Callie was escorted into Captain Lee’s office. He closed the door behind them. Callie edged into a vacant chair as the captain perched on the edge of his desk. His face was stern and, at the moment, Callie felt sorry for him.

She said nothing as she waited for him to speak.

"Ms. Martin," he started to say as he began to roll his mustache between his fingers. "I want to apologize for Mr. Lane’s rude behavior."

Callie shrugged, straightening in her chair while holding her briefcase firmly in her hands. It was like a lifeline to her. "There’s no need to apologize. I can handle Mr. Lane. I believe I will give him a run for his money."

The captain wasn’t sure what to say. He studied Callie for a long time while the silence between them remained strained. He tried to figure her out. The only few contacts he’d had with the woman was during the telephone interviews he had conducted.

He’d been so impressed with the woman that he had hired her before ever realizing what he was doing.

He didn’t think he’d made a mistake. That much was certain. But looking at the woman now made him wonder what had brought her to a place like Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to begin with.

"Ms. Martin," he began again. "Can I offer you some coffee? I’d like to talk to you a while, if I might."

Callie accepted the coffee and found it refreshing. She always liked her coffee strong and black. It gave her an edge. She needed that right now.

The Captain took a seat behind his desk. The desk, itself, was littered with mounds of paper work, a few crumbs from a half eaten donut that was still sitting on a platter at the corner of his desk.

The walls were covered with certificates and diplomas. Shelves were piled high with thick binders. There were no personal affects any where in the room. There were no pictures of family or friends. It seemed a solitary room. The captain seemed like a solitary man.

The silence between the two of them was stifling and Callie wished that the captain would hurry up and say something. Anything to put her mind at ease.

Finally Captain Lee relaxed. The firm lines in his face seemed to lessen. His eyes softened and the hint of a slight smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.

Callie wanted to smile at him, but she refrained from it.

"What is Pleasant Town, Wyoming like, Ms. Martin?"

Callie didn’t have to think to hard to answer that question. She grinned then, her face showing pride. "Pleasant Town was a wonderful place for young children. The people there are nice. They treat you like family."

The captain listened avidly. Gravely he said, "You understand Ft. Lauderdale isn’t anything like Wyoming, don’t you?"

Callie answered the best way that she knew how. Truthfully. "Yes sir, I understand. If you are worried about Mr. Lane . . ."

The captain cut her off before she could finish. "Why did you come here, Ms. Martin? Why Florida? Why pack your bags and leave a nice city like Pleasant Town and come to a place like Florida?"

Callie felt the panic rising in her. She was fired before she’d even been given the chance to succeed. She didn’t like that one darn bit.

"Captain," she stated, "I left Pleasant Town for personal reasons. I needed to get away from it for a while. I was hoping to start a new life for myself. Is there something wrong with that?"

The captain didn’t speak right away. Instead he pondered her question. It was a fair one. And he had to admit there was nothing wrong with that. He just wondered if she was up to the challenge.

"I hired you for your credentials. I am certain without a doubt that you can do this job. I just want you to know that you will be running into more obstacles than you’ll know what to do with. Is that understood?"

"Clearly," Callie responded. "Now I have a question for you, Captain."

Captain Lee sat back and waited.

"With Florida’s crime rate the way it is, why are you just now developing a Juvenile Detention Center? Hasn’t there always been a need for it?"

Captain Lee found the question fascinating and challenging. He leaned forward crossing his arms in front of him. For a brief moment, Callie had thought she’d seen something flash in his eyes, but it was quickly gone.

"Only recently has Juvenile crimes become a larger scale problem in Florida. We need to tackle the issue now before its rampant."

Callie thought this over. "Why do you think there’s such an sudden increase in Juvenile crimes?"

Captain Lee was more impressed by the minute. Callie started jotting down notes.

"Families aren’t like they are in Pleasant Town where everyone sits down at the dinner table at the same time. Here parents work and they work hard. They don’t have a lot of time to devote to their children."

"Then why have them?" Callie asked.

The captain was silent. He didn’t speak. Instead he seemed to concentrate on what Callie had said. He had wondered the same thing a hundred times lately. It took a long time for him to finally find his voice. Callie was just about to prompt him into speaking when Captain Lee began to speak on his own.

"I’m not sure why some people choose to have children. But our children should not be left to fall through the cracks. We need to help them, if it is at all possible."

Callie thought the captain was speaking from experience. She wanted to question him further, but she let it go. She rose from her chair, holding her briefcase in one hand and holding the other out for a handshake.

"Captain, it has been my pleasure. I assure you that every adolescent that I come in contact with will be given the best opportunity to turn his life around."

As soon as Callie had vacated his office and closed the door behind her, he opened his lower drawer and removed a framed picture. He stared at the young boy with brown hair and braces. He’d seemed so young and innocent when the picture was taken just two years ago. His nephew had been twelve in the picture. He’d been laughing about something his mom had said. But his innocence had vanished. The captain’s sister had failed to mention that her son was having trouble. She had thought she could handle everything on her own. It had been a shameful experience for her to know that the nephew of the captain of the police force had fallen prey to drugs.

So she had kept it a secret. Had she not, Captain Lee felt his nephew will still be a live today.

Instead they had buried him just a few months ago. The pain and suffering was still so new to him. He didn’t think he’d ever get over it. But some how he was. It was a slow process. Each day was getting easier. But Captain Lee was determined to get this new program under way before another kid lost his life.

Callie retreated to her desk. She wasn’t sure which one was hers, so she just picked the most likely one.

She made a list of supplies that she would need to order. As she worked and made notes, her mind kept wandering to Captain Lee. She wondered what had troubled him during their conversation. He had tried to cover it well, but had not completely succeeded. She could see fresh pain and suffering in his eyes. She was good at reading people and the captain was no different. She just had to handle things very carefully where he was concerned.

After an hour of thinking of Captain Lee, Callie’s mind shifted to think about Rus Lane. He’d stormed off in a rush of heated fury. She wondered what he was doing at the moment and if he’d be back before the day was over.

The captain hadn’t seemed to overly concerned about it. But Callie was. Rus had issues that needed to be resolved. Maybe she wasn’t the person to get involved in his personal life. But somebody had to.

After another forty-five minutes of thinking about Rus, Callie decided to go to her car and unload a few of the boxes from her trunk that she had brought with her. Just as she was getting up to leave, Rus arrived.

A sheen of perspiration beamed across his forehead. His hair was mussed and he seemed no less agitated then when he had left earlier in the day. His eyes lifted a fraction and he glared at Callie. He said nothing, but the look he gave her spoke volumes. She swallowed hard.

Without as much as a spoken word, Rus sat down at his desk, opening several drawers, leafing through them, then closing them without extracting anything from their contents. He rummaged around on his desk as if searching for something of importance. Callie watched wordlessly.

She noted that Rus was handsome. He was maybe two years older than her thirty-seven years. He had dark hair that on the most part was slicked back, but it had a wayward curl at the ends. His arms were strong and muscular, dark with a Florida tan, and sprinkled with golden hair.

Callie had to look away quickly, but it was not before Rus had caught her staring. She immediately felt awkward. A blush stole over her and she turned away before Rus could get a glimpse of it. She left her desk feeling Rus’s eyes on the back of her neck. This was going to be one tough assignment. She smiled on her way to the car.