Crime Blue

Chapter One

                                   ONE WEEK LATER

SINCE JAY'S death, Max had been staying at his apartment. Each night she packed a few of his things. Some to give to his sister, his only living relative, some for Max herself to keep as a keepsake, and then the rest to Goodwill stores.

It pained her each night to sleep in his bed, pack his things, sitting in his couch, and watch his TV, but she couldn't think of a better way to remember him

She also couldn't forgive herself for his death. Each day since his death she's blamed her self. If only she'd warned him sooner of the noise she heard. If only she had pulled him back. But, the matter of the fact was, he's dead, and she has to live with that everyday.

That night as she was clearing things out of his closet, which was fuller than her own, she noticed and odd looking patch on his wall. It had a darker shade that the rest and jutted in slightly.

She slowly pulled the area in the wall and set it aside. Inside the hole in his closet was a lock box of some sorts. It was made with a kind of Rosewood with a strange symbol atop of it.

She tried opening it, but of course, it needed a lock. Max brushed her hair out of her eyes and examined the box more. She shook it gently, making sure nothing delicate was inside. Something inside fluttered about. Max bit her lip in concentration. The box alone probably weighed more than 10 pounds, and she wondered deeply what was inside.

"Always a private one you were, Jay." Max whispered to herself and felt the tears. She blinked them away and stood up with the box in hand.

Max remembered the shelf which Jay hid most of his keys in case he lost his. Max never really needed to use any of them, but now was better than any other time. She slid the shelf open and grabbed a handful of the keys.

She laid them out on the kitchen counter and began shoving keys into the lock. None of them worked, of course. She went through about twenty different keys, and completely emptied the drawer. She ran a hand through her hair and decided she should call it quits for the night.

She brought the lock box with her into Jay's room and set it on the nightstand beside the bed. She stripped down to her underwear and crawled into Jay's bed. It still had his familiar scent, and Max loved it.

Instead of crying herself to sleep that night, she passed out on Jay's side of the bed, smelling his familiar scent, as if he was there with her.

*--

The moment Max stepped back into the precinct, all eyes were on her. It was the first time back since Jay's death, and the heaviness of it all still hung in the air around all of them. There were a few muttered words and awkward coughs and she walked between the desks, her sights on Captain Hughes who was leaning against the doorway to his office. He had a faint look of despair plastered across his face, however his sternness was still prominent as ever.

"Dillion, it's nice to see you back." Hughes offered Max a warm smile to which she offered one back. Max relaxed into a chair across from Hughes and the two of them sat in silence for a moment. They shared glances towards one another, unsure of what to say, or even do, next.

"Have you finished cleaning his apartment, yet?" Hughes offered the first words, bringing relief to Max.

"Uh, yes, actually." She started. "I gave the keys back to his landlord today. I just have a few boxes left in my car that I'll be dropping by Goodwill today." Max fidgeted with her fingers and noticed how far back her nails were bitten. She deduced it down to stress.