by Jamie Hill
Nate chuckled. "Get back to work." He disconnected the call and headed to the candy store.
* * * *
He washed a load of clothes and straightened up the house before she returned. With a dozen red roses in a vase on the table and a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge, he hoped it would be a special night. He'd wrapped the few small gifts he'd purchased for her, along with some sexy lingerie and a diamond pendant. Nate changed into jeans and a button down shirt and was waiting for Mel at the front door.
"Jeans! I like!" Mel kissed him and at the same time, her hands roamed down and squeezed his butt.
"Ah, ah, ah … none of that." He backed up. "You promised me dinner first. No booty calls."
She laughed. "Damn, you figured me out." Peering over his shoulder into the dining room, she exclaimed, "Roses!"
"Not right now." Nate ushered her to the bedroom. "Get changed and we'll go. Your presents are for later, when it's just you and me."
Mel pouted but her eyes sparkled. She told him about her afternoon as she pulled on jeans, and kept talking on the drive to Morgan's. "Collecting the evidence at Webb's house took all damned day. I never even saw it. Stone said there was some kind of commotion with the neighbor's dog getting loose, and it was kind of a mess. But it's over now."
"Yeah, it's over." Nate smiled and squeezed her hand. "And we have the rest of the night ahead of us."
She grinned and squeezed back.
They continued holding hands as they walked into Morgan's. The place was crowded but Nate spotted their team front and center of the bar talking with Cappie. As they made their way in, the crowd began clapping and the action reverberated through the bar like a wave at a football game.
Mel's face flushed and she whispered to him, "I can't believe this."
"You deserve it," he replied. "Enjoy the accolades. They're few and far between in this line of work."
Stone and Marshall spread apart and made a space for them at the bar. "How embarrassing!" Mel said as they got there.
"Embarrassing? No way!" Cappie reached across and squeezed her shoulders. "You two brought down the worst serial killer this town has seen since BTK. The story hasn't hit the press yet. Once it does, your faces will be all over the news."
Her eyes widened. "God, no!"
Nate chuckled. "I'll be gone by then. It'll just be you, cutie."
"We all worked together." She motioned to the team. "Everyone played a part."
"You can tell them that. The team did a great job. Each person played an integral role in bringing down Webb."
"We want to hear about it." Cappie set two beers in front of them.
A uniformed officer passed Mel and patted her shoulder. "Nice work."
She turned around but he'd kept walking. "Uh, thanks."
Cappie laughed. "Customers have been talking about nothing else since the story broke. Kept asking me for details but of course I was the last to know."
"Sorry." Mel winced. "It's been a busy day."
"I know." Her father beamed. "But you guys are real heroes. I need details so I can repeat the story and be a big shot when you're not here."
Everyone chuckled and sipped their beers.
Marshall pointed to the hand Nate had wrapped protectively around Mel's waist. "And we need details about this, too. How long has it been going on?"
"Is it serious?" Becker piped up.
Stone wagged a finger at Mel. "I told you something was up." He turned to the others. "He called her 'Mel' all day. Everyone else calls her 'Curtis'."
"Or something worse," Marshall teased.
"Yeah." Cappie's eyes narrowed. "I want to know about this too. What are your intentions toward my daughter, young man?"
Nate took a long draw of his beer. For an instant he thought about asking you mean for tonight, or more long term? but figured that wouldn't endear him to the older man.
He started to reply when Stone muttered, "Uh oh."
Everyone turned to see what he was looking at. Nate saw two suited men and a uniformed officer making their way over. "What?" More well-wishers?
"Internal affairs," Marshall answered.
"IA Brass," Cappie corrected. "Wonder what they're doing here?"
"Doesn't look like they're here offering congrats," Stone mused.
They stopped in front of Mel. "Detective Curtis? I'm Sergeant Bill Graves with IA, and this is Sergeant Tom Winkie."
She looked at Winkie. "We've met."
He nodded but remained silent.
Graves added, "You'll need to come down to the station with us."
"Excuse me?" She blinked.
"We're celebrating here, boys," Cappie said. "She just closed the slasher case. Everyone's pretty excited about it."
Graves eyed him steadily. "That case has not been closed. It's very much open. Right now we're investigating allegations of evidence tampering, and we need to speak with Detective Curtis."
"Evidence tampering?" Mel appeared dumbfounded. "I haven't even seen the evidence yet. When I left work we were still waiting for it to arrive."
"Which it never did. All the purported evidence in the Webb case has disappeared."
"What the hell?" Nate snapped.
Murmurs of disbelief ran through the team.
Graves' gaze moved from Nate to Mel. "We're not going to discuss this any further here. You can either come with us peacefully down to the office, or Officer Gentry here can cuff you. Which would you prefer?"
Mel's face reddened. "This is absurd but I have nothing to hide. I'll go with you, and no I don't need cuffs."
The man held out his hand. "Weapon?"
She scowled but removed her Glock and handed it over.
"Is that your only piece?"
"Yes."
"Can I come with her?" Nate asked.
"You won't be allowed in." Graves took Mel's arm and led her away.
Winkie said in a hushed voice, "There's a waiting area if you want to follow us."
"Thanks," Nate said appreciatively.
Winkie and Gentry made their way out.
Nate watched Graves handle Mel and bristled at the rough grip on her arm.
When they reached the door she glanced back and caught his eye. The fear he saw there was palpable, and a knot formed in his gut.
She looked at Cappie and mouthed, "Daddy?" before the men hustled her out the door.
Chapter Nine
Nate clenched his fists and tried to calm down. He looked at Cappie who was untying his apron and handing it off to another bartender. He made his way around the bar and told Nate, "I'm driving a blue Ford Taurus. Follow me if you want."
Marshall tossed some cash on the bar. "I'm in a tan Explorer if you lose him. Cappie drives like a bat out of hell."
The older man paused and turned around. "You all don't need to come. There won't be anything to do but wait."
"And show our support for Mel," Stone said.
Becker nodded.
Marshall waved a hand at Mel's father. "Let's get going." He put a hand on Nate's shoulder and squeezed.
"Thanks." Nate nodded, at a loss for better words. He hoped his appreciation showed on his face. He followed everyone out and had no trouble keeping up with the caravan to WPD headquarters.
Inside, he found Cappie talking to a man behind a desk while the others pumped quarters into a pop machine.
Marshall looked at him. "Willis, want anything? We figured some caffeine coursing through our veins would be better than nothing."
"No thanks, I'm good." He dropped into a long row of attached, empty chairs.
Marshall came and sat next to him. "You are, aren't you? One of the good guys. I could tell that the first time we met. I've enjoyed working with you the last couple of days. Reminded me of the time I partnered up with my old friend Jack."
Nate nodded. "I remember you mentioned him."
"He and I only worked one case together before he left the force, but we're lifetime buddies now."
"How did that case turn out?"
"We got both of the hostages back unharmed." Marshall grinned. "Jack married one of them and adopted the other."
Nate shook his head. "Sounds like an excellent outcome." He glanced around the empty room. The place was probably crowded during the day. He felt grateful it was evening, so Mel didn't have to endure any more watchful eyes.
"This case will have a good outcome too," Brady said. "We did everything by the book. It's going to turn out okay. I know it will."
"I hope so." Nate glanced up as Cappie approached and took a seat in the empty row facing them. The man walked with a limp. Nate remembered Mel mentioning his being injured in the line of duty. Might have to ask him about that.
Cappie said, "The desk sergeant has no idea how long this is liable to take. He did say Reeder is on his way, so we've got that to look forward to."
Stone and Becker chose seats on either side of Cappie. "Reeder can be tough," Stone obviously chose his words carefully. "But he's usually fair. He'll get to the bottom of this."
Nate looked at Stone. "What happened after we left? You were waiting for CSI."
Stone raised his hands. "No idea. Martin and Zybowski showed up and started gathering evidence. They did the Luminol test. It was very incriminating."
"So did you two leave?"
"Not right away. I got distracted by a kerfuffle in the backyard. A neighbor's dog got loose and into Webb's yard. He was growling at everyone. Had to call animal control to come get him. Then the neighbor showed up and he was ticked, wondering how his dog got out. It was a mess there for a while."
Nate looked at Marshall. "Did he just say 'kerfuffle'?"
Marshall waved a hand. "It's Stone. You get used to it."
The door opened and Reeder entered the room.
Cappie rose to shake his hand. "Hank, glad you're here. What can you tell us?"
Reeder shook his head. "Hey Gene. Bad business, this. Not sure what the devil is going on. The evidence that was purported to be in Webb's house disappeared before it got to the station."
Nate jumped to his feet. "Purported, hell! I saw it. Touched it. There was a bag of panties, for Christ's sake! Knives of all shape and sizes. Pictures of the victims bound and gagged, before and after their deaths."
Reeder squinted his eyes at Nate. "What are you still doing here? Your chief expected you hours ago."
"I've spoken with my chief, and he knows I'm staying a little longer. I, uh…." He cleared his throat. "I care about Melanie, and I'm not going to leave her in this mess."
The captain's eyes narrowed for an instant, then he said, "IA thinks Melanie has created this 'mess' for herself. She was the detective in charge of the scene. It was her responsibility to see that the evidence got where it needed to go."
Stone rose. "We never stay and babysit the CSIs. Once they get there, we take off. It's always been done that way."
Reeder placed his hands on his hips. "We haven't had a case this big in years. Curtis should have known that the usual methods might not be good enough on this one."
Stone threw his hands up. "She left me in charge. If someone botched things, it was me. Why aren't I being interrogated?"
"Because you didn't have two hundred thousand dollars deposited in your bank account today."
"Two hundred thousand dollars?" Cappie repeated, his jaw slack. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Reeder looked at him icily. "Someone deposited that amount of money in Mel's account today."
"No way! There's no friggin' way!" Stone's face turned beet red. "I've been Mel's partner for five years. There is no way in hell she took money from anybody to lose that evidence."
Nate put a hand on Stone's shoulder and squeezed. "How did they find out about the money?" he asked Reeder.
Stone spun on him. "She didn't do this! You've known her for what, like five minutes? Mel did not do this!"
"I know that," Nate said calmly. "I didn't say she did. I simply asked how IA found out about the deposit in her account. I know they're the watchdogs of the police department, but I can't believe they keep tabs on all your daily banking habits."
"Someone tipped them off," Reeder replied. "That's all I know."
"Did they check my account?" Stone sputtered. "Hell, maybe someone stuck some money in there, too."
"Oh, they checked. Believe me, after today they looked at all our accounts." He glanced at Nate. "Yours too."
Nate tossed up his hands. "Inspect away, I've got nothing to hide. In the interest of full disclosure, I did go shopping at the mall this afternoon and bought myself a new pair of jeans. Just so anyone checking out my exorbitant spending knows."
Reeder glared at him. "This may be funny to you, Special Agent, but its serious business around here. Curtis is in a butt load of trouble right now. So make all the jokes you want, but why don't you go someplace else to do it? We don't need your kind around here."
"My kind?" Nate blinked, shocked. "What kind is that? I'm a decorated veteran and a well-regarded bureau supervisor with an extremely high rate of closed cases. You don't need that around here?"
"You're a smart ass," Reeder snapped. "I know you FBI people think you're better and smarter than all the rest of us out here in the real world, but guess what? We solve cases too. Our homicide department also has an extremely high rate of closed cases. So don't come at me with the 'you couldn't have done it without me' attitude."
Nate inhaled and blew it out, trying to calm himself. It would have been so easy to take a swing at Reeder's fat head and punch the jackass right in the nose. In fact, that initial reaction had earned him a lot of kitchen duty when he was a young soldier in the army. I'm smarter now. He still wanted to punch bigoted, arrogant people who said stupid, spiteful things, but he didn't act on it nearly as often. He steadied himself and spoke clearly. "I apologize if my attitude comes across as irreverent. At this moment, I'm very concerned for Melanie and perhaps that's clouding my judgment."
Reeder ignored him and glanced around the room. "It's getting late. You all need to go home. There isn't anything you can do here tonight. When they're done questioning Curtis, they've advised me they'll send her home. They won't keep her here any longer than necessary." He turned and went back inside the office.
The other detectives murmured amongst themselves, trying to decide what to do.
"Go ahead," Cappie told them. "You all have to work tomorrow anyway. Mel's going to need you then, maybe more than she does here tonight."
"Okay, but if you need anything…." Stone touched Cappie's arm.
"I know where to find you. Thanks Henry." Cappie patted his hand.
Stone turned to Nate. "Sorry about jumping on you. I'm just upset and confused about all this."
"I understand. I am too. And I'm not taking it lightly. I'm really not. I guess I've just always used humor to diffuse situations."
Stone looked at Cappie. "Who does that sound like?"
Cappie smiled. "My daughter."
Marshall and Becker said their goodbyes and they walked out with Stone.
Cappie returned to his seat and slumped down.
Nate sat across from him.
The silver-haired man glanced up with surprise on his face. "You don't have to stay, you know."
Nate shrugged. "I've got nothing to go home to. An empty house."
Cappie raised a brow. "You mean hotel room?"
Nate sighed. Might as well come clean. "To be honest with you, Mel let me sleep in her spare room the first night I was in town. We found the arrangement convenient, so I never checked into the hotel." It's the truth, if somewhat lacking in pertinent details.
"Spare room. Right." Cappie rubbed his temples.
Nate decided to change the subject. "Mel tells me you were injured in the line of duty. Mind my asking how it happened?"
His eyes rose to meet Nate's as he replied, "Convenience store robbery. Two perps. My partner and I chased them for several blocks. My guy, a scrawny little white kid lookin
g to be barely legal age, darted into the street. I ran after him and got mowed down by a cabbie who didn't see me. Shattered my leg in four places."
Nate grimaced. "I'm sorry."
Cappie shrugged. "Damndest thing. Kid I was chasing came back after I got hit and held my head in his lap until the ambulance got there."
"No." Nate couldn't believe it.
"Stayed with me the whole time."
"Wow. Whatever happened to that kid?"
Cappie smiled. "He's walking a beat on the west side. Working his way right up the ladder. I see a detective shield in his future."
Nate smiled. "Don't suppose you had anything to do with that."
Another shrug. "Couldn't forget him after what he did. Visited him in jail a few times. Mentored him once he got out. He just needed some direction. Didn't have parents to speak of. Fell in with the wrong crowd."
"And now he's a cop."
"He was never convicted of a felony," Cappie explained.
"Probably would have been if you hadn't interceded."
The man nodded. "Fate stepped in that day. My life hasn't turned out exactly like I'd planned, but it's been a good ride. If I could change anything, it'd be the cancer that took Mel's mother from us a few years back. That's my biggest regret."
Nate nodded. "Some things are out of our hands, that's for sure. I must compliment you—you and the Mrs. did a fine job raising your daughter. She's one smart, tough cookie. She'll come through this, and be just fine."
Cappie's face hardened. "Somebody set her up. We need to find out who."
"Burton Webb is behind it, of course. He won the lottery a couple years ago and bribed two doctors to get his son released from the state hospital. Why is anyone surprised that he'd try to do the same thing again?"
"But who did he bribe? We both know it wasn't Mel. She's the fall guy. What about those CSI buffoons? Weren't they the last people known to have their hands on the evidence?"
"Surely they're checking that out." Nate glanced toward the office door, willing it to open with Mel walking through.
"I suspect they are," Cappie glanced at him. "And don't call me Shirley."
Caught by surprise at the lighthearted comment, Nate laughed. "I can see where your daughter gets her sense of humor."