When she walked into her living room to give them to him, she was stunned to a halt by the sight of a nearly naked Ben. He was in only his boxers, with a pile of dripping wet clothes at his feet. There was also a towel lying on the couch that was clearly meant to cover him while he waited for clothes.
As she watched his thumbs hook the top of his boxers, she was startled into speaking. “Not another inch.”
He froze.
“We have to stop meeting like this.”
He turned with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Well, if you hadn’t been so intent on getting me wet...”
She tossed the clothes at him before he could continue, and tried to go back into her room.
She lost her balance as she turned too quickly and fell into her door frame.
“Ow...that was embarrassing.”
Strong arms closed around her, “Nothing to be embarrassed about.”
She leaned into his grip for a moment before speaking. “You had better have at least gotten those sweatpants on.”
He laughed and she noticed how much she enjoyed the rumbling feeling that it created on her back.
“I should get some sleep...you should too for that matter.”
He straightened and backed away from her with a slightly bewildered look on his face. “Right...sleep...see you tomorrow.” Then he turned and flopped back down on her couch.
She walked into her room and quietly closed the door.
DAY 4
O
nce again, Veronica awoke to an alarm that she desperately wanted to snooze.
The only reason that she left the bed was the scent of bacon wafting into her bedroom. For a moment this confused her, but then she remembered her roommate for the night.
Grinning, she rolled out of bed and stumbled into her living room. She tried to make her way over to the kitchen without embarrassing herself again, but she kept tripping over Ace and Charlotte.
“Is this some sort of conspiracy? Do you not want me to get breakfast?”
She finally made it to her kitchen to find Ben with a pile of waffles, bacon, and orange slices. “Why is it that when we stay at your place with all the good food, I get nothing. But when we stay here, you raid my pantry and probably use all of the edible things left in it?”
He chuckled softly before turning around. “It's true. You do need to go grocery shopping. And besides, yesterday we barely woke up in time to get to the station. Shouldn’t you be used to that? You were the one who only barely managed to make it to work on time, right?”
She smiled evilly at him, “The only reason you are getting away with that one is, because I’m hungry and you made the food.” She filled a plate and went back to the living room.
Shoving the pillow and extra blanket out of the way, she tucked into her food. She was too preoccupied with eating to notice when Ben re-entered the room.
“How does a person eat like you do and still have that body?”
Having heard this questions many times in the past she had long since perfected her answer. Without looking up from her plate, “I have excellent genes.”
He snorted, “Whatever...you should be studied. Eat fast. We need to stop by my place so I can get some more clothes. We should take Ace with us. I have a yard and Charlotte misses him. I’ve never seen a tabby-cat and a German shepard get so attached to each other.”
An hour later they were both fed, dressed, and on their way back to the station for Veronica’s first full day of work. With Ace and Charlotte happily lounging on Ben’s couch, everyone was having a fantastic morning.
Once again, the ride to the station was made in silence as they both contemplated what the day was going to bring. Upon reaching the station, they parted ways to go to their separate locker rooms.
Ben mostly went to the men’s locker room to socialize with his friends that were still on patrol, but Veronica had to change into her uniform for the first time in a year. She had never been a particularly sentimental person, but this was a big moment for her. In spite of the uncomfortable fabric and the unflattering fit, it felt surprisingly amazing to be back in uniform. She expected to feel apprehensive or sad, but instead she only felt excited. The adrenaline flowing through her veins made her feel strong again, for the first time since she saw her home blown up in front of her.
When she left the locker room, she found Ben leaning back on the wall opposite the door.
“Time to get to work?”
She smiled and nodded as she walked by him.
He moved to follow her. “Like I told you before, I arranged for you to partner with me while we work this case. I’ve been partnered with Mark for about nine months, so he will be working with us too. This arrangement will only last, as long as the top brass believe that you are mentally and emotionally fit enough to work the case. For the time being, you will follow every order given to you. Understood?”
Veronica spun on a heel and saluted him, “Sir, yes sir.” She laughed, spun again, and walked calmly towards the detective's office.
Ben watched her for a moment, aware that everyone else in the building was watching her too. He hoped he was the only one who noticed the telltale stiffness in her back that indicated just how uncomfortable she was with everyone tracking her every move.
When they reached the semi-privacy of the detectives office and closed the door, Veronica’s shoulders sagged.
“For the first time in my life, I understand what people are saying when they talk about living in a fish tank.”
A tall beanpole of a man with shaggy black hair stood up from his desk. “This is what happens when you disappear for a year and then show up again out of the blue.”
Veronica straightened up again and walked over to the man. “Mark, we didn’t get to catch up yesterday. It's so great to see you again!”
They hugged for a moment before pulling apart.
“Yeah, yesterday you were too busy paying attention to everyone else in the room to talk to me. That’s okay...I forgive you. But now you owe me at least a makeup lunch. Free food fixes all problems between coworkers. Speaking of which, I hear I’m going to be forced to work with you again.”
This time Ben joined in on the conversation. “Oh, come on! You know you were excited when I told you about it. Everyone loves working with Ronnie.”
Everyone in the room began to laugh as they remembered similar conversations in the past. The men of the division had always enjoyed making Veronica feel uncomfortable by complimenting her. It was like a competition to see who could make her blush first.
“Okay, I want you both to shut up before all of this starts again.”
The first half of their day was devoted to going over what they knew and organizing their information. This was mostly for Mark’s benefit, because Veronica and Ben had done the same thing the night before. It was good to have someone looking at the information with fresh eyes.
They spent their entire lunch break discussing different ways to come up with new information on the killer. The first thing that was agreed upon, was that Veronica would have absolutely nothing to do with the investigation into the bombing that killed Nick.
It was also decided that Veronica and Ben would be focussing on studying the lives of the women that the killer chose. After the killer had stopped providing them with the names of his victims, they had struggled to identify them. This became easier when they had found the bodies, but it still took a long time. Some had only been identified recently. They hoped that by studying their lives, they would be able to see what it was about them that drew the killer’s attention.
After lunch, Mark disappeared so that he could work on the bombing without tempting Veronica to involve herself.
Ben and Veronica proceeded to cover their bulletin board with every detail they could come up with about Jennifer McCordell and the other 18 women that they had found buried in the desert. By the end of the day, their board was filled with the life stories and photos of all of the victims. Beyond shari
ng similar height and hair color, they did not find much to connect them. The closest thing that they could find other than their basic physical appearance, was the fact that they all had jobs that kept them on their feet or had them working with their hands. None of them had a typical 9 to 5 office job.
Throughout the day, they would occasionally see Mark as he would come in to grab something from his desk or look up some information in one of his files. Every time he entered the office, he would nod a greeting at Veronica and Ben then quickly drop his eyes.
Veronica understood why he was having a hard time meeting her stare, but she wished that she could get Mark to look at her. She had a feeling that she would be able to tell how his investigation was going if she could get a look at his expression.
Other than Mark, nobody entered the office to disturb them all day. Veronica had the feeling that the other detectives who worked here had been told to give them a wide berth, and was not sure how she felt about that.
Every once and awhile, they would look out of their glass walls to see someone watching them. It seemed the novelty of having Veronica back in the station had not worn off. Her fellow patrol officers would stop and watch every time they came back in to fill out paperwork or drop off a suspect.
After double checking they had all the information they could on the women, they found themselves back in Ben’s truck on the way to his house.
“I expect real food this time. None of this ‘we only eat well when we’re eating your food’ crap.”
The laughter that had subsided while they were focusing on work, reemerged with that statement. Like flipping a switch, they went from being total professionals to two people who could not keep a straight face if they tried. It was like they had stored up all of their laughter and humor for the day, and were letting it out in that truck.
When Veronica could finally speak, she said, “It feels so good to be smiling again. I felt like I had to be completely stoic while I was there or people would think I was going to crack. I hate that they watch me all the time.”
Ben pulled the car into his driveway and shut it off. “They’ll get over it eventually. Someone will screw up. Maybe one of the rookies will accidentally shoot a chair or something. That will take attention off you, and then one day they will all forget that you ever left.”
They both climbed out and entered the house.
Making their way to the kitchen, he started pulling ingredients from the cabinets and refrigerator.
Once they were all assembled on the counter, Veronica was finally able to figure out what Ben’s plan was. “Seriously! I say I want real food and you are going to make a pizza!”
Ben grinned while he began measuring out ingredients to make the crust. “No, I’m going to make two pizzas. You forget that I know how much you can eat during one meal. Remember your plate this morning? Besides, I worked at a pizza joint in high school. I make a damn good pizza. I can even do the dough toss.”
Veronica was certain he was bragging, so she tried to call his bluff. “Prove it.”
The cocky smirk that his ‘dates’ love so much, emerged as he kneaded the dough. The next few minutes passed in silence as it was worked to a perfect consistency and malleability. Then he pushed it out into a circle and rested it on his upturned fists. He bounced it there a few times to make sure it would not stick before tossing it up.
Veronica watched as it rotated in the air, then landed once again on his fists.
Once it had landed and settled, he turned and stared at her with triumph written across his face.
Veronica paused for a moment. She was clearly trying to think of a comeback to his silent gloating, but could not come up with anything. “Fine...I will admit that was cool. Can you teach me?”
They spent the next hour tossing dough around and usually hitting each other with it. Once again the uncontrollable laughter emerged, and they were able to forget about the day they had spent searching for a deranged killer by digging through the lives of dead women. Eventually, they wound up with two fairly decent pizzas.
“I guess I should be heading back to my place. Can I get a ride from you? Or do you want to follow me the whole way there?”
Ben stood up and walked over to the table to retrieve his keys. “Normally, I would argue with you, but I’m fairly certain you’re stubborn and stupid enough to sneak out of here in the middle of the night to walk home with Ace as your only protection. I’ll give you a ride back to your place and I’ll come get you in the morning.”
Veronica retrieved Ace’s leash and put it on him. He clearly wanted to stay with Charlotte, but she was determined to go home and spend a night without a bodyguard. “Don’t even think about pulling sentry duty in my parking lot tonight. I want you to come straight back here after you drop me off. We both need to get some sleep tonight, and neither your truck nor my couch are comfortable enough for that.”
Ben opened his front door and pushed her out of it. “Yeah yeah, get in the truck smart-ass.”
When they reached her parking lot, Veronica turned to Ben, “I’m calling your house in fifteen minutes. If you don’t answer, I will assume that you are still here and I will be severely pissed off.” With that, she popped the door open and climbed out.
Once Ace had joined her, she closed the door and walked back to her apartment building without looking back.
Ben watched her walking, “I get it. You’re brave. You can take care of yourself. I hope this stubbornness doesn’t get you killed.” He put the truck in gear and left the lot.
◆◆◆
Meanwhile, Veronica was walking up the staircase to her floor, desperately trying to curtail the panic attack that had been building ever since she left Ben’s truck. She could feel her breaths becoming more shallow, and her vision was darkening, but she refused to stop. That silver beast of a truck felt safe to her, but the second she left it, all of her anxieties crashed down.
At first, she assumed that it was all of her old anxieties being magnified because of recent events. But the closer she got to her apartment the more she felt like something was wrong. She knew she was going to find something in her apartment, she just did not know what. As she approached her front door, she pulled the gun out of the holster on her hip and readied herself for what might be waiting for her. As quietly as she could manage, she inserted her key into the lock and turned it. She waited a beat before she pushed it open, while remaining covered by the wall and door jam. She raised her weapon and swung through the open doorway. Her heart stopped in the same instant as her body did. Once she was able to restart her brain, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone.
◆◆◆
Ben’s phone went off, and he knew there was only one person that it could be. So he pulled his truck over and started digging around in his pockets. When he saw his caller id, he let out a quick laugh and slid his thumb across the screen to answer it. “It hasn’t even been five minutes. You can’t expect me to be home yet.”
He started to get concerned when he only heard silence on the other end of the line. “Ronnie, what’s going on? What happened?” When she finally spoke, he breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.
“Come back. This message is for you too.”
She hung up before he was able to question her on what she meant. Without hesitation, he pulled back onto the road and made a dangerous u-turn. When he entered her parking lot he pulled out his gun and cocked it before he left the vehicle.
Making his way to the building, he had his gun raised and cleared the lot like he was trained in the academy. He repeated this as he climbed the stairs up to the third floor. Becoming more and more cautious with every step that took him closer, he also moved faster and faster because he knew that she was alone and needed him.
When he entered the third floor hallway and saw her standing there waiting for him, he rushed forward.
She had put her gun away after clearing her apartment, so he put his back in its holster as w
ell. She ran to him and collapsed into his arms.
“He was in my apartment.”
Ben held her to him so that he could prove to himself that she was there and okay. “I know. Let's go check it out.”
When Ben pushed her door open, his breath left him. He entered her living room to find the walls plastered with papers. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was all of the evidence that he had collected and obsessed over throughout the year.
“It all came from your shed.”
Looking across the wall, he noticed that it was all laid out in the same order it had been in the shed. There were even lines of string connecting documents, the same way that he had connected them when he was setting up the test for Veronica.
“We have to call this in. They’re gonna want to go through this apartment with a fine-toothed-”
Veronica cut him off before he could get the words out. “If Blake sees or hears about this, he’s going to take you off the case. And if you get kicked off, I get kicked off. We can’t call this in.”
Going into his by-the-book, command mode, Ben pulled out his cell phone and began dialing. “Veronica, everything in this apartment is evidence now. If we don’t call this in and someone finds out, we will both be without a job. You may have another career to fall back on, but I don’t. I might be able to talk Blake into letting me stay on the case, but if I hide this, I have no chance when he finds out.”
By the time that he finished this speech, Veronica had been silenced and the desk sergeant had picked up the call. “Stanton, I need a unit and techs at Veronica’s apartment ASAP. There’s been a breach. Blake is gonna want to be here too. The apartment has been cleared, so for the moment there is no danger. All the same, tell the guys to keep their eyes open on approach. I get the feeling that this unsub likes to watch.”
◆◆◆
It's like they are puppets and I am pulling the strings. They do everything I want them to, exactly when I want them to do it. They think they are so clever with all of their evidence gathering and investigating. They think they will catch me...what morons.
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