I'll work with her

*********

"Well, I came back," Lux said, and he started to explain how the case was supposed to work.

"Ok, well... I'm sorry, but that doesn't really answer my question."

Lux was beginning to get irritated with the chief's attitude towards the situation, and it was making him more determined to find out what was going on. Lux was uncertain about how long he could endure being partnered with Chloe, or if he would simply demonstrate enough incompetence to relinquish all the leads on the case to her.

He waited for the chief to say something so he could respond, but instead he began to write something down on a piece of paper. He slid it across the table in front of Lux.

"See, this is what I need you to do."

Lux opened the note and noticed that it was a list of names, addresses, and dates that they moved into those houses.

He scanned the paper as he continued to think of a plan to get to the bottom of what was going on. He figured if he could work things around the dates listed in the notes, he should be able to narrow down which ones had moved out.

As he continued to look through the information, he realized there were three people listed on the document who hadn't moved out yet. He turned his head toward the chief.

"Do you mind telling me why these are the only people you want me to check on?"

The chief looked up from the paper and sighed. "Because..." he said, not wanting to finish the sentence.

He then sat back in his chair and continued to read the paper in front of him.

"Yes, Chief, I am aware. It's because they have not been around recently, so I can't tell whether or not they're still in the house," Lux replied, getting frustrated.

He grabbed the note off of the desk and threw it into the trash can in front of the chief's office.

"Look, I don't know why you've got such a problem with me, but you're just going to have to deal with it. If you want to leave, then please just go. I'm sure you'll be happier without me around."

The chief was stunned, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wasn't even trying to speak to the detective anymore. He just looked at him as if he were an annoyance.

"Well, fine!" he said, getting up from his chair. He left Lux sitting in the chair by his desk.

"I just need you to make some calls, and we'll be done here."

"Oh, ok," Chloe said, and she followed the chief out of the room.

Lux lay back in the chair he was sitting in when the chief walked out. He could feel the rage boiling inside him and wanted to scream. There was something he had to find out about this, and it was his job to do that.

Realizing he couldn't extract any information from the chief, he had no choice but to resort to drastic measures. He stood up and walked out of the room, rushing after them.

"Wait!" he yelled after the two detectives.

Chloe turned around and saw Lux running up to her, so she stopped walking and waited for him to catch up to her.

"What?"

She was completely caught off guard by the interruption, but Lux seemed calm enough, so maybe he wasn't angry with her.

"Detective, can you come with me?"

"Why should I?" she asked, crossing her arms as if to prove she wouldn't move from where she was standing.

"Because I want to work on the case."

Earl looked at Lux, smiling. "So you finally came to your senses."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter what you think, Chief. I've got to find out what's going on here," Lux replied, and they started walking towards the door to the station.

The chief was stunned and confused by the sudden change in attitude. "You're really serious about this, are you?"

"Yes,"

"And you agree to work with Chloe?"

"That's not what I meant..." Lux began to explain, but Earl cut him off before he could finish.

"Oh, good, so we won't have any more problems, then," Earl said, and he walked out of the hallway, leaving the two of them to talk.

They continued walking down the hall when suddenly Lux stopped in his tracks. He looked back over his shoulder and then turned to look at Chloe. He didn't want her to know about the note that he threw away or about the plan that he had devised.

"You really want to work with me? That's great," Chloe replied sarcastically.

"No, I mean, I really need to work with you. We've got a lot to do, and we only have a few days to figure out what's happening here. I can't believe that it took me this long to realize that you're right!"

Lux was happy she bought his lie and agreed to working with him, even though she was such a pain in the ass.

Well, let's go find something to eat. You've got some time before the others get back, so I'll call in a few favors for us while we wait."

Chloe smiled and said, "I can't wait to see what kind of people you call in. Maybe they're going to hook up my phone."

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Lux said as he reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and handed it to her.

"So, where do you want to meet?" Chloe asked him.

"I don't care, anywhere other than here." We've got to be quick, though, because there's a bunch of people out here, and I'm sure they're going to start asking questions if we hang around for too long."

Chloe looked over at the chief's office door, then to the front desk and the lobby. Finally, she sighed and shook her head.

"Here's fine," she said, pointing towards the lobby.

Lux nodded. "Ok."