Conflict of Interest

Chapter Nine

Jenn

"God, it is good to be home," I exhaled, crawling onto Carrie's couch and prying my way into her embrace because she was not the touchy-feely type.

"You're not home," she pointed out. "You're in my apartment."

"I meant in your arms," I half-kidded, cuddling a bit closer to her.

"You are an embarrassment."

"You love me," I dismissed.

"You'll do for now."

"How was your day?" I asked, drawing circles on the upside of her hand.

"Well," she contemplated. "It happened."

"That's exciting," I said flatly.

"You know the Green Falls PD has to have the most morons per capita of any police jurisdiction in the country?"

I rolled my eyes, knowing she didn't mean to be harsh, but still feigning offense. "I might have known that, were I not such a moron."

"I wasn't talking about you," she sighed. "I was talking about sex crimes. They're ridiculous."

"So you heard about Kim, then," I pieced together.

She let out a low whistle and nodded. "And how."

"I feel bad," I admitted.

"You know I don't think Grace really left," she threw out.

"Clapp mentioned something about that."

"The thing is, I kind of wish she had. Then she wouldn't come back."

"You really don't like her," I noted.

"It's not that I don't like her, so much as that I can't stand her presence. Just the sound of her voice is so...irritating."

"She seemed nice enough when I met her," I characterized.

"Yeah? Have you ever been drinking with her?"

"Have you?"

"Once, maybe twice. We all went out after we put Collin Shaw away, and Kim dragged her along," she explained.

"I didn't know they were dating back then."

"They weren't, technically. But if it looks like a girlfriend and acts like a girlfriend..."

"And goes drinking with all your detective buddies..."

"Exactly. So now Green Falls is all up in arms about finding her, and I'm thinking she's better off missing. I have such a headache."

"Have you eaten today?" I asked parentally.

She shrugged, brushing the idea off. "I don't remember."

"Carrie, you have to take care of yourself."

"I'm fine," she promised, the sound of her words all too familiar.

"If I had a dollar for every time I heard that today," I considered.

"Seriously," she concurred, knowing exactly what I was talking about. "Why won't she let us help? It's like she has too much pride to let anyone in."

I laughed, looking up at the ceiling. "Do you hear yourself?"

"What?" 

"Too much pride to let anyone in? I mean, holy hypocrisy, Batman."

"I'm not proud," she argued quietly, which didn't even earn a response other than a stern look.

"Okay," she understood, point taken. "But it's a good thing in my case. It's not dangerous to my mental health."