Chapter Twenty-Two
Beck
It’s been two days since I left Rockport.
To say they’ve felt like two fucking years would be an understatement.
Everything is dragging and this trial is really beginning to piss me off.
This fucking idiot, who we arrested for the rape and murder of Jane Dixon and who everyone knows is guilty, continues to play hardball with his plea.
I don’t know what the fuck he thinks he’s doing, but someone needs to slap him with a wasting-my-fucking-time charge and teach the little fucker a lesson.
The only good thing is there’s been nothing from Jason during the time I’ve been away.
No messages, no incidents and no contact with Kels.
I should be breathing a sigh of relief, but far too many years of experience tells me this is not a good sign.
This is just a temporary reprieve, designed to lull us into a false sense of security before he does something.
And this time, I know it’s going to be big; everything before this will be child’s play compared to what comes next.
I’ve kept in constant contact with Finn the whole time I’ve been back.
He’s promised me his men are keeping an eye on Kels, around the clock.
She’s moved back home, which pisses me off, but Finn has a guy parked there, twenty-four-seven, even when she’s not home.
There’s also a guy at the inn and whenever she goes out, another one follows her.
I smile as I imagine how much this will be starting to piss her off.
She was cursing about it on the phone to me this morning; about some rookie standing outside the restroom when she went to take a piss.
“Hey,” Ryan says, walking into the courthouse and taking a seat on the bench beside me. We’re waiting to go in; apparently today is when I’ll be called up to the stand. I’m fucking glad, because the sooner I’m called, the sooner I can get the fuck out of here.
“Hey,” I say, giving my partner a quick glance. “You look like shit,” I tell him. Ryan grins, his eyes on his cell. It’s that shit-eating grin of his that tells me one thing. “You got laid last night?”
He turns to look at me now, shrugging as he says, “Sort of.”
I laugh. “Sort of? What the hell does sort of mean? You can’t remember if you stuck your dick in some pussy?”
Ryan shoots me a death glare now. “Not some pussy, thank you very much, the pussy and yes, I know exactly what happened.”
“And,” I say, gesturing with my hand. “Care to elaborate?”
Ryan grins at me. “I’ve got two words for you, O’Loughlin,” he says. “Face. Time.”
I’m chuckling now as I shake my head at him. Can’t say I blame him. The photos Erin sent us last night of the two of them were amazing, and if I’d had the time, I wouldn’t have just had phone sex with Kels, I’d have hauled ass up to Rockport and had real sex with Kels.
“Fuck, I’ll be glad when this trial is over,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
“I know, right,” Ryan says, staring down at his cell phone again. “This guy is being a real pain in our asses.”
I glance over and see he’s staring at a picture of Erin from last night. It’s a full-length shot of just her, wearing the green dress she had on for the wedding. There’s no doubt she’s beautiful and judging from the look on Ryan’s face, he thinks so too.
“So, Summers,” I say, twisting on the bench so I’m facing him. “What’s the deal with you and the redhead then?” Ryan doesn’t say anything for a second, too distracted by the picture on his phone. “Hello,” I say, elbowing him. “Earth to lover boy, come in?”
Ryan finally drags his eyes away from his cell, smiling at me as he says, “What?”
I shake my head at him. “You’re fucking hopeless,” I say. “I asked, what’s the deal with you and Red?”
“What do you mean?” he asks and I know he’s stalling. He knows exactly what I fucking mean.
“Um, shit, I don’t know Ryan, where do you want me to start?” I say, laughing. “The fact that you can’t stop thinking about her, the fact that you’re still having sex with her, or the fact that you aren’t having sex with anyone else?”
Ryan grins now. “Shit, O’Loughlin, I didn’t realize you were so hung up on my sex life. You jealous?”
“Fuck you,” I say. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You like her, don’t you?”
“Sure I do,” he says, shrugging. “She’s hot and she’s fucking amazing in bed.”
I scoff. “Bullshit, it’s more than that,” I say. “You’re fucking whipped.”
Ryan leans back now, staring straight ahead as though he’s thinking about what I’ve just said to him. “Yeah,” he says, his words unsure, as though even he can’t believe he’s admitting this. “I think I am.”
I burst out laughing as I take in his worried look. “Calm down, Summers,” I say. “It’s actually a really good thing, you know.”
Ryan grins now. “More than good,” he says, winking as the court attendant walks out of the courtroom.
“Detective Beckham O’Loughlin?” he asks.
“That’s me,” I say, standing.
“You’re up.”
I nod and we follow this guy into the courtroom, hoping to fuck that this will all be over in a few hours and I can go home to Rockport and Kels.
I’m questioned and cross-examined for a couple of hours. The prosecutor shows the video of Ryan and me questioning the guy, arguing that everything we did was by the book. I glance at Ryan, who’s sitting at the back of the room and he nods at me, as if to say he completely agrees.
He’s not being questioned on this one, it’s just me.
That’s mainly because I’m the senior officer and I was the one in charge of the investigation.
The defense lawyer tries to give me some grief about our arrest, not really focusing on the interview afterwards because he basically knows he’s got shit on that one.
He doesn’t have shit on the arrest either because Ryan did all of that by the book too. Neither of us fuck about with this stuff; it’s too serious to risk letting a guy like this walk. By the time the questioning is over, I walk out of the courtroom feeling pretty happy with how things went.
“Want to grab a beer?” Ryan says, as we walk out to the street.
“Yeah,” I tell him. “I just gotta speak to the captain for a bit, but I’ll meet you there in an hour?”
Ryan gives me a puzzled look, but doesn’t say anything, nodding as he walks towards his car.
I drive to the station and head inside to speak with my boss. I’m not really sure how this is all going to go down. I’m pretty sure he’s already pissed at my sudden and undefined departure from the job, and I’ve no doubt my next question is going to piss him off even more.
“O’Loughlin,” he says as I knock on the doorframe of his office. “What can I do for you?”
“Sir,” I say, walking in and taking a seat. “I need to talk to you about something.”
He nods, but doesn’t look up from the papers he’s reading. “How’d it go today, in court?”
I shrug, even though he isn’t looking at me. “Okay, I think. Pretty sure his lawyers know they’ve got jack shit on us. My money’s on them hoping he changes his plea; saves all of us the hassle.”
“Hmmm,” the captain says. “It would look better for us too. Improper police questioning is not something we need hanging over us.”
I exhale loudly, knowing he’s right, even if it is an underhanded dig at me for it happening in the first place.
The captain looks up. “What?”
I lean forward in my chair, elbows on my knees. “You have seen the video, right?” I ask him. “I mean you’re aware of the fact that Ryan and I did nothing wrong?”
“Yes, yes,” he says, nodding. “That’s not what I meant O’Loughlin. I’m just saying the press is the pain in the ass here. They love this kind of shit and the sooner we get a result in this case, the better.”
I sit back, knowing he’s right, in more ways than one.
“Anyway, you wanted to talk to me?” he says, dropping his pen and sitting back in his chair, giving me his undivided attention.
“Yeah,” I say, running a hand down my face. “Look, I know this is shit timing and I’m already being a pain in the ass going MIA for the past couple weeks, but as soon as this trial is over, I’m going to have to head out of town again.”
“Something going on?” he asks, surprisingly calm about my request.
“Yeah,” I breathe out. “My girlfriend’s gone and got herself a stalker; really bad news. I’m worried about what the fucker’s going to do, given his background.”
I watch as the captain tucks his hands behind his head. “This the same guy Ryan’s been looking into for the past few days, the ex-cop out of Florida?”
“Yeah,” I say. “My brother’s the chief of police up in Rockport where my girl lives, he’s been investigating him up there, but well…”
“You want to be there too?” the captain says.
“I do, Sir,” I say. “I mean I trust my brother and stuff, it’s just…”
“I get it, Beck,” he says, sitting forward now. “Take all the time you need. It’ll have to wait till this trial is sorted, but once it is, go. And keep me informed. It seems this guy has been fucking around here in Boston too, so any info we can share will help all of us.”
I exhale a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Sir,” I say.
He nods and I stand and walk out, ready to call it a day and meet Ryan for a drink.
“Beck,” he says, just as I reach the door.
“Yeah?”
“What’s gonna happen when you catch the guy?” he asks. “You planning on coming back to work?”
I stare back at the captain, wondering how the fuck I’m supposed to answer that. “Not sure,” I eventually say. “Can we talk about that when we do catch him?”
The captain nods but says nothing and I walk out, wondering how the fuck I’m going to make this all work.
Twenty minutes later and I walk into Finnigan’s and see Ryan already sitting up at the bar. “Hey,” I say, sliding onto the stool next to him.
He grins, but doesn’t look up from his phone. When I steal a glance I can see he’s texting.
“You sexting Erin this time?” I ask, ordering a beer.
This gets his attention. “Sexting? What are you, a sixteen year old girl or something?” he scoffs.