She laughed.
“Absolutely not. He may have started leaving me notes again, but so far he hasn’t even threatened to start actively killing.”
Greg smiled what Veronica was sure he believed was a warm and inviting smile, but all she could think of was a Ken doll.
“Okay, if this man is as harmless as you say he is, why such a push to find him all of a sudden? After all, this case has been inactive for months now.”
“Well Greg, although it seems he’s lost his drive to kill, we would all very much like to see him behind bars for his previous crimes. For the first time since his last kill, he’s giving us something to work with. Now that we have new evidence, I’m confident we’ll find him.”
Veronica started sweating as she prayed no one could tell how much she was bluffing.
If Greg noticed, he gave no sign of it. “You said he seems to have lost his drive to kill. For a man who was so...prolific in the past, what do you think happened to change things for him?”
Veronica let out another laugh that she hoped nobody noticed was fake.
“Truthfully speaking, I think he’s scared. We almost found him last time. Basically, what the killer is doing right now is the equivalent to a child throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get his way. The only reason that he is so fixated on me is because I helped to find his dumping ground last year.”
Greg nodded. “What exactly is he doing these days.”
Veronica plastered on another fake smile as she saw Mark urging her on in the background. “Oh, he takes pictures of me and leaves me little notes and presents. Your basic stalker stuff.”
Greg nodded and spoke again. “You sound pretty laid back about all of this. Are you not afraid at all?”
Veronica knew this was the best thing Greg could have asked. Without any hesitation she responded, “Not even a little bit.”
At this comment, Mark was sure that they had enough to thoroughly piss off their subject. He moved around behind Veronica and signalled Greg to wrap it up. Greg took the hint and thanked Veronica for taking the time to talk to him. He filmed a quick outro and they all said their goodbyes.
They went back to Blake’s office together to let him know that the interview was over.
Mark was giddy about how well it had gone. “You should have seen her talking to Greg. She never hesitated. She was smiling and laughing. Oh, and some of the things she said...I will be genuinely shocked if our guy doesn’t show himself tomorrow.”
Neither Blake nor Veronica were nearly as exuberant as Mark was, but they were both glad it went well. They quickly went over what the plan was for the next day and worked out what Blake and Veronica would say to each other in the parking lot. Once that was done, Blake dismissed them again and with a haggard expression went back to filling out paperwork.
Feeling drained by the difficult day she had had, Veronica could think of nothing better than to strip out of her uniform and go home. She went to the locker room and quickly changed into her normal clothes. Then she went over to the detective’s office to beg Ben to leave on time so that she could get out of there.
Erica had already stopped by to let him know what happened, so he made sure he was ready to go once he saw the interview was over. They made a quick and silent trip back to Ben’s house.
Neither one of them was up to doing anything or talking much that night so they heated up leftovers and hung out watching TV in the living room with their pets.
Knowing the next day was going to be long and stressful for both of them, they agreed to have an early night. At around 9 PM, they dragged themselves up the stairs to Ben’s room. Curled up together in bed, they both drifted off as they tried not to think about the various ways that tomorrow could end.
◆◆◆
They think they’re so clever. Well...it won’t be long before they realize that I’ve been running this the whole time. I’ll let them think they’ve had their victory and then it will begin.
DAY 15
The next morning, Ben and Veronica broke their normal routine to watch the interview as it aired. Veronica studied Ben’s face to gauge how likely they were to get in a fight before leaving for work. She did not take it as a good sign that his face was totally unreadable.
As the recording of her on the screen laughed and made light of the whole situation, Veronica cringed and waited for Ben to explode.
Finally, he spoke. “Well...looks like you did well.”
Veronica was dumbfounded at his lighthearted response.
Ben turned to her wearing a serious expression. “I’m trying really hard not to be an overprotective jackass today. We’ve also talked about this enough that I know that’s not how you actually feel.”
With the least stressful part of their day over, Ben and Veronica prepared themselves for what was to come.
Veronica took extra time saying goodbye to Ace and Charlotte as they were going out the door. Ace seemed confused by the extra hugs and kisses while Charlotte took on the air of a cat who was mildly affronted by the extra attention it was not looking for.
Ben and Veronica drove to the station in an awkward silence.
When they finally parked, Veronica took a deep breath and turned to Ben. “I know that you’re not happy about what’s happening today. I want to thank you for supporting me.”
Ben leaned towards her and brushed some hair behind her ear. “I know I’ve been extremely vocal about not liking this plan, but none of that matters now. All that matters is making sure that we keep you safe.”
Veronica glanced around the parking lot and then leant forward to catch him in a light kiss. When they broke apart, her lips were still close enough that they brushed his as she spoke. “Let’s go finish this.”
Ben grinned and resisted the urge to continue the kiss. “Absolutely.”
Veronica sent a text to Blake to let him know they were headed in.
As agreed upon the day before, Blake exited the building as soon as he received her text and began the argument. “Veronica. I’m glad I caught you. Com see me in my office before you change into uniform.”
Veronica pretended to be confused, “What’s this about, Howard?”
Blake hesitated and put on a guarded expression. “It would be best if we spoke in my office.”
Veronica passed her uniform and bag to Ben who was awkwardly standing to the side.
“Do you mind taking these in for me?”
Ben glanced between her and Blake who was looking more uncomfortable by the second and nodded.
Once he was inside, Veronica turned back to Blake. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer to do this out here. Your office has glass walls and I have a feeling I’m not gonna want anyone watching this.”
Blake was silent for a moment as he pretended to consider the best way to break the news to her. “I got a call from my superiors this morning. They think I was a bit hasty letting you return to work. They’ve decided, with everything that has happened, you are to be placed on leave again. You will remain on leave pending a full psychiatric evaluation.”
Veronica pretended to argue with him. “How can they do this? I’ve jumped through every hoop necessary. I’ve been doing my job well. Did they see the interview? I’m fine!”
Blake’s cautions demeanor fell and his frustration began to show. “Frankly speaking, that interview only hurt your case. You volunteered for an interview that would be broadcast on the news without speaking to our PR liaison. And to top it off, you acted like this whole thing's a game. People have died and you were laughing!”
Veronica began shouting back at him. “I know people have died! He blew up my home with Nick still inside! I lost my child!”
Blake backed off, knowing they were reaching dangerous ground and not wanting to actually hurt her. “And in light of all of that, my superiors do not believe that you are currently fit for duty.”
Veronica fished her badge out of her pocket. “You think I’m not fit for duty? Fine! I’m through trying t
o prove myself to you people!” She threw her badge at Blake and returned to her vehicle. Then sped out of the lot and away from the station.
Veronica drove on autopilot to the cemetery. At every red light, she prepared for the rest of her day. She pulled a case out of her glove compartment and removed the equipment. First, she slipped the small GPS tracking device under a strap in the leather cuff that was always on her wrist. Once it was secure and not visible, she moved on. At a light that was notorious for being particularly long, she unravelled the cord to the microphone and reached under her shirt to put it in place. Fortunately, she had remembered to wear a loosely fitting top that draped low over her backside to hide the bulk of the cord and battery pack. Once that was taken care of, all she had to do was turn on her ear wig and place it during her next stop.
Almost the moment that the wig was in her ear, she heard Blake on the line. “Well done Veronica. The PCs are already in place. Ben took the back way out while we were talking. He made it to the surveillance van a moment ago and joined Mark and Erica. They’ve all got your back and your badge is waiting for you when this is over.”
Veronica smiled, “Thanks boss.”
It did not take her much longer to reach the cemetery and find a parking space. She knew not to look for the van or acknowledge the other people milling about. Instead, she went straight to Nick’s grave and lowered herself to the ground in front of it.
Let the waiting game begin.
Throughout the day, she pretended to have a heartfelt conversation with the headstone in front of her. Had anyone been close enough to hear her, they would have been utterly confused as she was actually chatting with the people listening to the feed from her microphone. She had Ben, Mark, and Erica in the surveillance van and Blake at the station. Even Jack, Tyler, and Ryan commented every once and awhile as they drifted in and out of the station. It became a game to see if any of them could make her laugh. Veronica was proud of herself for never letting her amusement with their antics show outwardly. The various plainclothes cops in the cemetery were listening to the conversation as well, but mostly remained silent.
Several hours later, Veronica was beginning to think that they were wasting their time. She was about to voice this opinion when she heard Mark come over the line.
“We’ve got an unknown male making his way towards you.”
Veronica did not let this get her excited as they’d had a few other people pass through the area with no results already. Two minutes later, she could hear the crunch of his shoes on the grass as the man came closer to her. After a moment, she saw a thin asian man with several tattoos come around the side of Nick’s grave.
When he stopped and looked right at her, Veronica held her breath. The unknown man glared down at her as she discreetly shifted her weight preparing to defend herself.
Already, she could hear Mark urging the PC officers to start moving in closer. She could imagine Ben’s stiff posture and Erica’s shifty gaze move towards the door of the van as they contemplated diving out of it.
Finally, the stranger in front of her spoke. “You think you’re so smart.”
As he reached into his pocket, Veronica lunged and tackled him to the ground. She could see the knife that he had retrieved from his pocket and worked to get it away from him.
In the scuffle that ensued, her earwig fell out, but she could still hear Ben’s tiny voice yelling for everyone to move in. Before she knew it, She was surrounded by officers with their guns drawn.
The man looked around and froze; confusion clear on his face.
Confusion was quickly replaced by terror as he counted the amount of guns currently trained on his skull. He was wrenched away from Veronica and placed into handcuffs. The man was raving that there must have been some kind of a mistake and it was all a joke.
Veronica stopped listening as she watched him being dragged to a cruiser that had pulled into the lot during the fight. Because she was entirely uninterested in how he would attempt to talk his way out of this. She wanted nothing more than to have Ben hold her as she came down from her adrenalin rush, but knew that was not possible.
Neither he, Mark, or Erica would be able to leave the surveillance van until it had been driven to a secure location. That way the department would be able to continue using it during their undercover operations.
Veronica searched for her earpiece hoping to at least be able to hear his voice. After a few minutes of looking through the slightly overgrown grass, she found the remnants of it which had obviously been trampled during the commotion. Rather than borrow a radio from one of the many officers around her, she asked the nearest one to radio in that she was heading back to the station and she ran to her car. She was definitely not following the speed limit as she drove.
When Veronica entered the building, she found that everyone was celebrating.
Jack was grinning and dancing around with Cheyenne. Blake was happily laughing from the doorway of his office. Across the room, she could see the glass wall of the detective’s office. They were all clapping and cheering, but she could not see Ben or Mark among them.
She was beginning to think that she must have beaten them there, when she saw Tyler swinging Erica around in a bear hug. When Tyler let go and Erica turned to face her, Veronica lifted her eyebrows in an attempt to recreate Erica’s mocking expression. Erica simply gave it back to her and then shifted her gaze in the direction of the interrogation rooms.
Veronica knew what Erica was referring to. Before anyone could pull her into their celebration, she darted around the edges of the room. Rather than the actual interrogation room, she slipped into the first observation room, remembering that she had taken Ben there recently.
The moment that the door was closed, Veronica found herself pushed up against it. She could feel Ben dragging his hands across her body.
It took her a moment to realize that this was not passion; he was checking her for injuries. She quickly grabbed his hands and held them between their bodies.
“Hey. I’m fine. He didn’t even get a swing in.”
Ben leaned into her and caught her lips in a searing kiss. She returned the kiss and soon found his hands running down her sides and sweeping low to cup her butt. There was no mistaking his intentions this time. Ben pulled away momentarily and looked like he was going to say something, but Veronica tangled her hands in the hair and the nape of his neck and tugged him back down to her.
For several minutes, the only sound in the room was then breathing and the rasping of their clothes rubbing together. Ben was supporting all of Veronica’s weight as they leaned against the wall so she brought her legs up and wrapped them around his waist. As shirts were yanked up and buttons were loosened, they realized how close they were to having sex in the office and simultaneously broke the kiss.
Veronica removed her hands from Benn’s zipper and dropped her legs. Ben lowered her to the ground and stepped back. They both took a moment to straighten their clothes and hair.
Ben was the first to speak, “Well...it appears we should not celebrate alone while we’re here.”
Veronica nodded as she regained control of her breathing. “Maybe we should join the festivities outside.”
They gave each other a quick once over to make sure they looked normal and then exited the room.
The moment Cheyenne saw her, Veronica found herself in a rib crushing hug. She let it last as long as she could bare and then extricated herself.
Mark appeared at her side and they fist bumped.
Blake allowed the rejoicing in his squad room to continue for nearly an hour before he reminded everyone that the day was not yet over and they all had jobs to do.
Jack announced that they would be celebrating at the bar after shift for anyone who wanted to join.
It was decided that Ben could not be involved in the suspect’s interrogation, so he went back to his desk to dig into the man’s past. So far, he had not even given his name, so Ben had a long night of flipping through mug
shots ahead on him until the suspect talked.
Veronica retrieved her badge from Blake and they agreed that there was not enough time in her shift left to make it worth changing into uniform and going out.
As boring as she found it, she volunteered to finally catch up on all of her paperwork. For the next three hours, Veronica pretended to be focusing on her job as she tried not to stare at the interrogation room door.
She was desperate to know if Mark had gotten him to talk yet. At the very least, she wanted to know his name. So far, it did not look like Mark was having any luck. Every time she looked into the detective’s office, she saw Ben wearing a glazed over expression as he leafed through a binder.
Before her shift ended, Veronica heard Ben shout. She looked up to see him practically skipping to the interrogation room and knocking on the door.
Mark opened it and took a piece of paper that Ben handed him. Mark scanned it and smiled as he closed the door again.
With that, all pretence of being on task evaporated.
Knowing that her shift was nearly over anyways, Veronica stopped by her locker to pick up her things and then joined Ben in the detective’s office.
“So, care to explain the excitement?”
Ben spun in his chair to face her and let loose a smile that made the whole room glow. “I finally found him! His name is Eric Hannaman. He finished up a year long stint for criminal negligence with a weapon last month.”
Ben’s enthusiasm was contagious.
Veronica grabbed Eric’s file and started bouncing as she skimmed through it. “We finally have a name!”
Her bouncing came to an immediate halt as she kept reading. “He was arrested for firing his gun into the air? That’s just...stupid. It even says here that a cop witnessed it. Are you telling me that the guy we’ve been chasing for over a year now was dumb enough to fire off his weapon in front of a cop?”
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