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“I know it’s him. I’m certain.”

“Give it a rest Porter. There was a woman’s glove there at the scene. We need to focus on who was wearing that glove.”

“But…”

“But nothing. Let’s get back to the precinct and try to find out who wore that glove.”

Porter and Collins arrived back at the precinct to questions about the scene to which Porter just blew off. Collins covered for him though, answering all the questions and then chasing after her partner.

“You need to get a hold of yourself Porter before you get yourself in trouble.”

“I got this Collins.”

“Well then, act like it. Better yet, I got a plan. How about you let me take the lead on investigating Mr. Nickel.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes I am.”

“You’ve got to be out of your mind if you think I’m going to let that happen.”

“People already think you’re out of your mind around here so do you want to cool that talk out and let me lead here or do you want to continue down this path that could eventually cause your downfall as an officer?”

“I’m gonna let you have this one Collins, but Michaela, don’t mess this up. It’s him and I know it.”

“Relax Porter. I got this.”

While Porter and Collins were bickering, Mr. Nickel was fast at work at the community center. While he had a janitor there, he liked to take care of things on his own. And with his special day approaching, he wanted to make sure all was well. He cleaned up his office, mopping the floor and wiping down his freshly-polished desk. He was heading down the hallway when he was stopped by another young kid in the community, Karl.

“Mr. Nickel, you heard anything else about the murders?”

“Not a thing Karl. But as soon as I hear something new, I will let you know.”

“Okay. Thanks for the information Mr. Nickel. Hopefully one day they will solve this murder. I’m tired of living in fear that I could be next.”

“Hopefully you won’t have that fear for much longer.”

“Thanks Mr. Nickel. ”

Karl ran off to another room in the community center and Mr. Nickel went back to his office to map out more plans to make the community center immaculately clean. As he sat in his office, he started thinking on what the moment would feel like when he got his recognition. The crowd would be going wild as he stepped up to the podium and made his speech. The people in the crowd would be yelling “We love you Mr. Nickel” as he shushed them during his speech.

“Mr. Nickel, you got a second?”

When Mr. Nickel snapped out of his daze, Michaela Collins was standing right in front of him.

“I came by to apologize for what happened at the crime scene the other day. Porter was out of hand. Can we start over again? Let me start first. My name is Detective Michaela Collins.”

“As you already know, my name is Cary Nickel.”

“Okay. Well, I would love to hear more about you Mr. Nickel and I also want to offer more than just this apology, so how about me taking you out for a drink to really apologize?”

“So, where is Detective Porter hiding to yell ‘Gotcha’?”

“He isn’t here Mr. Nickel.”

“You’re serious?”

“Very serious.”

“Whatever bar you want to go to Mr. Nickel.”

“Ok. Meet me at the bar around the corner from my house. And are you sure this isn’t some elaborate setup for me to get jumped by Detective Porter?”

“I promise this isn’t a setup from Porter at all.”

“Well, I have to get back to the precinct. I’ll see you later.”

Mr. Nickel and Michaela’s eyes both met and a smile was shared as she exited the office. As Mr. Nickel was thinking on Michaela, his phone rang.

“Hey Cary. Want to try coming over again tonight and actually finishing what we started the other night?”

“Not tonight Sandra. Got something to handle.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Just I have something to handle and I need my privacy.”

“Ok. Fine. I see you’re going through one of your moods, so I will call you tomorrow.”

Mr. Nickel stayed at the office the rest of the day, continuing to clean the office and all the things around the community center, making sure all was well and clean. He got so caught up in cleaning that he nearly missed his time to leave and left rushing home from a long day’s work. He rushed in his house, took a shower and changed clothes while rushing out the door to the bar.

Once Mr. Nickel got there, he walked in to find no one there but the bartender and a couple cozying up at the end of the bar. He was a few minutes late and looking at the scene, he thought he had missed his date for the night.

“Sorry I’m a little late.”

As Mr. Nickel looked up to see who was speaking to him, he saw a beautiful Black woman with long legs and a great physique.

“Wow.”

“Welcome to Michaela Collins outside of work clothes.”

Mr. Nickel was stunned at the beautiful woman that stood in front of him, but he finally snapped out his trance to pull up a stool for her to sit on.

“What do you want to drink?”

“I should be asking you that detective.”

Michaela smiled as she ordered two drinks for her and Mr. Nickel. One drink turned to two and two drinks turned to four as both Mr. Nickel and Detective Collins were feeling the effects of the drinks. All the while, the bar began to get a little more crowded.

“My place or yours Cary?”

“Neither. How about right here.”

The two stared at each other with a tipsy smile on their face. The two began to move closer to each other, sharing an embrace. Then, that moment happened where both looked into each other’s eyes and shared a long, wet kiss.

As they were embracing in that kiss, the door of the bar opened and a woman walked in.

“Didn’t expect to see you hear tonight Cary.”

“Sandra???!!!!”