by S. J. Bishop
"Jeez, Treena. It was a long time ago. It was nothing like that, okay? I was..." I pulled my shirt over my head. Treena was finally getting dressed. "We were only together a few times, alright? It didn't mean anything. I was mad at Penny for fucking Mason, so I went out to a bar and found someone to fuck too."
"You said it happened a few times," she persisted. She was starting to irritate me now.
"Yes, a few times." I paused, and she took the opportunity to pounce. Her detective brain in full swing now.
"There's more, isn't there? You're not telling me something."
"It's nothing," I said, trying to get around her. She was blocking the doorway out of her room. Every time I stepped left, she stepped left. If I stepped right, she stepped right. Finally, I wrapped my hands around her waist, picked her up, and set her back down on the other side of me, away from the door. She squealed as I made a beeline for it.
"Jax!" she shouted, running after me. I was out of her room and searching for my shoes now. I sat on the edge of her couch, tying the laces on one of my sneakers. The other one was still hiding. Treena dropped into my lap, straddling me. She lowered her mouth to mine and pressed it firmly against me. I resisted at first, but her tongue had a magical way of working my lips apart. Before I knew it, we were rolling around together on her couch. When I came up for air, she batted her lashes at me.
"So, what else do I need to know about you and Emily?" she asked. I couldn't help laughing.
"You are devious, do you know that?"
"Whatever it takes to get the job done."
I sighed. "Okay. Emily was crazy about me. I didn't realize it at first. I thought we were just having fun. Then she started talking about marriage and kids and all this stuff. I wasn't even divorced from Penny yet. So I ended things."
"How'd she take it?"
"Not well," I admitted.
She bit her lower lip, thinking. "I've gotta be at work soon," she said. "I need time to process this. Are you gonna be... um, okay?"
"You mean the drinking?" She nodded, still biting her lip. "Yeah. I think so." Though I had to admit, I wasn't at all certain. My mind was already trying to rationalize my picking up a fresh bottle of something on my way home. It had been a long time since I'd had any whiskey. "I'll call Caden," I told her.
Satisfied, she went to the window and looked out. "You weren't followed here last night, were you? By reporters?"
"I don't think so. I have a vague recollection of taking a bus here, hiding my bottle in a paper bag like a wino. I doubt any reporters would have been looking for me at a bus stop. And at that time of night, no one on a New York bus is gonna care who I am."
"Do you need a ride home?" she asked.
"Nah. I'll call a cab."
I walked Treena to her car and kissed her goodbye just as the cab was pulling up. Once inside the car, I dialed Caden. His gruff voice answered after two rings.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey."
We sat on the phone in silence for what felt like a full minute before I could find the words I needed. "I'm sorry. You were right. I'm out of control. I... I need help."
Caden took a deep breath and let it out. "Thank God. I was worried you might not come to your senses until it was too late. I'll be over as soon as I can. Hang tight until then." He paused. "And Jax, don't do anything stupid."
28
Treena
I stood outside Captain Murphy's door.
"Open!" he called.
I turned the knob and entered his mid-size office. He was sitting behind his massive desk; a picture of his daughter hung on the wall behind him. His head was bent low looking at some papers. He glanced up when I came in.
"Walker," he barked. "What is it?" He didn't mince words.
"Captain," I said, closing the door. I'd thought carefully about just how to approach him. I knew I couldn't go to Anderson with my suspicions. He was screwing my new main suspect in Penny's murder. But that didn't mean it would go over much better with Captain Murphy. Still, I had no one else to turn to just now.
"Captain," I repeated. I clasped my hands together to hide the shaking. "New evidence has come to light in the Jax Ryder case."
That got his attention. His head snapped up. "Did the DNA results come back?"
"No, not yet."
"Then what is it?" he asked, returning to his papers. For someone who was supposed to be in charge of an entire police department, he seemed rather disinterested in what I had to say.
"Well, sir, it's a little delicate. It involves an officer."
This time when his head snapped up, his body came with him. He rose from his chair, and I felt myself wanting to inch away from him. I forced my feet to stay planted where they were.
"Explain yourself," Captain Murphy said. "What officer? Someone in this department?"
I nodded. "Emily Hope."
He scoffed, tossing the pen he was still holding onto the desk. "Emily Hope is a damned fine officer."
"Yes, but I've become aware of a previous relationship she had with Jax Ryder. One that she failed to make me aware of when starting this investigation." My stomach churned slightly. I knew it was hypocritical of me to rat Emily out for not mentioning her relationship with Jax, but I had to make Captain Murphy understand the seriousness of this information.
"You’d better watch yourself, Detective," Captain Murphy said. His eyes had turned to black slits, and his mouth was curled up in a grimace.
"Sir, my suspicions are—"
"You stop right there, Walker. I don't give a good goddamn fuck about suspicions. Not when it comes to pointing the finger at another cop. Before you start accusing people in your own department of committing a crime, you better damned well have something more than suspicion to back it up with. You don't come into this office again without hard evidence. Do you understand that?"
"But, sir—"
He grabbed a book off his desk and smacked it against the desktop, hard enough to rattle the oak and knock over an empty coffee cup. "You DO NOT mess with another cop unless you're sure you're right, you got that, Detective Walker?" He spat my name from his mouth like it left a bad taste there.
"Got it, sir," I said, wishing now that I'd never come in here.
"Officer Hope has a lot of friends in the department. She's a good person and an even better cop, so you watch what you say about her."
I opened my mouth to speak, my question forming at the back of my throat even as my brain pled with me to stop. "If Officer Hope is so such a great cop and has so many friends, then why hasn't she made detective yet?"
"Officer Hope is exactly where her friends want her, and if you want to have a future in this department, you'll drop this matter. Now." He took his seat and resumed leaning over his desk at whatever paperwork was currently consuming his time. I took that as my dismissal.
I left the captain's office shaken, but I couldn't let anyone see that. Show no weakness. I saw Anderson through the glass door of the break room pouring a fresh cup of coffee. Instead of turning tail and running, I rolled my shoulders back and held my head high. I plastered a smile on my face that I wasn't feeling and approached him with what I hoped was a friendly manner.
"Hi," I said, grabbing an empty mug. He looked up at me and blinked.
"Hello," he replied.
I watched as he held the sugar pourer over his mug for a full thirty seconds. He must've dumped about a half cup of sugar into his mug. The man had a serious sweet tooth. "Can I grab some of that?" I asked, reaching my hand out for the sugar.
He pushed the container toward me, and I filled my own mug. "Maybe I should make a mug for Emily too. How does she like it?" I asked him, feigning innocence with the question. Really, I was just waiting for the right opportunity to question him. I knew I couldn't tell Anderson my suspicions, but maybe I could get some answers out of him without him knowing I was asking any questions.
"How should I know?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, my bad. I
thought you and Emily were pretty close. That's all."
"What makes you think that?"
"Just something she said," I shrugged. "About an old boyfriend who she is still hung up on." Anderson's face turned crimson. The creamer that he'd been holding in his hand burst, spraying his face with white.
"She didn't say that," he muttered, looking at me with darkening eyes.
Suddenly it occurred to me that Emily might not be my only new suspect.
"Sure she did. Didn't she recently break up with someone? I thought it might be you, but I guess I was mistaken."
Anderson's eyes were two pools of black.
"Sorry if I upset you," I continued. "I guess it must've been a bad break up, huh? I don't suppose you know—"
"Why are you asking so many questions about Emily?" he demanded.
"I was just making conversation," I replied. "You and I got off on the wrong foot when I started. I thought maybe—"
"Well, stop. Whatever it is you're thinking or doing. Just stop." He brushed past me, leaving his coffee on the counter. I watched him stop at Emily's desk. Her head snapped toward me, and I wanted to crawl into a hole. Shit. I was an idiot. What if Captain Murphy said something to Anderson now, too? I was making more enemies here than friends.
Emily stomped into the break room and shut the door. "Why are you asking Keith about me?" she said. "What's this crap about an old boyfriend?"
"I was just trying to get to know him better," I said. "Both of you." She stared hard at me.
"You know about me and Jax, don't you?"
There was no point in denying it. "Yes. I do."
"Well, unless you want me to start spouting off about the two of you, I'd keep my mouth shut." Her face was flushed, and I could see droplets of spittle flying out of her mouth. I stepped back so they wouldn't hit me, and suddenly, the world started to spin.
"Treena?" Emily asked. "Treena?"
But it was too late. The world was spinning, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I just hoped I didn't crack a tooth when I hit the floor. Then the lights went out, and I stopped thinking altogether.
29
Jax
I opened my front door, surprised to see Coach standing there. "Coach Allen," I said.
"You can call me Greg," he told me as I swung the door wide for him. He stepped into my house and shook off his jacket. "Were you expecting someone else?" he asked when he registered my perplexed expression.
"Caden Scott," I told him. "He said he'd drop by today."
"From the New England Patriots?"
"The one and the same."
"I forgot the two of you were friends. It's good you've got a support system around you right now. That's one of the things that brings me here, actually."
We made our way into my living room. I gave Coach the comfy sofa and took the chair opposite him.
"I just wanted to check up on you," he said after I'd offered him something to drink. He took a bottle of water. "See how you're holding up."
"Thanks, Coach, I appreciate that."
"I told you, when we're not on the field, you can call me Greg."
I shook my head, smiling. "I don't think I can. 'Coach' is sort of ingrained into me, you know?"
He smiled and took a sip of his water. "Whatever works for you then. So tell me, how's it going? Any progress on your case?"
"My lawyer's working round the clock. From the little he's told me, he's hired some private investigators to look into things. I don't think Geoffrey trusts the cops to do their job."
Coach looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean 'from the little he's told you?' Doesn't he tell you everything? I'm pretty sure if it were me on trial, I'd want details. Does he even have any other suspects right now that they can pin Penny's murder on?" He cringed. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I just meant, you know, is there anyone else he feels might have done it?"
"Not right now, but I'm hoping that'll change soon."
"Oh? Do you have some new information?"
"Not exactly. But I have a friend who's looking into some things for me."
"I see."
"Hey," I said, slapping my thigh and sitting forward, "enough about all this. You came down here to cheer me up, right? So give me some good news. I've been watching the games on TV; the guys are looking good. Though it pains me to admit they can look that good without me there." I smiled, wanting to show him that I was joking even though part of me was jealous of Mason and the play time he was getting. Time that would've been mine if this shit hadn't happened.
"Actually, Jax, that's the other thing that brought me here today." His face was drawn, and I got the feeling that whatever it was, it wasn't gonna be good.
"This isn't gonna cheer me up, is it?" I asked.
"I'm afraid not." He leaned forward and drew in a breath. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just gonna spit it out and you can slap me for it later. Mason's head quarterback now."
My heart thumped once in my chest. I tried to smile. "Well, given the circumstances, that's not really news," I said.
Coach Allen sighed. "You don't get me. He's head quarterback now and for the rest of the season. Officially. Even if you get yourself out of this mess and back on the field, you're benched for the rest of the season."
"Benched?" I asked, my hands curling into fists at my side. "What about backup? I can still do that, can't I?"
"Afraid not. This came from on high."
"Tim Hewitt?"
Coach nodded. If I could have taken the Jet's owner and stuffed him down a deep, dark hole, I would have.
"So what the fuck are you telling me? That even if they find the real asshole who killed Penny, I'm off the team?"
"Not off the team... officially. Just benched. Hewitt said to ride out your contract then let you go." His shoulders heaved, and he stood up. "I'm sorry, Jax. I really am. There's nothing I can do. I tried."
"I know," I said, wiping at my eyes. I hated that Coach was seeing me like this. An image of a highball glass filled with scotch and ice flittered through my mind. Where was Caden? Was he still coming by? I'd thought he'd be here by now.
"You gonna be okay?" Coach asked me.
"Sure," I said. Coach was looking at me skeptically.
"I can stay if you want."
"No." I took a breath and put on a smile. "I'm fine. Really. I appreciate your coming down here." I walked him to the door and said goodbye. When he was gone, I stood with my back pressed against the door, breathing hard. I knew I should get to a meeting, but I didn't want to risk being recognized. I'd read online that a reporter had snuck into one my regular AA groups pretending to be an addict in the hopes that he might catch me there, confessing to my crime.
Hell, I'd already blown my sobriety date... would it really be so bad to take another drink right now? Just one?
I pulled my phone out to check for texts from Caden. There was nothing. I texted Treena instead.
What are you doing? I could use some company.
I hit send and hoped she answered soon. What was the last thing Caden had told me on the phone? Don't do anything stupid. "I'll try," I muttered, and took another deep breath.
30
Treena
I sat on the exam table, my legs swinging under me, waiting for the doctor to come back in. I still couldn't believe that I'd fainted. One minute I was talking to Emily, the next I was lying on a stretcher, being lifted into the back of an ambulance. I'd tried to tell the paramedics I was fine and they should release me, but Captain Murphy wouldn't hear of it. He was at the back door to the ambulance, a worried look on his face. It reminded me of my father.
"You're not going anywhere until you get checked out by a doctor," he told me.
"I'm fine," I said, trying to sit up. One of the paramedics pushed me back down.
"If you were fine," Captain Murphy said, "you wouldn't have fainted upstairs." My cheeks burned brightly. Was there no end to the amount of embarrassment I could cause myself? "Take good ca
re of her and bring her back safe," Captain Murphy said just before the ambulance pulled out. It was actually sort of sweet.
My phone buzzed, snapping me out of my trance. I checked my message.
What are you doing? I could use some company.
I didn't want to tell Jax that I was at the hospital right now because I'd fainted at work. He had enough on his mind already, and I knew he'd only worry about me.
At work doing boring police stuff. I'll see you later. I added a smiley face emoticon and hit send. Then I deleted our text history from my phone. No point in taking chances.
I still couldn't believe I was at the hospital. I'd felt fine all day. Maybe a little nauseous earlier, but that was it. I didn't think an upset stomach was unreasonable given the stress I'd been under lately. My mind turned everything over for the hundredth time. Three suspects—Mason, Emily, and Anderson. For some reason, my gut was telling me that it wasn't Mason. Even if he had been fucking Penny, that didn't make him a killer.
Still... I shouldn't be too quick to dismiss anyone. If it was true that Mason had been sleeping with Penny, he certainly would have had easy access to her house. And now that I was thinking about it, he’d had access to Jax's jerseys too. I knew that all football players had at least three on hand at all times. How easy would it have been for Mason to grab hold of one when Jax wasn't around?
And what about Emily? Had Jax ever left an old jersey at her place? I made a mental note to ask him about that. If he had, then either she or Anderson could have used it to frame him.
There was a quick knock on the door, and Dr. Greene's head poked into the room.
"Ms. Walker," he said, closing the door. He was holding a clipboard. His stethoscope swung around his neck.
"Can I go back to work now?" I asked, already jumping off the exam table.
"Not quite yet," he said. "Don't you want to hear your test results?" The corners of his lips were curved up slightly, forming a soft smile that suited his fatherly-looking face.