Twenty-Seven

"Maybe it's good that he's a ghost until January," Jacob told Leah as he handed her a steaming cup of hot chocolate. They were on Michigan Avenue, standing in front of the chocolate-heaven that was Ghirardelli's. "For his sake, at least. Then, he doesn't have to worry about me kicking his ass."

Leah laughed. "You're sweet,"

She took a long sip of the chocolate-filled goodness, savoring the taste. She was supposed to be on a diet, as always, but Jacob often tended to make sure she wasn't.

"You think I'm joking."

"I know you're not," Leah said. She leaned in, whispering as some people passed by, "But here's the thing: if you kick his ass, how you would do it in a way that he knows it's not you? As appealing as your plan sounds, I don't wanna see you disciplined because of my drama. I'm not really in the mood to get another partner."

"I'll turn into a wolf," Jacob replied confidently, face breaking into a wide, toothy grin, revealing his canines.

Leah rolled her eyes. She looked around to make sure no one noticed Jacob's fangs. "I don't want you to kill the man."

"Oh, come on, give me enough credit," Jacob said, dramatically bringing his hot chocolate to his chest, causing Leah to laugh again. "I do know a thing or two about self-control, thank you. Okay, maybe I'll just scare the shit outta him, would that work?'

"No, then he may just shoot you."

"As long as it's not silver, I'm good."

Leah shook her head at that, hiding an amused smile behind her cup. Perhaps, she shouldn't entertain the idea of entertaining Jacob's plan to beat Sam up. But damn it, after all of the bullshit had put her through since December, he deserved it.

"Just let me know when you want it to happen."

Leah downed some more of the "diabetes in a cup." The hot chocolate definitely hit the spot. It was something she needed right after her shift ended.

"It's not gonna happened," she promised Jacob. "But if I change my mind, you'll be the first to know."

"That's all you gotta tell me."

"You're a mess," Leah said and then blinked a couple of times when the realization hit her. Jacob had brought himself his hot chocolate. It shouldn't have been a big deal; it really wasn't, but, "Wait—shouldn't you not have anything chocolatey?"

"What makes you say that?"

Leah could recall a time when she was younger, accidentally feeding her precious dog a couple of MM's. Long story short, she had spent the rest of the day at the vet, crying her eyes out. Her dog ended up living for the next several years, but even now, she felt guilty about the slip-up.

"When I was around ten, I accidentally poisoned my dog with MM's," she said. "I didn't know about the chocolate allergy until I read somewhere that it's pretty much poisonous for dogs. Dogs, wolves..."

"It makes my stomach hurt," Jacob admitted, staring at his drink as if he had remembered himself that he had poison in his hand. "And okay, I guess I shouldn't have this... but I can't resist a mean hot chocolate. Especially from Ghirardelli's."

"Is that wise?" Leah asked, concerned. She hated when Jacob became callous about his well-being, behaving in the same manner he had after Riley had shot him. "They use real chocolate."

"Nothing good ol' Pepto Bismol can't fix," Jacob declared before virtually gulping down the rest of his hot chocolate."

"It's not funny, Jacob."

"Leah," Jacob insisted. "I'll be fine."

"If I have to take you to the hospital—Oh right, you can't go there." She rolled her arms, poking Jacob's chest. "If I have to drop you off at your house and call your sister and Embry so they can nurse you on a Thursday night, I'm not going to be happy."

"Damn, you're starting to sound like Paul," Jacob said, giving Leah a cheeky smile. "Remind me never to have anything chocolatey around you."

"You heard what I said."

"Leah, a cup of hot chocolate ain't gonna kill me. I promise."

Leah raised an eyebrow before shoving a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. "Are we still talking about this? Two days later?" she asked, reaching for a napkin to wipe her face. She checked the time on her desk phone and sighed. 7:58 am. Two minutes until she had to start on her reports.

Whoever invented reports should burn.

"You're the one who brought it up," Jacob said, wagging a finger at his partner who only rolled eyes— a common reaction of hers. "And now, I'm distressed because I feel like you'd be judging me every time I have something made out of chocolate. I'll let you know that I've developed a tolerance over the years."

"Oh, poor you." Leah shook her head, not believing they were having this conversation. If Embry were here, and not coming in until the afternoon to help his mother move, he would be laughing his head off. She leaned in and asked, half-joking, "So, what else are you allergic to?"

Jacob leaned in as well, narrowing his eyes, partially suspicious. "Why you ask?"

Leah chuckles. She pushed aside her oatmeal and turned on her computer. "Just in case I want to poison you," she said, looking straight into her partner's eyes with the most serious stare she could muster.

It didn't last long.

"Leah, if you wanted to look out for my well-being so badly, you have just told me instead of issuing a threat." Jacob laughed when Leah threw a pen at him. "So, violent."

"Just get to work, Black."

"Grapes."

Leah blinked. "Huh?"

"And I shouldn't consume sugar-free drinks or candy. The chemical they used, Xylitol, messes me up, if you know what I mean."

Leah gagged. "Ugh, I don't need to know about your bowel movements."

"You're the one who asked," Jacob said, grinning as if not understanding why Leah was so offended. He then clapped. "Okay, enough about me. On to more pressing matters: the slaughterhouse murder's main suspects are Victoria and Laurent..."

Leah nodded. "Paul said that the feds aren't looking into those murders. It's all on us, which is fine, I suppose. We don't want the feds to have everything. They seem more interested in bringing Victoria in for other crimes. As for the Fang's, Javier's, because of his cooperation, only going down for disorderly conduct. The last of his friends, only time will tell."

"Bree and the others died because of a trap set up by their lovely leader," Jacob said, shaking his head. "The day she goes down—I don't even know how I'll react."

Leah agreed. Sure, the other covens had multiple murders under their belt, they were more careful. More strategic— though, the Denali murders seemed like an outlier.

"Heard anything from your cousin?" Leah asked.

"We don't talk," Jacob said, frowning. "But as far as I know, he's being hands-off. Doesn't want to be dragged into this shit show."

"Should've thought about that before partnering up with Victoria."

"Word on the street is that Sorio is recusing himself from all cases relating to the Cullen's, the Denali's and the Volturi," Aisha informed Leah the moment she walked past her desk. It was early Monday morning, the last one in July. "We should be receiving the official notice later."

"Wow." Leah's eyes flickered across the room where Jacob and Embry were standing, fetching water from the office water cooler. Jacob soon caught her eye, grinned, and waved. Leah waved back. She returned her attention to her friend. "About damn time."

Jenks was probably popping a bottle of champagne in his own office, pacing around in absolute glee.

"That's what I said."

"What prompted this decision?" Leah asked. "Sorio isn't the one to take a step back."

"The heat's getting to him," Aisha said. "I don't have any details about a potential indictment— my contacts are being annoyingly tight-lipped—but I'll let you know when I get the details."

Tight-lipped contacts generally meant that something was about to go down, Leah concluded, nodding at her friend's words, and then, "What does that mean for all his pending judgments?" she asked. "The permanent injunction hearing for the Dahlia's autopsy is next week."

Aisha shrugged. "Yeah, I doubt that's happening," and then, "But this should be good for you guys, right? One less bureaucratic hurdle."

"Who's taking his place?"

"Judge Patrick Lawson," Aisha said, conveying no emotion. "He's one of the good ol' boys, but he's not nearly as much of an asshole as Sorio."

"It looks like we could have waited," Leah told Jenks later that day as she sat inside his office. Jacob was beside her, checking his phone for any updates regarding the slaughterhouse murders. Martinez caught some more Collin's fools (as Jacob would call them). "Would have saved us of time coming up with backdoor deals."

"None of us are psychics," Jacob pointed out, seemingly not concerned. "And anyway, your plans worked."

Jenks agreed. "We could have waited," he said, "But there was a possibility that Sorio wouldn't recuse himself before the permanent injunction hearing. Plus, we got Lauren back and alive," He sighed. "Speaking of her, has she changed her mind about choosing the Sullivan route?"

As of last Wednesday, Andrew Sullivan was officially under witness protection.

Smart man.

"No," Leah said, crossing her arms.

Jacob, sharing his partner's frustration, followed up with, "She claims that she doesn't need the protection. She has everything under control."

"When was the last time you've spoken to her?"

"Last week," Leah answered.

Jenks ran a hand down his face and sighed once again. "I hate to sound morbid, but she's not going to last long."

"Most likely not."

"Stranger things have happened. We need to remain positive."

"Yes, you're right. But I've seen this happen before. Plenty of times and they had all ended badly. That's why they created the Witness Protection Program."

"She says she's fine," Jacob reminded the prosecutor.

Jenks scoffed. "And what do you think about that?"

Leah untangled her arms. "Mike's been released on bail."

Jenks nodded. "Sorio's last decision."

"I fear it may be a costly one," Leah admitted. "His lawyer is an asshole."

"Most defense lawyers are," Jenks said. "Well, at least, the private ones. I pity the public defenders."

"I forgot to ask you," Jenks said the following day, standing at the steps of the Criminal Court Building. He had just come out of a hearing regarding Javier's plea bargain. "How was the meeting with Melfi?"

Leah checked her surroundings; no one was paying her any mind. Not even the media. Jacob was chatting up with Martinez next to the food cart. "It was fine. Was told that I'm going to have to wait until Sam's return to even think about petitioning for a divorce."

Jenks gave the detective a sympathetic look. "I know it's not what you wanted. But that's how the law works. Especially since he's undercover."

Leah sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"If you need anything, you know who to call."

"Thanks."

"I'm having a birthday party at Quil's Friday night, which is two days from now. I know it's last-minute, but... yeah," Jared announced, taking a break from to visit the trio right after their lunch break. "You guys better be there."

"Nice invite," Jacob said, briefing looking up from his computer before typing into the internet's search bar. The trio was sifting through numerous social sites to see if they could pick up more information on Demetri and his associates. For a man who had been an integral member of the Volturi, he hadn't learned the art of laying low. "I'll be there."

"Embry?"

"You know it," Embry said, putting two thumbs up.

"Leah?"

"I guess I'll make an appearance," she said, grinning at Jared's mock affronted expression.

"And make sure you bring Seth, too," Jared said. "I wanna kick his ass again at darts."

Leah rolled her eyes, pulling up Gianna's Instagram page that shockingly hadn't been deleted or put on private. "You better not use that language around him."

"Isn't he going to the academy?"

Leah sighed as she reached for her candy bar. Jared didn't need to remind of that fact; it didn't even make sense. Seth had only applied two months ago. How on earth did he get an academy date already? It was like he was trying to stress out his older sister.

"You know, the fact that you're in the force doesn't help your plight," Jacob pointed out. "And it's not like you're blacklisted. Of course, Seth's going to be on the fast-track."

"Don't remind me," Leah grumbled, and then, "I'll make sure he's there."

Embry and Jared cheered and began discussing what shenanigans they were going to participate in later on.

"It's like they're in middle school," Leah remarked.

Jacob shook his head and mumbled, "And I get to deal with them almost every night, especially when there's a full moon. What did I do this deserve this lovely honor?"

Leah chuckled.

"Has anyone ever told you that you got a nice laugh?"

"That's nice," Leah said, crossing her arms, attempting to suppress her embarrassment. And for the record, Sam had told her once. Some years back—At the corner of her eyes, she caught Seth aimlessly looking around the hallway, hoping that the tickets would materialize on the wooden floors. "But you need to focus on the task on hand. We have ten minutes."

"Leah, it's not a big deal."

Leah rolled her eyes. Stopping by Jacob's before heading to Quil's was not a part of the plan. They were supposed to pick Seth up from work and go. But then Jacob remembered he had forgotten Jared's gift— two tickets to the Bears' home opener. (Leah had just bought the cop a gift card to Giordano's). "You lost Jared's gift," she accused. "That's kinda a big deal."

"I didn't lose it," Jacob maintained, lifting his living room couch without breaking a sweat. "It was simply misplaced." He stood up and huffed. "It's gotta be around here, somewhere.

"Do you want to check the kitchen?" Seth offered.

"Sure, man, thanks."

"No problem."

Jacob grinned at Leah when her brother left. "Aw, the Academy's gonna love him," he said.

Leah narrowed her eyes. "Shut it and look for those damn tickets," she ordered. "We're supposed to be there already."

Jacob didn't seem too concerned. "Who arrives at a party on time?"

His smirk dropped when he caught Leah's heated glare. "Okay, alright. Fine. I'll get to it." He looked around. "It's obviously not in here. Gotta check the room.

Leah rolled her eyes and followed Jacob into his bedroom. "Where do we want me to start?"

"Under the bed?"

Leah did so but found nothing but random papers and dust bunnies. "Not there," she announced, standing up. "Hey, do you want to do with your career?"

Jacob turned around. "Interesting question."

"You seem like a big-dreamer," Leah said. "Just curious."

"There was one time in my life when I wanted to become a superintendent. You know, be the top dog. Or, in my case, wolf."

Leah smiled.

"But then I've seen the light. I don't think I want to be bothered with politics and stuff." He shrugged. "Maybe one day, I'll try for the captainship or whatever. But for now, I'm perfectly content with being a detective. You?"

"Same," Leah said. "Any luck?"

Jacob shook his head.

"I'm surprised you can't sniff them out."

"Ah, there's the wolf-joke I've been waiting for." Jacob cheered, looking as proud as ever, and then, "I can't sniff out two pieces of tickets. Since they're, you know, made out of paper."

"Well, that's not too helpful, isn't it?"

"I guess not." Jacob shrugged. "Hey, if you don't mind, can you check that bottom drawer for them?"

"You sure I won't find anything incriminating in there?"

Jacob laughed. "I'm sure you won't."

Ten minutes later, Leah ended up finding the damn football tickets; they were under a pile of penal code books, right in Jacob's living room. "You need to improve your searching methods," she taunted. "I don't know how you can call yourself a detective."

Jacob took the tickets and gave Leah a fond smile. "Thanks, Leah. You're the best."

Seth chuckled.

"Enough with the sentiments." Leah snapped her fingers and pointed at the front door. "Let's get out of here before Jared sends Paul after us."

Jacob saluted her. "Yes, ma'am."

"What was your last partner like?"

Jacob didn't say anything until he reached the next red light. He glanced at Leah, puzzled. "What's up with the random questions?"

"I remember you were telling me something about him not having your back..." Leah said quietly as she adjusted the passenger seat to Jacob's personal car; she had been in here only a few times.

"There's nothing else to tell," Jacob replied, stiff. "Really."

"Okay—"

"He was dirty." Jacob ended up saying, breathing heavily as if he was trying to contain his anger. Leah wished she hadn't said anything. "Fucking traitor. Tried to throw my ass under the bus because of his bullshit. I mean, thank God, the captain didn't hate my guts and believed me when I said I had nothing to do with—"

Oh.

Leah glanced behind her to find Seth holding his breath. Perhaps this wasn't the conversation to have with Seth in the backseat, but by the end of the year, he would probably find out. Everyone in the force knew about the incident.

"Well, he's in jail now," Leah said when she remembered the rumors. She hadn't really known Jacob before last December, but she had heard snippets of his drama, courtesy of Aisha and then corrected, "Prison," she corrected. "Serving, what is it, twenty-five to life?"

"It should've been life without parole, but I guess beggars can't be choosers."

Leah let out a humorless laugh. "Guess we've lucked out when it comes to partners."

"I still think this one's working out," Jacob said, stopping his search to wink. He grinned when Leah rolled her eyes. "Third time's a charm."

"Ninth, in my case."

Jacob let out a laugh and then stopped when he realized that Leah wasn't joking. "Shit, really?"

"Oh, come on, you didn't know that?"

"I knew you had some partners. I didn't realize it was that many." He snorted. "Their loss."

Leah had never seen Quil's so crowded. She barely had space to walk further into the bar without bumping to someone. Besides Jared's party (apparently, he invited everyone he knew), there was a bachelorette party towards the back, which Paul had to talk the birthday boy out of crashing. A DJ was setting up in the left corner, behind the makeshift dancefloor that was already full of people. The bar, itself, was crowded from end to end, mostly full of those watching the Cubs and White Sox game from one of the mounted flat-screen TVs.

"I can never get into baseball," Jacob admitted, looking up at the television. "The games are too damn long. Some of them don't even end until after midnight."

"It's nicer in person," Leah said, sliding into a booth closest to the pool tables. Jared and Embry had already dragged poor Seth into a card game. Horrible influences, those two were, but Leah didn't have to heart to interfere. "Ever watched it from top of a building?"

Jacob shook his head. "Nah."

"It's not crowded, and the temptation to shoot someone as you leave Cubs Stadium significantly decreases. You should check it out."

Jacob grinned. "I'll take your word for it," he said before ordering a round of beers and a plate of hot wings.

During the ride to Quil's, Jacob had vowed that he would lay low. That he wouldn't let the guys talk him into losing money over cards and pool balls. But that had gone out the window the moment Jared literally jumped on him after seeing the tickets.

"As long as you don't go over the legal limit," Leah said sternly, holding onto Jacob's arms before he could escape to his friends, family, and family friends. "Got it?"

"Got it."

Leah decided to watch on, only to laugh at Paul, who was getting his behind handed to him by her brother, who had developed an affinity for playing cards. But as soon as the third round of cards began, Leah bee-lined to the bar, leaving behind Aisha, who was engaging in a passionate with a fellow White Sox fan.

"The usual?" Quil asked her before shouting out some orders to the other bartenders. More people were pouring in.

Leah was happy for him. His decision to spruce up the place seemed to be paying off.

"No, cranberry juice and ginger ale," Leah said. She already had one beer, and that would be it. She wasn't going to embarrass herself like last time when she had gone to Jacob's apartment at midnight to given an apology that apparently wasn't necessary.

"Going cold turkey?"

"Sort of."

Leah forced money into Quil's hand when she received her drink.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Leah looked on her left. Rebecca Black-goodness, she couldn't remember the last time she saw Jacob's sister. Was it back in February? She smiled and gestured the stool next to her. "Go right ahead."

"Thanks," Rebecca said, returning the smile before demanded good-naturedly that Quil make her Long Island Ice Tea.

Rebecca's tolerance was definitely higher than hers, Leah decided, but she and Long Island Ice Tea were never a good mix. She would probably end up drunk-dialing Sam and Emily and telling them both to go fuck themselves. Numerous times before bursting into ugly tears.

It was not the night for this.

"Long time, no see."

"Yeah, well, Jacob hasn't been calling me in for medical emergencies lately," Rebecca said, feigning disappointment, but her smirk gave her true feelings away. "Guess I'm not needed anywhere."

Leah snorted. "I'm sure that's not true."

Rebecca didn't deny it. She downed about a quarter of the Long Island Ice Tea before asking, quite seriously now, "So, how is it, working with my brother?"

Leah took a sip of her drink and said, quite honestly, "I have no complaints."

"Seriously?" Rebecca questioned, a bit surprised. For reasons, Leah didn't know. Maybe because it was Jacob, her brother, she was talking about. Leah, though she loved Seth dearly, still couldn't understand how his friends tolerated him at times. Rebecca snorted and shook her head. "His eating habits don't gross you out?"

"I'm more jealous than anything," Leah admitted. She wished she could down all of that fat and grease and beer during her stress-eating binges and not worry about her weight. Or her arteries. "If I followed his diet, I'd be a whale."

Rebecca laughed. "Well, yeah. Me, too."

Leah took another sip, and, "I don't mean to pry, but are you...?"

"Like Jacob?" Rebecca finished and then shook her head. "I carry the gene, but it's dormant. It's dormant in our sister, Rachel, too. Jake's the one who was able to phase."

"I see..."

"It's kinda—Oh, my god."

Leah's head whipped around, and she froze. There Jacob was, with Embry and Jared, of course, on the dance floor with a mic in his hand, killing everyone's ears with their tone-deaf voices—she didn't know how she should react. "What the—?"

"Oh, my god..." Rebecca choked out, eyes watering up. She then quickly pulled her phone out and immediately started recording. "Oh, my god..."

It was karaoke night, and the cops decided to make fools of themselves with their enthusiastic rendition of "Spin Me Right Round." Embry was even moving his hips quite dramatically with to the beat. Paul, surprisingly, wasn't there with them, but he was right next to the dance floor laughing hysterically.

Thank goodness, the "show" wasn't crazy enough to be posted on social media.

They needed this. They all needed this after the insanity that was 2018. They needed to get their minds off of everything happening at work, even for a few hours.

"There has to be a bet going on," Leah concluded between chuckles. She gave Jacob two thumbs up when he looked her way. "You know how Embry is with threats."

Rebecca nodded before leaning over the bar and shouting out, "Yo, Quil, did you lace my brother's drink with some WB?"

Quil put up his hands in defense and shook his head. "Oh, come on, you know I only do that during special occasions."

Leah finished her drink. "WB?"

"Wolfsbane," Rebecca explained, sitting back down.

She recalled Embry mentioning something about that. She didn't know it could get wolves drunk, too. She just thought it was extremely and only lethal.

"Right."

"Hey, speaking about wolves," Rebecca said, voice serious. She put her phone away, promising to distribute it to her other sister, Rachel, who was currently in Hawaii. "I'm sorry about last time."

Leah raised an eyebrow. "Last time?"

"A few months back," Rebecca said. She handed Quil some more money for the tip, despite his protests. "When you came over after Jacob decided to get shot. It's not that I... I don't know. It's just that... it's a sensitive subject."

Leah had honestly forgotten about Rebecca's reaction; she had been so focused on Jacob's wolf, and the fact that she had seen it with her own eyes. "I get it," she said, understanding. Rebecca was only being protective of her brother. She got it.

"It's fine."

"He's like Paul in a way," Rebecca carried on, glancing back at the guys who were arguing about some MMA match. "If it weren't for the attention and his job, Paul would be flaunting his wolf up and down Michigan Ave."

Leah looked behind her to see the singing trio finally getting off the floor. "I'm surprised he hasn't done it."

"Yeah… I don't want to put—" Rebecca stopped to gather her words. "Can you do me a favor?"

Leah nodded.

"Look out for him, will you?" Rebecca said earnestly, eyeing Leah like she wanted to trust the detective, but still had her reservations. "Sometimes I think Jake believes he's invincible because of what he is. I mean, last time, it was only a shot to the arm, but—"

Leah touched Rebecca's arm, squeezing it reassuringly. "I'll try my best."

Rebecca gave Leah a warm smile and breathed, "Thank you.

Have a wonderful New Year!