"Man, I want to know what they're talking about in there. Charlie is so lucky," Chimney said as the two passed the briefing room walking out of the station.
"She'll most likely tell us when she comes over on Friday for dinner," Hen reminded him.
"And that's what is keeping me going for the rest of this week," Chimney exclaimed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I've been undercover inside La Eme for almost a year. Working my way closer to the offshoot in Boyle Heights called Ocampo Loco. They control the cash flow and then bundle the drug money and ship it back to Mexico." Ortiz explained.
"How much money are we talking?" John asked.
"Right now, at least a million. The word is they're gonna ship it tonight. I was about to report it when my cover was blown by, uh, Matthew Rodriguez, who tried to kill me, so I shot him in self-defense. Uh, you know the rest," Ortiz told the group.
"Officer Ortiz has bravely volunteered to go back in to protect his cover and set up our tactical operation." Sergeant Grey exclaimed.
"Last time I was at the house, it was four halcones guarding the money. Heavy hitters," Ortiz explained to the group.
"We're gonna gear up heavy, position ourselves down the street, be ready to initiate a full-blown raid on the house once Ortiz gives us the signal," Grey said.
"Rookies, this is your first high-level tactical operation. Let's be prepared." Captain Andersen told the four.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathan and Charlotte were walking through the bullpen once Charlotte had her tactical gear on. "You know what a tactical-gear check looks like?" Nathan questioned the rookie.
"Yup, got stock zip ties in the loops of the tac vest. Secured the loose gear tac vest, helmet, etc. Then you secure the firearm to the thigh rig," Charlotte replied.
"Good. Got any questions?" Nathan asked.
"Only one. Does this make me look fat?" Charlotte questioned causing Nathan to shake his head and let out a sigh. "Nevermind..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte walked behind Nathan as Grey said. "All units, we're thirty seconds out. Get ready. Be safe. Officer West, you do the 844. Stand by to initiate. Ortiz is in," Grey instructed as he listened in to what Ortiz was saying to the other man inside the house. "That's the signal. Initiate."
Charlotte felt the signal as Angela placed a hand on her shoulder squeezing it. She knew she had to do that to Nathan's shoulder and she did so. A man with a duffel bag is walking out to a car that was parked around the corner that Lucy and Charlotte noticed. "Police! OPen the door! We have a search warrant!" Jackson yelled out.
Once there was no answer Lucy swings the ram once causing the door to cave in. The group of cops ran inside and the criminals began to run in every direction as the LAPD began to shout.
"Hands up!" Charlotte yelled out along with Jackson as the two cornered two criminals together.
"Rookies, special assignment. Follow me." Sergeant Grey said after securing all the criminals.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sorry. Here's what happens now. You see, the money counters and the videographer are on their way. In the meantime, you four get to watch the money. Two people with it all times. No selfies. Enjoy," Grey told the four leaving the room.
Charlotte stared at the money, never seeing this much money infront of her before. "Where does all this money go?" Lucy questioned breaking the silence between the four.
"Cash seized during drug raids goes back to Narcotics, where it's used again for undercover ops," Jackson explained.
"That's more money that I've ever seen in one place," John exclaimed.
"I could travel around the world twice with this money and pay my rent for the entire year," Charlotte said.
"Can you imagine? I'd buy a car– no, a helicopter. And learn to fly it so I could avoid all the traffic," Lucy agreed.
"Yeah, that first big purchase is always tricky, right? The barber in Foxburg? He won the lottery. Bought a big, fancy boat. Ran it aground in Freeport, coked to the gills. I don't think a boat is a good idea," John stated.
"What about you? What would you spend it on?" Lucy asked Jackson who had stayed silent during this conversation.
"I'm not playing that game. This is drug money," Jackson answered.
"Come on. We're just talking. A million dollars lands on your doorstep. What do you do? Go. and don't say you'd set aside thirty percent for taxes," John said knowing Jackson would so say that.
"Um– new car. I guess. Um, or maybe a trip. Been wanting to do a little traveling like Charlie said," Jackson answered.
"Let me guess. You'd visit police departments all around the world. Learn their techniques," Lucy said.
"No–"
Lucy, Charlotte, and John all looked at the other knowing that he most definitely would do that if he traveled the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moments later, Charlotte had taken her helmet off and was sitting on a folding chair next to John as they continued to talk about the money and what they would do with it. "I'd pay all of Henry's tuition with the money. Just so he didn't have those student loans hanging over his head," John said.
"Yeah, they're no fun. I'll be paying mine off until I'm sixty," Lucy said.
Charlotte quickly looked down at her feet since she had gotten a full ride to UCLA, which the only person who knew that was her father and she wanted to keep it like that. "Yeah, well, with this money, you could pay them all off and still rent an amazing place by the ocean. Meanwhile, I couldn't afford to buy the room in the house I'm living in," John said.
"Bet it would have got you something pretty nice back in Foxburg, though," Jackson exclaimed.
"Hmmm. Biggest house in town and then some. Still can't get used to the cost of living in Los Angeles. It's like you have to add an extra zero to everything," John said.
"That's true. Back in Minnesota you would pay half the rent for an apartment the size we're living in," Charlotte exclaimed glancing at Jackson.
"You know, I never really thought about money growing up. We always just ahd enough, you know?" Jackson stated.
"That's what I thought until my parents went bankrupt when I was nine. It took a couple of really bad years before we got back up on our feet," Lucy said.
"I didn't think too much about money until I went to UCLA and had to figure out how to pay everything on my own," Charlotte commented.
"Ah, been there. Definitely been days where I would have killed to be sitting across from this much money, there for the taking," John said.
"Hey, don't even joke about that. I've heard too many stories from my dad about cops who started filling their pockets, convincing themselves that it was a victimless crime, that they were entitled to a little extra compensation for their troubles," Jackson stated.
"Okay. Well, relax. That's not right," Lucy exclaimed.
"Yeah. You know us Jackson. Heck we have lived together since junior year of college..." Charlotte said knowing he didn't mean to accuse her as well, but still felt like he did.
"Yeah, that's what they thought at first, too. But then you take a bite of the creme brulee, and the next thing you know, you're doing three to five for felony theft," Jackson sighed out.
Lucy and Charlotte exchanged a look, "I'm sorry. Creme brulee?" Charlotte questioned.
"Never mind." Jackson muttered.
"Oh, man."
"What?"
"I just. I still have to pee, but all this– I'll be right back–" John said leaving the three behind.
Lucy glanced over at Charlotte and mouthed, Have you told him?
Charlotte shook her head and leaned it back feeling her eyes fight to close but forced them to stay open.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'd still do the job. Even if I cam into money–" Jackson said.
"That's not a shock." John muttered.
"You know. I would, too. You've known what you wanted to do since birth, but I just figured out along with Charlie. There's no way I would bail now. What about you?" Lucy asked John.
"Having money makes things easier, not better–"
"That's not an answer. Would you quit the job?" Charlotte asked.
"And pass up on being hazed on a daily basis by training officers ten years my junior? Come on!"
Charlotte's head snapped up hearing a car pull upland the four of them quickly stood and straightened their gear. Charlotte quickly put her helmet back on as Officer Williams walked in with Graser following her with a camera.
"All right. Officer Graser and Williams arriving on the scene. 1:17 a.m. relieving four univormed officers. What are your names?"
"Nolan, Chen, Nash, West."
"ANyone else that's come in or out?" Williams asked.
"No, ma'am."
"Great. Hit the road. We got it from here."
Charlotte walked out and checked her phone seeing a text from Eddie about how he was excited for their date in two days. "Charlie and Eddie sitting in a tree–" Jackson began to sing as he looked over her shoulder.
"Oh, shut up!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte was passed out when she heard banging on their apartment door. Charlotte groaned and pulled her covers over her head not wanting to get up. A few moments later, she heard a knock on her door. "Go away! I want to sleep..." Charlotte muttered.
"I think you should come out–" Jackson said through the door.
"Why? We have an hour before we have to leave. My alarm hasn't gone off..."
"I think you should listen to Jackson," She heard Angela's voice say.
Charlotte poked her head out and saw Angela along with Nathan standing in her doorway with Jackson looking over their shoulders. "Good night's rest?" Angela asked glancing around her room figuring that this was what her room would look like. Clean, neat, pictures of different moments in her life scattered the walls and a bookshelf of all her books that she had read.
"Angela? Nathan? Am I dreaming or are you in my apartment right now?" Charlotte asked as she quickly got out of her bed.
"You aren't dreaming," Angela said with a slight smirk on her face seeing Charlotte wearing a UCLA dance shirt and knew that those were only given to members of a team.
"Captain called us to bring y'all in early." Nathan told Charlotte.
"Why?"
"She didn't say."
"Get dressed boot." Angela said as the three left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte felt her leg bounce up and down as the three rookies waited for Anderson and Grey to walk in. She glanced up and saw John and Bishop walking in, "What's going on?" Bishop asked the T.O.s
"They told us to gather our Boots, same as you."
Captain Andersen and Grey walked into the room causing Charlotte to look up as Andersen said, "We have a situation. Money counters are telling us that we're missing $250,000." Andersen explained.
"And you four were the only ones left alone with the money," Grey said glancing at the four rookies.
"Well, the money counters must have made a mistake." John argued back.
"There's a video of them entering the garage and relieving you. And then they counted the money and got $750,000 and not a million," Grey said.
"Let me remind you, an officer was recently convicted of third-degree official misconduct for taking $70 from a crime scene. He's serving two years behind bars. What do you think would happen to a cop who steals a quarter-million dollars?" Andersen asked the rookies.
"But we didn't take it," Jackson said in protest of her assumption.
"Why would we take it?" Charlotte then asked.
"Maybe the assumption was wrong. Maybe it was always $750,000." Lucy stated.
"That's not what the intel shows. Guy's on the wire saying it's a million," Andersen replied.
"Okay, well, we can all vouch for each other. I mean—" Lucy exclaimed.
"Not good enough. The only thing that will clear you is passing a polygraph," Grey explained.
"Now, I can't, by law, make you take one. It would have to be strictly voluntary," Andersen explained.
"What if we decline?" Jackson asked.
"It's grounds for suspension, pending an investigation, and possibly could lead to your termination," Grey said.
Charlotte raised her hand slowly, "Can I have a lawyer present? Just a precaution," Charlotte asked.
"You can have a lawyer present," Grey replied, causing Charlotte to nod slowly.
"We'll do it," John said looking at the three who silently agreed to take the polygram.
"Okay. Let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Why do you want a lawyer? You didn't do anything," Lucy asked Charlotte.
"My friend told me even if i didn't do something wrong to always have a lawyer present," Charlotte replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wesley sat beside Charlotte after explaining to the Captain that this was just in case since she didn't do anything. "What am I sitting on?" Charlotte asked, feeling a pad.
"A pressure pad that registers if you attempt to try to cheat the polygraph by clenching your buttocks," Grey explained.
"Oh, I remember learning about that in my psychology class from college," Charlotte said, trying to see if it was accurate or not.
"She's telling the truth," Andersen said.
"Let's begin with a few control questions. Answer with a simple yes or no. Is your name Charlotte Nash?" Grey asked.
"Yes," Charlotte answered.
"Do you live with Jackson on 3212 and 5th Larson street, apartment 212?" Grey questioned.
"Yes..."
"Are your eyes Blue?"
"Yes, I got them from my mom," Charlotte answered seeing Andersen nodding for Grey to continue.
"Did you witness anyone taking money?" Grey asked.
"No."
"Were you ever along with the money?"
"No–"
"Have you ever lied to protect another officer?"
"No," Charlotte answered.
"Do you have a reason that you called in a lawyer here?" Grey questioned glancing at Wesley who was sitting next to her.
"No– I've just been told to always have a lawyer present in these types of things," Charlotte answered, glancing over at Wesley who nodded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The questions went on for a few more minutes, "Do you want me to stay?" Wesley asked Charlotte.
"I'll keep you updated when they tell us... Thanks for coming last minute," Charlotte said.
Wesley pulled the girl into a hug and Charlotte wrapped her arms around him. "You didn't do anything, you'll be fine Charlie. They can ask anyone you know if you took that money and all of them will say no," Wesley said, placing his hands on her shoulder.
Charlotte shook her head, "Thanks Wes. I just don't want to lose my job over this,"Charlotte whispered.
"You won't. If you do, I'll take them to court and fight for your job back. All of the rookies jobs back," Wesley stated.
"What did I do to deserve you as one of my best friends?" Charlotte questioned, causing Wesley to smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte walked into the conference room and found her friends, "Charlie, did you know that he brought up the creme brulee to them in the polygraph?" Lucy asked, noticing the girl walking in.
"How does that even come up naturally?" Charlotte asked.
"That's what I asked!" John exclaimed, causing Jackson to roll his eyes.
"Boots, you've all passed your polygraphs," Grey stated as he and Andersen walked into the room.
"But this is far from over. Go home. Detectives will contact you soon about follow-up interviews. We got to find out what happened to that money before you hit the streets again," Andersen exclaimed.
"Yes, ma'am. Thank you," Jackson said.
The two left the room. "Hey. you know what I like to do after I've been suspected of a felony?" John asked.
"Uh, drink?" Jackson asked.
"Damn straight. I got a stocked fridge. Anyone want to join?" John asked the three.
"I'm down. Lucy, Charlie?" Jackson looked at the two girls who were looking at the other.
"Yeah, it's barely lunch, and I should make use of the time off and go apartment hunting." Lucy said.
"Charlie?" Jackson asked.
"Going with Lucy as moral support. Plus she's coming over to help pick an outfit out for my date with Eddie tomorrow," Charlotte answered.
"You two okay?"
"Why would we be?"
Charlotte and Lucy left the two men and headed to Lucy's car. Charlotte stared out of the window watching the buildings pass by. "What if they don't find that money?" Lucy asked, breaking the silence.
"Wesley said he would fight for our jobs..." Charlotte said.
"But that won't be enough. People will still think we took that money–"
Charlotte sighed as Lucy said she was going to call Nolan and Jackson, "Hey, Lucy. You're on with me and Jackson," John's voice said.
"Charlie's with me. You know, if they don't find the money, we're screwed." Lucy said.
"We were just talking about that. I keep going over it in my mind. The only thing I can think of is that money was gone long before we ever got to the garage." John exclaimed.
Charlotte glanced down at her phone seeing Chimney, Hen, and even Buck were blowing up her phone wanting to know what had happened yesterday when the two left the station. Charlotte was about to reply to their texts when she noticed a black SUV was super close to the rear of the car.
"What the hell is this guy doing?" Lucy asked glancing back.
"Wait what?"
"This black SUV. he's riding our ass!" Lucy exclaimed just as the car rear ended the car causing Charlotte to jerk forward from the hit. "He just hit us!"
"He looks like he's trying to run Lucy off the road!" Charlotte exclaimed Lucy rounded a corner of thewindy road.
"Where are you?" John asked getting concerned for the two.
"Uh, driving south on Griffith Park Drive. I just passed Mineral Wells trail."
Charlotte's eyes widened as two more cars appeared in front of them and Lucy slammed on the brakes. Charlotte and Lucy looked at the other and nodded. The two grabbed their guns and began to shoot at the three cars taking the windows out. Charlotte carefully got out of the car and ran behind Lucy up to a rock that they hid behind to take cover as the attacker began to shoot at the two.
Charlotte shot back a few rounds and ran after Lucy. The two followed a path, "Shit I have one left," Charlotte whispered to Lucy as they checked how much ammunition they had left.
"I only have two left. Duck," Lucy said could shoot at the man who had just spotted the two. She shot but missed and the man began to shoot at the two. "Save yours–"
Charlotte nodded and ran as fast as she could behind Lucy as the attacker was shooting at them.
The two ended up at a chain link fence, "Shit," Charlotte whispered and turned back the other way only for the three people attacking them to corner the two. Charlotte held up her gun. "Drop the gun," the man said, pointing his gun at the two. Lucy did as he said but Charlotte didn't budge. "Drop the gun or else," the man said pointing the gun now at Charlotte.
Charlotte noticed the other two men were also pointing their guns at her. Charlotte glanced at Lucy who nodded making Charlotte slowly put her gun on the ground. "What do you want?" Charlotte asked.
"The money you stole," Desantis exclaimed.
"Wait. You're with La Eme?" Lucy asked.
"And you're with the LAPD, Officer Lucy Chen, who lives at 7214 and ½ Alvarado Street apartment F. And you're Officer Charlotte Nash who lives at 212 and 5th Larson street, apartment 212." Desantis said, causing Charlotte's face to drop. How did he know that?
"How do you know all that?" Lucy asked.
"Public records. Addresses, police reports. Damn near everything on the net. So I already know that you two were guarding our money. And 250 G's went missing. And I know you two were the cops who took it."
"We didn't steal anything," Charlotte snapped, feeling her heart racing.
"Please. We've seen your place. Yours too. Ran both of your credits. You need a serious cash infusion. So where's our money?" Desantis snapped.
"She already told you, we don't have it!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Tough girls, huh? Well, everybody's tough at first, until they're not. Andres. Cut that one up a little," Desantis said pointing at Charlotte.
Charlotte got in a defensive stance and as the man took out a long knife Charlotte round kicked him to the ground, but got knocked down by another guy. Charlotte let out a groan, "This ain't about the money, chicas. A quarter million is rounding error on our gas budget. This is about sending a message. You can't steal from us. Even if you carry a badge," Destantis told the two.
Lucy suddenly recognized the man remembering she saw him the other night, "I saw you..." Lucy said.
"What?'
"Outside the house, right before we raided it. You were wearing those boots and carrying that duffel bag with the red stripe. Somebody tipped you off about the raid. You took the money. You got in before we hit the place. You thought no one would notice–"
Desantis let out a nervous chuckle as Charlotte slowly stood up dusting herself off before he shot Andres who fell down and the other guy ran off. Lucy kicked his legs out from under him and tried to wrestle the gun away from Desantis. "Damn it! You two messed it all up!" Desantis yelled.
Charlotte took the opportunity to grab Desantis fingers back and head butt him causing him to fall on the ground. Lucy and Charlotte held the man on the ground when John ran up to the two, "Nice." John said.
"Do you have cuffs?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. last pair," John said, handing them to her.
"What took you so long?" Charlotte asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Charlotte walked alongside John and Lucy as they followed Bishop, Bradford, and Nathan who were escorting Desantis through the Station. "Paramedics are taking our other suspect to Shaw Memorial. Homicide's working the halcone this one killed," Bishop told Grey.
"And the missing $250,000?"
"Einstein here had it stacked on his coffee table. West and Lopez are bringing it in now." Bradford explained.
"All right. Good work," Grey said as the T.O.s left. "And how are you doing?" Grey asked more so to Lucy and Charlotte than to John.
"Oh, good. Thank you. I think I might have twisted my ankle." John answered.
"I meant Officer Chen and Officer Nash, Nolan. That was good work out there," Grey told the two girls.
"Thank you, sir. I'm just relieved that we found the missing money," Lucy said.
"Same here. Glad this got all resolved before Friday," Charlotte said.
"So I take it we're off the hook about the cash?" John asked.
"You are. But to be clear, at no point did anyone actually believe that four rookies knew how to smuggle a quarter mil in cash out of a crime scene. But good work." Grey exclaimed.
Charlotte didn't know what to say as Grey walked off
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday evening came faster than Charlotte thought it would have and she was panicking changing her outfit for the millionth time that night. The doorbell rang to their apartment and Charlotte sighed looking in the mirror for the last time going with a cute green dress. "Your date is here Charlie!" Jackson yelled through the door.
"Coming!" Charlotte yelled back.
Charlotte grabbed her phone and purse before walking out of her bedroom. She noticed Jackson was carefully asking questions to Eddie who was answering them with no problem whatsoever. "Eddie," Charlotte said with a smile and walked over to give him a hug.
"Charlie, you look beautiful as always," Eddie said, hugging her back.
Charlotte smile got even bigger as she said, "And you don't look to bad yourself."
"Aw, cute. You two lovebirds have fun tonight. I gotta go help Lucy clean her new apartment," Jackson said.
"Bye Jackson!" Charlotte said, waving as she grabbed her keys.
To say Charlotte had the best night ever wouldn't be a lie. The night couldn't have gone more perfect.
Author's note
How excited are we for the beginning of Charlotte and Eddie's relationship! What do you guys want to see more of?!