Chapter 26 Confession Is Good for the Soul #2
“I was working a car-theft case. At first, it didn't look like anything that abnormal. The initial thought was that it was teenagers joyriding, but I kept poking at it because something wasn’t sitting right with me.
The cars would eventually always turn up, but something would be wrong with them.
One would be missing a catalytic converter.
Another would be missing tires. That kind of thing.
“The last vehicle, the one that broke the case for me, was when a really fancy car was found, but the owner paid more attention than most. In addition to things being missing, parts of the engine had been replaced with a cheaper version.
When I went back and looked at the other cars, the owners and I discovered that their vehicles were also sporting replacement parts.
Turns out we had a chop shop in a storage locker on a piece of property that had been running for some time.
“When I closed the case, the chief promoted Knox, not me. I pointed out that it was me who solved the case, but he claimed the promotion was supposed to have been Knox’s from a long time ago, and he couldn’t possibly promote me too. It was bullshit.
“My case was on the docket at the courthouse, but I needed to get out of there.
That was when I left Louisiana and decided to hole up in New Mexico to get myself together.
I began applying to other stations, but jobs never materialized, even when interviews went well, and I was all but told the job was mine.
“It didn’t make any sense. I started to wonder what was wrong, and I was feeling a bit desperate.
I broke down and called my friend, Triumph.
He used to work with the NSA, so he’s good with computers.
He went digging and found that the reports I had filed weren’t there.
The station filed something with the courthouse, claimed I hadn’t completed the work before leaving, and the case got thrown out. ”
“So when the new stations called for a reference, they had to inform them about your lack of dedication and sloppy work ethic.”
“Exactly. I wondered if maybe Knox was on the take somehow and benefited from the shop staying open.”
“Jesus. What a mess.”
“I had copies of my reports on my personal computer to show that they were complete, but there was no way to prove they’d been uploaded.
I mean, Triumph could have done it, but then he’d have to admit he’d hacked courthouse and police records.
I couldn’t ask that of him. And there was no way to plausibly suggest that someone had erased the files in order to get someone to look into it, so… ” She shrugged.
A hand reached out to smooth back the hair from her face and stroke down her cheek.
“I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that. And I get it.
Why you’re scared to be involved with someone you work with.
It does leave you extra vulnerable if things go wrong.
I swear on Ezra’s life I wouldn’t do something vindictive like that. ”
“The thing is, I know you wouldn’t do that,” she admitted. “But Knox made a similar promise, so it was difficult to trust again.”
“Was?”
She should have known he’d be listening close enough to catch the word choice. One of his best qualities. He listened—completely—not just to the words, but to the subtext, as well as the tone and inflection of the speaker. Being a former English teacher probably had something to do with it as well.
“Yes. ‘Was.’ I do trust you not to be like Knox. Now.”
The smile on his face was huge, like she’d given him the best present he’d ever received.
“I didn’t tell you all this to make you feel bad for me or to extract some sort of promise from you.
I told you because I needed to share that with you.
You’ve opened up to me about what you see as your failings in relationships, but what you don’t understand is that we all come to relationships with issues.
Now you know mine. Neither of us saw what was right in front of us, nor did we get out of things when we should have.
We wanted things to work. Didn’t want to admit to ourselves or others that we’d made mistakes.
“You and me? There’s so much more to each of our histories.
If we unleash our romantic mistakes in life without context, of course they’re going to make us look like we’re bad catches.
Relationships have nuances that even people closest to those involved don’t see.
If we judged each other solely on what we did in our first years on our own, none of us would be suitable relationship material.
“Maybe you were a workaholic. Maybe you did favor your son and your job over your wife. I don’t see favoring time with your son as a detriment.
One, she’s an adult. Two, she’s Ezra’s mother.
Taking that into consideration, a child needs parents to put them above everything else, for so many reasons.
If she didn’t recognize that he should have been first, with both of you, the failing is with her, not you.
“But we’re both workaholics, so I can’t even begin to judge you on something I’m just as guilty of. I don’t see you as a collection of red flags. I never did. There were lots of yellow flags for me—slow down, caution. What they should be is orange—work in progress.”
His face scrunched up, assessing her. “Are you sure you’re not a novelist in secret?”
“What?” she asked with a laugh. “No, why?”
“The English teacher in me is just admiring the metaphors.”
She snatched the pillow from under her head and pelted him with it.
He fended it off, trying to grab it from her, but it turned into a mock pillow fight filled with giggling, threats to tickle her to death, and then a thumping as something hit the door.
Eyes wide, they looked at each other in concern.
A muffled voice projected, “Could you two keep it down? I’m trying to finish this last piece of my project, and you’re distracting me!”
Fuck! Ezra was home.
“I thought you said he was staying at the study zoo until school?” she whispered on a squeak.
“Guess he needed to come home for something.”
Elyxandre pulled the pillow over her face. Could someone actually die from embarrassment? She’d heard the phrase but had never really given it any thought.
The pillow was snatched from her hands, and a body rolled over on top of hers. “Are you ashamed of being with me?” he growled.
A whispered semi-argument began.
“Hell no! But we were supposed to be keeping this quiet,” she reminded him.
“Well, didn’t you have to tell them at the station last night that we were together? Secret’s already out.”
“Yes, but they wouldn’t have told anyone unless they absolutely had to.”
“Ezra’s more tight-lipped than the cops.
Besides, your car is in my driveway. Anyone with half a brain on this block knows I don’t own an SUV.
I own a car and a truck. And anyone could have seen you last night coming to my door, plus it wouldn’t take much to figure out it was you since your license plate still shows as New Mexico. ”
“Maybe I can sneak out the back door?”
“Beautiful, even if he didn’t know your car, your vest is hanging downstairs on a dining room chair facing the front door. Let’s just hope he came by himself and didn’t bring any friends along with him.”
She closed her eyes. “Oh my god. Remind me to never murder anyone. I’d never get away with it.”
“I doubt you would do that, but if it ever comes to it, Ezra and I will help you hide the body.”
He pulled her tight and kissed her stupid. When the kiss ended, he gave her a gentle push.
“Go shower. When you’re done, there’ll be some clothes on the vanity for you so you don’t have to put that mess on from last night, and I’ll throw them in a bag for you to take home. Come downstairs. Have breakfast with us. I swear to you, he won’t say a thing to anyone. Okay?”
“This is going to be so mortifying.”
Opening his dresser, he pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt and began putting them on.
“You’ll survive. Besides… he already approves, remember?
Now go on. We have to get to work, and I’m guessing you’re going to be very busy dealing with the search for Kennedy, and I’m going to be dealing with a student body and staff who will be freaking the fuck out. ”
When she got to the bathroom door, Lucas called out to her. “El! When you go home, if you happened to pack a bag so that you could stay here a few nights, we wouldn’t mind.” He opened the bedroom door. “Waffles in fifteen. Get moving.”