The Department stood before her as if time had kept still. Five years hadn’t changed the old building on the outside. She didn’t know if she was ready to see what was different on the inside. 

“Never thought I’d see you out here again. Especially not after that second time I let you wait it out in that back cell.” 

“Nice to see you haven’t changed at all, old man.” Shawna turned to face her father. He stood with his arms crossed, that ever-disapproving frown creasing half his face. His light hair had more pepper around the receded line past the crown of his head. 

“Where’s Guster? Did he finally say no?” 

“Naw, I decided he’d get a day off. Plus I guess he has a real job.” She paused, almost thoughtfully. “Retirement doesn’t look well on you.” 

“Yeah? Smug doesn’t look too great on you either.” He grumbled. “You know that ‘retired’ is the wrong word too.”

“Toupée. Though, I do get that from you.” 

Her father sighed. “Shawna, it’s touché. And no, you haven’t heard it both ways! How the hell am I supposed to let you into the Department if you’re still like this?” 

“Thanks for your support, as always. I can show myself in, Detective.” 

“Shaw - Shawna.” 

The moment she walked through the door, she was dizzy with the new atmosphere inside. Her eyes took in the buzz of everyone walking around. Shawna had to remind herself that this wasn’t going to be the same place she grew up in. Anyone who knew her had retired, or on their way there. 

“Shawna.” Her father tried again. 

“You don’t want me to embarrass you? Don’t watch.” She took in a deep breath before heading down the hall.

Her intention of disproving her father would have been more graceful if she hadn’t hit a brick wall halfway to the bullpen. Stepping back, she was utterly confused why a wall would have been placed there. 

“Oh my, I’m so sorry! Are you okay Miss?” 

Shawna had half a mind to walk out when the wall started to talk, until she found that it donned the name tag ‘Sheppard.’ 

“Um…” She could form words as she lifted her head to look at the giant. 

“Miss?” The officer set down his stack of papers. “The public isn’t really allowed past this point.” 

Her father just happened to be losing his shit. Seeing him bent over laughing brought her back into reality. 

“Good think I’m not the general public then, Officer Sheppard. Also, congrats. You just got married right?” She flapped a hand while looking for a name. 

“Huston. How’d you know?” It was the taller man’s turn to be confused. 

Shawna’s face split with a grin. “Call it a gift.” 

“Call it fraud,” her father grumbled. He crossed his arms to finish off his angry face. 

She allowed her side glare to be the only response to her father. Then she turned back to Huston. “I solemnly swear I’m up to nothing but good.” Smirk back in the place it belonged, curling her lip. 

The officer chuckled, before pausing and tilting his head in thought. “Isn’t it..?”

Shawna waved it off before her father could open his mouth. “Ah, heard it both ways.”

Her father only dignified that with a scoff. 

“Though you shouldn’t let lil’ ole me bother you.” She plopped the stack of papers back into Huston’s hands. “You got a lot of paperwork to do Officer Sheppard.” 

He gave her a wide grin before heading off to finish his task.

Shawna merely pushed away from her father and continued forward. Especially before he could start anything else.

A familiar picture pinned to the wall of the bullpen gave her pause. The little girl had lighter, sun-bleached hair. A lot lighter than her sandy shade of brown. Her face two seconds away from being obscured by the stout bill of an officer’s dress cap. Piggy tails and a chocolate stained grin to complete the mug shot.

Armed and dangerous - do not give a cookie 

She almost hated the smile that curled her lips.The memory had a vintage grainy filter to it. How the receptionist had called her name. “Say cheese Shawnie!”

Her father’s partner, “Dixi, you got the right to remain silent. This chocolate mess can and will be used against you.” He had even motioned to the chief to help collect “evidence.” 

It really did take a village for a divorced cop’s kid. 

The damned bitter-sweet memories were interrupted when she felt a presence loom behind her. She nearly elbowed them when she took a step back, finding her bubble not being respected. 

“Follow through! You always follow through, I taught you that.” 

“Dad,” Shawna hissed through her teeth. 

“No one from the general public beyond this point. And watch that arm of yours.” The taller man went to grab Shawna’s arm. 

Her eyes narrowed as she smacked his hand. He didn’t wear the uniform, meaning getting a name to work with wouldn’t be so easy. His suit was crisp, right down to how his hair was combed over and the alignment of his tie. Though, his loafers were worn. The polish was trying to cover some of the scars in the leather. When she walked in there was one desk everyone steered clear from. It wasn’t hard to connect the unspoken space with this man. 

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

“Well, Detective Pace, good thing I’m not the general public. Some might call me a knows it all.” She couldn’t help the smirk.

“Great, so another smart ass? Unlucky you, I’m not in-” 

“Knows it all, smart ass. Heard it both ways.” She raised a finger to poke the angry badger. “Buster, you gotta be careful where you stick that pointy nose of yours. Your hair might get messed up.” 

“Oh, she’s got ya there, buster.” Her father chuckled. 

“Or shall I say…” 

Her father leaned over. “Carson,” he supplied. 

Shawna’s smirk grew, throwing a wink to her old man. “Detective Carson James Pace. You’re pretty lonely, aren’t you? No pets, relationship. Man, when was the last time you even called your mom?” 

There was a low whistle, altering the two of the small gatherings they’d attracted. 

Pace squared up. “How?” 

“I told ya’! Imma knows it all.” Getting all the small details that hit hard was like when she played poker, or even texas hold’em. The house always won.  

His face reddened, and he managed to frown even more. “It’s about time you were shown to-” 

The second grab was aborted when a black mass lunged from her small backpack. He hissed, batting his paw toward Carson. 

“Jesus!” 

The exclamation pulled from her frozen state, Shawna looked at the two paws that now rested on her shoulder. “Lantern!” 

There was rage in Pace’s blue eyes. “I want you out-” 

“I’m afraid that won’t happen, Pacer. I was called in here.” 

His brows furrowed. “You’re the PI?” 

So he was a decent detective after all. She shrugged nonchalantly, smile back in full gear. “Guess so PaceMan. I gotta warn you, you gotta play nice. Jack O'Lantern here disapproves of such deep constant frowning.” 

“Dixi, I promise if you step outta line. You’ll be done for.” 

“Pacer, I gotta secret.” She stepped into his space, leaning in. “My name ain’t Dixi.” 

Before Pace could get in another word, the Chief's office door swung open. She stepped out, eyes meeting with everyone who suddenly remembered they had jobs to do. Then, she found Carson and Shawna. 

“Chief-” 

“Dixon, nice to see you’ve made it.” Her smile was warm as she ignored Carson’s disbelief. 

“Hiya Chief Cooper. Great set up you got here.” 

“Step into my office. We’ll talk business and I’ll catch you up on the case.” 

“Copy that,” Shawna grinned. She turned, halfway to her destination to find Pace hadn’t moved. “Hey PaceMan, catch ya’ for lunch?” 

Carson shook his head. He let out a scoff before storming to his desk. 

Shawna looked back at the chief. “He lose his baton at the academy? ‘Cause I have a pretty good idea where it went.” 

Chief Vic Cooper attempted to hide her chuckle as she shut the door. A manila folder was presented in front of Shawna. “Alright, Ms.Dixon, let’s get started.” She sat down behind her desk, folding her arms. “Call me Chief, Coop, Vic. I don’t care. Call me Vicky or Victoria and you’re dead.” Shawna laughed as the chief ducked to sort through her desk drawers.  

“Well,” her father started. “At least some things don’t change. Even when you’re not a rookie anymore.” 

Shawna shot him the best ‘get the hell out’ glare she could muster. All before the chief popped back up and slid a manila folder onto the desk. He just huffed and went out the door before it closed on him. 

Vic lay her hands on the folder, a corner of her mouth twitching upward. “You know... when I saw that someone bought that old barn on the highway,” She had an actual smile. “Out from under the city no less, I knew I had to meet the owner. It was amazing to hear that someone was actually renovating it.” She chuckled. “Imagine my surprise when I found out that this person turned out to be my mentor, Henry Dixon’s daughter.” 

“He did talk about you.” As much as her father had been an ass since she’d gotten back, Shawna couldn’t help her grin. “You were his favorite rookie.” Suddenly that smile disappeared. “Sometimes one could think you were more his daughter than I ever was.” 

This caught Vic off guard for a few seconds, before she brushed it off to move forward. “You know this town more than any other private eye or consultant I can bring into this. Not to mention you have quite an impressive solve rate. They called you spurr-hound?” 

“Sh-p-ear-hund,” Shawna pointed to ‘Spürhund’ on the loose file the chief had on her desk. “Höllenhund if you asked the right person.” 

“Whats a dachshund… er hellen-whatever?” Her dad’s voice floated in. 

Shawna not to roll her eyes. Of course she wasn’t able to get him to completely leave. 

“Hellen-hund is the correct pronunciation. It is the German equivalent of hellhound. Though, direct translation is more in reference to Cerberus.” She smirked. “Spürhund is for tracking hounds.” 

Vic chuckled as she opened the folder and handed it to Shawna. “About 3 days ago we found the body of Lucas Lachlan. He’s the son of-” 

“One of Oakland’s richest families. Basically this is my hometown’s version of the millionaire’s playboy son.” 

“A different set of words to describe him, but yes.” Vic did well at keeping a straight face this time around. “His wallet was taken and dumped in the creek about 2 miles east of his body. The car had been jacked as well. Still no sign of his watch. We brought his girlfriend and her sister in for questioning.” 

Shawna tuned out for a few seconds, shuffling through the papers and photos of evidence. “What’s this?” 

“We still- what? That is a screenshot from Lucas’s phone. The last message he sent followed by some blurry photo. He sent them to his best friend Jaxton. Who hasn’t been the easiest to find right now. We’re just now finding that Jaxton may have been AWOL the whole time.” 

“His watch is missing.” 

“What was that?” 

“Lucas. He always wore a watch. He doesn’t have it here.” She held up a photo from the crime scene.” 

The Chief just simply nodded. “While I have you here, there’s something else I’d like to bring to your attention.” 

“All ears.” 

“There happen to be a few other things we- I’d, like you to look into. I tried to find someone else… It’s just that-” 

“I’m the best and I’m from here?” Lantern made his way from her hood again, purring softly as he nuzzled her neck.  

“Yes.” 

“Let’s get down to business then.” Shawna shut the folder, nearly knocking it’s contents out.