3 3 Years Later

He couldn't believe he had done it as he looked at himself in the mirror. It had taken him some time but he had finally risen to the rank of police detective. He adjusted his tie and as he looked in the mirror to make sure it looked properly even. Having been given the good news on the Friday prior to this week made him feel though all the time, effort, and hard work he had been putting in was noticed and being rewarded.

Glancing at his watch on his right wrist he saw he had fifteen minutes left before he would have to leave. Getting a promotion didn't mean that he could suddenly afford to be late to his new position.

Shrugging on his black suit, he made sure it aligned properly with the white dress shirt he was wearing. It may have been childish, but he was looking forward to the first time he heard someone refer to him as 'detective Monroe' it would make it believe it was actually real once that happened.

He had already been assigned a job which is why he wanted to make sure that he didn't end up leaving late since today he would also be assigned his partner.

Leaving bedroom after making sure his clothes were in the correct order and his hair was combed into a uniform fashioned. He made his way to the kitchen where he poured the already brewing coffee into a travel mug. Coffee was something he couldn't go without in the morning if he wanted to make it through the day. He learned that the hard way on a few occasions work as so pressed that he didn't have time to stop and prepare himself a cup to take with back when he was an officer. He swore he would never let it happen again after a few awkward situations occurred.

Locking the door front as he left, he pressed the unlock button on his car key which also opened the door for him. A handy functions for those days when his hands were too full for him to open the car door himself. Slipping inside, the door closed behind him as he put the key in the ignition. He made sure to punch in the directions for the location he was told to visit to avoid getting lost since he wasn't going to be heading to the office first. Thankfully it wasn't too far of a drive away.

He hadn't been driving for very long before his phone began to ring. He pressed the button on the steering wheel to take the call.

"Monroe speaking." he answered once he was sure the call had been answered.

"Someone sounds bright this morning, Detective." He felt the excitement bubble over as the voice on the other end of the phone spoke.

"This did actually happen, right? I'm not in some dream where I am going to wake up in the morning and find out I actually was rejected and have to go back to my old police uniform, right Harold?" He couldn't help asking since it felt too good to be true. The voice on the other end of the phone laughed at his question.

"Well champ, since I am looking at your paper work right here in my hand, I can assure you that you're definitely not dreaming and you got that raise you've been looking for." Harold replied as a tapping sound could be heard over the phone, most likely him smacking the stack of papers against his desk.

"You'll still always be Ray to me though no matter what rank you hold. I also expect one more proper Sir from you when I see you next." Ray's smile widened when he heard this.

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." Harold had been a plain police officer than him, but held seniority by almost thirty years and was nearing retirement age. To some he could be a very intimidating person, but those he took under his wing, he became a great mentor.

Standing at 6'2 and being rather stalky, he did cut an intimidating figure, especially with his sharp eyes and his tendency to not smile when he was on patrol. He was always professional and courteous to whomever he was working with, but he also never had a problem telling anyone off when they made a mistake or forgot correct protocol.

He had helped Ray when first got on and felt overwhelmed by everything that he realized he hadn't been taught during his college years. Ray felt that if he hadn't been paired up with Harold and the other hadn't cared to help him, he wouldn't have been able to make to where he was today.

"I called actually to be bring you some interesting, but possibly unfortunate news. I got the info for your partner and it looks like you've been paired with a bit of an odd one." Harold told him, he could hear the frown in the other's voice as he continued speaking.

"Seems like we don't have a lot of information on him except that he was transferred into this area not that long ago and prior to this he apparently worked in some departments that were pretty far away compared to this one. We don't have much on his background though."

"You think that he's someone that I am going to have to worry about?" Ray asked, turning his left blinker on as he followed the directions making sure to not get off track while he was listening to the other over the phone.

"Can't say, might be a bit of a difficult fellow to get along with though. The eccentric ones usually are."

"Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep in mind that he's not from this area when I meet him, can you tell me if he's already been dispatched to the location?" Ray inquired.

"Yeah, one second." There was a brief pause on the phone before Harold replied again "Yeah, he's was already given the directives like you were. He's probably there already since he left first. I have to go now though. Let me know how it goes when you get back. Congratulations to your first day as detective."

"Thanks, I'll be sure to tell you the details." Ray replied before the call ended. He was hoping whoever his partner was wouldn't be difficult to work with even if he was from out of the area.

Ray didn't have to wait too long to find out as he quickly came up on the scene where the house was located. As he pulled up he saw that a number of other cars were already there. Whatever had happened, it looked to be pretty serious.

Parking his car as best as he could out of the way, he turned it off and put the key in his pocket along with his phone. Before he got out he noticed a man dressed in a dark suit with a black dress shirt and matching black slacks and what looked to be a more expensive version of the HAIX police shoes Ray wore. His black hair was slicked back and his the expression on his face radiated either extreme annoyance or intense concentration as he was talking to an officer in a hat off to the side. Ray got the feeling this would end up being his partner. He just hoped he didn't come across as short as his facial expression made him appear to be.