The Husbands Debt

Part 2

Sticking to her decision, Olivia walked into the prescient the following day, ready to face the Captain and Maggie. Stepping out of the lift, Raina spotted her coming her way.
“Hey, Liv.”
“Hey, Raina,” She said, walking into their offices.
“Maggie said to tell you that she’s in the interview room with Mrs Devereux. She had an intruder last night.”
Her breath caught in the back of her throat. She looked from Raina to the door leading to the Captain’s office. “Thanks, Rai.” She acknowledged her colleague with a nod.
Watching Raina return to her desk, Olivia placed her hands on the back of her office chair, closing her eyes for a second.
“Damn it.” She took her jacket off, hanging it over the chair. She looked over at the Captain’s door; reaching down to pick up her notebook and a pen, she headed to the interview room.
Gently tapping on the door, she slipped into the small room. Two pairs of eyes fell upon her. She looked straight at Maggie, smiling as she sat down beside her.
“Hey. You remember Mrs Devereux?”
Olivia looked over at the woman across the table.
“Of course, Morning, Mrs Devereux.”
“Morning, Inspector.” Riley smiled softly, looking her in the eye.
“Ahh...” Olivia drew her eyes away from Riley's back to her partner. “I saw Raina as I came in.” She looked down as she spoke. “Are you alright?” She caught herself asking a little too personally. “I heard you had an intruder last night, ma’am?” She put on her detective’s face. She’d done interviews a million times before, so she could do this.
Riley smiled to herself and cleared her throat. “Yes, I did. As I was just telling your colleague...”
“Partner,” Olivia said a little too sharply.
“Sorry, your partner here.” Riley corrected herself. “I heard a noise last night at about 1.30 am. I was sure I had set the alarm, but when I got downstairs, someone had disarmed it.” Olivia jotted that down in her notebook.
“Then what happened?” She asked, concerned.
“Well, I panicked. I don’t even know how I got back upstairs to the bedroom. But when I did, lying on the bed were these.” She reached down into her handbag and pulled out a plastic bag. She put it on the table between them. Maggie reached for it before Olivia could. Holding it up inside were several photos. “I haven’t touched them, but they were spread over my bed.” Olivia and Maggie pushed them around in the bag, trying to work them out.
“Who are they off?” Olivia asked as Riley moved uncomfortably in her chair.
“They are photos of my husband with people I don’t know. And....”
“And?” Olivia questioned. Riley sighed.
“There are photos of me. Someone’s been following me.”
“We’ll get this over to the lab and see if there are any fingerprints on them and see if we can get these people identified,” Maggie said.
Olivia leaned over the desk towards Riley. “We’ll do our best to catch who’s behind all of this, Mrs Devereux. In the meantime, is there someone you can stay with for a while? I don’t think it would be wise for you to return home.”
Riley searched her face a moment. “Yes, I do.” She reached into her handbag again and produced a business card. “Sorry, I have a funeral to organize.” She handed the card to Maggie. “I will contact you later today with where I will be, but please get in touch with me if you need me for anything. My mobile is always on.” With that, she stood gathering her handbag and keys. Olivia jumped up and grabbed the door for her.
“If you need anything?” Maggie stood.
“Thanks,” Riley said, slipping past Olivia, not looking at her as she stepped out of the room.
“Well, what do you think?” Maggie said, picking up the photos again.
Olivia turned to look at her partner. “We need to find out who’s in those photos.”



Pulling up the driveway, she sat there rattling her brain on who lived at the address Riley had told Maggie when she’d rung as they were leaving for the day.
Walking up to the front door, she wondered if it was an ex-boyfriend. Best friend? A relative? “Hi, Dad, I’m home.”
“Hey, Liv!” She heard from the kitchen. She routinely put her keys in the bowl, gun, and badge on the wall unit. Hearing her father’s voice again, she tied her hair back and went to the kitchen. “What was that, dad?”
Riley stood up. Gone were the makeup and designer clothes, which were swapped for track pants and a sweater.
“What the..hell no! You can’t be here!”
She didn’t know if she was angry, shocked, or scared. Riley started moving around the table towards her.
“No, you have to....”
Riley stepped into her, wrapping her arms around her neck and hugging her tightly.
“R...Rye, you can’t be...”
She dropped her shoulders and wrapped her arms around her.
Olivia could feel the memories of her friend coming back to the forefront. Blinking, she heard a whimper against her shoulder. She held her even tighter. Seeing her dad across from her smiling, she pulled back, seeing a fresh tear roll down Riley’s cheek.
“Hey, come on, I can’t afford the dry cleaning.”
Riley smiled a laugh, wiping her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
“Yeah, well...” Olivia signalled for her to sit. She took a deep breath and looked at her dad, smiling at himself. “You really can’t stay here.”
“Well, she’s going to.” John crossed his arms.
“Dad!” Olivia shook her head, shaking the jacket off her shoulders. “Come on. Both of you know I’m in big shit if this gets out. Dad, you told me not only last night I was too close to this.” She sat down next to Riley at the table.
“Liv, when have you ever listened to me?” John turned around and put three plates of spaghetti Bolognese on the table.
Riley put her hand on hers, drawing her attention to the touch. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask or even talk to you about this.” She turned slightly in the chair facing her. “I’m scared, Liv. When you asked me if I had anywhere safe to stay...” She waved her hand around in reference to their house. “I knew this was the only place I would really feel safe.”
Riley sighed heavily, knowing the conflict she was causing her old friend.
“Do you want me to go?”
Olivia looked from Riley to her dad. “No, Rye, you know you’re safe here.” She picked up her fork. “But if I lose my job, my career over this....” She waved it between them. “I’m coming after both of you!”



After dinner, they spent a few hours catching up on old times. Olivia explained to Riley the events leading up to her being sober for the last year. Riley told her how she’d met her husband Derek through his first wife being a client of hers at Munroe Textiles, how they’d been living in New York for the last three years before moving over to California about six months ago. Derek had set up an office in San Francisco but spent much of his time travelling. She had also set up an office here but spent most of her time between her New York and Los Angeles offices.
Looking at the clock, it was getting close to 10 pm.
“I better get some sleep. I assume dad’s put you in Casey’s room?”
Riley sat up, realizing their evening was over. “Yeah. That’s the one across from the bathroom, right?”
“That’s the one.” Olivia stood up, putting the album back on the shelf. Riley stretched and made her way towards the stairs. “I’m going to lock up. You’re going to be ok?” Olivia said, checking the front door. Riley turned around on the stairs.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks again, Liv. Night.” She smiled and continued up to her room. Olivia smiled to herself, feeling like she was sixteen again.

Olivia looked into the darkness, not sure what had woken her. Then she heard the creak of the floorboards outside her door. She sat up quickly and flicked the bedside lamp on. Both she and the Blonde at the doorway jumped.
“Shit, Riley, what the hell are you doing?”
“Sorry,” Riley whispered. “I....”
Olivia looked at her, standing there nervously.
“Nightmares are becoming a regular thing.”
Olivia sat up a bit more and waved her in. Riley pushed the door closed and walked barefoot to the end of her bed. She sat on the end, kind of embarrassed. “I can’t sleep. I just wondered if...” She dropped her head. “You would let me sleep in here with you?”
“Riley!” Olivia felt the hot flush instantly. What could she say? This was her oldest friend. She’d shared a room with her for half a decade.
But this time, she was a client.
Looking at her old roommate’s puppy face, she sighed, moving over a bit. Riley smiled and moved to the head of the bed, slipping under the covers next to her. Olivia flicked the light back off and got comfortable again.
“Thanks,” Riley whispered. Olivia turned to look over her shoulder at her.
“We’re not kids anymore, you know. You probably snore like a train.” Riley touched her back with her hand.
“You’re probably worse.”
Olivia turned back onto her side. “I’m so going to lose my job.” She said quietly to herself.
“You can work for me.” She heard Riley laugh.
“Fuck off!” She said sarcastically. “I already spend enough years being your handbag. I’m a retired Riley Munroe accessory.” She heard Riley laugh loudly behind her. “Laugh all you want, Blondie; I’m a retired line.” She laughed slightly. Riley, still laughing, moved a little closer.
“I’ve missed you, you know.”
“Yeah, well...” Olivia reached behind her grabbing her hand, wrapping the woman’s arm against her chest. Riley automatically pressed herself up against her back.
“Go to sleep.”
“Night, Livia,” Riley muttered, closing her eyes.