Chapter Five
The overeager patrol officers were one step ahead of where the Homicide Detectives wanted them. The boys in blue had already been to Mr. Bottled Blonde's house and he'd let them search the house and his car – or more accurately, his Harley. They'd come up empty and he'd declined to be interviewed. The patrol officers taking it upon themselves to go after that husband chaffed Dani and she wasn't the least bit shy about letting them know.
"You were a little hard on them don't ya think," Charlie asked.
She turned while walking and shot him a disgusted look, which he took to mean "no." She didn't have a lot of patience in general, but even less with someone who got between them and an arrest. "He's our best suspect and because of Batman and Robin there," she gestured at the two men in blue she'd just given a tongue lashing, "we got nothing, we are nowhere."
She was right. The motel was not the sort that had security cameras; it was also not the sort of place where witnesses "saw" anything. Hours of knocking on doors netted them nothing. They were indeed nowhere. Vocalizing it earned her a knowing look and a smile from Crews. It was an inside joke of theirs, but she had no smiles for him today.
"I got an idea," he offered.
She stopped, crossed her arms, tapping her foot in annoyance as he explained his idea and then surprisingly, she agreed with him. This case required something else to get inside their best subject's confidence, something that would give them a chance of eliciting a confession or some sort of admission.
They waited for the uniforms to leave, parked unobtrusively under the shade of an elm tree and waited. Charlie ate his apple and Reese fidgeted. He made no further effort to engage her in conversation – the subject was still too fresh, too raw and too emotional for her, no matter what she said.
After an hour, she switched on the auxiliary switch to get the A/C moving and the radio came to life. He reached to turn it off, but she asked him not to. Something about music soothed Reese. He wasn't sure if it was the words or the music, but he watched her become more peaceful, more balanced and he concluded it didn't matter what it was – it only mattered that she relaxed.
Two and a half hours later, the Harley rumbled to life and Mr. Bottle Blonde roared past them with a wife beater t-shirt, jeans, boots and no helmet. They followed him all the way to the beach strip where he joined a group of muscled up men lifting serious weights.
Dani felt comfortable enough now to joke with him, "So…you wanna go out there and lift with them, bond with them?"
"I'd have a better chance of lifting this car," he admitted smiling.
She grinned in response and climbed from the car to get them both soft drinks.
She'd eased from their earlier conversation, in which he knew in truth he knew he was tougher on her than she deserved, than he should have been. Why he pushed her was still somewhat puzzling to him? Usually he left her alone, didn't press her for answers, but this was different. Was it because of what Tidwell said? Was it because she hoped she'd realized their bond was beyond what either of them admitted?
He was still puzzling when she shoved an orange juice at him through his open window. She stood alongside the car watching the men lift weights. Her navel was about eye level for him and he couldn't see her, but he could smell her and that made things worse. She didn't see him look longingly at the button of her jeans and wonder how far off her he could get them in the back of that car. He was still musing naughty thoughts about his partner, when she reached into the car feeling for him.
Her hand fluttered across his cheek before making contact with where she intended – his shoulder. She tapped him twice with the back of her hand announced the weight lifters were leaving, but the subject seemed unlikely to leave anytime soon. She climbed back in the car and they waited.
Charlie complained about his hunger and she handed him a roll of breath mints. Exasperated he ate the whole roll. It made him smell like forest, but did nothing for his hunger. The sun sank lower and the last of the lingering weightlifters faded away returning to their homes, but their man stayed.
The suspect bought a six-pack of beer from a nearby package store on the boardwalk. He sat in the sand watching the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean and the sky turn pink and orange. He drank beer well into twilight.
"So far… your idea isn't getting us anywhere," Dani observed. "I could go offer to help him with that beer." She wasn't serious; she hadn't fallen off the wagon in a long time.
"I got another idea," he smiled softly, earning him a gentle eye roll from his partner, "a better idea. Come with me," he bade her. He popped the trunk on their car and they deposited their badges and guns inside. He took off his suit coat and tie, laying them atop the accoutrements of their job.
"Take off your shirt," he suggested while unbuttoning his shirt and rolling up his sleeves. She eyed him suspiciously, but did as he directed. He carefully laid her blouse atop his clothes and took her hand.
"Walk with me," he drew her along into the heavy sand. He hadn't exactly explained his plan to her – for a reason. She'd never go along with it. He needed to get close to the man they thought murdered his wife and her lover and he needed her surprise to sell his act. Her surprise was something he could count on, but it was going to cost him later – he never stopped to think about how much.