Marking Time (WeHo Series Book 4)

by Sherryl D. Hancock

  “Back up ladies, everything’s okay.” She said, using her cop voice.

  Natalia made her way through the group, her look worried. She moved to Raine’s head, using the cloth she’d put cold water on to put on her forehead.

  “She’s okay? Are you sure?” Natalia asked, her tone anxious.

  “She just overdid it,” Cat told Natalia.

  Raine came to, opening her eyes which looked even lighter than normal, looking around at all the faces hovering above her.

  “What…” She started to say.

  “You passed out,” Jericho said.

  “I… oh…” Raine said, closing her eyes slowly, then opening them again, then she touched the bench under her, “How?” She asked, obviously perplexed.

  “Quinn caught you,” Cat said, grinning, “She has a major white knight complex.”

  “Shut it,” Quinn muttered, her Irish accent clear.

  “I… thank you,” Raine said, looking at Quinn.

  “No worries,” Quinn said, her smile warm.

  “Everybody back to class!” Natalia said then, gesturing to one of the girls, a fellow instructor, to lead the class.

  She looked over at Cat then, “Let’s get her to the office,” she said, looking down at Raine, Natalia reached down to touch her cheek, “Can you stand?” She asked, her voice gentle.

  Raine blinked a couple of times, and then nodded as she moved carefully to sit up, her vision swam, so she shook her head as she laid back down.

  “Just give me a minute.” She said, doing her best to gather her strength.

  “Here, let me,” Jericho said impatiently, moving to scoop the girl up.

  Natalia lead the way to the office, where there was a couch that was much more comfortable than the bench in the dance room. Jericho gently laid Raine down there, giving her a reassuring smile. Raine was thinking it wasn’t probably every day that a deputy sheriff got carried around by the Director of the Division of Law Enforcement, she knew it was a first for her.

  Everyone left the room, except for Cat and Natalia.

  “How ya doing?” Cat asked after a few minutes.

  Raine nodded, her eyes still closed.

  Natalia moved to sit on the floor next to Raine’s head, pressing a bottle of Gatorade into her hand.

  “Drink this mija,” Natalia said, using the Spanish word for ‘honey’.

  Raine nodded again, lifting the bottle to her lips and drinking.

  “Esto no esta bien, carina,” Natalia said then, reverting to her native language in the stressful situation.

  “It’s okay, I’m okay,” Raine said, in response to what Natalia had said, shocking the dance instructor.

  “You speak Spanish?” Natalia asked.

  “I understand it,” Raine said, nodding.

  Natalia smiled, unaccountably pleased that this woman understood her language.

  “Spanish Harlem,” Cat said, looking over at them.

  Raine put her arm up, her index finger up in a ‘got it’ signal.

  “You lived in Spanish Harlem?” Natalia asked, surprised.

  “Grew up there,” Raine answered.

  “Oh,” Natalia said, nodding.

  Raine finally moved to sit up, suddenly feeling embarrassed at the situation.

  “I’m gonna go,” Raine said, moving to stand.

  Cat noted the flush to her cheeks, and guessed that she was embarrassed now. She nodded, watching Raine head out of the room. Natalia stared after her, looking confused.

  “She’s embarrassed.” Cat told her.

  “Why?” Natalia asked.

  “Fainted the first day of class?” Cat said.

  “Oh…” Natalia said, nodding.

  She was still trying to equate the pretty red head with Spanish Harlem and not having a lot of luck.

  CHAPTER 2

  A half an hour later, out in parking lot, Raine encountered Quinn Kavanaugh and Jericho standing near her bike, she also saw that Cat’s vehicle was now parked next to her bike, and she was leaning on the hood. They were apparently waiting for her.

  Raine steeled herself, moving to walk over to her bike.

  “Raine, this is Quinn,” Cat said, nodding at the woman with the tattoos and short red hair, “She’s the one that kept you from becoming one with the floor this evening,” Cat continued, winking at her.

  Raine nodded at Quinn, “Thank you,” she said, her tone solemn.

  “S’okay,” Quinn said, narrowing her eyes slightly at the girl. “Are you sure you’re okay to ride now though?”

  Raine looked back at her, blinking a couple of times, her look perplexed.

  “You did just lose consciousness,” Jericho put in.

  Raine looked at Jericho, shaking her head, “I’m fine, ma’am.” She said.

  “How about,” said the woman with the black hair and purple streaks said, coming up from another side, “We all go have some dinner, and that way we know you’re okay before you get onto that thing.” She said, gesturing at Raine’s bike.

  “But how…” Raine began, gesturing helplessly at the bike.

  “You can ride with me,” Jericho said, “And I’ll bring you back after dinner.”

  “I’m really fine, ma’am,” Raine said, her look that of a trapped animal.

  “Mira, what’s happening?” Natalia asked, coming upon the tableau in front of the gym.

  “We’re trying to convince Deputy Mason that she should eat something before she tries to ride that home.” Quinn said.

  “Bien, you should, mija,” Natalia said, nodding.

  “You should come too,” Cat said, grinning at Natalia.

  “Ay! Always trying to get me to eat!” Natalia responded, laughing.

  “Cause we’re not convinced you do.” Jericho said, winking at Natalia.

  “Carina, save me,” Natalia said, grabbing Raine’s arm, her tone joking.

  Raine was just happy to have the focus off of her for the moment, so she nodded.

  “I’ll bring miss Raine,” Natalia said, rolling the R in her name. “A dónde?” She asked, wanting to know where.

  “Mary’s?” Quinn suggested.

  “Sounds good,” Cat said, the others nodded agreement.

  “We’ll see you there,” Natalia said, taking Raine’s arm to steer her toward her car, a little red Honda Civic.

  In Natalia’s car, Raine did her best to relax, but things just seemed to keep happening that evening that she had no control over and it was making her feel tense. Natalia started the car, glancing over at Raine, she could sense that the other woman was tense, she just didn’t understand why. As she backed out of the parking space, she purposely turned her music, usually on blast down, glancing a couple of times over at Raine.

  “Que esta pasando?” Natalia asked after a couple of minutes of silence from Raine. Asking what was happening in Spanish.

  Raine looked over at Natalia, “I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head, “Things are just too…. Much right now.”

  “Much?” Natalia repeated, “Por que?” she asked, wanting to know why.

  Raine drew in a deep breath, blowing out as she shook her head, “I don’t really know,” she said honestly, “I just feel like too much is happening.”

  Natalia looked over at her again, “Is this too much?” Natalia asked, gesturing to the car around them.

  Raine looked around her, then shook her head. “I just…” she said, then shrugged as she was unable to describe the feeling.

  Natalia pulled up to a red light and looked over at her again. She turned off her stereo and reached across the center console. She took Raine’s left hand, with her right hand, rubbing her thumb over top of Raine’s hand slowly.

  “Try something for me, mija,” Natalia said, her voice soft, “Close your eyes.”

  Raine looked at her perplexed.

  “Por favor para mi?” She said, saying ‘please for me’.

  Raine drew in a breath and then nodded, closing her eyes.

 
“Ahora, take twenty slow deep breaths,” Natalia said, glancing up at the light that was still red.

  She watched as Raine did as she asked, and could literally see the tension leaving the other woman’s body. Natalia didn’t let Raine’s hand go, continuing to smooth her thumb over the other woman’s hand as she breathed. The light turned green and Natalia continued to drive toward the restaurant in West Hollywood, her hand still in Raine’s.

  Raine was shocked by how different she felt, she felt like her strain was just melting away. When she’d done the 20 breaths, she opened her eyes looking over at Natalia.

  “That’s amazing,” she said, thinking that Natalia was a miracle worker, “How did you know that?”

  Natalia grinned, “I understand stress,” she said, winking.

  Raine shook her head, “It’s never been that easy before,” she said.

  “This happens a lot?” Natalia asked.

  Raine nodded, “Sometimes,” she said.

  Natalia nodded, “Then remember that trick,” she said.

  “I will,” Raine said, smiling, “Thank you.”

  “De nada,” Natalia said, glad she’d been able to help.

  They were both quiet for a while, then Raine looked over at Natalia, “I really like your class.”

  Natalia smiled, “Gracias, I’m glad.”

  “Cat said you were a professional dancer?” Raine said, “Why’d you stop?”

  “I was in a car accident,” Natalia said, “I did all the therapy, but esta hecho.” She said, indicating that her career was just done.

  “I’m sorry,” Raine said, her look sad.

  “Esta bien,” Natalia said, “I’m okay.”

  After a few more minutes, Natalia looked over at Raine, “Que estaba pasando in class tonight?” She asked, wanting to know what was happening in class that night.

  Raine bit her lip, looking a bit abashed, “I was in an accident a few months ago,” she said, “And my lung function isn’t back up to a hundred percent yet.”

  “And you were working that hard? Estas loca?” Natalia asked, wanting to know if she was crazy.

  Raine chuckled, “No, I was just really enjoying the class, and let myself overdo it.”

  “Well, don’t do that again,” Natalia said, “Me estustaste!” She said,

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you or anyone,” Raine responded.

  “Si, but don’t do it again,” Natalia said, shaking her head. “Niña loca!”

  Raine grinned, not used to having anyone be worried about her. She’d been on her own for so many years that she had no idea what to do with other people’s concern for her. It was a source of anxiety for her.

  At the restaurant the group sat discussing Raine before she and Natalia got to the restaurant.

  “Should she really be back on duty yet?” Jericho asked.

  “She’s not on full yet,” Cat said, “I’ve still got her on medical light duty.”

  Jericho nodded, “I can see why,” she said.

  “I know,” Cat said, her lips twitching.

  “You couldn’t know she was going to overdo it like that, babe,” Jovina pointed out, knowing that Cat was blaming herself for Raine’s collapse. “In fact you told her to take it easy, she just didn’t listen.”

  “Did you see how fast she picked that stuff up?” Skyler asked the girls who’d been in the class.

  “She graduated from Julliard in New York,” Cat said.

  “What?” Jericho exclaimed, even as everyone else made some similar exclamation.

  Cat nodded, then shrugged, “Not sure why she became a cop or why she moved here.”

  “Did you ask?” Quinn asked.

  “I don’t think she wanted me to,” Cat said, “She got pretty nervous when she admitted the part about Julliard, I didn’t want to scare her off.”

  Devin nodded, “I understand that,” she said, giving Skyler a sidelong look.

  Skyler caught the look and closed her eyes grimacing slightly. Devin knew all too well how rough it could be handling someone who had information they didn’t want to share. Skyler, who’d been in a crash in Iraq, had serious post-traumatic stress disorder and it had taken a lot of pain and work to get healthy again. It had also almost cost both she and Devin their relationship. Devin and Skyler fully understood not pushing people on their secrets.

  The rest of the group, most of whom knew the general facts of their story, all nodded.

  “Think she’s family?” Quinn asked then.

  The term ‘family’ was used by gays to indicate people of their own kind.

  Cat shrugged, “Got me,” she said, “I mean, she could definitely be a soft butch, but I haven’t seen any evidence of it. She definitely hasn’t said anything about it.”

  Quinn winked at Xandy who’d discovered she was gay when she’d become infatuated with her very butch bodyguard.

  “Maybe she hasn’t realized it yet?” Quinn said.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Cat said, “She needs friends.”

  “She doesn’t have any?” Jericho asked surprised.

  “She says she hasn’t had time,” Cat said, not looking convinced that answer.

  “Well, she can join our happy little band,” Zoey said, grinning.

  “I second that motion,” Xandy said.

  “Here, here,” Jerry said, grinning.

  “So what do you think was up with Natalia tonight?” Jericho asked then.

  “With the sleeves?” Cat said.

  “Yeah, I noticed that too,” Quinn said, nodding.

  “Think Julie is still being a problem?” Jovina asked.

  “I think we should try to find out,” Zoey said.

  “She hasn’t’ been around the gym, I know that,” Jerry said, she was at the gym the most at that point since she was between modeling jobs.

  “Okay, we need to see if we can find out,” Jericho said.

  They’d had a passive-aggressive meeting with Julie at the gym a few months before, trying to convince her that leaving Natalia alone was in her best interest. The fact that Natalia had been wearing a long sleeved shirt that day, when it was mid-summer in LA was very suspicious. And it lead everyone to believe that perhaps Julie hadn’t taken the hint.

  Natalia and Raine were escorted out to the patio where the rest of the group was seated. Cat, Jericho, Skyler and Quinn were smoking.

  “Make sure you stay in the no-smoking section,” Cat said, grinning at Raine.

  “That’s upwind there,” Jericho said, gesturing to the left side of the table.

  “You should be sitting there,” Zoey told Jericho.

  “But then I can’t smoke,” Jericho replied.

  “I think that’s her point, Jerich,” Quinn said, grinning.

  “Doc said, I was good to go,” Jericho said.

  “He never said that smoking was okay,” Zoey said, giving Jericho a narrowed look.

  “He never said it wasn’t,” Jericho said.

  Most of the group started to chuckle.

  “Sorry,” Cat said to Raine and Natalia, “This is an ongoing dispute,” she said gesturing to Jericho and Zoey.

  “She had a lung injury a few months ago too.” Zoey said.

  “It’s been almost a year now,” Jericho said.

  “Doesn’t seem like that,” Jovina said.

  “That’s cause you weren’t doing the physical therapy to get back here,” Jericho said, winking at Jovina.

  “Ah,” Jovina said, grinning.

  Jericho looked over at Raine, “Take it from me,” she said, her tone serious, “You need to take your time getting back.”

  “Jerich went back too fast and just about wrecked that Challenger out there,” Quinn told Raine.

  “That’s why you didn’t want her riding her motorcycle,” Natalia said, nodding as she finally understood.

  “That and she looks like she could use a good meal,” Skyler put in grinning.

  “Look who’s talking,” Devin said, poking her fianc�
�e in the ribs.

  Skyler winked at Devin, “You like me lean,” she said, her tone warm.

  “Yeah, but you won’t be winning any heavy weight championships anytime soon,” Devin said.

  “The Army really beats the weight restrictions into ya, what can I say?” Skyler replied, shrugging.

  “You were in the Army?” Natalia asked.

  She’d met all these women, but didn’t know a lot about their backgrounds. There wasn’t a lot of time to socialize before the class and she was usually stuck talking to other women in the class after it was over.

  Skyler nodded, “I was chopper pilot.”

  “She flies helicopters for LA Fire now,” Devin said.

  “Impresionante!” Natalia said, her eyes widening. Then she looked at Cat, then Jericho and then Raine, “And you’re all police officers,” the three nodded.

  “Jerry, I know you’re la modela.” She said, smiling, Jerry and she had talked at length about what Jerry wanted to work on to keep up her body. “Devin, you work with computers, si’?” She asked.

  Devin nodded, elbowing Skyler who started to say something, Skyler shook her head.

  “Que dije?” Natalia said, looking confused, “What did I say?”

  Skyler cleared her throat, looking at Devin, Devin gave her a quelling look. Skyler then looked over at Natalia.

  “She has a doctorate from MIT, and she likes to be called a hacker,” Skyler said, grinning even as her eyes sparkled mischievously.

  “Mierda!” Natalia replied, shocked.

  “Always gotta talk…” Devin said, giving Skyler a narrowed look.

  “I’m proud of my girl, what can I say?” Skyler said grinning unrepentantly.

  “Hey, my girl has a doctorate too,” Zoey said, her saying ‘so there!’.

  Natalia looked at Jericho, “You do?”

  Jericho nodded, “In Criminology.”

  “From Cambridge University,” Zoey added.

  “Do you all have degrees?” Natalia asked.

  “Bachelor’s in Aeronautics,” Skyler said, holding up her hand.

  “Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice,” Cat said.

  “Bachelor’s in Psychology, Masters in Women’s Studies,” Zoey said, grinning.