The rain was unrelenting as it continued to pour down, yet it didn't seem to snap Diana out of the stupor she found herself in. Her eyes locked with the eyes of the young man that had spoken to Chief a moment earlier.
Chief was off to the side, searching for something in the car, while Diana was left to herself for a moment. Not that she couldn't handle a group of (presumably) unarmed strangers.
Though she was silent, it was almost as if she was having a conversation with the man in front of her, the air thick and tense as they seized each other up. Yet- The man looked like he wasn't trying to threaten her. He just looked to be very, stern, of all things. Eyebrows set, his jawline tight and his lips thinly pressed together.
Yet his eyes were warm, comforting. Dark brown and wise beyond his years. Diana would have almost thought his eyes were soft but decided against making assumptions since he could be a criminal for all she knew.
The group that hung around this young man with his stern expression, remained silent, as if they knew this quiet language and not to interfere with it. It all seemed a bit too odd for Diana, then again. Small towns like this one usually were quite strange.
The initial shock of recognition was starting to fade away, and Diana realized she couldn't really remember him, so the chances of her knowing him were very VERY slim. Maybe she had seen his face in the police database at some point.
Something in his face shifted, as his brows furrowed and he opened his mouth as if to speak when Chief returned to them.
"Alright," Chief announced, walking to Diana first and whispering to her "Go talk to his buddies over there, see if anything seems fishy alright? I'll talk to the big guy over there," said the older cop. Diana nodded. "Okay, got a name out of him yet? And what you do in there Chief?"
The grey man looked to the car. "called a towing company for 'em. Oh, and he told me his name is Jack. And that those" he tilted his head to the 3 people with him, "are his family." Their conversation was still hushed and quiet, yet that seemed odd to Diana.
Not that she was one to go off by looks, but the woman, in particular, looked different from one of the guys with her blonde hair. The two men seemed to share a similar appearance to Jack, all three of the men having dark hair and dark eyes, but still... They seemed to be around the same age, no way they could be brothers, could they?
Nodding to Chief, Diana flipped a piece of her black hair out of her pale face. Annoyed by how wet it was at this point. Hopefully, they could get out of the rain soon.
As if she had given him a silent signal, Diana made her way over to the group of 3, who had been hanging back by the SUV, waiting for their spokesman to deal with the situation most likely.
"Rough night huh?" Diana announced her approach, catching all of their attention in one quick swoop. All their eyes now trained on her, somehow sent a shiver down her spine. Maybe she should have just talked to them one by one...
It almost felt as if a group of wolves was watching her. like a kind of pack.
Shaking The thoughts from her head she approached the three stooges anyway.
" yeah, we didn't expect it to turn out like this." Said The shortest man of the group, as he approached Diana first. Something about him seemed familiar but once again Diane I didn't pay much attention to it. She was much more interested in why they were here on the road in the middle of the night.
Diana force a chuckle and smiled at the group trying to seem as non-threatening as she could. " yeah I can imagine. "Diana responded as she nodded to the car.
The group seems a little bit perplexed by the fact that Diana seemed so coy about it yet at the same time they also seemed confused about something else, something they didn't name.
Seeing that the rest of the group remain silent, as if they were waiting for Diana to say something, the female cop decided to do so.
"So what are your names?" Diana asked casually crossing her arms as she regard at the group.
The group looked amongst each other for the other guy, who was a bit taller than the first, decided to approach Diana. " I am Mike, and whatever it looks like we aren't some kind of criminals."
This taller guy seemed a lot more aggressive than the first, as Mike came up closer to Diana than the other side dared. His expression was one of anger as he sneered at the detective.
Diana, in turn, held up her hands as if to placate the others anger.
"Whoa, ease up big guy, I'm not implying anything. I'm just trying to help you guys" Diana said quickly as she took a small step back.
Mike still didn't seem amused yet he backed off as the woman finally approached.
Raising her eyebrows at Diana, It almost look like she expect it Diana just say something to her, but The detective remained silent, waiting for the other to say something first.
" I am Caroline." Said the woman to Diana, as she sneered at her. The woman was a bit taller than Diana, it looked quite rugged for somebody who was also very pretty. She had strong arms by the looks of it, and probably did some rough work since the woman didn't seem to mind her appearance much.
Not that Diana cared, she just made a mental note that she didn't want to get into a fight with this woman. Since she wouldn't do well most likely.
That left one guy behind, that still had to introduce himself. Turning to him, then I gave him a kind smile since he was the first to approach her.
"So, are you planning to tell me what your name is?" detective asked with a grin as the smallest guy of the group gave her a grin as well.
at the question, the man just shrugged.
"My name is Niek, and it's nice to meet you" he seemed a lot softer, and relaxed compared to the other two. It's perplexed Diana a little, but she decided not to comment.
" So, what are you all doing here?" Diana tried to sound as subtle as she could, even if the woman kept sending her death glares.
Niek was the first to answer. "Oh, we are just here passing through, maybe looking to work for a little bit." He answered as relaxed as before, well his companions seem to grow angry by his statement.
As if something he said was wrong. Diana couldn't understand why, after all there was nothing wrong with working in a different town.
"Oh that seems like a great idea, what kind of work are you guys into?" She asked, deciding to change the subject to something nicer.
" all kinds of odd jobs," Mike replied, sounding more frustrated than he had a minute before. It's intimidated Diana quite a bit, and she swore she could hear a growl in his voice, though she played that off as her mind playing tricks on her.
"What is it to you anyway,?" Asked Caroline this time, who took a step towards Diana looking quite miffed. Something seems to be definitely going on here.
Before Diane I could actually respond, niek spoke up "it's her job to know, she's a cop after all" he wasn't looking at Diana. His eyes were set on Caroline, a type of urgency to them.
"I don't know why we need to keep up the charade" Caroline began, until chief piped up. His voice racing above the sound of the rain.
"Looks like your tow truck is here!" The older cop shouted, as Diana released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. Looking around the others, they also seemed to relax somehow as if some kind of crisis has been averted.
Chief approached Diana, whispering in her ear "I'm going to signal the station, to make sure these bozos make it to town" to which Diana just nodded, watching as the elder man walked back to their car.
At this point, Diana was just freezing from the rain and wanted to get home to sleep. Her arms wrapped around her body unconsciously as she shivered.
It almost seemed strange that the others weren't as cold as she was, given that they had been in the cold much longer than her.
Seeing the truck, and its headlights coming from the distance, Diana sighed in relief. Maybe she would be warm sooner rather than later.
It was then that she noticed the last of the group of four approaching her. Or should she say the first? It was Jack, the man that had been talking to chief this whole time.
His stern look was gone, as Jack smiled at her. Diana gave a slight smile in return. "I hope they haven't been too much trouble, or that we haven't been to much trouble." The man said pleasantly, his voice deep but warm. It seemed to match his strong exterior for some reason.
" They weren't too much trouble, it was actually nice to talk to Niek." Diana said with a wink towards the man, who averted his eyes the moment she looked into his direction.
"Oh, that's good to hear." Jack said, his eyes seemingly roaming Diana's body up and down. Diana squinted at him, noticing his gaze and more remarkably, where it wasn't.
"My eyes are up here buddy." Said Diana, her voice stern for once.
The others around them snickered a little, as if there was some unsaid joke, that Diana missed.
Jack made eye contact with her, sheepishly smiling as he rub the back of his neck dragging his hand through his middle long hair. "I couldn't help but notice that you look quite cold, I mean you're shivering and drenched in water."
Diana rolled her eyes at him, "well seen Sherlock, are you gonna tell me that it's dark to now?" There was a strange type of familiarity while the two spoke, a type of familiarity that Diana would otherwise reserve only for friends.
Jack gave a hearty laugh. "No, but I was going to offer you my jacket." He was already taking it off and when Diana went to refuse, he had draped it over her shoulders.
He was a lot faster than he looked, something she needed to keep in mind.
Studying his face for a moment, she glared yes couldn't deny that the warm coat was a welcome gift. Which only showed when she pulled closer against her. His smell was on it to, and it smelled earthy like the forest.
"Thanks..." Diana mumbled as she avoided Jack's gaze.
"You're welcome." She could hear the smile in his voice, and Diana couldn't help but smile in return. Something about this man was familiar and almost felt like-
"All right, looks like our work is done here Diana!" Chief called out from the car. It's broke Diana's focus, and she nodded in relief.
Making eye contact with Jack and the others for the last time, she pulled out a card, her business card with her number on it. Holding it out to Jack she smiled "here, if you ever need help you can give me a call. My name is Diana" she just realized she hadn't introduced herself yet.
"Thanks, we'll be sure to do that." The man said getting a nod from the other three with him.
Taking a step back, part of Diana wanted to get to know Jack better. But knowing her self and her work it would be highly unprofessional to do so. The card was intended for business only. Nodding to the group, and still wearing the warm jacket, she walked back to the car and got in.
"A car will escort you to town, my colleagues are coming, don't cause any trouble will ya!?" Chief said to the group as he got back into the car.
The strangers smiled amongst themselves, but Diana noticed there was also some tension, as if they had to have a very serious conversation.
I have to tow truck stopped next to the broken down car, The operator got out and stroke up a conversation with Jack.
Chief started their car and began making his way back to town with Diana. "Nice jacket, are you going to keep it for evidence?" Chief asked in a teasing matter.
Diana shook her head with a sigh, watching as the image of the odd people disappear in distance. " No, I think I might just wear it against the cold."
The pair remained silent apart from the occasional conversation and sharing of information about the new people in town.
But something about the encounter, even an hour later remained with Diana, something deep inside of her was shaken. And when she nodded off again in the car, she wasn't chased by something for once.
Instead,
She was looking into the eyes, of Jack. Wondering who this man was.