Page 10 of Coming Home to You
“Well,” he says.“It turns out Jane Donovan isn’t her real name.”
“What?”I ask, sitting up straighter now.This is news.
“No,” Ryan says, smirking at me.“It’s actually Jane Dixon.Donovan is her mother’s maiden name, which she started using after an ex-boyfriend went allFatal Attractionon her ass.”
“What the fuck?”I ask, suddenly very interested in where this is going.
Ryan nods before continuing.“Yep, the guy’s a complete dick by all accounts.Only a short relationship, but didn’t take the break-up well.Started off just following her around, then it escalated to spying on her.When he started sending her pictures of himself jacking off outside her house in the middle of the night, it was the final straw.”
“Jesus christ,” I say, reaching for the file.“Do we know where he is?”
Ryan’s palm smacks down on the file, stopping me.I look up and catch the gloating look he’s giving me.“Uniforms are bringing him in now and yes you are buying the beers tonight, thank you very much.”
I shake my head at him, simultaneously impressed at what he’s found out and annoyed that he didn’t come to me before sending someone to pick him up.“You do remember that I am your boss, don’t you Ryan?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he says, standing and holding the file out to me now.
As I snatch it from his hand, I tell him, “So next time, make sure you keep me informed.”Ryan stares at me as though he’s waiting for more.“And well done, this is good fucking work.”
Ryan scoffs.“Of course it fucking is,” he says.“Interview room two, ten minutes.”
I can’t help but smile; I’m glad this guy is both my partner and my friend.Most people are surprised when they find out we are, but we’ve been close ever since we went through the Academy together.This bitching and chewing each other a new one, is all just part of the routine.Underneath it all is a guy I respect immensely, and who I know, always has my back.
An hour later and the well-rehearsed good cop-bad cop thing Ryan and I have going has gotten us a full confession from the ex-boyfriend.Turns out his jealousy reached epic proportions recently, when he discovered our victim had gotten herself a new boyfriend.His little payback for her replacing him like this was to rape and murder her.He’s a lying little shit and as it turns out, totally spineless in the face of two detectives going to town on him.Fucking asshole.Hopefully a trip to jail gets him a nice little dose of unwanted up the ass action in return.
“Drinks?”
I look up and see Ryan standing on the other side of my desk again, arms crossed over his chest and grinning at me.“You’re pretty fucking proud of yourself, aren’t you?”I say, standing and slipping on my suit jacket.
“For good fucking reason,” he says as we say goodnight to the rest of the team and walk out of the station together.
“God, you’re a dick,” I say, slapping him on the back as we walk into Finnigan’s.
“Yeah, but not as big a dick as you,” he says laughing.
I roll my eyes and order us beers before we both take a seat in a booth by the window.By the time we’re on our third round of drinks, the pub has gotten busier, the rest of the day shift all filing in to end their week with some well earned drinks.I’m in the middle of a conversation with Ryan over the likelihood of the Bruins reaching the playoffs when someone slides into the booth next to me.Turning, I can’t help but shudder as I see Miranda sitting there, smiling at me and with her cleavage on full display as though she’s expecting a repeat of last weekend.
“Miranda,” I say, sliding away from her.We haven’t crossed paths since I fucked her and made up some excuse about needing to go into work the next morning on Memorial Day weekend.I thought I’d gotten off with a one-nighter, but I’m beginning to wonder if her showing up here isn’t a sign that she’s about to go allFatal Attractionon me, too.“Ah, this is Ryan,” I say, gesturing across the table.
“Hey,” he says, reaching out to shake her hand, his eyes never leaving her tits.
“Hi,” she says, before turning back to me.“I haven’t heard from you, so I thought I’d drop by.”
I hear Ryan chuckle across from me and I can’t help reaching out and kicking him under the table, a satisfied smile on my face when he grunts in response.“No, I’ve been busy with work, the homicide from last weekend,” I tell her.
“Any leads?”she asks, her hand sliding onto my thigh.
My jaw clenches.“Yeah, Ryan here managed to catch us a huge break,” I say, smiling as I turn to face my friend.He scowls at me because he knows what I’m doing here.I’m trying to offload Miranda onto him and painting him out to be the hero in this case is the best way to do that.While I’m happy to give Ryan credit for helping us catch the guy today, when it comes to catching, or in this case, getting rid of a woman, neither of us ever plays fair.“He basically solved the whole case for us,” I add on, smirking at him.
“Well, aren’t you clever,” Miranda says, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
Just as Ryan’s foot connects with my leg under the table, my cell phone starts to ring in my pocket.“Excuse me, I need to take this,” I lie, practically pushing Miranda out of the booth so I can walk outside.“Keep him company while I’m gone, won’t you,” I say to Miranda, jerking my thumb in the direction of my friend.
I answer my phone without looking at the screen, grateful to whoever it is who’s just rescued me from Miranda’s needy clutches.“Detective Beck O’Loughlin.”
“Detective?”the voice says.“Fuck, I didn’t know that.”
“Who is this?”I ask, stepping outside onto the street where it’s quieter.
