Ben straightened up in his chair. “I’m fine. I can handle this fine. That doesn’t mean that I have to like it.”
Blake seemed to be satisfied by that answer and relaxed. “Okay. You and Mark have one more day. If you don’t have anything concrete by tomorrow, we’re going to have to set up the sting. It’s either that or they go over my head and de-prioritize this case. The step they’ll take after that would be to declare the case inactive again. I don’t like the idea of him getting to walk away for a second time. Especially with Veronica just getting back on her feet again.”
Ben deflated some and nodded. “I guess I better get back to work then.”
When Ben left Blake’s office, he saw Veronica sitting at her desk doing paperwork.
She appeared to be freshly showered and in a different uniform. Spotting him, she rose out of her chair and glided over.
“Do you mind if we stop by a dry cleaner on the way home tonight?”
She tried to act casually, but he needed something to cheer him up, so he riled her up a bit.
“Sure, I noticed you changed. Is there something wrong with the other uniform?”
Ben’s eyes twinkled innocently at her as she scowled.
“We were chasing a guy that tried to hold up a gas station. He tossed his gun into a dumpster and someone had to go in after it. I drew the short straw.”
Ben chuckled. “Meaning, Erica pulled rank on you. Did you at least find it?”
Veronica's scowl deepened as she remembered pulling the item out of the pile of trash. “Yes. It was a freaking fake! I rooted around in a dumpster to find a fake gun! Why couldn’t Jack and Sam have taken the call? That’s what rookies are for!”
In spite of the bad mood the meeting with Blake had put him in, Ben started laughing. He remembered giving a similar speech to Nick back when they were both still on patrol. Veronica and her friends had shown up at the station shortly after that, and he had been thrilled. When Veronica fumbled with her radio while the other three had cowered in the background, he knew they would have fun with this new set of rookies.
“So, what did Blake have to say?” Veronica’s abrupt question pulled him out of his playful moment.
“Huh? What?”
She looked him dead in the eye. “I asked what Blake wanted.”
Ben focused on keeping his breathing even and tried not to flush. “He’s having some political problems.”
As always, Veronica saw right through him. “Meaning, he’s having trouble justifying this investigation. How much time did he give you?”
Ben wanted to soften the blow, but he knew that would not help. “We have to show significant progress by the end of shift tomorrow.”
Veronica took a deep breath to steady herself. She knew what would happen next, but needed Ben to confirm it. “Then they’re gonna declare it inactive again, right?”
Ben shook his head. “No. First they want to try Mark’s idea. I’ve been overruled.”
Veronica tried to hide her enthusiasm for this plan, but he definitely noticed the color return to her cheeks.
“Jesus! You like this, don’t you?! You were hoping I would say that!”
Veronica’s eyes went cold again as she pulled back from him. “I’ve been hoping we would catch this guy. If a sting is the only way that will happen, I’ll happily do it. We talked about this last night. I’m tired of calling him ‘this guy’ or ‘the subject.’ I want a name, a face. And I want him in jail.”
Ben did not back down. “That’s great! I think we would all prefer that you live to see that.”
Before Veronica could unleash her full fury on Ben, they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They looked over to see Erica’s measured gaze turned towards them.
“Maybe not the best time or place.”
Veronica flushed and went back to her desk. She ignored Ben as he moved past her to get to his office. When she heard the door to the detective's office close, she looked up at Erica. “Still think we’re ‘we’ people?”
Erica smiled at her. “More than I did this morning.”
Veronica harrumphed and turned back to her computer.
Ben spent the rest of his day fruitlessly searching for Jason Breckstein. He looked into everyone in their system that had that name. Then he looked into their known associates. After that, he started going through the files of men they already looked at to see if they had ever used that name as an alias.
No luck.
He knew that it had been a slim hope, but he had no other ideas at this point.
Mark had long since gotten annoyed with all the pointless searching and had begun putting together the resources they would need for the sting when Ben came up empty.
The air in the detective's’ office was filled with so much tension that the other detectives had all found excuses to flee the room.
Ben noticed a couple of them stop by Veronica’s desk and say something to her before continuing on their way. He was determined not to think about her anymore, so he pushed his curiosity to the back of his mind. This became increasingly more difficult as he felt her gaze turned towards him more and more frequently.
He had planned on staying late again, but Veronica had other ideas. The moment that her shift ended, she rushed to the locker room and quickly changed. When she entered the detectives’ office and approached Ben, anger was rolling off of him in waves. When his cold eyes met hers she grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room.
Ben followed Veronica without a word because he did not trust himself not to start yelling again. When she led him to her SUV and opened the back door he was more that slightly confused. But he climbed into the back seat and scooted over to the other side so she could slide in after him.
Once the door was closed Veronica turned to face Ben.
“So, apparently I owe you an apology. At least, that’s what everyone has been telling me. I think they’re wrong. I think, if I owe you anything, it’s an explanation.”
She paused and met Ben’s gaze.
“Feel free to begin that explanation any time you want.”
Veronica huffed and continued, “I want to do this sting. But...I want you to be there the whole time. I know that if you are there, nothing will happen to me. If there is anyone in this world that I trust to keep me alive, it’s you. In spite of what you seem to think I do want to live. In case you hadn’t noticed, I do have a few things worth living for.”
For the first time since he and Veronica had fought, Ben allowed himself a half smile.
Taking this as encouragement, Veronica moved closer to him and took his hand. “I want to be able to move on. Until he’s caught, there is always going to be a chance that he’ll come after me. Once he’s in jail, we never have to think about him again. We can just...live.Which was the whole point of my going back to work in the first place, right?”
Ben knew that he should not take advantage of the moment, but there were some things that they needed to talk about. As long as she was feeling forthcoming, he would keep pushing.
“The point was for your life to go back to normal. Well, things haven’t exactly been normal lately.”
Veronica feigned ignorance and thought for a moment. “Yeah. Riding with Erica has been a little strange, but I like it. We get on well together.”
Ben scowled at her and used their connected hands to pull her closer.
She was nearly on top of him at this point.
“You know what I’m talking about.”
She sobered upon seeing the pleading look in his eyes. “I do. You’re talking about this.” She gestured to their position as she perched in his lap.
“Erica said that we were inevitable. I’m not sure what I think of that, but I am glad that this is happening. I’m 28 years old. I’m way too young to turn into an old crone and I wouldn't’ want to. I used to think it would feel wrong to be with anyone other than Nick, but it doesn’t. It feels... amazing. I feel alive for the first time in a year. I know tha
t sounds cheesy, but I don't know how else to describe it. I’m happy. And I think you are too.”
Ben knew he was not going to get any more out of her so he did not try. Instead, he pulled her down into a kiss that was filled with all of his desperation to protect her and his joy at being able to kiss her. He had never been good with words, so he let his actions speak for him. He filled his kiss with all of the feelings that he did not know how to articulate.
Veronica wound her arms around his neck and melted into the kiss.
They remained happily entwined until they heard a tap on the windows.
Veronica jumped off Ben’s lap and fell into the seat next to him. She spun in the direction the noise had come from and found Erica, uncomfortably shifting on her feet.
“Also not the time or place.” She looked pointedly towards the building.
They saw Blake crossing the parking lot to get to his car.
Erica awkwardly shuffled off to her car while Ben and Veronica straightened their clothes before moving to the front seats.
◆◆◆
Not another word was spoken as Veronica drove them to Ben’s house. They had both been strongly considering continuing their activities from earlier, but they saw Natasha’s Prius idling in front of Ben’s house.
When Natasha eagerly jumped out of her vehicle, Ben shook his head before dropping into it into his hands and groaning. “You need to call her more often!”
Veronica wanted to laugh, but she was feeling as frustrated as he was.
Ben lifted his head and dropped one of his hands down to her knee. “Get rid of her,” he growled out as he slid his hand up her leg.
Once she was good and flustered, he got out of the car, nodded at Natasha, and went into the house.
After regaining her composure, Veronica exited the vehicle. As she walked towards Natasha, Veronica tried to think of an excuse to get her best friend back in her car and on her way as quickly as possible. She was never able to finish planning because Natasha cut her off.
“I don’t care what you’re about to say. You have spent way too much time locked in this house lately, so we are going out. You may not try to get out of this. You may not complain. You will have fun. I already called Cheyenne and Erica and they’re coming too. Now, go say goodbye to Benny Boy and remind him that he will go to jail if he shoots me.”
Veronica studied Natasha to see if there were any signs that she might waiver but did not find any. Without a word, she turned and walked through the front door.
Ben was on the couch eating leftover pizza and drinking beer.
“I’m being kidnapped.”
Ben put his food and drink on the coffee table. “I know.”
He slumped back into the couch as she approached him.
She knelt in front of him and spoke under her breath. “I promise I’ll make it up to you later.”
He leaned forward, “You better.”
They shared a brief kiss then Veronica pulled away. She said goodbye to him and the animals and then left the house again.
Natasha was smirking at her when she got outside.
“He said he’ll have to think of another way to get back at you.”
Natasha took in the state of her smudged lip gloss and smirked again. “Sure he did.”
Veronica blushed and walked past her to Natasha’s car.
Veronica did not speak to Natasha while they were in the car.
It only took about five minutes for Natasha to comment. “You can sulk all you want right now, but promise me that you’ll at least try to have fun tonight.”
Veronica remained silent for a moment longer and then breathed out a single word. “Fine.”
Satisfied that Veronica would not continue with the sour mood all night, Natasha focused back on the road. They made a quick stop to pick Erica and Cheyenne up.
“Will someone at least tell me where we’re going?”
Natasha was the only one to respond. “Done with the silent treatment then? As your punishment for pouting you don’t get to know.”
Veronica slouched farther down in her seat and relapsed back into silence.
Knowing that Veronica had never been a fan of surprises, Natasha chuckled and kept driving. It was not long before she pulled them into a parking lot and Veronica found that she was smiling in spite of herself.
She had always loved The Salty Sow because of their delicious honey and rosemary fried chicken.
When Natasha caught her smiling, she broke out into a smirk of her own. “I told you that you would have fun tonight.”
Veronica sent her a cheesy grin and exited the car. In truth, she was starving and willing to put off arguing with her friend until she had eaten something.
It only took a short while for them to get a table. They had all been there many times before so none of them needed to look at the menu.
While they were waiting for someone to take their order, Natasha decided that some rules were in order. “Okay, this is how it’s gonna be. No talking about work unless you have a funny story. No talking about Ben in any capacity other than boy toy. No talking about crazy, stalking killer dude at all. Got it?”
Nobody had any objections to those rules so they all quickly agreed.
“Okay! Now that that’s settled; Veronica, do you mind explaining why Ben was so … frustrated when I stole you away?”
Veronica flushed a deep red and took a sip of her water.
Before Natasha had a chance to pry any further, Veronica was saved by the waitress arriving at the table. She was blonde and eager with such vividly green eyes that Veronica was sure they had to be contacts. She was smiling and cheerful in a way that can only be faked, so Veronica had a hard time liking her. She knew the girl was probably trained to be pleasant all the time for her job, but she had never trusted people like that.
They all quickly ordered their drinks and food and then sent her on her way.
Veronica saw Natasha turn towards her again and was surprised when Erica cut her off. She was relieved for a moment, but Erica’s words quickly ended that.
“I think we all know why Ben wanted Ronnie to himself tonight. You should have seen the way they were going at it in the back seat of her car at the station.”
Everyone else looked utterly shocked, but Erica seemed proud of herself. When she caught sight of Veronica’s livid expression she did not back down for a moment. “What? For once I’m the one with dirt on someone! You didn’t expect it not to come up, did you? If you didn’t want to be teased you should have saved it until you got home. Although...Tasha would have already been there, so I guess you were screwed either way. Or...I guess not screwed would be the proper wording in this case.”
Hearing such a speech come from Erica shocked them all so much that Veronica burst out laughing. Once she started laughing, it was not long before the others joined in.
Natasha, Cheyenne and Erica continued to tease Veronica about Ben until their food arrived. Once they had something else to focus on, they decided to give her a reprieve.
While they were eating, they talked about movies, television shows, books and celebrities. They kept the topics light and fun because they were all in need of a night with absolutely no stress in it. They laughed and drank and laughed some more. A good time was had by all, but when the check came Veronica found herself looking forward to going home to Ben.
That hope was dashed when Cheyenne stood up and exclaimed, “Check’s paid! Off to our next stop!”
She caught the disappointment flash across Veronica’s face and laughed. “Ronnie, would you relax? You can go spend time with your boyfriend later.”
Veronica flushed and leaned down to grab her bag while she mumbled, “He’s not my boyfriend.”
Natasha jumped on that comment in about half a second. “Not your boyfriend? What exactly is he then?”
Veronica flushed an even deeper red. “I don’t know...it’s new.”
Natasha could not help but laugh at that comment. “Wel
l, Cheyenne’s right. You can go spend time with your new ‘not boyfriend’ later.”
Veronica grumbled something under her breath and walked out to the car.
The other three laughed and followed after her.
Ten minutes later they pulled into another parking lot and Veronica looked around to see where she had been taken this time.When she recognized their surroundings Veronica burst out laughing.
“Wow! You guys are going for the nostalgia factor tonight, aren’t you?”
Cheyenne suddenly looked innocent. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just need a new outfit.”
Veronica noticed everyone else watching Cheyenne as she steadfastly stared out the window.
Veronica narrowed her eyes studying Cheyenne’s purposefully blank expression.
“You’re hiding something...and it's not just the kidnapping plans that you all made tonight. You have a date!”
Cheyenne started rubbing her forehead as she tried not to meet anyone’s eyes. “What!? Uh...no…”
Natasha spun exuberantly around in her seat. “Save it. You’ve never been a good liar. YOU HAVE A DATE! Why didn’t you tell us!? Now we really need to be here!”
With that, Cheyenne turned bright red and all of the women piled out of the car. They were all laughing and joking with Cheyenne as they entered ‘A Second Look’.
When they got inside, Cheryl, one of the managers rushed forward. “Hi, girls! It’s been so long since we’ve seen you! What are we looking for tonight?”
They pushed Cheyenne forward and she stammered out, “Well, uh...I have this um…date coming up. I kinda want a new outfit.”
Cheryl hugged Cheyenne and they all started looking through the racks.
This was why they always waited to go to ‘A Second Look’ at night. The store was never busy so the employees were always more relaxed and had more time to help out. Veronica and Cheyenne had started shopping there during their first year on the force.
The rookies had been doing their first John sweep and needed costumes so they could pass as hookers. None of them had anything, or any money to spare, so they had ended up at the consignment store near Erica’s old apartment. They went back every chance they could for years. Cheryl had been working there the entire time, so they all knew her. She and a few of the others had even been invited to Veronica and Nick’s wedding.
Coming Back Page 19