“Childhood fantasy come true,” Ben said. “Apparently performance work is the key to happiness, but my back pain says otherwise.”
The waitress returned and placed two coffees on the table between them. Ella stirred hers with the wooden stick that substituted for the spoon.
“Pain’s good. It teaches you things,” Ella said. She realized these were the words of Charles Manson. She rolled up her sleeve and put her forearm on the table. There was a twelve-inch scar leading from her elbow to wrist. “See this? It reminds me to always check the corners whenever I burst into a suspect’s house.”
Ben inspected the wound and grimaced. “That’s a real mutilation you got there.” Ben pulled his shoulder out of his shirt. There was a jagged scar, scabbed over. “I see your gash and raise you this. I’m not sure what this taught me. Maybe to get a real job one day.”
“That looks like it stung a little. Were you bitten by a lion?”
“Deathmatch. I fell off a ladder through a pane of glass. Best not to ask,” he laughed.
Ella didn’t understand his world but she wanted to get to know it better. It sounded oddly fascinating.
“So, you’re alright with me?” she asked. “You don’t hate me for dragging you into my nonsense?”
Ben shrugged. “Put it this way, it’s the most interesting thing to have happened to me in a while.”
Ella was relieved to hear it, but she still felt like a monster for putting this innocent soul in harm’s way. “More interesting than falling through glass?”
“By far. Are you allowed back in your apartment now?”
“I would be, but it… umm… went up in flames last night.”
Ben’s eyes widened to the point they resembled glowing crystal orbs complete with a turquoise center. He must have thought she was cursed.
“What?”
“This killer,” she stopped herself. “One of these killers. He was waiting for me in there. It’s okay though. My landlord was pretty calm about the whole thing.”
Ben folded her arms and looked at her in disbelief. “Well, I’m not sure anyone has uttered those sentences before.”
“I know. It sounds insane.”
“Not about your fight with a killer. I meant about your landlord.”
Ella smirked. She held her hand up in front of him. Her palm was covered in bumpy, pale white flesh. Another trophy wound for the collection.
“And that teaches you not to play with fire. So if your apartment’s out of bounds then where are you staying?”
“At my partner’s house. My FBI partner,” she added at the last second.
“That’s good. If you ever need anywhere to stay, I’ve got a spare room that doubles as a bathroom if you’re interested.”
She chuckled again. “I appreciate the gesture. I’m just worried about… you know.”
“I know. My irresistible sexual magnetism.”
Ella sipped her coffee. The comment made her slurp it.
“Yeah, you’ll have to tone that down,” she half-joked. “I mean, there’s still a killer out there who wants me dead. If he knows I’m at your place, it puts you in the firing line.”
“Again,” Ben added. “But aren’t you doing that by just being here? You said this guy’s got eyes everywhere. What if he can see both of us right now?”
Ella had no comment. Ben was right. It was selfish of her to ask him to meet her here. She’d just been blinded by the allure of seeing him again. She glanced around, but she felt this was as safe a place as any. She recognized the majority of the people in here anyway.
“You’re absolutely right. It was stupid of me to meet you. I just really wanted to hang out with someone I actually wanted to hang out with.”
“You prefer me to murderers?” Ben asked.