Author's note: For those of you who haven't seen the pilot, "Lucinda" is the name of Lassiter's partner in that episode, and there is an established covert romantic relationship between the two detectives that Shawn "lets out of the bag" while proving that he is 'psychic'. By the second episode in the series, she's been transferred elsewhere, and Juliet O'Hara has taken her place as Lassiter's partner, but not as his romantic interest.
The Partner"So, what do you think of 'the psychic'?" asked Lucinda casually as she stared at the dingy storefront through her high-powered binoculars. Stakeouts were frequently boring, and this one was going on sixteen hours with no sign of any of the suspects. At this point she would discuss anything, even Shawn Spencer, to break the tedium.
"I try not to," replied her dour partner, snapping his gum.
"He did solve the McCallum kidnapping." She lowered her binoculars and glanced at her dark-haired companion, whose steel-blue eyes were flicking sharply up and down the street, alert for any suspicious activity.
"Luck," he finally spat after careful consideration. "Did you see how surprised he was to find them dead?" Carlton's eyes rolled heavenward, then he returned his own binoculars to his face.
"But still…"
The head detective yanked down his binoculars and stared at his partner incredulously, head tilting slightly to the side. "You aren't suggesting calling him in on this case?"
The blonde shrugged nonchalantly. "Why not? What could it hurt?"
"You should be asking 'Who could it hurt?'" responded Lassiter testily. "These drug dealers killed a man last week. This is no place for an unarmed civilian to be running around with his dog-and-pony show."
"So arm him," suggested Lucinda reasonably, reaching for the water bottle beside her and taking a swig. 'Ugh, warm.'
Carlton was actually speechless, jaw hanging open in surprise. After a long moment he closed it with a snap, then shook his head. "Excuse me?" he finally forced through clenched teeth. "I don't think I heard you properly."
Lucinda allowed herself a small, surreptitious smile while pretending not to notice his expression; Carlton's reactions were one of the reasons she loved being with him, both on and off duty. "Did I stutter?"
His eyebrows climbed to his hairline as he slammed his binoculars against his thigh. "Are you insane? Why on earth would I give a gun to that hyperactive, infantile buffoon?!? He'd shoot himself in the foot! Worse still, given my luck lately, he'd shoot me in the foot!"
Lucinda smirked, focussing on the storefront once more; it was becoming difficult to see in the waning light. "Actually, I was down at the shooting range with him last week; he's pretty good."
Carlton snorted in disbelief, still surveying the street. "Really. What, he can hit the target one out of six tries?"
"Actually, he used my target, then proceeded to match every single bullet hole I'd put in it."
Lassiter shot her a look that screamed 'and what were you smoking that day?', but she again pretended not to notice. His eyes lit up in comprehension, and he replied, "You mean he missed the target altogether, then claimed to have shot through each of your holes. Really, why you believe his nonsense…"
Lucinda shook her head. "No, I mean there was a second hole overlapping each of mine, forming a kind of…figure eight. Took him less than thirty seconds, too."
Lassiter's disbelieving "Harumph" suddenly faded into background noise as she spotted one of the suspects strolling down the sidewalk, headed for the drop.
"Carlton, it's Jensen!" she hissed.
Lassiter snapped forward, peering intently across the street. "Where?" he asked, previous conversation a distant memory.
TBC…