"Man, the lab had nothing. They tried retrieving those deleted files on Murphy's computer with no luck. So unless we find that flash drive, we won't know what was on there." Zeke sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Did you find something good for us yet in all that crap lying on your desk?"
Ben glanced down at the paperwork, sighed, and shook his head no. "I got an interesting phone call from Rina, Zoe's friend." Ben paused, trying to find the right words. "When were you going to tell me Zoe's pregnant?"
Zeke almost fell out of his chair. "Shit. She called you to tell you that. What the hell?"
"No, that's not the reason, but she blurted it out, saying Zoe told her you weren't taking it well. That you don't like the idea of a baby. You have been slightly off today."
"That's not true. I'm over the moon. I can't wait to tell my mom, who's going to freak and hopefully look past the fact we're not married yet. I've been distracted because I got home yesterday and found out she's pregnant. She said she was pissed about it. She doesn't want a baby with me. Now she's stuck with one. Yeah, I'm distracted," Zeke yelled, glancing around, noticing a few people looking at him. "What? What are you all looking at? Mind your business."
Ben frowned at Zeke. "Then keep your voice down. You want the captain to know you're sleeping with a potential witness in our case?"
Zeke took a few deep breaths. "I'm dating her, not just sleeping with her. I'm freaking inside and out, man. The way I feel about her in such a short amount of time should scare me. It doesn't. What scares me is losing her. I don't want to lose her. I feel like I am."
"You need to talk to her then. Talk to her about the baby. Reassure her, make her see this is a good thing. We need to keep her safe. We have issues here."
Zeke knitted his brows in confusion. "What issues? Why did Rina call? Does Dee know? Because, you know, she'll probably cut my balls off. I don't need that worry."
Ben laughed lightly. "I have no idea if she knows. Rina never said if she knew or not. I think it's safe to say that if Rina knows—Dee knows."
Zeke groaned as Ben blew out a breath. "Did you know her ex-boyfriend Mark works at the same office as her?"
"No. I didn't know that. I never asked," Zeke growled.
"He's the same ex-boyfriend who made her feel unworthy enough to go to a bar late at night dressed to kill in a slinky dress," Ben said, gauging Zeke's emotions. They weren't looking good.
"Do you have a point? Other than royally pissing me off that she works close to someone she once dated."
"I need you to keep calm and not go crazy on me," Ben started.
Zeke frowned at him.
"He spoke with her today in the break room. He wanted to try their relationship again. He—"
"Please, Ben. Please don't tell me she's leaving me for that jerk. I can't handle that," Zeke said, quietly, the torture written on his face.
"No, calm down. She told him no. He didn't take that very well and he grabbed her, bruising her arm. Left a mark that Rina saw with her own eyes. She interrupted them. Mark had his fists clenched and she wasn't sure how far he really would've hurt her. He told Zoe she would regret it. It makes me think we might have a suspect in our murder cases."
When Zeke didn't speak, but continued to stare at Ben as he clutched the edge of his desk, Ben said, "We have to take him in. Question him about the murders. Dig deeper into his background. He ditched her over a month ago—not kindly either—and now suddenly wants her back. A missing flash drive. Maybe he thinks she has it. Raise any funny bells to you."
Ben sighed, suddenly worried about his partner. "We need to arrest him. He assaulted her. I need you to say something. You're freaking me out because I expected an extreme outburst here, not calmness."
Zeke continued to stare at him with immense fury pouring from his eyes. With quiet wrath, he said, "I'm just trying not to get up out of my chair and put a bullet through his brain because that's exactly what I want to do right now. Why didn't she call me? Why did Rina call?"
"I don't know why. I'm worried about you. You can't go shooting the guy. Arresting him is entirely a different story," Ben said, standing up from his desk.
Zeke stood up as well. "I want to see Zoe first. I need to see...see what he did."
Ben sighed. "Rina said she went home. Perhaps we—"
"Don't argue with me, Ben. I need to make sure she's okay."
Ben nodded his head. "Okay. Let's go."
Chapter 8
Zoe sat on the bed staring at her arm, a deep red mark already forming. It still wouldn't go away. She had a sick, gut-wrenching feeling it wasn't planning on it either. Zeke would see it, giving her no choice but to tell him.
Why would Mark even hurt her? He had never given the impression that he was a violent man. They worked together for two years before they even started dating. He could be abrupt, sometimes even rude when he worked with people, but never with her. He was a pure gentleman when he stepped out of the office. She dated him for three months before he uttered those disastrous words.
Now, nothing but confusion and fear. Why did he want to get back together? It made no sense.
Zoe turned her head toward the hallway. The front door had slammed closed. Then Zeke's voice floated down the hallway as he called her name.
What was he doing home already? She took a deep breath, pulled down her sleeve to cover the bruise, and walked out of the bedroom to the living room. Ben stood with Zeke when she walked in. Zeke didn't look happy to see her.
"Zoe, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Why are you both here? Do you want me to leave finally? Ben here to throw me out."
Zeke looked shocked, as did Ben. "What are you talking about? The last thing I ever want is for you to walk out that door. I fear it every single minute of the day. I want you in my life. You—and the baby. I couldn't be happier about that. But I know you're not, so it was hard last night to keep in my joy. You said you were pissed that you were pregnant." Zeke paused as he brushed a hand across his jaw. "Is the baby even mine?"
Zoe instantly took a step forward as the temptation to slap him flooded her. "How dare you say that to me? Insinuating I sleep around. Are we back to me being a hooker? You have a funny way of telling me how important I am to you when you keep insulting me in such a manner. If you didn't come to throw me out, well, maybe I should leave on my own."
"It could've been your ex-boyfriend's baby. You broke up with him the same night I met you. How should I know? How close were you with him? He just tried begging his way back into your life today," Zeke snapped, taking a step closer to her. "You keep wanting to leave. If that's what you want to do, I can't stop you. But if that baby is mine, you won't be able to keep me away. I will be a father in that baby's life."
"I slept with him once over two months ago. It's not his. Regardless of what you keep thinking about me, I don't flaunt myself around. One night of insanity apparently gives you that impression. I never date much, to be honest with you, because men don't seem to find me appealing. Not sure what the hell you see in me."
Zoe backed up as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "I wasn't pissed about the baby, I was pissed the damn stick took so long to tell me. That's what I meant by that. It was just taking way too long, the suspense was killing me. I was worried you would hate me for it."
Zoe started to heave deep breaths to keep the tears back. She would not cry in front of him. "You didn't say you were happy. You didn't do anything. You walked out of the room without a word how you felt. What was I supposed to think? I would never keep the baby from you, unless you got physical—that is."
Zeke immediately walked up to her, grabbing her hands. "I would never hurt you. Never. Do you hear me? Never lay one finger on you. My way with words suck. What can I say other than I'm an idiot? I want this baby. I want it with you and I want you to stay."
He glanced down at her arms. "I know Mark asked to get back together with you and I instantly worried you would want to go back to him. We haven't talk
ed much about our past relationships, especially your last one. I know—"
"I would never go back to him. I wouldn't," she whispered.
Zeke let go of her hands and gently cupped her face. "I know he hurt you. I want to kill him for even laying one finger on you."
He gently grabbed her arms. She winced as his hand touched her left arm. He hesitated, then moved her sleeve up. Rage poured from his eyes as he stared at the deep red bruise already forming. She tried to cover it up, but he wouldn't let her.
"Why didn't you call me? Were you going to keep this from me? I'm here to protect you, Zoe. Please trust me."
"I'm scared. Crazy ex, baby unwanted. I figured it would be too much and you wouldn't want me anymore," she whispered.
He let go of her arm, grabbing her face into his soft hands again and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I will always want you no matter how crazy life gets. I want this baby so much. You have no idea."
She smiled tentatively. "Really?"
He kissed her again. "I guess we need to learn how to communicate better. We could have avoided this whole baby argument. I never thought you slept around. You did recently break up with someone. It was a fair question."
"I swear it was only once." She smiled deviously at him as she whispered, "It compared nothing to you. Nothing compares to you."
Zeke pulled her into his arms, embracing her fiercely. "I could take you right now. You mean the world to me." He lowered his mouth, kissing her deeply. Zoe moaned in delight as his tongue tangoed with hers.
A throat suddenly cleared behind them. "I can see you two clearly made up, but we do have a murder to solve."
Zeke pulled away from her, winked, and put his arm around her side. "Sorry, Ben. You know how it is."
Ben shook his head with a smirk plastered on his face. "No, I don't. Never been in love before."
Zoe inhaled sharply.
"Well, maybe you should try it," Zeke said, glancing at her. "I should go. I wanted to make sure you were alright. I never meant to fight with you. I guess we're just good at it."
"Where are you going? It wasn't—"
"Don't you dare say it wasn't a big deal," Zeke interrupted her and gently grabbed her arm, taking care to avoid the bruise. "This is a big deal. He bruised you. I'm going to arrest him. Then I'm going to question him about his whereabouts when Mills and Murphy were murdered."
"You think he killed them," Zoe murmured, a slight tremor running through her body.
Zeke pulled her closer. "He works there. He hurt you. He's capable of violence."
Ben stepped closer to them. "Think about it, Zoe. Over a month ago when he broke up with you—how was his demeanor?"
Zoe cringed, hating to think about it. "He was distant. He wasn't nice about how he dumped me. If I'm honest, it wasn't that great of a relationship. We didn't connect that well. Today he said he had personal issues around that time. I don't know what kind of issues."
"How was he today? Besides the obvious, with grabbing your arm," Ben asked softly.
"He acted sweet, like he cared. He said he made a mistake and that's when he mentioned he had issues. He didn't like my rejection, although I wasn't nice about it. He said he wanted another chance...no...needed another chance. He grabbed my arm. He scared me with the look in his eyes. I told him to let me go and I was seeing someone anyway, that it didn't matter. That's when he squeezed harder," Zoe said, as she started to shake.
"It's okay, honey. Did you tell him who you were seeing? Did you tell him it was me?" Zeke asked.
"No, I didn't say who. I told him to let me go because he was hurting me and he did. I told him I would call the police. That's when he got that really terrifying look on his face. He told me not to call the police or I would regret it. He looked like he was going to advance at me when Rina finally walked in. I didn’t know how I was going to get out of that room," Zoe said, a few tears falling down as she finished. Her voice cracked as well.
Zeke pulled her into his embrace, rubbing her back lightly, as she started to cry. "It's okay, Zoe. He won't hurt you again. I swear it."
"I'm afraid if you lock him up, he'll come back and hurt me. Maybe we should leave it alone," she cried into his chest.
"No, Zoe. I'm not leaving this alone. I'm arresting him for assaulting you. That's final. Don't you see? He was cold, heartless even, when he broke up with you. Now he's acting all sweet, gets angry when you deny him. He could be the one looking for that flash drive. Maybe he thought buttering up to you would work better than stalking you. I won't let him hurt you again. Do you understand me?" Zeke said softly, as he continued to rub her back.
His calming touch always made her feel better. He was doing a remarkable job. She didn't want him to leave.
"You know I can go get him myself. Why don't you stay here with Zoe?" Ben offered.
Zoe sniffed, trying to stop the tears. She pulled away from Zeke, wiping at her eyes. "I don't know why I'm crying like this. I'm normally not this emotional."
Ben laughed lightly. "I'm no expert, Zoe, but I'd have to say it's called being pregnant."
Zoe turned her mouth up in a mild grin. "I guess so. You're probably right. I keep feeling things I normally don't feel. Like the urge to throw up right now." She grabbed her mouth and rushed out of the room.
***
Ben's face went into shock. "Is she going to be okay? Was she kidding?"
Zeke frowned. "I don't think so. You did remind her she's pregnant. I guess that's what happens when you're pregnant."
Ben started laughing loudly. "You are so in for it. I can't wait."
"What's so funny? In for what?"
"Hormones. Nine long months of hormones—raging pregnancy hormones."
Zeke scowled at Ben as he continued to mock him. "Midnight food runs because nothing sounds good to her, hogging of the bed because she needs the space, complaining of every pain imaginable, sensitivity to what you say. Make sure to be absolutely clear when you speak so she doesn't misinterpret anything you say, sort of like what happened last night. Hormones, my friend." He smirked real wide. "And no sex, too. They can't handle it when they're pregnant. Women feel fat or they're going to hurt the baby or—"
"Please stop." Zeke held up his hand, a horrified expression on his face. "Please do not go any further because you have no idea what you're talking about. Absolutely no idea. Since when are you some big expert on having a kid? Oh yeah, you already said you weren't an expert. Plus, you don't have any."
Ben chuckled and crossed his arms like he knew what he was talking about.
"You're right on one thing, though. From now on, I need to be as clear as possible with her. I did walk out of the room, afraid she was angry about it, and I should've just asked her. Could've cleared that whole mess up last night. I hope the crying stops, at least. I can't stand her tears, especially if I'm the cause. They tear my heart to pieces."
"They kinda tore me up, too. I can handle taking care of Mark." Ben grinned lightly. "And I have four sisters. Three have been pregnant before. I know what I'm talking about."
Zeke turned toward the hallway, indecision on his mind. He turned back toward Ben, the pain on his face. "I hate to leave her. I hate to let you go alone because I want to beat that man within an inch of his life."
Ben sighed. "That's probably why you should leave it to me. I might actually let you do it because he deserves it."
"I can handle it. I wouldn't do it no matter how much I want to. I can't afford to lose Zoe by getting myself locked up." Zeke raked a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut in frustration. "I don't want to leave her, though. She seems so fragile right now. I hate this."
A light hand touched his shoulder. He turned slightly to see Zoe. "Please don't worry about me. I'm okay. You should go with. I would hate it if something terrible happened to Ben because you weren't there to back him up."
Ben looked wounded. "Hey, I can handle myself. I don't need lover boy here to be the big man. I could take this Mark guy with
one hand behind my back."
Zoe curled her lips in a gentle smile, while Zeke laughed heartily.
"I don't know, man. My beautiful lady here is one smart cookie. She knows strength...and weakness when she sees it."
"Very true. She's going to bring you to your knees one of these days jamming your weakness. Watch it," Ben retorted with a wicked grin.
Zeke lowered his smile to a glower. "I'm going to bring you to your knees right now."
"Boys, let's calm down. I didn't mean you couldn't handle it, Ben. I'm sure you could—can." Zoe glanced at Zeke. "You have a job to do and I don't want you to worry about me. I'll be fine here. I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?" Zeke asked as nervous energy flowed through him every time she talked about leaving.
"I'm not leaving. I promise." She glanced back at Ben. "You can always ask Dee for help if you can't handle it. She abhors Mark and would gladly knock him on his ass."
Ben chuckled. "No, thanks. She doesn't scare me either."
Zeke's eyes glimmered with laughter. "No, but Rina does."
Zoe looked confused. "Rina scares you? She wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Listen here. That woman scares the pants off me with her quiet tones. It's unnerving," Ben said with a slight tremor.
Zeke smirked. "I could think of another reason she'd scare the pants right off you."
Zoe's eyes bulged out. "You like Rina?" She lightly laughed. "Never mind. That's a dumb question. Everyone likes her. She's gorgeous and doesn’t realize it."
Ben walked closer to her. "Look, Zoe, I know you're with Zeke—and let me tell you, he's one lucky guy. You're gorgeous, too. You made a comment why he would even be interested in you. It's plain to see why he is. Like I said, he's a lucky guy."
"That’s all obvious stuff. I have a gorgeous woman. I am damn lucky. So you like Rina?" Zeke pressed on, a wicked grin on his face.
Zoe blushed lightly at Ben's words as she laughed at Zeke's, while Ben pierced his lips in a perplexed manner. "She's something else. Let's say that." Ben sighed. "She has this sweet, smooth voice on the phone. What am I saying? No, I don't like her."
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