by Pandora Pine
Ronan grabbed his ex by the shirt and stopped him dead in his tracks. Josh was an inch or two shorter, but was built like a bulldog. "Lay one finger on him, Josh..."
"And what, Ro, you gonna kill me like you killed Manuel Garcia? I know the department ruled that a clean shoot, but I know you killed him in cold blood and what's more, you know you did too."
"Ronan, stop touching him," Tennyson said quietly from behind. He'd set a hand on Ronan's shoulder.
"Aww, isn't that cute. Hubby's jealous. Guess he saw his own envy reflected back at himself." Josh jerked away from Ronan. "Listen, I could have him back any time I wanted and don't you forget it." Josh turned to blow Ronan a kiss and sauntered out the door.
"In your dreams, butt munch!” Tennyson called back.
“Butt munch?” Ronan laughed. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting when Tennyson met Josh, but this hadn’t been it.
“It was the best I could do on such short notice. You need to be cleansed.” Tennyson shook his head.
"I had a bath this morning." Ronan shook his head.
"No, that's not what I mean." Tennyson took a shaky step back.
"Whoa, there." Ronan grabbed Ten's arm. "Are you okay?"
"I've never met a person with such a jealous soul before.”
"Here, sit." Ronan guided him to a nearby plastic chair. "Explain what you mean."
"His soul is a mess of envy. Like he wants everything that everyone else has. You know, like it’s normal to be a little jealous when a friend goes on a fabulous vacation to Hawaii and you’re stuck going camping for the weekend and end up with poison ivy. Or you’re alone and your buddy gets married. But Josh is jealous of everything. You’ve got a better ink pen, O’Dwyer has walnuts in his oatmeal. Just ridiculous stuff." He shivered, unshed tears glittered in his eyes. "I just... I can't..."
Ronan knelt in front of him. "You can't what, sweetheart?" Ronan felt helpless. It was obvious something was upsetting Tennyson but he had no idea how to help him.
"I can't believe you loved him, shared your body with him, and came out whole on the other side with a clean, pure soul." The tears cascaded down Tennyson's cheeks.
Ronan wiped them away. Even though he didn't understand what Tennyson was trying to say or why this was upsetting him so much, he pulled the crying man into his arms and held him close.
They were ten minutes late to the meeting with Captain Fitzgibbon. Thankfully, the captain was ten minutes later than that.
Tennyson had managed to pull himself back together after their hug and a few minutes in the men's room.
Ronan had invited him to spend the night at his apartment and Tennyson had agreed. The look on the psychic's face indicated that had been his plan all along. Ronan should have known by the fact that Tennyson had come with his rolling suitcase.
"Gentlemen, I’m sorry I'm late," Captain Fitzgibbon said as he rushed into his office, shutting the door behind him.
Tennyson stood up.
"He isn't a judge or the president. You don't have to stand when he enters the room, Ten." Ronan rolled his eyes.
"He's obviously a young man with manners, Detective O'Mara. The BPD could do with more like him. Captain Kevin Fitzgibbon. Nice to meet you."
"Pleasure is mine, captain," Tennyson returned, shaking his hand.
"How are you making out working with this one?" The captain hooked a thumb at Ronan after he sat down behind his large desk. The captain was about as tall as Ronan with dark hair and green eyes. Ten would guess he was about fifty years old.
"Every day is an exercise in patience, sir." Tennyson grinned.
"That goes both ways," Ronan added tightly.
"Well, as long as neither one of you ends up in my jail, I'm happy. So, tell me about this new lead you've developed." Fitzgibbon steepled his fingers, looking back and forth between the two men.
Ronan shot Tennyson an uneasy look.
"Ronan, I know you're working with a psychic and that you're getting information from the other side. You don’t need to look nervous like a virgin bride on her wedding night. Spill it."
"I spoke to Michael Frye," Tennyson said. "He's a bit hesitant to talk to us right now because we're strangers and Ronan's a bit..." Tennyson sighed.
"What? I'm a bit what?" Ronan could feel himself tensing up. Shit, they were sitting in front of his boss and Tennyson was about to rat him out.
"Impatient, which is par for the course when you can’t see or hear the witness you’re interviewing. Tennyson shrugged. “Anyway, I got him to offer up one clue about his disappearance. He said the word candy."
"Not much to go on, is it?" Fitzgibbon shook his head.
"No, it's not, sir," Tennyson agreed. "But Ronan and I took that word and ran with it. We thought that maybe candy was used to lure Michael from his yard or that Candy could be the name of his abductor, but then Ronan came up with the lead that we think could break this case wide open."
Fitzgibbon smiled, turning his attention to Ronan. "Do tell, detective."
Ronan raised his eyebrow at Tennyson. "I remembered the old Betty's Candy Factory in Dorchester had been turned into apartments. We looked it up on the internet and there was active construction going on there in October of 2010 when Michael was taken. They were constructing a playground and laying a concrete slab for a greenhouse."
"And you're thinking the boy's remains could be at that site?" Fitzgibbon looked back and forth between them.
"Yes, sir," Ronan said.
"Before I go and order radar and backhoe to dig this place up, is there anything you can do, Tennyson, to prove that the boy is there?"
"I can walk the site and see if Michael will talk to me, but that's a long shot."
"Why?" The captain looked genuinely curious.
"Spirits don't tend to hang out where they were murdered or laid to rest," Ronan said.
"You were listening!" Tennyson's face lit up with joy.
Ronan shrugged. "Yeah, well you talk a lot. Something was bound to stick." Ronan cleared his throat. "What if we got the ground-penetrating radar for tonight? That way there it wouldn't cause an immediate scene? Ten and I could go to the site today and we'd also be there tonight."
Tennyson nodded.
"Done," the captain agreed. He stood up from his chair and offered Tennyson one of his business cards. “You call me if there’s anything else I can do to help out with this investigation or if you need any help wrangling Ronan, you hear?”
Tennyson took the card from the older cop. “Yes, sir, and thank you for the offer, but I think I’ve got detective O’Mara’s number now.”
Ronan snorted and headed out the door.
18
Tennyson
Even an hour later, Tennyson still felt off-balance after meeting Ronan’s ex-husband. It wasn’t that he was feeling jealous that this was the man Ronan had committed himself to for better or for worse, but the fact that Josh was truly the oddest soul he’d ever met in his life.
What was worse than that was that he was nearly impossible to read. Josh reminded him of a weirdly wrapped Christmas present that the giver wanted the receiver to struggle to open. He could see fringe elements about him, like the man being jealous that Ronan was spending time with Tennyson, but when it came to the deeper and most definitely darker aspects of Josh, those were hidden away under impenetrable layers of what he could only describe as muck and mire.
“Hey, are you okay?” Ronan asked, once they were back at his desk.
“Yup! Peachy keen.” Ten wrapped his arms around himself and rubbed his arms. He needed to find his center again and cleanse his mind of that rotten man.
“Uh huh.” Ronan raised an eyebrow at him in obvious disbelief. “Let me guess, we have a shit-ton to discuss tonight? My asshole ex being among the topics?”
Tennyson nodded. His stomach pitched and rolled like he were in a rowboat during a hurricane. “Tell me you’ve got an awesome Vietnamese place near your house. I’m gonna need a gallon of pho a
nd some crunchy spring rolls to get through this conversation.”
“Yeah, my neighborhood’s got one of those with semi-private booths so we’ll have a chance to talk quietly. Just so we’re clear though, are you going to be okay out at the apartment complex to be able to work?”
Tennyson took a deep breath. It was hard to put into words what meeting someone like Josh did to him, but then again Ronan had been married to the man. He’d bet seeing him had been equally as hard on the cop. “I am if you are.”
Ronan snorted. “The day I let that bastard beat me is the day I lay down and take a dirt nap, understand?”
Tennyson didn’t like the analogy, but he understood loud and clear. “Got it. Are we ready to get out of here?”
“Hey! There he is!” an exuberant voice shouted from across the room.
“That’s Tony,” Ronan had time to say before the yelling man barreled into him and hugged him.
Tennyson remembered Ronan mentioning his old partner Tony Abruzzi and how they were more like brothers than best friends.
“You keep hugging me like that and rumors are gonna start flying, Tone.” Ronan laughed. “This is Tennyson Grimm,” Ronan introduced when Tony let him go.
“Nice to meet you. Ro’s told me a lot about you.” Tony smiled at the psychic but didn’t hold out his hand to shake.
Tennyson was used to that kind of reaction. People were afraid that if he touched them, he’d be able to read them. Truth be told, he could read Tony from the second he shouted for Ronan. Good Roman Catholic boy, never cheated on his wife. Loved being a cop, had Ronan’s back no matter what, but thought Ronan was crazy for working with Tennyson. “Nice to meet you too, Tony. I’ve heard a lot about you and Carlie too.”
Tony shot Ronan an uneasy smile. “Like does he know you’re hungry before you know or that you want a cheeseburger?”
Tennyson bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing at Ronan’s friend. He got questions like this all the time. “I never read someone without their permission, Tony. That’s a hard and fast rule for me. It would be an invasion of privacy if I did that, like going through Ronan’s desk drawers without his permission. There are things though, that I can’t help but knowing if the people around me are emotional enough.”
“What do you mean?” Tony asked nervously.
“That female officer over there by the water cooler just got engaged last night. She’s so excited that the happiness is coming off her in waves of pink.”
“Maldonado finally got engaged?” Ronan sounded shocked. “She’s been with Gary for like fifteen years.”
Tony nodded. “I couldn’t believe it either. I’m betting she gave him an ultimatum of some kind. You know, marry me or you’re gone.”
Tennyson shook his head. “No it wasn’t that. It’s the…” Tennyson shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth.
“The what, Ten?” Ronan leaned closer. He wore a conspiratorial smirk.
“I can’t tell you. That was snooping. I’m sure you’ll all find out in good time.” Tennyson bit his lip again to keep from laughing. Officer Maria Maldonado’s secret would be on display for everyone to see in a few months’ time.
“We’re going to discuss this later.” Ronan winked at him.
Tennyson rolled his eyes, looking like he was put out. Of course he was going to share his ill-gotten information with Ronan. It’s what partners did. “Congrats on Vinnie getting into UNH!” Tennyson waggled his eyebrows, totally fucking with the cop.
“Vinnie didn’t get into UNH.” Tony stared open-mouthed at Ronan. “Early acceptance letters don’t go out until next month.”
“My bad, I must have misunderstood what Ronan told me.” Tennyson shrugged innocently. “If you’ll excuse me. I need to hit the nose.”
Ronan barked a laugh. “You mean the head?”
“Whatever. I need to hit it. Where is it?”
“You’re the psychic. Don’t you know?” Tony looked confused.
Ronan pointed down the hall to a well-lit sign.
“Psychics don’t know everything, Tony.” Tennyson slapped his shoulder on the way past. He caught the horrified look on the cop’s face. Ronan’s laughter followed him into the bathroom.
19
Ronan
Their first visit to Betty’s Candy Factory had been a bust in terms of the Michael Frye case. They’d spent two frigid hours walking around the entire complex, but Tennyson didn’t hear one peep from the spirit of the murdered boy.
He did speak with several other spirits, some of whom had passed away during a freak accident at the factory in 1965. Tennyson had been able to get them to cross over. The other spirits, domestic abuse victims and drug overdoses, had been more difficult to coax along.
The recreation area which featured the playground and greenhouse had been the spot that held the most interest for Tennyson. On a day where the temperatures hovered in the low teens with a wind chill that made it feel more like the temperature was negative five degrees, being out there was miserable.
There was nothing remarkable about the space. Swings swung in the wind, as did the abandoned teeter-totters. No kids or parents were outside today braving these temperatures. It was one point in their favor for tonight when they returned with the ground-penetrating radar. With temperatures predicted to drop by another ten degrees when the sun went down, there wouldn’t be so many people eager to get a look at what was going on outside.
Tennyson spent an agonizing half hour trying to get Michael’s spirit to speak to him, but to no avail. The only thing he heard was the wind howling between the factory buildings.
By the time they’d gotten back into the car, Tennyson was frozen to the bone and Ronan was more frustrated than angry. They’d ended up heading back to Ronan’s apartment where they’d each taken a hot shower and gotten ready for dinner.
Pho Hoa on Dorchester Avenue had a homey feel to it. Ronan had found himself here on his first night living in his new neighborhood after Josh left him. With his life gone to shit around him, this place had felt like a new beginning for him.
“Ronan, so good to see you!” a tiny Vietnamese woman greeted when he and Tennyson stepped into the restaurant.
“Hello, Pearl. This is my friend Tennyson. We’re looking for a quiet table tonight.”
“It’s good to see you getting back on the cow again, my friend.” Pearl was all smiles. She led them to a semi-private booth in the back.
“Back on the cow?” Tennyson giggled.
“She’s been in this country for thirty years, but her metaphors are still for shit.” Ronan laughed. He grabbed two plastic-bound menus and handed one to Tennyson. Already knowing what he was going to order, he used the quiet time to study the psychic.
Seeing Josh today had really taken a toll on Tennyson. Even now, close to twelve hours later, he could still see the weary look in his eyes. He’d been so worried about how the douchebag had affected his partner he hadn’t stopped to consider how Josh had affected him.
Ronan held his tongue until after Pearl had come back to take their orders. “I know you’ve got a lot you want to talk to me about, Ten. Go for it.”
“I don’t even know where to start.” Tennyson took a deep breath. “Our relationship means a lot to me, Ronan, and I need to know that-”
“Nothing you say to me is going to hurt our working relationship. Partners need to be able to communicate openly and honestly with each other.” Ronan had a feeling their working relationship wasn’t what Tennyson was talking about, but it was all he was willing to give right now.
Tennyson nodded, looking like he was trying to steal himself against Ronan’s reaction to what he was about to say. “I sugar-coated the way you treat Michael Frye when we were talking to your captain earlier.” Tennyson let out a big breath.
“Go on.” Ronan raised an eyebrow, he could feel his temper rising but was willing to hear Tennyson out.
“Like I said to Fitzgibbon I realize you can’t see or hear Michael, but
he can see and hear you. When you yell at him or get frustrated by him not playing by your rules that upsets him just like it would any flesh and blood child.”
Ronan knew Tennyson had a point. He hated having his weaknesses pointed out like this, especially by Tennyson. As much as he hated to admit it, he kind of liked the guy and wanted Tennyson to like him too. “You may have a small point. I’ll try to be better with him in the future. I promise.”
Tennyson looked shocked by Ronan’s response. “Kids are super frustrating to work with. It’s not easy for me either.”
“What do you mean? You’re a natural!”
“No, I’m not. I understood Michael’s need to tell his parents he was okay now, but him not wanting to tell us where he was and then only giving a tiny clue where to find him was very frustrating for me. I don’t understand his reluctance to communicate what happened to him, who hurt him and where his body is now. I was kind of hoping you might be able to explain that to me.”
“Me?” Ronan was taken aback by Tennyson’s request. He’d thought his partner was going to spend the rest of the meal laying into to him about his bad behavior around ghost children.
“You’ve worked with kids who’ve been abused or witnessed their parents being hurt in the past. I thought maybe you’d be able to shed some light on Michael’s reluctance to talk.” Tennyson reached out across the table for Ronan’s hand.
Ronan linked their hands, upset at himself for misjudging the psychic again. “A lot of times kids are reluctant to talk when they think they are going to get in trouble. Is that something ghost kids would still take into account from the other side?”
Tennyson snorted, pulling his hand back from Ronan and playfully slapping his wrist with it.
“What?” Ronan threw his hands up in the air, just as Pearl appeared with their meals.
“Calling Michael a ghost kid is rude.” Ten rolled his eyes. “Spirits of children who have passed on usually don’t worry about the same kinds of things they’d worry about here. Like if they broke a vase, they are more apt to confess that to their mother. I mean what kind of punishment can she mete out now?”
