Quarantine

Mayra sat behind her desk a little confused as she typed in her computer. The day was still as confusing as it started out to her. She looked towards the closed door of her boss’s office. She felt like going in there to see how he was, but she knew that he wouldn’t like it. If anything, he would just be annoyed that she even thought about doing so.

“It’s such a slow day,” Blake Jamieson said. Blake was a tall brunette with dark blue eyes. A lot of the girls fawned over him, and Mayra was the only one who got annoyed by it. At first she had to admit she found it charming, but after working with him nearly all day every day, the charm had faded a lot.

“That it is,” she agreed lightly. She looked up at him and kind of wished that he wasn’t her partner. She would have much preferred Richard Avery, but she got the guy that thought every girl wanted him.

“Maybe later we can go out and have a nice dinner,” he suggested, trying his hardest to get her to go on a date with him.

“That’s really out of line, Blake. We work together, and honestly, I wouldn’t go out with you if we didn’t,” she said. She gave him a small smile and turned her attention back to the computer.

Blake sighed. “You know I heard that you were the one to take that old man back to the nursing home. Can you tell me what happened?” he asked, changing the subject smoothly.

Mayra explained to him what happened almost like she talked about it a hundred times already when she didn’t. She was one of the few cops that actually didn’t give every detail out to the world.

“You need to liven up your stories,” he said, shaking his head. “You could put sleep to sleep.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she pointed out, barely looking at him. He glared at her and she added, “Then he screamed, ‘Oh! Thank you so much, goddess, for helping me.” She mocked enthusiasm and moved her arms as if she was bowing to the desk in front of her.

Blake shook his head and laughed silently. “I knew you had a sense of humor,” he said as he turned to get some more of the coffee.

Mayra rolled her eyes as she tried to finish her work. She kind of wished that she was out patrolling today, but at the same time she didn’t mind. She smelled the coffee and cringed. She hated the brown liquid that they called coffee here. It didn’t taste quite right, and it nearly made her puke just thinking about it.

She leaned back in her seat and looked around at the other people who were working. Her mind was starting to wonder. There was something going on with most of them, and she didn’t know what was going on. The way Ava acted when Grim was putting his order flashed through her mind. She had never seen her act like that towards him. Usually, Ava was flirting with him since it was clear she still had a bit of a crush on him.

Ava wouldn’t have had a look of fear when she saw him this morning. Mayra wanted to know what was going on, and she was going to. Nothing could ever stop her from getting to the bottom of a case. That’s part of the reason why some of the bigger towns wanted her. She was a dedicated worker which showed to everyone who was alive.

“What’s on your mind?” Blake asked, sitting back down in front of the desk next to hers.

“Oh, just thinking,” she said. She didn’t think it was appropriate to tell him about her worries. Of course, she would probably need help, but she didn’t have anything as solid proof to confirm anything. Blake would have no reason to believe her.

“You can tell me,” he pushed gently. Blake knew that he came off as strong, but he was glad that he had a partner like Mayra. Most of his flirtatious comments were meant as a joke more than taken seriously towards her.

He would be lying if he didn’t think that the blonde cop was beautiful. She had soft features and curves that just fit her body type. Blake just couldn’t see her as anything other than a co-worker now that he worked with her so long. He just liked getting a rise out of her when he said those things.

“Blake, something is off with the town,” she said. Her green eyes searched his face as he took that in. She knew that he wasn’t stupid, but he was a little oblivious at times. “People aren’t acting the same. Ava looked scared of Grim.”

“Grim is kind of creepy if you think about it. He was born and raised in Four Trees, but no one really knows anything about him. Do you even know where he went to before coming back home?” Blake argued.

“I’m serious. Ava has had a thing for Devon Grimm since middle school,” she replied. “I was her best friend then, or have you forgotten that?”

Blake looked at her and thought back to high school. He was a couple of years older than Mayra, but he knew who she was. “Damn, you’re probably right,” he said. “Is there anything you want me to do?”

“There’s nothing that we can do right now. Let’s just keep an eye out for anything peculiar,” she said with a heavy sigh. She didn’t even know what made her open her mouth. Of course, Blake wasn’t one to just go around a gossip. He may have listened to it, but he didn’t spread it around the small town. She just hoped that she was wrong about whatever this was. A saying she once heard in some book came to mind, “Hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.” That’s what she had to do.