TnT Ch. 08

He gave a wry smile. "I guess I can ask the Captain if he can assign unmarked cars for it."

"Thanks."

"Saw your resignation on the Captain's desk this morning," Riaz commented.

June nodded, looking down at the ground like a child who had shamed herself in the eyes of her father. "I thought about telling you, first," she said in a cracking voice. "But you probably would've talked me out of it."

He ground his teeth. "Maybe. Maybe not."

June shook her head, wiping a few stray droplets that had landed upon her face. "I thought I could, but . . . I can't do it. I never want to go through anything like that again. I can't do that to Sophie. God knows why she's just willing to accept the fact that I was . . . that what happened to me--"

"Raped," Riaz said curtly, cutting her off. He turned his tired gaze upon his partner. "You were raped. If you can't say the word, you'll never be able to get over it. I can't for a second imagine what it's like to be in that situation, but I do know that if you can't accept the reality, you'll never heal."

June nodded slowly, forcing back tears of pain and anger. "It's gonna take some time," she whispered in a choked voice.

He reached out and pulled her to him. She yielded instantly, whimpering softly against Riaz's chest. "I know it will," he told her. "And I'll always be here for you. All you ever have to do is call, or come by."

June sniffled and pushed back. She laughed suddenly, a harsh, mirthless sound. "You mean, come by your apartment?"

He managed a crooked smile. "Yeah. About that--"

"I'm not an idiot, you know," she said, wiping her eyes. She seemed more than glad to change the subject. "Why didn't you tell me you got a divorce?"

Riaz breathed in and out deeply. "It happened about the same time they paired us up. You were so gung-ho about working with me, telling me all these things you'd heard about me . . . I didn't want to let you down."

She frowned quizzically. "You thought, if you told me you were getting a divorce, that I'd think less of you?"

He met her gaze. "No," he said. "But I thought, if you found out why,thenyou would think less of me. And I didn't want any of my personal bullshit to come between us."

She expelled a laugh, shaking her head ruefully. "Jesus, Riaz, you're the best damn cop I've ever known. Hell, thatanyone'sever known! But I never thought you weren't human."

His lips curled with self-admonishment. "I should have told you," he said.

She gently elbowed him. "Yeah, you should've." She stepped before Riaz, turning to face him and grabbing the lapels of his coat. "I hated my father," she said suddenly. "When I was sixteen, I told him I was a lesbian and he threw me out of the house. Just about every man I've ever met treated me like shit because I'm a dyke.

"But you--" she poked Riaz's chest. "--you never,ever, talked down to me, or made a cheap shot about my life with Sophie . . . hell, you treated me like I was just another cop. And that's all I ever wanted."

His eyes darted around her face. "I only ever saw you as a detective," he said simply. "You could have been a six-armed martian that pisses out the top of your head, and all I would see is a partner who's got my back. That's allIever wanted."

A true smile finally blossomed on June's face, the first in days. "We were a good team," she said, then lifted up to place a soft kiss on Riaz's cheek.

He smiled back. "Yes, we were. We got the bad guys, after all, right?"

She nodded with a firm, final tone, stepping back. "Right."

Riaz Parande watched his partner as she made her way back across the vibrant green lawn of the cemetery. She approached a car beside which the pretty redhead stood, smiling and patient. He wished he had someone who would wait for him like that.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out to see he had a new message. From his ex-wife.

It simply read,"Dinner at the house tonight?"

He managed a smile.

Maybe I do have someone to wait for me after all . . . .

* * * *

Epilogue

Two Months Later . . . .

Another God damned hospital visit,June thought sourly as she sat in the pristine white bed, framed by sterile walls.I hate the way these places smell. Like someone just threw up, and then they moped the floor with strawberry-scented toothpaste and bleach.

"Hey," Sophie said, providing reassurance as she squeezed June's hand. "Hey, it's almost over."

June nodded with heavy eyes. It had been over seven hours since she had been admitted to the ER for severe heartburn. She assumed she was the victim of an ulcer that had formed beneath the stress of the previous couple of months. Leaving the police force had not been a simple matter of walking away, and the high-profile aspects of the case involving the Tolomeo twins meant she had been hounded daily by reporters, Internal Affairs, and even literary agents trying to entice her into an exclusive book deal. Add to that the fact that Talon had never been found, and it had gotten so bad that she and Sophie had moved to a townhouse apartment on the other side of town.

"He better come back with a magic pill to make this shit go away," June growled. "We haven't had sex in a week."

Sophie chuckled, ruffling June's mopish blonde hair. It had grown out quite a bit in the previous weeks. "Feeling needy, baby?"

June gave a half-hearted glare. "Maybe."

A knock sounded at the hospital room door, just before the young physician stepped in with his clipboard. While he had been all smiles through the previous hours as test after test was administered, his sudden recalcitrant expression made June worry.

"Jesus Christ, doc, just tell me what the hell's wrong. Write me a prescription or whatever."

The doctor gave June a sheepish look, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two women. "I, uh, really can't write a prescription for this," he said.

June frowned. "What do you mean? It's just acid reflux, right? Right?"

He nodded slowly. "It's, uh, a little more than that, Miss Barret. The acid reflux is just a symptom. A fairly common one for your condition, actually."

Her face fell. She glared at him. "My . . . 'condition,'" she repeated darkly.

He nodded again, then took a deep breath. "I don't know how you're going to take this, so I'll just say it."

June gripped Sophie's hand and squeezed hard, afraid of the answer she already knew she would hear.

At last, the physician spoke. "You're pregnant."

-fin-