Your Favorite Crime

7. We're Done

Lucy claimed that because there was no proof of ownership, she could not help recover the allegedly stolen art collection for the potential client that had made the request. Honestly, she was not ready to let Tim go, but she would never admit that. As planned, she knew that she had every intention of compromising Tim during the next heist- she was going to force him into participating in the illegal activity so that the case against her could be tainted, and he would be punished for breaking the law; it seemed like reasonable payback and a solid plan, but then Tim held her hand, or smiled at her, or kissed her, and she wanted to delay serving him with her own idea of justice for just a little bit longer.

The problem with turning down the request to recover the allegedly stolen art collection was that she had nothing to do but hang out with Tim. Sometimes, they received requests in rapid succession and other times, there was nothing for them to recover. Lucy prefers not to use the word steal, since that would be admitting to doing something illegal, and she avoids that kind of language. With a lack of jobs to do, it meant...a long stretch of down time.

Down time used to be hiking, swimming at her pool, and trying new recipes. It was boring, and sometimes she thought about what life would be like if she had a normal job that kept her occupied all the time. But now, down time meant Tim time. He was there everyday to join her for hiking and swimming, and he was an excellent sous chef in the kitchen.

It was a pretty perfect, easy relationship, and as the days passed, Lucy and Tim so easily forgot the real world. Everything else simply didn't matter as much as each other. It was getting far too easy to forget that he is a cop. She found she went days without remembering that fact, which was dangerous- Lucy never got distracted before, but his soft blue eyes and large warm hands pulled her focus from reality and lulled her into their little bubble of bliss.

One day, Tim knocked on the door of Lucy's office.

"Come in," she called. She knew who was at the door, so she did not even need to swivel her head away from her book.

"Hey, Luce. I noticed you've been spending more time in your office over the last couple of days. Are you working on something?" Tim asked as he stepped inside the room.

"Yeah, I'm just in the middle of a case."

"A case?"

She could tell he was confused based on the lilt in his voice, so she finally looked over at him to explain, "Remember how I told you I got Aaron exonerated? That wasn't my first time. When we're between jobs, I follow true crime podcasts and chat rooms to find people who have never wavered in their innocence. I investigate their cases and work to find proof that they're not guilty, then, I send it to the District Attorney's office anonymously to set them free."

"Seriously?"

"I've helped 24 people finally get justice after being wrongfully convicted."

He rested his hip against her desk and leaned down to look at her laptop and the legal textbook in front of her. "This is how you spend your free time? Basically being a lawyer?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, maybe I can help with your current case."

"It's pretty boring. Lots of research. The best part is breaking into evidence rooms and getting the boxes of all the physical stuff I can't hack into."

"Now that you've really sold me, I'm in," he grinned and sat down at one of the chairs across from her desk.

She smiled at him.

"I take it most people don't offer to help?" He interpreted correctly based on her reaction.

"Tamara gets easily bored by legal stuff, Aaron prefers coming up with theories, but he gets pretty lost in all the paperwork. Noah thinks it's dumb. He says I shouldn't work so hard without getting any credit, but I don't do it for the praise. I do it for justice."