25. Scarlett
Scarlett
Luke held the door open for me. His gaze swept over my body from head to toe, and a sexy smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.
We had been apart for approximately four minutes, from the time we left his house together—yet separately—until the time we pulled into the parking lot of the police station.
“Thank you.” I smiled as I passed him.
We weren’t exactly keeping our relationship status a secret, but we weren’t advertising it either. At work, we were both professionals.
Luke strolled over to his desk while I went to the breakroom for a cup of coffee.
The coffee looked like it had been sitting out since last night, so I dumped the carafe down the sink and started a new pot.
Captain Langston was in his office, but when I poked my head in to say good morning and see if he wanted some coffee, he was on the phone and facing away from the door.
I let him be, going back to check on the status of the coffee.
I placed a cup of fresh, hot coffee on Luke’s desk as I passed. He brushed his hand over mine. “Thank you. ”
“Are you on detective or patrol duty today?” I asked. He was in his uniform, which usually meant patrol, but I knew he and Matt had some other cases they were working on in a detective capacity.
“Patrol today. I just need to get a few things organized before I head out,” he said. His long, dark lashes nearly kissed the apple of his cheek when he closed his eyes and breathed in the rich scent of coffee. “I was thinking after work today, I could take you out on the town. What do you think?”
My smile took over my entire face. “Of course. I would love that.” Any time spent with Luke was the best, but something about a formal, planned date night made me extra excited. “I’m going to get all dressed up. Makeup, heels, the whole thing,” I told him.
“You’re beautiful without all that, you know.”
“Thank you. But I like dressing up. I don’t have a lot of reasons to, and I want to look nice for you.”
His eyes darkened. He slipped his hand around the back of my thigh, below the height of his desk so it wouldn’t be as obvious—although I doubted if anyone was looking at us, they wouldn’t know that we were together.
“Wear that black dress that you told me about. The one you wore for that tool who took you to get pizza in it.”
“You remember that?” I told him about that months ago.
I remembered clear as day because that was the same time the tension between us shifted.
I had always had my low-key crush on him, but that day, walking in the woods with him to look over the crime scene again, the air was charged differently.
I had thought it was all in my imagination, but maybe I was wrong.
“Of course I do. I pictured you in that dress more times than I could count, except it was always my arm you were on instead of that idiot’s.”
My face flushed. I looked around the room, but no one was paying us any attention. At least, I didn’t think so, until I caught Captain’s eye as he stood in his doorframe.
“Captain is watching us,” I whispered.
A wolfish grin spread across Luke’s face, his eyes never leaving mine.
“We could really give him a show, if you want.” His fingers tightened around my thigh. My jaw hung open, my rounded eyes looking back at Luke in astonishment.
First, we went skinny-dipping, and now, he was openly flirting and touching me at work—with his superior watching. This new, playful Luke was full of surprises, and I was here for all of it. Mostly.
“You’re a menace, Officer Wilder.” I shook my head, laughter spilling from my lips.
“Figured it was worth a shot,” he smirked.
I left him to finish his work before hitting the streets, getting myself settled at my workstation as well.
An hour later, I was sitting at my desk when Officer Brimley came in.
“Scarlett… um, hey.” His eyes shifted around the room, landing anywhere but on me.
“Morning, Chuck. What brought you in today? Didn’t you work last night?” I asked.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Captain just asked me to come in for something. I should let him know I’m here.” He walked away with more quickness than I usually saw in him. The entire encounter was odd, but I didn’t think much else about it when a call came through .
“Scarlett, can I talk to you, please?” Amy Lingard called from her office.
“Of course.” I started toward her, but she stopped me.
“Why don’t you leave the headset behind. Officer Brimley can cover for you.”
My stomach was instantly in knots. Amy didn’t call me into her office, almost ever, really.
What was this about? And the second dispatcher, Brimley, just happened to be here to talk to Captain about something at the same time I needed someone to back me up on the phones?
I didn’t like the coincidence of that at all.
Chuck still wouldn’t meet my eye as I passed the headset to him. My heart was beating faster as I made my way into the human resources office.
“Do you want me to close the door?” I asked.
“Just a second.” She tried to smile, but it dropped before it ever really made it there.
A moment later, Captain Langston was here as well.
“What’s going on? Did I do something wrong?” I asked, my eyes bouncing between them.
I probably shouldn’t have flirted with Luke so openly in the station. It was unprofessional, and I would apologize for it if that was what this was about. But if so, I hoped they planned on having a conversation with Luke too. It wasn’t like it was just me who behaved unprofessionally.
“Scarlett,” Amy started, her hands folded neatly on the desk in front of her, “as a member of this department, we expect you to uphold the highest standards of discipline and virtue. Even though you are not a police officer, you are still a representative of this organization.”
“Is this about…” I started to ask before I was interrupted .
“I’ll tell you what this is about,” Captain Langston thundered. He reached for something on Amy’s desk that was lying face down and thrust it at me. I had to scramble to catch it before it fell.
It took a moment for my brain to fully register what I was looking at. It was a photo. A grainy, zoomed-in picture. Of me. Tits out. Head back. Legs wrapped around Luke’s waist. Water covered the lower half of both of us as we tore down the last walls between friends and lovers.
“Where did you get this? Who took it?” Heat crawled over my skin.
I couldn’t even imagine how bright my face was right now, but it wasn’t embarrassment at having been caught in a sexual act—well, not entirely that—but the violation that someone had witnessed us, thought to take a picture, and, worst of all, sent it to my boss.
“It doesn’t matter where it came from. You engaged in public nudity and indecent exposure, on a town beach, no less.
You acted with blatant disregard for the laws of this town and everything we stand for.
” Captain Langston shook his head. The look of pure disappointment on his face was a kick to the gut.
“It was just supposed to be fun. It was stupid of us. I’m sorry.”
“Well, it isn’t clear who the man in that photo is, and although I can probably guess—” He shot me a look that said he knew exactly who was in the picture with me. “—there isn’t enough evidence to back that up.”
I looked at the photo again. Luke’s face was in quarter profile.
The lines of his back, the muscles in his arms as he held me to him, pulled any focus away from his face.
I put the photo under my thigh so I wouldn’t be tempted to look at it again.
The picture was kind of hot, honestly. If no one else saw it but us, that was.
“So, what happens now? Am I getting written up?” It wasn’t like we got caught at work. The police didn’t happen upon us during the act. Sure, there was photographic proof that we’d behaved recklessly, but how much could they really do after the fact?
“No, Scarlett,” Amy piped up. She had been sitting quietly at her desk while Captain and I talked. “Unfortunately, we have to let you go. The evidence of wrongdoing is clear, and breaking the law isn’t something that this department will tolerate. Not by anyone.”
What? I was fired? Because I went skinny-dipping in the dark? When someone else in this department may have been implicit in withholding evidence and threatening me? I was completely flabbergasted.
I blinked back my reply before I found my voice. “I’m fired?”
“Yes,” Captain said at the same time Amy responded, “I’m sorry, Scarlett.”
“This is ridiculous. It was just skinny-dipping. No one was hurt. No one was even around—Lu… the guy I was with made sure of it.”
Captain Langston had already made up his mind. There was no saving my job at this point. I didn’t even know why I was trying.
“Clearly, someone was around, or we wouldn’t have received that picture. I’m going to need that back, by the way. It isn’t a souvenir for you to keep.”
Any chance I had at diminishing the blush in my face disappeared. I never said I wanted to keep the photo as some weird memento, but I didn’t want to give it back to him either. The idea that he could look at me… at us… in a moment of intimacy and ecstasy made my insides roil.
I squared my shoulders and handed him the photo anyway, getting to my feet. “I have a few items I’d like to collect from my desk, if that’s okay.”
Captain opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, Amy was there. “Of course, Scarlett. I’m truly sorry this had to happen, but I know you understand our position. Let me walk you to your desk.”
She stood and waited for Captain to step aside so she could round her desk.
“Do you need a box, hon?” she asked.
“No. There isn’t much.”
Chuck Brimley stood from the desk as we approached.
“Scarlett, are you okay?” he asked. He must have been called in specifically to take over my shift today, Captain filling him in on the details while they chatted this morning, I was sure. Did Langston show him the picture of me and Luke?
“I’ll be fine. Thanks, Chuck.” I tried to smile. My eyes filled with tears, and I could feel a tickle in my nose. I wouldn’t lose it here. I couldn’t.
Two ChapSticks, a hand lotion, a sweater, a notebook, and two pictures—me and Aurora at her college graduation and an old family photo that had been on this desk for the past four years. They could keep the Flour Power napkins, extra ketchup packets, and little sachets of salt and pepper.
Lieutenant Polenski watched me being escorted out of the building with wide eyes. He was a nice guy, and I had liked working with him—and everyone else on the force, mostly—but I held my back straight and my tears in check as I left the police station in silence .
Just as I reached to push the door open to the outside, it disappeared. I had to stop myself from stumbling out, my momentum carrying me forward. Matt stood before me on his way into the building. He looked me up and down, confusion lacing his features.
“Scarlett. Is everything alright?”
“Ha,” I laughed. “For you, maybe. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled to hear that I am no longer employed by the Calla Bay Police Department. Now, if only getting rid of Luke was so easy, right?”
“What are you talking about?” he asked. I didn’t bother to dignify that with a response. I strolled past him toward my car.
I needed five more minutes. Just five minutes before I could break down. I had never been fired from anywhere, not even my first job at a fast-food joint. I pulled up in front of my apartment and put my car in park. Luke answered my call on the first ring, and the sound of his voice was my undoing.
“Hey, Letty Girl. What’s up?”
“I… fired… photo… us…” Only every second or third word was making it out between my stuttered sobs.
“Scarlett. What’s wrong? I can’t hear you, baby. Are you okay?”
“No… yes… I’m sorry. I’m just…” I sucked in a breath and tried to collect myself. It was just a job. I was going to be okay.
It didn’t feel like I was going to be okay though.
“Where are you? I’ve been listening to Brimley’s scratchy voice on the radio for the last thirty minutes. Are you still at the station?” Luke’s rapid-paced questions came out in one long breath .
“No. I just got home.” I was slowly regaining the ability to form sentences as my tight throat began to relax a bit and my lungs remembered how to expand.
“I’m on my way, baby. Breathe. You can tell me what’s going on when I get there. Just take a breath, okay?”
The static sound of the police radio played in the background. A call to action on Main Street.
“Do you need to get that?”
I really hoped he didn’t need to go to that call, but it was more important that he not give any reason for Chief Williams or Captain Langston to think he was screwing off.
“No. Neves and Shapiro are over there. They can handle it.”
Three minutes later, Luke was pulling up behind me. I got out of the car and met him at his door. He held my face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away the streaks of tears.
“What happened that’s got you crying? I couldn’t understand you earlier.”
Sniffling, I told him that I had been fired, but that wasn’t the hardest part because now I had to tell him why.
“You remember a few weeks ago when we went skinny-dipping in the ocean?” I asked.
“Of course I remember that day, Letty.”
“Someone saw us,” I confessed. “I’m so sorry, Luke. I know you only did that for me, and now someone saw us, and they sent a picture of us to the station.”
“What kind of picture?”
“You can’t see you almost at all. Captain Langston made it a point to say that they couldn’t make out who the guy was.”
“Letty, that doesn’t answer my question.” His entire frame was so still I wasn’t sure if he was still breathing. I felt terrible. That was so out of character for Luke. He never did things like that. I didn’t want him to resent me for the fallout of a silly moment of fun.
“It’s us in the ocean. You can see me pretty clearly, but your back is to the camera, so you should be fine.”
“Can they just see your face? Or does it show… anything else?”
“I have my arms around your neck, but I’m leaning back. They could see everything from the waist up.”
Luke cursed under his breath, wrapping his arms around me.
“I’m sorry, Letty. I’ll talk to Chief Williams. I’ll call him right now and tell him that they can’t fire you for that.
It’s just a picture. I doubt they had a full forensic analysis performed to ensure it was real.
For all they know, it could have been fake.
I’ll get you your job back, baby. This isn’t fair. ”
“No,” I told him. “I don’t want my job back. Not knowing that I’m only there because of you. I’ll be okay.”
He breathed me in deeply, squeezing me tightly to his chest.
I didn’t know what I was going to do now, but I knew that as long as I had Luke, I would be fine. We would figure it out, together.