Loss of Innocence

"Shit," I muttered. That killed the rest of the day, and maybe the rest of the week. "I finally get you out here and I have to go back to work?" For once, I wasn't happy about going back to work.

"Let me go with you," said Lehka, putting a bright face on the development. "I'd love to see Lanny and the rest of the guys if you don't mind."

"Fine," I said. "Go on and get dressed." Maybe this would be an adventure.

* * *

The folks at the station didn't expect to see me in uniform, but it was abuzz with activity with all manner of personnel I didn't recognize. I went into the ready room expecting to find Lanny holding court, Lehka trailing behind me. He did not disappoint.

"Hey you goof," I said to him. He of course was sitting at one of the white Formica topped tables hitting on some newbie cadet.

He looked up. "Sarge. I wasn't expecting you. And Lehka! This is a surprise. How are you?" He stood up out of ingrained courtesy. The sweet young thing he was talking to excused herself, realizing she was now the third wheel.

Lehka gave a bear hug to my partner. "It's been too long my good friend."

"Hanging out at the station, huh? Don't have anything better to do?" he asked.

"Of course not Lanny. I'm a cop. I don't have a life."

He smiled. "Of course you're right. You're always right."

Everyone was filing into the briefing room. I followed Lanny in. I pointed Lehka to my secret stash of coffee beans so she could brew a fresh pot while we were in the meeting.

"What's up?" I asked Lanny to his back as we were filing in.

"Found a bunch of people packed into the back of a semi."

"Whoa," I answered. "How many?"

"Don't know. Maybe forty?"

We sat down in the back of a crowded room. Captain Sheehan went up to the podium and put down her mug of coffee. Sheehan was in her 50's. I'd known her for as long as I served. Divorced (weren't we all?), short dishwater blonde hair, petite and thin with a "cut the shit" attitude. That's why we always saw eye to eye.

"Glad to see you all here," she started. "Pulled everyone back from vacation. Grace, Pete, Max, thanks for coming back on short notice. I think I saw Lehka in the ready room." She pointed to me. "We pulling from Columbus too Max?" she asked in jest.

"Yeah," I said in a strong voice so everyone could hear. "She said this sorry group of losers needed her help."

"Let me get to it. Highway patrol pulled over a semi for a routine traffic violation and found fifty illegals from Guatemala packed in the back. Apparently the driver was taking them to Detroit to dump them. Likely to a Ukrainian gang. The traffic stop occurred in our jurisdiction. We've temporarily situated them in a warehouse on the north side of town. We need to process them. ICE is going to be there as well. I want all non-essential personnel to report to the warehouse to assist."

She pointed to a good looking male officer in the back. He waved his hand. I didn't recognize him.

"Lieutenant Aoki has a briefing packet for each of you. Dismissed."

There was a squeak of chairs and loud conversation as the room emptied. I got a packet on the way out and found Lehka in the ready room watching the brewing process finish. Lanny and I filled our thermoses.

"We're going to a warehouse. About fifty illegals there. Want to come?" I asked Lehka. She'd come to see me, so what else was she going to do?

"Sure. I want to go with you. I'm part of our department's human trafficking task force. I've never been a part of something like this. How can I help?"

I thought for a second. "Captain Sheehan. Let's talk to her. She running the operation from our side."

"OK," said Lehka. "Let's see her now."

Captain Sheehan was in her office making final preparations for our trip to the warehouse. There was a frenzy of activity around her, mostly to sign the necessary paperwork. I got in line outside her office behind two other officers We tried to listen to what she was saying. Her office door was open and somebody was having her sign a requisition for additional manpower. We heard snippets of the conversation. This was going to be an expensive operation and was going to exceed the department's budget. I knew Sheehan was going to want to be effective, and having a free resource would be tempting.

We waited a few more minutes before her office cleared.

I thought I had a good relationship with her. She was head of my section, and I'd done some good work for her. I knew I was a pain in the ass but I got results. And Cap's performance was measured by stats, and I made her stats look good. She liked to bust my chops, sometimes for fun, but she respected me, and that was important. She was filing a piece of paper in her oversized briefcase when I knocked on the open door. Lehka was standing next to me.

Sheehan looked up from her filing and lifted up her reading glasses.

"Singh, huh?"

I could see her do her Lekha thing, which was to charm the uncharmable.

"That's right ma'am, Lehka Singh."

Sheehan sat down in her chair and put her feet up on the desk. "I apologize for my informality, but I've been on duty since the illegals hit our town. That was twenty-six hours ago, so I just need to get off my feet."

"Appreciate your time, sir," said Lehka.

"For you, I've got all the time in the world, Singh. I understand you're part of Columbus's human trafficking task force. You're coming here to volunteer. Am I right?"

Lekha was stunned. "That's... that's right sir."

I felt as if Sheehan had just performed a magic trick. How did she know why we were there?

"Bring your uniform and sidearm?"

"As a matter of fact I have."

Lehka... always prepared.

"Good," said Sheehan. "You're on the team. I've already cleared this with your commander, for up to six months."

"You have?" she said, startled. My mouth was hanging open as well.

"Yes, I have. You can see I've got a lot on my plate so I'm cutting right to it."

"Why, thank you sir." Lehka looked as if she had just won the lottery.

"Of course, and by the way thank you. I know sometimes I can be a bit of an ass but I do appreciate your service to this department. I know you're tight with Max here. You did good work together on that double murder. Saved us a ton of resource when you solved that case and took a nutjob off the street. So I know you and Max are going to make our department proud in sorting out this situation."

"Why, thank you sir. We're proud to be of service. I volunteered for my department's task force because I think I can make a difference. I'm fluent in Spanish and have worked with Guatemalan refugees before."

"That's great, Singh. We'll have to sort out your role here, but I feel like I just found some money in the street. I've reserved a group of corporate apartments near the warehouse, and I've penciled one in for the two of you."

"Thank you sir. Max and I wanted to work together again, isn't that right Max?"

Up until then, I'd been a bystander in the conversation watching a lovefest between Sheehan and Lehka. Now she had put me on the spot. We of course had never discussed this. She was waiting impatiently for my answer.

"Umm... that's right Lehka. We think we'll be a valuable resource to you."

It sounded good to me. I wasn't getting the evil eye from Lehka. Then the Max curiosity got the better of me. "Sir, if I might ask one question."

"Sure, Max, what is it?"

"How did you know what we wanted when we came into your office?"

Usually a magician never reveals her tricks, but Sheehan wasn't protective of her thought process.

"You really want to know Max?"

Lehka looked at me. Her expression said "Why the fuck did you ask that question?"

I had violated a cardinal rule in life. Don't ask a question if you don't know the answer. I had no idea what Sheehan was going to say.

"OK Max, here it goes. I know that you and Lehka worked together on that double murder. You and her ended up fucking like rabbits and everyone in the department knew it. She's back here. She looks as beautiful as ever and it's clear as day to me that's she's in love with you. I needed help on this debacle so I was grabbing everyone I could. I got you back from vacation and I realized I'd get Lehka too, because honestly what the fuck else is she going to do while she's in Cincinnati, especially when she's bilingual and experienced in what we're dealing with. Does that about sum it up Max?"

Lehka looked as if Sheehan had pulled my pants down. It was a look of horror and awe. Sheehan was a sharp motherfucker. Then I realized I was such a dumb fuck. This wasn't a one week thing. She wanted it to be permanent.

Lehka had a solid position and career path in Columbus. She'd proved her worth and was a shoo-in to be promoted again. That goodwill would be gone if she moved to Cincinnati. But now I realized what happened. Lehka could have a six month trial to see if this worked. If it didn't, her old job would be waiting for her. I'm sure she figured this out before we went into Sheehan's office. She was just surprised that Sheehan had figured it out in advance.

Lehka stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Well Max, is the Captain right?"

I thought this was going to be a routine meeting. Instead, I was ambushed. How had things gone so horribly wrong? Lehka and Sheehan were staring at me. It was the moment of truth for me. I had to declare my feelings for Lehka. There was no other option. Thankfully it felt right to me. Maybe it took something like this to make me do something big in my life. My head was swirling when I opened my mouth.

"Yes Lehka, Sheehan is right. I do love you. Let's see if we can make this work."

Those were words both of them wanted to hear. Maybe all three of us could win.

We both left Sheehan's office in a bit of a daze. Both of our lives had changed during a five minute meeting. Sheehan had figured it out before we did.

"That Sheehan is smart," said Lehka.

She looked around. No one was looking at us. She kissed me on the cheek.

"I love you Max."

I kissed her on the lips. "I love you too Lehka."

* * *

We went back to the motel to pack. I was saying good riddance to my den of iniquity once again. There were a lot of memories in the room, mostly about Brianna. It was good that I was moving out. Away from those memories. Her drugs. Her consuming addiction. My own descent to Hell along with her. The disgusting drinking, and taking a career I'd spent a lifetime earning and trying to flush it down the toilet along with the rest of my life. But Lehka would help me rise above this place. She was just what I needed when I hit bottom.

I threw a few things into a duffel bag and trashed the rest. As I sorted through my things I thought about Lanny and Nicky, and how much they helped me, and all the good we'd done when we put Alan Parsons, Jumbo and Steph in prison, cleaned up some of the corruption in government, and got a bad dude off the street. It was a mixed bag here, but it held plenty of memories. Lehka was packed first and helped me straighten up the place before I left. We threw my duffel and two boxes of stuff into the trunk of her rental car and filled the back seat with my clothes. My car was on its last legs, so I decided to donate it to a battered women's shelter. I'm sure it had a few thousand miles left in it. Lehka and I could buy a car after this assignment was over. In the meantime, we'd use the rental car our department was going to pay for.

We were assigned to a corporate apartment a block away from the ad hoc detention center. We weren't allowed to move the refugees without the proper approvals. Some would be granted asylum and entry into the United States. The others would be deported to their country of origin, most of them to Guatemala. Our role was the assimilation of the successful asylum seekers, and the security of the facility while detainees were there. In a sense, we were prison guards, though the people we kept inside were not criminals and could voluntarily go back to their own country. That made it a bit strange, as they had little incentive to escape while their asylum applications were pending. Why escape when you could be granted legal entry? Escape would void their asylum applications.

The harder part was helping assimilate approved asylum seekers into our community. Most didn't speak English. Lehka would be pivotal in this effort, since she was fluent in Spanish and knew what type of resources they would need. I didn't know any Spanish and wasn't as interested as she was in this process.

I was assigned to be part of the security team. We had a total of ten people assigned to this team. Lieutenant Keandra Waters headed up security. Waters replaced Driscoll, the previous Lieutenant who I put in jail along with the sleazy politicians and drug dealers. Waters was a good cop. I worked with her on a couple cases before she was promoted. She was young and ambitious. She was ten years younger than me and already my boss. She didn't have as much practical experience as me, and book smart doesn't make you street smart. Waters would have to rely on me for the latter.

So Lehka and I ended up having key roles in the operation. We were also setting up house together and trying to see if we could make this into a long term relationship. That was a lot to accomplish in six months.

Lehka's rental car, a Kia sedan, was stuffed to the gills with our stuff. Lehka didn't pack for a six month stay so we planned to use one of our days off to go back to Columbus to retrieve more of her clothes. Our temporary apartment and the warehouse were in the Clifton area of Cincinnati, not far from I-75, the main north south expressway that bisected the Queen City. We were only minutes from Burnet Woods Park, and my alma mater, the University of Cincinnati.

Our apartment building was tucked into an older residential neighborhood in the south side of Clifton, a decidedly mixed race village that was considered a safe and desirable place to live. It was a marked change from the sleazy motel that was home to me for the past six months. Lehka breathed an audible sigh of relief when we pulled into the apartment's secure underground parking lot. She was used to more creature comforts in her life, and living in the Royal Palms was for her just one step above living in a cardboard box.

There was an assigned parking space for our apartment. The garage was clean and well lighted. We unloaded part of the car and filled the elevator, leaving just enough space for the two of us to fit. We were on the third floor of a five story building. The elevator lurched to a stop on the third floor. Our apartment was at the end of the corridor, apartment 3A. Lehka unlocked the door and we saw our new home for the first time, a two bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, a living/dining room, and a view from the living room of the tree-lined neighborhood below.

"Looks like we've landed in clover Max," Lehka said with a big smile on her face. She flipped on the light in the master bedroom and threw herself on the bare mattress, bouncing on her back. "Come here Max." She was as happy as I'd ever seen her.

I climbed on the bed and sat next to her. She sat up and grasped my hand. "We really did it Max. We're together again." She kissed me on the cheek. "It's all I ever wanted."

"It's what I wanted too," I told her.

"Really?" Lehka asked. She was a bright, intelligent, and beautiful woman, but feeling her way through this as well as me.

"Really Lehka," I said, assuring her. "We're doing the right thing. We love each other and this is our chance to see if this can work."

"I love you Max," she said again. Her hand moved over my breast. Her palm went over my nipple.

"Now?" I asked. "We haven't even moved in."

She pulled her faded OSU t-shirt over her head to show me her flawless skin.

"Don't you want to fuck me Max?"

"You can't imagine."

She reached behind herself and unclasped her bra. "I can imagine a lot Max."

I helped her slide out of her panties and then her bra. I undressed quickly.

"I love your big tits Max. They're beautiful."

"Thank you. It's not all peaches and cream. Sometimes they hurt my back."

"Can I kiss them?"

I held them up with my hands. "Please."

"Oh Max, they're so soft." She kissed each one softly and caressed the skin. "I could get lost in them." She put her head between them and nuzzled her face into my chest. I ran my hands down her back, tracing the contours of her hard body.

"Kiss me Max. I can't wait any longer."

I mussed her perfect hair and then kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Max," she said breathily.

I pressed my lips hard against hers. Suddenly we merged into one, in a frenzy of kisses. The heat level in the room was rising. I could no longer think straight. I was with a beautiful women and she was offering her body to me.

I couldn't control my mouth. "Lehka, Lehka, why..."

She put her hand over my mouth. "No more talking Max."

Chapter Four

The Abduction

I brought a coffee maker with me. There was no way I was going to drink the department issue crap. Lehka and I were holding mugs of the good stuff during our first morning briefing. There were about twenty people in the room, most of whom I recognized and a few I didn't.

"Lehka, Max, thank you for joining the team," said Captain Sheehan. She had us stand up for a few seconds. "Most of you know Max. Max has been reassigned from her patrol car in the West End. Max is going to join Lieutenant Water's security team. Lehka Singh is a detective on the Columbus force. She's had extensive experience with their human trafficking task force. She's on loan to us for six months to work on the project and then to set up a task force like the one in Columbus. Lehka's going to be joining the staff in charge of assimilation of the refugees who are granted asylum in this country. Right now, 48 of the 50 in detention have applications pending with the State Department."

"Lieutenant Waters, please give us a briefing on the refugees."

Waters took the stage. An ambitious 30 something officer who worked her way quickly up the ranks. Top of her class at the academy and high praise in each of her positions. This was her first high profile assignment.

"Thank you Captain Sheehan. Here's what we know. These people were packed into the shipping container in San Antonio and on their way to Detroit. We received an anonymous tip and intercepted the semi with the container approximately 72 hours ago. We believe there was cooperation between a Mexican gang in Nogales and a Ukrainian gang in based in Detroit. Most of the workers were destined for minimum wage jobs. We've got Detroit PD looking for the place they were supposed to be held. We believe there may be more held there. These folks are usually charged $20-25,000 for the transport, and have to work years to pay off their debt. Escape is not really an option. These gangs will track down defectors and kill them. Some of the women are put into prostitution, often addicted to drugs."

"We've gone through the people in detention, and based on our initial round of interviews there are 28 males that were going to work in restaurants and factories. There were twenty-two females that were told they would be domestic help, cleaning homes and hotels. In truth, most of them would be forced to be prostitutes. It's likely that at least a dozen, and maybe up to twenty, will be granted asylum in the United States. It will take a great deal of coordination with a multitude of agencies to get these folks what they need to live in this country. My team will help coordinate those resources."

"Questions?"

There were none. We were told to go to our group leaders for our specific assignments that day. We were going to run 12 hour shifts, one day on and one day off. We had eight people on the security team, so two would be on duty at any given time. I was paired with Dan Pearson, who was reassigned from Mount Adams, one of the ritziest neighborhoods in Cincinnati. Dan was a former wrestler, shorter than average, stocky, and someone not to be fucked with. Dan and I got along just fine.