Coming Back

by Tabitha J Arment

Ben and Veronica both thought that she was satisfied with that answer until her questioning gaze landed on Veronica again. “Oh, so you’re sleeping on the couch then. I didn’t see any extra pillows or blankets in the living room so I assumed you weren’t.”

  Mrs. Becker began smirking again when she saw Veronica and her son shifting in their seats. They reminded her of her students when she asked them if they had done their homework. She looked over at Veronica to find her face turning an amusing shade of red. Then she glanced over at her son to find Ben glaring at her like he did as a teen when she “embarrassed” him in front of one of his girlfriends.

  Having sufficiently punished her son for not answering her question earlier, she chuckled and then went back to eating her dinner.

  Ben tried to get everyone talking again with small talk, he even brought up politics because that usually got Veronica in the mood for a heated discussion. Unfortunately for him, his mother did not feel the need to make the night any less uncomfortable and Veronica seemed to be fascinated by the rice on her plate.

  They ate in relative silence until Ben finished and got up from the table.

  “Ma, I had the locks changed at the house. I’ve got a copy of the new key for you.”

  Mrs. Becker noticed Veronica looking uncomfortable again as Ben got up to get the key, but she assumed that was because Ben was leaving her alone. She was confused when Veronica’s face became even more red when Ben returned. She pulled her purse out and started digging through it.

  While she was digging she was muttering, “Hate this stupid thing...too big...no side pockets...I miss the old one.”

  Veronica stared at her with a quirked eyebrow.

  Ben found it all highly amusing and tried to keep it going. “What, did you break the old one? It wouldn’t surprise me. You carry too much stuff around.”

  Mrs. Becker threw her purse to the ground after finding her key ring. “No, I did not break it. I was walking home from work a few weeks ago and some delinquent stole it right off of me.”

  Ben was so focussed on his mother that he did not see Veronica’s face go suddenly white.

  “Ma, why didn’t you tell me? Please say that you at least called the police?”

  Mrs. Becker gave him an annoyed stare. “Of course I called the police. They said it was unlikely they’d be able to find it, but that they would look into it.”

  “I told you to start driving to work Ma.”

  Mrs. Becker’s anger rose, “Benjamin Becker, you may be a police officer, but I will not be lectured. I only live a few blocks away from the school. I refuse to believe that it is unsafe for me to walk to and from work.”

  Ben gave an exasperated sigh and leaned back into his chair. “Fine. Far be it from me to try to keep you safe.”

  While Ben and his mother were arguing, Veronica was busy getting her blood pressure back under control. She could not wait to get Mrs. Becker out of the house so that she could discuss her idea with Ben. If she was right, they had one more clue to follow up on when they went back to work on Monday. She looked down the table and noticed that everyone else was far closer to finishing their dinner then she was so she started wolfing it down as discreetly as she could.

  It was not long before everyone had finished and all attempts at conversation had run out so Mrs. Becker was getting up to leave. She hugged her son goodbye and smiled courteously at Veronica.

  Veronica tried to be as polite as possible as she said her goodbyes, but she could not help but want to shove her out the door.

  The second the door closed and Veronica heard Mrs. Becker’s car start up, she plopped down on the couch and dropped her head down into her hands.

  Ben thought that she was feeling bad about the disastrous dinner they had with his mother, so he sat down next to her. He rubbed her back to try to comfort her, and it was then that he noticed her shoulders shaking. Thinking that she was crying, he wrapped his arm around her and held her closer.

  “Oh, come on...it wasn’t that bad. You should have seen some of the things that she and my dad did to my girlfriends in high school.”

  After a moment, Veronica lifted her head and he found that she had been laughing, not sobbing. He sighed in relief when he saw the dazzling smile spreading across her face.

  She grabbed Ben’s head and dragged his face down to plant an unexpected kiss on his lips.

  When she pulled back Ben looked even more confused. “Not that I’m complaining, but what’s going on? Most women don’t react this way after an encounter with my mother.”

  Veronica giggled and kissed him again, “I know how he got into your house.”

  Before Ben could ask her what she had meant, Veronica laughed again and pulled him in for another heart stopping kiss. He let himself melt into her and enjoy the moment.

  After a few minutes, Ben extricated himself from Veronica and put some space between them. “Again...no complaints, but please explain.”

  Veronica began laughing again. “You know, if you had paid attention at dinner you would have figured it out already.”

  Ben levelled her with a glare, “I’ve been a bit distracted. Thank you very much. Remember how you walked down my stairs in nothing but a towel? Now, I repeat...explanation please?”

  Veronica rolled her eyes, “Fine, fine...I’ll tell you. Remember when your mom said that she had her purse stolen?”

  Veronica gave Ben a knowing look and his face visibly brightened. She could almost see the light bulb going off above his head.

  “You don’t think...but that was weeks ago...the investigation was still stalled then...you weren’t even staying here.”

  Veronica rolled her eyes again, “I think we both know that this guy is more than capable of planning ahead.”

  Ben sobered and nodded, “This it true. I’ll give Blake a call tomorrow. He’ll get the file from the precinct that handled Mom’s call. They probably don’t have much, but it’s still worth looking into. From the sound of things, Mark’s hit a bit of a wall on his side of the investigation so Blake will probably put him on it. Who knows, we might have a name by the time we get back to work on Monday.”

  It was Veronica’s turn to calm down and nod, “As long as I am there for the take down, I don’t care who runs the investigation anymore.”

  Ben leaned back with a skeptical face, “That’s a bit of a change in tune. It wasn’t that long ago that you were so hell bent on being a part of this investigation that you bullied our boss into fast-tracking your return to the force.”

  Veronica smiled, “Yeah, I admit that I want to be part of this investigation. It’s killing me that I might not be able to anymore, but I need to be able to at least pretend to be okay with it. Give me that at least.”

  Veronica decided she and Ben needed to celebrate this new break they had in the case, so she jumped up from the couch and practically skipped over to the kitchen to get a couple bottles of beer. When she opened the refrigerator, she was horrified to find that it was completely devoid of alcohol.

  Ben could hear her yelling at him from the kitchen.

  “Oy! How dare you be out of beer on a day when your mother is coming to visit! You should have known better!”

  Ben shook his head and pushed himself off of the couch to go after her. “You’re right. I definitely should have predicted that my mother would inadvertently give us a break in our case, and that you would feel the need to celebrate with Guinness.”

  Veronica spun around and punched him in the shoulder. “No, but you should have known that I would need a drink after dealing with your mother for a night.”

  Ben threw his head back and groaned dramatically, “She wasn’t that bad.”

  After saying that, he turned around and moved over to the table by the front door and picked up his keys.

  As he went to leave, Veronica spoke again. “What in the world are you doing?”

  Ben shook his head and turned to face her. “You’re kidding, right? I’m going to the store to get you beer, so I
don’t have to hear about this anymore.”

  Veronica laughed and skipped over to him so she could kiss him on the cheek. “Bring chocolate too, please. Oh, and pistachio ice cream!”

  Ben looked at her for a moment, “You are the strangest person.”

  Veronica gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Yeah, but you love it.”

  In order to avoid a potentially awkward situation, Ben simply smiled at her and walked out the door. Once he got outside, he pulled out his phone and called Blake so that he could get Mark working on their new lead.

  DAY 10

  A

  nd they’ve taken the bait!

  They are too predictable for their own good. By the time they get back to work, I will have set up everything I need to make it look like someone else has been pulling the strings all along. I just need them to find my sacrificial lamb. By the time the week is out, he will be in prison and I will be free to do whatever I want.

  ◆◆◆

  Ben and Veronica woke up the next day to the realization that they did not have anything planned for the whole day. They were in danger of sitting around waiting for the weekend to end so they could get back to work.

  Veronica knew that if she wanted to prove to Blake that they could leave their work at the station they were going to have to find a way to let off some steam and relax.

  After they spent two hours sitting on their couch watching reruns of NCIS, Veronica jumped up and grabbed her keys off of the table next to the door.

  “That’s it. We need to get out of this house.”

  Ben turned the tv off and moved a disgruntled Charlotte off of his lap.

  “What is it you propose we do instead?”

  Veronica disappeared into the kitchen for a moment and came back with two water bottles. She spoke as she tossed one to him, “Get in the car and leave the rest to me. We are going to have fun today so we can walk into work tomorrow and make sure Blake isn’t worried about us.”

  Ben shrugged, “Okay.”

  He grabbed his keys so that he could lock up and walked out the front door. When Veronica joined him outside she saw him standing by the driver side door.

  “Very funny.”

  He chuckled and moved over to the other side of the car.

  Veronica knew immediately where she wanted to take him. It seemed childish to some people, but she had always gone to the zoo when she needed to spend a day forgetting about life.

  When Ben finally realized what signs they were following, he started grinning too. He hadn’t been to the zoo in years, but he used to go all the time when he was growing up. His older brothers used to threaten to lock him into the monkey exhibit and leave him there.

  As they crossed the bridge to get in line to buy tickets, they saw a class of children hanging over the railing, watching all the turtles in the water below them. After paying the forty dollars it took to get them both into the zoo, they spent a few minutes staring at the map and bickering over where they would go first.

  Veronica had always been a huge fan of the lions and tigers, but Ben was more interested in visiting the reptiles. After spending ten minutes arguing like an old married couple they decided to pick a direction and start walking rather than going to specific exhibits.

  Veronica knew the zoo better so she subtly pushed him in the direction of the big cats.

  They ambled along for a while, stopping at every exhibit to see what was there and read the plaques that they found interesting.

  When Ben realized that they were about to come up on the lion exhibit he turned to Veronica. “You totally planned this.”

  She grinned and skipped out of his reach as he moved to tickle her. He chased her all the way to the wall surrounding the lions where he grabbed her and held her to him while they stared down at the majestic animals.

  Some of the parents in the area gave them accusing looks because of the slight rough housing and the public display of affection, but Veronica and Ben ignored them. Today was their day to forget about the fact that they had any kind of awkward history and the deranged killer that seemed bent on driving them crazy. Today was their mental health day and they were going to take advantage of it.

  They strolled around the zoo for several hours and saw everything they cared about. When they both realized that they were absolutely starving they made their way back towards the entrance to the zoo.

  As Veronica walked past all of the food places and towards the exit, Ben stopped and gave her a questioning look. Veronica turned around, “The food here is ridiculously expensive. Besides, my favorite restaurant is about ten minutes from here. I am determined to make this the perfect day.”

  Ben started walking again. “Well, if that’s the case…”

  He pulled her into him and kissed her. Veronica responded, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. After a moment they pulled apart and turned back towards the exit. Their hands came together and held all the way through the parking lot to Veronica’s car.

  Veronica drove them to the corner of University and Hardy in Tempe and turned off the road at a gas station.

  Ben glanced around, “Where is this ‘favorite restaurant’ that you were telling me about? I know you’ve eaten a lot of gas station food on the job, but this is a bit ridiculous.”

  Veronica rolled her eyes. “Look beyond the gas station, moron.”

  She pointed to the building past the station and Ben noticed a sign reading ‘Rosita’s Fine Mexican Food’.

  Upon entering the building, Ben took in the child’s drawings pinned up on the walls, the green vinyl booths, and the Mexican pinatas hanging from the ceiling in the bar. He gave Veronica a skeptical look, but she simply rolled her eyes again.

  “Give it a chance. This place has the best Mexican food in the city.”

  Ben shrugged and followed her as the waitress led them to a booth.

  Veronica continued talking as they sat. “I’ve been coming here for years now. It’s nowhere near where I live, so I don’t get here often, but it’s well worth the drive.”

  The skepticism never left Ben’s face. “We’ll have to see about that. I grew up in this city. I’m fairly certain I already found all of the good Mexican food.”

  Veronica met his gaze. “I bet you the bill for lunch and dishes for the rest of the week that you like it.”

  Ben reached his hand across the table, “Bet accepted.”

  They shook hands and turned back to their menus.

  After a few minutes, the waitress came by with their chips and salsa and they ordered their food. Veronica ordered a couple cheese enchiladas and Ben ordered a chimichanga. Before the waitress could leave Veronica added one last thing to their order. When Ben glanced at her, she silenced him before he could speak.

  “Trust me.”

  “Okay.”

  Veronica told Ben stories from a few of the times that she had been there while they waited for their food. She was finishing telling him about the time that she had brought Nick to the restaurant and the waitress had shamelessly started hitting on him, when the food finally arrived.

  Ben stared in appreciation at the huge plates filled to the brim with steaming, hot food. They both wolfed their meals down in record time because they were so hungry from skipping breakfast and spending the day walking around.

  Ben had completely forgotten about the extra item that Veronica had ordered until the waitress placed the bowl of deep fried ice cream with two spoons in the middle of the table. Ben used one of the spoons to scrape off some of it and stared at it suspiciously.

  While he was staring, Veronica had scooped up some for herself and placed it in her mouth. The look on her face was more than enough to confirm to him that the ice cream was good. Without further thought, he placed the spoon in his mouth, and for the first time tasted the deliciousness that is deep fried ice cream from Rositas.

  He looked up to see Veronica staring at him with a triumphant look in her eyes.

  “I win.”


  After Ben paid the bill, he and Veronica got back in the car and she drove them to Ben’s house.

  When she pulled into the driveway and shut the car off, Ben spoke. “That’s the extent of your perfect day? The zoo and Mexican food? You’re easy.”

  When he realized what he said he tried to backtrack.

  Veronica laughed. “Nope, one more thing will do the trick...we’re going to have a poker night. You call up the guys and I’ll call up the girls.”

  Ben shared her grin and climbed out of the car. “Fine, but tell them to contribute some booze and pizza money.”

  Veronica laughed and pulled out her phone while Ben unlocked the door. They were once again greeted by Ace and Charlotte pacing exuberantly and meowing behind him.

  Ben walked into the kitchen and pulled out his phone while Veronica dropped to her knees by the doorway to be smothered by her lovable puppy.

  “You like having someone to hang out with while I’m gone, don’t you?”

  Charlotte chose that exact moment to pounce onto Veronica’s lap and rub up against her. “And you must love having a woman in the house. I imagine I smell significantly better than Ben does.”

  Ben cleared his throat from the doorway of the kitchen and scowled at her.

  Veronica snickered and pulled herself up off the floor so that she could make her calls.

  A while later, people started arriving at Ben’s place. Upon entering the house, Veronica informed them that nobody was allowed to discuss any cases unless it was a funny story. Anybody that was caught breaking this rule would be forced to take a shot of their least favorite form of alcohol.

  By the time everyone arrived, there were ten people squished around Ben’s dining room table. Cheyenne and Erica had shown up together again so they were sitting next to each other. Jack had come next and he had taken his traditional spot at the head of the table. They always let him sit there because he was the oldest of them and the unofficial “dad” of the group. Blake was at the other end of the table because he was their boss, so he was always given a place of honor. Veronica and Ben were sitting on opposite sides of the table on either side of Jack. Tyler had expertly positioned himself between Veronica and Erica because he had always had a thing for Erica. He usually found a way to sit next to her while they were doing group things, but she never seemed to notice. Natasha was sitting next to Ben, so she could make faces at Veronica every time she caught the two of them staring at each other. Mark had chosen to sit next to her, and the newest rookie, Sam, was sitting next to him.