honey! your job is to stalk the outer perimeter of rest stop 88, and find the patrol cop known to be lurking around. see what information you can pull from him, and whether the guy ever takes a damn break. i hear he’s friendly… and particularly lonely!
the rain came down fast & hard. it had turned the dirt roads that wrapped around the back of the rest stop into rivers of muck, and honey’s sneakers ( which had been white once upon a time but had now taken on a rather unappetizing shade of brown ) made sucking noises every time she pulled them out. silently, she cursed their leader for giving her the one task that had to take place outside. honey thought of piper, sitting snugly inside the rest stop, and of logan, who was one long drive away from having his ass fuse to the driver’s seat.
suffice to say, she was feeling terribly sorry for herself.
it had been a good 20 minutes already, and still there was no sign of the supposed patrol car. her hair has lost its appealing shine and had turned into a wet mop that stuck to the sides of her face. her clothes were drenched. a thunderclap echoed through the sky. she shivered. somehow, honey had imagined the criminal lifestyle to be a bit more glamorous than this.
fuck this.
she wondered if she would get in trouble if she went back without having found the patrol car. probably not. she could just lie & say he refused to say anything. there was no way they’d doubt her. still, a twinge of guilt stirred in her gut at the thought.
another corner rounded and she found herself back on the main road. honey sent a silent thank you up to the heavens for the paved road she now found under her feet. she wiped the rain out of her eyes and looked around. holy fuck. there, pulled over on the side of the road, was a patrol car. bingo.
tick. tick. tick.
honey’s fingernail tapped against the car window. she caught a glimpse of her reflection- the soaking hair, the ruined makeup trailing down her face. she looked positively terrible. this might actually work.
the window bzzzzzz’d down, and revealed a young, scrawny looking kid in a police uniform. he looked to be around honey’s age-certainly too young to be patrolling at by himself. his round wire-rimmed glasses stood crooked on his nose, red hair tousled from a recent run-in with the abysmal weather.
“can i help you, ma’am ?” he had the kind of southern drawl you read about in books- thick & rich & charming. honey smiled; she had quite the sweet spot for country boys.
“i’m terribly sorry to bother you, sir, but i seem to have gotten quite lost and the weather-” another thunderclap. honeys drenched frame cringed to underline the severity of the situation. “the weather is getting worse by the minute, you see. so i was wondering, officer- ” she leaned through the window frame, squinting at the cop’s nametag. “-jackson. officer jackson, if you could give a girl a ride ?”
a bat of her lashes, a twirl of her hair.
officer jackson smiled at her. “of course, ma’am.”
before he could change his mind, honey had crossed to the passenger side door and gotten it. her shoes made muddy footprints on the floormats. she hoped he wouldn’t mind. “i’m jackie, by the way. you’re an angel !” at that last part she’d placed a hand on his arm. she could feel his sleeve dampening where she touched it.
“where are we going, jackie ?” he was gripping the steering wheel a little bit tighter than before.
“i’m in the motel a few miles from here, officer. i-”
“you can call me tom, if you want.” he was sticking the key into the ignition, smiling nervously up at her. tom reminded her a bit of a puppydog. she hoped he’d stay far away from rest stop 88 on friday.
***
conversation with tom was proving to be a bit of a challenge. the kid was so tightly wound he flushed at every move & every flirty remark honey made. he talked a lot, but nothing that came out of his mouth was of interest to honey. she had fired question after question at him, and yet she wasn’t getting anywhere. yes, he was from around here. no, he didn’t have a partner. ( this question had led to a rather hopeful rant on budget cuts and squad overhauls, but nothing else came from it. ) no, he didn’t work every day of the week: he had mondays off, on which he visited his mother. did that mean nobody was looking out for the people of macon, georgia on mondays ? jackie thought that sounded quite dangerous. tom had quickly reassured her- on mondays his shift was covered by robert, who – according to tom – was a creepy dude, but jackie had to promise she’d keep that to herself.
after another couple minutes of excruciating silence, the motel was now coming dangerously close & honey wasn’t any closer to finding out anything of importance. so honey shot her shot. tom was turning bright red.
“do i have a girlfriend ?” he stared at her in abject horror.
“or a boyfriend- i don’t judge.” honey flashed him her pearly whites.
“n-no, i don’t.” his face now matched his hair in terms of redness.
“well then, tom,” honey placed a hand on his knee. he looked like he was going to pass out. “would you like to grab a coffee with me ?”
he’d pulled into the motel parking lot. it was now or never.
“y-yea, i mean-“
“perfect ! how does friday sound ? what time do you get off?’
tom got off at 6. honey grimaced.
“that’s no good. how about a break ? do cops take breaks ?”
turned out, they did. tom stopped for a latte and a jelly donut at the lava java coffee shop in downtown macon every day between 3 and 4 pm.
“then i will see you,” honey prodded her finger into his chest. “on friday.”
she opened the car door to get out, but hesitated. she turned back around to plant a kiss on his cheek. he was cute; nobody had to know. then she jumped out of the car and disappeared into the motel.
honey truly hoped she’d never see him again.
