MAIZE THREE WEEKS LATER

The bounty hunter rolled straight up to the 88th on her Yamaha. Parking, cutting the engine, and giving a quick kick to the kick-stand, Maize yanked her helmet off and shook her hair free in the breeze. Her hair cascaded in a flush wave down her back, sunlight reflected off the sheen of her black leather jacket, and amber eyes were grinning with the dawning exploits of another day.

Anyone looking at her then and comparing it to weeks back before she and another resident detective of the precinct had been away on unexplained business, there would have been no visible difference. At least from the outside, they would have said.

And she would have agreed with them. She had not changed a bit...at least from the outside.

Those who knew her enough to look closer, would have been able to see the new kind of fire that dawned in her eyes, even more potent than before.

About a week before, Maize had gotten a call from a certain pair of RCMP officers all the way from Vancouver, forwarded from the Captain's number line to her, with marvellously updating news. The leads they had received from prior notes and arrest had aided them in tracking down nearly all the outward branches still connected to the old Syndicate, and teams had made dozens of arrests over half a month, with a rather large case file of charges to put each accused member away for a long time. They informed her of Azeal's transfer to one of their state prisons, though she hadn't asked, and that he was awaiting proper trial.

Again, they politely asked whether or not she would be willing to testify. Again, she had turned them down. It would make a rather minuscule impact compared to the largely numbered case file to condemn him anyway.

And as for Azeal himself...she was not worried about him giving up her own past involvement with gang history, even if there was an opportunity to trade further information for a somewhat reduced sentence, he wouldn't. In their last moments, she had recognized the man she once knew. And that man would not sell out their story out of something as simple as pettiness. If she could rely on one thing, it was the trust that when he decided to come back for another shot of revenge, he would do it his own way—and keep the cops far out of it.

Her newest pair of leather-clad combat boots clicked against the pavement to tile flooring as she strode past a pair of rookie officers and into the departement building. She had been in and out for the past boring few weeks, since one of the only people she realized ever really made visiting the precinct interesting—besides the Captain, of course—was currently on recovery leave from work. And would be for at least several more weeks, as ordered by the doctors.

Maize had been right there in the room when he received the news and threw a hissy fit argument about the whole thing.

The notable one and only Detective West was lucky to have been discharged the morning prior so long as he continued to seek treatment for the still-healing wound stitches in his chest.

Which is why she was more than a little surprised to see him there, standing amid the moving department without a care as if waiting for something specific. Her to arrive.

She masked her surprise with a curiously smirking expression—torn between disapproval and amusement at the sight of his ever chaffing smile.

"I thought you weren't cleared to be back on duty," she stated as she came to a stop before him, arms crossing in front of her raised questioning expression.

"He's not," the Captain walked by and reminded quickly, before Alec could so much as open his mouth. The detective, on the other hand, sighed tersely and gave a less than gratifying look at his Chief, as the man continued to walk on presumably towards another matter. One glance back was enough to know he was not apologetic about his short intervention.

After realizing that it was in fact that Captain who had raised Alec and had come to be known as his adopted father, it was hard for Maize not to berated herself for not coming to that conclusion sooner. Though perhaps not clear right away, there were certain disciplines and aspects, clear similarities between the two, that one could have guessed from if they had known to look. Though the obvious that became clear soon enough was the confidence, the similar stubborn morals, and the ability to curse worse than sailors—as Maize had learned quite recently after she had been present at the same time Alec had tried entertaining the Captain with a few additional stories of the 'more exciting' events that occurred during their mission. The Chief had not been too thrilled about a lot of it, especially the car chase.

"Not cleared for any fieldwork," Alec corrected, a tad poutingly, shortly after the Captain became clear of hearing range. "At least not for another month at minimum. But I think just to spite me the Chief's going to extend it longer..." His expression darkened distastefully at the thought alone, and Maize let loose a laugh.

"Bet you regret throwing yourself heroically in front of a bullet now don't you," she teased lightly, ever so subtly flicking him in the center of his chest, mindful to keep away from the actual place of the recovering stitches. He watched her movements and then raised his eyes back up to meet hers.

"Answer's still no. Better try harder if you're still trying to work it into my head," he said.

"Then that's just too bad," she sighed on the border of sly playfulness. "Since I was hoping to have to avoid telling you that your leave of absence has made you fall a little behind on the score chart. I'm not sure when you last checked, but the tallies of captured felons for the Bounty Hunter are rising higher and higher than the tallies for West...Your absence has officially lost you your throne," she teased condescendingly.

The detective's response was a raised eyebrow and contemplating frown.

"Don't get too comfortable on that high throne of yours, Maizey," he warned, something devilish glinting behind his eyes. "Otherwise I'll have too much fun knocking you off it, just wait."

Stubborn, she told herself. She really wouldn't be able to convince him would she?

She pulled back a smile. "Challenge accepted. But, until you're cleared, enjoy hearing about me bringing in the bad guys. I can tell you personally myself, tonight. After I test those shitty locks of yours again..." she goaded. It was fools-worth to the obvious to mention that the whole getting shot ordeal had more or less put a halting stop to whatever thoughts he'd had before about moving. Searching for a better place in the city was just going to have to wait.

The rueful expression he had worn at her first declaration had faded into a rather delighted smirk at the tease. "Is that your way of saying you'll be stopping by again tonight?" he asked quietly, then his gaze turned somewhat flat as he felt compelled to add, "If so, please use to door this time, like a normal person, instead of the fire escape window."

She laughed. "We'll see."

He shook his head, a traitorous chuckle escaping from his lips.

He looked back up at her brightly. "Well in that case, before you go, I've been meaning to talk to you about something. It's actually the reason I'm here," he said.

"Alright," she nodded to give him the acknowledgment to go on, curious now as to what he might want to say. And why the shift of hands in his pockets came off with a certain twinge of nervousness that hadn't been there before. She knew when he noticed her note the particular give away, the muscle in his jaw jumped.

"Listen—Riley got me thinking, though I'll admit, it had crossed my mind a few times before too..." The mention of Ryder—since it was clear at this point Alec meant no one else—brought a small hint of a smirk onto her face. The aberrant canine-owner had been claiming residence in the city all the way back through the weeks that had passed them by. And, much to Alec's irritation as made clear during the first week, it was quite obvious he didn't have plans to leave just yet. Since then, he had been appearing in and out around. Most often recognizable with Kota in coffee shops close to where he was staying, in the unoccupied rentable apartment of a guy he claimed owed him a favour.

There was a reason he had foregone city life and gotten himself a permanent residence as far away as possible, the only times he ever really left being for jobs or favours. But as far as records went, for a place known for being one of the busiest out there, Ryder had never been so restingly civil.

Maize had realized why only several days ago. On a friendly meet-up, the two had gone drinking at one of the downtown bars he had been frequenting, one whose manager wasn't opposed to animals—a rule that only existed after the first time Ryder had given a death-worthy glare to the last person who had tried to tell him otherwise. He had gotten up to go to the bathroom for just a few minutes, and in that time, had mistakenly left his phone on the table. A call had vibrated on the silent ringtone, Maize had only picked it up to turn it off after getting a hard stare from Kota, who was sitting in the booth where Ryder had been. The call cut off before she had to do it herself, but it allowed her to see that it was the same number, which according to the time stamp, had been ignored over and over throughout the majority of the day, and the one before that.

The Ryder had come back from the bathroom.

Naturally, he had swiped the phone from her the instant he caught her looking at it, but when she asked who it was—guessing it wasn't his ex since there was no horrendous name attached to the caller ID—he made a point not to answer her. And then he blocked the number.

That was the last he said on the matter.

Though she thought she should probably mention to Alec that at some point Ryder planned on dropping by his apartment. To pay back the favour of being uninvited house guests, as he had muttered under his breath. It seemed he and Kota were content to stay in Brooklyn, bothering Alec as much as Ryder wanted and disturbing Maize on her hunting jobs. Until eventually he would get fed up with civilization and be off again.

"So what is it?" she asked the detective, smiling curiously.

In response, he handed her an envelope of documentation, stamped clearly with the NYPD's signature.

She flipped it in her hands and looked up at him. "What's this?"

"Take a look," he smirked.

She opened and unfolded the sheet of paper.

Her eyes trailed over it with shock, and Alec watched with a smile. "It's an official submission request to have you put in as my partner," he explained.

A contract to become his official partner for the NYPD 88th.

"So, Maizey," he added, "What do you say?"

Maize was at a loss for words.

Her mouth was half parted, open to speak the words that weren't coming out of her throat. She gazed between the paper and then at himself. The tease in his eyes was gone, now, all there was; a genuine smile.

He meant it. He really meant it.

For her. To work with her. To have her as his official NYPD partner.

Sure it was not unheard of to have civilian consultants or PI's officially signed on to work with detectives. But a bounty hunter...she would most likely be the first.

Maize closed her eyes, holding the paper tightly, and smiled softly.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "But I'm going to have to turn you down."

She felt a pang of guilt at the flash of surprise in his expression, as well as the look of quiet disappointment, and she gave him a look to reassure him it wasn't anything he had done wrong. She explained, "I can't be in the database, I should have mentioned that sooner. If I show up there, someone, eventually, will recognize me. You know I'm not proud of what I did in the past, but 'changed' or not, if I'm found out, they'll still convict me." She crossed her arms, the corner of her mouth pulling back a tad. "And I'd rather not have to spend ten years in some dainty prison cell, thanks."

"Oh, right..." the detective answered quietly, before running a hand through his hair. "Damn...guess I didn't think it through as much as I thought."

Maize paused. "And how much was that exactly?"

He shrugged. "Mostly just weighing the pros and cons of whether or not working together would actually make us better at our jobs or just more prone for near-death situations."

At that she couldn't help but release a laugh.

"Can't it be both?" she questioned deviously.

"I came to that same conclusion," he chuckled with a sigh and she smiled.

"Why the down face? Don't tell me you were actually going to miss me?" she teased.

The corner of his mouth flicked up and his eyes were amorous. "Maybe I was..." was his reply.

The bounty hunter's smile widened.

"Well, in that case, I wouldn't worry too much. I plan on sticking around—since a certain unnamed detective stubbornly made it clear it was required of me."

"What a smart guy."

Maize rolled her eyes and turned away, looking now over her shoulder.

"This won't be the last you see of me, West, not by a long shot, so you better get used to me. Besides, who ever said a contract needed to sign us off as partners?"

"The department—but I can see where you're going with this," he added, grinning.

She laughed. "This won't be the last time we work together. Not if I can help it."

That teasing light was back in both of their eyes, and he smirked,

"Challenge accepted."

~ • ~

AHHHH and that brings us to the conclusion of this book! I hope the ending was satisfactory enough, I really do. Writing this, quite honestly, was a tough ride, with many ups and just as many downs. Constant doubt and confusion with my own work play a big part in that. But, I did it! I finished it! Look for the Q&A page next for the chance to ask your favourite characters questions for fun...