Detective Elaine Ramos stood in her office looking at the mess surrounding her. Ok so office might have been a stretch as she was pretty sure it was previously a maintenance closet but it was affordable. Unfortunately at this time it looked even less like an office. Papers were thrown everywhere, file folders ripped from the filing cabinet and strewn across the floor. Her office chair was tipped over on its side and her poor computer was smashed on the floor.

Elaine sighed as she took in the chaos around her. She attempted to smooth down her frizzy hair while she collected her thoughts. Officer Jose Sanchez, the cute officer with the dimples she met at the police station earlier, stood in the doorway a concerned look on his face. Elaine didn’t blame him. She knew who trashed her office. Nicholas Palatnokiv was the city’s mob king and a dangerous man. Elaine unfortunately ran into him on her first real case. She was helping a small boy, Tommy, find his dog, until he was kidnapped by Nick’s henchman. Nick was attempting to blackmail Tommy’s father who was the CEO of a big business as well as was trying to run for office. Elaine rescued Tommy and got Nick and his men arrested. When leaving the police station Officer Jose Sanchez had been assigned to keep watch over her as Nick had gotten out of custody and was looking for her. Nick was not an enemy you wanted and he was very angry with Elaine.

When they left the station Elaine requested to stop by her office to pick up some files and her laptop. Upon arriving the door was jarred open and now they stood in the middle of the chaos trying to decide what to do.

“I guess you won’t be taking your laptop?” Officer Sanchez joked. Elaine smiled as she looked at him. He was trying to lighten up the situation. She looked down at her smashed computer on the floor before responding.

“Nah, I think it’s time for a new one. It was pretty outdated anyway.” She smiled at him. He chuckled and began picking up the scattered papers. “Oh no you don’t have to do that.”

He looked up at her from where he was bent over. “It’s no problem at all. I’m supposed to stick by you tonight so the faster we clean this up, the faster we can get something to eat. I’m sure you’re pretty hungry, I know I am.” He flashed his dimple at her. Elaine’s stomach growled in response.

“That sounds like a plan.”

Two hours later Officer Sanchez had stopped by a local hot dog vendor for a late night dinner then headed to Elaine’s apartment. She couldn’t wait to take a long hot shower and put on her flannel pajamas before crawling into bed. As they pulled up to Elaine’s apartment building, a few miles from her office, Officer Sanchez’s eyebrows raised a bit. “This is where you live?”

Elaine’s head dropped as she blushed. The neighborhood was in an older part of town. It seemed a bit sketchy but Elaine loved the colonial architecture of the area. The area had its bad apples but on the whole it was fine and only looked a bit run down.

“Yea. It’s a better fit for my price range.” She replied sheepishly. Officer Sanchez nodded in understanding before he jumped out of the car to help Elaine out. “Thank you for your help, Officer, but I think I got it from here.”

Officer Sanchez smiled. “Call me Jose and you’re not getting off that easy Detective. After your office I think I should at least walk you inside and make sure everything is ok.” Elaine sighed but was too tired to argue so she nodded her head and showed him inside.

They walked into the brick apartment building and climbed the 5 flights of stairs it took to reach her floor (the elevator was out again). Elaine walked to her door and looked back at Jose. He was really going to go all the way through with this. She groaned inwardly and went to put her key in the lock but when she grabbed the handle the door creaked open. Elaine stopped in her tracks and felt Jose tense up. He put his hand on her arm as he maneuvered around her into the apartment. He put his finger on his lips and pulled out his gun from its holster. They both crept into the dark apartment, the only light helping guide their way was from a streetlight shining though one of the windows.

Elaine was trying to feel her way through her apartment when they heard a crash from the kitchen. Jose sprung into action running ahead of her and throwing on the light. Elaine’s vision was blinded by the sudden burst of light when she heard Jose yell out “Put your hands up and don’t move!”

To Be Continued…