by Lisa Olsen
“I’m fine,” he waved away my concern. “I even found a change of my clothes in the back of your closet.”
“I thought it might be a good idea to hang onto them for when you got home.”
“That was very thoughtful, thank you.” He stepped closer and I took a step back, maintaining that cushion of space between us.
“Listen. I thought we should talk about what you’re going to say to the cops. The sooner we get our stories straight, the sooner you can get back to your regular life.”
“Oh, I don’t know, there are certain perks to being a kept man,” he grinned. “What did you tell them already about my disappearance?”
“Very little. I said I hadn’t seen you since that night, which was technically true.”
“Smart. People get tripped up when they complicate their lies with a lot of unnecessary details. It’s best to keep things simple.”
“I’m glad you approve. What do you think we should tell them?”
“I take it I shouldn’t go with the truth then? Adam kidnapped me and kept me hostage?” he raised a single brow.
“I’d take it as a personal favor if you didn’t. I’d prefer to keep Adam’s name out of it entirely if possible.”
“I’m open to suggestions.” He sat back on the edge of my bed. Put on the spot, I wasn’t sure what to go with. Keep it simple sounded easy in theory, but how did one explain disappearing for weeks?
“Kidnapping is out, or they’ll keep investigating what happened to you. What about amnesia? You bumped your head and forgot who you were?”
“Sounds a little movie-of-the-week don’t you think?”
“Well, I don’t think they’d buy alien abduction, so that leaves you going somewhere on purpose. Maybe you had a family emergency?”
“No good, they would have checked with my family when I didn’t turn up.”
“Right, I forgot about that.” I chewed on the inside of my lip. “I’ve got nothing then, do you have any ideas?”
“I could say I lost it when we broke up, which is true, in a way.”
“Okay,” I nodded, not sure where he was going with it. “And?”
“And… I went on a bender, fell off the wagon, and spent the last few weeks curled up in a dive somewhere, living in the bottom of a bottle.”
My mouth dropped open. “Won’t you get in trouble for walking off the job like that?”
“Some. I’ll probably be suspended, and have to go to counseling at the very least, but I’ve put in a lot of years with the department, I don’t think they’d fire me over it.”
“That sounds kind of risky, are you sure you want to admit to something like that?”
“I’d do it for you in a heartbeat.” He gave me a lopsided smile and it made me frown all the more.
“Ben, please don’t throw away your career for me. I don’t want you making that sacrifice trying to impress me.”
“It would be pretty impressive though, wouldn’t it?”
I tried not to smile at the look on his face. “That isn’t the point. I meant what I said last night. I’m in love with Adam. I don’t want you thinking you can change my mind about that and end up losing your job in the bargain.”
“I meant what I said too, I’m not giving up so easily. Besides, I think it’s a good story. A lot less dramatic than saying I was kidnapped at gunpoint.”
“You’ve never had a drinking problem before though, would they even believe you’d do something like that?”
“People are always eager to believe the worst in others,” he shrugged. “All it would take is a little bit of soul searching with the department shrink and I’d be off the hook.”
“I don’t know, I still don’t feel good about this. What if you told them you got robbed while you were out drinking? Just one night of drinking, not a bender that lasted for weeks, and you got koshed on the head and ended up in the hospital in another town or something?”
“It doesn’t explain why I didn’t call anyone to come and get me. No, I think you should let me take the heat on this one. I can handle it, Mercy.”
“I don’t know, Ben…”
“I do,” he reached for my hands. “Let me do this for you, I want to.”
I knew it was a bad idea. Knew it down to my bones, but what else could I do? “Alright.” Pulling my hands out of his, I went to my dresser to pull out fresh clothes. “But this doesn’t change things between us. I’m with Adam.”
“For now.”
Closing my eyes, I counted to ten, and when I opened them again, Ben stood beside me, looking at the pink plastic jewelry box on top of my dresser.
“Is that where Azazael is?”
“Yep, it’s cute, isn’t it? I should probably bedazzle it with some pretty gems or feathers or something,” I smiled, inordinately pleased by the thought of Azazael trapped inside there, impotent, and hopefully able to hear life going on around him with nothing he could do about it.
“Actually, he might like that, the guy was pretty vain,” Ben snorted, and I remembered he probably knew him better than any of us did.
“In that case, maybe I’ll stick him away in the closet and forget about him. That’s what he deserves most.” Picking up the box, I did just that, sticking it on the shelf above my closet, above a box of old postcards and mementos I kept.
“Hey, I was thinking,” Ben caught my attention again. “Christmas is coming, you don’t even have a tree up yet. How about we go pick one out?”
Christmas was the last thing on my mind, though I had done most of my shopping back in November before things had gotten too crazy. With my mother in town, it sounded more like a pain than the joyful celebration I usually looked forward to. “We can’t go out and about, not until you talk to the police and let it be known you’re back in town. How would it look if you’re spotted in town Christmas tree shopping with me before you tell your family or work you’re back?”
“Alright, let’s go get that over and done with then. We can stop by the precinct, then get some lunch and go look at trees.”
“We?” Somehow I hadn’t thought I’d be present when he went in.
“Sure, why not?”
“Well, for one thing, Detective Santiago hates me with a fiery passion. She’s absolutely convinced I had something to do with your disappearance.”
“Anna? That’s because she’s a good cop. I hate to break it to you, but you did, in fact, have something to do with my disappearance.”
“I know, but she thinks I murdered you with Sam because you were after him for killing Weatie.”
“That’s a new one,” Ben frowned. “Why would she think that?”
“She saw some notes in your files that said he was your main suspect. Is that true? Do you think he killed Weatie?”
“Did he?”
Not really the conversation I wanted to get into. “I’ll come with you for moral support, but I’m staying out of it. You can do all the talking. Then, if you’re feeling up for it, we can take you home. Wouldn’t you like to sleep in your own bed tonight?”
“I’d rather sleep in yours,” he smiled wolfishly.
“It’ll be a little crowded there with Adam in it.”
“I can share if he can.”
“Eewh, no thanks. I’m gonna go take a shower, then I’ll take you down to the precinct.”
“Want some company?” his brows raised hopefully.
“Not yours,” I smiled over my shoulder before I disappeared into the bathroom, firmly locking the door behind me.
*
It was a different experience walking into the police precinct with Ben on my arm. Instead of suspicious stares, we got widespread grins and welcoming smiles at seeing him back again. All except for Detective Santiago who still looked like she wanted to spit nails at me. Pretty quickly we were ushered into an interview room, and Ben insisted I stay when she tried to close the door in my face.
While I sat there uncomfortably, Ben went through the story of how he’d lost it when I b
roke things off with him, and completely cut himself off from everyone, until he’d realized he didn’t stand a chance at getting me back unless he came back. I could see the skepticism on her face at that, and who could blame her, it sounded farfetched to me too.
“And are you together now?” she asked, eyes narrowing at me, but it was Ben who replied.
“Not yet.”
“No, I’m still with Adam,” I interjected. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” I patted Ben’s hand lightly.
“Adam,” Santiago repeated. “I’m still not clear what happened with Parker.”
Ben’s forehead crumpled in confusion. “Wait, when were you with Parker?”
“That’s who you dumped him for, didn’t you?” she pressed, and I felt the walls closing in on me.
“Are you sleeping with Sam too?” Ben demanded, and I saw the gleam of satisfaction in Santiago’s eyes at the accusation.
“You know that’s not happening, he’s with Daphne.”
“Christ, then who all haven’t you slept with? First you’re screwing Adam and now Parker…”
Taking a deep breath, I tried to put some order to the lies. “I had feelings for Adam at the time, but he wasn’t around much, he travels a lot for work. Things between Parker and I… heated up, and I decided I couldn’t count on Adam and I didn’t want to keep Ben hoping for more than I could give, so I broke it off with him.”
“After you were already fucking both of them behind my back,” Ben glowered, and I decided that it wasn’t the right time to get into the details of when I had or hadn’t slept with Adam or Parker.
“Parker and I… it wasn’t built to last either. You know how it is when you get involved with someone you work with. It’s hot for a while, but it burns itself out pretty quickly.”
“And what does Mr. Anderson do for a living?”
“I honestly don’t know, he won’t discuss it with me,” I answered truthfully.
“That doesn’t strike you as odd?”
“That’s not the only odd thing about him,” Ben snorted, and I shot him a look.
“He tells me not to worry about it, and I find I’ve had more than enough to deal with without nosing too deep into his affairs. But to get back to your questionl, yes, I broke things off with Ben to be with Parker. Then when Adam came back, I couldn’t deny that he’s the one I want to be with.” I knew it didn’t paint me in a very flattering picture, but it wasn’t as bad as what Ben had copped to on my behalf.
“And you are now ready to step back into your life again?” she turned to Ben.
“I’m ready to take my lumps. I assume the Captain will want to meet with me about this.”
“At the very least,” she nodded. “I’ll put my report on his desk this afternoon. I expect you’ll hear from him sometime this week. He’ll want to meet with you alone of course,” she leveled an unfriendly stare in my direction.
“Mercy, why don’t you wait for me outside? I’ll finish up here with Detective Santiago and be out in a few minutes.”
Eager to get out of that room, I launched myself to my feet. “You got it. I’ll be waiting in the car.” I couldn’t get out of that precinct fast enough, the smell in there making my still sensitive stomach turn a little.
Once in the relative comfort of my car, I called Adam, needing to hear his voice.
“What are you wearing?” was the first thing out of his mouth, in a sexy, bedroom voice.
“I’d like to say nothing but a smile, but that would be awkward considering I’m in the parking lot at Ben’s precinct.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, we met with Detective Santiago. Ben’s still in there talking to her now, but we should be wrapped up soon. I was thinking we should talk…”
“Uh oh, what is it now?”
I could hear the roll of the eyes in his reply. “Nothing bad. I just realized we totally forgot about Christmas Eve.”
“What about it?”
“You know, decorating, shopping, parties, family, presents… am I ringing any bells here?”
“I’m familiar with the concept, what about it?”
“It’s in three days.”
“Oh right, I guess it is.”
“I take it you’re not a big fan then?” I would have thought he’d be into it big time.
“I don’t celebrate it,” he admitted. “Why should I? It’s not like December twenty-fifth is really his birthday.”
“It’s not?” My eyes widened in surprise.
“No, we didn’t even use the same calendar back then. That’s just when people celebrate it. But I never really knew the guy, so I don’t think much about it. The same goes for Easter.”
“You don’t celebrate Easter either?”
“So he came back from the dead, big whoop. It’s not like Joe Schmo pulled off rising from the grave, he’s the son of God. It’s like being surprised when the Terminator sits up at the end of the movie. That dude always comes back.”
“I… guess I never thought of it that way before. Does that mean I should give your Christmas present away then?”
“Let’s not get hasty,” he chuckled. “We can celebrate Christmas if you want to, I guess. I’ll even deck a hall or two, but how are you going to explain me being around to your mom?”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Guess I can’t exactly pass you off as cousin Adam, can I? Maybe we can have our own private celebration together.”
“I like the sound of that. We don’t have to wait three days for it either. Are you taking Dudley Do-right back to his place?”
“I am.”
“Great, what time should I come over?”
“I have to work tonight, so it’ll be late, but feel free to wait at my place if you like.”
“Again with the job,” he muttered, and I prepared to defend my right to work when I saw Ben hurrying across the parking lot.
“I have to go, Ben’s on his way. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I’ll be there. It’s my turn for the massage, right?”
“We’ll see,” I laughed, hanging up. Only then did I realize I didn’t feel so sick anymore, glad it was a fleeting thing like a hangover without the party. Maybe it had been a backlash from the magic or something? “All set?” I asked as Ben climbed in beside me. I wasn’t sure what to expect after his up and down in the interrogation room, but his mood seemed sunny enough.
“You weren’t wrong, Anna does hate you. She tried to get me to roll over on you, but I stuck to my story. I’ve got a meeting set for the day after tomorrow to talk to the Captain, then I’ll know what disciplinary action I’ll be given.”
“Are you sure this is the best way to go about this?”
“Don’t sweat it, Mercy. I can take the heat,” he laid a hand on my knee and I immediately picked it up and laid it back on his own leg. Ben didn’t miss a beat, fixing me with a cheeky grin. “Ready to go get that tree now?”
“I think I should take you home. I have to meet my mother for lunch and get ready for work.”
“Aw, come on, Mercy. I want us to spend more time together.”
“Then stop by the club and order a drink like anyone else, but I’m not dating you, let’s keep that perfectly clear. I’m grateful for your help with the police, but I won’t let you guilt me into anything more.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll tone it down. I have patience.”
“Maybe you can lend me some, ‘cause I’m about out of mine,” I muttered, putting the car into gear.
Chapter Twenty
“I don’t get why your mom drives you so crazy,” Parker shrugged, lugging a box of booze from the rear storeroom to set on the bar. “I liked her.”
“I like her too, but she frustrates the hell out of me. She has no sense of personal responsibility, and I’m supposed to drop everything and cater to her whenever she remembers she has a daughter.”
“You mean the way a parent drops everything for their child growing up?”
�
�That’s how it’s supposed to be, isn’t it? But I spent most of my teen years taking care of her and Matty after we left my dad. She’s just so…” I was getting all worked up again, and took a moment to let out a long breath. “I love her, I really do. I’m just coming from a position of years of disappointment. I’ve had to learn to take everything she says with a big grain of salt. Otherwise, I’d be sitting around waiting for her to keep promises she means to keep, but something always interferes. I had to learn how not to buy into all of her drama or it’d take over my life too,” I sighed, unscrewing the cap off a bottle of rum.
“So, you’re saying you don’t want me to invite her to come and live with us after the wedding?” he teased, and I threw a wet rag at him with a satisfying plop.
“You do and you’ll be sleeping out in the doghouse on our honeymoon,” I grinned back. “I have to learn how to be more like Matty and accept her for what she is, and ignore the rest. She knows how to push my buttons, that’s all.”
“Like me?” he grinned, tickling my exposed sides when I reached up to put the rum up on the shelf.
“Parker!” I squealed, nearly dropping the bottle. Whirling out of his grasp, my hands immediately sought retaliation. More than a little surprised to find he was ticklish too, we ended up holding each other’s hands to keep from reaching each other’s sides, laughing from the exertion. “That’s it, I’m calling HR about your unwanted advances,” I giggled, catching my breath.
“Duly noted, but ignored, given the fact that you told your mother I’m your fiancé. I think that suspends the usual rules of harassment,” he grinned back.
“You’re gonna have everyone around here thinking it’s true,” I whispered, pulling my hands from his. Though really, after the kiss he’d planted on me for Detective Santiago’s benefit, there was no point in shutting the barn door after the horse was loose.
“I’ve had worse rumors spread about me.”
“I’ll bet,” I laughed, retrieving the thrown towel. Looking up, I noticed Ben standing about ten feet away from the bar, completely motionless. “Hey, Ben,” I waved him over. “Glad to see you out and about.”
“Hey, how about a drink on the house?” Parker smiled as well, but Ben just stood there, and we traded looks. Dropping the rag behind the bar, I went out to talk to him.