by K. C. Crowne
She reddened slightly, but her face remained stoic. “Thanks,” she said, yanking her hand back.
I pressed my lips together, trying not to laugh at her reaction. She could barely handle the brush of my fingertips on hers. She looked absolutely livid, but I could tell she wasn’t sure who she was angry with, me or herself. I knew I was cocky, had been for a long time, but this whole situation was almost fun.
“I’m surprised you decided against bringing your lawyer today,” she stated, though it was almost a question.
“You know as well as I do that lawyering up makes you look like you have something to hide,” I said, holding my hands out, palms up. “I have nothing to hide, like I said before. I’m innocent. I have an alibi, and I can answer any questions you throw at me,” I asserted, looking her in the eye. “I had nothing to do with this.”
She stared at me, and rather than let her speak, I decided to see her reaction to what I was thinking. “Besides, I figured I could handle you myself.”
“Excuse me?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.
I smiled, hoping to charm her. The innuendo had been clear, but it needed to be tempered. “I don’t need a lawyer. I feel like the two of us can figure this out together.”
“Hmm.” The single syllable gave me an indication of her irritation.
I nodded slowly, smiling a small smile as I replied, “I think we’ll work well together.”
I watched her as she looked down. I was pretty sure my flirting was working. The flirty girl I remembered was still inside this captivating woman, and I wanted to see her more than anything. The way she kept pushing her hair behind her ear and looking away from my eyes told me that she might be irritated, but she also kind of liked it. She’d fallen for my charms once before, and no matter how angry she thought she was at me, that attraction had never faded. For me either. I still thought she was hotter than hell.
I sat back and put my hand over my mouth, watching her body shake from her quickly tapping foot. She fidgeted with her hands, shuffling papers and playing with the edges of her hair. She would bite her lip, her eyes glued to the table instead of maintaining eye contact with me like she had last time. I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off her. Her behavior made me think about the first time I had met her.
I was her first, and she was mine, and there was something about that fact that negated all the bullshit in between. Fate had chosen her to be my IA agent, I was certain of it. I knew from the way she was acting that my plan to charm her again would work. I would seduce her, get her in my bed and on my side, and make her understand I was telling the truth. All I had to do was figure out a way to be alone with her outside of the station. And I didn’t just want to bed her. She interested me, and her beauty and her intelligence attracted me.
“Thanks for the reports,” she acknowledged, handing them back to me. “I hadn’t actually seen the full alibi. It looks like internal did a sweep on the alibi and found that it was legit.”
“They did their work before you got here.”
“Procedure says I have to check it out for myself,” she informed me, straightening her spine. “People in this precinct are loyal to you. Good thing for you, bad thing for me.”
“I’ll make sure everyone is straight with you,” I promised with a smile.
She sat across from me for a moment, inhaling deeply through her nose and pressing her lips together. “Let me ask you something,” she said. “Say you’re telling the truth, that you had nothing to do with this theft. Why do you think you’re being set up to take the fall for this?” I must have made a face because she continued before I answered. “I mean no offense, but you aren’t exactly well-known, and it really doesn’t sound like anybody would get anything out of setting you up.”
I hadn’t been prepared for her question, but from the sound of it, she was starting to come around. My plan to win her to my side might not be necessary, but I still wanted her in my bed. Just for the fun of it. “Except the ability to get away with that money and not get in trouble for it,” I said, pointing out the obvious as my finger pointed at her. “It hadn’t been logged yet, so taking it was like walking out of the bank free and clear.”
“Okay, but that still doesn’t answer the question of why you, in particular,” she reiterated, a frown marring her lovely face. “I know you take pleasure in rule breaking, but by itself that’s not enough to piss off anyone this much.”
I let out a little laugh. Damn, she’s right. “Honestly?” I said, shaking my head. “I’ve been wracking my brain over that since it happened, and I have absolutely no idea.”
“There has to be something behind it,” she mused. “Assuming you’re telling the truth, of course.”
“Of course,” I admitted sarcastically, chuckling. “I mean, sure, I’ve made enemies, but not among the rank and file. If it came from inside, well, that’s just fucked up.”
“I’ve seen it a lot,” she said with a frown, her pretty face dimmed by the look. “The cases we had to review in training made me trust no one.” Her expression was surprisingly earnest—and I knew she didn’t trust me.
“Well, I’m not going down for this. So whether I know why or not, I will find out who’s behind it,” I swore. “I can’t sit back and let someone smear my name like this. If they do me that way, what will stop them from doing my partner or any other officer that way? It’s not right.”
“Martin,” she said, leaning forward earnestly. My name on her lips sounded incredibly sexy. “Let’s just run with your theory for a moment. If someone is framing you, I need you to stand back and let us handle this. You can’t take this stuff into your own hands. Internal Affairs will find the truth, especially since I’m on the case.”
I narrowed my eyes, my grin more of a smirk. “You saying you’re the best?”
She shrugged, blushing cutely. “I’m certainly diligent.”
I nodded, but my need for self-preservation returned. “What am I supposed to do? Sit back and watch my career die? I’m no punk, Rene. I won’t let them take advantage of me like that.”
“You need to let that go. It’s the same mentality that’s landed you in trouble over and over,” she reminded me, a tiny hint of strain in her voice, almost as if she was forcing herself to say the right thing when she really wanted to tell me to go fuck myself. But at least she was trying.
“You need to” –she searched for the right word, waving her hand in a circle— “enjoy your suspension. Treat it like a vacation and wait until the investigation has been concluded. If you dip your hand into it, you’ll make it worse for yourself.”
“I don’t do well with idle time.” I chuckled, intentionally sounding self-deprecating. “I drink too much and get angrier. You forget, I’ve been on suspension for a couple weeks already, and I’m starting to get cabin fever. You can suspend me all you want, but you can’t take the cop out of me.”
“You need to tranquilize your inner vigilante, Detective,” she ordered. “I don’t need any interference on your end. And you might screw up the entire case if you do.”
“I’m not gonna interfere,” I told her. “I’m gonna just do a little looking.”
“Why don’t you go looking at the beach somewhere? Maybe like in Florida,” she suggested sarcastically. “Or do a little gardening. Get your hands dirty.”
“Well, I am pretty good with my hands.” I leaned forward and winked at her, smiling broadly.
She sat back in her chair, and her easy expression faded, a scowl replacing the startled look. I sat back as well, dropping the smirk from my face, realizing I might have overstepped myself a little bit. She wasn’t all in with my charm and flirtation, and I should have known it. Either way, I had her for a second, and I hoped she’d think about me later.
“That’s it,” she announced, annoyance clear in her tone. “I’m done with you for today. Get outta here.”
She packed the recorder in her bag and collected her files, not looking at me as I stood up and straightened my clothes. I wanted to
chuckle at her irritation, but I didn’t allow it, not wanting to make the situation worse. I’d already reminded her why she hated me in the first place.
And I was much worse than when we had sex the first time. My cockiness then had been typical of an eighteen-year-old with his whole life in front of him. It was still out of control, and though I knew it, I also felt like it was one of my best qualities. It made me likable in some ways, though if I didn’t keep it in check, women were turned off by it. I sauntered out of the room, stopping to give her a mock salute.
Lopez was standing out in the hall, holding back her laughter as I saluted Rene. Rene rolled her eyes and dropped them to her files, ignoring my asshole behavior. She needed to grow a thicker skin if she planned to work in IA for a long period of time.
I was going easy on her since I knew her, and it was important for her to like me. But I still had to give her somewhat of a hard time. My life currently was nothing but tragically comedic, with a forced suspension, someone out to get me, and the possibility of jail time looming over my head. The commissioner was on it now that news of the theft had broken wide, and he wanted to see someone go down hard for it. He needed something good for the news outlets to report so they didn’t ream his ass.
“Thanks for havin’ my back,” I said, shaking Lopez’s hand. “She’s a tough one, but I’m innocent, so it doesn’t matter what she asks. I had nothin’ to do with this shit.”
“She’s tough. But I can tell she’s been on street detail before,” she observed.
“She has,” I said with a nod. “I checked up on it. She was in the 23rd precinct before landing the IA job.”
“Wow, that’s a rough area,” Lopez mused quietly, a small look of respect crossing her face before it disappeared quickly, replaced by a mocking sneer. “Almost makes me wanna show her some respect, but nah.”
“Ha. Don’t give her too hard a time,” I said. “She’s just doin’ her job.”
“Listen,” Lopez whispered, leaning in close and changing the subject. “Somethin’ shady’s goin’ on around here. You need to keep a low profile. You don’t know who you can trust. I’ll do some diggin’, see what I can figure out.”
“Will do, and thanks,” I said. “I’m gonna go get a beer in the middle of the afternoon.”
“Lucky.” She laughed loudly as she slapped me on the back.
“I’m startin’ to think so,” I retorted, shaking her hand again. “I’ll catch ya later. Keep me informed.”
“Will do,” she said as I turned and walked toward the door.
I looked back as Rene exited the interrogation room. She glanced up for a moment and looked at me, watching me nod my head and smile at her before walking out the door. Going for a beer in the middle of the day sounded perfect. I was starting to think the mandatory suspension might actually be good for something.
Rene
I was so grateful it was Saturday. I wanted nothing more than to focus my attention on something other than my recent case. Jenny and I had left our apartment for the last time the night before and driven to Mapleton, my hometown. Mapleton was about a forty-five-minute drive from my office in Salt Lake City, and I’d grown up there. My dad met us at our new house with a truckload of stuff from his garage, and though I was mentally exhausted from the case, which was convoluted and difficult, we unloaded and began the setup of our new home.
Dad had been thrilled when I told him I’d finally found a townhouse to rent in Mapleton and would be moving back permanently. He and Jenny were making plans to go to the park the next day to feed the ducks as I unboxed our plates, bowls, and glasses so we could eat the takeout I’d picked up.
“What kind of ducks are they?” Jenny asked, her sweet voice a high contrast to Dad’s deep baritone.
“Big ones and little ones,” he answered, chuckling when she said that wasn’t what she meant.
“Like mallards or canvasback or marbled ducks?”
Dad stopped what he was doing to stare at my little girl, then swiveled to look at me. “How is she so smart?”
“Takes after Mom, I think,” I told him with a grin.
He nodded and told Jenny, “When we go, we’ll take my iPad and look up what types of ducks live in Mapleton.”
Jenny cheered happily, then said, “And we can’t feed them bread, you know. That can make them sick, so we’ll have to get some duck food.”
“I’m in way over my head,” he mumbled as we watched her spin on her heel and head to her new room, which was a mess of boxes.
“Make your bed, then come back for dinner!” I called to her.
“Okay!”
The next morning, after making breakfast for Jenny and me before dropping her off at Dad’s so they could learn about ducks, I headed through town to my best friend’s bakery. I was lost in thought thinking how weird it was being back in Mapleton. I had become accustomed to Salt Lake City, where getting lost in the crowd was easy. This town was small enough that out-of-towners were noticed. I got some curious looks as I strolled down the street, and I really didn’t recognize anyone anymore. The town had grown, and most of the people I knew had moved away.
Since Jenny was hanging with her granddad for the morning, I was on my way to meet Bobby for breakfast. We were originally supposed to meet at our bench out by the lake where we used to go to when we were teenagers, nursing hangovers from whatever party we’d been to. We’d gone there because no one would see us, and we could drop the boyfriend-girlfriend routine for a little while. Instead, we were meeting at his bakery.
Besides seeing my dad, being able to see my best friend regularly was the best thing about being back in Mapleton. When I lived in Salt Lake we didn’t get together very often, but we talked at least twice a week, except for when I was in training and came home too damn tired to talk. Now we’d be able to see each other two or three times a week, and I couldn’t be happier.
Bobby had come out several years earlier, no longer giving a shit what anyone thought about him being gay. When he met his partner, Dante, everything had fallen into place for him. He and Dante had opened a bakery, bought a house, and lived like a typical American family. Sometimes, I was jealous of his life and wished I had someone to come home to, to celebrate my successes with and celebrate his. But I had Jenny, and I had my job, which I loved. I had no right to complain.
When I walked through the door of the neat, warmly lit bakery, Bobby’s eyes lit up, and he rushed around the counter, scooping me up into a bear hug. I laughed, giving him a tight squeeze, realizing how much I had missed him. He was always so welcoming, so comforting, something missing in my life these days. I missed adult friendship.
“It’s so good to see you,” he said, putting me back down. “You want some coffee and a turnover? We have the raspberry filled ones you like.”
“You twisted my arm,” I laughed.
We sat down in the back, and I stirred some cream and sugar into my coffee. He put the pastries down in front of us, and I smiled, watching him walk back to the counter to grab his mug of tea. Bobby looked great, a little thicker around the middle, but totally happy.
“This place is awesome,” I told him as he joined me.
“Thank you,” he replied. “You can come here every morning for breakfast on me now that you’re back.”
“I have to say, you feed me these every day, and I’ll be going to work with buttons popping off the waist of my pants,” I said and laughed. “I can’t be the fat IA agent.”
“Girl, you better stop that shit,” he commented. “You are beautiful, even more so than when we were in school. I was damn proud to have you on my arm everywhere we went.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Anyway, all the training’s paying off. You look fitter and healthier than I’ve ever seen.”
“Thank you.” I chuckled and took a bite, moaning. “This is why I keep you around. To inflate my ego a bit and feed me the best pastries on the planet.”
“So you got in last night, right? Gonna bring Jenny by?”
“And you have the added benefit of seein’ me more often,” he teased, grinning as he knocked a fist against his broad chest.
I laughed and nodded. “Sorry I haven’t been visited in a while. I landed my first IA case, and it’s been interesting. I miss having a partner, someone to bounce thoughts back and forth with. It’s just me on my own with this stuff, which can get pretty lonely.” I shrugged mechanically as I admitted, “Keeps me up all night long.”
“I’m sure,” he sympathized. “I’m happy to be livin’ the simple life with our bakery and our beautiful little house.”
“I envy you.” I smiled a little sadly. I couldn’t tell him about the case, even though I really wanted to. Everything that happened with IA was secure and quiet, or I risked my job. I might not be able to tell him the specifics, but I couldn’t keep the fact that I saw Martin to myself. He was going to throw a fit, I knew, but he was my best friend and I needed to talk.
“So, guess who I ran into in the middle of Salt Lake City.”
“Hmmm. Mrs. Harper from the library?”
“God, no,” I replied with snort. “I’d cross three lanes of traffic to stay away from her. She hated me as a kid and probably even more as an adult.”
“She did have it out for you for some reason,” he said with a shake of his head. “So who was it?
“Martin freaking Ferrel,” I growled, my hand clenching into a fist.
“God.” He sneered. “Not that asshole.”
“Yes, that asshole,” I replied, pretending to gag to elicit a laugh.
He chuckled, then glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “You know, I don’t think I ever told you what I did to him, did I?”
“No,” I retorted, confused. “What did you do?”
“I knocked on his door, and when he answered, I punched him right in the eye. Sent him off to college with a reminder of how to treat women.” My shocked gasp stopped him, and I put my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing too loudly. “I never told you about it because you were so heartbroken over the whole thing. But I couldn’t let that shit go.”