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The Waterfront
Cinnamon

"Sign this for me, huh?" Kay Howard tossed a report at her partner.

Bobby Gordon scribbled his name on the dotted line. "Calling it a night, Howard?" He tried to pass the report back to Kay, but she waved him off.

"Hand it in, too, huh? See ya, Gordo."

As she walked out of the Fugitive Department and towards the elevator, Kay's thoughts turned, as they often did, to Homicide. "Fucking rotation," she muttered. Fugitive was honest work, but they had plenty of detectives who could do it. Howard was born for Homicide, and she missed it every day.

The only thing keeping her in Fugitive, after almost three years, was finding Cantwell, the bastard who murdered Beau. The day she locked that son of a bitch up was the day she'd request a transfer back downstairs, where she belonged. Kay didn't even care that yellow-bellied Gharty was running things down there now; she just wanted to be murder police again.

Kay sighed and unlocked her car. She had court in the morning, which meant meeting with Danvers tonight for a final review of her testimony. As Kay stretched her arms and yawned, her gaze travelled across the street, to the Waterfront. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been in there. All the more reason to go right now, she thought. A quick glance at her watch revealed an hour before her meeting with Ed, and so she headed for the bar.

Kay opened the door and noticed that nothing had changed. Looking around, she saw the same jukebox against the wall, the same pool table in the back, and the same empty tables. Howard also noticed there was no bartender, but she sat at the bar anyway. Kay heard the oven door slam, and saw Meldrick Lewis emerge from the kitchen, carrying a steaming plate of meatloaf. With his back to the bar, Lewis set his plate down and grabbed himself a mug. He was pouring a beer when Kay spoke.

"Does that meatloaf come with two forks?"

"Sarge!" Lewis placed the brew in front of Howard and leaned over the bar to give her a hug. "I'll be damned! How the hell are you?"

"I'm gettin' by." She smiled. "How are things with you, huh?"

Meldrick disappeared into the kitchen, and came out with another plate, another fork and a knife. "Things been crazy, Sarge." Lewis cut in half the hunk of meatloaf on his plate, plopped it on the second plate, and gave it to Kay. "Munch left town, you know--"

"This is his Jalepeno gravy?"

"The man left in May, and I still gots 40 more pans of this shit froze in the kitchen." Mel was talking with his mouth full, and poured another beer for himself. "So I had to buy out Munch's share of this joint. Meanwhile, Bayliss is AWOL, Billie Lou quit, and I'm fucked."

"I heard that Bayliss disappeared." Kay took a long drink.

"This is a job for you, Sergeant Fugitive Squad. It's like he done dropped off the face of the earth. When Munch left, I's gonna sell the place, but ain't nobody know 'bout Tim. I called his moms, I called that redneck cousin of his." Meldrick laughed. "I even got Frank's number and asked if he knew somethin'. He done crapped out on me, Sarge. I can't run this joint all by my lonesome."

"You looking for new partners?" Howard scooped the last bit of gravy onto her fork.

"You interested?" Meldrick's eyes lit up.

"I was just makin' conversation, huh?"

Lewis chuckled dryly. "Yeah, ain't nobody want in on the bar. I been begging everybody--Gharty, Stivers, Ballard, Falsone, even the new guy."

"The new guy in Homicide." Kay tried to remember his name. "Is he the one who looks like Jason Priestley?"

Meldrick shrugged. "That's what Sheppard keeps sayin'. She don't want in, neither. Sarge," Mel leaned in conspiratorially. "I even asked Danvers."

"So you're still running this place on your own?"

"Nah. You know Gee's son?"

Kay nodded. "I've seen him around."

"I talked him into buyin' Munch's share. He wants to redecorate, make this joint over with some kind of Jimmy Buffet shit. I jus' let him think it's gonna happen. Our little partnership ain't permanent, anyhow. When Bayliss shows his face again, I'm callin' quits on my time as an entrepreneur."

Lewis and Howard sipped their beers in silence for several minutes until Kay spoke up again.

"So what's Frank up to these days, huh?"

"Teachin' Techniques of Investigation at the Academy in New York. You believe that?"

Kay shook her head. "Bet he's a good at it, huh?"

Meldrick shrugged. "I 'spose, but I bet he ain't happy." He paused. "Are you?"

"Like I said, I'm gettin' by."

"You ever comin' back to Homicide?" Meldrick poked his finger at Kay. "I tell ya, Sarge, things jus' ain't been the same since you been gone."

"I'll believe that." Howard looked at her watch. "I gotta go meet Danvers."

"You two... again?" Lewis made a sexual gesture.

Kay chuckled. "It's been real good seeing you, Mel. Thanks for dinner."

"Been good seein' you, too, Sarge." Meldrick leaned back and crossed his arms. "You gonna have to pay next time, though. We need the money."

Howard chuckled again from the doorway. "Come up to Fugitive tomorrow and play bill collector. You know I'm good for it. Good night, Meldrick."

"Good night, Sarge."

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