Sugar

Chapter 3

Victor looked up as a woman plopped herself down on Sugar's desk, and he thought she was a welcome distraction.

"Hello," the woman said, looking up at him. "I'm Paris, I'm waiting on Detective Felds."

"Oh honey, you're at the wrong desk. He's in that office right up there." Victor said

"I guess she'll be going by Detective Havana." Paris smiled at him.

"Well, I can help. Starting with my name. Hi, Detective Victor Petrov; you can call me Vic."

"Paris Parker, nice to meet you." She shook his hand, her hand traveling up his bicep.

"Paris." Sugar's voice boomed, making Victor and Paris jump apart.

"Hi, Sugar, I brought you a pie," Paris said. Sugar examined the pie. "It's cherry."

"What do you want Paris?" Sugar asked

"Why are you being so rude, Sugar? Paris made you a pie," Victor said

"You want food poisoning, so you eat it. Vic." Sugar said with a forced smile, grabbing Paris' arm and leading her into the interrogation room.

Victor got up to follow but then saw Kevin watching Sugar drag Paris away. Victor waited to see if Kevin would go in there, but he didn't.

So Victor did.

***

"Why are you here, Paris?" Sugar asked

"I heard you got the Detective job and wanted to congratulate you."

"Right, you come here just when I get the job. Is this about Bobby?" Sugar asked, scratching her nose.

"No, you think I'd be flirting if I was still with Bobby?" Paris asked

"Yes, that's what you do. You flirt, and someone always gets hurt. I don't want to see any more people hurt Paris." She let out a breath, not saying what she wanted.

I don't want him to get hurt.

"Is this about Victor? Is he yours?" Paris asked

"No, I am not," Victor said, bursting through the door. "How about you stop treating this woman like she did something scandalous? Stop letting your feelings cloud your judgment and do your job." Victor said

Sugar knew how to hide her emotions well, which she learned in a house full of men.

"I'll get right on that, Detective Petrov." Sugar said, forcing another smile, exiting the still-open door.

Sugar walked straight to their shared desk and threw the pie in the trash.

"You okay, Sugar?" Seth asked

She plastered a sweet smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm done for the day. See you tomorrow."

"Do you want–"

"No," Sugar said quickly. Walking out, she got in her car and drove to her and her brother's favorite spot overlooking the lake. She sat there for hours until she heard a car door shut and shoes on the gravel walking toward her.

"Hey Baby Slugger. Want to talk about it." Kevin asked

Sugar shook her head. She just sat there, tears on the brink of falling.

They stood there silently for thirty seconds before she burst into tears.

"I slept with him. We were drinking. I didn't think he was drunk, but the next morning, he almost looked disgusted to have me in his bed. And you know, after the fact, I was trying to be nice, not talk about it being a partner, then this happened. I want a partner transfer. I want to ensure this doesn't happen again, and I want a female partner. Maybe I should be transferred. Do you think I should be transferred? Maybe to Joey's precinct, maybe farther away like–"

"Sugar, stop. I'm not going to transfer you, but I will give you a new partner if that is what you want."

"It is." Sugar said

"It's hell to process things over the weekend. Can you wait till next week?" Kevin asked

"Yeah, anyway. I have a case to solve. Can I at least transfer to that empty desk by the break room?" She smiled at her brother with her pouty lips and puppy-dog eyes.

"Yes. Now let's get back to work." Kevin said

"Great. Thanks, Kevin." Sugar got up on her top toes and hugged her brother.

***

Vic escorted Paris out, and when he got back inside, he looked around. Everyone was avoiding him, which was odd. Even though he wasn't social, they liked to talk to him a lot. But they were actively avoiding him.

Before Victor could do anything, he needed to know where Sugar was. Sugar was mean, and he'd like to fix it.

"Where's Sugar?" Victor asked, grabbing Detective Hornsby

"Gone for the day," he said and walked away.

Victor looked down at his watch and saw it was nearly eight o'clock. So he packed up for the night.

***

The next few days were quiet. Sugar came in but avoided him whenever he looked up. Sugar was in with the Captain.

But today, they walked straight past Victor and went to the empty desk next to the break room. Sugar sat down; Captain Felds gave her a small smile, nodded, and walked up the stairs to his office.

Before he could go to Sugar, his phone rang.

"Petrov." He growled into his phone.

"I found out what the murder weapon was." Doctor Claymore said

"Great, I'll be down there in a second," Victor said as he turned to walk toward Sugar, but she was gone.

Victor growled, and everyone around gave him enough space to get to the elevator without bumping into them.

Once he made his way down to the coroner's office, he saw Sugar arguing with someone on the phone. He caught the last bit of the conversation.

"No, I haven't seen her. Could you not call me again, Bobby? No, you listen to me threaten me again, and I'll arrest your ass." She hung up. "Sorry, excuse for a man." Sugar muttered, looking up. She put a smile on her face when she saw him, but he could tell it was fake.

"What do you have for us, Martin?" Sugar asked

"I've got some info on the weapon. It was a long pipe with duct tape around the end." Martin said

"Well, how often do you think someone has to be hit with a duct-taped pipe to do that?" Victor asked

"I'd say four, depending on how strong the person is," Martin said

"I think it's a woman." Sugar said

"I think it's safe to say the person we're looking for is a woman, yes."

Martin sighed

"Why do you say that?" Victor asked

"The marks are on a low angle, meaning the person able to distribute that mark was five-three or maybe five-five. This man is six foot." Martin said

"So it could be a short man?" Victor asked

"Or a woman." Sugar said

***

Sugar's phone rang, and she looked down at it and sighed.

"Excuse me." Sugar said

"Sugar, I need your help," Natalie said

"Where are you?" Sugar asked panicked

"I'm near your house. My car broke down." Sugar could hear the crinkle of paper in her mother's end.

"Ma, why are you near my house?" Sugar asked

"I have a surprise for you," Natalie sang

"No. Call Dad and go home." Sugar growled

"But your father is at work," Natalie whined

"Ma, I'm at work, and I'm in the middle of a case. Call Dad." Sugar sighed, hanging up and dialing her father.

Ring. Ri...

"Hey honey, what's going on?" Emmanuel asked

"Mom is having a breakdown near my place." Sugar smiled, knowing how her dad would take it.

"What? What happened? Is she alright?" Emmanuel panicked

"Let me rephrase: her car had a breakdown, not her personally, although one might think otherwise if they converse with her." Sugar laughed

"So your mother's car broke down? Why didn't she call me?" Emmanuel asked

"She said you were working. I would get her, but I'm in the middle of a case." Sugar said

"I'm not at work; I'm at the gun range," he said

"Well, she said she had a surprise. You know her surprises, Dad. I don't need this after the day I had; please bring her home." Sugar pleaded

"I'll handle it," Emmanuel said, letting out a breath.

"Thank you, Dad."