In the fifteen minutes she waits for Tim to meet her in the shop, Lucy mentally runs through every possible reason he might have ordered her out of the store like that. Whatever the reason, she is certain he was acting out of some compulsion to protect her. And despite the fact that she knows him, knows he can't just turn off his protective instincts, she can't help but feel the slightest bit of aggravation towards him. Maybe it's the fact that he didn't bother to give her any indication why she needed to flee from the store; maybe it's just one more thing layering on top of her mild agitation from this morning when she learned about the patrol unit he'd ordered for her protection; maybe it's that his rejection of her is still stinging; maybe it's that, for the first time ever, Tim's protectiveness is suddenly making her feel like he doesn't think she can hold her own. Or maybe she's simply just too emotionally maxed out to even be attempting to make sense of her feelings at this point.
Tim unceremoniously kicks her out of the driver's seat when he returns to the shop.
Lucy gapes at him as he turns the car back on, going through the motions of getting back to business as usual.
"Care to explain exactly what that was about?" she finally asks, once it's clear that he is not going to be volunteering any information.
He turns to look at her, and Lucy notices that while much of the color has returned to his face, he still doesn't look quite himself. "Half-Life."
Lucy's eyes widen, "In the —? I — oh." It's all she manages to get out as she processes the gravity of the near-miss.
Tim's gaze is still boring into her, "Do you know what he would have done if he saw you in uniform? He would have put a bullet through your head without giving it a second thought."
It's then that Lucy notices how tightly he is gripping the steering wheel, the whites of his knuckles betraying how incredibly upset he still is.
"I— um. Thanks for the heads up," she offers weakly.
Tim looks at her incredulously, "Thanks?! Seriously, Lucy? It's like you don't even realize how much danger you're in."
Lucy presses her lips together, knowing that any response she offers is not going to get through to him while he's like this.
"This is why it's absolutely idiotic for a patrol officer to go undercover. You are literally out there on the streets in uniform where anyone could see you, all of the time." He is still seething, and Lucy can feel her own temper ratcheting up in response.
"So, what? You told me so? I know, Tim. You've been perfectly clear about how you feel about me doing undercover work. There's no need for a refresher course."
He releases the steering wheel, and Lucy immediately notices how badly his hands are shaking.
Despite herself, she's reaching for him before she even realizes she's doing it. "I'm right here, Tim. I'm fine." She slides her hand over his and squeezes and he turns his over in response, their fingers briefly intertwining. And for that brief instant, everything seems to stand still and everything somehow feels so right, until static from the radio jolts them both awake and back to reality, each reclaiming their own hand and briefly turning away from each other as they try and piece together exactly what is happening between them.
Lucy is the first to speak, "I don't need protecting, Tim. Not from you or anyone else. I'm a cop. Being in danger is part of the job description. I'm not sure what you expect me to do. I can't live out the rest of my life in a safe house."
His jaw clenches and it's the only indication Lucy needs to know he's not happy with her response. "Don't do that," he snaps.
"Do what?" Lucy asks, irritation rising to the surface yet again.
"When did I ask you to live the rest of your life in a safe house? Don't make this about me. This isn't about me. It's about you. You're the one that almost just had your cover compromised, again. You're the one who went undercover in the first place before you were properly trained, while still on patrol. You're the one who's getting threatening notes. And you're the one who is still refusing to go to a safe house.
"I don't need you to tell me how dangerous this job is. I trained you, in case you've forgotten. But what you're doing — it's something else. It's like you're so determined to prove yourself that you're just running headlong into it, without a second thought. You're a good cop, Lucy. You don't have to prove that to anyone."
Lucy prickles as his words cut a little deeper than she herself is willing to admit at the moment. "How could I possibly forget, sir, when you're always so ready to remind me? And that is rich, really, coming from the man that expected me to prove myself literally every second of every day."
Tim heaves a frustrated sigh, "You know that's different, Lucy, but at this point, I'm pretty sure you don't actually want to hear anything I have to say."
Lucy rolls her eyes, and a few moments pass as they both individually seethe in silence.
"Well, did you find anything at least?" she finally asks.
"Find anything about what?"
"Half-Life? Was he acting weird? Is it possible he was tailing us?"
Tim snorts, "Acting weird? Yes. Tailing us? No. The guy's a creep. He bought some beer, strolled the aisles like a deranged idiot, and then hassled some poor girl at the gas pump until she threatened to pepper spray him and then took off."
***
The remainder of the morning is mostly silent and tense, and Tim seems relieved when a call comes in right as they arrive at the high school. He practically shoves Lucy out of the shop, insisting he can handle it on his own while Lucy speaks to the girls. Lucy tries not to let the fact that he can't get away from her fast enough bother her too much, especially given she is relieved for the reprieve herself.
Lucy finds Jenna and Marissa in the same spot as earlier that week, settled under a tree with their bagged lunches. Marissa offers Lucy a tentative smile as she approaches, whereas Jenna dramatically rolls her eyes and looks pointedly in the other direction.
"Ladies, I'm so glad I caught you. I'm going to need you to tell me everything you know about Beyond Crystals and these parties at La Marca hotel you were going to with Cara.
"And before you bother to lie, let me make this simple for you. We are already well on our way to getting to the bottom of the illegal activity Beyond Crystals is a front for, so it's time for you to tell me everything you know, unless you want to go down with the ship. It is only a matter of time, and this is your one and only chance to steer clear of the consequences." Lucy holds out her phone so the girls can see the photo she found of them with Tamara and Cara at the pool party.
As the girls' eyes widen, Lucy feels a bit bad for laying on her bad cop routine so thickly, but the emotional toll of the morning has left her with little patience, and knowing that the girls had withheld possibly crucial information during their first conversation has her short on empathy.
Surprisingly, after exchanging glances with one another, Jenna is the first to speak, "What do you want to know?"
"Everything. How did you get involved with them? What happened at the party you went to with Cara? What are they paying you for? What can you tell me about Jayce Hansen?"
The specificity of her questions seems to be enough to convince the girls that Lucy is not lying about the seriousness of their investigation into Beyond Crystals.
"Tamara."
"Tamara, what?"
"Tamara is how we got involved with them. Your first question," Jenna supplies.
Marissa nods, "She told us her cousin's girlfriend could get us into this crazy pool party at La Marca. So we went with her. Turns out it was sponsored by Beyond Crystals."
"And..." Lucy prompts impatiently.
"And yeah... there were a lot of people there. I think there was a guy in a suit named Jayce. I didn't talk to him, but he kind of stood out, you know?" Marissa shrugs. "They gave us some of their crystal pendants when we got there. Asked us to wear them while we were there for their marketing. There was a professional photographer there, too."
"When did they start paying you?"
The girls exchange glances, and Jenna finally speaks up, "Look. All three of us, we weren't in the best situations, financially. So, yeah. We weren't going to La Marca just to party. Cara told Tamara that if we showed up for the pool party and they liked our looks, we might be able to make some easy money."
Lucy frowns, "What exactly were they paying you for?"
Marissa's gaze drops to the ground and Jenna shrugs, her cheeks coloring slightly, "Just... you know... pictures and posts on Insta and TikTok and stuff..."
"What stuff, specifically?" Lucy asks, her impatience getting the better of her as the girls evade giving a direct answer. "Okay, I apparently was not clear enough earlier. So let me try again. If I find out that someone involved with this company or these events is responsible for what happened to Tamara, and that the two of you withheld information that could have helped us catch them sooner, and trust me, we will catch them, I will make it my personal mission to make sure you both fry for this as accessories. Do you understand me?"
The girls look stunned, and Marissa even appears to be fighting back tears. Lucy briefly wonders if she's pushed too hard, but then Marissa sniffles before offering, "It was weird, okay? At first, they just paid us to pose for pictures and to post them on social media occasionally. It didn't seem like that big of a deal. It was easy, and we got paid. But then... well, they started to pay us to keep coming to their events. And the parties... well, they weren't bad... even fun sometimes. But it was like a bunch of girls our age, maybe some in college, a little bit older, and then the guys there, they were mostly a lot older. Like... I dunno... 30s, 40s, 50s, or whatever. But anyway, as long as we showed up and were nice to the guys, we'd keep getting invited back for future events and they'd keep paying us. You have to understand. It was really hard for us to pass up that kind of money just for spending a Saturday afternoon at a pool with some weird old guys."
Lucy narrows her eyes, "It doesn't seem strange to you that a company that supposedly sells crystals to young women regularly throws parties where the guest list seems to be primarily middle-aged men?"
"We said it was weird, okay?" Jenna snipes defensively, "But we needed the money."
"So that's all they paid you for? They didn't expect anything else from you? Did you ever have to go out with any of the men? Or spend time with them outside of the parties? Were any of the men aggressive with either of you or Tamara?"
Jenna and Marissa both look uncomfortable, but shake their heads, "N-no. Not really. I mean, sure, sometimes they would ask us out. But we didn't ever have to go out with them. It was always up to us, and we only got paid for going to the parties."
"When's the next party?"
"Oh... um... I don't know, really... we haven't been going as much recently..."
Lucy crosses her arms and fixes them both with a glare, "You can play as innocent as you like, but I know you aren't dumb enough to not know that there's more than just pool parties happening here, so I'll ask again, when is the next party?"
"Saturday," Marissa offers weakly.
"Well, ladies, then I guess we'll be attending a pool party together on Saturday. I assume you two can secure an invite for an extra friend?"
Jenna looks her up and down incredulously, "Don't you think you'll stand out a little bit?"
Lucy sniffs, a tiny bit offended by Jenna's appraisal that she might not be able to fit in at a party with ladies less than a decade her junior. "I'm not going to come in uniform, Jenna. What time should I pick you both up?"
***
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