Page 3 of Evidence of Us

“Yes,” I say.

“I feel it’s important that we clear the air now, because this will come up,” Zeke tells me.

“Go ahead,” I say.

“I’m married to Meghan…” he says slowly. “We started dating shortly after you left and got married about a year ago.”

“I know,” I say. “She sent me a video two days after I left of her riding your dick, so I kinda figured you two ended up together. She was always obsessed with you.”

“Levi, did you know?” Zeke asks.

“I suspected, but I wanted her to come work here. You are a good guy with a piece of shit wife; even despite all that, so maybe this will send her over the edge, and she will fuck off,” Levi says.

“I don’t really care what Meghan has to say about it. She’s too preoccupied with her dick of the week anyway,” Zeke says.

“Oh? Not a happy marriage? Can’t say I feel bad for you, considering… well… all of that,” I say, not wanting to mention she knew I was half dead in the hospital. Does he know I got hurt? Fuck, he is still sexy as hell. Even more so now. He has a full beard, huge muscles, and is at least six foot three.

“No, she was convenient,” he says simply. “You seeing anyone?”

“No,” I say. “Well, Levi, but…”

“No buts; she’s with me,” Levi says, making Kevin chuckle.

“Can we get along?” Kevin asks.

“Yes,” I say. “I apologize for freaking out. I… It uh… just brought up some unrelated memories.”

“Oh, honey,” Levi says softly.

“I’m good. It won’t happen again,” I say.

“So…” Kevin says. “I’m only saying this with Zeke here because he is your partner, and they will all see this soon anyhow, because open cases of detectives are flagged.”

“Ah shit,” I sigh. “Can we just… So it doesn’t have to be repeated.”

“What’s going on?” Zeke asks.

“Come on, and you’ll find out,” Kevin says. “Levi, thank you.”

“Anything for my girl,” Levi says, looking at Zeke.

“I know,” Zeke says. “Pain. Blood. Missing appendages. Funeral. I get it.”

“Good,” Levi says simply.

We take the stairs up, and both Geno and Parker are waiting for us. “To the conference room, guys,” Kevin says. They follow as we keep walking. We go into a room with a massive round table, but we all stay standing as the doors shut.

“Did she hit you? I hope she did,” Parker says, glaring at Zeke.

“Her best friend, dude?” Geno asks.

“We can just call it a punishment for letting her get away,” Zeke says bluntly, not looking at me. That hurts because if he had known I was hurt, he would have come to me, no matter how badly we fought. Meghan made sure he didn’t by distracting him.

“Alright. First, we are going to get to know Mariska a bit, but then we have something important to cover that you will see as soon as you log in,” Kevin says. “Tell us about yourself, Mariska.”

“Ah… Well… I have a master’s in criminal psychology,” I say. “When I was twenty-one, I got my basic law enforcement training and did part-time patrol for experience. When I graduated, I went full-time until I got this position. I specialize in criminal profiling and trauma-informed tactical de-escalation.”

“She graduated in the top one percent of her graduating class,” Kevin says. “She also interned as a criminal therapist in a prison throughout college.”