Black Heart (Cursed Hearts 1)

He completely ignored her as he walked off. Her words hurt more than anything. He wasn’t about to hang around and let her know just how much.

Chapter 6

“So, what exactly are my duties?” Marty asked her father for the hundredth time as they walked through the second security door that led to the back offices where his office was located as well as those belonging to the detectives and supervisors. It’s also where the evidence locker, files and the backup artillery were located.

Hank ran a hand over short hair that was more gray than brown these days. It was a nervous sign that Marty was well acquainted with. He always did it when he had to tell her something that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with. Like the time when he had to explain why she had boobs at eleven when none of the other girls did, what a period was, and her absolute favorite, the "sex talk" that left him hyperventilating.

Even in his late forties, her father was a well-respected and feared man. He was probably in the best shape of his life and he didn’t take shit from anyone. Tristan actually reminded her of him except that Tristan was a lot colder and seemed like he didn’t care about anything or anyone outside of his family.

He opened the door leading to the “pit”, the area where the offices were located. In the corner was a desk for her father’s secretary and in the middle of the large room were several desks for the uniformed officers to share and a coffee area in front of the break room. Along the far back wall were several more desks for the secretaries that served the entire station.

Hank waited for her to enter while he held the door open for her as he shifted the box he was carrying to his other arm. Marty had to shift the large box in her arms and the two bags hanging off her arms so that she could get through the door.

“Hey, Hank,” one of the uniformed officers said as he walked past them.

Marty looked around the pit and sighed with relief. Sunday was probably the best day for her to start her new job since most of the officers were on the road and there were no secretaries working today. Since it was her father’s day off, it would give her a chance to find out what was expected of her without constant interruption.

Hank stopped in front of an office and gave her what could only be described as a strained smile. “This is it,” he said with false cheerfulness.

Marty’s eyes narrowed first on his face, yeah, he was up to something, and then moved to the plaque on the door. She swore under her breath as she read the name, Detective Black.

“Ah, Dad?”

He unlocked the door and walked in. “Come in and get acquainted with your new office.” He moved to the side so that she could enter.

She walked into the office, which was surprisingly larger than her father's and a lot neater. To her right was a small sitting area with several comfortable looking chairs and a small coffee table, several filing cabinets lined the wall, a large plush couch lined the back wall and two large desks faced each other in the middle of the room. One of the desks held a few folders, obviously just tossed there while the other desk was clearly Tristan’s since it had a computer, pens and folders. “Wow…”

“This office was meant for two detectives, but since our budget only affords us three detectives on payroll, Tristan got his own office,” Hank said as he shifted his eyes nervously away from Marty.

“So,” she placed her box on the empty desk, “was this the office the person you hired for my position last year used?”

Hank shifted guiltily. “Maybe, I don’t remember,” he lied.

“Uh huh.” She walked past her father and closed the door halfway. “Dad, you told me that the guy you hired last year left screaming and crying after a week of being here. Did Tristan have anything to do with that?”

He visibly winced as he ran a hand over his hair, again. “Who’s to say what happened? I personally thought the guy was a bit skittish. He wasn’t my first choice, but then again with our small budget we can’t be too picky,” he explained, giving her a sheepish smile.

She folded her arms over her chest. “Dad, did you tell Tristan that he was going to have to share this office?”

Once again, he smoothed down his hair. “Well, I told him that as soon as we could find someone to fill the position that he would have to share the office. You know how tough it is to compete with the FBI and CIA when it comes to money and benefits.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “We’re lucky we were able to steal you away.”

She sighed heavily, “Dad, you know that I’ve always wanted to work here.”

“I’m very proud of you, sweetie. I can’t wait until you’re done with your thesis and it’s official.”

“Until then….,” she prompted.

He shifted uncomfortably. “Until then, I’m going to need you to help with paperwork, phone calls, and research. It’s not quite a secretary job and not quite what you’re going to be doing when you start your regular job here, but we need the help and you need the money.”

She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked around the spacious office. “But this will be my office permanently?”

“Yes.”

“What if Tristan doesn’t want to share the office when he comes back from medical leave?” She was relieved that she would at least have the office for a while before she was forced to work with him.

He shrugged. “There’s no choice. Neither of you can work in the pit. There aren’t enough desks and there’s no privacy. The files you both work on are confidential. He’ll have to suck it up.”

“Who will have to suck what up?” a familiar deep voice asked from behind her, sending a tingling awareness down her spine and making her breath catch.

It was just so wrong that she reacted this way to him, so damn wrong.

*-*-*-*

It felt good to be back, he reflected as he made his way through the station. After almost a month of being away he was more than ready to be back.  He had to admit that he’d been more than a little surprised when Hank called him last night.

All week he’d expected Hank to come over and rip him a new one for allowing his precious daughter to be caught in the rain. When the call came last night, he was prepared to have his ass chewed out. What he hadn’t been prepared for was Hank telling him that he could come back to work on light duty early.

Being stuck in his office most of the time normally wouldn’t have been fine with him, but after a month of cleaning, reorganizing, and Shayne’s  p**n  marathons, he was desperate to get the hell out of the house even if that meant pushing papers for a while. Not that he was really going to listen to Hank. He never had and probably never would. His personnel file wasn’t three inches thick for nothing after all.