Safe Place to Hide || Chenford / The Rookie

Chapter 7

The next morning, Lucy and Tim meet with Angela and Nyla before heading out to patrol. Lucy hands over the note, now in a plastic bag with its accompanying envelope.

"So it was just mixed in with your mail? Not labeled in any way?" Angela asks, taking the note from Lucy.

Lucy nods, "Yeah — nothing other than the note."

"Hmmm," Nyla, Angela, and Tim exchange glances, and Lucy feels uncomfortably like the child in the room, while the grown-ups are having a conversation with their eyes.

"We'll have it run for prints. But honestly, it's pretty odd. There's no saying whether it was meant for you or it could just be a harmless prank, but with everything that's going on, I don't feel good about it, Lucy. It could be tied to Solanga, it could be tied to Tamara, or it could be completely unrelated. We'll have to wait and see what comes up," Angela finishes with a sigh.

"It's not really the M.O. of a drug operation, and we've had eyes on Solanga's crew; we'd know if they were anywhere near your place, Lucy. But that doesn't mean they couldn't have sent someone we're not watching," Nyla frowns, "but honestly, it just doesn't make a lot of sense."

Angela looks at Lucy, "I know the message is pretty general, but is there any reason you can think of that someone might call you a liar? It could be work related, but it could also be personal."

Lucy shrugs, "Not other than the obvious — I told plenty of lies when I was undercover."

"So, normally, I'd just suggest we get some eyes on your place, to see if whoever put this in your mailbox comes back, but we're kind of resource-constrained right now. We've already got multiple units assigned to Solanga's crew, and with that global summit later this week, I don't know that we can get anyone assigned full-time just off of this one note. I can ask the Tech guys about setting up a camera in the mailroom though," Angela jots a note down as she finishes.

"That's not good enough," Tim snaps. He's been wound up all morning, and Lucy feels an unexpected pang of warmth toward him, despite the fact that he's being a bit of an ass.

She tries to smile reassuringly at him, "It's okay, Tim. It's just a note. It might be absolutely nothing."

Tim opens his mouth to disagree, but Nyla cuts him off, "It's not just a note, Lucy. And we take any threat to our UC's safety very seriously. No matter how minor it might seem. But what I'd like to know is — honestly, how are you feeling, Lucy? It's been a crazy few days. If you're feeling uncomfortable at all, we can get you set up in a safe house — just say the word."

Lucy shakes her head vigorously; a safe house will mean she can do absolutely nothing to help Tamara. "No. I don't want that. I need ... I need normalcy and my routine right now as much as possible, and, more than that, I need to be able to help Tamara. Look, I'll do whatever you suggest as far as precautions, but I don't want to be sent away."

Nyla and Angela exchange glances again, before Nyla nods, "Okay. I hear you, and I agree. I think the safe house would be an overreaction at this point. Let's just keep monitoring things, and the minute anything seems off or if you feel even the slightest bit uncomfortable, I want you to call me."

The tension is practically radiating off of Tim now, "Are you ser—"

"Tim," Angela warns.

"Look, Tim," Nyla says pointedly, "You're in here as a courtesy. That's all. You don't really have a say in this, but if you'd like to make some constructive suggestions, we're all ears."

Tim glowers at Nyla, crossing his arms over his chest as his jaw clenches, "I don't think you're taking this seriously enough. I think she should go to the safe house, but like you said, it's not up to me."