Page 26 of M for Murder

A lthough Rebecca had decided not to mention anything about the incident with her Jeep, Vic had wisely kept a low profile around her ever since. With the FBI investigation it hadn’t been difficult for him to stay out of her way, and, even when they were working at their shared desk together, there had been other people about, making it difficult for her to say anything.

She hadn’t forgiven him and fully intended to get her own back at some point, and she suspected he probably knew that. Therefore, she was surprised to find him leaning against her Jeep when she left work on Wednesday evening. She made a point of studying both front tyres to check they were still full of air before looking up at him, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

‘What do you want, Vic?’ she asked bluntly.

Vic stared at the ground, looking a little uncomfortable as he shuffled his feet.

‘My car’s in the repair shop. I was hoping you might give me a ride home.’

Rebecca bit her bottom lip to stop it from dropping open. ‘You’re kidding, right?’

‘Well, it is on your way.’ He looked at her with a pleading expression on his face that she supposed he hoped would make her feel sorry for him. In truth, it only succeeded in making him look more pathetic.

Jeez! She couldn’t believe this guy.

One night he was letting the air out of her tyres because he couldn’t handle the idea of a rejection and now here he was, hoping to catch a ride home. She was about to tell him exactly what she thought of him when it struck her that maybe she could turn the situation to her advantage. It would be interesting to see just how badly Victor Boaz wanted his ride.

‘So, you want me to take you home, do you, Vic?’ she asked in her sweetest voice.

He seemed to take her question as a yes, edging toward the passenger door of the Jeep as he answered.

‘I’d really appreciate it if you could, Rebecca. Thanks.’

Rebecca shook her head and forced a pained expression. ‘Well, I don’t know. I guess it all depends on whether my tyres are up for it.’

‘Oh, that.’ Vic turned to face her, caught a little off guard. He gave a guilty grin. ‘Look, Rebecca, I’m sorry about what happened the other night. We were just joking around.’

‘Joking? Is that what you were doing?’ She fixed him with a frosty look. ‘Sorry, Vic, I hadn’t realised I was supposed to be laughing while I was changing my tyre.’

Vic pulled a sullen face. ‘Look, come on, Angell, I’ve said I’m sorry. Why don’t you quit fooling around and just give me a ride home? I’ve already had a shitty enough day.’

‘So I heard.’ Although she wanted to stay angry with him, Rebecca couldn’t stop the grin from breaking out on her face.

By the time she and Hickok had returned from the college, the rumours had circulated the precinct about how Sutton and a couple of other officers had found Vic on all fours in the sewer, his pants down and a corpse wedged between his legs. Of course, he had angrily denied everything, but Rebecca had enjoyed watching him suffer for a change.

‘I hope that’s a clean uniform you’re wearing,’ she told him, screwing up her nose in mock disdain.

‘Of course it is,’ Vic started angrily before realising she was joking. He pulled the pleading face again. ‘So what do you say, then? Are you going give me a ride home or what?’

‘Honestly, Vic. I’m not sure I really want to.’

‘Come on, please. I’ll make it up to you.’

‘You will?’ She looked at him expectantly. ‘How?’

Vic shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’ll buy you a beer.’

‘A beer? Whoa, that’s generous of you.’

‘Well, what do you want?’

Rebecca thought for a moment, knowing that if she wanted anything out of Vic she was going to have to get it before she dropped him off. She didn’t trust him to keep his word.

‘Do you have your credit card on you?’ she asked eventually, an idea coming to mind.

‘Yeah,’ Vic answered, sounding dubious. ‘Why?’

Rebecca stepped around to the driver’s side of the Jeep and unlocked the door.