welcome!

[leigh ann canady]

Long fingers gripped the large coffee mug with a picture of handcuffs and the words written 'one size fits all' just beneath. Leigh walked out of the breakroom, still in her black leather jacket she wore against the cool morning drizzle outside. She was in plain clothes today, a white button up shirt, pair of slim jeans, brown boots, her badge clipped onto her belt. Thick blonde hair had been straightened, a war one against the elements wanting it to curl, and pulled back into a pony tail.

Her eyes were serious, as hips shifted enough to narrowly miss edges of desks to hurry and get to her desk and check in on anything she might have missed overnight. There was a fine line between enjoying a full night's sleep and the concern that she might have missed a clue no one had called her about.

Making it to her desk, the tall blonde set her mug next to her keyboard. Fingers curled about the collar of her jacket, giving it a tug as shoulders shrugged the leather off. Hanging her jacket on the back of her chair, Leigh sat down and immediatly tapped her computer off of sleep mode. Keys sounded their crisp click for Leigh's password. The detective picked up her mug once more and took a couple sips, as she waited on the edge of her chair for the computer to load her monitor.

[manuela mercedes flores]

She's had a bit of an interesting week. Her grandmother had been rather unhappy with her working late night because of the freaks that crawled out of the woodwork when the sun went down. Of course, it was the duty of every officer to pull one late night shift. Then, she'd had some distant relatives that she hadn't seen since she was a little girl come by and stay for a few days. That wasn't pleasant and she'd really had to brush up on her Spanish since none of them could speak it. Not their fault, they'd flown in from another country but Mani hadn't been raised in a home where Spanish was spoken that often. Her parents tried to speak as much English as possible so that they could improve their job standings and they'd wanted their children to be raised in the "American" fashion. Too bad they didn't foresee the Latino population being such a large group later... Still, she knew enough and she could hold her own and the older people weren't so much interested in her when they found out how old she was and the fact that she'd never been married or had children. Her being a cop had been something of a turn off, too. They'd expected her to be in a more "feminine" role. Whatever, they left in a few days.

Then, she'd ended up in the hospital to look at a few minor injuries after having tried to break up a fight and, there, she'd met a Tynan and his daughter. She didn't even know where to start with the two of them so she just didn't think on it all that much. It was probably for the best that way. While they seemed to be going through some stuff and needed friends, Mani didn't think that she could be there for them in the ways that they needed. She didn't plan on staying around much longer, anyway. She was still unsure of what she was going to do after her grandmother passed so she didn't feel like making any serious plans. Not like they actually worked out, anyway,

After showering, Mani had pulled on a rich blue blouse over her white slip top, a pair of flared dress slacks and modest black boots with a small heel. She had pulled her hair back but only halfway, just enough to get her hair out of her eyes. She checked on her grandmother, grabbed her things, and headed out for the station. She took just long enough to stop off at the bakery and grab a couple of bagels and toppings. Now at work, she'd nodded to those that greeted her as she crossed the room to get to her desk that was across from her partner. Mani set the bag down on the desk and perched herself on the ledge, at the corner. "Hungry?"

[leigh ann canady]

One elbow rested on her desk, between the keyboard and the edge. A little movement, and her arm would have teetered off. Leigh's chin rested atop curled fingers, as her eyes studied the maps. Her mouse clicked between images, pushing windows out of the way, and then aligning them up together again. There was a near frown on her brow, as her bright blue eyes took in every inch. As if she were even counting the dust particles in tire tracks. There was a flicker of a wincing frown on one corner of her mouth, and then it was gone.

Out of the corner of her attentive gaze, Leigh Ann could see movement swirving around the desks. She knew it was her partner, Mani. Ready, on the go woman, they probably wouldn't sit here for very long. Of course, there was work to do. Always. At this point, it felt like they were one step behind the criminals half the time, and it frustrated Leigh.

She pushed away from her desk enough to look up at Mani, and watch the plop of the bag on the desk. Leigh gave the Latina a grin, snagging the bag and fishing out a bagel, "Morning, and yeah." Leigh didn't even stop to put cream cheese on her bagel, soon chewing away on a piece in her mouth. Just before finishing the bite, she mumbed, fingertips covering her lips, "Your spoiling me..or trying to make me fat."

Turning back to her monitor, Leigh twisted it around to show the maps of the northern hills she had been looking at. Her free hand pointed to a thin dirt road that twisted a path through a thick of forest, "I've been looking at these images on file of the area that John Doe was found last week. Campers have given reports that they hear a lot of motorcycle activity." Leigh paused, snagging her mouse and clicking on another image. She pointed to where the dirt road ended, then just beyond in the photo. A dark clearing not but fifty feet from where they had found the body, "This...was the picture that Sam took yesterday from above. This clearing..wasn't here...when the body was found."

[manuela mercedes flores]

If Mani kept an eye on everything that went on in the station, she'd never be able to focus on her work. In a room full of cops in a place where anyone who wasn't law enforcement was watched like a hawk by their escort, she figured she was fairly safe. Therefore, she rarely bothered to take notice of anyone unless they addressed her, standing right next to her. She did know not to sneak up on anyone but she wasn't going to go about, making a clamor every time she approached someone, either. So, really, what was the point in any of it? Then again, with the recent issues in security in different places around the country, you ha to wonder if you didn't need to be a little more careful.

Mani grinned and sipped on her coffee. She'd figured her friend would have grabbed a cup from the lounge, by now. No matter how early Manuela got there, her partner was always there before her. She grabbed her own bagel and applied the honey walnut cream spread over the bagel in a generous quality before nibbling at it. "Hey, there can only be one hot cop on this team and I'm younger than you so my metabolism is better." She flashed Leigh a quick smile and continued eating. "Better than donuts, though." That was a kind of food that didn't sit well on her stomach and she couldn't bear to try and go through a day of work with that weight on her stomach.

When the screen was turned in her direction, she leaned forward to examine the images. They hadn't been working together too long but she knew what to do. It was part of why they worked so well together. They just knew how to act around the other. "We get any possible hits on who he might even be?" With the traffic from Richmond and the fall carnival, God only knew who that man was. No one had reported anyone missing so she doubted that he was a local. She hadn't heard anything yet but, surely, there had to be some results from missing persons by now. A list of names was better than no name at all. "Anyone check it out, yet, or do we get to go on a field trip?"

[leigh ann canady]

Leigh arched a brow and a slight smirk, as Mani went on about the allowance of only one hot cop on the team. Admittedly, Mani was younger and gorgeous. Leigh wasn't going to fight her for the hot cop spot. She'd had to fight that in the past, along with being blonde. Something about being blonde seemed to make the struggle to gain acceptance among her peers even harder back in early years, as if being a woman wasn't hard enough. She'd had enough nicknames in her younger years, and was more then willing to let Mani have such things. Her partner certainly had a hard enough 'shell' for them.

"Hmmm," she continued to smirk, a flash of a crinkle graced her nose, "Maybe tomorrow I'll pick you up some donuts." It was a tease. Last thing she needed was to slow Manuela down. Or have the temptation of eating one of those fattening sugar balls herself. Ever since having a baby, Leigh realized she had to cut back on eating as much bread and sugar. They were like instant weight gain, and mde her lose energy. Yay, for getting older. Not.

She reached for a file that was sitting in one of the bins on her desk and handed it to Manuela, "Autopsy report came up with nothing. Seems our victim's hands had recently suffered a chemical burn." Leigh leaned back in her chair, crossing both of her arms in front of her body to rest beneath her breasts, "There were traces of lye and drano at the scene, some of the victims clothing. Other then that, they are still doing a search through the national missing persons registry. Doesn't make sense..they should have found someone by now."

Her eyes slid towards the monitor, as teeth nibbled against the inside of her cheek as she thought about the situation. By now they usually came up with a match for the victim. Without a match for John Doe, it made the puzzle even more difficult.

"Field trip," Leigh answered, sitting up and taking one last bite of her bagel again. Yeah, wasn't great on her hips, but it was something. Coffee would travel. She stood up and snagged her jacket off her chair, swinging it about her shoulders and tugging it on. "And then I'd like to visit this carnival."

"We haven't socialized with the new carnies in town," she hoped by the time they were done with the little tromp through the woods, that the carnies would be awake and unbothered by their patrons. Of course, they didn't usually like to talk to cops. But, Leigh didn't think they had enough for a warrant to make them. It was still worth the try.

[manuela mercedes flores]

The two could probably argue all day about that. While Mani was younger and hadn't had a kid, Leigh was still a very beautiful woman. She was a natural blonde, to boot. How many in this area could really claim that one? She'd had a kid and was still in top shape, too. No one could say anything about her. Mani knew what it was like to have to fight for respect, though. She'd had to do it back in LA and, now, she was doing it here. She just hoped that she didn't have to do it, again, when she moved back to LA. If she moved back... She had a good defense prepped, though. She'd grown up with loads of guys and she'd developed something of a very thick skin for it.

Her comment cause Mani to laugh, rolling her eyes. "You're cruel, you know that? Sounds freaking delicious though. Pinche madre..." Why was it that the things that were most horrible for you were the things that tasted the best? Wasn't that always how it was? She had o train herself to keep herself under control for now, though. If she wasn't careful, she'd do something to push herself to a point where bad habits couldn't be reversed. She'd never been big on working out and she wasn't about to start now. She did what she had to in order to stay in shape but working hard to get back to where she was? No thanks.

Mani put her coffee down to inspect the file handed to her. She flipped through the first few pages until she found what she really needed to know. "I don't get it... Unless they knew he wouldn't have DNA in the system. We could still pull up dental records, though. Assuming he's in the system at all, I guess." Who was this guy? What had he done to get himself in this position? There were too many questions and she didn't like that there were more of them than answers. Whatever they were dealing with, it was low rent, too. After all, lime and Drano? That stuff could be picked up at any store in town. "Ante-mortum but not too long before the estimated time of death... It had to be the murderers. We get anything on those tire tracks?" She shut the file and set it back on the desk.

The Latina sighed and looked over at the file, again. "Are we sure we wanna make this on the Sons? I mean... I wouldn't be surprised if it was them but the Carnies - Well, they don't like other people interfering with their business. If there was a problem, they would have handled it themselves. He wouldn't have been reported missing, either. No family or friends outside of the circuit and..." Well, she was sure that her partner could see where this was going.

"Field trip, it is." Grabbing her bagel and coffee, Mani fell into step beside the blonde and grinned. "Who's driving?" She always loved asking that question. She drove a little too fast, broke a little too hard. Kept Leigh on her toes, though. She just hoped that they found something at the camp site because she didn't think that there would be much with the Carnies. They didn't do to well with outsiders of any kind - least of all law enforcement. She didn't think they'd be doing more than wasting their time.

[leigh ann canady]

Leigh chuckled, shaking her head and snagging the keys. It was playfully cruel, but not something she would do. After all, she didn't need Mani sluggish. She needed her partner on top of things, ready to spring into action and make quick decisions. Mani was one of the best. And Leigh was thankful to have her at her back.

"My pleasure, Amiga," she came back. Leigh Ann certainly didn't know spanish, but she was trying to pick it up. You didn't need it much back in Boston, but the hispanic community was making it's way into the community here. It helped hearing Mani throw a word every now and then, even though she wasn't exactly fluent herself.

She stopped and studied Mani, thinking and tossing a glance back to the file on the desk. The Sons. No, Leigh shook her head, and focused her attention back on her partner, "We can't let them 'handle' there own business. That is exactly why I want to go down there. They can't think they live in their own world, with their own rules."

Lifting the keys and dangling them, before letting them fall back into her jacket pocked, Leigh grinned, "I am." And before Mani could say anything, snagging her coffee cup and heading out through all the twisting turns of the desks. It was too early for Mani's driving. She wanted to keep her coffee down, and it was too early to tempt it. The tall blonde made her way past their peers, leading the way outside and towards the car. "Besides, I think it's good to stop by every now and then. You know," she glanced over her shoulder to Mani, "They have too big a turn around, I want to know who they have filtering through town."

[manuela mercedes flores]

A sluggish partner was often dangerous for yourself so you usually wanted your partner in the best condition that you could get them in just as much as you wanted yourself to be in the best condition. At least, then, you didn't have to worry about your back because your partner had it and they'd be in the proper form to do something about it if there was trouble and you needed some quick action. Why did you think that they had a physical fitness requirement in order to join? The smart bad guys were in fair shape, themselves. You had to be one step ahead of them or you were a dead cop.

She tried not to use much Spanish around those that didn't speak it. That was just rude. Still, swearing in another language was often better form just because not everyone wanted to hear profanity, even when it was used as a jest. While the area was, mostly, black or white, there were other ethnic representatives moving in with force. It was easier for an immigrant to find work in a city than a small town, though. Still, it wasn't a surprise to see a Nguyen or a Ramirez on a class roster at the school or for the payroll at the factory. While the common vernacular was English, Mani didn't see the harm in America being a bilingual nation where everyone spoke Spanish and English. It was a two way street, she understood that but Canada spoke English and so they didn't need to worry about communicating with their neighbors to the north.

No, not the Sons but who? Were the sounds of bikes just a distraction? Something to throw them off of the trail or was there something going up there that they had to look into because they were up to something while the cops dealt with the John Doe? See? Even more questions! She hated this and the case needed to be solved. "Then let's go. Just warning you, it really is a different world." Not to say that they had the right to make up their own rules. It just wasn't what they were used to - at least not Mani.

Mani tried to snatch the keys, playfully, but she had been too slow. "What? Already awake? You know I'm just breaking you in before you gotta start giving a certain little one lessons." She laughed and followed her friend. She greeted a few that she hadn't seen on her way in and said bye to those that said it to them. Mani nodded. They were always picking up people and others were dropping out. There was a tight core and, then, the new guys that had to prove themselves and show that they could handle the road. If they were dropping off someone or picking up one of their people, it would be good to know before the problems arose.