Chapter 2: The Way We Do Things
Abby had never adjusted to jobs very well in her life, so when she'd taken to becoming a nanny quite easily it had surprised her, and she considered it a one-off. And then she started working in the IT department of the police station and, again, she was surprised that she adjusted much sooner than she thought she would.
Perhaps it was the job in itself. The IT department was segmented into areas, and small groups of them catered to certain branches of the police department so things weren't all mixed together. Abby worked with the Major Case sector, and specifically worked with cases involving computer evidence. Her job had exciting moments: she'd get to recover information from a damaged hard drive, or find critical files thought to be hidden away in cyberspace; but generally she spent most days tracing emails, identifying IP addresses and fixing various computer problems of the detectives upstairs.
All in all, it was easy to get into the swing of things. And Abby really enjoyed the trio she worked with. Her boss was Mark, a very laid back guy who often napped in his desk chair. He had been promoted since he had been at the precinct the longest, but he didn't take his position too seriously. He and Abby spent good quantities of the day playing around; he reminded her of her brother. His work philosophy was something along the lines of "if the work is done well, doesn't matter how much fun you have getting the results."
Then there was Avery. Very straight-laced girl, addicted to her computer, knew codes without having to double check them, a human computer. Abby didn't really know a lot about her. She was nice and friendly; just very shy and quiet. But Abby often saw the young woman smiling to herself when Mark said something funny, and had a feeling she harboured a crush on him.
The only guy Abby didn't care much for was Jason. As far as Abby could tell, he was a know-it-all who was keeping his job because there wasn't exactly a line out the door for IT technicians. He did his work, but not without explaining to everyone who would listen how he got to the result as if waiting for a round of applause or something just as ego-pleasing.
But the thing that excited Abby most about her new job was her office. Of the four people who worked in this area, she was the only one who had an office that included a door. Given the option of having a large space with divider walls like everyone else or the cramped box with a door, Abby didn't even have to think before she chose her "office". It didn't have any windows, every wall was painted a different shade of gray, the door didn't shut properly, the overhead light hummed, and it was so small her desk had to be jammed in sideways and the easiest way for her to get out of there was to slide over the desk instead of wedging herself against the wall; but it was hers. And she loved it.
So when Bobby came to visit her for the first time a month or so after she started working there, it was the first place she showed him. And she showed it with pride. "Welcome to my office," Abby said proudly scooting up onto her desk. "I have an office! I've never had an office before."
"I don't even get an office," Bobby said admiring her name on the office door. It had been written on with red marker and had lewd, silly drawings all around it.
"No, but you get a gun," Abby pointed out.
"Abby," Mark hovered in her doorway. "Where's my good pen this time?"
"You don't have a good pen."
"The green one with the thing on it," Mark said narrowing his eyes at her. "I know you stole it."
"Lies," Abby flicked her eyes to Bobby. "And I have a guest," she told Mark. "So be gone from my office."
Mark bowed his head, and slowly backed away to answer the ringing phone. From under her desk Abby pulled the green pen from its hiding place on the little ledge under there and showed it to Bobby. "I steal it daily, whenever he leaves it unmanned," she hid the pen again before anyone else saw. "And then I put it on his desk at the end of the day with a note telling him how much it missed him."
"Fun," Bobby folded his arms and smiled. "How do you get work done with all this fun?"
Giving him a withering look, Abby slid off her desk and went out into the main room. "We have fun to get work done," Abby recited leading him over to the clunky printer. For some reason, the IT department was subjected to an ancient printer that sounded like a car backfiring every time it produced a printout. "Here you go," she handed the paper to Bobby. "I could have brought this up to you, you know."
"I've been meaning to check out your new office," Bobby said scanning the printout. "It's a good walk anyway."
"Well, next time you come bring good coffee," Abby hit one of the warning buttons on the printer that beeped constantly for no apparent reason. "The stuff down here sucks."
Goren stepped away from her as though he was about to leave, but then stepped back. "Did you hear about the benefit the Captain is holding next month?"
"Yeah, Mark got an invite," Abby said, her boss smiling proudly. "Apparently Heads of Department all got one," she paused and raised an eyebrow to the detective. "Why?"
The benefit was a success in all areas. Deakins made a lot of money for the Widows & Children's charity that financially cared for the families of officers killed on duty. And for Bobby, it turned into a fun night with Abby. She'd looked beautiful, dressed in a maroon evening gown she said she'd borrowed from her sister-in-law. Goren hadn't seen her in that way before, so elegant and refined. And then she would say something, an Australian colloquialism that he wouldn't completely understand, and she'd instantly become the Abby he'd gotten to know since she started working at the station. His friend, Abby.
Without the cloud of a murder investigation over her as she'd had the year before with the Walkers, Abby was just fun for Bobby to be with at the benefit. They danced together, mingled together, and at the end of the night he took her back to her apartment where she kissed his cheek and told him she'd see him the next day at work.
She liked him, he knew she did. Always upfront with her thoughts, Abby was seemingly unconsciously upfront with her inner desires. The way she her voice changed when she answered her phone and realized it was Goren on the line, the little flicker in her eyes when he went down to the IT department to see her, the thin-lipped smile she gave him when she was trying not to look flattered. They were all signs to Bobby, good signs he intended on exploring.
But the universe had a road bump in store for Goren before he could even consider anything with Abby. The same bump that had reared her head when Abby was a suspect the year before. Nicole Wallace.
The case was different this time, nothing to do with Abby and everything to do with Nicole and a young woman, Ella, whom Nicole was grooming as a protégé as well as using her as a lover. A string of larcenies were attributed to Ella, but Goren knew that Nicole was the ringleader behind it. Of course, as always with Nicole, there was no proof. Only his speculation.
They had found Nicole again through her ex-husband. And, after Ella was arrested, Nicole arrived at the Major Case squad herself to defend her lover. Once again, Bobby found himself face to face with her. Murderous Nicole with her sparkling eyes and megawatt smile. Nicole, who looked like a sweetheart, but who Bobby knew had a deep, angered darkness churning inside her.
After answering Goren's initial questions about Ella, and about her involvement with the girl, Nicole narrowed the conversation down to just herself and to Bobby. "I didn't come here to engage you," she said. "I want a truce, Bobby."
"A truce," Goren repeated, searching her eyes for a hint what she was really asking for. "That's not in your nature."
Nicole smirked. "Notwithstanding your unrelenting pursuit of evil."
"Evil, Nicole, is also unrelenting in its pursuits." Goren said evenly. "Your ex-husband, who actually loved you, he knew enough to step away from you."
Nicole didn't seem fazed at his attempt to provoke her. "We divorced for reasons familiar to many couples."
"Because you couldn't bear children?"
Nicole's left eyebrow twitched for barely a millisecond. "Is that what he told you?" she asked casually, shaking out out her hair. "Obviously, I need to remind him that our divorce agreement has a confidentiality clause-"
And then any sign that she might have been even remotely unsteady disappeared, and Nicole's triumphant grin returned as through the interview room window she spotted someone threading through the desks out in the squad room. "Well, well, well... now there's a face I didn't expect to see." Smirking, Nicole tilted her head to the side and rounded her eyes back on the detective. "So Abby works here now, Bobby? Was that your idea?"
"Ella's being taking down for arraignment," Goren continued, letting her jabs at him pass right by.
"She's beautiful, Bobby," Nicole smiled sweetly, and she held her tongue between her teeth. "And," her smile broadened, and she seductively bit her lower lip. "You can actually have this one. Tell me, do you think of me when you think of her? Pretty, little Australian girl who has a crush on the quirky Detective Bobby," she pouted. "Only this time without our unfortunate history..." she leant towards him, lowering her voice. "How much does she know about us, Bobby? How much did you tell her?"
"There is no us, Nicole," Bobby said as he rose to his feet. "And you're one of a kind."
Nicole smiled at the compliment. "I know how you think of me, but it's always nice to hear it." Standing, she looped her handbag over her shoulder, gave Goren a pleasant grin and let herself out of the interview room.
Watching her carefully, Goren saw her stop and comfort Ella who was being led away in cuffs, but he also watched Abby. She was across the room, trying to explain something on a computer to one of the older detectives, and she didn't seem to have noticed Nicole at all.
They had no history, Bobby told himself. It was a game, a game of Nicole's, to make him think Abby wasn't trustworthy, when in fact he believed she was. And through no fault or actions of her own, Abby was being pegged as deceitful by a woman she'd never even met.
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