copyright: i own and control these characters and the world they’re stuck in.
sex/subtext: subtext? of course.
violence: a smidge, yes.
Note: i just want to thank everybody that emailed me, asking me to continue with the uber. i didn't think i'd get such a great response. i thought everybody that read it would be like, 'argh not another xena police officer story again.' but i didn't get that at all and i was just surprised how many emails i did receive from readers. thank you again everybody and this story is continuing because i heard so many good things. so i hope ya'll enjoy.
feedback: can be directed to me at red_hope@yahoo.com
website: http://www.redhope.net
started:
Series 3: Putting the Puzzle Together Series Number: 19 Story Number: 57
by Red Hope
Part I
Ashley
lifted the thin but long knob up next to her steering wheel. Her car suddenly
took control of the speed and kept it at a constant sixty miles per hour.
Ashley yawned a little then stretched her legs out between the pedals. The ride
back home had been rather long for her since she was headed back from
For the past
six months, she’d been with
At first,
Ashley had been tempted to break up with
Ashley shook
her thoughts away then reached up to wipe away her own tiredness. It didn’t
seem to help and what didn’t help any better was the fact her car was rather
warm right now. She sighed and decided a little fresh, brisk air was what she
needed to wake up. She reached over and turned off her heater then slipped her
hand down to hit the window button. She pushed it briskly and the windows used
their express feature so that they went down automatically. Ashley’s rich
The sudden jolt of cold air woke Ashley up immediately and it made her sigh happily. She’d been driving this road for about half an hour, maybe more now but it’d been too long as far as she was concerned. She did know she was still in Pennsylvanian especially considering the condition of the back road. There was also very little traffic to speak of especially considering how late it was anyway.
But then Ashley noted an old Blazer not far ahead that was driving rather slowly as well. She eventually caught up to it but remained steady behind it despite she had the urge to zip around them. She tilted her head to the left some and took a second to reset her cruise control to a slower speed. Like an old habit, she began to study the car’s details as well as the occupant.
It was a
white Chevy Blazer with a little chrome running down the sides. The license
plate was from
Then it occurred to her, there was also a passenger in the car as well. She hadn’t noticed at first because they seemed rather small plus their head had been resting on the passenger door. Suddenly, Ashley saw the driver turn the Blazer to the right onto the shoulder and turn onto a dark, dirt road.
Ashley furrowed her eyebrows but drove onwards anyway. She started to slow down, as she became worried for some reason. She pulled off to the side of the road and turned her headlights off. She kept her foot on the brake as she turned and looked back at the dirt road. She continued to watch the Blazer travel down the dirt road and throwing up dust. Suddenly the Blazer jerked to the right then swerved back onto the road before running off the road into a field.
Ashley narrowed her eyes then she reached down with her right hand to shift her car into reverse. Her car sped down the road, past the entrance of the dirt road then stopped. Ashley shifted the gears again, doubled checked to make sure all her lights were off then she turned down the dirt road.
As she quietly and slowly travelled down the road, she reached across her car and opened her glove compartment. She pulled out a 9mm gun and a pair of handcuffs. She controlled the wheel with her left hand while she slipped the gun between her pants behind her back. She then dropped her handcuffs in her right back pocket. Just ahead, she saw the Blazer and it’d stopped in the middle of the road with its headlights still running.
Ashley quickly but slightly stopped her car and remained in her car. She realized the passenger had gotten out of the car and was on the ground, she figured the passenger must have jumped since the passenger door was wide open. The driver was already out and racing around his car after the smaller person. The passenger had gotten up onto their feet and was already running when the driver lunged at them. Both people went crashing to the ground and rolling off the road onto the side of a field.
Ashley didn’t wait any longer. She threw open her car door and hastily sprinted towards the pair.
“You bitch!” yelled a man’s voice.
The passenger was underneath the man and rather stuck. They were trying to fight against the driver but the struggling wasn’t working.
Ashley heard a female yell then there was a loud smack against skin. She wasn’t far from them so she reached behind her shirt with her right hand.
The driver lifted his right hand, fisted and prepared to bring it down. He grinned as he saw the other person’s fearful look but then his grin slowly slipped away. He’d already felt the cold circle pressed against the back of his head.
“If you do that I can guarantee you that you’ll be dead,” whispered a deep, angry voice.
The driver actually considered it for a second but then he heard the gun’s hammer being pulled back. He now had the fearful look as he lowered his hand down.
“Now get up with your hands behind your back,” ordered Ashley. “You make any move and I will pull this trigger.”
The driver moved his hands to his back then carefully lifted himself up to his feet.
“Go to your car,” continued to order Ashley. Ashley kept her gun behind his head. She took a quick glance at the other person and realized it was a woman as she suspected. She quickly looked away when she realized the woman’s blouse was ripped. She returned her focus to the driver and marched him back to his car.
The driver came to the open passenger door and was temped to do something but with the gun against his head it made him rethink that idea.
Ashley reached forward and shut the door. She saw that the man was about to turn around but she growled, “Keep your back to me and put your hands up and palms against the side of the car.”
The man followed the orders and remained motionless.
Ashley lowered her gun but leaned forward with her left hand coming up. Her index finger and thumb came around the back of the man’s neck, she began to squeeze.
The driver suddenly sucked his breath in when he could barely breathe.
“Listen to me good,” whispered Ashley, “don’t ever try this again. Or I’ll make sure to hunt you down if I find out you’ve done something like this again. Is that clear?”
The driver opened his mouth to answer but suddenly the piercing pain in his neck shot up. He could only nod now.
“Good,” purred Ashley. She lifted her head up and straightened up to her full height. She took a faint step back and lifted her gun up but now holding it by the barrel. She suddenly slugged the man over the head. She watched as he fell to the ground but leaning face forward into the Blazer. She then heard a scuffing noise behind her and she’d just remembered the younger woman. She looked back at her. “Get into my car,” she ordered.
The girl looked up from the unconscious man and peered up at Ashley. “I….”
Ashley sighed when she saw how scared and shaken the girl was despite she tried to keep a calm look. “Please get into my car, you’ll be fine. I promise.” Ashley reached into her right pocket and extracted her inferred key. She pointed it at her car and clicked a button on the keypad.
Suddenly the car’s lights flashed and it unlocked.
The young woman looked away from Ashley’s car and said, “I need my stuff out of his car.”
“I’ll get it,” promised Ashley. “Go ahead.”
The young woman faintly nodded and dropped her head. She tightened her arms that were around her body, which held her blouse closed as well. She went to Ashley’s car and climbed into it.
Once Ashley heard the car slam shut, she returned her attention to the unconscious man. She shook her head at him then grabbed the door’s handle. She flung it open and poked her head in, her eyes resting exactly on the girl’s bag of stuff. She reached in and pulled out the heavy pack. She swung it across her back and slammed the door shut. As she knelt down, she reached behind her right pocket and pulled out her handcuffs. “You’re lucky I’m off duty today,” whispered Ashley.
The man seemed to hear her as he groaned.
Ashley sighed and snapped one of the handcuffs around his right wrist. She then stood up but still holding the other end of the handcuffs. She slightly dragged the man closer to the right and locked the other cuff threw the handle of the door. “You’re even luckier you’re not in my district.” She reached behind and put her gun away.
Looking back at her car, she saw the smaller woman huddled to one side of her car. She sighed but went to her car and opened the rear driver’s door and dropped the girl’s stuff in the seat. She then shut the door and opened the driver’s door, she climbed into her seat. “Are you okay?” she quietly asked.
“Yeah,” replied the young woman. She looked over and gave a reassuring smile.
Ashley faintly lifted an eyebrow because she could tell this girl was still shaken. She knew though that was something only time could fix. She pulled her inferred key out of her jean pocket and inserted it into the ignition. After the key and ignition read each other, she turned the key and her car immediately started up. “Put your seat belt on,” ordered Ashley.
The young woman didn’t hesitate when she got the direct order. She reached back and pulled the seat belt around. She bent forward some and snapped the belt into place. As she lifted her eyes, she couldn’t help but notice the metal object shining in the dash area. For a moment, she just stared at it then quickly straightened up.
Ashley hadn’t noticed her staring at any thing, she was too busy reversing the car down the dirt road. “I’m Ashley by the way.”
The young woman knew her savoir was trying to start some kind of conversation. “I’m Katia.”
Ashley’s eyes flickered from the rear view mirror to Katia then back up to the mirror. She then saw the end of the dirt room coming up so she turned and looked out her back window. She backed up her car onto the road but made sure to turn the wheel to the left. She stopped the car then shifted gears and continued travelling down the road towards home. “So Katia, where are you from?”
Katia quietly sighed and ran her fingers through short blond hair. After her hand was back in her lap, she replied, “The Eastern Shore.”
“You’re a little ways from home, huh?” Ashley could tell this younger woman was getting a little nervous. She sighed and said, “Can you grab that notepad there on my dash?”
Katia sat forward some and grabbed the notepad and pen that were tucked down in the little nook in the dash.
“Open it up,” instructed Ashley, “and write something for me.”
Katia flipped to a blank page and clicked the pen.
“Write the time and date.” Ashley waited until she heard Katia finished scribbling down the information. “Then write down PA 176HR0.”
Katia wrote the numbers and letters down and it struck her. Ashley was recording the Blazer’s tag number. She sighed and flipped the cover back over the notepad then put it back into its place. Her eyes met with the same metal object again when she put the notepad beside it. She sat up again and quietly said, “You’re a cop huh?”
Ashley focused on the long turn ahead then finally answered the question. “Sure am.” She glanced at the younger woman then back at the dark road ahead. “Or a pig.”
Katia quickly peered up when she heard Ashley use that slang name for police officers. “Well….” She peered down at the badge in the dash then back up at Ashley. “They’re the cops that tend to only eat donuts and do nothing else but hand out speeding tickets,” she tried to joke.
The amused Ashley started to quietly chuckle. “I see. I take it you’ve had a speeding ticket or two.”
“No,” confessed the young woman, “But I did get a warning once.”
“Oh?” The officer now had an interested look.
Katia smiled some and she finally felt relaxed around the older woman. “Yeah I was doing like seventy in a fifty-five.”
“And you got a warning?” complained the officer.
“Yeah well… my uncle is a judge,” joked the young woman.
Ashley’s eyebrows went up high. “You told the officer that?”
“Well no because I’d probably get a higher ticket then.” Katia chuckled. “I don’t know why he let me off, honestly. But other than that, the only other time I got stopped by a cop was for another warning.”
“What was this one?”
“My brake lights were out.” Katia sighed and shook her head. “And on my car it has this indicator that tells me if any of my lights go out. So I played the duh game with the sheriff and pointed at my indicator.”
Ashley felt an amused grin pull at her lips. “You must have a Mercedes then.”
“Yeah I do,” agreed Katia. Then a smiled pulled at her lips. “But not as nice is your one.” She then began to scan the car as if it was the first time she realized she was in one. “What year is it?”
“1998… it’s a C230.”
“Its beautiful,” commented Katia. “I have a fondness for them.”
“Mmmm,” agreed Ashley. “What type do you have?”
Katia huffed and straightened back in her seat after looking in the back. “An old 1990 190E.” She shrugged and looked at Ashley. “What can I say… she’s good to me.”
“That’s
important,” reminded Ashley. She then noticed Katia had gone silent again and
was huddling to the door side of the car. “Where from the
Katia knew
these questions would be coming soon. She dropped her head against the cool
window. “Chestertown
“
Katia faintly nodded and took a deep breath.
“So why are you around here?”
Katia just shrugged and tried to stray around the subject. “Just on a weekend trip,” she brushed off.
Ashley could
tell the prying would be hard especially since she was use to being a cop and
just getting straightforward answers. “Well… I’ll take you to my home for
tonight. I think it’s a little late to be travelling to
Katia faintly nodded and started to actually drift off. She felt a little chilled in the car but ignored it as she began to slip away. For once, she actually felt safe and she wasn’t sure if it was the badge sitting in the dash or just simply because of Ashley. Whatever it was it helped her slowly fall asleep.
Ashley sighed and tried to remain focused on her driving. She wasn’t tired like earlier because her body was still feeding off the remains of the adrenaline rush from earlier. She quickly looked at Katia and noticed she was cold. She sighed and turned the heater up some but not too much because she knew she’d boil over. So then she flicked the switch for the heated seat on Katia’s side.
Ashley
continued driving down route 1 until she connected with route 273 and went
through a small town in northern
After about
another hour, Ashley took the ramp and went onto the beltway around Baltimore
then it wasn’t long before she got onto route 83 and headed north yet again.
Every now and again, Katia would take the long cut around and tonight was one
of those times. It wasn’t long before she took her last exit and went into the
small area called
Ashley
couldn’t wait to get home now especially considering she’d have an early
morning tomorrow. She drove north on
For a second, she didn’t move and just stared at Katia. She debated what to do but with a sigh, she grabbed her badge off the dash and jumped out of her car. She then opened the back driver’s door and pulled out Katia’s backpack. She slung it around and put both straps on then walked to the other side of the car. She had Katia’s door open and it had yet to wake the young woman.
“I bet she could sleep through an earthquake,” joked Ashley quietly to herself. She leaned down after putting the car key in her mouth and stretched her long arm out and unhooked the seatbelt. Carefully she slipped one arm behind Katia’s back and the other under her knees. Ashley held her breath as she backed up and lifted the woman at the same time.
Katia moaned softly and suddenly a shock rippled through her when she realized that she was in midair.
The officer pulled the young woman in tightly and stepped back. With her right foot, she gently shut the car door.
Katia opened her eyes some and peered up at Ashley.
“Before you fall asleep,” muttered Ashley between the key, “take this key.”
The sleepy Katia reached up and pulled the key from the other woman’s mouth.
“Thanks.” Ashley adjusted the woman in her arms more and then quietly said, “Click on that large button for me.”
Katia faintly nodded and clicked on the button. Ashley’s Mercedes flashed its front lights and the doors all locked. She had a silly grin at how the key made the car do that. She then rested her head against Ashley's shoulder and her eyes drifted shut.
The officer grinned some and saw how Katia was so relaxed around her. She turned around and walked onto the small path to the front of her house. She then almost cussed aloud when she realized her house keys were in her pockets, which required a hand to pull out.
But Ashley had a little hope and thought maybe she’d been in a real rush and left the door open earlier. “Katia,” whispered Ashley.
The young woman woke up some but she was rather dazed.
“Grab the door for me,” uttered the older woman.
Katia blinked and looked of her left shoulder. She then stretched out her left hand and grabbed the doorknob. She turned it and pushed the door some.
Ashley sighed in relief even though it was dumb of her to leave her house unlocked. She stepped into the dark house but she used her left shoulder blade to flip the switch on the wall beside the door. She then kicked behind and shut the door. Straight-ahead were the steps to go up stairs and she quickly flew up them. Off to her right was her bedroom and she went in there to deposit Katia in the middle of the double bed.
After Ashley rid herself of Katia’s pack, she went to one side of the bed. She carefully collected the car key from Katia’s hand. She then took off the young woman’s shoes.
Katia had been sleeping the entire time but rather lightly. She soon heard Ashley’s voice calling her name and she heard Ashley asking her to sit up. She sat up and faintly cracked her eyes open. She sensed Ashley taking her torn blouse off and then a cool tee-shirt covered her body. The next thing she knew she was being pulled under comfy flannel bed sheets and tucked in for the night.
The officer remained on the edge of the bed after pulling the covers over Katia. She sighed then stood up. She went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of flannel pants and a tee-shirt. She went to the bathroom next door and quickly changed into her clothes. Afterwards, she went back into her bedroom and put all her items on the dresser along with her gun and badge. After chucking her dirty clothes in the laundry basket, she quietly left the room and shut the door.
Ashley crept back down stairs and went into her living room where she smiled at her huge, comfy couch she’d fallen asleep on in past times. She went over to it and fell into it. She stretched her long legs out and reached up to jerk off the huge blanket she kept on it during fall and winter. She threw the blanket over her body and snuggled in as her couch warmed up.
Before she
almost forgot, she reached across to the glass coffee table that had her spare
alarm clock. She shoved several magazines out of the way until her hand found
the clock. She always kept one down here since she had a tendency to fall
asleep here. She set her alarm clock to
Part II
Katia rolled onto her back and groaned a little. She almost drifted back into her deep sleep except a rattling noise pulled her awake more. She started to woke up more and last night’s events seemed to filter back into her mind. She opened her eyes quickly when she heard somebody move.
“Its okay,” soothed a deep voice.
Katia stared at the police officer standing at the foot of the bed. “Wh….” She didn’t finish her question when she realized it was Ashley. Her confused expression broke and she blushed some when Ashley grinned at her.
“Forgot about that huh?” Ashley grinned and her hands moved up to clamp onto her large belt buckle.
“What time is it?” whispered Katia.
“About
Katia watched her hook the badge into its spot on her chest. She then found blue eyes lifting up to her.
“Stay here today,” suggested Ashley. “I assume you have no classes on a Saturday.”
Katia simply shook her head.
“Good because I think you need some rest.” Ashley walked over to Katia and gripped her belt buckle again with both hands. She bent her right knee then continued to talk. “I can take you home or back to your college tomorrow… if you want.” She could tell she wasn’t going to get an answer anytime soon from Katia. She also knew she could not hold Katia especially since she was over eighteen. “Think about it, Katia.”
“I will,” uttered the college student. She dropped her eyes for a moment but lifted her gaze back up. She stared at Ashley as a police officer and decided Ashley looked really nice in uniform. “Are you state or local?”
“I’m state police,” answered the officer. She then freed her left hand and reached up into her shirt pocket. She pulled out a card and handed it to the young woman. “This has the number to my barracks and also my cell phone number. I don’t always answer my cell phone because I can’t hear it, I’m too busy getting shot at or… just out of reception.”
Katia gulped and looked down at the card after she’d taken it. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“No problem.” Ashley turned around and went back to her dresser. She kept her back to Katia as she grabbed something off her dresser.
Katia curiously watched as the tall woman pulled her dark hair up and used a hair tie to keep it in a bundle.
Ashley then grabbed something else off of the dresser and turned around. “Get some rest today, okay? Call if you need anything and I’ll be back around four or five. Feel free to use anything in the house.” She then stepped over to the door.
Katia noted the brown hat in Ashley’s right hand. She peered up at the warm blue eyes that stared at her.
“Go back to sleep,” ordered Ashley. She lifted her right hand and put her large brimmed hat on then she smiled.
Katia couldn’t help but smile and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the transformation Ashley took on or because of the smile, maybe both. “Bye.”
Ashley tilted her hat some then walked out but called, “Bye.”
Katia sighed
and closed her eyes. She could hear Ashley going down stairs then leaving the
house. Slowly she opened her eyes again when she felt the paper item in her
right hand. She lifted her right hand up over her head then opened her eyes.
“Ashley Carver,” she read aloud, “
That was when she caught sight of a framed picture. She rolled onto her left side and studied the picture closer. She knew the woman to the left in the picture was Ashley but she did not recognize the other woman at all. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to place where they were standing in the photo. Behind them was some kind of large building with a set of neon lights that made wave design and large buildings just behind like in a city.
Katia huffed then studied the other woman more carefully. She was just about as tall as Ashley but she had bright blond almost white hair. Her smile was huge and her eyes were like a hazel. For some reason, Katia shivered just from looking at her.
Deciding she’d seen enough of the photo, she rolled into her back again and closed her eyes. After a few deep breaths, she began to drift back into her sleep. She couldn’t argue with Ashley, she still felt exhausted and a little more sleep would help. After awhile, Katia’s little bit of sleep turned into three and half hours and she soon woke up just before eleven in the morning.
Katia finally rolled out of bed and actually felt pretty good. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and still letting herself wake up. Her feet hung off the side of the bed and didn’t touch the floor. She blinked and rubbed her face some then stood up. Her feet met the rug floor and she squeezed her sock-covered feet in the thick rug.
“Wish I could do this every day,” she muttered. Katia then spotted her pack sitting on a chair near a window. She went over to it and picked up her heavy pack. “Goddamn what did I pack in here?” she grumbled to herself. She hauled it back to the bag and tossed it onto the bed. “Should check my messages.”
Katia hopped back onto the bed, her left foot dangling off the side and her right leg crossed on the bed. She unzipped a small side pocket on the front of her bag and pulled out her cell phone. She’d turned it off when she left her college, which was back on Thursday. She could only imagine how many messages and voice mails she may or may not have on her cell phone.
With a heavy sigh, she flipped open the LG cell phone and pressed the power button. It took a few seconds for her cell phone to start up but once it did and logged into the system, it started blinking and ringing like crazy.
“Great!” complained Katia. “Just super.” She shook her head and further complained. “You disappear and then everybody decides to call yah.” She first decided to deal with the three text messages she had on her cell phone. She already knew who sent them.
“Mike… that figures.” Katia read Mike’s message first, which basically was him begging her to call. “Next message.” She scrolled down and found the next one from Sara. “Yeah, yeah I’ll call you too,” she grumbled. The last message was from Erin, who also wanted to know where she was and why she hadn’t seen her around. “Guess I outta start with Mike,” muttered Katia.
Katia backed out of the messages then went into her phonebook. She searched for Michael O’Brian then clicked the send button. She lifted the cell phone to her ear and listened to it ring.
Mike was one of Katia’s closest friends on the campus and he also happened to be one of her cluster mates. Katia lived on campus and in her dorm, she was down a small hall away from the main hall. In the small hall were three separate rooms with two students per room. Then there was also a small bathroom that all six students would share. That type of setup was called a cluster and Mike happened to be one of the guys that lived in her cluster. He was also gay.
“Hey Mike,” greeted Katia. She sighed when she heard the first question out of Mike’s mouth. “No, I’m fine.” She paused then repeated herself, “I’m fine, Mike… honestly.” She dropped her head some and stared at the flannel bed sheets. “I’m at a cop’s house.” She felt a small grin tug at her lips. “Yeah right… she arrested me.” She reached forward with her left hand and smoothed out the flannel blanket. “Her name is Ashley, Ashley Carver and I don’t know… she’s just some state trooper.” She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know if she’s a sergeant or detective… no wait, her badge said Trooper on it.”
Katia pulled the flannel blanket over and found the next layer of blanket was the heavy quilt. “No, I just… had to get away, Mike. I told yah, I’m fine.” She closed her eyes and squeezed the blanket some. “I guess I’ll be back.” Her eyes opened quickly and she felt a growl climbing up in her throat. “Mike, I’m fine… honestly. And yes I know Sara and Erin are worried. I’m a big girl, yah know.” She calmed down some and small smile tugged at her lips. “Yes I know and thank you.” She started to nod a few times. “Alright, alright I’ll give them a call and I’ll keep you posted.” She pushed the flannel blanket back over top of the quilt. “Okay thank you. Love yah too. Bye, Mike.” She lowered her phone and flipped it shut at the same time. Mike was also her part-time boyfriend, she was sure of it anymore.
Katia opened
her cell phone again and decided to give
“I’m fine,”
was the first thing from her mouth. “How are you?” She laughed a little. “Just an unexpected vacation,
Katia sighed and knew she had one phone call left to go. She could only image what Sara would have to say about this. She knew though whatever it would be, it’d be funny. Katia brought up Sara Davidson’s number and hit the send button. She grinned and she fell back into the bed.
“Hey, Sara!” Katia laughed really loudly. “Yeah I hear yah… its good to get away.
I’m so glad you agree.” She chuckled a few times. “No, I don’t think you wanna come.” She sighed and stretched her legs out over top
of the blankets. “Yeah I’m in
Katia stared up at the ceiling and tried to force herself to get up and get her shower. She rolled her head to the left and the picture of Ashley and the other woman captured her attention again. “Pretty good lookin’ if you’re into women,” she repeated quietly. “Huh.” She reached over and picked up the photo. She held it over her head and stared at it for several moments. “What do you see in women, Sara?” Her eyes shifted away from Ashley to the other woman. “And who are you to Ashley, lady?” She lifted her right hand and tapped finger at the nameless woman’s face. “You got some kind of shit eattin’ grin on your face too.” Another shiver rippled through her body at staring at this woman’s wild eyes.
Katia forced herself to put the picture back in its home. She finally rolled out of the bed and put her cell phone into her pack. She then opened the main portion of the pack and pulled out several items of clothing. She then gathered her clean clothes for the day and she went out of the bedroom. She had a feeling the door to the right of the bedroom doorway was a bathroom. She pushed open the door some and found a tile floor and sink appeared in the sunlit room. She smiled and opened it more then stepped in only to have her feet get chilled by the cool tiles. She quickly jumped onto the fluffy green rug in the middle of the bathroom and looked at the toilet, which had the lid down and a few items on top of it.
“Huh.” Katia bent forward and with her right hand she lifted up the note that was on the top. She then proceeded to read the note aloud, “Thought you might need these and feel free to use anything in the house. Make yourself comfortable. Ashley.” She smiled at the small print writing. She lowered her eyes back down to the three green towels, which were a regular body towel, hand towel, and wash cloth. “Definitely a nice cop,” she joked. She carefully folded the note and placed it on the sink.
Katia though had brought most of her toiletries, figuring she would need them when she left. She slipped the bag of toiletries out and set it on the sink counter, which was rather large. She then lifted the three towels and put her clothes down instead. She replaced the regular towel down but put the hand towel and washcloth on the sink counter.
Within a few minutes, Katia was in the shower and taking a warm shower that seemed to sooth her body and mind. As she cleaned her body, she began to take note of various bruises and cuts on her body from last night. She hadn’t noticed them last night at all but then again, too much occupied her to let her take notice of them.
After her shower, she dried off and put her clothes on and took some time to brush her teeth, organize her hair, and then went back to the bedroom. She pulled out a clean pair of socks from her pack and then she hunted around for her Sketcher shoes. She finally found them under the chair where her pack had been earlier. She easily slipped her feet back into them and she went back into the bathroom to gather up her items. She also picked up Ashley’s note and instead of tossing it like she had done with past notes in her life, she kept it. Once back in the bedroom, she put her stuff away and slipped Ashley’s note away in her pack and after she zipper it up, her stomach suddenly growled in demand.
“Can’t forget about you,” muttered Katia to her stomach. She went downstairs but not without grabbing her cell phone. When she made it to the bottom of the steps, she realized she wasn’t quite sure which way to go to find the kitchen. She peered to her left and saw a television and large couch. “Not there,” she muttered and turned her head to the right. When she looked that way, she suddenly heard a refrigerator kick on and her face brightened up. “That’ta way.” She laughed and hurried into the kitchen. If it was one thing she loved doing it was feeding her own stomach.
Katia carefully opened the fridge and just stared at all the food within it. “By god… this woman is a food goddess.” Her smile seemed to grow larger and larger as she took in all the food on each shelf in the fridge. “Now this is what I call a stocked fridge.” She laughed and bent forward and started to mill about, not able to control her stomach’s control. “Mmmmm… I think eggs.” She grabbed the carton of eggs. “Some milk.” She pulled out the jug of milk. “Oh fruit.” She was just able to pull out the drawer that was labelled fruit. “Jesus Christ… she’s a fruit.” She laughed happily and spun around. She sprinted over to the kitchen counter and unloaded the milk and eggs. She then hurried back over and picked through all the fruit. “Ooooh kiwi.” She grabbed one of those. “Green apple, perfect.” She took one of them too. “And a nectarine would be good.” She snatched one of those as well. She pushed the drawer shut, backed up, and closed the door with her right foot. She rushed back to the counter and unloaded her arms again. “This is the best.”
Within half an hour, Katia had made herself a nice late breakfast. She sat down at the small kitchen table on the one side of the table and quietly ate her cheese omelet then ate the kiwi and nectarine together. After she cleaned up her mess, she picked up her apple last and grabbed a napkin from the supplies on the table and went into the living room. She thoughtfully munched on the apple while she stood in the doorway of the living room. She shrugged, bit into her apple again, and strolled over to the couch. She flopped down into it and decided to watch tv.
Katia sunk back into the couch and tried to find something interesting on the tv. She eventually settled on the movie Austin Powers II on the Starz channel. She finished her apple, wrapped the core in a napkin, and placed it on the coffee table. She then decided to try the couch out more and actually lay down.
It wasn’t long though before Katia started to feel sleepy again. Near the end of the movie, she drifted off to sleep. She slept rather deeply and for several hours because the only thing that slightly pulled her out of her sleep was the sound of some noise outside that seemed to fade away. She mumbled in her sleep, rolled to her right and now faced the back of the sofa.
Quietly the front door of the house opened and an officer stepped into the house. Ashley pulled her key out of the door and silently closed the door. In the living room, she heard a man yell, “Nice to mole you, I mean meet you!” Ashley snickered at the recognizing the line from a movie. She walked into the living room and stopped in the doorway when she saw the small woman conked out on the sofa.
Ashley shook her head and her eyes shifted to the apple core resting in the napkin. “Hmmm.” She took a few steps closer and picked up the napkin and apple core. She turned around and went into the kitchen to dispose of the apple remnants. After she had, she glanced at the sink and saw the clean dishes sitting in the dry sink. “Musta been a feast,” she muttered, a grin crept along her lips.
She spun around and marched back into the living room. She couldn’t help but smile at Katia’s sleeping habits. She knelt down and reached forward, she gently shook the girl’s shoulders. “Come on, Katia. You’re gonna be up all night.”
“Mmmm… another minute,” muttered a whiney voice.
“Come on,” urged Ashley. She shook the girl a little more, she was trying so hard not to laugh.
Katia swatted at Ashley’s arm but missed yet she didn’t fail to protest again. “Wanna sleep.”
Ashley groaned and shook her head. “Don’t make me handcuff you and drag you off the sofa,” she growled deeply.
Suddenly Katia’s eyes flew open and she half rolled, half tried to get out of the sofa. She basically miscalculated and started to fall out of the sofa.
Ashley moved quickly and caught the younger woman.
Katia gripped the other woman’s body and her panic settled down when she realized Ashley had caught her. “Don’t do that,” she hissed. Ashley lowered her back onto the sofa.
“Well you weren’t getting up.” Ashley had a stoic expression and a raised eyebrow.
Katia looked down at her feet and shifted her shoes off the sofa so that she wouldn’t mess up the sofa with her shoes. She then returned her attention to the officer. “Back already?”
“Back already?” repeated the trooper. She reached over and picked up the alarm clock, she held it up to Katia.
Katia squinted
and read the time. “Oh shit, its
Ashley was shaking her head as she lowered the clock back down. She smiled at the young woman. “You must have been worn out. You look better,” she mentioned.
“Yeah?”
“Mmmm,” agreed the trooper. “A lot.”
“Didn’t think I looked that bad.” Katia gave a teasing grin.
Ashley slowly grinned back and quietly added, “No, you don’t look bad at all.”
Katia’s eyes widened some and a faint blush appeared on her face. She cleared her throat and looked down at the length of her body. She wanted to look at anything but at the officer right now.
“Have you thought anymore about what you wanted to do?” Ashley could tell the change of topic helped the young woman because Katia now looked at her again.
“I’m not sure,” confessed Katia.
Ashley was afraid of that. She reached up and pulled off her gray hat. She lowered it onto the coffee table then stood up some. “Scoot over,” she ordered.
Katia rolled onto her left side but pressed her back against the back of the sofa.
Ashley sat down on the sofa but she twisted her body around some so she could partially face Katia. “How old are you, Katia?”
“Twenty,” quietly answered the young woman.
“What year of college are you in?” further urged the officer.
“This is my second semester,” replied Katia.
Ashley considered that for a little bit, her eyes staring at the wall past Katia’s head. “Look….” Her eyes focused back on the young woman. “I’ll tell you a little something that might help you out.”
Katia was interested, she lifted her head up and placed it on the armrest of the sofa.
“I graduated from high school when I was sixteen… from a private school at that.”
“Really?” whispered the surprised girl, “You finished early?”
“Uh huh.” The trooper could tell the other woman was baffled just as much awed. “After high school, I took some time off and did some traveling before I started college. My folks thought it’d be awkward for me to just jump into college when I was so young.”
“Yeah, I bet,” agreed Katia. “How much travelling did you do?”
“A lot
actually,” confessed Ashley. “The first year was in
“You’re good with Spanish?” inquired the college student.
“Muy bien,” joked the officer.
“Probably not as good as I use to be though.” She lost her smile and went more
serious. “Anyway, I had to come back home and I really did not want to. My
parents demanded me to go back to college knowing I needed to go. I guess I was
still on a
“What happened?” whispered Katia.
“Well after many fights with my parents, I finally decided to take control of my own life. I still wanted to travel and the best way I could think of still doing that without any money was by joining the Army.”
“You went into the Army?”
Ashley nodded
her head slowly. “I did travel… I was in the Army for several years. After I
was released, I applied to be a trooper here in
“Wow,” whispered Katia.
“Not really wow,” countered the trooper. “I enjoy being a trooper and I think of all the good I do for people but… I’d rather have gone to college.”
“Why?” Katia shook her head and her eyes dropped to the space between them. “I mean, you can get a job anywhere… money doesn’t matter.”
“No it doesn’t,” agreed Ashley, “until you have bills to pay and your mouth to feed.” She studied the young woman’s softy mossy eyes. “The point I’m trying to make, Katia is that I much rather have a degree right now than be doing this job.”
“What would you have gone into?” quietly asked the Katia.
“I’ve always thought about being a lawyer.” The trooper shrugged and said, “Or maybe something in entertainment, like acting… maybe even modeling.”
Katia grinned at that.
“All I’m saying, Katia is… think before you leap.” Ashley could tell now she was having an influence on the young woman. “Whatever is going on in your life is not worth losing your future to. A degree is four years and that’s it… almost three now for you.”
Katia felt her chest fill with warm air. Her eyes dropped again to the space between them.
Ashley could tell Katia was seriously reconsidering her previous plans now. “One other thing.”
Katia looked back up.
“How old do you think I am?”
Katia shrugged and whispered, “Maybe late twenties to early thirties.” She suddenly became worried when Ashley gave her a huge grin.
“Try twenty-four, Katia.” Ashley patted the girl’s knee beside her then she stood up. On the way up, she grabbed her hat and carried it at her side as she went towards the steps. “I’ll be down soon,” she called then went upstairs.
“Twenty-four?” whispered Katia. “That’s it?” She laughed in surprise and shook her head. “It must be her height.”
Ashley had
gone upstairs to change out of her uniform. Once she’d slipped on her blue jeans
and a blue button top on, she grabbed her black low cut boots. She sat down on
the side of her bed, near the nightstand, and she slipped on her boots. She
bent forward and tied them but for some reason, she peered up while she
systematically tied her laces. Her eyes rested on the photo of her and
Ashley stood
up and in the process, grabbed the photo of her and
Katia tore her eyes away from the television when she heard a set of heavy feet hit the bottom of the steps. She smiled at Ashley.
The trooper grinned at how the college student just invaded everything like it was hers. She liked that about Katia and only because Katia also respected her stuff. She noticed how Katia had made the bed, cleaned up the dishes, and like right now dangled her feet off the sofa so her shoes wouldn’t scuff up anything.
Katia smiled more when Ashley came into the living room. She still laid on the sofa and now she put her hands under her head.
“Hungry?” asked the cop.
“Yeah, actually.”
Ashley thoughtfully stared at the floor then she peered up. Her grin returned. “I feel like a carnivore.”
Katia suddenly mirrored Ashley’s grin. “Where to then?”
“Let’s do the Outback,” simply stated Ashley.
Katia was up and out of the sofa without a second thought. “I’m there.” She grabbed the remote, clicked the power button, and was off to the door.
Ashley turned around and saw Katia opening the door. “I like her style.” She laughed and followed after the young woman. She went out the open door but closed it behind. She turned around and fished out her house keys and car keys. She used her house key to lock up the front door then she strolled down the patio where she saw Katia standing beside the passenger door.
“Hurry up,” urged the college student. “My stomach is roaring.”
Ashley laughed and clicked the unlock button on her car’s keypad.
The red Mercedes flashed its lights and the locks popped up. Both women jumped into the car and Ashley immediately started the car up. Ashley carefully backed the car out of the driveway and onto the main street. It only took them three minutes to make it to the Outback, it happened to be right off Shawan road. The Outback was just starting to build up a crowd so they had to wait about fifteen minutes before getting a seat. Once they were taken to their spot, they both slid into a booth, facing each other.
“I love this place,” whispered the happy college student.
“They have great steaks,” agreed the trooper.
“Hehehe,” uttered the gleeful Katia. She whipped open her menu and started looking through it. “Oh god, you ever had these coconut shrimp?”
“They’re fat free right?” joked Ashley.
“Yeah… they’re anything you want them to be,” teased back the young woman. She suddenly lowered her menu. “Let’s split it.”
Ashley slightly lowered hers and grinned at Katia. “Four for me and two for you.”
“No, I was thinking more like one for you and five for me,” taunted the hungry girl.
“Yeah, I bet.” Ashley shook her head.
“Good evening, ladies,” greeted the young man. He smiled at them both then his smile grew at Ashley. “Well Officer Carver, its been a few.”
“How are yah, John?” Ashley lowered her menu onto the table.
Katia carefully started to watch the exchange between the server and Ashley.
“Pretty well.” John lowered his writing tablet onto the table. “I haven’t seen you around in awhile.”
“Yeah been pretty busy,” admitted the trooper.
“Get shot at lately?” joked the server.
“Actually,” started Ashley, “just the other week.”
John laughed but more in surprise. “I’ll be damned. Well glad to see you here, miss seeing yah here.”
Ashley smiled warmly at his words. In the corner of her eye, she noted intense green eyes flickering between her and John. “You’ve been well, John?”
“Yeah, real well… college is good. I expect to graduate this semester, finally.”
“Glad to hear it.” Ashley then held a hand out in Katia’s direction and half-looked at her. “John, this my friend Katia.”
“Nice to meet you, Katia.” John held out his hand and pleasantly smiled at the young woman.
“Nice to meet you too.” Katia took the larger hand and briskly shook.
“I didn’t know Officer Carver had any friends outside of the station.”
Katia laughed as she let go of the man’s hand. “Well… I’m a new friend.” She almost glared at Ashley for the smirk she got from Ashley. “We just kinda… bumped into each other.”
“Well I can tell you, Ashley is a great person… a better trooper though.” John suddenly grinned and said, “Just don’t let her catch you speeding.”
“I take it that’s happened to you huh?”
John suddenly laughed and more so at memories “Actually that’s how we met. One day she gave me a speeding ticket and the next night I was serving her dinner.”
Katia laughed hard and shook her head. “Yeah she seems to meet her friends that way.”
Ashley groaned at that and just lifted her menu up.
“It’s alright though, Officer Carver and I worked it out now. I don’t screw up her orders, give her large portions, and she doesn’t give me tickets. Right, Ashley?”
“Yeah sure, John,” humoured the trooper.
Katia chuckled at that and smiled. “I can sympathize with yah, John.”
“Look anyway, I better get your orders instead of letting everybody think I just socialize.”
Ashley grunted and dropped her menu again. “Nothing new there.” She grinned at the young man then said, “Katia wants to split an order of the shrimp.”
“Got it. Anything to drink?”
“Sweet ice tea,” replied Ashley. She then nodded at Katia.
“Lemonade works for me,” ordered Katia.
John straightened up after writing the items down. “Alright I’ll be back for the rest.” He headed off.
After he was out of earshot, Katia laughed and asked, “You really gave him a speeding ticket?”
“Yyyeah, of course.” Ashley huffed and folded up her menu. “He was doing sixty in a thirty.”
“Gee that bad?”
The trooper grinned. “Yeah, that bad.”
“Huh.” Katia took one last look at the menu and decided on her meal. She folded up the menu as well but she stared at it.
“You thought anymore about your plans?” inquired the officer.
“I’m not sure,” admitted Katia. She peered up and studied her new friend for a bit. “I just….” She shook her head and looked back down. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll admit, I don’t know what’s going on, Katia. I just happened to show up right in the nick of time last night.”
Katia huffed and shook her head some. “Like it was fate,” she muttered.
“Maybe,” agreed the cop. “In either case, I just hope you make the best decision.”
“I know,” whispered the young woman. “Just so many things have happened… stuff I don’t want to even deal with right now.” Slowly, Katia lifted her eyes up to Ashley.
For the first time, Ashley could look into Katia’s soft emerald eyes and see just how troubled the young woman was right now.
“If one more bad thing happens, I swear I’ll just… just go insane. I can take a lot but….” Katia sighed and lost her words in the air and her thoughts and fears raged again.
Ashley just studied her friend. She tried to read all the emotions locked in Katia’s darkening moss eyes. She wondered what stirred so much in her friend and scared her so badly. Ashley hardly ever faced fear in her life anymore, too well trained to resist it yet here she saw so much of it just in Katia’s eyes.
“I just feel so… alone anymore,” whispered Katia. Her head lifted and her eyes met with Ashley’s.
Ashley sighed and quietly said, “I know.” She paused and tried to find the right words to say not that she was ever the best with them, especially emotional ones. “I am here for you, Katia. I know that’s not much but… I am here to help.” Her words seemed to bring a smile to Katia’s face that was a mix of happy and sad.
“Thank you,” whispered Katia, her voice full of emotions.
Ashley was worried at that point Katia would begin to cry. She hastily thought of something to try and calm her or relax her. “And I don’t mean just as a cop.”
Katia laughed some and her head bobbed a few times. “I know.”
Ashley softly smiled but her trance with Katia was broken when John appeared with their drinks and the shrimp.
“Sorry I’m late on the drinks,” announced the server. He dropped them off in front of the two women then placed the shrimp between them. Last, he placed two small plates down in front of each of them after they moved their menus. “You decide on your meals?”
“Yeah,” replied Ashley but she gave a question look to Katia.
The college student looked up at John and said, “That swordfish special ya’ll have sounds good to me. Saw that up on the board.”
“Oh yeah, I hear its real good,” agreed John. He wrote the order down, took her menu, then looked at Ashley.
Ashley held up the menu and said, “You know what I like, John.”
The server laughed, took the menu, and said, “Prime rib… still medium?”
“Yup,” replied the officer.
John wrote it down while walking away.
Ashley saw that Katia was busy drinking her lemonade. She decided to take a drink from her own mug. She lifted her head up, her lips coming off the straw, and she brought up her right hand. She swirled the tea around with the straw.
Katia pushed her mug back some and sat back into her seat.
“I don’t have to work until tomorrow night,” mentioned Ashley.
“Late shift huh?”
“Pretty much,” agreed Ashley. “So if you need anything… taken care of tomorrow, just say so.”
Katia faintly nodded. “Thanks.” She sighed and folded her arms in her lap. “You know, I’m still tired.”
“You look it,” agreed the officer. She was studying the shrimp and finally decided on one, she snatched one up.
“Mmmm.” Katia furrowed her eyebrows as she realized she left her cell phone in Ashley’s kitchen. “Damn,” she muttered.
“What?”
The young woman shook her head. “Remind me to grab my cell phone from your kitchen.” She sat forward and pulled the mug back closer to herself.
“Call anybody today?”
“Yeah a few of my friends from college,” mentioned Katia. “Including my roommate.”
Ashley nodded a few times. “Good. What about family?”
Katia faintly huffed and shook her head. She didn’t reply right away since she was taking a sip of her drink. Once she swallowed, she looked up from her drink. “They wouldn’t even notice.” She finally reached forward and took a coconut shrimp.
“I doubt it,” countered the cop.
“You don’t know my family,” reminded the college student. “They have busy lives… which don’t include me.”
Ashley let out a deep sigh and she folded her arms on the edge of the table.
“What about you?” asked Katia.
“What about me?” urged the trooper.
“What about family?” Katia raised an eyebrow. “You have family, right?”
Ashley mocked the raised eyebrow. “Yeah… two brothers and my folks.”
“Oh two brothers?” asked the curious girl. “How old are they?”
Ashley suddenly laughed at her friend’s interest in her brothers. “Ones younger than me, Lucus is his name.”
“How younger, like twenty younger?” urged Katia, a grin on her lips.
The trooper faintly grinned but she lowered her eyes and replied, “Actually yes. My older brother, Thomas, he’s the married man… has a couple of kids.” She grabbed another shrimp and took a bite from it.
“Ooooh so you’re an aunt and you’re the middle child too.”
“Yeah, afraid so.”
Katia finished off her shrimp and put the tail down onto her plate. She carefully glanced over the remaining ones and picked up one. “So that makes you the best part, right?”
Ashley looked up after she put her shrimp tail down on her plate. “Best part?”
“Yeah… you’re the crème in the middle of the Oreo… that type of best part.” Katia gave a warm smile.
The trooper chuckled and reached forward, she didn’t quite grab her last shrimp but did say, “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
“Mmmm… I like the middle,” muttered Katia. She snitched the two remaining shrimp before Ashley got one.
“Hey,” protested Ashley. “Give that back.”
“Now Officer Carver, what’s the polite way to ask?” taunted the young woman.
“Give me the damn shrimp or I’ll arrest you for stealing,” growled the trooper.
Katia blinked but slowly a grin creased her lips. “Oh right.” She suddenly went serious and said in a deep tone, “Ashley, what the Hell did you book her for? Stealing my shrimp, sir.” She rolled her eyes. “Get real, Carver. You’re gonna have to give me somethin’ for this here shrimp.” She held up one of them by its tail, she waved it back and forth in front of Ashley’s face.
Ashley’s eyes suddenly darkened and her grin appeared on her lips.
Katia though quickly noticed Ashley’s grin wasn’t a typical one but it was a rather vicious one.
“Give me my shrimp, Katia,” whispered Ashley in a growling tone, “or you’re going to have a really hard time sleeping tonight, I promise.”
“What you gonna do?” asked the curious student.
Ashley licked her lips, she said nothing but her dark eyes started to glint.
Katia suddenly shivered since her imagination just reeled with so many possibilities. “Okay… you win.” She held the shrimp out like a