11. Bane
CHAPTER 11
BANE
“ A h, Mr. Benson?”
I couldn’t contain my snort even if I wanted to. “James, it’s just Benson,” I said as I shook his hand. “How’d it go?” I gestured for him to follow me outside so we could discuss the details without River overhearing. I didn’t want to spook him any more than his encounter with James and Davis had already. That’s the only thing I could assume had triggered his earlier episode, and I didn’t want him to feel unsafe in my house.
“Great, mister, umm, Benson,” James stammered as he followed me out the front door that snicked shut behind us. “I’ve installed new cameras to replace the old ones and fitted a new motherboard to the control panel.” He opened the back doors of his van and sat down on the bed, patting the space next to him.
I looked at it and cringed. “Not sure we’ll both fit,” I said as diplomatically as I could.
James looked up at me over the laptop he’d pulled out of somewhere, then up and up a bit more. “Ah, you might be right.” He chuckled nervously. “You’re, um, quite the big guy, aren’t you?”
“Sure.” I braced myself against the side of the van so I could see the screen James angled toward me and observed him as he ran a diagnostics program.
“Phone, please.” He held out his hand without even looking at me. When I didn’t move, he lifted his gaze to mine. “I won’t do anything besides make sure the software has mapped across properly, so you’ll be able to operate the system remotely. You’ll also have individual control over each camera and sensor I’ve installed around the perimeter.”
I held my phone up, making him frown. “This is my personal cell. I want to make sure it’s the only one that will have access to the system unless I decide to add another to it. Do you understand me?”
James’s lashes fluttered as he processed what I said, and he shrank back into himself. “I…yes, sir. Totally. My system isn’t, or should I say won’t be, connected to it once I’ve uploaded everything to your phone. And if you want to add another, then call me and I’ll make sure there are no issues.” He pulled a business card out of a silver tin and flourished it in front of me.
“Good.” I placed my phone in his hand, having already pulled up the app for my previous installation. He shook his head, a rueful smile lifting his lips.
“You won’t b-be needing that anymore. It’s a completely new operating system, one I’ve been working on for a while, so you’re kind of like a test dummy.” His nervous chuckle set me on edge, making my lip curl back.
“You mean to say?—”
“Maybe I didn’t choose my words correctly. It’s a system I designed myself that will go into production next year. I just meant you’re the first person who gets to use it.”
I dug the heel of my palm into my dry eyes and eventually nodded in agreement. I guess I should have felt lucky to get a brand new system, but something’s felt off today. It had started since I left the house this morning. I had that feeling in my gut that I knew I shouldn’t ignore, but I just couldn’t pinpoint what had triggered it. River’s panic attack, while disturbing in its ferocity, wasn’t that surprising given the nightmares he’d been having on top of the upheaval and the complete one-eighty his life had taken. But that just felt like the tip of the iceberg heading straight toward me.
I loosed a breath and shook out my hands before folding my arms over my chest as I watched him connect my phone to his laptop. He uninstalled the old app and installed the new one that linked to the cameras, sensors, and video doorbell system he had just installed.
My front door opened and closed, and uneven footsteps headed in our direction. A raspy cough heralded Davis’s arrival, the stench of cigarette smoke as putrid as the man himself. His beady dark eyes looked up at me, and a sneer curled his lips. “Is everything done? I’ve got far more important things to be doing today.”
“Almost, Mr. Davis, sir. I’m just?—”
“I don’t really care, James,” Davis said flatly. “I need to get back to the station. Just send me a full report when you’re done here.”
“I…um. Yes, sir.”
“See you later, Benson.” If he could have spat the words in my face with a glob of mucus, I’m sure Davis would have. He needed to learn a few lessons in civility. His passive aggressiveness did not hide his thinly veiled hate.
“Yup. See ya.” I waved him off, my eyes tracking him as he headed down the road to his car. I was just about to take my eyes off him when he pulled his phone out and started talking to someone, gesticulating wildly while leaning against his car and looking right at me. Or, more accurately, my house. I continued to watch him out of the corner of my eye as I asked James, “How long have you known Davis?”
“Huh? Oh, he’s f-friends with my uncle. H-he puts a lot of work my way. He’s alway said I’m the best at what I do.”
“Mmmm, I see. Does that mean the force gets a discounted rate for these jobs?” I didn’t know why I asked, but his nervous disposition indicated he was unraveling. Sweat beaded in his hairline, and his expert hands moved with a slight but unmistakable tremor.
“I…ugh, suppose so?”
The guy seemed to get more and more flustered under the weight of my scrutiny. As the seconds ticked past, Davis didn’t move from his car. His cigarette was long gone, but his gaze remained fixated on my home. I just couldn’t work out if it was me he had more issue with, or with whom was staying with me.
As far as I knew, Davis had never been involved in a case like this. He hadn’t done a stake-out since his rookie years, nor accompanied a witness into protective custody. At the station, he pretended to work while keeping his ear to the ground and his finger on the pulse. Making underlings’ lives hell was his favorite sport, and god help you if he found you lacking. He’d tried to bully me when I first joined the force. His racism was apparent from the get-go, but he failed to intimidate on so many levels. He was pathetic and so physically out of shape that I had nothing to fear from him. I just wished it was the same for Montoya. She got it two-fold from him for being Latina and female. He’d say things like “your place is taking care of the children at home” or “you need a good man to take care of you. You won’t be that pretty forever, now will you?”
I’d wanted to punch him in the face that day and had barely restrained my anger from bleeding out and spilling his blood. Montoya was my balance; she made me see reason even as he spewed vitriolic hate at her. I couldn’t wait for the day he retired. It was pointless putting in a complaint about him and his tyrannical tirades, because he was well-connected and therefore untouchable. Everything got brushed under the carpet. All you succeeded in doing was making a rod for your own back by becoming persona non grata. I was in no doubt he’d do something one day that even his friends couldn’t protect him from, but until then, I had to act as amenable as possible around him.
“Here,” James said with a cough. “It’s all done. Want me to walk you through it?” He stood up, placing his laptop down, and looked up at me expectantly.
“Yeah, sure. You can tell me about all the upgrades you’ve made and anything you think I might need to watch out for that could be improved.”
James’s smile beamed. “It’s so refreshing to get someone who understands the importance of progress,” he muttered and took my phone from me, opening up the secureX app he’d installed. He walked me through every camera, its range of motion, and the areas they covered. He even suggested a couple of blind spots when it might be pertinent to add extra if I so wanted, but as it was a residential property, that choice was mine and mine alone. His depth of knowledge was amazing and he could be a real asset to our team back at the station.
Once I waved him off, I cast one last glance up and down the street, noting that Davis had also vanished. My heart sank when I realized Bower had recalled the car that should have been watching the house. He’d made a semi compelling argument at my debrief this morning, stating that River’s friends had been spotted around town the past couple of nights. Since there was no imminent threat to him or the case, the new security system and six-foot fence I was going to install in the backyard should be enough.
I hadn’t bought it for a second. It felt like a line the powers from above told him to spin. But without irrefutable evidence that River was in danger—or even a flight risk—I had no leverage to demand a patrol car. Bower had been extremely disappointed that I hadn’t gleaned any new intel from River. Even as I tried to explain the complexity of the situation, which he assured me he was well aware of, he refused to accept that the case wasn’t moving forward.
Bower reminded me I had a job to do and that maybe he’d been wrong in giving me this opportunity to prove myself, stating that my emotional investment in River was causing me to be an ineffective agent. It’d taken every ounce of willpower to not scoff at him and storm out of his office. As a parting gift, he gave me a file containing surveillance images of everyone we knew to be associated with the Black Dahlia ring. He wanted me to get River to verify if he knew them, who they were, and under what capacity they operated within the ring.
I strolled over to my driveway, where my sedan sat baking under the heat of the midday sun. Old Mrs. Burrows waved to me as she pulled into her drive. As she walked up to her porch, she paused long enough to call over another thank you, even though she’d already thanked me profusely for the work I’d done on her car when I returned her keys to her earlier this morning.
I opened the car door and reached into the passenger footwell, retrieving my bag and the file sitting on the seat. After locking up, I hurried back into the house, pleasantly surprised to find River curled up under a pile of blankets on the sofa with It’s Not Cake playing on the TV.
“Would you still like a hot cocoa?” I called out as I dropped my keys in the pot on the accent table and hung my bag up on the peg. My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it and headed into the kitchen, flicked the kettle on, and pulled out the marshmallows, milk, and cocoa.
A smile lit up my face when I looked at my messages to see a GIF of a steaming cup of cocoa and a thumbs up emoji. River’s sweet cinnamon and orange scent saturated the kitchen and sent a thrill through me. I felt comfortable and whole in a way I’d never experienced with another person in my space, even Montoya.
I’d had a few relationships in my life but nothing I would ever class as serious or long term. Hookup culture wasn’t for me. No strings sex just wasn’t my thing, nor was sex on a first date. It took time for me to be confident enough to open myself up and be vulnerable with someone. I needed something more, something deeper and meaningful, but every relationship left me feeling like I was missing a piece of myself, something vital that provided a foundation for the relationship to grow. I’d never been able to pinpoint what it was or why I was this way. Joelle had several theories about it, some related to the loss of my family and the impact that had on me. But she believed I could be demisexual, meaning I needed that deeper connection with someone prior to intimacy. But I wasn’t sure. My hand provided me with enough relief. I didn’t feel like I needed more than that, especially with a job like mine.
The kettle boiled, pulling me from my meandering thoughts, ones that had no place being thought of right now. I had a job to do, someone special to guard and look after. My own wants and needs were secondary to River’s. I couldn’t afford to make him uncomfortable; he was too fragile, mentally and physically. I had to look after him while he wasn’t capable.
After making up the drinks, I carried them into the living room. “Here you go,” I murmured, making River blink blearily up at me through heavy-lidded eyes. “Sit up and take this while I grab some snacks.”
A small smile flickered around his mouth, and his full lips formed the words thank you. My heart skipped a beat, and heat flushed my cheeks all the way to the tips of my ears. He shuffled into a sitting position and reached for the cup, wrapping his hands around it and holding it possessively to his chest, gently blowing the steam as the marshmallows melted.
After setting my coffee down, I went back to the kitchen to grab a couple of bowls, filling them with chips and popcorn before placing them in front of River. I settled on the other end of the couch, clutching the file to my chest. All I wanted to do was pull River into my body, to feel how his body would mold into mine, but now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. I had to figure out a way of broaching the subject of the images in my hands.
We settled into a comfortable silence, sipping our drinks while River watched the judges on TV try to figure out which Mona Lisa painting was actually a cake. “Which one do you think it is?” River held up four fingers and fist pumped when the judge confirmed it by sinking his knife into the beautiful artwork. “Good one.”
River glanced up at me. He looked at peace, settled in a way he hadn’t since he’d come to my home. It was like all the stress and anxiety that surrounded him was gone. I could fool myself into thinking he was happier here than he’d been anywhere else, but the more logical answer was that he’d burned it all up earlier and was simply exhausted.
We sat there till the bright blue sky turned into a beautiful watercolor of oranges, pinks, and lavenders. The light streamed in through the sliding doors, filling the room with a natural warmth that nothing manmade could replicate. It made me appreciate the little things. It made me thankful for what I had and the time he granted me in his company.
When the next episode started, I flicked my gaze over to where River sat curled up in his blanket nest and sighed. I didn’t want to ruin the peace we’d found, but this couldn’t wait any longer. I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. Riv looked up at me through his dark lashes, his thick brows furrowed like he knew the status quo was about to change. Tension lined his jaw, and the tendons in his neck became taught.
“Riv, when I went in for a debrief this morning, Bower asked me to go through some surveillance photos with you.” He sucked in a sharp breath, and pain swirled in his deep green eyes. “We were hoping you could look through them and confirm who people are and what they do. If you know, that is.”
I left the ball in his court as I wouldn’t force him to do it, to revisit the people who had controlled and used him like property. I held my breath, steeling myself as he went through a silent battle I wanted to protect him from. Eventually, after nearly an episode had played, he picked up his phone and started typing.
Ok
The tension in my shoulders eased but didn’t disappear. I pulled out the file from where I’d stuffed it down the side of the sofa and motioned for him to come closer to me. He didn’t have to, as I’d respect his boundaries, but I wanted to hold him, support him, as he did this. I didn’t know if it was right or wrong, but I felt compelled to do it.
As River moved closer to me, I kept talking to keep him calm and make this as painless as possible for him. “We can do this in a few ways,” I said, ticking them off against my fingers as I went. “You can look at them and text me. I could grab a pen so you can write on the images directly, or you can talk to me, whichever you’re most comfortable with.”
He regarded me for a beat, then held out his hand for the file, inadvertently moving closer to me. He sat cross-legged, his knee brushing against my thigh. It felt like a brand on my skin, even through my jeans and his blankets. River’s spine was rigid, every muscle tight with tension as he went through the photos one by one. His lips pinched, eyes narrowed he passed a photo over to me and tapped it.
Who is this?
I choked on a laugh. “That’s Dahlia,” I said self-assuredly. “She’s the one who runs all the clubs.”
River gaped back at me, completely dumbfounded. He picked up his phone and started typing.
That’s not Dahlia.
I looked at his message, looked at him and back at the screen on my phone. “What do you mean?”
Why do you think that’s Dahlia?
I huffed out a breath and rubbed my damp palms on my thighs. “That’s who the Black Dahlia clubs are registered under. We have a file on her; driver’s license, social security number, everything that identifies her as Dahlia. We’ve verified and cross-referenced everything. Where she was born, parents, relatives, the whole lot.”
River shook his head, a resigned look on his face as he stared at his screen.
She might be a Dahlia but she isn’t *the* Dahlia.
“What do you mean?”
For a start, she’s too young. The Dahlia that picked me off the street is in her late fifties. This woman is too young. Her hair and eye color are wrong too. She even wears the wrong type of clothes.
“Seriously? Shit!” I lurched over and wrapped my arms around River’s shoulders, pulling him into my chest. He let out a little squeak as I held him to me and buried my nose in his hair and inhaled his delicious scent. I pulled back, my fingers gently massaging the taut muscles in his shoulders, and felt my face split in half. I was vibrating, this… this was the kind of break we were looking for. “River, I could kiss you right now.” He blushed, his thick lashes kissing his cheeks as his eyes fell closed. “This could change everything for us.”
River nodded, his tongue tracing his full bottom lip. My eyes tracked the movement involuntarily. It was only when he sucked in a deep inhale that I realized I’d closed the distance between us. My hand gently cupped his soft face, my thumb skimming over his sharp cheekbone, my lips a hair’s breadth from his. I could feel each stuttered exhale like a physical caress.
I sat there frozen, mesmerized by his proximity, the heat radiating off him, his scent. The flush of color that rose up his neck that made him look edible. Time seemed to stretch, seconds became minutes as our eyes remained locked on each other. The air became electrically charged. One spark, and we’d burn down the world. My heartbeat echoed in my ears. My whole body was aware of River, affected by him in a way I’d never experienced with another.
Heavy-lidded eyes at half mast, the deep green of his irises darkened with lust that licked across my skin. River moved forward slowly, his eyes flicking between my mouth and my eyes until he closed the distance between us and brushed his lips against mine. Every cell in my body lit up, and my nerves felt like they were hit with lightning. How could the slightest touch be so profound it altered every atom that made me?
When River moved back to give us space to breathe, it took my mind a few minutes to come back online. He sat on the opposite side of the couch once again, eyes glassy and unfocused as he looked at me. “That is not the Dahlia you’re looking for.” His raspy voice was like a gift from the gods. He swallowed reflexively and winced like it pained him to talk.
I bolted over the back of the couch to the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of iced water, and handed it to him. “Drink this, it’ll help. I need to make a call and see if Daniel can come over. He’s a forensic artist. Could you describe the Dahlia you know to him?” River nodded as his guarded blank look walled off his emotions. “Thank you, angel.” I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, then stepped out into the yard, my phone clutched to my chest, hoping this would be the breakthrough we needed.