Sheriff wasn't a huge step down from where he was but it was cool. Now, he was going to be play boss for the people in his office.

     Smiling lightly at the people who smiled at him, Andres managed to make it to his office, which he probably wouldn't have found if not for some man that rushed to him.

"We've got big problem boss. We weren't able to get a confession from the culprit before his lawyer showed up." The man said as he led Andres to his office.

Andres kept a grim face and tried to look interested as he unlocked his office door and let the man enter before him.

The man didn't even let Andres get to his seat and bring out the information paper before he continued talking again. "Barnes' working on him and his lawyer now. They've got to give us our man's DNA or this case's just gonna drag."

     Remaining silent, Andres brought out the information paper from his suit's inner pocket and glanced through the faces on the paper. Grinning when he finally saw him, he looked up at the dark skinned man before him. He was particularly buff, wore his suit like a man with authority.

"Joshua, calm your shit. I'm sure Barnes can work them out." Andres didn't know if his character normally cursed but, they didn't exactly tell him how his character was supposed to act. They only told him to blend in. And to Andres, blending in was being him.

Joshua threw his hands on his waist and frowned at him. "Boss, this isn't a joke. This case has been on for two weeks and our victim feels like justice isn't served."

That made Andres frown. Two weeks? Andres had read the files once and could already guess who the culprit was. This was a regular sexual assault case.

     Shoving the information paper back into his pocket, he stood up as he said, "Great. You got me standing. Take me to him."

Joshua sighed in relief before leading Andres to the man Andres suspected was the culprit.

     David Marrow sat upright the second Andres came in. He looked just like the pictures in his folder. Long brown hair that fell down his shoulder but didn't quite match his full beard. He wore white singlet with a leather jacket which covered the colorful tattoos that spread across his chest and disappeared under the jacket. David had that rock and punk look and Andres wanted to bet the dude had at least meth in him.

Sadly, that wasn't why David was there.

    David's lawyer sat up the second he saw Andres who waved over at Barnes, the second officer working the case. Barnes stood up and they met at the door. Running a hand through his hair, he looked at Barnes. "Give me a run-down of what's been said."

"Nothing actually." He replied quickly with a sigh. "His lawyer is a tough man to crack and wouldn't let the kid talk."

Andres nodded, then gave Barnes a pat on the back. "You go out. I'll take it from here."

Barnes frowned, glancing between Andres and James who just stood there quietly. Andres had a feeling James suspected the same guy and he almost contemplated sending him out instead before James started judging them with his emotions. But Andres didn't know him so he wanted to use this chance to do so.

"Okay." Barnes nodded then left the room without another word.

    Closing the door behind him, Andres went up to the lawyer while James sat behind the desk on the opposite side staring at both of them like he would rather have their heads than be there, listening to them lie.

"You are in charge here, right?" The old man stood up to shake Andres's hand. "I'm Thomas Lonza, David Marrow's lawyer."

"I'm Andres Maximiliano. Sheriff." He nodded at the man then went to sit beside James.

    The room was relatively small but Andres tried not to think about it as he stared at David who just fidgeted in his seat. James pushed the kid's files in front of Andres who leaned forward to look at it. He already knew the 101 on the case but he felt like busying himself as he said, "So Mr. Lonza, my officers tell me David here committed a crime and failed to admit it. In fact, he evaded arrest and went into hiding until a small shop caught him on camera."

"My client did no such thing." Mr. Lonza's brows furrowed in annoyance but Andres didn't miss the quick glance he gave David who shrunk back in his seat.

     Looking away from the Lawyer, he closed the files and said, "David, do you know what you are facing if we managed to find out that you did sexually abuse that girl?"

"No." His voice came out small. He was definitely frightened, he even looked it. His eyes were constantly shifting and he kept folding and unfolding his arms.

"You'll be charged for sexual assault, resisting arrest and assaulting an officer." James answered before Andres even got the chance.

Mr. Lonza gaped at David like he didn't know the kid. "You assaulted an officer?"

"Even if he did come out negative, he'll still be charged for resisting arrest and assault." James continued and Andres frowned at him. He wasn't informed of the assault.

David glanced between the three of them. He exhaled sharply as he ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean to-"

"Let's save any more discussion for the court." Mr. Lonza said with a finality in his voice that annoyed Andres a bit.

He looked back at David and said, "See kid, I can cut you a deal. Admit you abused the girl and we'll leave off assault and resisting arrest from our statement."

"We'll go to court, David." Mr. Lonza said when he saw David lean back on the seat. "They can't win when they don't have solid proof."

James scoffed. "If the prosecutor tells the judge you refused a DNA test, it's going to look bad. If the judge asks for the DNA and it is a match-"

"That is enough. We will be leaving now." Mr. Lonza didn't even let James finish before he stood up from his seat and took his coat from where he hung it on the chair. He wore it then turned to David. "Come on kid. Let's go."

   He started to leave but David made no move to leave. He looked up at Andres pleadingly and said, "I'll take the offer."

"David!"

"I'll take it. I don't know what made me do that but I'll take whatever that comes at me."

   Smiling, Andres patted James' shoulder to give him the go ahead to take the boy's statement. He didn't forget to smile at the lawyer who just cursed and walked out of the interrogation room angrily.

"All you have to do is plead a good case in court and you might just spend lesser years in prison." Andres nodded at David before walking out of the interrogation room.

Andres tried to make it to his office without anyone hot on his tails when Barnes caught up to him, making him release a deep breath. He stopped on the spot and turned to Barnes who had already started talking even when Andres wasn't hearing a word he was saying. 

Gesturing for him to stop, Barnes did instantly and Andres smiled at how goofy he could be. "Start over."

"Oh uh, I just wanted to say you did well in the interrogation room. I've always been bad at cutting deals." He smiled, showing off his dimples.

"You'll learn. It's all about presenting it at the right time." He turned to leave when a thought crossed his mind. He smiled back at Barnes and added, "Assault. I didn't see that in his file."

"James decided not to add since the kid already had too much on his plate. Plus, the officer he assaulted was actually pretty stupid." He rolled his eyes and scoffed at the end.

"Okay. If you need me, I'll be in my office." He nodded at the man before making a quick dash into his office.

    Locking the door behind him, Andres decided to do what he really came to work for. Since the computers in his home blocked out any search for where they were, he had a strong feeling it wouldn't be the same here. Rubbing his hands together, he pushed the folders on his table to the side and got busy. Two minutes in and he was very surprised to see he was no longer in Bogotá. He was in fact in-

"San Francis- California?" Andres practically yelled. He wasn't in his bloody country anymore. He was in a completely different continent to start with. How did they get him here? He couldn't remember being on a plane at all.

     Reaching for his phone, he quickly called Vlad to tell him the news. Andres had been this calm only because of Vlad. Andres didn't know how he did it but he said the dumbest things to make him relax. Too bad anytime Andres brought up the topic of money was the only time Vlad looked for the stupidest excuse to evade it. And his excuse this morning was going for a jog. In the cold.

"Allo, 'unny bun." Vlad's voice came up and Andres quickly kept it on speaker.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Andres frowned as he got busy, seeing if he could track the plane he had been on.

"You know I won't." Vlad laughed then added, "So you called, why?"

"I found what state and country we are in."

"Da. Check for that I wanted to, but internet cables broke down. It needs fixing and fixing means money. Money means I kiss you and zat I do not want to do."

Shrugging, Andres continued, "Doesn't matter. We'll just be poor and by the end of the month, continue being poor because you refuse to kiss me."

Vlad groaned and he probably cursed in whatever language he spoke. "Zis is not fair. And person acting all cool about it was me."

Leaning back on his seat when he still saw nothing, he said, "It's just one kiss, Vlad."

"One kiss? 'unny bun, one kiss can do lot. Maybe not you but me, Andres, I do not joke with kisses."

Andres laughed at that. "So, you are trying to tell me you haven't kissed a man before?"

"Is zis something I am supposed to have done?"

Andres could hear a wrapper in the background then when Vlad's voice came back low. He could guessed he was eating something from it. "No, but I've got a bisexual cousin. He introduced me to a friend that kissed me once. It wasn't so bad."

"Bad was never problem. It is what happens when I like it. I have always believed sexuality was fluid so I try not to get involved with guys."

"Now that you put it that way..."

"We are where again? It seems like I interrupted you."

"San Francisco. We are in California."

"Cali...? California? How did... How did I get here?"

"I can't even remember getting on a plane. This is just fucked up."

"Tell me about it." Vlad sighed. "I am going to go out for drinks later. Will you be free?"

"No. Will be home late. I've got work."

"Car zen," He said. "I will come and take it zen pick up kid."

"Will you come pick me up by nine pm later? We could then go for gas because I doubt it's going to last after today."

"Okay. Be ready by zen or I will drag you out by your feet." He said in a tone that had Andres smiling. "Oh, great! My show is back on. Bye, 'unny bun." Then he quickly hung up.

     Leaning back on his seat to run a hand through his hair, Andres couldn't help but smile. He honestly didn't know what to do. He could just take the car right now and leave but what would happen to Vlad? What would happen to him? Even though he might not have any relationship to the Russian, they had indeed woken up in each other's arms and Vlad was the one helping him to adjust to all of this. Even when he told Vlad they weren't in Russia, he was a bit surprised to see how he brushed off the topic with drinks.

Andres honestly couldn't wait for the month to be over. He planned to play his part well so he could go back to taking care of his baby cousin and worrying about work.

But first, he had to kiss Vlad. For some crazy reason, he couldn't wait to do it.