Companion Plant 🍃 5:14 PM: Are you at the house?

Me 5:15 PM: What! How did you know?

Companion Plant 🍃 5:16 PM: You sound how you sounded when I took you there.

Me 5:17 PM: Okay well it's wild that you can just tell like that, but yes, I’m here!

Companion Plant 🍃 5:17 PM: Mmm. You sound so nice

Companion Plant 🍃 5:17 PM: My soundtrack at work. Don’t even need my headphones.

Me 5:18 PM: ❤

Me 5:18 PM: I’m not doing too much without you, I promise! Just came over to trim back the overgrowth on the path through the front garden, so we can get things through more easily when we do the move!

Companion Plant 🍃 5:19 PM: Oh, good thinking.😊

Me 5:19 PM: I also texted Roger and Luca to give them our new address

Me 5:19 PM: They showed up and dropped off a housewarming gift! And look at this

Me 5:20 PM: (Attachment - Image)

Me 5:20 PM: Luca & Luna!🐾

Companion Plant 🍃 5:21 PM: Aww! They made friends awful fast. Did Luca leave covered in fur?

Me 5:21 PM: Yes, but he seemed happy about it!

Companion Plant 🍃 5:22 PM: What was the housewarming gift?

Me 5:22 PM: Several smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher

Me 5:22 PM: Roger said that he doesn’t actually give everyone those things as housewarming gifts, he specifically thought that you and I needed them 🙃

Companion Plant 🍃 5:23 PM: Yikes. What does that say about us?

Me 5:23 PM: Yeah I’m trying not to think too hard about that

Me 5:23 PM: But it has occurred to me that Noah is gonna come over here and spray someone with the fire extinguisher and then light a blunt and set off all the smoke alarms

Companion Plant 🍃 5:24 PM: True. Our house is now more fireproof and less Noah-proof

Companion Plant 🍃 5:24 PM: In high school we took down all the smoke detectors at Ralph’s house and used them as ashtrays, so it wasn't a problem

Me 5:25 PM: Omg NEVER tell Roger about that he’ll have an aneurysm

Me 5:25 PM: Ralph’s parents didn’t have anything to say about you guys doing that, btw?

Companion Plant 🍃 5:25 PM: Honestly I don’t know, they were never around the house

Companion Plant 🍃 5:25 PM: I only ever met his mom once, when we were like - thirteen? I think?

Companion Plant 🍃 5:31 PM: You okay, Keane? Why’s your note sound like that?

Me 5:31 PM: I just didn’t know 😔

Companion Plant 🍃 5:32 PM: Hey, don’t get upset!

Companion Plant 🍃 5:32 PM: Ralph never talked about his parents too much, but when he did, it sounded like he and his dad were super close. So there’s that

Companion Plant 🍃 5:34 PM: Kinda assumed that his parents are divorced and his dad lives in a different state or something

Me 5:38 PM: But you don’t know for sure?

Companion Plant 🍃 5:40 PM: No, Ralph really didn’t talk about it

Companion Plant 🍃 5:41 PM: All I know for sure about his dad is that he was a pilot in the Air Force. Maybe still is?

Companion Plant 🍃 5:42 PM: I only know cause Ralph had this picture of the two of them, and his dad was in his gear

Me 5:44 PM: And Ralph looked happy, being with him?

Companion Plant 🍃 5:50 PM: I mean, yeah, but he was like four, maybe five years old

Me 5:55 PM: He didn’t have a more recent picture?

Companion Plant 🍃 6:01 PM: I don't know, I never asked. Why?

Me 6:02 PM: Just wondering. Hmm

Me 6:02 PM: Surprised Ralph didn’t want to go into his dad’s line of work if he looked up to him like that

Companion Plant 🍃 6:03 PM: Nah, def not. When we harassed the military recruiter all the way off campus senior year Ralph was like, super enthusiastic. Basically led the charge

Me 6:03 PM: Omg I heard about that, I didn’t know it was you guys!!

Companion Plant 🍃 6:05 PM: Preventative bit of Guardian work.

Me 6:05 PM: ❤

Me 6:07 PM: Hey - is it okay if I give Ralph our new address, too?

Companion Plant 🍃 6:07 PM: Why?

Me 6:08 PM: In case he needs someone? Idk!!

Companion Plant 🍃 6:09 PM: Not sure you’re ever gonna see Ralph admit he needs someone, Keane

Me 6:10 PM: Maybe not right now, but he’s changing!

Companion Plant 🍃 6:11 PM: Yeah, can't argue with that.

Companion Plant 🍃 6:11 PM: Ffs

Companion Plant 🍃 6:11 PM: Yeah, alright. Goddamnit. Give it to him.

Companion Plant 🍃 6:12 PM: I want to be mad about this but I just heard what happened to your note and now I fucking can't!! Ugh.

Me 6:12 PM: 😊 I love you, my sweet Sugar Maple

Companion Plant 🍃 6:12 PM: Yeah, yeah.

Companion Plant 🍃 6:13 PM: Love you too, Linden.❤

~~~~

I sit on my knees before the shelves in my living room, pulling out stacks of books to pack. I gathered together a bunch of old boxes during my shift, brought them home from the shop. I’m slowly starting to fill them up.

The TV is on, but I’m not watching while I work. I’m thinking about what Aiden told me.

It's dawning on me that there are a lot of questions I don’t know the answers to, when it comes to Ralph.

It’s fucking unbelievable how little information he's let slip about himself, all this time. It sounds like he barely ever even told Aiden anything, and they were best friends. They’ve known each other since they were kids.

I can’t draw any conclusions from what I know. Not without making big assumptions, which I'm trying not to do.

But I wonder.

From the corner of my eye, I see the logo for the local news spin onto the TV. I pull myself back to the present, reach for the remote, and turn the quiet volume up.

I’ve started paying more attention to the news ever since it gave us that headstart on rescuing Roger from the fire. It wouldn’t have helped us with any of our other rescues, but if it leads us to save even one person we would have missed, it’s worth it.

I sit back on my ankles, push the sleeves of my flannel back up to my elbows, and reach for more books. I’m taking my time, packing slowly. I’m beyond excited to move into our house, but I do love this apartment. I don’t want to rush my way through my last few days with it.

I let my gaze travel over my place, deep affection swimming in my heart. Then my eyes snap to the TV, and my hand stops halfway out to the bookshelf.

Ketterbridge is a small town, and we don’t get a ton of breaking news. There's some tonight, though. The reporter just announced it.

“-story is still developing,” she's saying, “But the Ketterbridge police department appears to be in turmoil.”

“That’s right,” the other reporter says, picking up where she left off. He’s reporting live from outside of the police station, blue and red lights strobing behind him. “While the police have yet to issue an official statement, a source has informed us that two officers and one detective were dismissed today, following an internal investigation into allegations of corruption.”

I stare at the TV with wide eyes, frozen.

Pictures of the two officers and the one detective have popped up on the screen beside the reporter - and I recognize one of those badges being accused of corruption.

“-including Detective Callejo, will not be facing any charges, so far as we know,” the reporter continues, “And again, we do not have an official statement just yet. But the department has confirmed that all three will be immediately removed from the force.”

I stare at the photo of Callejo’s face, absolutely staggered. That’s the detective who investigated the break-in at the archives. The one who took statements from me and Aiden.

He’s been fired?

So far as I remember, he was actually a pretty nice guy. Polite to us, and to Gabby. Excited to have the chance to work a case where disguises were involved.

I definitely didn’t peg Callejo for dirty. He was thorough and competent, serious about his work. Eager for the challenge. He didn’t solve the archives robbery, but to be fair, he was up against Calla. She’s leagues more formidable and harder to catch than your average -

Wait a minute.

Didn’t Calla tell me that she was breaking into the police department, when I called to give her Ralph’s apology? She didn’t say what she was doing there, only that she had a good reason. And I assumed she meant the Port Sitka police department, but - she never said that.

I press my fingertips to my mouth, staring at the picture of Callejo. Then I snatch my phone up off the floor, scrolling to Calla’s contact as I scramble back to my feet.

I had no idea if she would answer my call, and I let out a sharp breath of relief when she does. “Calla!”

“Jamie." She hears the distress in my voice instantly. “What’s wrong?”

I look over at the TV that I just muted, my heart hammering.

"You sound all worked up," Call tells me, and then, haltingly, "Is - is this because I went to see Ralph?”

My already wide eyes grow wider, blinking away from the TV. “What?”

“Look, I'm not trying to get tangled up in your business. It's just - come on, you can’t really blame me for being curious about him.”

“Um - I can’t?” I ask blankly, at a total loss.

“I didn’t realize who he is. Didn’t know he was that Ralph. But then you gave me his apology, and that caught me by surprise, so I did some digging. Figured it out.”

What Noah said to me about Ralph’s business suddenly comes to mind.

He’s a name. He does serious business. She should know that.

It sounds like Calla does know that. I guess they both operate in the same shadowy, underground territory. Just in different fields.

“I was kinda shocked when I realized who he is," Calla admits. "Because of his reputation.”

I honestly have no idea what we're talking about, anymore. “His reputation?”

“He’s known for being fucking strict with his people. He has all these hardcore standards for them, and he takes a steep cut of whatever they make. But they’re all loyal as hell. Everyone wants to work for him, because it means no jail time. No one working under Ralph has ever been arrested. No one.”

"What - how many people does he have-?"

“Everyone knows that he’s scary as fuck, ruthless, unshakeable, ice cold. So you can see why I was confused, given that's the same man who looked at me with puppy dog eyes after I slapped a cigarette out of his hand - and he was carrying that book - and then to get an apology from him... I had to go see what the deal was.”

“Oh.” I shake my head, dazed. “How was that?”

“It was…” There’s a long silence from Calla’s end. “Unexpected. I don’t know. Nothing about him has been what I... I didn’t think he’d be a guy trying to teach himself how to be more respectful to women, or who’s so clearly excited that his plant grew a flower.”

I stop still, a smile spreading across my face. “It’s flowering?”

“Is this why you called me, Jamie?”

The smile slips away as I abruptly remember the actual reason why I called.

“Okay - listen,” I begin haltingly, “I’m not accusing you of anything. I really don’t think you would do this, but - I’m watching the news right now, and, um-”

Calla lets out a little laugh. “Let me guess. Trouble at Ketterbridge PD?”

I freeze, my heart plummeting.

“Calla,” I say slowly, trying to stay calm, “Please tell me that you didn’t break into the police station and plant something on Callejo to get him taken off of your case. Please tell me you didn’t get him fired for no reason.”

There’s a silence from Calla’s end of the line again. When she finally answers, the laughter is gone from her voice.

“Callejo got fired?”

“Yeah, after a corruption investigation. Him and a few officers.”

“A few officers,” Calla repeats slowly. There’s another silence, and then she murmurs, more to herself than to me - “That wasn’t supposed to happen…”

It's a relief to know that my guess was wrong, but now I'm even more confused than I was before.

“Calla, what-?”

“I’ve gotta go, Jamie. Gotta figure out what’s going on.”

I startle as a brief blast of loud, old-school punk music bursts through from Calla’s end of the line. “What was that?”

“My computer’s startup sound.”

“What kind of computer has that startup sound?”

“One I built. Don’t worry about it. And don’t worry about the shit with Callejo, either. I’ll figure it out, I’ll - I’ll figure it out.”

She sounds kind of unnerved, actually. I rarely ever hear Calla like that.

“Calla,” I say, all in a rush, before she can hang up on me. “If you need help with whatever this is, you can always call me and Aiden.”

“I don’t work with other p-” she begins, then stops. “I - yeah, okay. Thanks. Bye.”

She hangs up before I can say anything else, and my phone immediately starts to buzz again with an incoming call.

“Hey, you,” Aiden says warmly, as soon as I answer. “I’m on my way over right now. Just had to stop and get some groceries. I know it’s cold out, but I was thinking of making bastani tonight.”

“Okay,” I answer distractedly, my eyes still on the news. “Sounds good.”

“Wow. Thought you’d be more excited. I’m talking about dessert right now, so… Everything okay, Keane?”

I take a deep breath, then launch into an explanation.

Aiden listens without a word, and his silence extends past the point when I stop talking. I pace anxiously around my apartment as I wait for his answer.

“That’s… weird,” he finally says, very slowly.

“I know! What should we do?”

“Do?” Now Aiden sounds alarmed. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Shouldn’t we do something?” I pause by the door, nervously gnawing my lip. “Calla sounded really-”

“Jamie,” Aiden cuts in, his deep voice steady, unwavering. “Everything is gonna be okay.”

I turn around as the door of my apartment opens. Aiden ends the call as he steps inside. He strides over to me without slowing down, then brushes a kiss onto my mouth.

“Just take a breath,” he murmurs.

I slip my phone into my pocket and wrap my arms around him, relieved and grateful for his warm presence. He sets down the bag of groceries so he can hold me, too.

He draws back after a moment, gazes down into my face.

“Hey. D’you think Calla would be happy if we got involved after she said not to?”

I wrinkle my nose at Aiden, because we both already know the answer to that question.

“And don’t you think it’s kind of big that she said she’d call us if she needs help?” Aiden taps a fingertip on my nose. “We should trust her to do that, right?”

“So - we just do nothing?”

“No. We make some dinner. After that, we keep packing.” Aiden looks down into my eyes, his blue gaze clear and calm. “We don’t get ourselves in knots about it. We trust Calla to handle it, but we’ll be there if she needs our help. Okay?”

I turn that over in my mind for a moment.

“Okay... yeah, okay.” I let out a relieved breath, then look up at Aiden, breaking into a small smile. “D’you say you’re making bastani?”

“There he is,” Aiden laughs, ruffling my hair. “Go on and pack. I’ll get it started.”

I lean up to brush a grateful kiss onto his mouth, then start to turn away. But Aiden catches me and pulls me in for a much longer kiss, one that basically bends me backwards over the kitchen island.

“Aiden!” I laugh, slapping his chest.

He huffs out a little laugh of his own, gives me a kiss on the forehead before he draws me back up.

I cast a smile at him over my shoulder as I pad back into the living room. I feel so much better with him here.

Calla said she had to figure out what's going on, so I don’t expect her to call anytime soon. She might not call us at all. Still, I slip my phone out of my pocket and leave it on the floor, where I can see it.

If she calls, we’ll be ready.