Robbery In Progress

*Kelsey*

While Heather and my dad checked in on a sloth named Dunkin, I sat in front of the meerkat exhibit watching them run around, pop up to look at something and pop back down. It was actually kind of adorable.

The zoo was pretty packed, I mean it's a Sunday, but thankfully the area I was hanging out wasn't as crazy busy. It gave me time to just sit peacefully and think--or not think--over whatever I wanted. I didn't really get time to do that on a daily basis so it was nice. Plus the weather was just beautiful.

I looked up towards the sky and smiled softly as I breathed in the fresh air. As I looked around the thought of coming here with Emma crossed my mind and I frowned. Did I want to make a habit of seeing her outside of work? And what capacity would a trip like that be in? What did I want it to be?

Her little revelation about past relationships was interesting to me. It certainly indicated that she was more of a dedicated relationship kind of person. Not that I wasn't, per say, it's just that I wasn't looking for that *right now*. I definitely wanted to sleep with her again, and if that kiss two days ago was any indication I would say she wants to sleep with me again too. I was so intent on my thoughts that I also didn't notice the older gentleman sit down next to me. At first I assumed it was my dad and didn't think much about it, but his voice brought me out of that pretty quickly.

"You look like your thinking about something pretty hard," he supplied easily. So he was the chatty type, noted. I turned to take him in, appraising the situation for a minute. He was definitely on the older side, as I originally suspected, but I would guess he was younger than my dad.

His grey eyes were friendly, welcoming even. His initial appearance should have been more, concerning, than I found it, due to his size alone. This guy was big. If I had to guess I would say he was 6'2, easily 210 pounds of muscle. He could do damage, if he wanted to. Oddly enough, I felt safe around him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he allowed me to openly stare at him as he waited for me to reply.

Finally, I turned towards the exhibit again and leaned back.

"You could say that," I agreed noncommittally, trying to figure out his agenda.

"I used to think about someone like that. Like the rest of the world didn't matter." Okay, who was this guy?

"Oh, I wasn't. That's not, I just have a lot on my mind," I landed on lamely. His response was suspicious, almost...knowing? That was odd. What would he know about what could be going on with me?

"I'm sure you do. How could you not? She's lovely," my original appraisal of him was quickly shifting, clearly this guy was crazy or a stalker. Or a crazy stalker. And yet, he still didn't scare me as much as he probably should.

"I'm sorry. Who's lovely?" I was turning back towards him, zeroing in on his responses and turning my cop face on. He chucked at that. *Chuckled*.

"I have to get going now. But, give Emma my regards," with that he stood and started to walk away. My back stiffened at hearing her name on his lips, and it wasn't until I lost sight of him that I placed his accent from our limited conversation. *Boston*. I chill ran through me, I was just talking to our robber. And he found me here. *Why?*. And he...he left...something? My eye caught the attention of a piece of paper on the bench where he had been sitting. It was a picture, black and white, of me, Matty, and Emma, from yesterday outside the bank.

The eerie part was that the angle and distance of the picture, based on my memory of that crime scene, could have only come from the inside of the bank. *Joe*. My hands started to shake from...fear? Anticipation? I wasn't even sure anymore, as I turned the picture over. There was a note on the back:

*I'm ready to take you up on your offer. - Joe*

After that was a phone number, while I'm sure it's a burner, I still make a mental note to trace that when I get in tomorrow. What was this guy's deal? He wanted help but he kept robbing banks. It made *no sense.*

Before I got a chance to think about it any farther I heard a familiar voice just down the way, "Riley, slow down. The meerkats aren't going anywhere." *Emma*

And just as a little boy, maybe seven years old shot straight to the glass wall, my dad and Heather surfaced on the other side of the exhibit, effectively exposing my presence.

"Alright, pumpkin. We're all set, where do you want to go first?" My dad asked me. When I rose from my seat on the bench, it wasn't him that I turned towards, but Emma. Our gazes locked for a minute and after I watched recognition cloud her face, I saw a few emotions follow, confusion and then concern.

I must not have shaken off what happened with Joe yet. I quickly slipped the picture into my jacket pocket and turned to Heather and my dad.

"Could you actually give me a minute? I have to make a quick call," it wasn't a total lie. I did have something to take care of, I just wouldn't need to make a call to handle it. Because she was standing right in front of me. "You know what, honey?" Heather asked my father as she slid her hand into his, effectively captivating his attention. "I think we should go get some churros at the booth over there."

"You know I can't say no to churros. You want one, pumpkin?" He asked me, no longer thinking about questioning me on my phone call I needed to make on a Sunday.

"Sure, I'll come meet you over there when I'm done," I replied, attempting to keep my tone light. After they turned and left I quickly thanked God for my stepmom. *What a saint*.

"Hey Em, isn't that Kelsey? The detective." That tone caught my attention, it insinuated something more than just an occupation label, which was interesting. Emma's rosey cheeks when we locked eyes was even more interesting.

Wait, I recognize that person to Emma's left. Is that...her sister? And that must be the husband and kids she overtly mentioned when we met briefly two nights ago. I will admit the initial shade of green I had going on when Emma first answered the door was not my best look, so I greatly appreciated her attempt to clear that all up before I spiraled too much.

"Yep, that's Kelsey," Emma confirmed, albeit reluctantly. Probably just because she had no other option but to confirm it. Taking that as my cue to be social again I smiled lightly.

"Hi Meg, good to see you again. Is this your husband? And your kids?" My suspicion that that topic would distract her was confirmed when she smiled brightly and squeezed her husband's arm that was locked with hers.

"This is them. Eric, this is Kelsey, the police detective that Emma's been working with," Meg explained. Eric smiled at me and leaned around the stroller, that was currently carrying a sleeping child, to shake my hand. I accepted his hand shake before stepping back.

"It's nice to meet you, Eric."

"It's nice to meet you, as well Kelsey. I've heard a lot about you." That got a laugh out of me, despite the millions of thoughts zinging around in my head right now.

"That's interesting, because I've heard almost nothing about you." My reply was teasing but also a bit serious. Emma was talking to her family about me, which was curious on its own, but she wasn't talking to me about her family. Minus her outburst that first night when she told me about her fight with Meg. What did that mean? *Add it to the list*, I thought to myself.

While one child was sleeping, and another was fascinated by the meerkats, there was one more child that was glued to Emma's side and he was watching me. *This one was quite the observer,* I had decided. "Mommy! That's Kelsey?" The little boy asked, making Emma facepalm. That's right, she actually facepalmed, which made me smile. She then leaned down to scoop the boy up and rest him on her hip.

"Henry! Didn't anyone tell you it's not nice to use a tone like that when asking about someone?" The boy scrunched his face and shook his head, clearly confused.

"What tone?" He couldn't have been more than five years old based on his speech, if I had to guess.

Emma sighed at him and quickly kissed his cheek, which made me smile. She was a natural with kids. *Which didn't matter to me,* I told myself. She's a good aunt, great for her, that doesn't have anything to do with me.

"Like you know something they don't," she replied lightly before turning to me, "which he doesn't." She was quick to assure me of that. *Hm*, I thought quickly before turning serious.

"Could I talk to you for a second? While you're here." I could see her mind go back to that look on my face when she first saw me, causing her to nod.

"Of course." She handed Henry over to her sister and walked over to me. She gently wrapped her hand around my wrist and led me over to an open, quiet spot at the side of the building. "What's going on?" She asked once we were out of ear shot from anyone. "You looked like you saw a ghost or something when I first saw you."

"I saw something but it wasn't a ghost." She gave me a confused look, clearly waiting for an explanation while I waited to see how much I wanted to tell her. If I told her about the note she would jump right into work. Her need to help would overpower everything else, and I really didn't want to ruin her Sunday. I *definitely* didn't want to ruin her niblings' day, they clearly loved her.

"What did you see then?" She gave up on waiting me out apparently. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

"I saw Joe." Her eyebrows raised and I rushed to continue before she could respond, "at least, I think I did. Obviously, we don't know what any of them look like but he had a boston accent. And he mentioned you." I saw the moment her cop face went into place, I recognized it easily.

"What did he say?" Her question was valid but it instantly made me remember what he said and suddenly I wasn't all that excited about sharing.

"Oh, um..." I was stalling, I was stalling and I knew it. And she knew it. She made a face as if to say "well?". "He said to give you his regards." There, that wasn't a lie, I just didn't mention what we were talking about before he said that. And honestly, he never said Emma was lovely. That was never confirmed.

She could tell I wasn't sharing everything, but she didn't push. Not that she got the chance, we both turned when we heard feet quickly stomping towards us. It was the older boy that was completely engrossed in the meerkats, Riley I think is what she said.

"Emma! We gotta go see the...the otters!" He ran right up to her and grabbed her hand. Her sister, Meg, was there a few seconds later.

"So sorry, I couldn't stop him." She said before turning her attention to the little boy. "Riley, honey, I told you auntie Emma was talking with someone and you needed to wait."

"No, it's okay. I should get going anyway. We can finish this conversation tomorrow, in the office." I assured them both before stepping away. It wasn't until she let go that I realized she had still been holding my wrist.