Chapter 26: Making Up

"Alright," Benoit said, nodding his head and looking at Julia. "You both ready?"

He saw Julia give him a nod and they all vacated the car. When they got in the house, Walt and Richard were standing in the foyer and turned around to face the three. Already, it looked like some wolves had come for a feast.

"Oh! Okay. Well, has she come to her senses?" Richard inquored casually.

Blanc suppressed an eye roll. The nerve.

"Well, she's standing right there, Richard," Walt said with a raised hand. "She can speak for herself."

"Is the rest of the family assembled?" Benoit asked the men.

"In the living room."

"I think it would be better if we were to gather again and get this over with," Blanc said while walking with the two men down the hall to the living room.

Benoit was absolutely dreading what was to come next. Marta confessing to accidentally killing Harlan and Julia confessing to being an accomplice. He felt bad for the both of them, but he especially felt awful for Julia. The woman he'd fallen in love with was about to go to jail for accessory to murder. Or manslaughter, rather. It's not like Marta intended to kill Harlan. It was an accident.

"What is this about, exactly?" Linda asked as she entered the room.

Benoit tucked a hand into his pocket while the other hand scratched at his eyebrow. "Marta and Julia will be makin' an announcement in a few minutes, so just sit tight."

"Wait, why is Julia in on this?" Richard asked, looking concerned.

"You'll just have to wait," Benoit said.

Linda hmphed and sat down with one of the dogs who had a baseball in his mouth. The detective waited for the rest of the family to arrive in the living room, contemplating his inner thoughts. He was still so confused by this whole case. Yes, it was solved, but something told him that it was not.

It still felt like a donut.

Ransom had been spotted by Greatnana, but apparently had mistaken Julia for Ransom. That still did not make sense to him. Yes, they were twins and looked similar in facial structure, eyes and such, but for someone to confuse the two entirely? Now that was something.

What had Ransom been doing?

And why would Fran overdose herself? That part he still couldn't figure out. Had someone else done it to her? If that was the case, who?

And furthermore, who the hell hired him? Why would someone hire him? Because they knew a crime had been committed.

"How would they be aware of that, though?" he thought.

Strange case, indeed.

Benoit stared out at the family, a little disgusted by them for the way they had treated Marta the day before. Despite her crime, Marta was a good person.

And so was Julia.

"Wait, we're missin' someone," he thought.

He looked back in the hallway to see Meg Thrombey with Marta and Julia. He made his way towards Miss Drysdale.

"I still think this is a bad idea, but the family is assembled," Benoit said to them.

"I know where the tox report is," Marta spoke up suddenly.

Julia faced Marta. "What? Where?" Then realization formed on her face. "Ooooh. Ha! Clever."

Benoit was confused but he followed the women to one of the rooms on the first floor. Marta walked to a cupid clock that was on top of a fireplace and she opened a drawer on it, grabbing a folded up piece of paper.

"She basically told me where it was," Marta said while giving Benoit the paper. "Anyways, this will tie everything up. And I just handed it to you." She sat on the ledge of the fireplace. "God, you're not much of a Detective, are you?"

Blanc heard Julia snort and he looked at Marta with humbled disbelief on his face. "Well, to be fair," he said as he sat next to Marta, "you make a pretty lousy murderer, and you," he looked at Julia, "a lousy accomplice." The girls giggled and Benoit looked Miss Drysdale straight in the eye when he said, "perhaps we deserve each other."

Blanc saw Miss Drysdale's face blush and he had to stifle a grin. He loved making her blush.

This was going to be very hard on him once she went to jail. However, it was not like she'd be in jail for too long. The maximum sentencing for accessory after the fact was three years. He was certain she'd get out earlier due to good behavior.

But then what?

Could he try to date a criminal? It was hard to see Julia as a criminal, but she was one. This saddened him. He loved her, but to date her? That was another story altogether. It wasn't a matter of judgment, at least not when it came to her. It was more a matter of principal to not date people who'd been to jail.

The three left the room but when they reached the entrance to the living room, Benoit grasped Julia's arm and gently pulled her back.

"Detective?" she asked, looking at him with puzzlement. "What is it?"

With a deep set frown, Blanc looked at her. "I...I only wish we had met under different circumstances. That things weren't like this," he stammered.

Miss Drysdale smiled at him sadly and held his hand. "Me too, Benoit."

As she walked away, the warmth of her hand lingered on Benoit's fingers.

That was the first time she'd called him by his first name.

Benoit Blanc stared into Mrs. Heller's face with a touch of anger. He was trying to keep his cool but Julia's life was on the line here.

"Mrs. Heller," he said, holding up his palms in surrender. "Do not do anything rash, please. Let her go and let us talk about this."

"What's there to talk about?" Mrs. Heller snarled. "Don't you know what she did?"

"No, I do not," he replied coolly.

Benoit noticed Marta coming up from behind Mrs. Heller, then looked back at the lady. What was Marta thinking about doing? He also noticed some people had their phones out and were recording this. It made him want to scold all of them.

Mrs. Heller scowled with a bitter laugh. "Ha! She didn't have the guts to tell you what she did?"

Benoit stared at his ex-girlfriend and saw the look of horror on her face. Julia was afraid, though he wasn't sure what she feared more: losing her life or having her secret found out. Marta was inching closer behind but Benoit kept his eyes on Julia, not wanting to give Marta away. He vaguely spotted the cue ball in Marta's hands and wondered if that would be enough to subdue Mrs. Heller.

"Whatever she did, Mrs. Heller, it doesn't hold much ground with me. That's not who she is now," Benoit stated in a low, angry drawl.

"Come on, Marta. Hurry up and hit her!" Benoit thought.

Marta inched closer and closer and Benoit feared that someone might alert Mrs. Heller of the impending attack, but his worries were unfounded as Marta raised her hand and brought the ball down on Mrs. Heller's skull with a crack. People gasped, causing a slight uproar while Mrs. Heller faltered so much that she dropped the gun and staggered enough for Julia to get away, but instead, she grabbed the gun and aimed it at Mrs. Heller.

This shocked Benoit.

Mrs. Heller recovered and felt the back of her head, pulling her hand back to show blood on her fingers.

"You little bitch!" she shouted at Marta.

"Call her that again and I'll shoot you in the god damn knee cap!" Julia snarled.

Mrs. Heller glared at Julia. "You won't get away with this!" she hissed.

Julia jutted her jaw to the side and scoffed. "This isn't about me getting away with anything!"

"You killed my daughter!"

"Oh please! It's not like I shoved her off the building! She jumped off!"

"Because you told her she should kill herself! You bullied her!"

Benoit's jaw dropped a little. Julia did what?

Julia closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them. "Yes, and for that, I am sorry. But at the time, I didn't think she would actually-"

"But she did!" Mrs. Heller interrupted with a growl.

"I tried to stop her from doing it!" Julia snapped angrily.

Mrs. Heller's faced softened for a moment. "You're a liar!"

Julia sighed. Clearly she was trying to calm herself down but Benoit knew she was having difficulty doing that. He slowly walked to her and rested a hand on her arm.

"Julia, put the gun down," he requested in a soft voice.

"No!" she snapped, looking at Benoit. "I'm sick and tired of people coming after me!" She turned her attention back to Mrs. Heller. "I tried to talk her out of it, Mrs. Heller. I'm not lying about this!"

"I don't believe you!" Mrs. Heller roared. "I didn't believe you then and I don't believe you now!"

"She and I were the only ones on top of the building. No one else heard what transpired but I swear to God himself that I tried to stop her," Julia said, her lip trembling. "And Kelly? She was barely paying attention and didn't even bother to go after Alice on that roof, but I did!"

Julia quickly ran up the stairs, chasing Alice. Alice had ran from the party after their...confrontation, but Julia regretted her words right after it. Kelly had still been too busy with her boyfriend to really care and for that, Julia was pissed.

"Alice, wait!" Julia yelled. "I didn't mean it! I swear!"

Alice wasn't listening, but joe could she? It's not like Alice could actually hear Julia on account of being deaf. She just kept running up the stairs. Julia was having a hard time keeping up.

Alice reached the roof door and opened it before running out. Julia started taking two steps at a time, deeply out of breath, and eventually reached the top. As she opened the door and ran out, she looked around. Alice was now standing on the edge of the roof.

"Oh shit!" Julia ran to her. "Alice!"

Julia knew Alice couldn't hear her, but she yelled her name anyway. Alice turned to face Julia, tears streaming down her face.

"Alice, I'm sorry I said all that stuff. I didn't mean it," Julia said, waving a hand about as she spoke both from her mouth and in sign language. "Now...now come down from there. Please."

Alice shook her head and sniffled, raising her hands and performing sign language.

"I have been wanting this for a while now. I am a freak, just like you said," Alice said with her hands, mouthing her words.

Julia gulped and shook her head. "No, you're not a freak, Alice. You may be deaf, but you're not a freak. I shouldn't have said any of that stuff to you and I shouldn't have goaded everyone else to tease you," Julia pleaded, tears threatening to fall.

Alice spoke in sign language again. "I hate my life. This is what I want."

Julia took a hesitant step forward. "Alice, don't do this. Let's just talk about th-"

Before Julia could finish signing her sentence, Alice, with a look of defeat on her face, took a step back off the ledge and jumped off.

"NO!" Julia yelled as she ran to the edge.

She leaned over just in time to see Alice land on the ground and Julia screamed. She turned and ran to the roof door, opening it and running quickly down the stairs.

When she got to the bottom, she shoved the door open and ran towards the entrance. Julia burst through the doors and looked to right to see a crowd had gathered. She ran and pushed through the crowd. When she saw Alice's dead body on the ground, blood pooling around her head, she covered her mouth and started to cry.

Julia, still with her gun aimed at Mrs. Heller, eyeballed Benoit. "Well, now you know my secret," she said, not even caring anymore if he knew or not.

She didn't care much about anything anymore except about people chasing her down like a fox being hunted by hounds. She was absolutely sick of it.

"Now, if you ever try to attack me again, I'll kill you myself," Julia threatened lowly.

Mrs. Heller merely narrowed her eyes at Julia. "You bitch, I should've shot you in the bathroom!"

Benoit rested a hand on Julia's shoulder. "Julia, please put the gun down."

Julia wasn't really listening. The only thing that she was focusing on was the threat in front of her. Julia was mad as hell and not thinking straight, but again, she did not care at all.

"Julia. The cops will be here any minute and it won't look good if they see you pointin' a gun at someone," Benoit explained.

"I don't give a fuck. I'm tired of people trying to kill me," she growled.

"Chickapen...please."

Julia blinked. Calling her chickapen helped calm her down a little. "You're still calling me that even after knowing what you know now?"

"Yes. Now please put the gun down." Julia hesitated, but she lowered the gun and handed it to Benoit. He took it and put it in his waistband, looking at Mrs. Heller. "Now as for you, Mrs. Heller, I suggest you-"

The door to the bar opened and a couple cops walked in with their guns out. "Alright, everyone put your hands up," one of them said. Everyone did as they were told. "Good, now...what's going on here?"

Julia motioned her head towards Mrs. Heller. "This lady threatened me with her gun and tried to kidnap me."

Mrs. Heller glared at Julia. "This isn't over yet. My husband and Emily are still free and they will finish you off, Julia."

Julia looked at the woman with wide eyes. "You're working with Emily on this?"

As one of the cops came over and handcuffed Mrs. Heller, she smiled evily. "They will get you, Julia. You have my word on that."

After Mrs. Heller was arrested and the cops took everyone's statements, people were allowed to leave. Julia was over by Marta's car going over things in her head.

Mr. Heller and Emily had joined forces to bring Julia down. How had they even met? Maybe Emily saw them on the news? That had to be it.

Benoit and Marta came walking over to Julia and he sighed heavily. "How are you doing?" he asked.

Julia scoffed and shook her head, closing her eyes. "Just worn down from all this bullshit," she replied bitterly.

She opened her eyes and saw Benoit frown at her. "I'm sorry," he said.

Julia sighed and rubbed her face. "I'm so tired."

"Yeah, we should get going," Marta commented.

A frown appeared on Benoit's face. "Julia, can we talk for a minute?"

Before Julia could respond, Marta unlocked her car, getting in and shutting the door. Julia crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Benoit apprehensively. What could he want to talk about? He knew her secret now and he probably wanted nothing to do with her.

"Go ahead," she said.

Benoit took a step towards her. "Can we please get back together?"

Julia's eyes widened. "You still want to? Even though you know what I did to Alice?"

Benoit cupped her face and grinned. "Yes."

"But...but why? How could you still want me after-"

"Julia Drysdale, the depth of my affection for you puts the Mariana Trench to shame," he said lovingly, stroking her lip with his thumb.

Julia leaned into his touch, her eyes softening as she looked into his eyes. "What...what are you saying, Benoit?"

"I'm in love with you."

Her jaw dropped. "...What?"

Benoit chuckled lightly. "It's true. You captured my heart the day I met you."

Julia's jaw dropped further then she broke into a big smile. "Holy shit," she breathed.

He let out a big belly laugh. Julia couldn't take the smile off her face. Benoit loved her. He really loved her. She couldn't be happier about the very welcome news. She grabbed his coat collar, pulled him to her and pressed her lips to his. Benoit grabbed her face and groaned against her mouth.

"I love you, Benoit..." she whimpered.

"Mmm, does this mean we, mmm, are back together?" he asked, kissing her between words.

"Mmm, yeah."

"Good. Now, mmm, will you please come...mmmmm, come home?"

Julia nodded as they continued kissing. "Yes, I'll come home."

As much as Julia wanted to get going, she couldn't stop herself from kissing Benoit still. It was impossible at that point. However, when someone cleared their throat, it got Julia and Benoit's attention.

"Sorry to interrupt, but can we get going? You both will catch your death out here in the snow," Marta surmised with a bright grin.

"Right," Julia giggled. "Benoit, let me go back to Marta's. I'll pack my things and meet you back at your place."

Benoit pressed his forehead to hers. "Or you could come home with me right now and grab your belongings tomorrow."

"I could but I also need my car," she said. "I have a thing I gotta do in the morning."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I'm going on a radio show to promote my book."

Benoit blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah," she said. "Jessica said my popularity has grown a ton since all this stuff started, so...they want to talk about my book and the other shit that's been going on."

"Didn't you say Jessica was just a literary agent?"

"She's also my publicist."

"Oh," Benoit said, rubbing her arms. "Well, I better let you get goin'. I'll have a surprise waitin' for you back at my place."

Julia grinned and placed a kiss on his lips. "Can't wait."

They walked around to the other side of the car and Benoit opened the door for her. She chuckled at the motion. Always a gentleman, this one.

"Just be careful driving around with all this snow," he said as Julia got in.

"We will. Besides, I went back to my house and grabbed Commander so she'll be good driving through the snow."

Benoit blinked. "It's a she?"

"Yup."

He laughed and gave her another kiss. "Alright, I'll let you guys go."

He shut the door and Julia looked at Marta who was smirking at her. "What?" Julia asked.

"You two were made for each other," Marta replied with a smile.

Julia chuckled and buckled her seatbelt. "Just drive," she groaned.

As the girls drove off, Benoit went over to his car, unlocked it and got in. He needed to hurry if he was going to have her surprise ready.

He drove to the local Walmart and looked through the aisles for some scented candles. Benoit had no idea which ones she liked but he picked out vanilla and lavender ones. He put those in his basket and rushed over to the area where there were flowers. He grabbed a dozen roses and put those in his basket, then he hurried through the store to the grocery section and grabbed red grapes, red wine, olives, a baguette, a small variety of cheese and cured meats, and two bars of dark chocolate.

This was going to be their fourth date and he was going to make it as romantic as possible. Tonight, Benoit was finally going to make love to his girlfriend because he'd waited long enough.

As he was in the check-out line, his phone beeped and he pulled it from his pocket. It was a text from Julia.

I'm almost done packing up my things. I'm going to shower so I may be a bit, but it shouldn't be longer than an hour and a half. I love you.

Benoit smiled brightly and typed in a response.

Take all the time you need. I need time to prepare your surprise, anyway. I love you too.

He sent the text and put the phone back in his pocket just as he came up to the conveyor belt. He began taking things out and putting them on the belt. The cashier, a petite little woman with long blonde hair, started ringing things up.

"Hot date tonight?" she asked Benoit.

He chuckled lightly. "Yes, very much so."

"Well, she seems like a lucky girl," the woman said as she rang up the flowers.

"I would certainly hope so," Benoit chortled.

The woman smiled and rang up the rest of his items, then Benoit put them in bags, save for the bouquet of roses, and walked out of the store. He got to his car, unlocked it and put the bags in the back. He put the roses up front then got in the driver seat.

He put on music as he made his way home, singing along to it. He tapped the steering wheel to the beat as he sang. Benoit knew he wasn't the best singer but he stayed in key, at least.

When Benoit got home, he started preparing for a romantic picnic. He found his picnic basket and started putting things in it, then he got out a cutting board and a knife to cut the various cheeses he purchased. After that, he sliced up the baguette. His phone buzzed and he looked at it.

Leaving now. See you soon, lover boy.

He laughed and started typing.

See you soon, chickapen.

Benoit sent the text, put the phone down and continued preparing the little snacks. Once done, he rolled up the cheese and baguette slices in a cloth and put them in the basket. This was going to be a wonderful night.

Benoit grabbed a blanket from his closet and fluffed it out, walking to the living room and setting it down on the floor. He grabbed the picnic basket and two wine glasses, then set the basket and glasses on the blanket. He walked to his vintage record player and looked in his collection of records.

"Hmm, where is it?" he asked himself, having a particular record in mind.

Then he found it. Roberta Flack's Greatest Hits. He put it on the record player and started playing it. The first song was "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love," but that wasn't the song he wanted to play once Julia got there. Still, he played it.

And then all he had to do was wait. And he waited. And waited. And waited.

By the time the song Benoit wanted came on, he stopped the record player and looked out his balcony window, waiting for Julia to show up. What was taking her so long? He got out his phone and called her. After three rings, it went to voicemail. When it beeped, he started talking.

"Julia, honey, I know it's snowing out and you're driving a little slow, I hope, but I'm calling to make sure everything is alright. I love you, bye," he said before hanging up.

Another twenty minutes went by and she still didn't show. Now he was really beginning to worry so he called again. It went straight to voicemail.

"Chickapen, please call me back. I'm starting to get antsy here. Is everything okay? I love you."

Benoit hung up the phone and started pacing.

Where was his girlfriend?

Ten minute went by and his phone rang. He immediately looked at it, but Julia wasn't calling. It was Julia's mother, Linda. He picked it up instantly.

"Hello?"

"Detective, it's Linda Drysdale."

"Yes, hello Mrs. Drysdale, how are you?"

"Not good. Marta wanted me to call you."

"Oh really?" Benoit asked with an arched brow. "What ever for?"

There was a sigh on the other end. "I'm at the hospital. Julia's been in a car accident."