Safe Place to Hide || Chenford / The Rookie

Chapter 15

A quick survey of the area confirms for Tim that Lucy and suit-guy must have moved into the cabana, which he isn't able to see inside of from his vantage point in the lobby.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, Tim weighs bursting into the cabana to ensure her safety against potentially ruining a solid lead for Lucy. He does another scan of the crowd and freezes when his eyes land on a vaguely familiar brunette. Fuck, it takes him only moments to identify her as Cara, and the decision is made for him. She definitely hadn't walked through the lobby to access the pool, so she must have been in one of the cabanas when they had arrived. And if Cara is here, then Scott might be too, and that means Lucy is at risk of being recognized.

Tim begins to stride toward the private cabana but is swiftly stopped by 2 burly men in suits, "Sorry, sir, but this is a private party."

Tim shifts his overshirt back so the men can see his badge and gun and, thankfully, they immediately get out of his way.

Lucy is almost backed into a corner when Tim enters the cabana, Jayce and another man are looming over her in a way that makes him all too aware of just how physically small she is. Her fierce tenacity and general badassness at work often make it easy for him to forget that fact, in conjunction with the knowledge that she can handle herself. But these two men don't know that, and the fact that they are clearly using their size and strength to intimidate her has Tim seeing red.

Jayce is gripping Lucy tightly by the wrist. "You little bitches never learn," he snarls into her face. And Tim isn't surprised to see Lucy's eyes flashing with venom as she refuses to give him another inch.

Tim clears his throat, "Is there a problem here?"

Both men immediately step away from Lucy as they turn to Tim in surprise, and it's then that Tim is able to confirm that the second man is, in fact, Scott.

Lucy slips out from behind them but stops once she is again face-to-face with Jayce.

She has to launch herself on her tiptoes so that they are nose to nose, and if Tim wasn't so pissed, he might actually find it kind of adorable, on top of how much he respects her for being so incredibly fearless. "I know what you did. And I am going to nail you for it. All of it."

And then she's storming toward Tim, grabbing him by the forearm to pull him out of the cabana.

"We can arrest them, you know?" Tim suggests as he lets himself be pulled back into the lobby by his fiery former rookie.

"For what? Grabbing my arm?"

"Assaulting a law enforcement officer."

Lucy shakes her head. "That won't stick, and you know it. Besides, I think I have enough to get him for something legitimate. He did it, Tim. I know he did. You should have seen him when we walked into the cabana and Scott recognized me. It was a complete 180 once he knew I was a cop; he was practically unhinged. I need to tell Angela what —"

She's practically vibrating with emotion, and Tim gently grabs her by her upper arms to bring her back to the ground. "Lucy. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she nods dismissively, "But we need to get the girls."

"We will," Tim says, "But it's better that the girls aren't seen with you. They're going to put together that Marissa and Jenna brought you to the party pretty quickly, and that could put them in danger. I'll ask Nyla to come give the girls a ride back home and talk to them about the precautions they should take until we get these guys put away. I'm going to keep an eye on things until she gets here. He hands Lucy his keys. "Wait in my truck; you can give Angela a call to get her up to speed."