What Lies Beneath

Chapter 2

Olivia woke unusually early. Hours before her alarm would go off.; she could blame it on the July heat or even the sorely outdated air con, which made more whining noises than cool air, but the truth of the matter was, it was plain old nerves.

Tied up in knots and not knowing what to expect, the human mind can conjure up scenarios fit for a panic attack. Today, Olivia would start her first day as the new cold case detective of the City of Newburgh Police Department. She missed New York, the sprawling city to where she had escaped eight years ago to build a new life. New York was good to her during her stay. There were so many people and so much going on that it was easy to become a wallflower. Newburgh isn’t what one would call a small town, but in comparison with New York City, it felt tiny. Olivia felt slightly walled in, but that was more about what went before than the actual size of it.

The decision to come back was easy for Olivia, the actual staying here was the hard part for her. In the two weeks she’s been here, she had caught herself heading back to New York at least a dozen times - talking herself back from the ledge each time. She had already accepted the job here, moved her paltry belongings into this crap apartment with its crap air-con and wobbled countertops. There was no going back.

With a pot of coffee sloshing around in her queasy belly, she showered and got ready for work. Olivia didn’t have any use for style or fashion, her standard ‘dress code’ for work included some skinny jeans, a tank top, a time-worn leather jacket tied together with ankle boots, and of course her holster–which remains empty until she received her new standard issue this morning. It was still a little early, but she started the engine and took off to face the day as the “new kid in school.”

Chief Don Callaway had already shown Olivia her office on a previous visit to the station, but she still popped into his office to say good morning. Greeted by a head of salt and pepper hair bending over the computer. By the intense frown on his face, she could only assume that he was having trouble with it. She knocked lightly on the opened door before she stepped inside. “Morning, Chief.” The chief lazily lifted his head from the computer. His eyes took a second longer to catch up with the movement.

“Ah, good morning, Detective Pearson.” He leaned back in his chair with his hands folded over his barely protruding belly. Olivia knew that when he should stand up from that chair, he would be lanky. His small beer belly disappeared under the blue button-up as he rises and towered over her five foot six.

His chair was dipping so low she was afraid he might just tip the thing over - Olivia gave a tight smile to mask her unease. “Are you ready for your first day?” he enquired.

“Might as well be, since I’m here.” Olivia’s attempt at witty humor left a vacant look on the chief’s face and a sour taste on her tongue. She added, or rather, corrected, “Put me to work chief.” Another tight smile.

The look lasted for another second before he smirked and stood up. “The files are already in your office.” He walked over to the safe, crouched in front of it and punched in a code. He retrieved a heavy-looking manila envelope. “Inside is your new badge and list of staff and their office numbers.” She took the envelope from his outstretched hand. Apparently, there is more to come. He emerged with a Glock 19 and a box of ammunition. “Don’t think you’ll use this much, but better safe than sorry, right?

“Of course.” She tucked the g*n into the holster attached to the waistband of her black jeans–she’ll load it later. “Do you have any preference or priority cases?” Olivia shoved her new badge into her back pocket, making a mental note to buy a chain for it.

“No.” He sat back down. “Just use your own discretion, Olivia. You’re sharp, I trust your judgment.” She nodded once as she turned towards the door with her ‘welcome pack’. In the short time she’s been in the chief’s office, Olivia found herself more excited than nervous to start this new journey–it was an odd development since she normally didn’t do well with change.

“Good luck, Detective Pearson.”

Looking over her shoulder Olivia said, “Thank you, Sir.”

Her office is small, with one large window looking out over part of the city and a smaller one on the opposite wall looking out into the hall and a portion of the stairs. On her desk, the box of files sat waiting, next to it a laptop and a telephone. She could feel the curiosity slowly burning inside her belly, the mystery of the box pulling her closer. Those files would become her sole focus for the foreseeable future.

No stationary in sight, she opened the drawers and comes up empty. Olivia wasn’t particularly in the mood for a meet and greet today, but she needed a pen, at least. Checking the envelope the chief gave her, she quickly spotted the person she was looking for and dialed her number.

“Maggie, hello?”

“Hi Maggie, this is Detective Pearson. I need some stationary, can you help with that?” Olivia frowned a bit at her hasty introduction.

“Oh! Yes, yes! You can come on up and I’ll sort you out.” Seemingly unbothered by Olivia’s lack of manners, Maggie gave her some directions up to the admin office.

The office is enormous - a shared space with all the administrative personnel. There seems to be no real rhyme or reason for the placement of the desks throughout the room. Olivia’s eyes jumped around the large space, trying to pin down which one was Maggie. Her eyes landed on a lively, red-headed woman who beamed up at Olivia. Bingo! “You must be Detective Pearson?”

Smiling a little Olivia headed in her direction “Nice to meet you, Maggie.”

“Girls, this is Detective Pearson, she’s the new cold case detective.” A fusion of ‘hi’ and ‘hello’ followed. Pointing to the beautiful blonde first, Maggie went down the line of desks. “Tabby, Veronica, Suzie and Josie.” She gave their curious faces a nod and half a smile, turning back to Maggie. “Should I fill in an order form?”

“Come on pretty girl, let’s get you your stationery.” She ignored the question, so Olivia just followed her to her desk. Her ‘pretty girl’ remark made Olivia feel uncomfortable. Not in a creeped out way, but she was never sure how to respond to it. Olivia paid little attention to her appearance; not that she was a slob or anything, but looking perfect was just not that high on her list–she did practical.

Her somewhat maintenance free hair, black, and cut in a longish bob, ensures she doesn’t spend an hour in front of the mirror each morning. Except for some eyeliner and mascara, Olivia bothered little with make-up. She probably would have gone without the eyeliner and mascara, but she liked the way they made her blue eyes pop. Okay, so maybe she cared - a little.

“Just jot down what you need and I’ll bring them to you.” Maggie handed her a piece of paper.

“I don’t mind waiting for them if you aren’t busy.” Olivia bent down at the waist and quickly scribbled down her list. Pens; black, blue and red. Stapler, staples, a punch and some legal pads.

“I am always busy, dear, but feel free to wait. Saves me the trip.” She winked.

“Thank you.” Olivia smiled at Maggie’s warm personality. She handed her list to Maggie, she didn’t bother to sit down–she didn’t have a long list, it shouldn’t take too long. Olivia could hear the whispers and could feel the eyes on her back. If she was a different person, it would have bothered her.

“Good morning, Cole.” The blond, Abby–she thought, greeted someone that entered the office. “Good morning, Tabby” Ah, Tabby, close enough. “Morning girls.” The mishmash of earlier resounded. Olivia was about to turn to see who the man was, but Maggie appeared from the back room. Spotting the man, she once again took charge of introductions. “Cole, have you met Olivia yet?”

She turned to face Cole. His eyes shot up from her a*s and grinned at Olivia. “I don’t believe I had the pleasure.” She knew that smile; the smile that says “my place or yours”? Detective Cole Daniels wasn’t all that hard to look at, nice and tall, perhaps a bit too lean for Olivia’s personal tastes, but with a full head of light brown hair falling slightly over his lively green eyes, a thin but slightly crooked nose. Looking at handsome men was all in good fun, but Olivia didn’t waste time with office romances. Far too messy. Actually, Olivia didn’t do romances, period.

She stuck her hand out. “Detective Pearson.”

“Right, Olivia. New cold case detective.” He shook her hand gently “Cole Daniels. Narcotics.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Detective Daniels.”

Before he could say more, and he wanted to say more, she turned to Maggie to collect her bag of stationary.

“Thank you, Maggie.” She made for the door “See you around,” she said to no one in particular and all but power walked to the stairs.

Unfortunately, she was not quick enough.

“Where’s the fire?” She heard from behind her. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed Daniels was, in fact, talking to her. Closing her eyes upon a heavy exhale, Olivia slowed her pace. “Are you late for something?” he asked as he caught up to her.

“No, not late, just eager to start with these cases.” Mercifully, her office was just down the stairs–she nearly took them two at a time to avoid this situation she found herself in. Daniels followed her inside. “So, what do you think of Newburgh so far?”

Olivia headed to her desk, dropped the bag of stationary on top, she pulled the box closer to unpack the files. “It’s not bad, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble settling in.” Or re-settling, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“I am a transplant too.” The impassive look on her face must have given off the impression that she might not have understood, so he clarified. “Five years now - transferred in from Rochester.” Olivia looked up when he sat down on her desk; she eyed the perfectly fine chair just in front of it. She wouldn’t say anything about it though; not because she’s afraid to speak up, but she wanted to be alone right now and the more you talk, the more people talked back.

She just gave him a small, forced smile and continued with her files. Something about Detective Daniels was making her uncomfortable–she didn’t understand the caution, but she’ll heed.

“You probably want to get settled in your new office. Good luck with your first day, Olivia.” He hopped off her desk and made his way to the door.

“Thank you, Detective Daniels,” she said without looking up. She cringed a little when she heard the door close softly behind him. Olivia was being rude, she knew, but she just got a weird vibe from him, that’s all. She was usually right about people, and Detective Daniels just has something beneath that amiable smile and flirting eyes that make her senses flicker red. She had a mountain of files to work through and didn’t have the time to analyze whether Daniels was a creep and, if she was honest, didn’t really care either.