Running with Secrets

Untitled Part 33

"I understand, Captain." Heath said into the phone. "I just wish it would all be over sooner, rather than later."

"Me too, Johnston. Me too." the captain agreed. After a brief pause he added, "How is she holding up?"

"She's fine, Captain." He answered. "As much as I can tell." Heath opted not to tell him about the two incidents at the restaurant. He'd be on the first plane out to get them both out of danger, and tip off The Electrician.

"I wanted to let you know that it's done, Johnston."

"Sir?" He asked as a man wearing a red pair of joggers and a collegiate sweatshirt. He was out for a run, obviously, and  was trying his hardest to flirt with Kristin.

"Matther Benson is dead."

His matter of fact tone wasn't lost on Heath, and even though he barely knew the man, Benson was one of theirs. "Sir?"

"Sorry, Heath," Captain Vanderson said. "I knew it would be difficult, even for an alias. Detective Paul is in hiding and Matther Benson was mortally wounded in a shootout with two of The Electrician's top men. It was ugly, and over very quickly."

"Sally?"

"No. I didn't let her come. She wanted to, but I made her stay in the office."

Heath let out a sigh of relief. That kiss between them, as brief as it was, meant nothing romantically, but he couldn't help think of it when he thought about her safety. She needed to be kept safe herself. She was a valuable asset to the department and to him. They worked well together.

"She's safe, Heath. She's reviewing the footage we secured from the warehouse."

"I hope you can find something useful."

"Me too." Captain Vanderson said. "I'm going to send you a picture. I need help identifying one of the people there. He's not, as far as I can tell, part of the department. Or maybe he is and he's really good at disguise. I don't know."

"Okay. I'll see what I can figure out."

"Heath," the captain quickly added.|

"Sir?" He looked out the window at Kristin and the man she was talking to. He couldn't be that menacing, he thought. He was young, probably twenty at the oldest, and wanted so hard to impress Kristin.

"Keep her safe. Even though the body count is even, as far as we're concerned, Paul is banking on Steele coming to the morgues to check."

"Is there one?"

"Remember when I told you, a long time ago, that there was a silicone body in the cupboard in my office?"

"Yeah," Heath tried not to chuckle, "I figured it was none of my business.

"Well, it wasn't, but now it is. The forensics is altering it to include any scars and tatoos that Michael Paul has had in the last year. I wish you could see it. It's so realistic."

Kristin pointed at the car. If only he could read her lips.

"I wish I could see it too, but i wouldn't know what the real Michael Paul looks like if I saw him, and Matther Benson was just a name to me."

"Of course. But any how, don't tell her. She'll have an episode, and that's the last thing you need while you're traveling."

The two men continued talking for a couple more minutes and Heath continued to watch the other man try to flirt with Kristin. Know knowing she was more than the twenty-four he thought she was, he knew she wouldn't even try to hold his interest, though he did try.

*****

"But what could be so important that your boyfriend can't take a phone call in front of you?"

"He's in health care. He can't talk to clients within earshot of other people." Kristin said.