Jily oneshots

Pseudonym

by matrixaffiliate

James looked at the final cut on his screen, reading the ending of his sixth book one more time before the printer would start cutting copies.

A bullet hit Ravi's vest, leaving him gasping for breath. He tried to push past the jolt being shot gave him and get his head back in the game.

Then he realized the shots had stopped coming at them.

"Clear!" Nick called from over where the gunshots had been coming, frowning at the two lifeless forms on the ground.

Ravi stood and slid another magazine into his .45, not wanting to be caught unarmed having already avoided a close miss.

"Everyone alright?" Nick asked as he found the lights.

"Arora, did you take a hit?" One of the officers approached Ravi.

"I'm alright, hit my vest."

Nick nodded. "Let's get medical out here and have one look at you. These two aren't with us anymore."

Ravi looked around the warehouse. It was going to take ages to sort all of this evidence; he'd never seen so much cocaine. He should probably take the break while it was available, even if he didn't think he needed it.

"On it."

After a quick look over by an EMT, Ravi got confirmation of what he already knew; he was going to have a massive bruise and some sore days ahead, but at least he wasn't dead. He moved to go help with the evidence when his favorite voice called out his name.

"Ravi!"

All his exhaustion and pain seemed to fade as he saw her.

"Sarah." He smiled at the beautiful woman on the other side of the yellow tape and moved closer to her. "Getting your inside scoop for tomorrow's paper?"

"Just happened to be nearby." She winked at him. "And someone showed me how to use a police scanner."

"What a great guy." Ravi looked around before leaning in closer. "A great guy would also like you to know that if you finish that article before sunrise, he'd be happy to point you to a place with the best apple pie."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sarah laughed. "And let you get back to work." She waved her fingers at him before moving towards the EMTs and Ravi moved back to the crime scene, grinning.

If he'd realized anything after getting shot, it was that soon, he needed to tell Sarah how he felt about her.

But tonight, he'd focus on wrapping up this case and keeping Grandville safe for its citizens.

"Well," James paused, "I think it's ready."

James sent the go-ahead to Sirius for his next Grandville Mystery installment to hit the presses and then shut down his writing laptop, tucking it safely away so no one would find it. That way no part of James' life could get mixed up with that of F. J. Pearson's.

James had been writing as F. J. Pearson for seven years and churned out five fast-paced mystery novels in that time. His speed with finishing the novels had been steadily increasing, having managed a book per year for the last three. He was at the point where he was seriously considering quitting his day job of writing physics textbooks and writing mystery novels full time.

But even if he made that jump, James was determined to keep a good amount of distance between himself and F. J. Pearson. It wasn't exactly a state secret but only Sirius knew that James was a published mystery writer and only because he was James' agent and editor. Sirius' silence on the matter was guaranteed when James threatened to never write a novel again if Sirius let it slip who F. J. Pearson really was.