Against The Current

Chapter 17

Emma squeezed her eyes shut. Tears began seeping out of the corners and she quickly brushed them away. She needed to separate her emotions from this situation and use the skills she had spent years perfecting. Emma grabbed her bag and rummaged through until she found a pair of latex gloves. She had learned early on that contaminating evidence was a big no-no and now always carried gloves.

Adrenaline was still shooting through her veins, making her heart race uncontrollably as she pushed herself up and off the floor. Glass crunched under her shoes as she finally moved out from behind the table that had acted as a shield. Mary Margaret was on her phone and was still visibly shaken by the shooting. Graham was nowhere in her immediate sight but she didn't need to be worrying after him.

Emma was starkly reminded of why she chose to distance herself from people. Those closest to her never stayed or were scared away by the dangers of her job. Maybe there was a reason why people were always leaving her?

The sound of sirens echoing in the distance did little to reassure her as she trudged through the damage.

'There has to be something here!' Emma told herself as she began searching for any evidence or clues left behind. She needed to find something to link the attack to Gold or even to help find the son of a bitch.

The police had arrived on the scene and had begun cordoning off the front of the restaurant as people were beginning to crowd on the street. Two Ambulances screeched to a halt outside and paramedics began treating those that were injured .

Emma ignored the activity as she saw the glint of something metal lodged into the bar. Moving closer to investigate, she found several bullets stuck in the thick wood that needed to be wedged out. Emma reached over the top of the bar to rummage for a knife. She quickly crouched down and used the tool to get the bullets out of the wood. Emma held the bullets up into the light for a quick look, hoping they weren't too damaged.

"Are you a cop?" a deep voice questioned from behind her. Emma turned her head slightly and caught Graham's figure out of the corner of her eye.

Damn. How long had he been watching her?

"No!" Emma denied immediately, probably too quickly as Graham simply quirked an eyebrow.

Technically she was not a cop.

"I step out for a few minutes and all of sudden you are playing crime scene investigator." Graham said with a tight smile as Emma turned around to fully face him, quickly shoving her hands in her pockets. She was not going to lose any of her evidence to him.

"It's not what it looks like..." Emma told him with a shrug, "Someone is after me! Shouldn't I investigate?"

She hoped her casual way of shrugging off her activities would convince him. One look at Graham's face told her that he wasn't buying it.

"I know you Emma." He told her.

"No! You knew me." She retorted bitterly. He was just another person that had drifted out of her life.

Graham shook off her dig at him, "I know you. Something has not been adding up since I came onto the scene and I think I just hit pay dirt."

Emma's ship was sinking and fast, she needed to quickly bail herself out.

"I think the adrenaline of the situation has you seeing things that just aren't there." She told Graham with a small smile, trying to lighten up the situation.

"Does Jones know?" Graham asked quietly, noticing the small frown on Emma's face before giving his head a small shake, "No. He thinks you need protecting."