Safe Place to Hide || Chenford / The Rookie

Chapter 5

Lucy's stomach drops as she processes what Nyla just said, "You — you think what happened to Tamara is tied to me going undercover."

"No. Lucy — no, that's not what I'm saying at all. It's the opposite really - we've taken every precaution to cover your tracks and ensure no one from Solanga's crew knows you're a cop or your real identity, but with how things went down at the end of the bust with La Fiera - there is some level of risk, which is why we had to kill off Nova.

"At this point the communication between La Fiera and Solanga's crew is nonexistent and it's unlikely any future communication is non-violent; La Fiera is in a better position if Solanga's crew continues to self-destruct; it doesn't give her a strategic or tactical advantage to expose you.

"With all that said, as we've discussed, there's always going to be a risk since your cover was compromised, so we have to continue being cautious. We've had eyes intermittently on Solanga's crew, and specifically on Half-Life and Dahrio, since they were released; we're going to beef that up until we feel confident you're not at risk. But there's no indication that they had anything to do with what happened to Tamara or that they are looking into Nova in any way."

Lucy nods to herself before responding, "Okay. Thanks for letting me know Nyla; you'll let me know if anything changes?"

"You'll be the first to know. And Lucy? I know we've been over and over this, but under no circumstances can you be seen by anyone in Solanga's crew. If they see you and realize Nova didn't die during the raid, they will kill you on the spot, without hesitation. Do you understand?"

Lucy swallows, "I do. Nyla — like you said, we've been over this, and I will be careful, but you have to promise me you'll let me know if anything, anything, indicates they could be involved with Tamara's shooting."

Lucy can feel herself beginning to spiral as soon as she hangs up with Nyla — it's hard to believe it was only this afternoon she'd been woken by Tim banging on the door. She is emotionally and mentally exhausted, but she can't shake the sinking pit in her stomach that formed during their conversation.

Not even ten minutes ago, she'd been so completely fixated on Tamara's cousin, on Tamara herself, as the key to figuring this out. It hadn't even crossed her mind that it could possibly be her own choices, her own relationship with Tamara that had put her in danger. It's so completely the opposite of why she'd welcomed Tamara into her life to begin with that the thought makes her sick to her stomach.

She shakes her head, unwilling to accept it. She replays Nyla's reassurances, reminding herself that any scenario where Solanga and his crew find out who she is ends with her — they wouldn't bother to waste time going after Tamara.

And as morbid as the thought is, it brings her the respite she needs to shut off the light and attempt to escape to sleep.

***

Lucy sleeps fitfully; the transition from night shift back to a normal schedule is always hard, but her dreams tonight are particularly chaotic and vivid — Tamara bleeding from a gunshot wound, a cell phone in a green case just barely out of her reach, Tim's sad and disappointed blue eyes, Tamara's pale features illuminated by the fluorescent glow of hospital lighting, Half-Life's leering stare, and an unending parade of teenage selfies playing on a macabre loop in her mind.

She wakes before her alarm and gets up without hesitation, relieved at the prospect of escaping those mental images.

She's back on the day shift today, and not entirely sure how she's going to focus on patrol work, but it's out of her hands, and she can hopefully find a way to leverage any downtime to continue looking into something, anything, that might shed light on to what happened to Tamara.