Chapter 17
1790 Words
“So you smoke now?” Olivia was so lost in her own little world that she didn’t even see Detective Daniels coming out of the station, walking towards her, and finally standing right in front of her. Looking up at his stupid grin, she had to fight the urge not to slap it right off his stupid face. Instead, she settled for a scowl. “No, I quit five years ago.”
“Sarcasm?”
“No.”
“Right, okay.” Daniels shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other while Olivia tried her best to ignore him. “Look,” he began. “I am sorry for kissing you at the karaoke the other night. I realize now that you don’t like surprises.” Olivia wanted to scoff and say that she didn’t like him. “So, I thought it would be better if I asked you out for lunch or something. You know, so we could get to know each other.”
Baffled by his tenacity, but then again it might even be stupidity. “This,” she said waving her hand between them “is not going to happen Daniels. I am not interested in dating people I work with. I have told you this. So, I would appreciate it if you would please stop coming on to me.”
His face was turning an alarming shade of red, his eyes went flat and Olivia saw him grinding his molars “So, you don’t date colleagues, huh?”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Yes, you know this.” She flicked the bud into the bin and got up, she headed back to the station. She didn’t have the energy for his f*****g schoolboy crush today. She was having a fine day until he came along.
“How then, would you define your relationship with Riley? Do you not see him as a person you work with, Olivia?” She stopped mid-stride, but she didn’t turn to look at him when she asked, “What are you talking about?”
“You know what I am f*****g talking about!” Suddenly, Daniels was in front of her, in her face, spitting mad. “I saw you leaving with him that night.”
Backing up from him just a little, Olivia kept her voice calm. “Yes, because I don’t have a car and I was drunk off my a*s. He gave me and Kat a ride home. How is this any of your business, Daniels?” She was losing her temper.
“Bullshit!” Grabbing a hold of her arms, he got in her face again. If he was spitting mad a minute ago, he was livid now. “He was in your apartment for more than an hour! What were the co-workers doing then?” he sneered “Discussing cases? Do you think I am f*****g stupid, Olivia?”
“You better let go of me, Daniels. I have warned you about touching me, haven’t I?” Her control over her temper was slipping with each passing second.
“Did you f**k him to make me jealous?”
Olivia was about to object to his insulting question but the one minute he was screaming into her face, bruising her arms, and the next he was not standing anymore.
Blinking rapidly, Olivia gaped at the body on the ground, so boisterous just seconds ago, now reduced into a pathetic heap of limbs. Her eyes flickered from Daniels to an incredibly pissed off Mason.
“f**k,” she breathed “You killed him,” Olivia whispered.
Mason looked down at Daniels, frowning as if the thought hadn’t occurred to him. “He’ll be fine.” His stormy eyes landed on her once more. “What is going on, Olivia?” his voice was steady but his eyes were blazing.
“I… I, well, see Daniels…”
“For f**k’s sake, spit it out!” he growled.
Looking into his eyes was affecting her ability to put a full sentence together, Olivia averted her gaze to the side to gain a measure of control. She could feel her color drain when her eyes landed on Chief Callaway’s thunderous face. “s**t,” she muttered.
“Why did you not report this, Detective?”
“I could handle it myself, Sir.”
“Handle it?” The chief laughed mirthlessly. “One of my detectives knocked out and other possibly facing assault charges? Is that how you handled it?”
“Not knocked out, just incapacitated,” Mason grumbled, earning him a withering look.
“Fine then, incapacitated.”
“I didn’t realize that it would get this out of hand.” He regarded Olivia for a few moments before his gazed dropped along with his head. Pinching the bridge of his nose he asked. “Would you like to press assault charges, Olivia?”
“No, sir. I just want Detective Daniels to stop propositioning me.”
“Daniels?”
“I’ll leave her alone,” he said, staring past everyone.
“Would you like to press charges, Cole?”
Mason tensed beside her.
“No.”
“Consider this your verbal warning. The lot of you keep out of each other’s way when there is no need for you to be in the same room at the same time. Do you understand me?”
A collective “Yes, Sir,” resonated.
This was exactly what Olivia had been trying to avoid - complicated work relationships. Still, she should thank Mason for helping or apologize to him–she wasn’t sure which. Daniels had made a hasty retreat to his office, Mason was just a few steps in front of her, shoulders tense with annoyance.
“Mason,” she called for him to stop, but he just ignored her. Olivia didn’t exactly blame him for being pissed off, but it’s not like she asked him to do his fancy Martial Arts move on Daniels. She quickened her step to catch up to him. As she took a hold of his arm, he yanked it out of her grip and without looking at her he told Olivia to f**k off.
Right then. Olivia thought as she took his advice outside for another smoke.
How was it possible for yesterday to have ended in such a positive way and for today to have started like this? Olivia wondered if there was such a thing as a personal day? She felt like she needed to take a personal day.
She headed back to her office and concentrated on what she was being paid to do–her work. She needed Finley and Amanda to answer questions, but that d**k of a lawyer is blocking her every attempt. The lab had promised her the results as soon as possible–that could be an hour or a f*****g week.
Olivia still needed to get a hold of Dona’s brother and find out if he knew anything. She was just about to call the US Embassy in London when Kat strolled into her office. She plopped down on the chair, quirking an eyebrow. “So, what just happened?”
“Regarding?” Olivia placed the receiver down.
“Cole was stomping all the way to his office and minutes later Mason came into the office looking for some puppies to boil alive.” Olivia shuddered at the thought.
“And it just had to be because of me?” However true, it was still insulting.
“The only thing those two have in common is you.” She pointed a finger at her.
“Me?” Olivia scoffed. “You are being ridiculous.”
“Am I, though?” She pulled a Snickers bar from her pocket, unwrapped it, and held it out to Olivia. Upon her decline, Kat took a bite and continued with a full mouth. “They want into your pants, Blue Eyes. Colin has made his interests very clear at the karaoke.”
“Yes, Colin, not Mason. I’ve been here for a few weeks and we haven’t exchanged more than a few words at a time before the Lincoln/ Weser case.”
“And you think that’s just a coincidence? Mason was avoiding you like the plague.” Munching off the rest of the bar, she popped the wrapper in Olivia’s bin.
“So he was avoiding me because he wants to sleep with me?” Sounds familiar.
“The two of you have more in common than you both realize. He has the same rule of not romping co-workers.”
“That’s just one thing.” Olivia pointed out. Trying not to think about the fact that Mason might be into her.
“You are attracted to him - all flustered and dopey-eyed when you first saw him.” She grinned.
“Well, nothing is going to come of it, so it doesn’t even matter.” The thought was depressing.
“Sad thing is that you might be right, too. The two of you are so determined you’d let a good thing slip through your fingers just to prove a point.” She got up and left.
A good thing? Kat was making it sound as though they were throwing away a relationship. Her response to him was purely on a physical level. Olivia sighed - as much as she liked Kat, she could feel she was going to be a monumental pain in the a*s.
Pushing the thoughts from her mind, Olivia dialed the Embassy.
It was just after lunch when the Embassy had returned with a number for Sam Holden. It should be just after five pm in London now.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Holden?”
“Yes?”
“This is Detective Olivia Pearson. Do you have a moment to talk?”
“Detective?” he asked.
“Yes. I work for the Newburgh Police Department.”
“How can I help you?” Olivia could hear the suspicion in his voice.
“When last have you spoken to your mother or sister?”
Silence.
“Mr. Holden?”
“The day I boarded the plane to England.” f**k “What’s going on, Detective?”
Olivia ripped off the bandage. “Mr. Holden, I am sorry to inform you that your sister had been murdered.” Olivia took a deep breath. “Two years ago.”
- Writer
