Gabriella’s first overnight shift was scheduled for the next night. Since she was still technically in training, she was only supposed to shadow the others and get used to being at the headquarters at night. But she was still nervous as she walked up the steps at seven o’clock that evening.

Fang greeted her at the door, purring as she weaved around Gabriella’s legs. Gabriella leaned down and scratched behind her ears. “Hey, beautiful,” she murmured.

Fang gave her one last rub and walked down into the basement. Gabriella watched her disappear into the darkness, then kicked off her shoes and walked upstairs.

“Hello?” she called as she reached the empty living room.

“Hang on!”

A second later, one of the bedroom doors opened and Amelia came down the hall. “Hi,” she said. “It’s you, me, and Madelyn on tonight.”

Gabriella smiled at her and Amelia smiled back, but she didn’t seem too enthusiastic. That warmth she’d shown the first couple of days Gabriella was working was nowhere to be seen.

“There aren’t any cases tonight,” Amelia continued. “So if you want to keep working on your modules, it’s a good opportunity to do so. Madelyn is going to go get some dinner in a few, so let her know what you want.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Amelia nodded. “Yeah, no problem. I’ll be on the comms all night, so let me know if you need anything. If any emergencies come up, we can go over how that works here.”

She nodded one more time, then walked past Gabriella and into the kitchen. Gabriella watched as she poured a cup of coffee and added some milk. Before Gabriella could turn away, Amelia turned around and caught her looking.

“Help yourself to coffee,” she said, motioning to the coffeemaker. “If the pot’s empty, refill it. Seems like obvious common courtesy, but you’d be surprised how often people forget about those things.”

If that was supposed to be a dig, she didn’t show any sign of it on her face. Maybe Gabriella was being over-sensitive. “I will,” she said.

“Good. I’ll be in the back bedroom with the door open. Come in if you need me.”

She walked away, leaving Gabriella standing awkwardly in the kitchen doorway. Not that Gabriella had been expecting it to be like a slumber party, but she hadn’t expected to be left completely alone.

She went and poured a cup of coffee, relieved to see there was at least a full cup’s worth left after she got hers. There was almond milk and two percent milk in the fridge, so she grabbed the almond milk and poured a little into her coffee before heading into the living room.

The computer she usually used was off, but the one beside it was still on. Maybe that one would be better. Gabriella sat down in front of it and pressed in her password, her hopes fading as the computer slowly whirred its way to the home screen. She took a sip of her coffee, wincing as the thick, bitter taste filled her mouth.

“Bradley made one more pot before he left.”

Madelyn’s voice made her jump. Barely avoiding sloshing her coffee onto her hands, she set the cup down and turned. Madelyn was standing behind her, leaning heavily on a cane. “He makes sludge,” she continued. “I’d say don’t tell him, but he doesn’t give a shit. It works though, especially come, like, two o’clock when you’re trying to stay awake.”

She laughed a little, and Gabriella joined in. “I came out to ask what you want at McDonald’s,” Madelyn said.

A few minutes later, Gabriella managed to fish out her wallet out of her bag and pulled out some money for her order. For a second, she thought Madelyn was going to refuse it. But then she took the bills and folded them into her pocket.

“Thanks,” Gabriella said as Madelyn turned to leave.

“No problem,” Madelyn said. “I like getting out for a few minutes during the night shift. It gets boring. You’re allowed to nap and watch TV and stuff, but you have to be on alert the whole time just in case.”

Gabriella nodded, and Madelyn slipped out of the house. As the door closed behind her, Gabriella turned back to her module. Apparently, this week was all about survival strategies because now that the celestial navigation one was wrapped up, it was time to learn about shipwreck survival strategies. A little uncertain that this wasn’t another New Bedford special, Gabriella clicked on the link and began to read.

***

Three hours later, the house was still silent. Occasionally Gabriella would hear Amelia talking to someone from the back room. The door was open and any time she looked over, Amelia would either be typing something or reading what appeared to be a Stephen King book. She had no idea where Madelyn was. The other woman had come back with their dinner orders, then disappeared to somewhere else in the house.

After finishing two modules, Gabriella’s brain was fried. She stood up, stretched, and walked into the kitchen for a glass of water. As she was filling it, Amelia walked in.

“Hey,” Amelia said, moving past her to get to the coffee.

“Hi,” Gabriella said.

“How are the modules going?”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“Um, how’s your night?”

Amelia shrugged. “Nothing exciting,” she said. “There’s a minor situation out in Palmer, but it’s not in our area so I’m mostly observing and offering support.”

“Would we ever go and help?” Gabriella asked.

“Only in a serious situation,” Amelia said. “And it depends on the region. If you need backup, the night shift crew in the next region is your best bet. They can get there faster and they’re more likely to be familiar with the area than someone from the other side of the state. Palmer has three other branches it could reach out to first. I’m just friends with the woman on site tonight, so we pass information along pretty regularly.”

“That’s cool.”

She felt like such a little kid as she said it. That’s cool? Amelia couldn’t be more than three years older than her, but she still felt like a child right now.

“Yeah, you get to know people on the job. There are different trainings at the Foundation in Boston too, so you end up working with more than just your crew.”

“Have you done any?”

“Yeah, I’ve done a bunch,” Amelia said, taking a sip of her coffee. “Not that it’ll get me anywhere with Robin.”

She said it lightly, but there was an edge in her voice that made Gabriella flinch inwardly. But she was rescued from having to say anything when Amelia continued.

“For all the Foundation’s flaws, they offer a lot of training that you really wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. So you can really specialize your team if that’s what works best for your branch.”

“Does Robin not want that?” Gabriella asked cautiously.

Amelia shrugged. “Who knows?” she said. “I just know I’ve done five conferences in five years and I’ve still never led a case in the field.”

Gabriella couldn’t tell if Amelia was looking for support here, but she wasn’t sure what to say to that. She was still new, she had no idea what the office politics of the Foundation were.

“I’m going to go back to it,” Amelia said. “Take a nap if you want to, it’s a long night.”

That sounded like a better idea than trying to tackle a third module right now. Gabriella nodded. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll do that.”

“Go anywhere but the pink bedroom. Madelyn’s sleeping in there. She’s not feeling good but she won’t admit it.”

Amelia’s face was set in a grim smile that told Gabriella not to ask any questions. So instead, she nodded again. “I’ll just stay out here,” she said.

“Sounds good. I’ll wake you up if anything comes up.”

***

The rest of the night passed like boring clockwork. The phone didn’t ring with a case once, and Gabriella spent most of the time alone in the living room area. She’d nap for half an hour, do a module, then repeat until the sun started coming up around five.

Even with the rest she’d managed to snatch, she still felt groggy and slightly nauseous at seven o’clock when the front door opened and Bradley walked in. He nodded to her as he took off his shoes and hung up his jacket.

“It’s raining,” he said instead of hello.

She glanced out the window. Between the curtains, she could see the rain coming steadily down outside. She hadn’t even noticed.

Amelia and Madelyn were coming out of the bedrooms now. Amelia followed Bradley into the kitchen and Gabriella heard the two of them talking about the night. Madelyn sat down on the couch as though she were waiting to be dismissed.

“We always do a quick check-in with the morning person,” she explained to Gabriella, who was sitting by the computer. “Obviously we leave notes too, but there has been some miscommunication in the past, so it’s easiest to just do a quick meeting.”

She was a little curious about what those miscommunications were, but wasn’t about to bring the topic up. Not when Amelia, who had been so open and friendly those first few days, had spent the evening being a polite manager to her.

A few minutes later, the other two walked out of the kitchen. “Let’s head out,” Amelia said to Madelyn. “Bradley, are you all set?”

Bradley nodded. “McManus will be in in an hour, so I have just enough time to actually get some work done.”

Amelia rolled her eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, but then just turned to get her coat. “I’m on again tonight,” she said. “Don’t make this place too miserable while I’m gone.”

Gabriella picked up her bag and started for the door. She was about to turn and say an awkward goodbye to Bradley, but he’d already gone back into the kitchen. So instead, she hurried down the stairs and slipped into her shoes, then stood awkwardly by the door.

Madelyn was slowly making her way toward the door. “Don’t wait on me,” she said to Gabriella. “Amelia’s giving me a ride home. See you later.”

Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, but too tired to over-analyze it, Gabriella followed her instructions and headed out the door.

---

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 15