Ex's and Oh's

Joan McClane walked down the steps in front of the police station, taking them two at a time. She wasn’t in any hurry, but she was a little excited. Hopeful, at least. The morning had been long and disappointing, so she could use a win. Just something to make the day feel like it hadn’t been wasted, running on the spot. She loved figuring out puzzles, from crosswords to cold cases, so she loved being able to bring the evidence together and put the right person away. But she hated days like this, and nights like last night, where red tape and uncooperative suspects meant she spent half the day chasing leads without nothing to show for it. Sometimes, she thought she just didn’t have the patience to be a detective.

The District Attorney’s office was still hard balling her about talking to Damon Woodsen’s daughter. She called, first thing after meeting Ashley at the cabin, in the car on the way to the Ravers Mansion, but they told her that the D.A. wasn’t in, but he’d be in soon, so try back in thirty minutes. After meeting Robert and Heather on their way out, she rang again, only to be told that Damon was unfortunately in a meeting, but to try again in an hour. This time she waited, counted the minutes, and rang exactly an hour later. The meeting ran on and, apparently, he was prepping a witness for court, but he’d ‘definitely’ be free in an hour, for sure this time.

At least she had been able to talk to the Ravers lawyer, though he had been just as unhelpful. He insisted that he be able to listen to the recording, to independently verify it was his client’s voice. She tried to tell him that it was unnecessary, that it had been verified by a witness, Zack Bishop, Heather’s friend, who testified that it was Heather’s voice. But the lawyer refused to budge, demanding that Heather be afforded the opportunity to identify her own voice. Joan told him she would get the opportunity when she agreed to talk. He insisted she be given the opportunity before she speak with the police. It went on like this for some time.

Finally, based on the word of Ashley Woodsen, she had done some investigation into ‘Shawn Lewis’ and found that he had an address in town. She visited the apartment and found the door broken in. Inside though, it looked like it had been recently cleaned out, but not in a burglary. This had been methodical and careful, and could tell from the smell in the air that any forensic evidence had been wiped out. And no one had reported a break in. It felt like a lead, but it was just as frustrating as the Ravers theft case because she knew there was just one big piece of the puzzle she couldn’t see.

What she did have though was a photo of Shawn Lewis, one that she was on her way to show Olivia Walker. If Victoria’s mother could identify the man as having been around the office, then she’d finally have a suspect that she could name. At least if she could the end the day with that, she’d count it as a success. At least she could say that one of her cases was going well. But the pep in her step faded as she found the boy from the photo leaning against her car.

“Detective McClane,” He said, looking up at her with a smirk. “I hear you’ve been looking for me.”

How could he know that, she wondered. It was only possible if he was watching the apartment, and seen that she was there. But, if he had wanted to talk to her, why not talk there at the apartment…unless it wasn’t convenient for him to do so. Unless, the only reason he was talking to her now was behind he had an advantage to press. She put her hand on her holstered gun, and took a defensive stance.

“Are you here to talk?” Her eyes followed his arms, noticing his hands in his pockets. “Hands where I can see them first. And then we can go talk inside the precinct.”

He complied with the first part, holding his hands up in front of his body, but he remained leaning against the side of her car. Still smiling, he said, “I’m quite comfortable here. Besides, I don’t think you want anyone else to hear what I’m going to say.”

“Well, that’s not a choice I’m giving you. I heard things too, Mr. Lewis, specifically that you were an acquaintance of Miss Victoria Walker, until she went sour on you. The jealous ex…that’s not unusual. No one would think twice about me bringing you in for questioning,” she said. If he had come here to intimidate her, she wasn’t going to show any weakness. “So, here’s your choice. You can walk in or I can drag you in.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I’m completely responsible for showing this town Victoria Walker’s true face,” he replied coolly.

“A-are you serious?” she couldn’t help but be flustered, not quite expecting him to just blurt it out like that. “Then you’re under arrest.”

“Ah, I don’t think you want to do that,” He noted, quite calmly, as she reached for the cuffs.

“And why not?” she demanded, getting tired of his insufferable, knowing attitude. “I don’t care about money, or who your father is, Mr. Lewis, so, give me one damn good reason why I shouldn’t.”

“Because I know about Roland.”

She took a step back at the mention of the name. There’s was only one reason to mention Roland. One reason that it should be impossible for him to know anything about. And even if he did, there was no proof. She’d made sure of that.

“I don’t know what you think you heard, but-”

“It’s not about what I think,” Shawn cut in. “I heard it directly from ‘k3Y$Tr0kE’ how you hired them to spy on your ex-boyfriend after you broke up.”

“I…I’ve never heard of this ‘k3Y$Tr0kE’,” she lied, as she tried to maintain her authority. She was the detective here. She was the one in charge. “Are they an accomplice of yours?”

“I bet you deleted the videos on your end, right? You wised up and got rid of them when you realized how much you were risking your job to spy on your ex-boy-”

The detective grabbed his arm and dragged him away, though not to the police station as she had warned but off the station lot and down a nearby alleyway, away from the prying eyes and ears of other police officers and detectives going about their business. She blew the hair from her face, irritated when she turned to see that smug, gloating smirk on his face.

“See, I told you wouldn’t want anyone else to hear,” Shawn told her, almost bursting with glee. “So, what was it? You just couldn’t get over him, is that it? Poor, lonely cop, resorting to stalking.”

“It wasn’t like that. He broke up with me because of my job, I spent too much time working cases and when I was home, I brought it home with me, and he didn’t want to compete for my attention anymore, or at least, that’s what he said,” she answered in a hushed voice, checking the ends of the alleyway for anyone listening. “Then a week after we break up, I saw him downtown with another girl, holding hands, laughing, kissing. It was too soon. He had to have been seeing her while we were together.”

“Ah, you thought he was cheating,” Shawn surmised. “And, let me guess, you just had to know?”

“After how bad he made me feel about doing my job, if he had been cheating on me, you’re damn right I felt I had a need to know. But I couldn’t do it,” she told him, perhaps on some level hoping that if he knew the truth, he might not use it against her. With a man like Shawn though, she knew that would never happen. The reality was that it just felt good to get it out. “I had a job to do, so I couldn’t watch them all the time, and I would need to file paperwork to get the necessary surveillance equipment checked out. So, I went online and found someone willing to help. But like you said, I deleted everything, so there’s no proof.”

“Except ‘k3Y$Tr0kE’ is a very cautious person. They made sure they had something to use against you in case you tried to double cross them,” Shawn revealed. “Every photo, every video, every recording, everything, and all the emails where they forwarded the files to you, and your replies saying you got them. I mean, it’s enough to rouse suspicion, don’t you think so? Especially since he was oh so conveniently arrested not long after.”

“No, it wasn’t like that,” she insisted, shaking her head adamantly. “On one of the videos ‘k3Y$Tr0kE’ sent, his new girlfriend was taking ****. Cocaine. She did it when he was out of the house. She was the one who was supposed to get arrested. I left an anonymous tip one day that I knew she was going out to lunch. Roland was working, so I thought she’d be meeting a girl-friend, but he met her out for his lunch break. That idiot ended up claiming the **** were his to protect her. So, he had to pay a fine and has a record. That was when I realized what a stupid thing I was doing, terminated the agreement and deleted the videos. I let my anger get the better of me.”

“Yeah, try telling that to a jury.” Shawn threw his head back and laughed. “I’m curious though. Did you ever find anything to suggest that he cheated?”

“…no,” she confessed, frowning with bitterness. “They talked about being so glad they met each other but they never really mentioned ‘when’ in any definite terms, and I didn’t spy on them long enough to hit any anniversaries. Looking back, I don’t think it matters. Even if he did cheat, it would have been because I was too busy with my job, rather than our relationship.”

“Oh, that’s not really your fault. Men and women aren’t made for relationships. Men are made to fuck, as often and as much as they please,” Shawn told her as he spun her around and pressed her back against the red brick of the alleyway wall. He leaned in, baring his teeth as he breathed against her cheek. “Sooner or later all monogamous relationships fall apart when the man breaks down and takes what he needs, or the woman gives in to her desires, and turns to a real man.”

“A real man. Is that what you think you are?” She asked, lowering her hand down her side again, grasping the handle of her gun.

“What I think, is that you’re smarter than the average slut. So, I don’t have to tell you what you need to do in order to make sure that your secret about Roland, stays a secret,” He said, remaining close but giving her no more reason to use the holstered weapon in her hand.

“You want me to leave you out of the Walker case,” she deduced, not even needing him to confirm it. Her heart sank. There went her chance to make sure the day had at least one positive note. The rest proposed to be a lot of red-tape and debating legalese. “I can’t leave you out entirely. Ashley Woodsen already mentioned your name to me.”

“Then tell them you talked to me, and I gave you an alibi and that it checks out. I don’t really care how you do it, so long as it gets done,” he insisted. “Have you spoken to Olivia Walker yet?”

She shook her head. “I was just on my way to do that.”

“Don’t. Or at least leave me out of that too,” he said pointedly. “And if I hear my name so much breathed in passing in relation to this case, the next thing you’ll hear will be me, telling all your friends in blue about Roland.”

“Fine,” she agreed through gritted teeth.

He turned to leave, having gotten what he wanted. Meanwhile, she hadn’t gotten anything. She got to keep her job maybe, but she was right back to square one on all her cases, irritated and frustrated. It occurred to her though that perhaps she could use Shawn to make some progress in the Woodsen case. Getting information from other criminals wasn’t unusual, officers did it all the time through confidential informants, though those usually needed to be processed and recorded. But, if she kept it off the books, maybe she could use him, like he was using her, and then she wouldn’t feel so dirty about letting this misogynistic little shit walk free. Or maybe she was just ****.

“Wait,” she called to him, then quickly checking to make sure no one was listening in again. “Do you know Hannah Woodsen?”

“Hannah?” He eyed her suspiciously. “Sure. We went to school together.”

“She’s the main suspect in another case of mine,” Joan continued. “She tried to frame another girl for stealing **** from her employer. There’s even a confession. But we can’t find her, and I have no idea why she would confess, then skip town.”

“Most women love to be on their backs with a cock between their legs. They put on airs and graces to make you think it isn’t so, but they’re all sluts when confronted with a big cock.” Shawn sauntered back towards Joan, putting himself in front of her once more. “Hannah though…she was pretty open about it. She liked sex. And that made her…boring.”

“But you have contacts. Like, ‘k3Y$Tr0kE’, so you could find out, right?” she swallowed before she asked, feeling herself crossing the line even as the words passed from her lips. “Could you find out what really happened?”

“Maybe,” Shawn replied, as he tried to think about whether he really cared. Doing the leg work for police didn’t sound like much fun though. “Is Gavin Westher involved?”

“Gavin? No, I don’t think so. Zack Bishop was the one who brought the confession to the precinct’s attention, and Ashley, Hannah and Heather Ravers are all on the recording. It’s Heather’s father Robert that she stole the pills from, and blamed it on Lisa Rivera, Zack’s current girlfriend,” Joan informed him, wondering who Gavin Westher could be. “Those are all the persons of interest.”

“Sounds like petty high school shit,” Shawn said, though he admitted to himself it might be fun to mess with Taylor’s little brother, it wouldn’t be as fun without her around to see it. “So, if you want my help, you’re going to have to give me something.”

“Give you something?” Joan raised an eyebrow. “I’m already excluding you from the Walker case.”

“No, no, you’re doing that because otherwise I’ll reveal your own little indiscretion. See how there’s an exchange, my freedom for your job,” Shawn said, placing one arm on the wall beside her as he leaned over her again. “This is a new deal. So, if you want something more from me, you’re going to have to give me something else too.”