Stevie nodded. "How did you know her?"
"I was her partner when she was a rookie, before I got my shield. I was a sergeant when she got her shield," he answered and choked.
Stevie stared at him, remembering something. "How did she die?"
"Have you seen the #Purge movie?"
***
"I've seen the movie. Why?"
"A gang tried it out for real that night. We lost six, including your mother. Over thirty people died that night, including the detectives and officers."
"She was #bridging two worlds," Stevie said. "Cop and mother. She did both really well."
***
"What happened to your dad?" The captain asked.
Stevie hung her head. "Cancer, a couple of years ago. I took both of their ashes to Long Island and emptied them into the #Atlantic. They would have liked that. It's where they met."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine, Captain."
***
"Your mother was from Minnesota, right?"
Stevie nodded. "I'm surprised you remember."
"Do you follow the #Whitecaps?" He asked.
She nodded. "Mom introduced me to women's hockey when I was a kid. She suckered you in, too?"
"Yeah, she did. I still keep up with them."
***
"Did you see the game against the San Diego #Seagulls?"
"Can we get back to business?" I interrupted them.
The captain looked abashed. "Yes, sorry. You wanted her to go undercover? The answer's no."
"Why not?"
"I can't lose her like I lost her mother."
"You won't."
***
"It's a risk we can't afford to take," the captain said.
"I'm willing to accept it. You need to get inside and I can do that," Stevie said. "To quote a popular movie, 'I volunteer as #tribute.'"
Jaci chuckled but the captain didn't find it amusing.
"The answer's no."
***
"Other than my mother, why won't you let me go undercover?" Stevie asked.
The captain glared at me and asked her, "Why do you want to do this?"
"So I can help people," she answered.
"Do you think she can pass for #seventeen?" I asked. "Grace apparently likes that age."
***
The captain ground his teeth. "Yes, she could pass for 17, but she's got to have her life story doctored up a little. For Grace to accept her, she has to see that she's going through a rough #patch."
"We can work on that, but we can't wait too long to put her out there."
***
I could see it in the captain's eyes that we'd won. He'd allow us to work with Stevie to go undercover and infiltrate the cult. It was obvious that he was under a lot of strain but being able to do something proactive put the #spark back in his eyes. He had his mojo back.
***
"Jaci, Stevie, work on the cover story. The techs can change the records later. The captain & I will figure out how to get her in," I said.
"The queen has #spoken," Jaci replied dramatically. "We must away!"
I wondered if she was ever going to change, but I doubted it.
***
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