"Happy Monday, Crane." Abbie said sarcastically as Ichabod situated his long limbs in her passenger seat. "What'd I miss?"
"Women are…different in this era, Miss Mills," he immediately wished he hadn't said.
"What?"
"I do not wish to elaborate right now if you don't mind," he responded, putting on his seat belt. "What was the culmination of this new evidence in your assault case?"
"Dead end, unfortunately. Because of a rookie mistake the new evidence wasn't admissible. I don't really wish to elaborate right now, either."
"Understood."
After about ten minutes of silence on the way to the precinct, Ichabod hoped maybe she had forgotten about what he said.
"What do you mean 'women are different'?"
It would seem she has not. But Crane didn't keep secrets from Abbie and he wasn't about to start. "Something occurred while you were gone. There is a consultant, a friend of Captain Irving…"
"Julie, right? Irving mentioned her to me on the phone. He said she has a lot of research on the Revolution. Did you find anything interesting?"
His mind reeled at the numerous ways he could answer that question. "She found a scrap of paper that contains some writing that may be of importance. At the very least it is intriguing. However, after spending much time on it, I have reached an impasse as it appears to be encoded with a Vigenere cipher."
Abbie glanced at him, then back to the road. "Oh, that's a shame."
"Indeed."
"Crane?"
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"What the hell is a Vigenere cipher?"
"Oh. My apologies. Well, before comprehending the Vigenere cipher, one must understand how a Caesar cipher works. You see, it is a method of encrypting alphabetic text in which..."
"Crane!"
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"It's not that long of a ride to work."
"Right. In short, I cannot begin to decrypt the note's contents without an as of yet undiscovered code word."
"Thank you," she said, exasperated.
A few more minutes of silence. Subject averted once again. Wrong.
"So what does this have to do with women being different?"
Just explain what happened, Ichabod. You are going to tell her eventually. "Ms. O'Connor and I were at her home sharing a meal after an evening of examining her research. When we were finished eating...she made an advance towards me."
"An advance? You mean she came on to you?"
Crane looked at her. Language barrier.
"She...hit on you?"
"Nothing of the sort. She was very gentle, actually."
"Dammit. What? No. I mean she... wait, why am I guessing? Just tell me what she did!"
"She kissed me."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I'm not repeating it."
"Like, on the lips?"
"Very much so, yes."
"What? What did you do?"
"I fled! Eventually."
"What does that mean?"
"I had a momentary lapse of reason. Then I fled."
"Do I even want to know what that means?"
"Not likely."
"Alright. Let's put it this way. How many articles of clothing ended up on the floor?"
"None!" Ichabod exclaimed, appalled. "My word!"
"Well then, you're probably fine. Wait, were there any hands under any garments?"
"Miss Mills! No, of course not!" He wrapped his coat a little more tightly around himself.
"Hey, don't get snippy. You're the one that had a momentary lapse of something, not me."
"I merely hesitated for a brief moment before putting an end to the kissing."
"Kiss-ING?"
Ichabod scrunched his eyebrows, realizing what he had said. "There were a few."
"All initiated by her, I'm sure."
"Not all." He looked out his window as his left hand frantically fidgeted against his thigh.
"Crane! Katrina!"
He felt his stomach twist. He tried not to get too angry. He felt guilty enough without being scolded by Abbie. "Who? Oh, you mean my wife?" he scowled. "I am aware, Lieutenant. Hence, the fleeing."
"Alright, sorry." Abbie said, "I'm just shocked. And a little relieved, actually."
"Relieved?" His brow furrowed.
"You are human! I was wondering."
Crane felt like he should be offended by that remark, although he wasn't sure exactly why. He chose not to respond.
"Wow. I go out of town for less than a week and Crane gets some."
"Miss Mills, may we discuss something else?"
"No way. Not now, or for the foreseeable future."
Ichabod rolled his eyes.
"So tell me, Crane, how did this happen anyway?"
"If you don't mind, Miss Mills, I would prefer to keep the details to myself, out of respect for Ms. O'Connor." That, and I am desperately trying to forget 'the details.'
"That's fine. I get that. Just tell me, do I have to kick her ass for messing with my co-Witness? I kinda feel like I should."
"Although I think I appreciate that sentiment, I don't believe kicking of...anything will be required. I truly believe that she is a good person. She is a friend of the Captain, and has been through much over the last few years. I think you may actually get on well with her."
"Yeah, we'll see about that tomorrow." Abbie said, as they pulled up to the police station. "By the way, I'll need my credit card back. Did you need to use it for anything?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What Crane didn't tell Abbie was that he had spent every night of the last week tossing, turning, praying and crying over this. Over his beloved and his betrayal. He had told Julie they were 'good' as she put it, and he held no ill will toward her, but he was anything but 'good.' He felt like he was being torn apart from the inside. He felt somehow even farther away from Katrina than he already was. And this was one thing he could not completely share with Abbie. Or anyone. This was all his burden to bear, and rightfully so in his opinion.
Tonight was no different for him. Uncomfortable. Restless. He would fall asleep briefly then wake up screaming, "Katrina, NO!" Then came the tears. He couldn't remember exactly what the dream was, but he awoke with the feeling of her being ripped from his arms and him being helpless to stop it. "Oh, my love..." He lay there on his side, held a pillow tight to his chest and wept. He would fall asleep again, and the dream would return. An endless circle until the alarm clock rang.