Songbird (completed)

chapter eighteen

Thomas opted to sleep on the floor that night. Delia felt awful watching him shift on the floor in his sleep while she layed in the bed. She looked at the alarm clock. 2 am. "Thomas." she whispered. She watched his eyes flutter open, the moonlight peeking in through the curtain giving the room a soft glow. "Thomas," She whispered again. "What." He replied, his voice booming through the room. "Do you want to come lay up here?" Delia asked. She secretly wished he'd say yes. "I don't want you on the floor." He said dryly. Delia picked at the side of her finger. "I meant, you could take the other side of the bed." She heard his breathing stop for a second and her heart beat faster. "Wouldn't that be kind of weird?" He finally said. Delia sat up in the bed and looked down on him on the floor. 
     "We have been partners for eight years. You're married and you have a daughter. I'm a nobody from a small podunk town and I can't even do my job right. But your also my bestfriend. You've been my biggest supporter throughout everything that I have gone through these past eight years. You have always been involved. And let's be real, we've already had some "weird" moments. It just came out when I mentioned your wife." Delia rambled. She finally finished talking and stopped breathing so she could hear his. Delia put her hands on her face, and rubbed her eyes. He didn't reply. 
      A few seconds later she felt the shift of his body getting on the bed. Delia took her hands off her face and turned her head to look at him. Thomas was laying on his side looking at her. "If it makes you feel better, I'm getting a divorce. And I'm also getting a promotion." He gave her his goofy grin and she felt like her insides were melting. "Thank you." Delia whispered, lost in her thoughts and looking over him. "For getting a divorce?" Thomas joked. Delia rolled her eyes. "For helping me through this. And for being so willing to do so." Thomas lifted his hand and tucked hair away from her face. "Why wouldn't I?" He asked. "It's not your responsibility." Delia shrugged. "Yeah, it kind of is." Thomas leaned his face closer to her's and whispered, "I don't mind you being my responsibility anyways" Delia smiled and leaned in to kiss him. It lasted a lifetime to Delia. He rested his hand on her face, and pulled back. His breathing was heavy and he watched her, his hand still resting on her face. "I like this a lot better than sleeping on the floor." Thomas joked.
      The next morning, Delia left him laying on the bed and went to go grab coffee's from Dunkin. As she climbed into the mustang, she noticed a sticky note on the car windshield. It had been secured with a opened jolly rancher.  You can't escape.  Delia ripped the post-it note off, leaving the jolly rancher. She shoved the note in a plastic bag from the glovebox and carried on to get coffee.
     When she got back, she found Thomas in the bathroom, and Lukas was laying under the tiny table they had in their room. Delia knocked on the bathroom door. "I got coffee. I'm going to let the dog out." She said, her voice raised. "I already took him out." He yelled back. Delia smiled and walked back into the living room, flipping the tv to the news channel. 

"This is Monica Delwark reporting from Montana news 101. The voting campaign is getting heated, as Jessica Harlem struggles to find votes this year. Locals say that they "Just can't get with her agenda". Honestly, I can't say I blame them." 

    The news reporter continued to laugh and then began to drone on about different local parades and charity events. The Senator was struggling with re-election. That means she wasn't going to be to happy to talk or give any useful answers. Maybe they could bypass her.  Thomas came out of the bathroom while Delia looked through her contacts for the Senators receptionist. Thomas picked up a coffee and watched as she made the phone call. "Hi, good morning. This is Detective Coolman with the Montana PD. I was wondering if you had the phone number of the senators secretary? We have a few questions we need to ask." Thomas watched Delia carefully, both of them keeping eye contact. "Uh, sure. Am I supposed to let the senator know about this?" The receptionist asked. Delia raised her eyebrow. "I mean, I guess that's up to you." Delia replied and waited for the number. She writ it down on a piece of paper, thanked the receptionist, and hung up the phone. "I got the secretarys number. All I need is a name." Delia said out loud, but mostly to herself. 
    Thomas nodded and gave Delia an encouraging smile. "We're one step closer." he said excitedly. Delia smiled but all she could think about was the note on her car. Were the same people who hurt Beatrice coming after her? Did that mean they were close to finding something out? She was on autopilot mode as she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Inspector Riggs asking for a name to match the number. She barely heard Thomas talking to her. She just thought about that little yellow slip of paper and the blue jolly rancher stuck to her windshield. 

The case was about to get real messy.