• "I hate people sometimes..." I grumbled. And who was laughing the loudest? Luke, of course! I couldn't wait to prove that I was right, just to wipe that smirk off his face.

    I stormed out of the office, ready to punch something... or someone.

    The voice of the chief came from behind me, "Wait, officer. Kathleen, you know that we want to believe you... It's just that you can make some really crazy assumptions, sometimes."

    "That doesn't mean that I'm not right." I said, "I know that guy I met has something to do with this. And the note... That's not some sort of joke. It just doesn't fit. Whoever wrote it committed the crimes and wants to shove the fact that we haven't caught him in our faces."

    "Well, until you get a better lead, we can't just assume things. It's too risky. I also don't think you should work this alone."

    I could feel my eyebrow raise up as he said this. The last time I worked with someone, the guy ended up with a kick where the sun doesn't shine. That's the final time that guys going to make a grab at a woman's butt.

    "I know what you're thinking." The chief continued, "But I'll put you with someone who would never invade your personal space. In fact, he'd probably be more so worried about you invading his."

    I sighed out, "Please, please tell me it's not who I think it is... Is he-"

    "Your new partner for this case is Luke."

    A groan escaped my lips. This was not my day.

    "But chief!" I whined.

    "No 'but chief.'" He said. Of course, Luke wasn't taking the news so well, either. At first, my future partner just laughed, "Funny, Chief. You make a good joke." After a moment of silence, he realized the situation he was in.

    One of the first things he said was, "Oh, hell no. No way will I ever, ever work with her."

    ****

    "I can't believe I'm working with you." Luke whined as we got into my car.

    "Trust me, the feelings mutual." I hissed back through my teeth. Even the fact that he was in my car made my skin crawl. I shoved the keys into the ignition, sending the old hunk of metal to a sputtering start, light music playing in the background. 'Well, I do always have that pepper spray in my belt.' I thought, 'I could "Accidentally" spray some in his eyes if he gets too annoying.'

    We rode in silence until Luke tried to turn the radio to a different station. I immediately slapped his hand.

    He yelled at me, "Geez! What is your problem?!"

    Keeping my eyes on the road, I told him one of the many rules of riding in my car, "The person driving the car picks the tunes, okay? So, unless you want your hands ripped off, I suggest you keep them to yourself and away from the radio, got it?" He simply rolled his eyes and looked out the window like some little kid on a road trip.

    Taking a deep sigh, I spoke through the silence, "Look, I don't mean to be hostile, but you don't like me and I don't like you. We agree on that, right?" He gave me a small nod.

    "Okay, then. Well, it's also our job to figure this out. We can agree on that too, right?" I continued. Another small nod from the passenger seat.

    "Well, we aren't going to be able to do this arguing like cats and dogs, so let's just try to be nice to one another. Just this once." I said.

    He finally started to speak, "Alright. But don't think this makes up for the academy."

    "You mean the fact that you got beat up in a fight by a girl?" I smirked, of course with me being the said girl. Anyone who was next to him could of heard him grinding his teeth together.

    He frowned deeply, "No, I mean the fact that I went easy on you because you were a girl, and you just happened to take advantage of that."

    "Sure. If that's the story you're going with. If I remember correctly, you were talking crap on how a girl like me could never beat a strong man like you. Guess I proved that wrong, huh?"

    Silence filled the car.

    ****


    As I got out of the car, the first thing I thought was, 'Okay. Longest car ride ever.'