by Pandora Pine
Tennyson stayed silent for a moment. “Why didn’t you have a partner on the cold case unit?” Ten sounded genuinely interested.
That question surprised Ronan. He assumed forgiveness would just come pouring out of Tennyson’s mouth. “I don’t know. The other detectives in the unit are paired up and I’m sort of the odd man out. Maybe Fitzgibbon was waiting for me to find my own way or see if I could hack being in this unit before he assigned me a partner.” Ronan reached out for Tennyson’s hand. “Or maybe fate had another partner picked out for me?”
“Oh, Jesus!” Ten rolled his eyes. “Don’t bullshit me, Ronan O’Mara.” Tennyson snickered at him.
“What bullshit? What if that’s what happened with us? What if we’re meant to work these cold cases together when I hit a wall by myself?” This exact thought had struck Ronan around 3am, but he’d figured it was just fatigue talking.
Tennyson stopped smiling. “Tell me what’s really going on with you. What’s this no-win situation you’re talking about?”
Ronan squeezed Ten’s hand. “Tony. I know he’s innocent, but with the DNA evidence, I had to play this like he’s guilty. I had to treat him like any other suspect today, which killed me inside. The most important thing here is finding out who really killed Michael and I need your help to do that. My gut instinct that Tony didn’t do this isn’t going to save him when this case goes to trial.”
Tennyson cupped the side of Ronan’s unshaved face. “In our own ways we both know Tony is innocent. Standing up at trial and saying my psychic sixth sense tells me that Tony didn’t kill Michael won’t lead to a not guilty verdict either.”
Ronan nodded. He felt like a bigger shit for not giving Tennyson more credit here. “If I’d gone light on Tony, Fitzgibbon would have known what I was up to and would have pulled us off this case. If he assigns another set of detectives, they’ll stop investigating because there is a suspect in custody and an iron-clad DNA match.”
“So, what’s our next move here?” Tennyson pulled back, his features turning all business.
“You still want to work with me even though I’m an asshole?” Ronan had to be sure Tennyson was still totally on board.
“We’re partners, right?” Tennyson grinned. “And I’m well aware of your asshole tendencies.”
“Boyfriends too?” Ronan asked hopefully. Now wasn’t really the time or place to bring this up, but what he needed right now was something to look forward to once the fucker who really killed Michael was caught and locked up.
“Don’t push your luck, Detective.” Tennyson waggled his eyebrows. “We’ve only had sex once. I need a second test drive to kick your tires again to make sure I don’t end up with buyer’s remorse.”
Ronan burst out laughing. One thing was for sure. Tennyson was going to give him a run for his money.
34
Tennyson
Tennyson spent the rest of the morning with Ronan driving aimlessly through the streets of downtown Boston. He was sure Ronan had a plan and was content to just sit back and watch the scenery of the city play out before him.
He’d been reading Ronan’s emotions while they drove, and as the morning wore on, the tension and anxiety that had been plaguing him had been leaching away slowly, like water from a badly clogged tub drain.
Just as his stomach was starting to rumble, Ronan pulled into a local chain restaurant with what could only be described as a cheery smile on his face. “Hungry, babe?”
Tennyson shook his head. “Who are you and what have you done with my grumpy detective?”
“I’m a man with a plan, but before we execute it, I need fuel. I didn’t eat this morning. I was afraid I’d blow chunks all over you and Tony in that interrogation room. Let’s eat!” Ronan hopped out of the car before Tennyson could respond.
Nothing made him hungrier than Ronan talking about blowing chunks. Rolling his eyes, he got out of the car when Ronan opened the door for him.
He followed behind the newly invigorated Ronan O’Mara while the detective waved and happily greeted everyone they met from the hostess to the other diners. Tennyson’s face hurt from smiling by the time they were seated in a corner booth sharing a bowl of stale popcorn. “I’m exhausted. You want to tell me what this plan is before I need a nap?”
Ronan nodded. The happy mask slipped from his face and staring back at Tennyson was a serious-looking Ronan. “The reason we spent the morning driving around the city is that I’ve been waiting for a text message from O’Dwyer. He said he’d let me know when Tony had been arraigned and then bailed out of jail. That text came in when we were sitting at the red light across from this place. That’s why we’re here.”
“You wanted to know when Tony was back home?” Tennyson had a sinking feeling the Abruzzi home was where they were headed as soon as they’d eaten.
“You may not agree with me here, but I have to go see him and tell him that I know he’s innocent.”
“He might not want to see you.” Tennyson shook his head. If he were in Tony’s shoes, Ronan would be the last person he’d want to see standing on his front doorstep.
“Don’t you think I know that?” Ronan’s voice was harsh, sounding like he was on the edge of breaking down. “Tony was the only one there for me after the mess with Manuel Garcia. I need to let him know I’m here for him now.”
“Won’t there be hordes of media camped outside his house?” Tennyson remembered there were people practically living on George Anthony’s property after his daughter, Casey had been arrested for killing her daughter. Would the same thing happen at Tony’s house?
“If Carlie’s as smart as I know she is, they’ll check into a hotel under a fake name. I’ll call her after we eat and find out if she’ll agree to see us. If anyone can get through to Tony, it will be his wife.” Ronan looked convinced.
The words, “What if she can’t?” danced on his tongue, but Tennyson wouldn’t let them past his lips.
After they’d both eaten their fill of steak tips and garlic smashed potatoes, Tennyson waited with baited breath as Ronan called Tony’s wife, Carlotta.
It seemed like the phone just rang and rang. Finally, Ronan spoke, “Carlie, don’t hang up, just listen for a minute.” Ronan shook his head, not meeting Tennyson’s eyes. “Yeah, I know how it looked, but I had to treat Tony like that. I know. I know I’m a dirty, no good, cocksucking, motherfucker, but just let me and Tennyson see the two of you for ten minutes and I promise this will all make sense.”
Tennyson’s heart broke for Ronan listening to his side of the conversation. He knew this wasn’t an easy call for Ronan to make, but Carlie was making it harder on him than he guessed even Ronan thought it would be.
“Okay, fine, we’ll see you both then. Thanks, Carlie.” Ronan set the phone down and sunk his face into his hands.
“Sounded like that went swimmingly.” Tennyson reached out a hand to rest on Ronan’s head.
Ronan snorted into his hands. When he looked up at Tennyson he was laughing. “Just another day in paradise. Come on, let’s go. Carlie gave us thirty seconds to prove to them why she shouldn’t break our kneecaps.”
Tennyson felt his eyes bug out of his skull. “Uh, Ronan? She’s not actually gonna break our kneecaps, is she?”
Ronan slid out of the booth and reached for Tennyson’s hand. “Hell hath no fury like a pissed off Sicilian wife.”
35
Ronan
With shaking hands, Ronan pulled the Mustang into a parking space at the Days Inn near the beach in Revere, Massachusetts. He couldn’t help smiling at the location. Tony hated the beach.
“You ready to do this? It’s only going to get harder the longer we sit here.” Tennyson set a hand on Ronan’s thigh.
Ronan turned to his lover. He knew Ten was right. He also knew what he’d done to protect Tony and the investigation this morning was right too. It was just going to be hard explaining it all to the two people who’d loved him unconditionally from day one and who now thought he’
d betrayed them. “Almost.”
“Just remember I’m gonna be right there with you. I’ve got your back like any good partner.” Tennyson patted Ronan’s leg.
“What if they won’t listen to me or what if they don’t believe me?” Those were Ronan’s biggest fears.
“Maybe they won’t believe you today, but our actions going forward are going to bear that out over time. We’re going to get the evidence that clears Tony’s name and get him reinstated to the BPD.”
“What if we can’t? What if-”
Tennyson stopped Ronan’s next question with a kiss. “Let’s get in there and talk to Tony. We can play the ‘what if’ game later. Let’s go.” Tennyson got out of the car and was on his way to open Ronan’s door before he could protest.
Ronan wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but Tennyson Grimm and his sometimes bossy ways were good for him.
They trudged up the back stairs of the hotel to the third floor. Ronan didn’t want to risk being seen and he remembered that Tennyson wasn’t overly fond of elevators from the day they’d gone to the morgue.
When they got to room 303, Ronan stood in front of the door with his fist raised and instead of knocking, rocked back on his heels.
Tennyson knocked for him.
“Christ, I wasn’t ready.” Ronan shot him an annoyed look.
“Now or never.”
“Code word?” Came Carlie’s annoyed voice from the other side of the door.
“Sacred Heart of Mary,” Ronan said.
“That’s the code word?” Tennyson seemed like he wanted to grin, but bit his lower lip at the last minute.
The hotel door jerked open and an angry Carlie stood there, blocking the way. “This better be good or I’ll kill you myself,” she angry-whispered.
“Don’t worry, it will be,” Ronan assured her. All he needed was five minutes and hopefully both of his ex-best friends would be his best friends again.
“Well, well, well,” Tony sneered. “If it isn’t Benedict Arnold and his psychic sidekick.” Tony approached them from where he’d been sitting at the desk.
Before Ronan could say anything in return, Tony punched Ronan in the mouth. Thankfully, the walkway in front of the beds was narrow and Tennyson was behind him to catch him.
“Jesus Christ!” Tennyson grabbed Ronan around the middle to help steady him.
Ronan could taste blood in his mouth and knew Tony had gotten him good. He figured he deserved it. “Good to see you too, Tone.”
“You deserve that and more, you dirty bastard.” Tony looked like he was about to strike again.
“Hold on a second!” Tennyson shouted, looking like he’d startled himself with his own tone. “Everyone needs to calm down and just listen to what Ronan needs to say. I know you’re both angry and feeling betrayed, but just listen to Ronan and then to what we have planned.”
Ronan offered Tennyson a grateful looked as he lowered himself down on the edge of the bed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tennyson hurry off into the bathroom. Either his sensitive lover was about to throw up or was getting him something to clean up his bloody lip. “I know you didn’t kill Michael Frye,” he started.
Tony snorted. “Yeah? Well you sure as fuck could have fooled me.” Tony shouted.
“You saw the DNA report, Tony. It’s your DNA!” Ronan yelled back.
“Hey!” Tennyson loud-whispered. “Sit down and shut up. Both of you.” Tennyson slapped the wet cloth in his hands against the side of Ronan’s face with a wet splat. He grabbed the desk chair Tony had been sitting in and dragged it over to the bed where Ronan was sitting. “If Ronan had come out and said he thought you were innocent and didn’t want to interrogate you, what would have happened?”
Tony looked taken aback. “The captain would have taken you both off the case and assigned other detectives who would have only been too happy to interrogate me.”
Tennyson nodded. “That’s why Ronan had to go hard on you this morning. To be honest, he didn’t let me in on his little game either.”
“It needed to be believable,” Ronan mumbled. The wet cloth was still against the side of his mouth. He was still bleeding and Tennyson was doing such a good job of explaining the situation that he didn’t want to risk screwing it up.
“Ronan figured that if new detectives took over, they’d stop investigating because they had you in custody and the DNA to convict you. This way, Ronan looked like the asshole, but we can still keep investigating. He had Detective O’Dwyer let him know once you were out of jail and that’s when he knew to call Carlie.”
Tony looked over Ronan’s head at his wife.
“We’ve been cursing your name all morning, Ronan,” Carlie said sheepishly.
“Wouldn’t be the first time. I’m sure it won’t be the last.” Ronan shrugged. He pulled the washcloth away from his mouth and saw that it was stained red with his blood. “You got me good.”
“I still say you deserved it. You fucking cuffed me and perp-walked me past our colleagues, man. Our friends.” Tony was grinning now, but still looked nervous.
“I know I did.” Ronan bent his head. “I’ve got a lot to make up for, Tony, but Ten and I are going to figure this out. Right, Ten?” His lover was on a roll and both Abruzzis were listening to him, there was no reason to change things up at this stage of the game.
“Right now, the only way we’re going to find out who killed Michael is by asking him. So far, he hasn’t been very cooperative. I’m going to try to channel him again.” Tennyson looked nervously between both of them. “I know neither of you really have much faith in what I do, but I can tell you that Michael led me to where his body had been hidden for seven years. I’m hoping that earns me a bit of good faith with both of you.”
Tony grunted. Carlie stayed silent.
“Failing that, O’Dwyer also gave us a real world clue about the Officer Buddy program. Michael gave me a clue at his funeral that made Ronan think he was killed by a cop. When he was taken, there were no reports by neighbors that they heard the boy scream for help.”
Carlie gasped. “He wouldn’t have cried out if he trusted the person he went with.”
Tennyson nodded. “We know that Tony was part of that program at Michael’s school, but there were a lot of other cops who volunteered their time at the kindergarten as well.”
“That’s not another clue. Another nail in my coffin, more like.” Tony sighed. “Now you have my DNA and the fact that I volunteered in that program in that boy’s school. Motherfucker!”
“It kind of makes you the perfect fall guy, doesn’t it?” Tennyson grinned.
“What?” Tony looked stunned.
“Whoever did this set you up good.” Tennyson laughed. “Maybe I watch too much Law and Order, but it’s pretty obvious that whoever kidnapped and killed Michael stole your hair and planted it on the boy’s body to divert attention from himself.”
“I thought you weren’t going to help me,” Tony grumped.
“I’m not spending all of my free time in Ronan’s pants,” Tennyson shrugged. “Look, we just wanted you both to know that we’re doing all we can to figure this thing out.”
“There was just no way to tell you with all those cameras around in the interrogation room.” Ronan felt his body relax a bit now that Tennyson had explained everything. “Not to mention the fact that I know Fitzgibbon was watching behind the two-way mirror. I’m still new to his unit and he’s never seen me work a case or interrogate a suspect before.”
“He’s got one hell of a detective on his team.” Tony managed a small smile.
“Oh, you mean when I’m not being a dirty, cocksucking, motherfucker?” Ronan laughed and stood up. It was time they hit the road. He didn’t know what Tennyson needed to do to get ready to channel Michael, but the sooner they got on the road, the better. The last thing he wanted to do was get stuck in rush hour traffic.
“Man, I’m sorry about that, I just-”
Ronan held up a hand to stop him. “
Listen, I know it’s been a rough day. Try to relax and get some sleep. Carlie, when you get the chance, run out to Walmart or someplace like that and get one of those untraceable cell phones that you buy minutes for so that we can stay in touch.”
She nodded. “Ronan, I’m so sorry I thought the worst of you.”
“We aren’t out of the woods yet, but I’m going to do everything in my power to get Tony out of this situation or die trying.” Ronan hugged her.
Tennyson set his hand on Tony’s left shoulder. “My spirit guides told me before that you didn’t do this, Tony, but now I know for sure you weren’t the one who killed Michael. I know where you were and who you were with on the night he was abducted and murdered.”
“Where was he?” Ronan asked curiously.
“Home with Carlie and that’s all I’m going to say.” Tennyson shook his head as if to clear it. “I’ll never be able to un-see that,” he half-muttered.
“Okay, we’re going now.” Ronan stood up and approached Tony, who thankfully hugged him instead of slugging him in the face this time. “I’ll let you know when there’s news.”
“Thank you, Tennyson,” Carlie said, sounding truly grateful.
“And thank you for not kneecapping me. I’m not the most graceful man alive with two working knees.” Tennyson laughed and followed Ronan to the hotel room door.
36
Tennyson
Tennyson wasn’t sure if Carson and Cole were going to go for the idea of all three of them reaching out to Michael Frye’s spirit all at once. He was even less sure that the child’s spirit would respond without either of his parents in the room.
Ronan had driven them both back up to Salem so that Ten could meet with his friends and plan this séance, of sorts, out. If it didn’t work out tonight the way he wanted it to, their next move was to speak with Jackie Frye in the morning.
The reason he didn’t want Michael’s mother involved in this reading was on the off-chance he had to get tough with the child’s spirit. It had been sort of cute at first when Michael refused to talk about how he’d died or where his remains had been placed, but now, with a murder charge and a possible life sentence hanging over an innocent man’s head, it was more important than ever that Michael tell them everything he knew.
