Chapter 09 - The Past Always Catches Up
"What was your problem back at the university?" Steve asked Violet as they sat in his office.
They hadn't spoken since the incident at the university unless it was to pass on information to do with the case. Now the son had been caught and confessed, Steve wanted to know what was going on with her.
"I don't know." She sighed frowning a little. "I was annoyed and angry before we left to go there."
"You didn't show that you were." He pointed out.
"I'm sorry I can't be an open book." Sarcasm dripped from her voice. She knew she was acting like a child but didn't care at the moment.
"Is it the case?" He asked.
She shook her head. "No."
"Did something happen on Saturday or Sunday?"
She shook her head again.
"Was it that phone call you got this morning?" When she didn't answer Steve took it as a yes. "What was it about?"
"Isn't there a rule about leaving your personal life at home when it comes to your work?"
"Obviously you're not." Steve frowned slightly. "Do you need a couple days off?"
She shook her head no, looking down slightly ashamed. She had to admit to herself a little part of the outburst back at the university was childish jealousy but a bigger part was because of her mood thanks to the phone call.
"Then tell me what happened otherwise I will be giving you the next couple of days, maybe even the rest of the week." His voice was stern but didn't hide his concern.
She sighed giving in. The last thing she needed was days off where she could sit around. She'd only have the phone call to focus on and she didn't want that. "A person I got put in prison managed to get put on the parole list earlier than he was meant to."
"They still call you about people you've arrested?" He asked slightly confused. She shook her head.
"No they don't. This one was personal. I didn't arrest this guy."
"You were the victim." Steve clicked right away when she said she didn't arrest the guy. The victims or their families were always told when the person who committed the crime was facing parole.
"I don't like to look at myself in that way." She looked anywhere but at him. She couldn't look at him now that he knew. She didn't want anyone knowing yet but Steve, being her boss, had the right to know especially if her work was going to be effected by it.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"You don't need to apologize, you weren't there." She looked down at her hands on her lap.
"Do you mind me asking, what happened?" He asked.
She shook her head. "You have the right to no."
"Not if you don't want to tell me." Even with her head facing down, he could see the pain expression and hear it in her voice.
"I should. You need to know." She paused taking a breath in and letting it out with a sigh before starting her story. "When I made detective, I got put with narcotics. The guy I was partnered was a few years older than me, he seemed like the sweetest guy. He was funny, kind, very handsome and made me feel like a part of the team unlike the other guys who thought a 26 year old female detective had no place in their division."
She stopped, taking a deep breath in and out. "Anyway, I fell in love with him. We'd been working together a month and a half when we started our relationship. It was when he comforted me after a drug bust went wrong. I moved to homicide two weeks after we started seeing each other so we couldn't bring our work into our personal lives and our personal lives into our work. Being in different divisions also gave us the space we needed. I really did think I was in love with him. He made me so happy. I always felt like I was on cloud nine when I was with him."
She paused again. This time Steve spoke. "Then what happened?"
"Six months into the relationship, the DEA came to our boss saying their could possibly be a mole in our prescient. There was one drug ring the DEA couldn't bring down. They found out someone had been warning them when the DEA was about to make a bust." She continued. "They had noticed there were quite a bit of drugs missing from lock up too. Putting two and two together they thought who ever was tipping the drug ring off was also selling the drugs back to them. Some of the jerks were looking at it like it was my fault. I hadn't had anything to do with narcotics since I made the move to homicide."
"But it wasn't you." Steve said. He wasn't questioning her. He knew her enough to know she wouldn't do something like that. She also had no motive since she already had all the money in the world and she wasn't an addict.
She shook her head. "What I didn't know was I was in love with who it was."
"We're you the one who caught him?"
She nodded feeling tears in her eyes. "One night, three months after we found out there was a mole, I heard a phone that wasn't mine or his ringing. Being confused, I pressed answer and before I could say anything a man spoke saying a place and a price then hung up."
She paused wiping the tears that had started to fall away. Steve inched himself closer to her.
"He came out seeing me hold the phone in my hand. He instantly flipped out, yelling at me. He must have thought scaring me would stop me from going to our boss and the DEA. We argued, he told me if I loved him like I said I do, I wouldn't turn him in and we could be rich." Violet flinched slightly feeling Steve's hand on her back but continued talking.
"But I knew it was wrong. It was against the law and dangerous. I couldn't let him continue doing it and a very small part of me didn't want to turn him in so I told him because I love him, if he stopped doing what he was doing I wouldn't turn him in. He said he couldn't stop so I went to call our boss. This made him volatile. He grabbed one of the large knifes from the block on the counter and I ran and hid. It didn't take long for him to find me. I dropped the phone so the only way I had out was to fight him. If I managed to get him down I could grab the phone and call for help."
More tears were streaming down her face as a sob caught in her throat. Even after therapy everything was still raw. She was starting to think about finding a new therapist.
Steve's hand started rubbing small circles on her back and she felt herself start to calm down a little. But it didn't stop the tears from falling.
"I tried; I really tried fighting him off. He tried to make me scream for some sick and twisted reason and when I didn't he stabbed me just above my hip. In that moment I thought I was dead. I passed out just as he was leaving and when I woke up I was in hospital. He'd nicked an artery and they had to repair it. I was lucky enough for the neighbor to hear the commotion and come see what was happening" She stopped to let out a shuddering breath. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for her. We became close after I got out of hospital. She was so sad when I told her I was moving home. I owed her my life, I still feel like I do."
"Do you still keep in contact with her?" He asked.
"I call her once or twice a week. When I can't call her, she calls me." She wiped her tears away again.
"I'm sorry you went through that." He said sincerely. She looked up and could see sympathy in her eyes.
"You don't need to apologise and please stop looking at me like that." She said quietly.
"Like what?"
"Like you feel sorry for me. I still get them from my dad, my brothers and their partners." She frowned slightly. "I'm still alive, I'm still doing the job I love doing, I didn't lose anything. If anything, it made me stronger. He's the one that lost everything, I won."
"Yeah you did," he agreed. "What do you think will happen if he does get out of prison?"
"I'm hoping nothing, but I was the reason he lost everything." She sighed.
"Do you think he'll try to find you?" Steve asked.
She shrugged. "He's unpredictable so I don't know."
Steve nodded and looked like he was thinking about something. "Will you let me know if he does or doesn't get parole?"
She nodded her head this time.
"Are you sure you don't need a few days off?" He asked wanting to make sure.
"I'm sure." She answered. "I can't sit around and keep thinking about it, it'll drive me crazy."
"Alright but if I see you struggling I will send you home."
"Okay and thank you."
"For what?" He asked confused again by why she was thanking him.
"For listening and not judging me." She said.
"There's nothing to judge. You were fooled into thinking he was this great guy and he tried to kill you when you went to do the right thing." He reassured her. "He used and manipulated you, you weren't at fault."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She said.
"It's okay. I know now."
"I must look like a complete mess." She wiped the remaining tears of her face, thankful her eyeliner and mascara is waterproof.
"You look still look beautiful." He said making her blush.
"You're just being nice." She joked. He smiled a little knowing he wasn't just being nice. He did think she's still beautiful, even with tear streaked cheeks and red around the eyes from the tears.
Violet looked at the time. "I should get home."
"Let me drive you home, your upset and I was going to ask for a ride since Danny picked me up this morning and he's already left." He stood up walking over to desk.
"Okay." She said as she stood up also. Once they both had their things they left the building.
Violet handed Steve the keys when they arrived at her car. He walked over to the driver's side unlocking the car. When they got in, he drove to her apartment complex in silence and parked in her usual spot.
Getting out of the car, Steve handed the keys back to Violet and followed her to her apartment. When they were inside, Steve called for a cab.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked Violet as he waited for his cab to arrive. She could see the concern in his eyes again.
"Yeah I'll be fine." She reassured him with a small smile. "I might even have an early night."
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow." He returned her smile. She nodded and watched him walk away until she called out his name, making him stop and turn around to face him.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to threaten that woman's job. And I wouldn't have gotten her fired."
"Don't worry about it; you had a lot on your mind."
"Yeah," she said even though she thought it still wasn't an excuse to threaten anyone's job.
Violet watched him as he walked down the stairs and over to the cab he'd rang up for. Once he was in the cab and the cab had pulled out of the parking lot she went back into her apartment, a small smile on her face. She was glad to have a boss like Steve. She locked the apartment door and made her way towards the bathroom getting ready to take a shower to wash the day away.