Among the Shrouded by Amalie Jahn

again.”
    “When you two graduate from university and land high paying jobs, you can send us all there on a vacation.  How about that?” she laughed.
    “Okay,” said Natalya.  “But at least promise us you will see some sights.  Take some pictures to send to us.”
    “What’s this talk?” she asked.  “In just a couple of weeks, you will be joining me.  Then we will see some sights together.”
    “What about Mother and Father?  They are going to miss us,” Natalya said as she placed the last of Kate’s socks into the luggage.
    “They will be fine,” Tetyana said.
    “Of course,” she said .  “It’s not like we are leaving them forever.  It will just be a short time, and then we will all be right back here, in this apartment, together again…”
    “And Father will be King Malinov once more!  Ruler of his tiny kingdom!” Natalya exclaimed.
    The girls erupted into a fit of giggles.  It only took them a few more minutes to cram the rest of the items from the packing list into her overstuffed bag.
    “That’s it then,” she said .
    “That’s it,” her sisters replied.
    She slid the suitcase into the corner of the bedroom and headed into the kitchen for their last supper together before she departed for America.  “Then let the adventure begin,” she said.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER
    16
     
    MIA

     
     
     
    Mia’s morning had been particularly slow.  If there had been more criminal activity in the overnight hours, the time between breakfast and lunch may have passed more quickly as there would have been more cases in need of attention.  However, it seemed to her that the universe was conspiring against her.  On the one day she had something interesting she was looking forward to, many of Baltimore’s repeat offenders had managed to keep their noses clean and all of the day’s large cases had been assigned to other officers before she’d arrived for her shift.  This left a very distracted Mia pushing paperwork around her desk for the better part of four hours.
    Jack appeared in the doorway just before lunch.  He sat down across from her at his desk, laying a large stack of files between them.
    “Did you get to update the sex offender registry?” he asked her.
    “Yup.”
    “What about running those fingerprints from that break-in two days ago through the national database?”
    “Yup.”
    “Any hits?”
    “Nope.”
    “Bummer.  We’ll have to go at it from another angle.  I’ve got an eyewitness in that case, but he’s pretty mentally unstable.  I don’t know how he’ll hold up in court.  I was hoping those prints would come through with something.  Maybe we can work on a warrant this afternoon.”
    “Yup.”
    “Speaking of warrants, did you hear anything about the one for the meth house?”
    “Yup.”
    “And?”
    “It came through.”
    “Hmmm.”  Jack paused.  “Did you hear about the drive by last night?”
    “Yup.”
    He stopped again and looked directly at her, lifting one eyebrow.  “What’s with the short answers?”
    “I don’t know,” she responded.
    “Well, that was three words,” he laughed.  “Is there something going on?  I usually can’t shut you up.”
    She hesitated.  “I have a date.”
    “A date?” Jack exclaimed.
    “Shh.  Yes.  A date.  For lunch.  And I’m nervous.”
    “Nervous?  What for?  You’re a mighty fine catch, Officer Rosetti.  Who’s the guy?”
    She hesitated again.  “I don’t want to tell you.”
    “What?” he said.  He looked at her from across the desk and she could tell he was trying to read her expression.  She attempted to appear resolved.  “Fine,” he continued.  “Don’t tell me.  I’ll find out soon enough.  I know people.”
    She stood up and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair.  “Well, good luck earning your Junior Detective badge on this one, but I’m not sharing any information with you.  At least not this minute.  But if I’m not back by two, please