by Rusty Ellis
“Was Officer Ford in the military?” Ransom asked across the table to Gonzalez and Hatch.
They began shuffling papers and files until Hatch came up with Ford’s duty file. Flipping it open he scanned through her original application to the force and tapped a spot on the page with his forefinger.
“Nope, the box is empty,” Hatch replied.
Ransom slid the gym membership packet for the Ford’s in front of Leesa and pointed out the checked military box.
“Why would that be checked, unless the person taking the application was just throwing her a discount to get her to sign up?” Leesa responded.
She flipped through the pages and looked at the end of the document to find out who signed up the Fords.
Leesa read the salesman’s name on the last page of the application out loud, “Trevor Lancaster.”
Knowing where this was headed, Ransom flipped through the Jones’ application packet to the last page and read out loud, “Trevor Lancaster.”
“Coincidence?” Gonzalez broke the silence.
“Yeah, right, coincidence,” Ransom repeated. “Looks like we need to have a chat with Trevor Lancaster.”
Leesa picked up her phone and pulled Corey’s card from her bag. Locating his cell number, she tapped the number out on her phone screen. The phone rang twice before a voice on the other end picked up.
“This is Corey.”
“Corey, this is Detective Gardner. Do you have a Trevor Lancaster working there?”
“Yes, but he’s already off for the day. He should be in tomorrow morning at eight though. Is there something I can help you with?”
Leesa looked at Ransom and answered, “No, we’ll get in touch with him. Do you have a number for him?”
Corey took a minute to find Trevor’s number in his phone and read it to her.
“Thanks. Don’t worry about telling him we called. He’s not in any trouble, we just have a few questions for him, okay?”
“Sure. I’m working tomorrow so I’ll see you when you get here. You can ask for me and then I’ll get Trevor,” he answered in the same cheerful voice from earlier in the day.
“Thanks, see you then,” Leesa hung up the phone.
“Think he’ll talk to him?” Hatch asked the obvious.
Leesa shrugged, “Fifty-fifty.”
21
Ransom headed home, both his head and knee hurt. He took a few pills for both, but neither had kicked in yet. Maddie still wasn’t home from work and Ransom was on his own for dinner. With the fridge wide open, Ransom leaned on the door and perused his options. Sliding an older container of leftover spaghetti to the side, his phone chirped at him.
Picking up the phone he smiled when he saw the text on the screen.
“Teresa: I know you’re hungry. I know I’m hungry. I know we need pizza. Respond. – T”
Her timing was impeccable. A pizza sounded better than heating up a container of aged food probably safer too.
Texting back he wrote, “Ransom: You drive. I’ll be waiting out front.”
Ten minutes later Teresa pulled up in her small, two-door BMW. The red car seemed to be an outward expression of her favorite shade of lipstick. She looked good in it. She rolled down her window and pushed her sunglasses up just enough for Ransom to see her eyes.
“Need a lift?” she smiled and hit the unlock button on the door.
“I don’t know, is this thing safe?” Ransom leaned back and looked over the little red rocket.
Teresa paused and cracked a Hollywood grin, “Me or the car?”
Ransom was unable to hold in the grin, “I’m still deciding.”
He worked his way around the car and lowered himself into the smaller seat of the sportster.
After buckling, Teresa asked, “Ready?”
“Almost,” he reached for the stereo buttons and found a country station, “now I’m ready.”
Teresa put the car into gear and stomped on the accelerator, forcing Ransom’s head into the headrest. Ransom grabbed the door handle with one hand and the front of his seat with the other. Teresa had a way of pulling you out of your comfort zone.
A speedy drive downtown, including a couple exciting curves, Teresa pulled into a parking spot in front of a little pizzeria.
“Does this work?” she asked.
“I haven’t been to Tony’s in a long time, I’m sure it hasn’t changed though. Great deep dish pizza. I used to bring Maddie here a few years back.”
Ransom struggled a little pulling himself out of the lowered vehicle one reason he loved his taller truck so much. Before he could make his way around to Teresa’s door, she popped it open and met him at the front of the car. She walked around to his right side and took his elbow as the two walked to the front doors of the restaurant. Having Teresa on his arm felt, well, comfortable. Feeling her hand on his elbow and forearm gave him a little bolt of boyish joy he hadn’t felt in some time.
Pulling open the door, Teresa walked in and chose a table. She waited patiently for Ransom to choose his spot. Her father had been a police officer and he had always been particular about what his back faced in restaurants. Ransom chose his spot and then stepped over to offer a seat to Teresa. She thanked him and he slid down onto his seat, facing the front entrance to the establishment.
A voice from the back kitchen boomed in their direction, “Ransom!”
Startled by the unexpected noise, Ransom and Teresa both snapped their attention to a boisterous man walking toward their table.
Ransom began to stand, but was stopped by a strong hand on his shoulder, “Ransom my friend, I haven’t seen you in forever! Where have you been? And where’s Maddie?” he rattled off the questions without waiting for an answer.
Teresa looked up and smiled at his entrance, not to mention he had pinned down Ransom in his chair, which was no easy feat.
“Hey Tony, it has been a long time. How have you been?” Ransom attempted to hurry and get in a response before Tony caught his breath.
Tony held up his hands and counted his fingers, “Three, maybe four years. Too long my friend, too long.”
“It has been,” Ransom agreed looking toward Teresa. “This is my friend Teresa, Teresa this is the famous Tony.”
Tony and Teresa laughed. Tony reached for Teresa’s outstretched hand and took her hand into both of his.
“Very nice to meet you. So glad you came in today,” Tony turned back to Ransom, still holding Teresa’s hand, “Should I make you the regular, Ransom? Extra sausage and black olives?”
Ransom looked at Teresa and she nodded in anxious agreement.
“Better just bring us a medium. I know how you make those and we’ll need a wheelbarrow if we order anything bigger,” Ransom laughed.
“You got it,” Tony answered and turned to the kitchen and yelled, “one Tony Special with extra sausage and black olives!” Looking back at the couple, he asked, “Something to drink?”
“A diet soda.”
“Water for me, with a lemon,” Ransom followed up.
“You got it. A diet and water,” Tony lifted his pinkie finger in the air and finished, “with a lemon.”
Tony patted Ransom on the shoulder and headed toward the kitchen, yelling directions the entire way.
“So you and Maddie came here a lot?” Teresa asked after Tony was gone.
“Yeah, this was sort of our triage spot just after me and her mother divorced. It provided a little familiarity and routine in my daughter’s life after we turned it upside down on her.” The two sat quiet for a moment and Ransom kicked in, “It helped me get grounded as well at the time.”
Tony sped by the table and dropped two large glasses in front of them and pulled two paper wrapped straws from his apron before hurrying to greet another set of customers at the door.
Teresa began peeling back the paper off her straw, “So, what happened?”
Ransom reached for the lemon on the rim of the glass and gave it a good squeeze into his water. Unwrapping his
straw, he pushed the lemon to the bottom of the glass and started mashing it lightly to release the pulp and juice into his cup.
Looking up, he met Teresa’s gaze, “It’s painfully cliché I’m afraid. Man meets girl. Man marries girl. Man and girl have baby. Man spends way too much time at job building his career. Man and girl drift apart.”
Ransom shrugged and went back to his focus on the lemon in the bottom of his cup. Teresa kept silent, letting him set the pace and share what he felt safe sharing.
Without looking up, he continued, “I wasn’t there for her or Maddie in the beginning. By the time I figured out what was important, the damage was done and Brenda had mentally checked out on us. With Maddie caught in the middle.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
Ransom shrugged and looked up, “What about you? Daughter of a cop. How did he handle the job?”
Teresa furrowed her eyebrows at Ransom’s questions, “How did you know my father was a cop?”
Ransom gave a wry grin, “It’s my job to know, Ms. Daniels.”
Teresa pulled an ice cube from the top of her glass and flicked it at him. Ransom closed his eyes and let the ice cube bounce off his chest and onto the floor.
“Well?” he pressed.
“I don’t know, they just made it work. I remember him going to all of me and my brother’s events and activities. I don’t know how he did it. Sometimes he would show up in uniform last minute and we would see him for just part of a game or something, but he made sure we saw him there.”
“I bet his partners loved that,” Ransom grinned at the thought.
“Actually, sounds corny, but he encouraged his partners to do the same and they would go back and forth if his partners had kids,” Teresa responded and blushed. “It does sound a little Pollyanna, I know.”
“I could have used a little Pollyanna in my life…” Ransom let his comment drift off.
Before Teresa could push the conversation any further, Tony abruptly appeared with a hot pizza and plates in his hands. Setting the plates and pizza on the table he rushed off with an“Enjoy!”
Ransom and Teresa retreated to small talk over the flavor of the pizza. The medium was more than enough. Tony had obviously weighed down the pizza to welcome his friend back. Teresa talked Ransom into taking the last two slices home to Maddie. A quick farewell to Tony at the door, along with promises to bring Maddie in, and the couple returned to Teresa’s little red speedster.
Ransom wrestled to get his right leg inside the tiny vehicle and did his best to feign no pain in the process. Teresa patiently waited until third gear to change the radio station back to her 80s station, and to turn it up a couple notches.
“Crazy teenager,” Ransom responded.
Teresa let out a “Ha!” and turned it up one more notch for spite.
* * *
Pulling in front of Ransom’s house, Teresa finally relinquished and turned down the music to a low hum. She turned off the key and left the music playing.
Turning to Ransom, she started to speak but he cut her off, “So what happened with you?”
Teresa raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question.
Ransom clarified by pointing at her ring finger, “What happened?”
“You know, girl meets man. Girl gets job as reporter. Man wants kids, but girl wants career. They call it quits. Girl meets another guy. They stay married about a year and a half when they determine that being friends is better than pretending to be happily married.”
“I thought that being friends was a good thing?” Ransom shook his head.
“He was ‘friends’ with too many people,” she punctuated the word ‘friends’ with air-quotes and shrugged.
Ransom decided not to push. She obviously wasn’t wanting to divulge more, hiding behind her vague explanation.
Teresa broke the silence, “I had a great time. Not just tonight, but yesterday too.”
It dawned on Ransom that they had now been on two dates together. The thought caused a grin to unknowingly emerge on Ransom’s face.
Seeing the grin, Teresa asked, “What? What’s the grin about?”
Ransom shook his head, “Nothing.”
“Come on, tell!” she demanded.
“Maddie’s going to pepper me with questions about our two dates,” he responded.
“Is that what these were? Dates?”
Suddenly confused and a little embarrassed at his boyish assumption, Ransom stuttered, “Uh, they were dates, weren’t they?”
Teresa gave him a stern look before breaking into a laugh. The relief flushed across Ransom’s face. The seasoned detective outplayed by the beautiful reporter.
“Yes, detective, they could be classified as dates,” she mused, taking advantage of his embarrassment.
Pulling himself together he muttered, “I thought so.”
They both laughed at the slight jab of high school level awkwardness. Catching their breath, Ransom and Teresa’s eyes met. Teresa blinked deeply and smiled at Ransom’s prolonged gaze. Oddly, Ransom felt warmly trapped in the comfort of her stare. A trickle of energy pushed through his chest and forced the corner of his mouth into a wry grin.
The silence hung in the air, both content to just let the moment be. Teresa reached over and placed her hand on top of Ransom’s forearm which was resting on the center arm rest. Her touch caused a shock of goosebumps to run down his arm. Noticing the reaction, Teresa looked down to catch a glimpse of the results.
“Teresa,” Ransom began.
She looked back up to his face, only to be cut off by his cellphone in his shirt pocket. Instinctively, he reached in and retrieved the chirping device, answering it before realizing what he’d done. Teresa looked a little disappointed at his response and he mouthed “sorry” to her.
“Hey, Leesa.” Ransom listened for a few seconds before saying, “Give me a second.”
Ransom lowered the phone, “I gotta take this. I had a great time.”
Ransom reached for the door handle, trying to juggle the pizza box, his cane, and the phone. Teresa reached once more for his forearm and pulled him toward the center console. Stretching across the arm rest, she kissed him gently on the mouth. Ransom stopped juggling the items in his hands and turned to look at Teresa as she leaned back into her seat.
A shot of confidence crossed her face, “Someone had to do it.”
Ransom smiled, a little thrown by her brazen kiss and comment. That was part of the package, her confidence pushed her beauty up a notch. He liked the sassiness. It was part of her draw.
Noticing he hadn’t moved or looked away, he commented, “Yes, someone did.”
Opening the door, he rearranged the items in his hands and pushed up from the seat to a standing position outside the car.
“Talk to you tomorrow,” Ransom offered and closed the door.
Teresa smiled back and started her car. Turning up the music she zipped away from the curb and down the street.
* * *
Sitting two houses down in an older model Yukon, the man watched the little red BMW pull up in front of the single-story home. With his seat laid-back, he peered through the top portion of the steering wheel and watched the couple in the car. Holding still, he made sure to avoid attracting any attention. His SUV blending in with the other vehicles parked up and down the quiet street.
He watched as the passenger door opened and former Detective Walsh pulled himself from the vehicle, a pizza box and cane in his left hand and a cellphone in his right. Walsh said something to the woman inside the car and then shut the door. The car sped off and Walsh stood momentarily staring at its departure. Walsh turned toward the home and put the phone up to his ear. Limping up the driveway, Walsh made his way to the front door and disappeared into the home.
His home.
* * *
Leesa caught Ransom up on what CSI had discovered about the paint on the vehicle in the Ford’s garage. The paint was common with older GMC vehicles. She noted the Fords didn’t own a G
MC vehicle.
“Can we get an early start tomorrow and hit the gym again for the interview?”
“Yeah,” Ransom responded, “what time?”
“How about we get there at just before eight to be safe?” she asked.
“Sounds good to me. Pick me up at seven-thirty.”
“And Ransom,” Leesa kept him on the phone.
“Yeah?”
“Who were you talking to when I called? Sounded like a woman,” Leesa assumed detective mode.
“Uh, that was Maddie,” he tried to derail her questioning.
Leesa gave a bursting laugh, “Yeah, right. See you tomorrow morning.”
Ransom hung up quickly to assure the questions stopped. Putting the pizza box in the fridge, he wrote a quick note and taped it to Maddie’s door to let her know about the pizza when she got home.
Ransom decided to climb into bed and watch a little television before calling it a night. His leg needed the rest and elevation. Tomorrow was going to be a long day and he knew his leg would pay for it. Changing into a set of Superman pajama bottoms Maddie had bought him for a past Father’s Day, he hung his cane on the footboard and propped up a couple pillows for his head and one for his leg. Flipping on the television, he found a rerun of the World Series of Poker. The irony of gambling was that he didn’t gamble, at least downtown at the casinos. The last thing you want to do living in Vegas, is to get caught up in Vegas. Leave it to the visitors. He enjoyed watching poker on TV though, something about the mental game of cat and mouse the professionals played.
Letting his mind drift, he couldn’t concentrate on the game, instead replaying the night with Teresa. He enjoyed her company. He enjoyed their banter. He enjoyed how easy she was on the eyes. He enjoyed her confidence and was surprised her forwardness didn’t put him off. Usually, that type of personality came off to him as unattractive. Not with Teresa. Their spark seemed to mesh and it was both exhilarating and a little scary at the same time.