I eagerly await the day when Veronica and Ben understand what their fatal mistake has been for all this time. Sometimes it amazes me that they cannot see it.
They could not catch me then, they will not catch me now. They all assume that I could not possibly be one of their own...part of their precious brotherhood.
“We protect our own.” What utter bullshit. One day they’ll understand. One day they will see me for the genius I am. I will get the credit that I deserve. Then I will kill them and be free.
Until then, I will revel in the knowledge that they think they can trust me.
In fact, I should be getting a call any moment now.
◆◆◆
“Why are you calling me this late? Has Ronnie gotten tired of you already?”
Ben wanted to smile when he heard this, but the situation was too serious. Everyone else that he called, had already come up with similar greeting when they saw his name on the caller ID. He had set them straight, and they said they would come without asking too many questions, but he knew this was going to be the most difficult call.
“No sir, Ronnie and I are doing okay. There’s something you need to see. The unsub broke into her apartment...he left a message. I wanted you to see it for yourself and I wanted to be the one to tell you. I wanted there to be no question of whether or not I...we tried to hide this from you.”
Veronica was listening in on the phone call and heard Blake’s tiny voice respond, “What happened Ben? Why would someone think you were trying to hide it from me?”
Ben was cringing away from the phone because he did not want to have this conversation, but knew that it was inevitable. He settled for delaying it, “Come to her apartment, sir. I’ll explain everything then. It’s better if you see it anyways.”
There was a pause while Blake considered his options. “Okay, I’m on my way now. I want a full explanation when I arrive. Is that understood?”
Ben looked around the room and knew that this was going to be a long and difficult conversation. “Yes, sir.”
They only had a few moments of silence before they heard a siren and saw red and blue lights bounce around the room. Shortly after the lights and siren cut out, Officers Cheyenne Bellows and Ryan Foster entered the apartment. Both of them stopped short, and drew a quick breath when they looked around the room.
Ace, feeling the tension in the room, stood at Veronica’s side. Normally, he would have gone in for a sniff of the newcomers, but he felt that his person needed protecting.
Cheyenne went over to comfort him, while speaking to Ben and Veronica. “The techs are coming in to photograph the scene and dust for prints.” They arrived before she or Ryan could ask any questions.
More people entering the room made Ace uncomfortable, so he crouched in front of them and growled. His hackles were raised until Veronica stepped forward and calmed him down.
They nodded at Veronica and started going about their business. In spite of working together before, Veronica had never gotten to know many of the techs that came to their crime scenes. She was friends with a couple, but unfortunately neither of these two were among them.
Ryan set about putting up crime scene tape across her front door, while everyone else stood and watched the techs take pictures of everything.
They were not able to stand idle for long.
Blake and Mark entered the room together and took a look around. Mark looked shocked, but Blake looked more angry than anything else. Clearly he had come to some conclusions about what he was looking at.
He spun to Cheyenne and Ryan, who had finished with the tape, “What are you doing standing there? Go wake the building manager and see if there are any security cameras on this property. Once you’re done with that, go to the neighboring buildings and see if any of them have cameras that point to any of the doors into this building. When you are done with that, start canvassing the neighborhood and see if anybody has seen anyone suspicious lately. This is rookie stuff guys. I know that this one hits close to home, but Ryan, you’ve been doing this for seven years now. This should be habit for you. And Cheyenne, I get that Veronica is your friend. Do not give me a reason to take you off this call and send you home.”
Sufficiently shamed, Cheyenne and Ryan nodded and spun on a heel to duck under the tape.
After that, Blake spun to Ben and Veronica. “Explain.”
While Blake had been chastising Cheyenne and Ryan, several other officers had heard Veronica’s address over the radio, and arrived to make sure everything was okay. When they heard the anger evident in Blake’s commanding voice, and saw the way his bulky form was tightened like a spring ready to explode, they knew this was something they would not want to witness. Five senior officers and one scared rookie made their way to the door, in a race to see who could make it under the tape and out of the room first. The rookie won.
The only person who stayed to hear Ben and Veronica’s explanation besides Blake, was Mark who loyally decided to stay.
Ben and Veronica instinctively moved closer together so that they could gather strength from each other, while Mark earnestly paced around the room, occasionally stopping to read a document or study a photograph.
Howard Blake stood firm and tall in the center of the room waiting for the promised explanation.
Ben started to speak before Blake lost his patience. “After the case went inactive, I sort of kept it running. I, uh...I set up an office for myself in Nick and Veronica’s old backyard and kept all the stuff there. I didn’t get very far. Nobody was collecting new evidence, so mostly it was me going to the shed and looking over what we already knew, to see if anything popped out at me. If anything had, I would have brought it to you. I never intended for this to turn into an independent investigation. It appears that the unsub was aware of this and stole everything out of the shed. He broke into Veronica’s apartment sometime today and did this. She found it when I dropped her off about twenty minutes ago. I realize that you told me not to get too involved with this investigation while it was inactive, and if you feel I should be removed from the case I will not argue. I only ask that you let Veronica stay on it. She was entirely unaware of my outside investigation until yesterday, when I took her to the shed as a test. She hasn’t lost any of her old skill. She was only in the shed for a moment, and was the first to recognise that the layout of these documents is the same as it was there.” Having finished his speech, Ben fell silent to await Blake’s response.
The first words spoken after his nervous ramble, came from an unexpected source.
Mark stepped forward to defend his friend. “Sir, if you see fit to allow Ben to remain on this case, I would be willing to supervise and make sure neither he nor Veronica cross any lines. They’re both good investigators with a history of finding things that others don’t see, especially when they’re working together. I think this investigation would suffer if either of them were removed from it. Truthfully, I’m gonna need all the help I can get with this one. There’s too much to look into for me to do it alone.” With his two cents added Mark returned to studying the room.
Seconds that felt like hours ticked by before Blake finally came to a decision. “You may both stay on the case...for now. But I want a clean investigation. If I hear from anyone that either of you is taking things too far, you will both be removed. And Ben, anymore things like this happen and I will bust your ass back down to the street so fast you won’t know what happened. Now, I want you to take a couple uniforms and techs to the shed you were telling me about, and run that scene. Mark and I have got this one.”
Ben and Veronica looked at each other and grinned. They then turned to Blake and thanked him profusely.
Before they left the room, Veronica spun and addressed Blake. “Do you mind if we take Ace to Ben’s house before we go to the other scene? He’ll only be in your way here and he’s spent a lot of time at Ben’s lately.”
Blake thought for a moment. “Go ahead. Drop him off, then go straight to the house. I wan
t this shed checked out… and be careful. I know nobody wants to think about it, but it wouldn’t be the first time the unsub set a trap.”
Ben and Veronica nodded, grabbed Ace and left the room.
Once they left, Blake turned to Mark, who had stayed silent after speaking up for his friends. “Do you really think it's smart to keep them on this case? Aren’t they are too close to this?”
Mark crossed the room to stand in front of him. “Answer me this...who at the station isn’t too close to this case? Everyone loved Nick. Obviously they’re gonna be closer than anybody else, but I can keep an eye on them. I’ll make sure they don’t let things get to an unhealthy level. Besides, do you think either one of them would drop this case if you told them to? If they’re part of the official investigation it’ll be easier to keep them safe.”
Blake nodded and went back to supervising the crime scene.
◆◆◆
For what felt like the thousandth time in the past few days, Ben and Veronica rode in total silence. Neither of them knew the words to describe what they were feeling.
When they reached Ben’s house, they both climbed out of the truck to let Ace in.
“You can stay here for as long as you need. After they get done with your apartment, we can go back and pack up a few things for you.”
Veronica slouched against the wall for a moment, before pushing off of it and heading back towards the truck. “I was ready to fight you on that, but I don’t want to stay in a hotel. And I don’t think I can be in that apartment right now.”
Ben pushed forward and opened the passenger door for her. “I get it. You’ve got a home here for as long as you want.”
When they arrived at Nick and Veronica’s property, they found a familiar scene. It made Ben stop the car at least a hundred meters from the house, and turn in his seat to make sure that Veronica was okay.
It was clear that she was finding it difficult to hold it together, but the more time they spent there, the stronger she appeared. He noticed her fiddling with the ring she normally wore on her thumb.
After about two minutes, Veronica turned to Ben with a determined glint in her eyes. She looked like she always did when a case was pissing her off.
He put the truck back in gear and approached the house. He parked as close as he could, then got out and approached the fire captain, who was talking to Tyler McFarland. Tyler had been the first on the scene.
When Ben and Veronica reached the pair, he took over as the most superior officer on the scene. “What happened here?”
Tyler faced Ben and began his report. “When we got here, the shed was on fire. Judging by how far gone it was, I’d guess it went up sometime in the last hour. I talked to Captain Hastings here and he agrees with my assessment. If I were a betting man, I’d say that the unsub torched this place around the same time that you found the stuff in Ronnie’s apartment.”
Ben was nodding through the entire explanation, “I think you are right. In fact, I’ll do you one better and say that he watched us find the stuff in Ronnie’s apartment, and then came here because he knew that it was our next stop. I’m not sure how he is getting his information yet, but this guys knows more about all of us than we would like to think.”
After getting confirmation from the fire captain that it was safe to enter the yard and shed, Veronica slipped on a pair of gloves and made her way through the sea of people that included firemen, cops, and crime techs to the shed.
After a careful inspection they found a few finger smudges, but none that contained clear prints. This led all of them to believe that the unsub had worn gloves while he ransacked and set fire to the shed. He came prepared. This only confirmed that all of this had been a plan from the start.
The only concrete piece of evidence that they were able to find was one muddy shoe print heading back towards the street. It was not much, but it was the first real mistake the killer had made. That one shoe print was the first piece of evidence they had been able to find that was actually something the unsub had left behind.
It may have only been a shoe print, but to Ben and Veronica it was the Holy Grail.
This was their sign that the man they were hunting was starting to get sloppy. He thought he could not be caught so he was becoming less cautious. Whoever he was, he still knew far too much about them and held too many cards. But for the first time in a long time, they had real hope that they were going to find him.
Shortly after they finished combing through the scene they received a call from Blake saying that he and Mark had finished up at Veronica’s apartment for the night. They were cleared to return so they could pack a bag for her and then they were to turn in for the night. Blake wanted them back at the station bright and early in the morning for a meeting.
When they arrived at Veronica’s apartment they were ushered inside by Cheyenne and Ryan.
“Blake told us wait for you two here and then escort you back to Ben’s place. When we get there, we are going to be relieved by two officers that have just gotten on shift. They’re gonna be in an unmarked car. They are gonna be watching you guys all night...It looks like this protective detail is gonna last a while.” Ryan looked incredibly uncomfortable while he told them about Blake’s orders, but he also made it clear that there would be no point in arguing.
Cheyenne piped in. As she spoke, the petite woman began to turn pink, then red as she blushed. “It seems Blake doesn’t think you guys are safe on your own anymore...He also assumed that you would both be staying at the same place...Should we tell him otherwise?”
Once again both Cheyenne and Ryan looked uncomfortable and would not meet their eyes. Everyone in the room knew what was being insinuated and none of them wanted to be having that conversation.
It seemed that Blake was getting his revenge for Ben continuing his investigation and Veronica not telling him when she found out. He was not going to take them off the case yet, but he was going to have his fun with them.
Veronica took over the conversation, “Ben offered me his couch for now, so I’ll be staying there. It's cheaper than getting a hotel and Ben likes my dog.”
Cheyenne and Ryan were happy to leave it at that and as far as Ben and Veronica were concerned that is all there was to it.
Ben wanted to argue against being watched around the clock, but he knew that was something that should wait until the meeting in the morning, when Blake had time to sleep and calm down a bit.
After Veronica had collected her things, piled into their cars to drove over to Ben’s home. When they arrived there, Veronica noticed a car parked on the corner populated with familiar faces. Exiting the vehicle, she and Ben nodded to the officers that would have their backs for the night and then waved goodbye to Cheyenne and Ryan.
Once they were settled in the house the inevitable subject of sleeping arrangements came up.
Ben went to the hall closet and started pulling out sheets, blankets, and a pillow. “I know you told the guys that you’d be sleeping on the couch, but you’re welcome to my room for the night. Last time you stayed here I told you that you could have the bed for one night and that offer still stands. I’ll give you the bed for one night of decent sleep and then its couch city for you.”
Veronica started laughing, “How gentlemanly of you. I have a counteroffer. We’re both adults and you have a large bed. If we both stick to our sides then there is no reason why we can’t both have a decent night of sleep.”
This time it was Ben’s turn to laugh. “Okay, but remember this; Nick was my best friend and men talk as much as women do. We don’t like to admit it, but it’s true. If you kick or punch me in your sleep I will push you off the bed.”
Veronica let faux-shock fill her face, “I can’t believe he told you about that! He told me that everyone bought the story about the black eye...and I only hit him once.”
He looked at her skeptically. “Yeah, you had a bad dream and punched him in the face while you were sleeping. Something gives me a feeling those d
reams come a little more frequently now. If I show up at work with a black eye tomorrow A) no one will believe you slept on the couch and B) everyone in the station will be wondering why two men who slept in the same bed as you came into work the next morning with a black eye. Now...I would find that whole scenario pretty funny, but I think you’d rather avoid it.”
Veronica stuck her tongue out at him and listened to him laughing as she marched up the stairs. She threw a comment over her shoulder, “Keep laughing at me and I will lock you out of you room and take all of your precious bed.”
The laughter quickly ended and she could hear Ben racing up the stairs behind her. She smirked and started running too.
Twenty minutes and some roughhousing later they were both in pajamas and ready for bed. For a moment they stood staring at it.
Ben was the first to speak, “Right or left side?”
Veronica looked around the room for a moment, “I’ll take the right.”
Ben nodded as he made his way around the bed, “The side closest to the door. I should have known.”
With that, all conversation ended. They settled on their respective sides of the bed and turned so their backs were to each other.
Veronica spent the next half hour trying to quiet her mind. After a few minutes Ben fell asleep leaving Veronica to listen to his breathing, envying his ability to pass out whenever he wanted to. Eventually she was able to drift out of consciousness as she counted the breaths that he took.
DAY 5
FFire...Sirens...Searing heat. It's like the whole world has ignited in flame and hate. The air is filled with the acrid smell of smoke and it’s burning my lungs. Who is screaming? I look around to find the woman, but there is no one else here. I don’t understand what’s happening. I try to call for help, but I can’t stop the screaming. The cry filling the night is coming from my own mouth. The sirens come closer and I can see the red and blue flashing lights. I should go get checked out and give my statement. Years of following protocol has ingrained that instinct in me, but I cannot make myself care. All of my attention is on the fire. Someone is asking me something...they’re shaking my shoulders. What are they saying? I know that I should know who they are and what they are saying, but I can’t think. Then suddenly...
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