She saw his mouth tighten; a clear indication she had broached a subject he’d rather not discuss. “It’s best for our working relationship that nobody knows. This is a nice place to work, but like anywhere else, there is a rumor mill. I’d prefer it if we didn’t give them anything to grind.”
She nodded. “I understand there’s not a fraternization policy.”
“True. Several of the detectives are dating beat cops, and some of the detectives are dating each other. However, none of them are partners.” He paused a minute, then added, “Although we aren’t dating, we used to. If anyone gets an inkling of what we used to be, they’ll start digging—first to find out what happened, and second, to uncover the reason I kept you a secret when we were together. I don’t like questions because I don’t intend to provide answers, so I’d prefer what was between us stay in the past. Nobody has to know.”
Toni nodded again. She didn’t have a problem with that and agreed with his line of thinking. Technically, she was a newbie. She didn’t want anyone thinking that Drew was the reason she was here, or that there was more to their relationship than a professional one. “I agree. Nobody has to know.”
He glanced at his watch again. “I’ll be going. I hope you don’t intend to hang around here too much longer.”
She shook her head. “No. I want to finish setting up my desk and then I’m out of here, too. What time do you usually arrive in the mornings?”
“At eight. I sent you an email with tomorrow’s agenda. Usually Norm and I took turns putting it together. That way we know how our day is planned and what interviews we need to cover. Of course, the agenda can change—and it usually does—if dispatch sends us an assignment.”
She chuckled. “Never a dull moment.”
He smiled. “Yeah, never a dull moment. I’ll see you in the morning, Toni. Have a good night.”
“Same to you, Drew.” Then, he was gone. She stood and watched him until he was no longer in sight. A part of her had hoped, just a little, that he would look back. He didn’t.
Toni sat back down and glanced around. She had managed to get through day one with Drew. It had been a challenge, but she’d managed. Considering everything, they had gotten along pretty well. There had been a couple of tense moments, but overall, she thought things had gone rather smoothly between them.
Now he was her partner and cubicle roomie. In a way, it made sense for their desks to be set up next to each other. She just hadn’t expected it. In Miami, her partner’s desk was on the other side of the room. Also, the detectives’ section of the precinct had been tight, and the desks were crammed close together. That had been an issue when several of them were on the phones at the same time. Voices tended to carry, and some of the guys spoke louder than necessary, which made phone calls difficult for the other detectives in the room.
At the Alexandria Police Department, things were different. She actually liked the set-up here. The detectives were housed on the same floor as their lieutenant in the Criminal Investigation Unit. The Special Investigation Unit, was tasked with handling organized crime type cases, and was located on the other side of a glass partition. Toni hadn’t met the lieutenant yet, since he was out on vacation. According to Drew, the man had taken a three-week trip to Scotland, the place where his parents had been born. Drew had assured her that she would like Curtis McPherson. Her friend Joy, who was a police lieutenant in Charlottesville, had met McPherson last year and had said the same thing.
Even the cubicles were set up differently than the ones in Miami. Drew’s desk was opposite hers with a walkway of approximately six feet in between, enough for her to feel as if she had her own space. They shared the same coat rack, and because they worked the same cases, they had a pull-down suspect board. She wasn’t sure how he’d gotten lucky enough to be the last one on the aisle, but she was glad of it. Nobody would come into their cubicles unless they needed to see them specifically. There was also a window behind them that looked out into the parking lot.
Drew said the only downside to having the window was that, on sunny days, it was sometimes