The Husbands Debt

Part 3

Olivia woke the following day to the sound of her alarm.
She reached behind her, smacking the snooze button. She settled back into the comfortable spot she was in. As the awareness came about, she felt the body's warmth next to her. Her pulse raced to realize the position she was in. She felt the soft, solid warmth against her torso and under her arm. She smelt the sweet scent from the hair against her face. She saw the mental picture from above. She was wrapped around Riley.
'Holy fuck’, she swore, quickly removing herself from the bed. She stood there looking at the back of Riley, waiting for the reaction.
There was none. She was still asleep.
Letting out the breath she’d been holding, she turned her alarm off and quietly grabbed some clothes for work, heading off to the shower. She stood there, letting the stream of warm water fall over her head. What was happening here? Suddenly, Riley was back in her life after all this time. She turned around, letting the water beat down on her face. She’d been Detective Inspector Olivia Sanchez for so long now, and in less than 24 hours, she’d felt like the girl she had walked away from, the kid from the Bronx—the Westford Boarding school graduate.
She got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Sticking some bread in the toaster, she thought about Riley’s situation. How do you deal with your husband being killed so horribly right outside your front door? How do you deal with that? Then, to know you have someone watching you, threatening you? A stranger in your house?
She grabbed her toast and sat at the kitchen table with a coffee. She thought about Riley upstairs. Yes, she was a case, but also her dearest friend. She had an actual conflict here. Should she be here for her friend or go to work and work on the details of her late husband’s life?
She sighed heavily. She got up and grabbed her mobile. Flipping it open, she hit the speed dial for Maggie. After a few rings, she answered.
“Hey, Olivia, what’s up?”
Olivia sat on the arm of the couch. “Hey, Mag, listen, I’ve been thinking about this Devereux case.”
“Come on, Papi, please, get your shoes on. Sorry, Olivia, yeah, some things just don’t add up.”
“That’s what I thought. So I might see what I can get from Mrs Devereux about their relationship, friends, and stuff.”
“Good thinking, Liv. Benjamin, your bag, your school bag.” Olivia smiled, listening to her partner organize her son for school.
“I might do a bit of surveillance as well; see if I can find who’s following her.”
“Alright, I’ll follow the husband’s side. See if we can marry them up.”
“Haha,” Olivia laughed. “No pun intended?”
“What? Oh, good call, Olivia. Alright, I’ll let the Cap know. Keep in touch.”
Olivia smiled. “Will do.”
Closing her phone, she returned to the kitchen to her cooling coffee and toast. She took a sip, reaching over to turn the jug on again. She was selfish in doing this, using the case to spend time with Riley. She should have passed the case on to someone else. But I guess sitting on the sidelines was just not her thing.
She dropped the tea bag into the fresh cup, adding the hot water and a bit of cold. She filled her cold coffee cup with hot water and returned with both cups to her bedroom. Slipping in the door, she smiled, seeing Riley had stretched out in the centre of the bed. Putting the cups on her bedside table, she sat on the edge.
“Riley.” Olivia gently shook her. She stirred but didn’t wake. Olivia laughed to herself. “Hey Princess, wake up!”
“What!” Riley raised her head. She looked at Olivia through half-open eyes. “Jesus, Olivia, you’re an arse.”
Olivia smiled, watching her close her eyes again until she realized where she was or wasn’t. She opened her eyes and looked up at Olivia beside her. For a moment, she lay there, returning Olivia’s smile.
“I’ve made you a cuppa if you want it.”
Riley turned over and sat up as Olivia handed over her tea. “Thanks, you remembered?”
“Oh please, how could I forget?” Olivia said as she sat back against the headboard, grabbing her coffee. Looking over at Olivia’s alarm clock, Riley noticed the time.
“Shouldn’t you be at work or something?” She asked, concerned. Olivia looked at the digits.
“Yeah, well, I had a bit of a conflicted.”
“Like what?”
“Ahh, well, I am working today. I’m just working out of the office.” She put her cup down. “Riley, I need to ask you a lot of questions, and I can’t have you hold back on me because I’m your friend. I can’t protect you and find who killed your husband if you don’t tell me everything. But I don’t want you to go through this alone.”
Riley reached over, put her cup down then wrapped her arms around Olivia’s neck. Olivia was kind of surprised and put her arms around Riley in return.
“Why have we not spoken in so long?” Riley asked, pulling back, and Olivia looked down.
“Ahh...well, I guess we just grew apart. We probably needed the time apart. I mean, you were starting to become too much like me.”
Riley laughed. “Please, Livia, you were becoming too much like me.” Olivia laughed. “What? You were!” Riley got comfortable. “Liv, when I first met you, you didn’t even know what a dress or make-up was. You wore grease. You had kind of turned into a girl by the time you left.”
Olivia looked over at her. “When I met you, you were a snotty-nosed pin-up rich kid. You didn’t think of anyone else but yourself. I think I rubbed off on you BIG time.”
“Not even. You threatened to punch my face more times than I care to remember. I was looking after my greatest asset.” Riley said, smiling her famous smile.
“You’re such a dreamer, Rye. I think you liked me putting you back in your place.”
“Ehh,” Riley put her hand out flat, wiggling it. “I guess I can give you that. Guess we balanced each other out quite a bit.”
Olivia smiled. “I guess we kind of did.” They found they were unconsciously looking at each other for a moment. Olivia was the first to break the ice.
“Ahh...” She looked away, brushing her hair behind her ear. “I’ll let you get sorted.” She got up from the bed. “I’ll go find dad. Make him a cuppa.” She grabbed her empty cup. “I’ll see ya downstairs.”
“Ok,” Riley said quietly.
“Ok,” Olivia, embarrassed, quickly exited the room.



Downstairs, she got a call from the Cap. The people in the photos with Derek appeared to be members of the Romano mafia family based in Los Vegas. They owned 60% of the casinos in Vegas, and it seemed that Derek had gambled the money from one of the family’s bank accounts, promising to double it in a casino owned by the Deano family on the other side of town. He lost the whole four hundred thousand and had passed the deadline on paying it back. Upon that, the Deano family found out that he had dealings with the Romano family, which caused a bit of bad blood between them.
If Olivia was up to it, the Cap suggested going undercover for Mrs Devereux until the situation was under control. Olivia was a bit mind-blown but told the Cap she would let her know her decision once she’d spoken with Mrs Devereux again.

Just as Olivia got off the phone, Riley entered the lounge with a fresh cuppa.
“You ok?”
“Yeah, ah, Riley, sit down.” As Riley sat down, Olivia started pacing. “That was my Captain.”
“Oh.” Knowing the look on Olivia’s face, Riley knew this was serious.
Olivia stopped and looked at her. “The ahh... people in the photos with your husband are members of the Romano family. They are a mafia family in Los Vegas.” Riley’s face expressed disbelief. “See, your husband promised to double their money for them and lost it all at a rival casino.”
“How much?” Riley asked quietly.
“Four hundred thousand.” Riley went a shade of white.
Olivia sat beside her friend.
“So they killed him for money?”
Olivia nodded silently.
“I don’t have that type of money just lying around, Liv. I’m assuming that’s why I’ve been brought into this?” She stood up and paced. “I know I’m worth more than he was, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pay his debts for him now that he’s dead.”
Olivia stood, placing her hand on Riley’s arm. “I know, but that’s possibly what they’re thinking. Look, the Cap has asked me if I will stay with you until this is sorted out.”
“And how longs is that?”
Olivia shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows.”
Riley shook her off, walking across the room, needing a little space. “So what.....” She turned around “you’d be like my bodyguard? Is that what you’re saying?” She asked kind of sharply.
Olivia held her stare. “Well...” She smiled a bit. “I’m not quite Kevin Costner; I think I’m better looking.”
Riley rolled her eyes.
Olivia stepped forward, closing the gap. “Look, Riley. We don’t know what these guys are capable of; well, actually, we do.” She sighed. “Wouldn’t you rather know it’s me than some monkey in a suit looking like he’s from the FBI?”
Riley just looked at her for a moment. “Guess so.” She sat back on the couch, hearing John come through from the kitchen.
“Hey, how’re my girls?”
“Just fine, dad.” Olivia was glad for the distraction. “Morning, Mr Sanchez.”
“Riley, how long have we known each other? Please call me John.” He smiled, taking a seat in his chair. Riley looked over at Olivia standing next to the fireplace.
“I will be going to New York tomorrow for Derek’s funeral on Saturday. Then I’ve got a few meetings there until Wednesday.”
“Ok. I will pack a bag.”
John looked between the two women. “Are we planning a trip?”
“No, dad,” Olivia said, leaning against the fireplace. “It seems my friend here needs a shadow.”
“Oh no.” John laughed.
“What?” The two girls said in unison.
“You two together? I’m having a sense of déjà vu. You’ll kill each other before getting on the plane to New York!”
The girls both laughed.
“Well, some time has passed, John.” Riley stood up, looking at Olivia. “I’m sure Livia’s over her childish tantrums.”
“Excuse me?” Olivia turned to look at her friend.
“Liv, you’re not going to start an argument with me, are you? I’d hate to embarrass you in front of your father.” Riley smirked.
“Here we go.” John sat back laughing.
“I think we both know who wins the battle of words here.” Olivia pointed to herself.
“Olivia, Olivia, Olivia,” Riley moved to stand in front of her. “Still so naive. As I recall, my vocabulary, though not as crass as yours, still holds words with equal strength.”
“Ha!” Olivia took a look over at her dad. He was just sitting there enjoying the show. She got up closer to Riley’s face. “Oh. You know I still can rearrange your face if I run out of words.”
“Yeah?”
Olivia stood her ground. “Yeah!”
Riley stared her out. “Well, you know what...turn blue.” She turned on her heels, grabbed her cup, and returned to the kitchen.
“Bite me!” Olivia shook her head and headed back over to the fireplace. Looking up, she saw the smile on her dad’s face. “What?”
“I think you know.”
“Know what?”
“You and Riley, there’s a lot of history there.”
“What are you on about, dad?”
“Come on, Liv. I can see how you two look at each other. It’s the same way you looked at each other when you were kids.” He winked. Olivia, blushing, reached over for the newspaper, dropping it in his lap.
“You need to get out more, old man.”
“And you need to take this second chance, Olivia. Don’t blow it!”