Page 18 of Justified Lies

Gabe stopped walking, his gorgeous face looking baffled, maybe even hurt. But Lianna felt herself unraveling and needed to be as far away from him as possible.

“My car’s right over there, thanks for the walk,” she called out as she jogged from under his umbrella toward her minivan before he could get out a word of protest.

****

Gabe adjusted his windshield wipers as the rain slowed down to a sporadic drip. Unfortunately, the damage was already done from the weather, and he now sat in the resulting bumper to bumper traffic. Vancouver saw its fair share of rain, but you would never know it by the way people drove when the sky opened up.

Today was the only day of the week Gabe had to battle the traffic getting downtown because he took Jacob to school. Usually, the ride was pleasant despite the extra traffic, because he got to reminisce on a morning spent with his son. Catching a glimpse of a certain someone’s pretty face didn’t hurt either.

As he sat there drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel, it occurred to him that the damage was also done with Lianna. He still wasn’t sure what had happened this morning.Things had been so easy between them before. Now, every conversation was forced, every word carefully selected to avoid flaring an argument. Knowing it was his fault didn’t make it any easier. The SUV’s Bluetooth dinged, interrupting the sports radio.

“What’s up, man? They were just going to start talking about the BC Lions.” Gabe said.

In a city that breathed hockey, Gabe had to work to get his fill of football talk. Dan Hauser, his one-time police partner, and now the second-in-command in the overworked drug unit, laughed.

“Spoiler alert, we watched it together at the bar. They lost.”

“I know, asshole. But I’d like to hear if the entire offensive line is getting tanked or just the coach.”

“I only watch for the receiver, number sixteen, that makes those circus catches, don’t pay much attention to the line,” Dan said.

Gabe hadn’t been able to pay much attention to the game either. After the events involving Lianna earlier Saturday morning, he was grateful for his buddies’ invite to meet up for a beer. The distraction was nice, in theory. The guys, all fellow law enforcement, had agreed something was off about that dead raccoon story. Gabe would bet his house that the neighbor had fabricated most of his version of events.

Maybe it was the alcohol, but after getting home from the bar, Gabe was antsy. He laid in bed for hours staring at his ceiling fan. By early morning, he had decided to stop pushing Lianna away. There were a hundred reasons why he didn’t want to stay away from her anymore, probably a thousand why he should.

The deciding factor was that he couldn’t deny that his coldness was forcing her to interact with a potentially unstableneighbor. Lianna might not realize it, but that man next door was enamored with her. Gabe couldn’t blame the guy for that, but he could make sure the man couldn’t act on his feelings.

“Shithead, are you listening to me?” Dan asked.

“Nope, what did you say?”

Dan huffed, “I said, I have a possible POI you might be familiar with. He was a suspect in that gang hit at the coffee shop drive-thru last year.”

“The one that took place in the middle of the day?”

“The only homicide to take place in a drive-thru lane last year, man! What’s up with you this morning?”

“Sorry. Listen, the traffic’s insane, and I had a crappy start to the day.”

“You didn’t see your woman, raccoon lady, this morning? She usually puts a smile on your ugly mug.”

Until a few weeks ago when I self destructed that.“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But thanks for reminding me. I want to run a background check on that neighbor I told you about.”

“Maybe she’s having a little side thing with the neighbor? Anyway, you wanna hit the gym at lunch? I’ll pick your brain about my perp then.”

Gabe didn’t take the bait. “Yeah, text me when you’re heading down to the gym. I’m almost at the office now.”

As they clicked off, his friend’s words continued to circle in his head.Your woman. Possessiveness flooded him. Not only did he like the sound of that, but he already felt that way. Although he had no right to, Gabe felt like he had a special claim on Lianna. In a perfect world, he would gladly be hers.

Would she even be interested? Part of the reason he kept his distance in the first place, was because he saw desire in Lianna’s eyes on the day of the boys’ ill-fated science project. Did he imagine it?

Gabe had been so sure she was interested in him, but maybe he had mistaken her friendliness as flirtation. Lianna was pleasant and kind with everyone. She was even nice to her neighbor and clearly, she had no interest in him.Right? Gabe should be relieved, glad even that Lianna didn’t want anything more from him, it made things easier. Then why did the realization make his mood as dark as the dreary sky overhead?

****

Gabe exited the elevator onto his office floor forty minutes after he intended to. The chorus of voices reached his ears even before his eyes could adjust to the copious amount of light the wall-to-wall windows let in. Even on an overcast day, the office was flooded by natural light. As usual, the space was buzzing with energy, as people walked, heads down in paperwork.

Scowl securely in place, Gabe was glad he agreed to meet Dan at the gym during lunch. There was a shitload of agitation he needed to unleash. Setting off in the direction of his office, he felt around for his cell phone when it chimed. Encountering his holster, then his wallet, he finally retrieved the cell from his back pocket. There was a text message from Lianna. More anxious than he should be, he stopped walking and quickly swiped right on his screen.

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