Coming Back

by Tabitha J Arment

  Ben looked up from his work in time to see Erica and Veronica heading out of the building. He remembered that morning and smirked.

  “She was totally worried about me.”

  Mark lifted his head, “Huh...What?”

  Ben flushed and looked down at his desk. “Nothing.”

  ◆◆◆

  Erica and Veronica did not have any special instructions that day, so they were riding around making traffic stops until a call came in.

  They were almost two hours into their shift when they were called to a pile up on the 51. They were nearby, so it only took them a couple minutes to make it to the scene. When they arrived, they found that the accident had involved three vehicles and two of them were completely totalled. The third card had the front end crushed in a bit, but was otherwise in one piece. It looked like it had been too close to the other cars to avoid the carnage. Within seconds of their arrival, the paramedics also made it to the scene. They checked out the driver from the third vehicle to see how she was doing, and stood by while the fire department continued to work to free the other drivers.

  Erica and Veronica were asked to take witness statements from all of the people who had seen the crash. Most of them were annoyed to be stuck there, but they all told their story. It looked like one car had tried to merge into the HOV lane and wound up bashing into another car. They had both lost control and smashed into the median. The car behind them had not reacted in time to stop. Fortunately, that driver seemed to be completely fine.

  They spent about two hours getting statements from everyone who had seen anything. They also had to get and confirm phone numbers and addresses for everyone, in case they needed to talk to them again.

  After they were done with that, they had to direct traffic away from the closed lanes so that people were not stuck there all day. They also had to supervise when the tow trucks arrived to take the mangled vehicles away. When all of that was over, they still had to wait for the street sweepers to come and clean all of the glass and oil off of the road. In the end, the only evidence that anything had happened on that spot were the fresh skid marks still visible.

  When they were finally able to open up all lanes of traffic and leave the scene, it was well past time for them to eat lunch. They were both aware of the amount of paperwork that went along with accidents like this, so they decided to get something to go and eat while they worked. They hoped that they would be able to finish their paperwork that day so that they would not have to continue working on it the next day.

  Erica suggested they stop at Gyro House and order as many platters of food that they could afford. She knew everyone would be picking off their plates. Plus, having a few people at the station owing her a favor was never a bad thing.

  After setting themselves up in the breakroom with their food and paperwork, the pair got down to business.

  Veronica texted Cheyenne and it turned out she and Ryan had been stuck at the scene of a robbery all day and had not eaten anything either. About ten minutes later, they walked into the break room with their paperwork. They each gave Erica and Veronica some money and the four of them tucked in for a long afternoon of filling out forms. This was a fairly normal occurrence, so when Blake walked in to get some coffee he merely nicked a few kibbi balls and continued on his way.

  They stayed there for as long as they could, but eventually ran out of food and work that could be done without a computer. At which point, they all trudged out to their desks and continued working on trying to finish all the paperwork.

  Erica and Veronica spent the rest of their day inputting data and looking people up. They also had to keep track of what was happening with the drivers in the hospital so they knew what kind of charges to lay on the one who had caused the accident.

  As they got closer to the end of their shift, Veronica would occasionally glance around at the detective’s office to see if Ben showed any signs of wanting to leave. But every time she looked, he was still hunched over his desk rifling through papers and typing into his computer.

  So she kept working.

  She at least pretended to keep working.

  Mostly she sat at her desk trying not to stare a hole into the glass wall of Ben and Mark’s office. The other detectives had all gone home for the day, being exhausted from working all of Ben and Mark’s investigations now. They did not complain because they wanted justice for Nick and all of those women, but things were starting to pile up.

  Veronica wondered how much longer Blake would be able to justify keeping this case a priority if no new leads came up. Every time she saw Blake staring at the detective’s office with an uncertain and concerned expression she knew he was thinking the same thing.

  Forcibly turning her mind away from that topic, Veronica started contemplating her relationship with Ben. It was new and strange, but he made her feel alive.

  She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she did not notice when he stalked up next to her and perched himself on the corner of her desk.

  “Penny for your thoughts?”

  Veronica jumped and met his gaze. “Nothing...just thinking about life.”

  She gave him a meaningful look and a slow smile spread across his face.

  Once he was able to wipe the sappy grin from his face, he spoke again. “Well, your shift ended two hours ago and I’m tired. Why don’t you go change so we can go home?”

  Veronica gave a theatrical sigh and stood up. “If we must.”

  She logged off her computer and said goodbye. Before she left, she made Erica promise to leave within the hour.

  Ben followed her to the locker room then propped himself on his customary spot at the wall. She changed quickly and they left without another word.

  While she was driving back to Ben’s house, she told him about her day. In spite of his best efforts to nod along to the story, Veronica could tell that Ben was mostly tuning her out.

  She was not ready to ask what the problem was yet, so she kept talking. She continued to talk when they made it to his place and while they heated up some leftovers for dinner. She basically gave him a play-by-play of everything that had happened that day.

  Eventually Veronica ran out of things to say, so silence fell over them like a dark cloud. Finally, she stood up and retrieved her wallet. She pulled a penny out of it and sat back down on the couch. Dramatically, she set the penny on the coffee table and slid it across to Ben.

  “Don’t tell me you’re thinking about life.”

  Ben spoke hesitantly, “I promised Mark that I would run an idea by you, but I don’t like it.”

  Veronica waited for him to continue but he did not. “I’m going to keep staring until you start talking.”

  Ben groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “He wants to use you as bait.”

  He lifted his head and met her blank stare.

  “He wants to wire you up and send you to the dump site alone. We would be nearby of course, but if something happened it would take a while for us to get to you.”

  Veronica thought it over for a moment. “The dump site is too obvious. I mean, why would I ever be going there? He’ll know it's a trap. I should go to the cemetery instead. That would seem more normal. Plus, we can have plainclothes cops in the park and the surveillance van could be closer.”

  Ben paled and stammered out, “You are actually considering doing this?”

  She met his gaze levelly. “I’m more than considering it. If this works then it could all be over.”

  Ben sat up straight, “Or you could end up dead!”

  Veronica huffed indignantly. “He hasn’t killed me yet.”

  Ben’s eyes blazed, “No, he’s just played with you, and that got my best friend killed. It also almost killed you as well. I won’t send you into this when we don’t know what his endgame is! You are not invincible!”

  It was Veronica’s turn to have blazing eyes, but she replied with deadly calm. “I am aware of that. And I’m not asking your permission. If you can giv
e me an alternative; great. But until you can give me a viable plan or lead, you don’t get to shoot down this idea.”

  Knowing that he was in the wrong, Ben slumped back into the couch. “Please, let me try everything else first? Give me a few days before you talk to Mark. And if you go in...I’m going to be on the other end of the wire...Please.”

  Veronica slumped next to him. “Okay.”

  Ben grabbed her hand and they held onto each other in silence for a while.

  Veronica turned on How I Met Your Mother in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  After a while, they finally felt the tension leave the room as the relaxed.

  This time, Ben was the first to start nodding off. He argued when Veronica turned the television off and began dragging him up the stairs, but she would have none of it.

  “You’ve slept on couches three times in the last week and a half. You are not 20 years old anymore. You will kill your back if you keep doing it. Especially if you sleep sitting up again.”

  Ben knew that he could not win the argument, so he grudgingly followed her up the stairs and into his bedroom. Half of him desperately wanted to keep working while the other half of him knew that he would not make it through another day if he did not get some decent sleep. He could feel his exhaustion deep in his bones. It was like every cell in his body was screaming at him to lay down and close his eyes.

  Once he finally admitted how tired he was, it became impossible to think about anything else. He changed into a pair of old sweats as fast as he could and then passed out seconds after making it to the bed.

  DAY 13

  When his alarm went off in the morning, Ben found himself curled protectively around Veronica’s form. He tried to imagine what Nick would say to him in that moment. Would he be angry or sad? He wondered if what he and Veronica were doing was wrong. But the more time they spent together, the more he was convinced that there was no reason to worry. For the first time in a year, they were both on their way to being genuinely happy. When he felt Veronica stir as she too began to wake, he rolled off the bed and reached to turn his alarm off.

  They had developed enough of a routine for the morning that there was little discussion as they got ready. They prepared and left the house in an almost mechanical way as they both clutched to-go mugs filled with the life giving liquid they loved so much.

  When they were once again able to make it to the station without any surprises, they began to wonder why their tormentor was giving them a break. Neither one of them were all that keen to find out what he was building up to.

  They did not discuss the conversation they had had the night before, but Veronica did not seek Mark out when they arrived. Instead, she went about her usual business by changing into her uniform and following Erica as they made their way across the building and to their squad car.

  That did not stop Mark from finding her before she and Erica could leave. When Veronica saw him walking towards her with an expectant look on his face, she cut him off before he could speak. She did not want anyone else at the station to hear about his plan. They would all have an opinion about whether or not it was a good idea. Most of them would side with Ben, but she did not agree with them.

  She had promised Ben that she would wait, but she believed this was their best chance.

  She spoke as swiftly and circumspectly as she could manage so as not to raise Erica’s suspicion. “Ben talked to me last night. We’re thinking about it.”

  Mark knew not to push too hard, so he simply nodded his head and went back to the detective's office.

  When Veronica turned back to Erica, she found her wearing a bemused expression.

  “So, you’re ‘we’ people now? That didn’t take long.” When she saw the confused expression on Veronica’s face Erica continued. “‘We would love to come.’ ‘We’ve had a long day.’ ‘We got you this gift.’ ‘We’ people.”

  Veronica looked uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was going. “It's because of this case. And because I’m staying at his house. We’re together all the time”

  Erica gave her an almost pitying look. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I think it’s great. You have been getting so close this past year that it was basically inevitable.”

  Veronica was getting more uncomfortable with every word that Erica spoke. She and Ben had agreed not to overthink what was happening between them, but it seemed that their friends were going to do it for them. This was one of the few downsides of being so close with your co-workers. She nodded noncommittally to Erica and made her way out of the building.

  They did not have any special assignments again, so Veronica had a lot of time to think. In that time, she thought about Ben and Nick, and Mark’s plan. More than anything else, she thought about the man responsible for everything that had happened. His sudden radio silence was unsettling. She wanted to believe that he had stopped because he thought they were getting close to finding him, but realistically she knew that was wishful thinking. All she had to do was look at the desperation in everyone’s eyes to know they were running out of ideas. The “hail Mary” pass that Mark was proposing was another indication. Their subject had other reasons for being so quiet over the last couple days, and Veronica wished she knew what those reasons were. Maybe that was the point. Maybe he wanted to know how crazy the silence would make her. When that thought occurred to her, she became determined not to think about it or him.

  Normal… Normal life. That is what this is all about. He does not get to win.

  She put her stern face on and focused on the calls that were coming over the radio.

  ◆◆◆

  Little did she know, Ben did have another idea. It had occurred to him the night before, whilst he was racking his brain for anything that might stall Veronica becoming bait. He and Mark began checking out local pawn shops to see if any of his mother’s belongings had turned up. He did not expect to find anything, but he knew that he had to try. Most pawn shop owners would answer questions easily. They wanted the cops out of their store as fast as possible so that their inventory was not looked at too closely.

  Ben was starting to contemplate giving up on this idea when something caught his eye. There was a bracelet sitting in one of the cases that he recognized at first sight. His mother had been wearing it ever since her wedding day when her parents had given it to her.

  When the owner gave him the receipt for it, he had a name. Jason Breckstein. For the first time in days, his shoulders started to relax. It was probably a fake name, but it was a name. He confiscated the bracelet as evidence and told the owner to call if ‘Jason’ came back.

  He called Mark and told him to go back to the station. During the drive back, he fought to control the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

  He was moving quickly to the detective’s office when Blake intercepted and summoned him.

  This can’t be good.

  He slowed and changed direction.

  Across the room, Erica was leading a dirt and muck-stained Veronica towards the women’s locker room while she tried not to touch anything or bump into anyone.

  Ben could not help but smirk in spite of his anxiety.

  Looks like someone had to do some dumpster diving today.

  He chuckled internally and then continued towards Blake’s office. Once there, all the anxiety from moments before returned. He had never seen Blake looking so haggard and defeated. Once he sat down, Blake started speaking.

  “I’ve been on the phone all day. My bosses think that I’ve lost my mind. First, I let a patrol cop work a case as a detective. Not to mention the fact that this case killed one of our officers and almost got her killed too. Then, I let two detectives do the equivalent of twiddle their thumbs working the same case without anything to go off of or accomplishing anything. They don’t understand why I’m letting other investigations pile up while you spin your wheels pretending you’re getting somewhere with this case.”

  Ben could see where this was goi
ng so he cut in. “I found something.”

  Blake looked at him in shock.

  “That’s why I told Mark to come back. The day is almost over and I already found what we were looking for. He pawned my mother’s bracelet. We have a name. Jason Breckstein.”

  Blake took charge again. “Have you run the name yet? Did you get any hits?”

  Ben shook his head. “I haven’t had the chance yet. I only just got in.”

  Blake immediately started typing into his computer. After a few moments he pulled back. “Nothing. Either its a fake name, or our profile for him is very wrong.”

  Ben sunk down in his chair. “Damn it.”

  Blake gave him a sympathetic look and leaned back in his chair. “Mark told me about his idea.”

  Ben visibly paled and began to shake his head.

  Blake cut him off before he could argue. “The bosses like it. They want this case closed as fast as possible.They are convinced that this might work.”

  Color came back to Ben’s face as his anger and frustration grew. “Yeah. Dangling Veronica like a worm on a hook is a brilliant idea.” Sarcasm dripped from his tone as he spoke.

  The withering glare he received for that comment was more than enough to shut him up. “We do not dangle our officers anywhere.”

  Blake paused and only continued his speech when Ben nodded glumly. “If we decide to go forward with this plan, she will be protected at all times. I know the situation is difficult, but we have to keep our heads. If you can’t handle it, let me know now. I can’t have you on the case if it is getting to be too much.”