FOUR
(12/18/319 0330 London, Blue Continent)
Gloria’s breath was warm across his chest. “Coop, do you like tattoos?”
Cooper was almost asleep and he fought for consciousness. “What,” he asked blurrily.
The light from the clock was enough for him to make her out when she glanced up at him with a half smile. “If you get the right tattoos, I can enchant them with protective magic to help keep you safe. So what about a nice tattoo?”
He was suddenly wide awake and lifted his head slightly to look down at her. “Is this deliberate?”
A wary look crossed her face and vanished. “What do you mean?”
“Did you wait until I was almost asleep in order to get me to agree to something you think I’d normally say no to?” She didn’t speak but the sudden guilt in her eyes before she looked away was answer enough. He pushed her gently to the side and sat up to turn on the light. “Gloria, don’t ever pull this stunt again. If you think I need to do something, tell me and I’ll decide if I’m going to do it.”
Her face set and she glared up at him from where he’d rolled her. “Very well, then, Cooper, I want to have you tattooed so I can put some permanent protective magics on you.”
“So you’re a Tats now? I didn’t realize Enchantresses were so versatile.”
Gloria sat up and faced him. “Do not compare me to those, those hacks. So they can draw a shield on you and make it mildly protective or tattoo teeth on your fists so your strikes cause a little more damage? So what? A tattoo is an object and I can enchant any object to do anything.” She snorted. “Do you know what happens when a pokegirl sees a Tats in a harem? She hits the Tats and everyone around the Tats harder because she knows they’re tattooed with protective magic of one sort of another.” He lips pursed like she might spit. “Worthless. Half the power of protective magic comes from the other side not knowing you’ve got it so they can’t try to compensate for it.” She straightened proudly. “I, on the other hand, can let you get a tattoo you like and then I can enchant it to teleport you to safety or make you phase if you’re almost dead while a powerful healing spell not only keeps you from dying, it completely heals you even if I’m lying dead beside you.”
“Couldn’t you do that to an amulet or bracelet instead?”
“Of course I can, Cooper, but you can’t take off a tattoo.” She shrugged, making her breasts do interesting things inside her nightgown. “I’ll make you bracelets and rings and whatever you’ll wear if you refuse tattoos, but I’d prefer to know that anyone who grabs you can’t strip you of what protective magic I’ve layered you with.”
He nodded slowly. “I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t take too long, all right?” When he didn’t respond, she sighed. “I don’t want to lose you too, Coop. I’m tired of burying my tamers. I’m tired of trying to find someone else who can accept me. I am sick and tired of being alone.”
He reached out and cupped her cheek. “You are not alone.”
Gloria climbed into his lap and rested her head on his shoulder. “Aren’t I still,” she whispered. When he twisted his head to give her a confused look, she put a finger over his lips. “Just look around in the morning when you get dressed. You’ll see what I mean.”
***
(12/18/319 0610 London, Blue Continent)
Cooper opened his closet door and looked over the small collection of shirts and pants resting on their hangers next to his police and BLSF uniforms. “I wasn’t prepared to be a plainclothes officer yet,” he muttered. “I’ll have to pack away the uniforms and go shopping for more clothes I can wear.” He frowned and glanced at the door to the bedroom, thinking about Gloria’s odd comment the night before. She was in the kitchen making breakfast for them both. She wasn’t much of a cook and it would probably be oatmeal and toast, but he’d grown up on such fare and it didn’t bother him in the least. “Look around and I’ll see what she means about still being alone.” He shrugged and slowly turned around, examining the room as he did so. His eyes stopped when they lit on the battered wardrobe across the room from where he stood. Slowly he approached it. He hesitated for a second and then threw it open.
They’d bought the wardrobe with their first paychecks because there wasn’t room in the closet for both of their clothes. Since he had far fewer uniforms to worry about, the smaller closet had been his and he hadn’t given the wardrobe another thought. The part of the left side of the interior was drawers and the rest of the left side as well as all of the right were for hanging clothes. Cooper’s gaze slid down the neat row of uniforms covered in plastic and stopped at the single empty hanger. He remembered how he’d had to carefully frame his reasoning so they could stop at the dry cleaner’s and pick up their dry cleaning while they were still on patrol the day before, his mind skittered away and he pulled it back with an effort, saying the words aloud. “It was the day before Rosalind was murdered.” He reached out and touched a plastic shrouded sleeve before closing the wardrobe, quickly dressing and going looking for Gloria.
Gloria was chopping some strawberries for the oatmeal and her eyes tightened when she saw his face. He stopped in the doorway to the bedroom and she quickly looked down at the cutting board. “Where are your clothes?”
She didn’t look up. “I have some in the suitcase next to the couch.”
Cooper pulled a chair away from the table and dropped into it. “Why didn’t I notice?”
She picked up another strawberry and began slicing it up. “Shock, grief. It makes you numb.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Cooper, what could I say that wouldn’t sound like I was being a complete bitch?”
“I guess you’re right. There isn’t a good way to ask me to get rid of my dead alpha’s stuff so you can move yours in.” He grimaced when she winced. “I’m sorry. Tonight when we come home we’ll bring some boxes and pack up Rosalind’s clothes.” She looked up at that, putting the knife down as he continued speaking. “I’m sure Penny can find some needy police pokegirls who could use extra uniforms and we can donate the civilian clothes to the Montgomery charity.” It was a Met sponsored charity that provided clothes, money and other items for families of Met officers who had died in the line of duty. “Where were you living?”
“I have a flat.”
“Do you want to keep it?”
She hesitated. “Cooper, it’s a better place than this one. I’d like to show it to you and see if you’d want to live there instead of here.”
“Oh.” He considered it for a moment and nodded. “This place is a dump. When can I see it?”
“We can go there during our lunch.” She frowned slightly. “Be sure and pick out something of Rosalind’s as a keepsake. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
“We’re both from Ireland and this is our first time in London. We were visiting all of the tourist spots and taking scads of photos while doing so, which means we’ve got a couple of thousand photos of the sites as well as of each other and us together. I’m keeping those and a lock of her hair that she gave me in boot camp.” He picked at the top button of his shirt. “They don’t get funerals, you know. I started to make arrangements for her to have a funeral and found out she’d already been cremated and disposed of. It’s not anything new, mind you; I’ve known pokegirls don’t normally get funerals from my volunteering with my mother’s job.” He made a face. “It never bothered me before.”
“You could hold a wake. It’s not really traditional for pokegirls in harems but the harem widows have a wake when one of their own dies.”
He blinked. “What’s a harem widow?”
Gloria put the kettle on to heat. “First of all, harem widow is not a term that you normally hear humans apply to pokegirls. It’s a term we use amongst ourselves. A harem widow is the survivor of a harem in which her tamer died. Very often the majority, if not all, of her harem died with her tamer and she’s the only survivor. Even if they didn’t die, they’re usually broken up when the harem dissolves. It’s also a pokegirl who becomes free upon the death of her tamer. Before I met you, I was a harem widow and I’ve been to several wakes for my sisters.” She gave a harsh chuckle. “We call ourselves sisters and say we belong to the harem of the dead. Kat’s a harem widow.” It was macabre, but Cooper knew that gallows humor was common in groups with high mortality rates or who dealt with death on an everyday basis.
“I got the impression you two don’t like each other much and yet you’re in the same harem?”
“It’s more of a mourning club than a true harem and, besides, every harem has its cliques. Kat is in the Officerjenny clique.” She poured hot water into their bowls of oatmeal. “I’m not really in a particular clique since my circumstances are a bit unique insomuch as how many tamers I’ve lost and my presence makes people uncomfortable. That and people think I’m cursed and therefore bad luck. Some people even think my being around their tamer could put his or her life in danger.” She moved the bowls to the table and sat down across from him. “It was only true in one instance and he brought it on himself when he lifted my skirt and fondled me without so much as a by your leave.”
Cooper began eating. “What did you do?”
“As you know, assaulting a human is against the law. I pulled his hand away, pulled my skirt down and then spit in his face before using his alpha, my former friend who invited me over knowing he was going to try to catch me, as a pincushion for an energy stiletto.” She held up her hand and created a twenty centimeter energy blade for a few seconds before dismissing it. “Then I ground his face in the blood spurting from her chest and left. I think they got the message. I know they haven’t attempted to contact me since.” She smiled dreamily. “Sometimes I wonder if she survived and then remember I don’t care.”
Cooper finished his bowl and got up. “I think a wake would be a nice send off for Rosalind.” He glanced at her. “I just wonder you being there will keep the others away.”
“Me, keep a bunch of police away from free booze and food? You have got to be kidding. If you blew up the building, they’d just blow the dust off the bottles and keep drinking. Don’t worry, they’ll show up whether I’m there or not. And I will be there too. The harem widows hunt the wakes and they’ll definitely be eyeing you.”
“Won’t they be concerned that they’ll die too if they join my harem?”
Gloria chuckled. “People never believe they’ll be the one to die, Coop. Besides, women have done stupid things for dick throughout both human and pokegirl history.” Teeth flashed in a quick smile. “Human women pretty it up and say it’s for love, but when a queen cuckolds her aging king with some handsome and virile young knight it’s not the depth of his personality she’s interested in.” She collected the bowls and placed them in the sink for washing after dinner. “Shall we go to work?”
***
(12/19/319 1730 London, Blue Continent)
The Officerjenny was probably thirteen or so and wore tight green shorts and a bright green t-shirt with the words “Lawful Good and Loving It!” printed on the front. Cooper had already seen the back where it read “Rules are Meant to be Enforced!” She grabbed the last box and held it up for inspection so he could see the writing in permanent marker on it. “Civies box number four!”
Cooper ticked off a box on the list he held. “That’s the last box of civilian clothing.” She bobbed her head once and disappeared out the door of his flat. He turned to the Officerjenny standing next to him. “It’s also the last box. You’ve got everything.”
This Officerjenny was wearing what looked a lot like a police uniform with the rank tabs and all insignia removed. It was a popular off duty outfit for the law obsessed breeds like the Officerjenny and was often worn as day wear by the retired. Her eyes scanned his face, obviously looking for something. “Did you want something to remember her by?”
“I’ve got a lock of her hair, Penny.”
Penny nodded once. “Good. I wanted to thank you for the clothes. We can always use more.”
“Rosalind would have been pleased to hear that.”
The pokewoman looked around once to make sure they were alone. “About Gloria,” she began.
Cooper cut her off in mid word. “No, she didn’t tell me she’d lost eight tamers before we bonded and I don’t care. We’re together and I don’t see any reason for that to change.”
Penny obviously wasn’t used to being interrupted and her eyes hardened for a second before softening. “No, I don’t think you’ve heard this, William, although I’m pleased to see you’re protective of her.” She paused to see if he was going to interrupt again. “People don’t talk about what happens to a pokegirl when she loses a tamer, but we care for our tamers and their loss always hurts. In the military it hurts even more because we train with our tamers until we’re a cohesive team. It makes us closer than just about any civilian tamer and harem. I’ve seen military pokegirls who lose more than one tamer through death end up going psychotic. Sometimes I wonder how Gloria has stayed as stable as she is, especially considering how badly the other civil service pokegirls treat her. Other times I worry that she isn’t stable and that her behavior is just an act while she figures out how to die in a meaningful way. She’s young, though, and you accepting her will go a long way to helping her heal.”
“She’s older than me,” Cooper pointed out.
“I’m older than you too,” Penny said with a smile. “The difference is that Gloria is twenty five while I won’t see fifty again. I’ve got daughters and sons, granddaughters and, frighteningly, a set of great granddaughters on the way. You and Gloria can have that too, but only if both of you manage to stay alive.”
“That’s the plan.” He scowled when she gave him a disbelieving look. “Penny, I’m not stupid. Gloria lost people she cared for. Eight of them were tamers. It’s interesting to me that nobody seems to care that she lost more than that because they were pokegirls. She might have cared for some of them, too. The end result of all of those losses is she got hurt a lot over her lifetime. I was with Rosalind for ten months. I didn’t love her, but it hurt when she was killed. Sometimes at work, an Officerjenny will do something the way Rosalind did and I’ll have a flashback and it’ll hurt a lot. Sometimes I think I see Rosalind again for just a second before I realize it’s someone else. Gloria hurts and I hurt but together we’re good. Now, except for the fact that I’d like to invite you to Rosalind’s wake, the subject is closed.”
Penny was staring at him. “You know, most people don’t talk to me with that tone of voice anymore.”
Cooper shrugged. “My parents were VIPs in Dublin. I mean you no disrespect but I’ve dealt with lots of higher ups in the government and that’s made me familiar enough with power that I don’t need to defer to it automatically.”
Penny was looking at him quizzically. She frowned for a second and then comprehension bloomed in her eyes. “You are the son of Dr. and Dr. Cooper, aren’t you?”
Cooper blinked. “You know them?”
“We’ve met, although I doubt they’d remember me. I don’t move in their circles. I coordinated security for one of their visits to London. I do remember that your father’s name is William too. Are you William Cooper Jr.?”
Cooper shook his head. “We’ve got different middle names. And I’m William while he’s Bill and she’s Amelia.”
“Why didn’t you go to medical school?”
“I’m not interested in spending the rest of my life living in my parent’s very long shadows. That and I’ve wanted to be a policeman since I was twelve.”
The Officerjenny kit appeared in the doorway. “The van is packed, grandmother.” She checked her watch. “And if we don’t hurry I’m going to be late for softball.”
Penny held out her hand. “I like you, Cooper. Keep in touch, will you?”
He shook her hand briskly. “I will.” He carefully shut the door behind them.
Gloria came out of the bedroom. “I’ve got some more boxes made up so we can start packing your stuff.” She glanced at the door. “Were you telling her the truth?” He frowned and she elaborated. “About us being good.”
He nodded. “We are good together. I accept you, flaws and all, and I hope you do the same for me.”
Her eyebrows went up. “I have flaws?”
“You’re a tricky little devil and you are apparently used to manipulating people to get your way when they’re not paying attention. I’d call that a flaw when you try to use it against me.”
“So it’s ok if I use it on other people,” she said musingly. Then her tone sharpened. “I thought you said your mother was the head of nursing in Waterford.”
“She is.”
“Then why is she a doctor?”
He grinned. “You’re making a common mistake. My father is an MD while my mother has a PhD in nursing. As for telling Penny that my family was important in Dublin, that’s true too. They worked in Dublin for years before moving to Waterford so they can work together in a laboratory there while simultaneously heading up both sides of the medical community in Waterford.”
“They sound rich.”
“Compared to us they are. I could have had access to the family fortune but it comes with strings I’m not willing to accept considering that one of them is Mother would own me body and soul. As mad as she is at me right now I expect it’ll all go to my sisters and charity when my parents die, so I don’t think about it. What about your family?”
“I was born a Witch and sent to a ranch in Plymouth when I was an infant. I was told that my mother was traveling with a tamer when she became pregnant due to a faulty pokeball. I don’t know her name or anything else about her.” She shrugged. “Later I found out that the story I was told was pretty common and often used to cover the fact that the kit was sent to a ranch by a settled family who didn’t want her. I’ll never know the truth since the records for my arrival at the ranch don’t show anything about a family.”
Cooper nodded. It was a fairly typical story for a domestic born pokegirl who ended up at a ranch. “Well, standing around isn’t going to get our things packed so we can move into your flat.”
***
(12/21/319 0930 London, Blue Continent)
Gloria braked hard as Cooper drifted sideways and coasted his bike to a halt next to the sidewalk. “Is it your leg again?” He nodded, rubbing his thigh where he’d been stabbed. “They healed you but the muscle is still weak.”
The pain was a vicious pulse that ripped up the nerves in his thigh and the muscles were jumping wildly underneath his skin. He knew the spasm would pass in moments, but until then the leg was useless. The fact that it was damp and almost cold enough to snow just acerbated the problem. “I know.”
“Bloody apprentice Nursejoys can’t do anything right except give blowjobs.” She reached down and pulled out her com. “Do I need to call an ambulance? It’s not getting better and you really need to get this treated. Or we could do what I suggested and cut out the tissue and heal it again.”
Thanks to his parents Cooper hated hospitals and wasn’t going near one while he was still conscious. He also wasn’t keen on letting Gloria make him her guinea pig. He gritted his teeth and forced the leg to move in spite of the pain. “See, it’s all better.”
Gloria folded her arms and glared at him. “Of course it is, and I’m the Lord Mayor of London.” Then she sighed. “I’ll agree not to call the hospital if you’ll agree to see a physical therapist. I know a uniformed officer who does therapy in her spare time. She’s good and won’t report you to the major like the hospital will.”
Cooper did not want more time off for recuperation and he knew that’s what the major would do to him. “Set it up.”
***
(12/21/319 1930 London, Blue Continent)
Gloria’s flat wasn’t luxurious by any means, but it had two bedrooms and a third room which was supposed to be another bedroom that the Enchantress had converted into a laboratory and library.
Technically Cooper had his own room now, but Gloria had made it plain that he would be sleeping in the master bedroom with her. Or she would be sleeping in the master bedroom with him, if he chose to claim the master bedroom as his. But he was not going to be sleeping anywhere in this flat alone. He didn’t have much in the way of clothing and the master bedroom had more than enough closet space for them both, so he didn’t even have anything in the other bedroom.
He was lying on the couch in the living area when the doorbell chimed softly. Gloria got up before he could move. “I’ll get it.” She’d changed from her white working skirt and blouse to white slacks and a different white blouse. Cooper made a mental note to go through her clothes and she if she had anything that wasn’t white.
She returned with a petite brunette wearing patrol fatigues that had a camouflage skirt in place of the traditional pants. She was also wearing slippers that were pressure sealed around the ankles in place of boots. He noted amusedly that they were the same color as the combat boots in the back of his new closet and even looked polished. “Coop, I’d like you to meet Sergeant Seraphina. She’s the therapist I told you about.”
Cooper sat up, wincing slightly when his leg flared again. “Good evening, sergeant. I’m Corporal Cooper and I’ll be your victim tonight.”
She smiled broadly. “Victim is it?” Her accent was pure Welsh. “Oh, sir, you’ll be my victim for a lot longer than just tonight. Physical therapy isn’t something you can do once and be done. We’ll be working together for some weeks to come.”
“I told him I could just excise the damaged area and then heal it properly,” Gloria said. “But he wouldn’t have anything to do with the idea.”
“I’ll bet not,” Seraphina snorted. “He’d go from hurting to screaming and bleeding. We normal folk try to avoid that sort of thing and, to be truthful, I’ve noticed that you spell casters tend to only think it a great idea if you’re not the ones being cut.” She unclipped her equipment belt and dropped it on the floor near the wall. “What I need for Cooper to do is to strip down to his skivvies. Then I’ll examine his leg and see what the problem is.” She glanced at Gloria. “Or are you going to show that famous jealous streak and insist that we all put on lead overalls for this?”
Gloria gave her an amused half smile. “Bloody sergeants think they rule the world. Coop can take off his clothes if you need him to.” She sat down next to Cooper. “And I will be watching the whole time.”
“See, she’s a voyeur.” Seraphina turned back to Cooper. “You heard her, Cooper, start stripping.” She grinned. “Would it help if I hummed some music for you?”
Cooper started unbuttoning his shirt. “I take it you two are friends.”
“Oh, yes,” Seraphina chuckled. “Once we were mortal enemies, but now we’re buds.”
Cooper gave her a confused look. “Buds?”
She shrugged. “My tamer spent some time on detached duty in Indigo. I learned lots of new slang from the yanks. Buds are chums. Buddy is the full word they use.”
“So how were you two mortal enemies?”
Seraphina knelt in front of him and began unlacing his boots. “Back in the force we were in different platoons in the same company. We weren’t really mortal enemies, but we were always competing for the top scores in pokegirl marksmanship, at least until that Darleen showed up, blast her eyes. She’s a Gunvalkyrie and outshot us both and was contemptuous about how good we were.” She grinned up at him. “One night we gassed her tent with a soporific used for soft entries into enemy buildings. It’s got a nasty side effect in that you wake up puking your guts out. It turns out that projectile vomiting can make a Gunvalkyrie spray fire in random directions.” Her grin widened. “It was a sight to see. Then Glory became a cop and later on so did I.”
Gloria shooed Seraphina away and finished taking off Cooper’s boots. “And then both of our tamers died in the same fight. It was supposed to be a takedown for drugs and the other side had a Bombshell that nobody knew about. We lost three tamers and nine pokegirls in the blast. It was the worst blow to the Met in a century. If it weren’t for Sera here, I’d have been the tenth pokegirl too. She shielded me with her body and almost died in the process.”
“A complete accident, I assure you,” Seraphina said with a smirk. “I was trying to get away from the Bombshell, tripped over Glory here and fell square on her. After that night our paths diverged. She got another tamer, became a detective and I didn’t.”
Gloria tossed the boots aside and sat in front of Cooper as he finished undressing. “So far, Sera. You’ve got everything needed in a detective and you’ve passed the test.”
Seraphina nodded. “Aye, I did. And since I don’t have a tamer I don’t have a fucking chance in hell of being promoted and we all know it.”
“Heck. And don’t say that other word either.”
Seraphina goggled at the Enchantress in surprise. “What was that, Glory?” She stuck a finger in her ear and wriggled it around. “I don’t think I heard you right.”
“You heard me just fine, Sera. You don’t curse around Cooper. He doesn’t like it.”
“He is a soldier and a cop, right?”
“I am,” Cooper deadpanned. “You don’t have to curse to be understood. It makes people think less of you if you do.”
“Well, you know, I think I’ve experienced almost everything now that I’ve found a cop who doesn’t curse.” She watched as Cooper peeled off his pants and folded them up. “Now, you stand straight and let me see what I can see.”
He forced himself to stand still as she ran expert hands down both of his legs. “I pulled his medical report,” she said quietly to Gloria. “The hospital took care of the gross injury but they left some deep tissue injuries for natural healing. If the Nursejoy isn’t an expert, healing deep tissue after a stab like he got can cause him to throw a clot, so they usually stop short of that and let nature take its course. The remains of the injury are healing like they’re supposed to, but the blade went in perpendicular to the muscle and sliced up some muscles. They did heal everything back together, but while the muscle is complete it’s still weak and will have to be strengthened.” She stood. “Cooper, I’ll guide you in some stretches I want you to do three times a day. We’re also going to do a lot of exercising that leg, both with weights and with running. You don’t have to worry about doing it alone, though, since both Glory and I will be there the whole time.”
Gloria looked surprised and then wary. “I will?”
Seraphina gave her a smug smile. “If you don’t, I’ll be all alone with your shiny new tamer. So you just feel free to stay home while we’re running and see what happens.” She poked at the Enchantress’ stomach. “Besides, you’re getting a little chubby there, girl. You’ve been spending too much time in a chair.” Gloria swelled up indignantly and Seraphina chuckled. “Hit a soft spot there, did I? I suppose that’s not hard to do considering how many of them you’ve got now.”
Gloria stared to say something and stopped with her mouth open, glancing at Cooper. “You are lucky he is here or I’d give you an earful.”
“Of all of the places I can think of to have your mouth, Glory, my ear isn’t one I’d considered. Do you know some trick that I haven’t heard of yet?”
“Stop it, you two.” They both swiveled to look at him with identical expressions of surprise. “Seraphina, you’re here to help me with my leg, not to bait Gloria.” He watched as her expression turned to chagrin and Gloria’s became cheerful. “And you, Gloria, are supposed to be helping me get better. How is letting Seraphina taunt you into losing your temper going to help that to happen?” The Enchantress flushed slightly and looked away for a second.
Seraphina put her hands on her hips. “You’re pretty bossy for a corporal.”
“I get that every day from him,” Gloria muttered.
“Why do you put up with it?”
“He’s got the dick.”
“Excuse me,” Cooper’s tone was sharp, “but you tricked me into letting you become my pokegirl, remember? You wanted this. If you didn’t, speak up now and if I hurry I might be able to get back into my lease agreement for my flat.”
Gloria turned bright red. “I,” she stammered for a second. “I’m sorry, William.”
Everyone jumped when Cooper’s pants started shrilling. He grabbed them and fished his com out of his pocket. He put it on speaker. “Cooper.”
He recognized the voice. “Corporal, this is Millie. You and the lieutenant have another body they want you to look at. The coordinates have been sent to you.”
Cooper checked his display. “This is a pokegirl center. The other attacks were in secluded areas.”
“That’s right, sir, and so was this one. Your victim is at the pokegirl center because she’s still alive. She’s being held in a pokeball and won’t be healed until the medics get through scanning her, but they want to wait and see if you and the lieutenant want to question her first. I just sent the coordinates for the location of the actual attack, sir.”
“This is Lieutenant Gloria. I want her held as is until we arrive,” Gloria spoke loudly enough for the pickup on Cooper’s com to activate. “She is not to be healed or otherwise treated until I am on scene and give my specific authorization.”
“Yes, lieutenant. I’ll pass the instructions along.” There was a click as the connection closed.
Gloria grabbed her equipment belt. “I’ll get our bikes and I’ll meet you downstairs, Coop, as soon as you’re dressed.” She disappeared out the door.
Cooper threw on his clothes and checked everything before heading for the door. He stopped and looked behind to see Seraphina watching with a neutral expression. “Do you have transportation?”
She blinked and nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
“Then come on, sergeant.”
Confusion flitted across her face. “Sir?”
“If you’ve got transpo, you can come help out at the crime scene. That is if you want to.”
“I’d like to, but,” she shrugged. “I’m off the clock, sir. Rules state we don’t work if we’re off the clock unless we come across a crime in progress in which life is in danger.”
He pulled out his com and activated it on speaker. Millicent answered. “Corporal, do you have further instructions?”
“Yes, Millie, I do. Do you know who Sergeant Seraphina is?”
Laughter came out of the speaker. “Everyone knows who Sera is, sir.”
“Put her back on the clock and change it so she never clocked out to go home. I need a uniform for some things and she’s already with me.”
Millicent’s voice was hesitant. “That’s pretty irregular, sir.”
“Is there a rule against it?”
“No, sir, there isn’t.”
“Then the Officerjennys won’t have any basis for their complaints to the major, will they?”
Millicent laughed again. “That’s right, sir. I’ll take care of it.”
He put his com away as Seraphina’s eyes lit up and she almost skipped past him and out the door.
***
William Cooper
Gloria - Enchantress