verge of tears. She was usually very strong, but
this had to be killing her on the inside. Sara might have been known to make
some pretty big mistakes at work and not care, but when it came to private
matters such as this, they probably consumed her. “Danny, I don’t know what
to do. I’m so lost. I want to ask for a transfer, but I don’t want to leave
you.”
“Do you
think you can just put this aside and not think about it?” he tried to assess
the situation before making any drastic suggestions.
“Put
aside the fact that Jake McCarty took advantage of me when I was drunk and weak?
I can’t do that! He’s probably told all his buddies at the precinct by now.
Rumors are gonna fly like a flock of rabid birds. I don’t think I can handle
that right now!” Sara nearly blew up as she began to shake with fear. Danny
knew that this was definitely one of those situations where making that drastic
decision would probably be the best thing to do.
“I think
you should ask for a temporary transfer, just long enough for you to forget
about what happened and maybe even long enough for McCarty to finish his
training and leave. And don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I promise your
secret is my secret. Nobody will ever hear it from me, not even Lee,” Danny
said as he took her hands to calm her.
“I
really appreciate that, Danny,” Sara replied as she began to slowly calm down.
“I think you really are one of the few people I trust anymore.”
“Thanks,
Pez,” he answered, a little flattered.
After a
finishing their coffees, the two headed back to the precinct to start the daily
routine of sitting and waiting for a murder to spring up somewhere, and in
between that time, finish some paperwork that they lagged behind on. As Sara
stepped into the precinct, all was quiet, to her surprise. No one had stopped
her to ask about her night with Jake. She began to wonder what the hell was
going on, but soon discovered the reason behind her good fortune. On her desk
inside the office, she found a large floral arrangement made of red and white
roses, white calla lilies, and accented with baby’s breath. Sara picked up the
card and began to read it to herself.
“Sara,
I’m so sorry for what happened last night. If there is anything, ANYTHING I
could do to make it up to you, like having you kick me in the ass in front of
the entire precinct or even tarring and feathering me on national television, I
would be glad to let you go ahead and do it to me just so we can at least come
within ten feet of each other and not feel such a big rift between us. Please,
just tell me what I can do to make this up to you and I’ll do it, no questions
asked. Jake.”
Sara put
down the card, her hand instantly flying up to her face as she covered it and
shook her head. As much as she wanted to believe him, there was no way in hell
that she’d let herself. “Excuse me,” Sara said as she rushed past Danny
towards Captain Bruno Dante’s office down the hall. She hated that man as much
as she hated Jake at the moment, but he was the only thing stopping her from
walking out of the precinct with a new assignment.
“Well,
if it isn’t Sara Petzini,” Dante said as he looked up to find her towering
above him as he sat at his desk.
“I want
a transfer, somewhere far away from here,” Sara answered, cringing when she
heard him mispronounce her name. But that was Bruno Dante to her, always
disrespectful, even to her late father. The man never stopped, which made her
even happier to get away from the precinct even if it was going to be for a
short time.
“You’re
giving me the chance to get you out of my hair for good?” Dante asked in
disbelief.
“No, not
for good, but for a little while. I just need to get away from
“Gladly,” he mumbled, a wry smile coming across his face.