Devil’s in the Details (17 page)

She ran a hand over her hair, "You know you don't need to bring me coffee every week, Victoria." She said it halfheartedly. I knew she liked it when I brought her coffee and I liked bringing it to her.

After the debacle that was our first lunch, I had tried my best to find ways to apologize to Alex. I did call her that following Monday in between classes. Wanting to explain why I politely rejected her advances, but I couldn't find the right lies, and ended up telling her that I just wasn't in a place to date and was only looking to be friends. Insert a handful of other piss poor it's not you, it's me reasons. Alex bought the bullshit nonsense I spewed forth, sort of, or she just moved on past whatever she saw in me and we fell into an easy friendship.

We went out that following Friday for drinks and pizza at a local sports bar by her apartment. It was my test to see if I could be friends with her, nothing more, and I found that I could. Alex was easy to be around and she made me loosen up. I was still very careful about leading her on or giving her the wrong signals. She bought dinner and drinks that night, even as I protested, and then I promised I would bring her coffee on the way to work every Thursday to pay her back. Thursday being Alex's longest shift of the week.

Both had slowly become a tradition between us over the last month. I would stop in for a quick visit on Thursday at the hospital, then Friday we would go eat pizza and people watch at the sport bars. On the days I was out of town on a job, we would at least share a phone call. Usually, I would call her at the clean-up part of the job just to hear her voice and chase away the loneliness before it had a chance to sink its teeth in me.

I really liked Alex as a friend. I liked what she brought into my life, this almost normal balance that came from Alex just purely being herself. I liked all of the stupid jokes and her easy outlook on life no matter how hard of a night she had putting people back together. Alex was always smiling, putting others first and it made me feel normal and less of a monster in the closet.

Then there was the battle I still fought every day to keep my feelings hidden. The feelings for Alex were growing every day for her were getting harder to keep a secret. Alex was clearly moving on from whatever she saw in me. She would sometimes mention talking to one of the male doctors she worked with or about the ones that would hit on her mercilessly, trying to flirt with her. I would listen to all of it with a smile on my face, hating the fact that I wasn't those male doctors or any of the ones catching her attention. At the same time, my heart was shouting at me to do anything to tell Alex that I wanted more from her. Instead, I opted for the continuing silence and motioned to the steaming cup next to her hand, "I don't have to, but I like drinking for free on Friday's."

Alex laughed, slugging me softly in the shoulder, "Somehow, I think you’re getting the better end of the deal." She looked up in my eyes, her smile growing wider as we made eye contact, "You up for tomorrow night? The usual?"

I hated when she looked in my eyes. It always took my breath away and made my stomach wiggle. I sighed and looked down at the tips of my black heels, "I can't tomorrow. I'm flying out to Connecticut until Sunday for another recruitment fair for the academy." In truth I had a Colombian drug lord to gut and string up in his mansion by early Sunday morning, but that was beside the point.

I glanced back up at Alex, her smile fading but still holding strong. "Crap, I work a double Sunday. What about next week?"

I looked up at the ceiling, pretending to go over an imaginary calendar, "I think I might be free on Saturday." I peered back down at the brunette, "Brunch Saturday morning? Then a lunch of astronaut ice cream at the Air and Space Museum? It’ll be on me to make up for missing this week's pizza party."

Alex laughed, shaking her head at me, "They aren't pizza parties. Stop calling them that." She scooped up her coffee cup, "But you have a deal, Victoria. Only if you bring bagels next Thursday with the coffee." Alex squinted at me like a hardened contract negotiator would in the heat of negotiations.

It was my turn to shake my head, " I see you and Stacy have been conspiring against me, but yes, bagels and coffee next Thursday." I stole a look at my watch, "I should get going, I have two students to meet before class." I gave Alex a look, "Text me when you get home?"

Alex rolled her eyes, "Yes mom, I will unless I pass out in my scrubs like I did last week." She winked at me, "I'll walk you to the front." Alex moved to my side, her hand pressing on my upper back, "And you will call me when you land in Connecticut?"

I smiled tightly at how her warm hand soaked into the fabric of my thin suit jacket, sending shivers down my spine, "Yes dad, I will." We walked together back out to the front sliding doors and I was very grateful for the cool morning air rushing through each time the doors whisked open.

"Alright, I have to get back and do my last rounds so I can finish off the night's paperwork and head home." Alex's voice was soft and I could feel how tired she was. I turned to face her, "Tell Stacy I said goodbye and that she will get her bagels." Smiling at the blush of victory that covered Alex's cheeks.

Alex grinned, dropping her hand from me, "I told her tag teaming you would work." She then held her arms out like she did each and every time we parted ways, signaling she wanted a hug. "Bring it in Bancroft."

I sighed dramatically and moved into her arms. Clenching my jaw as the hug was perfectly warm. Dreading how Alex smelled amazing even after working twelve hours, and lastly the way we fit together. Like we were meant to be this close regardless of the reason. All of it made it harder for me to accept that I had been the one to push her into the friend zone.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her tighter into me, I whispered against her ear, "Alex, have dinner with me?"

Alex laughed and stepped out of my arms, raising an eyebrow as she shook her head, "You couldn't afford me, Victoria." She then rolled her eyes at the small joke I had come up with to ease the fact I had rejected her. I told her would ask her every time we said goodbye to have dinner with me, and in turn Alex would respond with how I couldn't afford her. I thought it was a way to level the playing field and it stuck. It soon became our own way of saying goodbye.

I nodded, smoothing out my jacket and shirt, "I know." I turned to walk out to my car, waving over my shoulder at the brunette, "I will call you later, Alex."

"You better, Victoria."

I didn't look back. Just kept my eyes forward on the silver car. For a split second, I wondered why I was keeping Alex in the friend zone. Why was I keeping the incredible woman that I cared about and was caring more for every day, at arm's length? Was I being foolish and ridiculous? Not logical and sensible?

My phone started ringing in my front pocket, as I pulled it out and saw Dani's name, reality struck hard. This was all of the reasons and more of why I had to keep Alex where she was. Answering the phone, I set my briefcase in the back of the BMW, "Dani."

"Pro-fess-or."

I huffed, "Can’t you ever be normal on the phone?"

"That's a funny one. You do know what we do to bring home the bacon right? It's definitely not sitting in offices, doing taxes and other boring shit." Dani was in full agitation mode. "Anyway, I think I need to make this a quick phone call. Classes have been canceled for you today, Professor. You need to get your stodgy ass over to the airport and head to Argentina. The old man pushed up the deadline on your job."

I groaned, sitting in the driver's seat. "Do I still have the same amount of time to prepare?"

"Yup, but you need to be done by Saturday night. Seems Senor Cocaine Valdez has plans to leave Argentina first thing Sunday morning. If we don't move now, it will be months until we get another chance like this." Dani paused, "Old man has tripled the usual for you. Meaning you can buy your brunette bestie a big ole latte."

I jabbed the start button on the BMW. "Didn't I tell you to stop monitoring my personal life?"

Dani laughed, "Oh Professor, my job is nothing but monitoring your personal life. And have you forgotten about how you met nurse blue eyes? Remember how I helped destroy evidence? Yeah, that case is still open and it's in my best interest that I keep at least one eye on you and your fumbling attempts at dating or whatever you two are doing.  Not that a court would ever dare to touch me, but I love reminding you of how imperfect you can be, Victoria."

I squeezed the phone, "Can we talk about this when I get back?"

Dani laughed again, "Certainly not, but I will make sure to email you schematics of the hospital so you know where not to look directly in the cameras. Toodle loo Professor, call me when you land in Argentina."

~Thirty-six hours later ~

It had been a knockdown, drag out fight. A straight up bar room brawl with my mark for the last fifteen minutes and I was running out of gas. The knock out injection did nothing to stop the man since he was so full of cocaine laced with PCP. It only made him angrier that I had interrupted his evening. Now I was going toe to toe with the bastard in the middle of his terra cotta covered atrium.

"Who the fuck sent you! Rodrigo? Carlos?" He wiped the blood from his chin where I had split it open with my right knee. "Was it the Americans?" He glared at me with hazy drug filled eyes, stumbling in his steps as he tried to catch his breath.

For the last fifteen minutes, the drug lord and I had danced. Traded hard punches and kicks, followed by his irritating form of the guess who game. It didn't even faze him when he ripped my mask off and saw that it was woman kicking his ass. I didn’t care what he thought about me being the one to kill him. I hadn’t even bothered to remember his name. Only his face and that he smoked a nightly Cuban cigar on his expansive patio, where we both now stood in front of each other like panting prize fighters.

I didn’t answer his slurred, stunted questions. I only tightened my fists as I ran my tongue along the inside of my mouth, tasting blood. At least he didn't knock out my teeth with that last hard right hay-maker that grazed my cheek.

I blew out a heavy breath. I was done playing games and wanted to be done with this. I charged the jacked up drug lord, spearing him at the waist with all of my body weight propelling me, dropping him to the hard tile beneath us. I smirked when I heard the back of his head smack the tile with a loud and satisfying crack. Knocking him out to the point the PCP would not help him anymore. I hopped to my feet, digging in my front pocket to pull out the last two injection needles, and wasted no time in jamming them into his neck. Depositing a killing dose of the knockout drug into his system.

I knew the chemicals in the drug would mix with the cocaine and PCP and would basically cause his heart to slowly explode in his chest. Adding that extra oomph to the drama I needed to finish this job.

I stood up, taking in large breaths to clear my head and get ready to do what I had to next. Send a clear message to the others in the grandest way possible.

Turning away from the lifeless drug lord, I stumbled over to my backpack and removed the rest of my tools as I pressed against my side. Wincing when I felt at least two fractured ribs along with the fat lip he gave me. I had managed to escape any solid hits to the face, but when I wrapped my hands around the length of nylon rope, I could feel my knuckles were torn open. I took the rope out of the backpack and threw it at the feet of the dead drug lord, wincing more from the pain settling into my body.

Reaching back in for the large and very sharp knife, I spotted my cell phone light blinking in the front pocket. I removed the phone and tucked it in my back pocket, I would check Dani's message when I had strung the drug lord up and his blood was covering the floor.

It didn't take much effort to string the bastard up using one of the gaudy marble arches around the atrium as a fulcrum. I soon had him swinging like a rag doll in seconds and wasted no time drawing the knife across his midsection. Stepping back as his intestines, and blood, spilled out of the large gash. I knew I had to do this part quickly before the remaining blood in his body coagulated and any half assed police officer could tell the stomach wound was done after his death.

I laughed to myself, I was lucky that the knockout drug was a blood thinner and provided plenty of the red liquid to spill free from the drug lord. I stared up at the lifeless man, swaying in the archway as his guts hung out of him like gruesome paper streamers. A small sigh of relief escaping from my mouth as I turned away to start the clean up.

Dumping the knife back into the backpack, I took out my phone to call Dani to confirm the job was done, then call to clean up crew to have them meet me on the other side of the mansion wall. I needed a hot shower, clean clothes, an aspirin and a large glass of bourbon immediately.

I groaned when I pulled off the black leather gloves, revealing how skinned my knuckles really were. There were large chunks of skin missing from the first two on each hand, and luckily, the leather had helped to stanch the bleeding. I clenched my jaw as I swiped a shaky finger over the phone screen, I had one missed call from Dani, two more texts from her and one text from Alex.

Ignoring the one from Alex, I dialed Dani, only to tell her the job was done before she could utter a single snarky word. I was not in the mood for her shit tonight, especially after I had to play punch out with the drug lord. I moved slowly to grab the backpack, wincing when I bent down to pick it up. My ribs were definitely bruised or fractured from the hard kick my right side absorbed.