Mate Undercovers

One Cocky Son of a B*tch

Abby's POV

“Ouch! f**k man, that hurts! Are we almost done here?” Cal whines as the paramedic stitches the small wound on his head.

“Almost detective, but you really should have this done at the hospital. You need to get checked out by the doctor-“

“I said I have no time for that!” he snaps back impatiently, looking down at his watch.

I cast my eyes back over to the armoured van, where the driver is being checked over by another paramedic. Thankfully it doesn’t look like he has sustained any injuries except for being a little dazed and confused.

I uncross my arms and walk over to the van to investigate once again, lifting my hand to run it over the large dent in the side of the bumper.

Just then, my phone rings and I answer it immediately.

*

*

*

“Please tell me you’ve got something, Jane.”

“Yeah, looks like you were right. It was a red vehicle and it was seen leaving the vicinity right after the crash. The traffic cams picked it up.”

“You get the license plate?”

“The car was reported stolen this morning. A red Nissan Rogue-“

“Good, we need to-“

“Abby, we already tracked it to a parking garage four blocks away. I’m sending you the details now!”

*

*

*

I hang up the phone quickly, running over to one of the squad cars on the scene.

“Abby, what’s going on?” Calvin asks, running towards me.

“Jane found the car.”

“f**k, okay.” Calvin answers, taking off towards the squad car to oust the guy sitting in the driver’s seat. “Quick, get out!”

I jump into the passengers side, reading out Jane’s message as he stomps on the accelerator taking us out onto the busy main road again. The sirens help us navigate the streets faster and a few minutes later we find ourselves at the garage in question.

I can tell by the determined look on Cal’s face that he is in one hell of a mood. Who can blame him? Ben played him for a fool. He played us all. The way he asked the time right before we were ambushed pretty much confirms that he knew exactly what was about to happen.

“Which floor?” Calvin asks as we continue spiralling round the building like something out of the f*****g fast and the furious.

“I don’t know. Slow down a second so I can- Stop!” I yell, pointing my finger over to the far away side of the third floor. “That’s the car over there. It’s got to be.”

Calvin follows my directions, slowing down just a little to take a more cautious approach.

“s**t! it looks empty.” I fume, banging my hand off of the dash in irritation.

We pull the car up to a stop and I take out my weapon as we make our way forward slowly.

“NYPD. Come out with your hands in the air!” Calvin calls out, pointing his gun at the car as he makes his way around the front.

My eyes run over the vehicle and I can see now that it’s pretty messed up. How they actually managed to drive it away from the scene is a damn miracle.

It then becomes clear pretty quickly that the car is completely empty and unlocked, allowing us to have a look inside. We are careful not to touch anything as we check for any clues that might have been left behind, but it seems like we are s**t out of luck.

“I’ll call it in. We need forensics to take a look at it.” Calvin says, walking away to take his cell out.

I walk around the front of the car and lean on the hood, folding my arms over my chest.

It’s then that my eyes scan upwards to see the CCTV camera that is positioned directly above us. Why of all places would they choose to leave the car here?

Cal and I get back into the car and make our way down to the ground floor to check out the security footage.

The parking attendant quickly pulls up the time frame that we need and I watch closely as the red car pulls into the space roughly an hour before our arrival. The front passenger door opens first and the pink haired woman from earlier bounces out onto the ground with a huge grin on her face. I can’t help noticing how pretty she is. Short and curvaceous with a bright smile that radiates even through the grainy video footage. At her back, a large handsome man covered in tattoos, piles out of the backseat to join her, swinging his arm around her shoulder as they walk away from the car laughing.

“Assholes look like they don’t have a care in the f*****g world!” Calvin snaps angrily, shaking his head.

I swallow hard as I watch the driver’s side door open to reveal Ben, who gets out with his hands full.

I furrow my brows as I watch him walk to the front of the car, placing the items in his hands on the hood.

“What the f**k is he doing?” Cal snarls, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

Ben then begins to strip down out of his clothes given to him at the precinct, whipping the sweatshirt off of his large shoulders to dump it on the ground.

I blink furiously as I try to stifle the strange feeling spreading over my body which I can only liken to… excitement.

“Oh for f**k sake!” Cal snaps, turning around to walk away angrily.

However, I on the other hand, can’t help but stay completely still, my eyes glued to the man on screen as he pushes his sweatpants down his thick muscular thighs. He steps out of them easily, kicking them to the side as he covers his junk with his hand, leaving his tight, bare ass on full display.

I direct my eyes upwards to the ceiling for a moment to take a breath.

The man is a f*****g murderer, Abby… get a grip of yourself and focus!

I look back at the screen to see he is now thankfully wearing a pair of jeans with black boots and is pulling a dark grey t-shirt down over his sculpted body. I watch as he picks the old clothes up off of the floor, walking over to a nearby trash can to discard the lot.

“We need to take a look at that trash.” Calvin notes quietly as I nod in agreement.

Just then, Ben walks back to the front of the red car, leaning against the hood and folding his arms across his chest as he looks up towards the camera directly with a huge grin on his face.

He then lifts his hand to wave it at the camera, throwing a wink before he casually saunters away.

Is this guy for f*****g real?

He left the car there on purpose.

He knew we would watch the footage.

THAT, is one cocky son of a b***h!

***

I switch off the shower and squeeze the excess water from my hair before grabbing a towel from the rack to wrap around my body. As I walk back out into my bedroom, I look towards my bed longingly and sigh.

Fuck, it’s been such a tough day. Earlier when we arrived back at the precinct, we got a complete dressing down from Captain Moss who was furious with both Cal and I. Apparently, losing a high profile murder suspect is frowned upon… who knew?

I pull out some panties and a shirt from my drawers, pulling them on before taking a seat on the edge of my bed. My traitorous mind then does the unthinkable, sending me images of Ben’s muscular, naked body.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I groan out loud, throwing myself back on the bed to close my eyes.

I know that I have a habit of going for the wrong guys, but a murderer? Really?

At this point I think I quite possibly may have hit a new f*****g low. Maybe Jane is right and I just desperately need to get f*****g laid.

I lean over to pick up my phone, typing out the message quickly before I have time to change my mind.

*

Hey Landon, how are you? I’m sorry I didn’t manage to call last night to reschedule, but I wondered if you would be free on Saturday to maybe pick up where we left off?

*

I press send and wait there for a few minutes, rereading the text again to make sure that it sounds okay.

Suddenly, I hear sound coming from the sitting room. I sit up, furrowing my brows as I listen carefully.

What the f**k was that?

I creep over to my dresser to pick up my gun, holding it down at my side as I tiptoe over to the door. I open it slowly, peering out into the empty sitting room which is in complete darkness.

It can’t be my dad and Betsy coming back from his dominoes game. He’s noisier than the f*****g Philharmonic when he arrives home.

I slide my hand out of the gap in the door to switch the light on, quickly lifting my gun in the air as I do so.

The room illuminates, and to my relief, it shows that there is nothing and no-one here. I drop my gun down and let out a puff of air. I think this day has put me well and truly on edge.

Just as I am about to walk back into the bedroom, something catches my attention on the floor by the door. I tiptoe over towards the white piece of card and look down at it from above before bending down to pick it up. I turn it over to see something written on the back.

TATIANA

NORTH COVE MARINA

My heart thuds in my chest as I lift my gun up again, walking over to the door to open it into the empty hallway.

Shit…

I step back inside, slamming the door closed behind me and running into the bedroom to get dressed.

***

“And you have no idea who left the note?” Hana asks as Kevin passes us both our weapons.

“Nope.” I answer in reply.

The truth is, I have an idea, but the theory makes no damn sense at all so I decide to keep it to myself for now.

“Okay, there is a yacht named Tatiana docked here at Brookfield, you were right Abby.” Calvin states, walking over to join us.

I shut down the trunk of the car and nod my head.

“What’s the plan?”

“The boat has been under watch for the last hour. It doesn’t look like anyone is onboard. We approach with caution and see what we find.”

We follow Cal down the sidewalk and onto the platform jutting out onto the water.

There, in front of us, is a smallish, luxury- looking yacht shrouded in darkness.

Calvin steps on first, holding his weapon in the air as we follow on behind him to clear the top deck. For a moment, it seems like he might be right and there might not be anyone onboard, but suddenly, the sound of faint whimpering makes its way to my ears and I look over to Hana worriedly.

Cal nods his head towards the stairs and I move on down first, walking over to place my hand on the door knob. I twist it quickly to walk into a small living space, lit up by a small lamp in the corner. The muffled whines continue and I follow the sound, taking a few steps forward to open up another door. My eyes widen in surprise when I see a man sitting on a chair, gagged, tied up and struggling to break free.

His eyes snap towards us and his shoulders slump in disappointment. Clearly we are not the people he had hoped to see.

“Wait… isn’t that-“

“One of Yuri Pavel’s men.” I finish Kevin’s sentence, nodding my head.

“Abby…” Calvin says slowly, walking over towards the large double bed.

I walk over to join him, casting my eyes over the wooden crates in shock. There are four large crates here, each of them filled to the brim with assault rifles.

“Looks like someone has been up to no good.” Kevin comments, hauling the struggling man up onto his feet. “I bet your boss is going to be pissed at you!”

“Abby! Cal!”

We follow Hana’s call back into the sitting area where she is standing in front of an open cabinet filled with bricks of cocaine.

“There’s got to be at least 800k worth of coke here…” she says, turning back to look at us.

“s**t…” Kevin adds, as he drags Yuri’s guy through to join us. “This ought to get you back in the captain’s good books, Sully.”

It’s true what he is saying. This is a big find and the Captain will be satisfied with it. However, it by no means erases my mistakes from earlier today and any case, I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for that note that was shoved under my door.

A while later, the boat is crawling with police as the evidence is removed for transport to the lock up. I watch as it is loaded in the back of the van and pinch the bridge of my nose before I look out towards the sunrise in the distance.

“Tired?” Cal asks me in amusement as he walks over to stand beside me.

“Exhausted, actually.”

“Well, least we have a couple hours to rest up before we start all over again.”

I nod my head in reply.

“Calvin… I have a theory about the note.”

He furrows his brows as he looks at me.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it too Abby. Look, I don’t think your apartment is safe anymore. I think-“

“What if it was Ben who left it?” I interrupt bluntly.

“What?”

“Think about it, Cal. He knows where I live and clearly someone was here at the docks before us. What if it was him-“

“Don’t be so stupid, Abs.” Cal snaps angrily. “Why would a murderer do anything to help us out? Why-“

“Do you know what… forget I said anything, you f*****g asshole.” I interject, unable to summon the will nor the desire to fight with him. “I’m going home. See you in a few hours.”

***

“Feeling well rested?” Jane asks me interestedly as I walk over to my desk to sling my coat and bag down.

“Yes. Thank God.”

“Good because the Captain is looking for you.” she smiles encouragingly.

“Did he seem mad?” I ask with a chuckle, taking a seat to load up my computer.

“Not really actually. He just said I was to let you know as soon as you came in. Calvin too.”

I cast my eyes upwards to see Calvin appear out of the elevator to walk towards us.

“I swear it feels like we have been joined at the hip this week.” I mutter under my breath. “We didn’t even spend this much time together the whole last year of our f*****g marriage.”

Jane scoffs loudly as Calvin comes to a stop in front of us.

“What’s so funny, Jane?”

“Nothing… sorry I f*****g dared to laugh in your presence, Almighty chieftain.” she answers, throwing in a sarcastic salute.

I can’t help but laugh in reply, my eyes looking up ahead at the exact moment the elevator doors open once again to reveal another familiar face.

My eyes widen in shock, I reach for my gun rapidly and spring up onto my feet to point it across the room. Calvin swings around and instantly does the same when he sees what I see.

It’s Ben.

He takes a few steps out of the elevator, straight into the heart of the precinct.

“GET YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR NOW!” I demand, stepping out from behind my desk.

From the corner of my eye, I can see other cops have now pulled their weapons too as the room falls into a tense silence.

Ben looks around for a couple of seconds, somewhat unbothered by all the fuss before his eyes finally settle on me.

“I SAID GET YOUR HANDS UP!”

He does as I ask, slowly lifting them into the air and placing them behind his head, causing his shirt to ride up his toned abs as a result.

I make a move towards him carefully, not daring to take my eyes off of him for a second.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask as I approach.

“Just couldn’t stay away.” he answers with a smirk.

“Are you carrying a weapon?”

“No.”

I look back at him unconvinced.

“You can check if you like.” he shrugs, keeping his hands firmly in place.

I replace my gun in its holster and inch closer to him, casting my eyes down to his chest before lifting my hands out to pat around his body. As soon as my hands touch him, the same thudding sound returns to my ears as my heart pumps out of my damn chest. I move my hands down to his waist to continue the search as the whole precinct looks on in silence.

“I didn’t think the first time you laid hands on me we would have an audience, but I’m making the most of it.” Ben mutters quietly before I bend down to feel up each of his legs.

It’s then that I make the mistake of looking upwards where I see him looking down at me with that cocky smile.

“He’s clean.” I announce finally, standing up to face him.

“You took your sweet time to find out… but don’t worry, I’m more that alright with it, detective.” he smiles.

Just then, Captain Moss appears from the end of the corridor, rushing out into the middle of the office.

“EVERYONE STAND DOWN NOW!” he calls out authoritatively, causing everyone to turn and look at him in shock.

“FORBES, SULLIVAN. MY OFFICE NOW.”