He sat quietly when she told him about it. The Archer case had put a crack in the glass ceiling for Lonnie and slipping in the LAPD's blue to blue program for lateral officer hiring landed her smack dab in an open spot with the RHD, otherwise known as the Robbery Homicide Division. Truth be told, she would have settled for a beat officers job, but RHD was the gravy train. They get the big cases investigating homicides, bank
robberies, extortions, sex crimes and kidnappings on a citywide basis. RHD is also responsible for investigating officer-involved shootings, incidents that result in injury or death to the officer, threats against officers, and deaths of persons in Department custody. It was the detective bureau on acid.

"I didn't expect you'd be happy about this Bud, but put yourself in my shoes. It's exactly what I want to do. Maybe we'll get a chance to work a few cases together."

He shook his head slowly. "No, we won't. They won't let us work together and you know better. What branch did you get?"

"Rape special section."

"I suppose it's the best place for a woman," he tried to understand, but he had this look of disgust on his face. He knew she'd seen shit before, but this was not Philly, this was the city of Angels and a lot of them had fallen.

"Somehow, I figured you'd say that. You know I can handle myself ...we've been through this before."

"When do you start?" he shot back.

There was hesitation in her answer. She could tell he was struggling against starting another argument.

"Day after tomorrow. I have orientation and I'll be teamed up with one of the vet investigators."

Bud sat stock still. Why couldn't she settle as a civilian aid to the department? The pay was good and there was no street work. He tried to reason with himself thinking it could be worse; she could have gone to vice.

"Have you talked to Thomas?" he asked, wishing to hell the PI would have tried to verbally beat some sense into her.

"Yeah, he was a little disappointed, but he was happy to have an in with the division, a contact. When are you on shift?"

"Tomorrow night. I'll be coming home when you're leaving. May as well fucking live alone again."

There were no more spats about it.

He'd just gotten into the locker room to go home when she arrived for roll call. They exchanged a nod in passing and she smiled.

"See you later tonight, baby," she hummed as they brushed by each other. All he could afford was a grunt of acknowledgement.

At least he didn't have to look at her in uniform. Casual business attire was the order for the day.

Bud had asked around as to who she'd be partnered up with. The guys name was Jerry Coffee and Bud knew him as a fair man. He was in his late forties, had a wife and a couple of kids. He hoped to have a chat with him before shift change, but he had to hang around for a while to catch him alone. The moment came when Lonnie went up to HR to fill out some paperwork.

"Coffee....have a word with you?"

"Heya, White. Aren't you going to bust into flames when the sun comes up?"

"Haha, very funny. Listen, I'm serious. I need to talk to you about the new officer in your division."

"You mean Brannigan? Yeah I heard you were tapping that well. Deep dark and damp, I bet. What's up?"

Bud grimaced at the way Coffee described things, but he gave him a pass, didn't want to get on the guys bad side right now.

"Can ya keep an eye on her for me? Gimme a call when you can and let me know how she's doing."

Coffee chuckled and it annoyed Bud more. "You want me to baby sit your squeeze? I don't have time for nursery school, White. She'll either work like the rest of the guys in the division or I'll send her packing. I ain't any too happy with having a broad on my watch, but you know how things are these days."

Bud glared at the man. "All too well. Look, here's the phone number. Just call me, let me know how she's doing and don't say nothing to her."

"Gonna cost you, White." He took the slip of paper from Bud.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm outa here before I bust into flames."

The thought of being selfish, sexist and a flat out pain in the ass never crossed his mind. As far as Bud was concerned, it was his responsibility to keep an eye on her. That's what a real man does.

w

Lonnie Brannigan was chomping at the bit when she got to her desk. Her first case file was slapped down before she unloaded the box of personal items she'd brought with her. She never did settle in that day. The case involved a modern slave trade where young girls and boys were bought from poor families or shanghaied from their homes in third world countries, then sold to people to be used in whatever way they saw fit. Some were turned into sex slaves, others just toiled as housekeepers. The youngest so far had been four years old and came with a shipment of kids that was intercepted on the docks. The group spent weeks locked in a container without much food and no sanitation. Reading the file sickened Lonnie, having been there to see the condition of the captives would have been excruciating. She had to learn to disconnect again. It was a nasty job, but someone had to do it.

Thankfully the victims were rescued this time, but the actors were never caught, leaving the case and investigation open.

"What are you thinking, Brannigan?"

She startled from Coffee's voice. "Huh. Ah, I'm figuring this ring needs to be infiltrated. I think the best thing to do would be to find an in and try to make a purchase. Catch them in the act. Maybe pose as a couple who are looking for a live-in worker. Are there any inside contacts?"

Coffee shook his head. "Not at this time. We knew the kids were coming in, but we didn't know what their destination was."

"Who was the informant? Cop or otherwise."

"Otherwise."

"Can we go back to him or her, shake 'em down? Offer witness protection in exchange?"

Coffee shoved the box on her desk aside and he sat down. "Alright, Brannigan, if I bring this pigeon in, would you want to play good cop or bad cop?"

"We should do what they least expect. Let me be the bad cop, the irate woman with raging maternal instincts."

"You really are White's piece of cheese."

She stood slowly, pressing her knuckles into the desk for leverage. Once she was eye to eye with Coffee, she smiled kind of cockeyed. "You need to remember something. You need to remember that I'm no fucking rookie and I'm no piece of cheese. My relationship with Bud White or anyone else has nothing to do with the way I do my job. I'm a third generation cop. You learn things under those circumstances. Things, you know what I mean?"

Coffee sniffed, but he didn't wince. He cracked a cocky grin, his gaze never wavered. "Bad cop it is. Since we've got that all straightened out, I'll set this up for tomorrow afternoon. Wear something feminine. Leave the boots and trousers at home and put on a pair of fuck me pumps. You got assets, use them. If I had an ass like yours, I'd be eating lunch for free on a daily basis."

Asshole! she thought to herself. "I guess that means you're buying lunch ever day, chief ...since I'm the gifted one. I'll take tuna on rye with lettuce, red onion and a slice of Swiss. There's no reason for me to worry about my breath around here."

Coffee started to laugh. "You know, Brannigan. I talked to White this morning. He asked me to keep an eye on you and I thought you were some kind of shrinking violet. I was wrong. You'll be okay. Maybe I should warn the rest of the precinct not to fuck with you."

"Don't warn anyone," she pushed away from the desk. "...And did I hear you right? He asked you to keep an eye on me? Son of a bitch!"

"Take it easy, sweetheart. I shouldn't have said anything. He's just being his usual self. Got his priorities all mixed up. Anyway, we've got a caseload to handle. Welcome to the traffic division. The human traffic division."

Lonnie struggled not to think of Bud's over protectiveness, but it haunted her throughout the day. He'd have to accept her the way she was damn it! That's all there was to it. It was during lunch when it struck her that she was only looking at things from the distaff side. She set the tuna sandwich she was eating down and stared at it for a moment. "I need to accept him the way he is too...damn it."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Brannigan? Better yet, if you're talking to that sandwich, I'm going to have to set up a psych eval for you." Coffee picked up the Styrofoam container and sniffed it. "Bad tuna?"

"Shit, I was just thinking out loud, chief. Don't frigging worry about it."

"As long as you don't talk to your Glock, I'll forget about it. Anyway, pack it up. We've got to go. Hollywood just found a stiff. Juvi female, positive on rape, looks like she was sodomized too. Techs are on scene now."

"Beautiful. If I had an appetite, it's gone now."

Coffee and Brannigan pulled up on the scene twenty minutes later. They were met by a beat officer who filled them in.

"Whatawegot, Michaels?" Coffee asked as his partner brought up the rear.

"Fourteen to fifteen year old Asian female. Found her naked under the bridge over there. She's positive rape and it looks like she's been dead for at least twenty four hours, probably longer. Tech says she was probably dumped here, figures the crime happened somewhere else. We're ready to transport to the lab, Sergeant. Just waiting for your okay."

The hint of a death stench wafted their way as a gust of wind blew under the bridge. "Ach, I'd say a little longer then twenty four hours." Lonnie cleared her throat and prepared herself for the worse. There was a tech kneeling beside the corpse and she stood up at the detectives' approached.

"I got the skinny from Michaels," Coffee spoke. He didn't waste any time with introduction. "This is Detective Brannigan. You have a cause of death yet?"

The tech nodded and knelt back down. "Cause of death was most likely strangulation. There's petechial hemorrhage present and marks around her neck. It looks as though a garrote may have been used, but I'm not sure. I hate to think she was hung, executed. Her necks not broke."

Coffee shook his head. "Ah, you never get used to this shit. Was she raped before or after her demise?"

"By the bruising on her upper thighs and genital area I'd say before. We did a field swab for fluids, but I won't be able to tell you more until we get her into the lab and do a full kit."

"Transport her," Coffee ordered. "Brannigan, you better call home. It's going to be a late one. I bought lunch, so dinner is on you. Hopefully before the autopsy."

Taking what little evidence they had at hand, the detectives went back to HQ to await the ME's call. Lonnie was dog tired when she sat at her desk to call home. She dialed hoping Bud was not still asleep. He answered on the first ring.

"Hey, baby. Were you expecting a call?"

"What gives you that idea?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to let you know that I was going to be late. Got a 187 in division 6. 261 also. I may be a while."

"Hey. Don't use that shit when we talk. Not when we talk, Lonnie."

"I'm sorry, baby. Homicide, rape, juvi in your division. I'll probably be here when you get in."

He didn't say a word. All she could hear was his breathing.

"Bud. I gotta say something to you. Thanks for keeping an eye on me. I appreciate it. I mean it and I love you, baby. With all my heart."

She could still hear him breathing, but then there was a long sigh. "Lonnie. Are you at your desk?"

"Yeah, I'm waiting for the ME to call, might be an hour or so."

"Good. There's a little matter of payback. I was just thinking about you, honey."

She laughed a little and cupped her hand around the phone receiver just in case someone could read lips. Ducking down below the edge of her desk she said, "Yeah, what would we be doing if I was there right now?"

"You know."

"Tell me where your hands are..."