UNDERCOVER BELLA

Chapter 9

"Calm down, Jesse," Beca said, laughing. "What's got you all excited?"

Stacie and Benji joined them.

"Stacie found something we should look into," Jesse said. "It appears that at least one witness was never interviewed."

Chloe looked at Beca and Jesse and asked, "How did we miss that?"

"I don't know," Stacie responded, shrugging. "I was reading Bumper and Denise's report on the murder they caught, and there is a mention of a witness but nothing else. There is no witness name or interview notes in the file."

"Bumper and Denise are on a call," Benji said. "We're waiting for them to return so we can ask if either of them made a note of this witness in their personal notes."

"May I see the report?" Chloe asked, holding out her hand.

"I highlighted it," Stacie said, handing Chloe the report.

Beca looked over Chloe's shoulder as she read what Stacie highlighted.

"Good catch, Stacie," Beca said. "I've read this thing like four times and never caught it."

"Same for me," Chloe said, looking from Stacie to Benji. "Good job, you two."

"I wouldn't get too excited yet," Stacie said. "We have to rely on Bumper or Denise having the name so we can interview them. It's been a few months; I just hope we get a name and they remember something useful."

"I'll talk to Bumper and Denise," Chloe said. "If they have a name, then I'll want you and Benji to go talk to them. This might just be the break we need to solve this thing."

"That was our first thought, too," Stacie said, smiling.

"Stacie, you and Benji keep reading," Chloe said, handing her the report. "There might be something else we missed."

"On it," Benji said as the detectives returned to their desks.

"I want to talk to you," Chloe said, pulling Beca over to her desk where they both sat.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait for Bumper and Denise?" Beca asked.

"Not long, I hope," Chloe said. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh," Beca said. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I think we should get eyes back on the street," Chloe said. "Jesse and I can take turns with Stacie and Benji on stakeouts and watch over the girls that are out there. It won't be the same as having you out here, but I don't want what happened with Walp to cause us to lose focus and have another girl die on our watch."

"I agree, and I am sorry," Beca said, looking down at her lap. "If I hadn't been put on desk duty, I could be out there with the girls and hopefully getting more information out of them. Especially Amy."

Chloe ran her hands through her hair. "I don't know how many times I need to say it's not your fault before you start believing it, but I'll say it a million more times if I have to."

"I'm sorry-"

Chloe side-eyed Beca; Beca grinned sheepishly.

"I can't help it," Beca said. "I'll probably say I'm sorry a few more times before I am able to stop."

"Okay," Chloe said, grinning at Beca. "I also have something else I want to talk to you about. But not here in front of everyone where we could be overheard."

"Oh, okay," Beca said. "Do you want to grab some coffee or something?"

"I'd love to," Chloe said, standing. "Jesse?"

"Yeah?" Jesse replied.

"Beca and I are going to get coffee; we won't be gone long."

"Okay," Jesse said.

Chloe followed Beca out of the squad room; the other detectives watched them leave.

~~ Undercover Bella ~~

Beca paid for their coffee and followed Chloe to a bench where they both sat.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Beca asked, sipping her coffee.

"Us," Chloe said.

Beca furrowed her brow and looked at Chloe. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"What? No," Chloe responded quickly. "I didn't mean to make it sound so ominous."

"Whew," Beca said, grinning. "That's a relief. So, um, what is it then?"

Chloe bit her lip and looked down at her cup.

"I want you to meet my parents," Chloe mumbled.

"You do?" Beca asked. At Chloe's nod, Beca smiled and said, "I'd love to meet your parents. Are they coming into town, or will we be going to Tampa?"

Chloe smiled and started to speak when her phone pinged with a text.

"Lily says she has something for us," Chloe said, standing. "Can we continue this over dinner at your house tonight? I'll stop and get takeout."

"Sounds like a plan," Beca said. "Let's go see Lily."

Beca and Chloe entered the morgue to find Jessica standing at a table with a box and a couple of evidence bags in front of her.

"Hey, Jessica," Chloe said. "Lily said she had something for us."

"Yeah," Jessica said, waving a hand over the evidence bags. "This is everything we collected from Chicago Walp's apartment this morning."

Beca stepped back, shaking her head.

"I can't have my hands on any evidence that is connected to the shooting. I don't want to be accused of tampering with anything; I've had enough accusations of that kind of wrongdoing to last a lifetime."

Lily entered and stood next to Jessica and the evidence.

"Lily, why wasn't this collected last night?" Chloe asked.

"We don't have the funding to pay overtime or have enough people on the night staff," Lily said. "I knew it hadn't been done, so I took Jessica and a crime scene tech with me first thing this morning to do a thorough search of Walp's place. We found a couple more guns as well as a small stockpile of ammunition. I admit I was surprised at some other evidence we gathered."

"Why did you call us?" Chloe asked. "IAD is handling the shooting investigation."

"Show them what's in the box," Lily told Jessica.

Jessica opened the box, pulled out a bagged item, and held it out for Chloe to take.

"Take a look at this and tell us if it looks familiar," Jessica said.

Chloe took a pair of latex gloves out of the box on the table and put them on. She took the item from the bag and examined it.

"This looks just like the blouse our murder victims were wearing."

"What?" Beca said, stepping forward to look over Chloe's shoulder.

"There's half a dozen of that same blouse in the box," Jessica said. "All blue, brand new, and never been worn."

"This could be exactly what we need to solve our murder case," Beca said excitedly. "I knew that guy was no good from the first time I met him."

"Do you really think this means that Walp is our killer?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, I do," Beca said. "Don't you?"

"I'm sorry, Detective Mitchell, but we're not quite there yet," Lily said. "The shirts are just one piece of the puzzle. After finding the shirts, Jessica recognized them as possibly being a part of your murder case and told me about them. I made the decision to broaden the scope of what to tag and bag. And until we've tested everything, we won't truly know if Walp is the killer or not."

"How long will that take to run the tests?" Chloe asked.

"I'll put a rush on everything when we deliver it to the lab," Lily said. "We should have some preliminary results by late tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Lily," Chloe said. "Come on, Beca. We need to brief the team on this."

Beca and Chloe left the morgue and went back to the bullpen.

~~ Undercover Bella ~~

"You never said whether you think the shirts are enough evidence to prove Walp is our guy," Beca said as they made their way to the bullpen.

"It seems that way, but I don't think it's enough to prove it," Chloe said. "I'm with Lily on this, and we'll have to wait for the rest of the evidence to be tested to determine if Walp is our killer. And, wasn't it just this morning that you were sure it was Luke?"

"You're right, I was," Beca said, sighing. "But now I think Walp has moved up to being our number one suspect. Maybe it's because it would make me feel better if he is the killer; then I can be at peace with myself knowing that I killed a killer."

"Beca, he'd still be guilty of assault," Chloe said, taking her arm, stopping her. "Stop beating yourself up over shooting him. He beat Emily Junk so badly that the cops who found her thought she was dead. Not to mention, you shot him to protect yourself and Brey. Shooting him took another really bad guy off the streets. It's a win-win either way, in my book."

"Too bad Emily Junk doesn't see it that way," Beca said, looking down at the floor.

"Come on," Chloe said, taking Beca's arm and leading her into the bullpen.

"Hey, Chloe," Stacie called out. "We heard Lily has something on the murder case."

"Um, yeah," Chloe said. "Could you all come with us? Beca and I are going to brief you on what Lily told us."

The detectives stood and followed Chloe and Beca to a small conference room. Beca and Chloe stood together at the head of the table as everyone took a seat.

"So, what does Lily have?" Benji asked.

Chloe went over what Lily and Jessica told them, leaving nothing out.

"Sounds to me like Walp is our guy," Benji said when Chloe finished.

"We're leaning that way, but nothing is conclusive yet," Chloe said. "They still need to run tests on everything that was collected this morning. Until then, we keep investigating and checking up on every new piece of information. And I really want to know what Bumper and Denise have to say about the witness that was mentioned in their report."

"When will we have the test results?" Stacie asked.

"According to Lily, we should know something by late tomorrow morning," Chloe said.

"Since we won't know anything until then, maybe we should get back to reviewing what we have," Jesse said.

"I agree," Stacie said. "Who knows what else we might find."

"Actually, Jesse, I want you to go to the hospital with me," Chloe said. "I want to brief Brey in person on this new development."

"Why can't I go with you?" Beca asked.

"You're on desk duty, Beca," Jesse said. "You can't go in the field for any reason."

"He's right," Chloe said. "It's best if you stay here and help Stacie and Benji."

"Got it," Beca said, nodding. "Before you go, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Chloe said. "Jesse, I'll meet you at your car in about ten minutes."

"Yes, ma'am," Jesse said, leaving the room.

"Come on, Benji," Stacie said, standing. "Let's see if Bumper or Denise are back."

Benji nodded and followed Stacie out of the room.

"You're not upset because I said you should stay here, are you?" Chloe asked Beca as soon as everyone was gone.

"What? No, I'm good," Beca said, smiling. "It's just that a lot has happened since the two of us talked, and I wanted to make sure we were still on for dinner."

"Of course, we're still on for dinner," Chloe said, smiling brightly. "I should be at your house between six-thirty and seven. I'm thinking of picking up some Chinese takeout if that's okay with you."

"Do you want to use my car?" Beca asked, pulling out her keys. "I'll take a Lyft home so you can have it."

"I keep forgetting I don't have my car," Chloe said, chuckling. "I'll have Jesse take me by your place so I can pick it up on our way back from the hospital."

"That'll work," Beca said, sliding her keys back into her pocket.

"So, are you okay with Chinese takeout?" Chloe asked.

"That's fine with me," Beca said, quickly kissing Chloe. "Now get out of here, or they're going to start talking about us."

Chloe laughed. "I think they probably already are." She took Beca's arm. "Walk me out, and let's really give them something to talk about."

"You are so going to be the death of me," Beca said, smiling and shaking her head

~~ Undercover Bella ~~

Beca tossed the report she had been reading onto the desk and reached up to the ceiling with both hands. She stretched and groaned when she heard her neck and back crack. She had been sitting there for what felt like hours; she looked at the wall clock and saw it was after five.

"I wonder why Chloe and Jesse aren't back yet," Beca thought.

Beca checked her phone and didn't have any messages from Chloe or Jesse.

"No news is good news, I suppose," she muttered softly. "I think I'll just go home now."

Beca stood, grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Beca?" Stacie called out, stopping Beca before she reached the door.

Beca looked at Stacie with a smile on her face.

"I'm on desk duty and can't go on any calls," Beca said. "And it's five o'clock, so I'm going home to get ready for my date."

"Oh, okay," Stacie said, smirking. "You and Chloe enjoy your evening."

"We will," Beca said before hurrying out the door.

As Beca exited the station, she met Jesse coming in.

"Hey, Jesse, is Chloe behind you?" Beca asked, causing Jesse to stop and face her.

"I dropped her off at your place to pick up her car," Jesse said. "She shouldn't be too long."

"Thanks," Beca said. "I think I'll wait for her."

"Okay," Jesse said.

Jesse remained where he was and looked at Beca with some concern.

"What?" Beca asked as Jesse continued to stare at her.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked. "We haven't had a chance to talk since the shooting. Do you wanna grab a beer later and talk about it?"

"I would, but Chloe and I have plans tonight," Beca said. "Maybe you can come over this weekend. Chloe will be there, but I'm sure she won't mind."

"That's okay," Jesse said, smiling. "I'll let you have your weekend with Chloe, but I expect to see you early next week for pizza and beer. We can talk then."

"It's a date," Beca said.

"Hey, you know if you need or want to talk sooner, I'm here for you, right?"

"I know."

"Good," Jesse said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Jesse," Beca said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Jesse entered the station, and Beca looked around, expecting to see Chloe pulling into the lot.

Fifteen minutes later, Beca was still waiting for Chloe. Beca was starting to worry and pulled out her phone to send Chloe a text.

To Chloe: Hey, where are you? Are you ok? You should be at the station by now.

Beca watched as three dots appeared and disappeared; she waited to see if Chloe would respond. After waiting another couple of minutes, nothing came through, so she sent another.

To Chloe: Where are you? I'll come get you if you need me to. Please answer.

Beca held her breath as three dots appeared again. She smiled when a text came through.

From Chloe: I'm fine, I promise. I decided to wait for you at your place. Do me a favour and come home now. I want you.

"Something's not right," Beca mumbled, reading the text. "Chloe would never spell favor with a U. And she always ends her texts with heart emojis."

Beca chewed on her lip as the feeling something was wrong kept gnawing at her gut. She thought about what to do next.

~~ Undercover Bella ~~

Thirty minutes later, Beca turned the corner of her street; she could see Chloe's car still parked in her driveway. She continued on, pulled into the driveway, and parked next to Chloe's car.

Beca exited the car and casually glanced around. She noticed the window curtains move inside and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She closed the car door and hurried up the steps to the front door.

Beca inserted the key into the door and pasted a fake smile on her face. She had no idea what she was walking into, but she still had to play the part of being happy to be coming home to her girlfriend.

"Chloe?" Beca called out as the door opened. "I got here as fast as I could."

Beca looked behind the door as she entered but didn't see anyone.

"Chloe? Where are you?"

Beca took four or five steps forward and suddenly froze. Chloe was sitting at the counter in the kitchen; standing next to her with an arm around her neck was Luke.

"So glad you could join us, Becky," Luke said, smiling at Beca.

"Let her go!" Beca said, moving forward.

"Stop. Right. There!" Luke said, pulling Chloe up and holding the knife to her throat.

Beca froze and looked at Chloe. She had duct tape across her mouth and tear stains on her cheeks. It was the fear in her eyes that just about broke Beca.

"Chloe, are you okay?" Beca asked.

Her heart broke when Chloe nodded with tear-filled eyes. Chloe brought her hands up as if reaching out to Beca. That's when Beca saw that Chloe's wrists were duct taped as well.

"As you can see, she's fine," Luke said, pushing Chloe's hands down. "For now."

"You hurt her, and I will kill you," Beca ground out through clenched teeth.

Luke laughed, and then his eyes turned hard as he put the knife to Chloe's neck again.

"Why are you doing this?" Beca asked, fighting the urge to rush Luke.

"Because you killed someone I cared about," Luke said. "And now you're going to feel what it's like to lose someone you care about."

"What are you talking about?" Beca asked, confused. "I haven't killed anyone."

"Oh, so you're not the one who shot Chicago Walp in cold blood?"

"Chicago Walp? What does he have to do with this?"

"He was my best friend, and you murdered him, you bitch!" Luke yelled, waving around the knife before pointing it at Beca.

"I didn't murder him or anyone," Beca said, taking a step forward.

"Don't come any closer," Luke said, placing the knife to Chloe's throat.

Beca put her hands up and stepped back, saying, "I didn't murder him. He shot my partner and was pointing a gun at me, so I shot him in self-defense. That's not murder."

"Is that what you're telling everyone?" Luke asked. "Because I heard differently."

"You heard wrong," Beca said. "Why would I lie to you?"

"Because everyone else believes your lie, so you keep telling it, hoping I'll believe you, too," Luke said, spittle flying from his mouth. "Well, I don't!"

Beca saw Chloe trying to shrink away from Luke when he put the knife to her neck again. She reached behind her back and pulled the gun she hid in her waistband, holding it out of sight at her side.

"Don't worry, Chloe," Beca said, getting her attention. "I'm not going to let him hurt you."

"And how do you think you're going to stop me?" Luke asked, laughing.

"With this," Beca said, bringing the gun up and pointing it at Luke.

Luke paled and tightened his grip on Chloe and the knife.

"Do you think you're faster than a bullet?" Beca asked calmly as she held the gun in both hands, pointing it directly at Luke's head.

The next thing Luke knew, he was on the ground, looking up at Jesse standing over him. As soon as Beca saw Jesse behind Luke, she rushed forward, grabbing Chloe as Luke fell to the floor.

"It's okay, Chloe," Beca whispered, holding Chloe tightly. "You're safe. I've got you."

"Turn over and put your hands behind your back," Jesse said, grabbing his handcuffs. "Luke Daniels, you're under arrest for assaulting a police officer and anything else I can think of before we throw your ass in jail."

Jesse cuffed Luke and jerked him up to a stand.

Beca gently took the end of the tape and yanked it off Chloe's mouth.

"Ow!" Chloe yelped.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Beca said, wincing as she worked to free Chloe's hands.

As soon as her hands were free, Chloe threw herself into Beca's arms. Beca held her, murmuring soothing words.

"Open up," a voice called out while banging on the front door. "This is the police."

Jesse grabbed Luke's arm, walked him to the door, and opened it.

"I'm Detective Jesse Swanson," Jesse said, holding his badge up to the officer. "Take this guy and book him for assaulting a police officer and unlawful imprisonment. I'll be right behind you to fill out the arrest report."

"Yes, sir," the officer said, pulling Luke down the steps to the police car.

"This isn't over, Beca!" Luke could be heard yelling toward the house.

"Now he gets my name right," Beca muttered.

Chloe giggled; Beca chuckled and held her tighter.

"Are you two okay?" Jesse asked from the door.

"I am now," Chloe said, pulling back to look at Jesse. "Thanks to you two."

"I'm going to follow them to the precinct and get Luke processed," Jesse said. "Call me if you need me again."

"Thanks, Jesse," Beca said. "I'm going to take Chloe to the hospital to get checked out. I'll call you later."

"I don't need to go to the hospital," Chloe said.

"You're going," Beca said. "And I don't want to hear another word about it."

Jesse smiled, shaking his head. "You two figure it out, and I'll see you both in the morning."

Chloe pulled away from Beca, walked over to Jesse, and pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks again, Jesse," Chloe said.

"You're welcome, boss," Jesse said, smiling. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Jesse," Beca said. "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime," Jesse said and left the two alone.

~~ Undercover Bella ~~

Despite her best efforts, Beca could not convince Chloe to go to the hospital to be checked out. So, she spent the entire night watching over Chloe and the house to ensure that no one could get to Chloe again. She would protect Chloe at all costs.

Beca ran to her room when she heard Chloe's alarm go off. Chloe turned off the alarm and looked at Beca standing in the doorway.

"You look like shit," Chloe said.

"Thanks, Chloe, I love you, too," Beca said, sitting on the side of the bed.

"I know," Chloe said. "And I love you, too."

"What?"

"You just said you loved me," Chloe said. "And I said I love you, too."

"I did? You do?"

"You did, and I do."

Beca sat, shaking her head.

"I can't believe I told you I loved you like that," Beca said. "I had a big elaborate plan to tell you over the weekend."

"You can still do whatever you planned," Chloe said, smiling as she kissed Beca. "I promise I will act surprised and everything."

"Nope, it's too late," Beca said, grinning. "The cat's out of the bag now that I know you love me, too."

"Okay, then, now that we've settled that," Chloe said, turning serious. "You need to get some sleep. Maybe you should stay home and rest today."

"I can't," Beca said. "Lily is supposed to have the test results for us, and we still have work to do to close the murder case. I'll sleep after that, I promise."

"Fine," Chloe said, giving in quickly to avoid an argument. "We'll do it your way."

"Good," Beca said. "Now, let's get ready for work."

After showering and getting dressed, Beca drove them to the station. As soon as Chloe walked into the bullpen, she was surrounded by the other detectives. Everyone started talking at once and asking how she was doing.

"I'm fine," Chloe said. "I swear. Luke Daniels was arrested, and he'll remain in a cell until he gets a bail hearing, which will probably be sometime later today"

"Come on, guys," Beca said. "We still have work to do, so let's get to it." Beca started shooing everyone away. "That's it. Move along. Nothing left to see here."

After everyone was back at their desks, Chloe kissed Beca's cheek.

"Let's get to work."

"Yes, ma'am," Beca said and went to her desk.

They had all been working for over an hour when Chloe's desk phone rang, and she answered.

"Detective Beale."

Chloe listened for a moment and looked at Beca.

"We'll be right there," Chloe said and hung up and looked around at everyone. "Hey, guys, that was Lily. She has some test results for us. All of you should come with me to hear whatever she has to say."

"Let's go," Jesse said, following Chloe toward the door.

The team left the bullpen and, as a group, went to the morgue.

A/N: I know I said this was going to be 10 chapters, but I now am planning an Epilogue, so there will be 11 chapters in total. Thanks to everyone for reading.