A/N: This is continuation from my oneshot Baseball and Cookies, but you don't have to have read that to follow this one.
Disclaimer: I don't anything you recognize. The rest are figments of my imagination.
"Don't worry, Don, she can handle herself," said Mac.
"I know," replied Flack. And he did know. Jessica Angell was one hell of a detective.
Flack and Angell had been tailing Dennis Frye for two weeks. They suspected him of murdering his two business partners, but had little evidence to prove it. It finally looked like they were getting a break so they brought the man down to the station for questioning while they awaited some lab results. After forty-five minutes of getting nowhere with the suspect, Angell had suggested that she go one on one with the guy. She could tell that Frye was the kind of guy who responded better to women then he did men. Flack didn't like the thought of Angell alone in the interrogation room with the suspect, but he knew that she could handle herself. Besides he would be standing right outside the room with Mac.
xXx
"So Mr. Frye..." started Angell.
"Please, call me Dennis." There was a slight leering nature to the way Frye looked at Angell as he spoke. He liked beautiful woman and he thought the detective sitting across the table from him was stunning.
Angell did her best to ignore the way Frye was blatantly checking her out. "Mr. Frye." She wanted to remind the suspect who had the upper hand. "Both of your business partners die within weeks of each other and you don't think that's odd."
"Not really," replied Frye. "Accidents happen all the time."
"But these weren't accidents were they? You killed your partners."
"Why would I kill Fred and Paul? They were like brothers to me."
"Do you always steal from your brother?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you do."
"Fred and Paul were my family. My brothers. Again, why would I kill them?"
"Money. You were skimming money off the top to support your lavish lifestyle. The women, the fancy cars, expensive restaurants. You were living well above your means. With the business doing so great you thought no one would notice, but Paul did. When he found out, he demanded to be cut in. Turns out he had developed a nasty little gambling habit. Things were going fine, but you started to get greedy. What you were skimming was no longer enough, so you started to to take more. You slipped up and Fred caught you. He demanded that you return what you had taken or he would go to the police."
xXx
Flack couldn't take his eyes off of Angell. She had really done her homework and it showed. There was no way Frye was going to slip through their fingers. Not with Angell interrogating him.
xXx
"So you think that I killed Fred because he caught me stealing. Then why would I kill Paul? If he was in on it, like you said, why would I kill him?" Frye couldn't keep the smile off his face. She's got nothing on me, he thought. Although there are a few things I'd like to have on her, namely me.
"Well Paul, he was okay with stealing money, but he drew the line at murder. When you suggested getting rid of Fred, he blanched. You knew that you had to do something quick before everything blew up in your face. So what was one more murder?"
Frye was a cocky bastard who still thought he had the upper hand. Leaning across the table he tried to get as close to Angell as possible. "How much does the city pay detectives these days? I'm guessing not to much. A pretty thing like you deserves a lot more. You just need someone who could give it to you."
xXx
Flack stood outside the interrogation room with his hands tightly clenched into fists. When Frye started to lean in close to Angell, way to close for his liking, he had to resist the urge to barge in there and slam the suspect up against the wall. What stopped him was the fact that he trusted Angell's instincts. She would let him or Mac know if she felt threatened.
xXx
"So detective, why don't you tell me what you need?" Frye reached over and traced his index finger slowly down the back of Angell's hand.
xXx
That did it. Flack was not sitting back anymore. He started for the door, but Mac's hand gripping his shoulder stopped him.
"Give her a moment." If for one second Mac thought Angell was in danger he would be bursting through the doors.
xXx
Angell shuddered involuntarily and snatched her hand away. Knowing that she needed keep a handle on the situation, Angell tried to ignore Frye's blatant flirting. He wasn't the first suspect to hit on her and unfortunately he wouldn't be the last. Some detectives might flirt back to try and get a confession out of the suspect, but not Angell. There were just some lines she refused to cross.
"Come on, detective," said Frye. "Tell me what you need."
Suddenly Flack's face popped unbidden into Angell's head. Now was not the time for that so she pushed those thoughts away. "How about a full confession?"
"There's nothing to confess to. You have no evidence that I killed my partners." Frye certainly was a smug bastard.
"So you didn't recently up the amount of the life insurance policies you had out on Fred and Paul to the tune of two million dollars a piece? Two million that doubled to four million in case of accidental death."
"That money was for the business in case something were to happen to one of us. There's a policy out on me too, you know."
"Yes, a policy you opted not to renew sixth months ago. I mean, its as if you knew Paul would fall down an elevator shaft and Fred, who's highly allergic to peanuts, would eat chili laced with peanut butter. Now you're eight million dollars richer. Pretty convenient don't you think?"
Suddenly Frye wasn't feeling so smug anymore. "That, uh, that doesn't prove anything. I forgot to file some paperwork."
"You forgot to file paperwork?"
"Yeah, I did."
"That's funny, because your insurance agent said that you called him up and canceled your policy." Angell could see Frye was beginning to sweat. "Now why would you do that? I mean, what if something happened to you? Wouldn't Fred and Paul need that money for the business?"
"He must have been mistaken. I didn't cancel the policy." Frye was starting to feel more and more nervous.
"Just like you didn't buy a one way ticket to Fiji, right?"
How in the hell did she find out about Fiji? wondered Frye. Not even my mistress knows about Fiji. "I was planning a vacation. After everything that's happened, I needed to escape for a while."
"Interesting choice of words." Before Angell could say anything else there was a knock at the door. Hoping it was Adam with the test results, she got up and opened the door. After talking to Adam for a moment, she closed the door, and turned to face Frye, a wide smile on her face.
"Do you know what I have in my hands?" asked Angell. When Frye didn't respond, she continued. "I have the results from tests run on the jar of peanut butter found in your desk. Its an exact match for the peanut butter found in Fred's stomach."
"So I like to eat it peanut butter straight from the jar as a snack. Whoever made the chili could have used the same brand." Frye's voice held a confidence he didn't feel. She was getting too close for comfort.
"I don't think so because this special brand of organic peanut butter is sold only at one supermarket in the city." Opening a folder, Angell pulled out a picture and placed it in front of Frye. "This is a picture of you taken from the surveillance camera at Ray's Market. It shows you buying the jar of peanut butter."
Faced with all the evidence Angell had on him, Frye confessed to murdering both of his business partners.
xXx
As Angell watched an officer handcuff Frye and get ready to transfer him to central booking, she felt a sense of satisfaction. She and Flack had worked hard on the case and she was happy that all of that hard work paid off. She was looking forward to being able to call Fred and Paul's families and let them know that there would be just for their lost loved one.
As Frye was being led out of the room, he called out to Angell who was picking up some paperwork off the table. "Detective."
"What?"
"Tonight, while I'm laying in my cell, I'll being dreaming of you." Frye winked at Angell as he was being led out of the room.
xXx
"Hey Jess, what do you say we go for a drink?" asked Flack.
"Sure," replied Angell. "Just let me grab my coat."
Fifteen minutes later found the two detectives seated at a cozy little table sharing Irish coffees.
"You did good in there today, Jess."
"Thanks." Angell smiled at Flack's compliment.
They sat in silence for a few minutes letting the stress of the day drain away with each sip of their drinks. Flack reached across the table and placed his hand atop Angell's, his thumb rubbing the back of her hand. Each gentle stroke washing away Frye's touch. Tonight when Angell went home she would not be dreaming of murderers, she would be dreaming of handsome detective sitting across from her.
The End
Thank you for reading. Reviews are always greatly appreciated! Please let me know what you think.