Page 60 of One Fifth Avenue
When they stepped apart, Alara's smile was near blinding in its intensity. "That's the spirit, Aubree."
She turned and picked up her phone from the desk. "I'm touch base with you tomorrow when I get home to San Antonio, kay?
Aubree nodded and gave her friend a weak little wave. "Sounds good. Travel safe."
When Alara disappeared out of sight, Aubree's whole expression fell.
It turns out that it took a whole lot of energy pretending to be okay with saying goodbye to a good friend.
The phone on her desk rang and Aubree dragged herself over to it. She picked it up by the second ring and held it up to her ear. "Cueva. Who-"
"Officer Cueva. Mr. Kepler wants to know if you have some time to come over to his office."
Aubree looked up at the clock on the wall, a remnant from a by-gone era. There was less than an hour before her father was due to pick her up at the end of her workday.
"One of the defense attorneys is pushing for an additional probable cause conference due to some new evidence that's come to light. Evidence that the attorney says is concrete proof that his client is not the drug dealer that the prosecution is trying to make him out to be."
Aubree was tempted to push it off until the morning.
"I know it's late in the day, Officer, but if it is true, both the prosecutor's office and you might be in more than a bit of trouble."
Aubree felt something pinch at the base of her skull where it met her neck.
It was an uncomfortable feeling that had her leaning against her desk trying to escape it.
She didn't have anything overtly pressing to do that evening. Ruben was going to be busy at a Refuge staff meeting until later.
Aubree bit into the inside of her cheek. If things worked out, she could just have Ruben pick her up at the prosecutor's office. That way she wouldn't have to bother her father for a ride home.
"Officer?"
"Hmm?" She tried to fix her attention on the matter at hand. "I need to ask-"
"For a ride?" The man on the other end of the phone seemed to have a bit of a sixth sense. "Mister Kepler has already cleared it with your captain. He's having an officer bring you here for the meeting."
"Oh!" Aubree felt a weight fall from her shoulders. "That... that would be great."
"One second..." The other end of the call went quiet for a moment. "Ah. The officer just arrived at your office building. If you go outside, he's in a marked cruiser just outside the front doors."
"Great. I'll be out in a minute."
Aubree hung up the phone and picked up her wallet and keys, pocketing the first item in her right hip pocket and the other in her left.
She was just a step outside of her office before she remembered that she'd left one thing behind.
Aubree hustled back into her office and opened the center drawer with a quick twist of a key. She reached in and picked up a little key fob that her father had just given her. To some it might look silly. The back-to-back B logo of Buckaroo Banzai from a movie that she'd watched over and over with her older brothers when they'd been younger was engraved on one side and on the other were the words, 'No Matter Where You Go... There You Are.'
Holding the little metal fob in her hand she felt it warm to her skin.
She might not be able to venture out by herself just yet, but it felt like she had a little bit of her family with her no matter where she went.
The cool metal warmed quickly to the temperature of her skin as she walked toward the front door and down the steps.
The caller from the prosecutor's office had been spot on. A marked cruiser waited for her at the bottom of the steps and before the driver could get out to help her with her door, she waved him off and climbed into the back seat.
"Thanks for the ride,"
The officer at the front of the car chuckled. "NMPD Rideshare, ma'am. We're proud to serve."
