Sara had been sitting outside in the shade for several hours, placing and receiving dozens of calls. Most of them from work - even if she delegated her work ruthlessly to get a little breathing room to work through getting taken hostage at gunpoint, her high position still made it impossible to be left out of the loop for important decisions.
The named partners at Sterling Bosch didn't want to be informed by anyone other than herself, either.
When Ben finally woke up an hour past noon, he did so with a weary, long-drawn out groan.
His side hurt. A lot.
Reacher really didn't pull his punch.
"Ben, important politician called. I said you are currently out on errand and forgot phone. Please wake up," Zofia suddenly said as she opened his door with a worried frown.
Ben turned around in his bed with another mournful cry but kept his eyes closed.
"Did they say what they want?"
Zofia shook her head even if he didn't look and answered, "No. Only that you should come by later that day for press. You only have two hours."
Just then Sara walked inside the house with an excited smile. She had just gotten off the phone and was searching for Zofia to see if they couldn't wake Ben. His sister had said they couldn't because Ben rarely slept through the day. The polish girl wanted her savior to get as much rest as needed after such an eventful day.
When the redhead didn't find Zofia, she cautiously made her way up to the first floor and found the blonde young woman standing in the door of Ben's bedroom.
"Zofia!" Sara called out with a huge grin but eventually slowed herself down. She gave the man still lying in his bed a look and greeted, "Good morning, sleepyhead."
Ben let out a humorless chuckle and wordlessly slowly moved down the thin blanket covering his upper body to get started on getting out of bed.
Both women looking at him gasped.
The bruising under his ribs had turned from a faint dark blue to a menacing dark green and sickly yellow at the edges overnight. It looked incredibly painful, and from the hiss that left Ben's lips, it didn't just look painful.
"That bad?" Ben asked and sat up in his bed with another groan.
Dressed just in black boxers, he got out of bed and stretched, immediately regretting his decision. The bruise hurt much more after lying still for hours compared to when he was just chilling in hot water after dinner.
At least it got him to wake up immediately.
"Did I miss anything else?"
Sara perked up and excitedly revealed, "You and I have been invited by the Senator's office. My bosses are flying in for a joint press release at 8pm. They'll want to give you a blank check for services rendered and the congressman is still discussing with the Police Commissioner whether or not to give you the Medal of Valor Silver Star or Gold Star!"
"Well, that answers two questions," Ben breathed out with a frown.
Sara looked at it with worry and asked, "Aren't you excited?"
"I didn't walk into that store to get a medal," the detective waved off and walked to his closet to get dressed. Seeing as he would be attending a gala, he already got out a pressed shirt and put on dress pants instead of shorts like he originally planned.
"You're weird," Sara pointed out but still started smiling.
She didn't think for one second that Ben lied about that. He seemed to genuinely like helping people.
After he sat on his bed to put on his socks because he couldn't do it while standing with the bruise, Ben finally turned to the side with a questioning look and asked, "Why are you two watching me dress?"
Zofia looked like she wanted to walk forward to help him put on the socks, but the doorbell rang and she hurried downstairs to get it.
Sara remained and smiled watching him put on some nice clothes.
"What?" Ben asked with a lifted brow when he caught her smile.
"You watched me get out of that bikini yesterday, this is only fair," she said in reply. Her smile deepened when she watched him open his mouth for rebuttal but staying quiet instead as he gave her a look that said 'true enough'.
"Can I drive you to your hotel room? Or are you going to attend that thing with the pajama shirt that Zofia stole from me and nothing else?"
Sara looked down at her bare legs but she didn't grow flustered. She had spent an entire night in just a bikini with Ben. So she posed instead.
"Think I could pull it off?"
Ben nodded in confirmation, though his smile was teasing, just like Sara's.
He didn't really want to enter a relationship so soon since Haley, but circumstances and the chemistry he had with Sara were quickly turning into something he couldn't ignore.
"Need help with that tie?" Sara asked and stepped forward when she saw him pull out a slim dark blue tie from a rack near his dress shirts.
Ben immediately handed the tie over, one of his arms radiated a dull ache whenever he lifted it above his naval because of the bruised rib cage. And, it looked like Sara knew how to help a gentleman dress. Something about her taste and style just screamed refined.
Seeing him surrender the tie immediately without questioning her ability to help, Sara ticked off another checkmark on the ever-increasing list of things that Ben did right or said even better. Even his firm plans for his future and the talks about his place in the world were exactly what Sara was looking for in a man.
Just as the redhead was giving Ben a deep and flirtatious look while fixing his tie with practiced ease, another woman called out from the stairs, "Ben!"
"I'm here, captain!" Ben called out when he recognized the newcomer - someone Zofia allowed inside the house from the doorbell - but remained close to Sara.
Sara didn't mind either and simply continued fixing Ben's outfit, her smile deepening when she didn't see him flinch away.
"Am I interrupting something?" Jessica Cortez asked as she appeared in the doorway with a raised brow.
Ben didn't engage and merely asked, "Are you here for the Senator thing? I don't think you'll fit in that dress you're holding?"
Captain Cortez gave Ben an unamused glare and instead chastised, "Aunt Juju gave this thing to Hondo earlier, thinking you might want to bring Anna to the event. I offered to bring it over because the mayor called me. Our resident hero didn't answer his phone and people were panicking. I promised to bring you over to the press venue looking presentable and on time."
"In my defense-," Ben began but Cortez cut him off.
"I know. The man who ordered the heist died in front of your house," she said with a huff - clearly suspecting there was more to the story just from the reports she read and Ben arriving for an interview with the Night Detective on scene. Cortez looked at Sara for a short moment before suggesting, "Miss Ellis, I understand that you will also be attending? I have a patrol waiting outside that I was going to assign to have you escorted."
The escort, of course, was a political move arranged by Hicks. The commander wanted his department to earn even more brownie points with the wealthy Sterling Bosch group now that their security was still partly incapacitated while their founders were coming into town. As much as he wouldn't touch the reform proposal Cortez was trying to get approved with Commissioner Plank, Hicks still looked out for his captain in any way he could. He knew she meant well and didn't want to see her crash and burn.
Good will with potential donors earned in front of the mayor would help the young latina captain to get her voice heard with the higher ups.
"That would be much appreciated," Sara accepted with a sweet smile and walked outside, leaving Ben alone with his boss. She walked downstairs to get her clothes from Zofia that were likely already dry for a long time.
"It's good to see you bounce back, Ben," Cortez commented as her gaze followed Sara walking downstairs.
"I didn't know I had anything to bounce back from," Ben defended with a confused frown as he took a pair of cufflinks that he had been gifted by his mom when he was still a young teenager and put them on. He likely could have gone with the formal dress uniform. But since he was now a detective and he didn't want to put on the uniform that already had way too many medals and other honors attached to it, Ben decided to wear a dark blue suit instead.
Cortez gave him an appreciative look up and down, clearly approving of his choice, and idly rebuffed, "You had been in a slump for too long. I originally thought you wanted to get your sharpshooter certificates under way as a sort of long-term distraction, but we all know how that went. Instead, you got that one knocked out of the park and still rarely smiled at the office. We all noticed, even people like Rocker and Street who aren't the most emotionally intelligent officers we have."
"Haley meant a lot to me," Ben revealed with a thoughtful frown. "I suppose I was less like my usual self."
He gave his captain a wry smile and added, "Though in all fairness, I didn't find my usual self yet with all that's happened since I came back from the White Front."
"I think you have," Cortez countered with a smile and pointed at a large photograph on Ben's dresser near the door.
A picture from the same day as the one he had on his desk at work. Ben and Anna at the beach, smiling at each other like nothing was wrong in the world.
-----
Three hours later, Ben stood below a stage with a medal adorning his chest. He had just given a small acceptance speech, endured a twenty minute photo op with the senator seeking re-election, and was now forced to accept even more thanks from Sara's bosses.
In his speech, he had already told them that he didn't want their check as thanks - he had merely done his duty. They were gently reminded to give as much as they could stomach to the homeless in the city instead.
The cheers from the present reporters and other functionaries at the venue were loud and enthusiastic, but to Ben they felt hollow.
The homeless problem in the greater LA area was massive. And none of them, least of all the senator, did even a fraction of what they could do to help. Even Aunt Juju and her 'needle gang' did more with the little money they got from the donations for 3C, the Crenshaw Community Center.
The two founders of Sterling Bosch, each a wizened and powerful man in their own right, left Ben in the hands of their LA branch manager and started to mingle with the powerful people to rub some elbows.
"I know I said 'blank check', but I don't think you realise that you could have gotten a million at least from those two. I don't think they would have minded five," Sara teased with a smirk.
Ben shook his head with a wry smile, saying, "I don't need the money. I'm already very blessed."
"Yeah, but I doubt they'll pay a million to a charity. Had you accepted and donated it yourself, there would have been more to go around," Sara countered with a raised brow.
The detective shrugged and merely pointed out, "It's the principle."
Seeing her looking at him with that weird sparkle in her eyes, Ben eventually praised, "You look lovely, by the way."
She stepped back to allow Ben to take an even better look at her forest green, long evening gown that hugged her torso and gave him a little bow to accept the compliment.
Stepping closer again after grabbing a flute of champagne from a nearby waiter and looking at Ben with a wide smile when he asked for water instead of alcohol, she returned, "You look quite lovely yourself."
He watched her with a raised brow when she sipped her drink, but before Ben could quip about her declaration to stop drinking alcohol for a while, they were interrupted by a stern-looking woman in a smart business suit.
"Detective Weiss, Miss Ellis, a moment of your time?"
"How may we help, miss…?"
"Langley, Donna Langley," she revealed with a slight British accent and put her hand forward.
Ben shook it with a tilted head in askance and watched her shake Sara's hands, too.
"I won't waste your evening, I, too, am only here because it was convenient. I work with Universal Studios, we are interested in doing a movie based on the Bloody Baron heist. For that we wish to buy the rights from the two of you," Langley outlined in a no-nonsense tone, her gaze firm.
Ben looked at Sara, who seemed confused, and looked back at the Universal Studio executive again and asked, "I don't know if you have been informed about my decision when your studio asked me the last time…?"
"Ah, yes. A mistake I wish to put right. The man who met with you has been let go, his conduct is not a reflection of our studio," Langley diplomatically revealed. "In fact, with this new development we wish to film a trilogy based on your life. Trilogies are wildly popular with current audiences."
Ben brought a hand to his eyes to stop himself from openly frowning.
That man who had broken into his hospital room when he was still recovering from the shot to his heart after escaping the White Front had demanded Ben sell the rights to his life. Forget him offering large amounts of money - that Universal Studio executive had instead threatened to twist the story to paint Ben in a bad light when the wounded officer had refused at the time.
"Firing Barker is a good first step," Ben breathed out with a reluctant sigh. "But what abo-"
Langley held up her hand to stop Ben and said, "Indeed, trying to blackmail you with bad press was lunatic behavior. Hearing your statement just now to have Sterling Bosch donate your reward instead of handing it to you, I am even more excited to tell you that we will accept your demand. In exchange for the rights to your story, we will tie the revenue generated by any media related to it to a charity of your choice. However, I propose only up to 50%. The rest will have to go to you, maybe in a trust in your daughter's name? It is your life, after all. Not anybody else's."
Ben searched for his daughter, who didn't appear in front of the cameras because he didn't want to use her as a prop. But he quickly found her standing at the back with several members from the 20-David squad in their dress uniforms. She was currently joking around with Street while hogging all the attention from the squad with her excited laughter.
"I can only speak for myself. Have a contract written up and I will have it looked over by my lawyers. I agree to the fifty-fifty split. But I will tell you right now. I insist that you do not use any of the names of the girls the White Front imprisoned unless you get their express and freely-given consent. Even then, I hope you do not try and chase them down when they do not want to be found," Ben agreed but named a condition after a moment of thought. "Their well-being must come first in all of this."
Langley nodded and revealed, "We planned to get the okay from the FBI, Interpol, LAPD, and NYPD first before even thinking about talking to any of the girls. I'm not a vulture and while I don't wish to diminish their suffering, the story would revolve more around your heroics than their plight. It simply isn't good storytelling to drone on and on about sexual abuse."
Both Ben and the Universal Studio executive looked at Sara, who was startled for a moment before she waved and said, "Sure. Pledge half of whatever share I would earn to the same charity as Ben and I agree."
"Excellent," Langley praised with a small nod. "I will not keep you two any longer. Here's my card, send me your address for the contracts and I will have it sent to you as soon as I can. Have a lovely evening."
Sara and Ben shared a small look, smiled at each other, and stayed silent for a moment. Eventually, Sara hooked her arm under Ben's and dragged him across the room. The two made smalltalk with anybody that stopped them. Most people couldn't stop telling Ben he was a hero - it was starting to grind his patience thin.
Almost an hour later, Ben finally reached Annie, Deacon's wife, who was busy tending to Anna. Deacon had called his wife over thinking that the situation would inevitably end up with Anna being here without anybody able to look after her. Zofia and Emilia weren't invited, and while the SWAT squad had many people who adored Anna, nobody among them felt comfortable being able to distract Anna when she would eventually cry out for her mom or dad.
But Deacon was positive that his wife could and organized a babysitter for his own children.
Anna perked up when she noticed her father was getting closer and impatiently reached out for him from her position on Annie's lap, eagerly crying out for him.
Ben gently unhooked his arm from Sara's, excused himself from the man blowing smoke up his ass in passing and got his daughter from Annie.
"Hello my angel, did you have a good time with Aunt Annie?"
The girl nodded in delight, so Ben turned to his colleague's wife and mouthed a silent, 'thank you' for her.
Annie shook her head, stood up and kissed Ben's cheek.
"No thank you," she countered and walked over to her husband with a bright smile.
The older married couple looked at Ben and his daughter like they were seeing the most wholesome scene in the world. The two were big supporters of all things children and family with their own three offspring - unknown to them at the moment, a fourth on the way soon.
And after not only arranging for one of the best neurosurgeons on the West Coast to operate on Annie during an emergency but also paying for it, Ben became a quick favorite with the Kay family. All the kids loved him, and he was always very kind and attentive with them in return.
Whenever possible, Annie made it a point to cook for Ben and include him in barbecues and other events.
"How do you like your dress?" Ben asked with an adoring smile for the girl on his arms.
"I love it!" Anna squealed with delight. Her smile was blinding.
"Remember to thank your Auntie Juju when we visit her the next time, okay?"
"Card!" She exclaimed with wide eyes.
"You want to draw her a thank you card?"
Anna quickly nodded when her father guessed what she meant to say in one go.
"We'll make her the bestest card ever, alright?"
Another excited nod.
"What colors do you think we should use?" Ben asked and pointed at his tie. "Blue?" Anna shook her head, her brows furrowed in deep contemplation.
Ben pointed at Annie, asking, "Red?"
Anna tilted her head and asked, "Purpoo?"
"Purple? Oh, you mean the stone in her necklace?"
Anna nodded, her eyes glued on the huge stone on Annie's necklace. It was some kind of purple quartz and it seemed it had enchanted Anna.
"Is purple your new favorite color?"
Anna nodded again, her pout seemingly very serious.
"Alright, alright," Ben accepted, slowly drawing Anna's attention to Sara and asking, "What about green? Do you want to draw something green on that card?"
Anna looked at Sara, then her dress before looking back at Sara. With narrowed eyes, the little girl slowly tightened her hug around Ben's neck.
"No green," she said slowly, almost cautiously.
Sara's eyes widened, but before she could coax a different emotion other than jealousy from the girl, Ben caught her off-guard as he laughed heartily.
Anna looked at her father in confusion, but quickly joined him with giggles of her own.
Catching his breath eventually, Ben asked, "I thought green was your favorite color before?"
"No green," Anna immediately answered and lightly kicked her legs to reinforce her denial.
Ben had been holding her on his uninjured side, but the kick brushed against his bruised rib and immediately knocked the wind out of him as he winced.
"Carefully honey, daddy has an ouchie," Ben reminded with a pained smile.
"Anna blow to make okay?"
Ben straightened again, his face still in a forced, pleasant mask, and gently praised, "That is very sweet of you, but daddy is okay already. Just try not to kick around and we'll be fine, sound good?"
Anna nodded with a sweet smile, her worry for Ben already forgotten.
Sara walked forward, a hand resting on Ben's arm and asked, "Can I bring you two anything?"
"I'm fine," Ben replied with a thankful smile before turning his attention to Anna who stared at the hand on her father's arm. "And you my sunshine?"
Anna looked at her father and then at Sara. She mimicked her father's smile and said, "Anna fine."
"Are you sure?"
Anna looked at her father and suddenly turned a little bashful. Leaning forward, she whispered, "Anna needs to go potty."
Ben gave his daughter a smile and a kiss on the cheek, followed by a wink for Sara. He grabbed a bag he had left with Deacon that had all the necessary items he needed on the go with little Anna and left the venue in search of a bathroom. He quickly found it despite it being completely hidden from view and allowed Anna to do her business.
As he was holding her up to the marble sink to wash her hands like a big girl, a man entered the bathroom. Something about his posture screamed 'security' to Ben.
The guy gave Anna a short look before looking for any squatters in the stalls.
Finding nobody but Ben and his daughter, he pressed his earpiece and merely said, "Green."
Immediately after, Ben's senses became alert. The door opened again and two more security guards entered followed by the senator who just hung the medal on his chest. Ben didn't like the politician at all. Not just for his failing tenure where he was an ineffectual yes-man for the discordant voices in the federal government who advanced close to no policy benefiting ordinary Californians, but also because the senator had been caught in more scandals than any of his opponents in any election, yet somehow was never in the news for more than a day.
All of it combined screamed sleazy greaseball to Ben. Especially because Senator Brayden came from old money, his family being major shareholders in many local media companies.
"Detective Weiss," the man greeted, his vacant smile never quite reaching his eyes as he stared at Ben via the mirror.
The man completely ignored Anna, who was confusedly washing her hands despite them already being clean. The soap was gone, but her daddy didn't offer her the towel to dry her hand. So she was still going through the motion of hand washing with just water, her incomprehension growing by the second.
"Senator," Ben returned with a small nod.
"It's good that I caught you alone," the man said in passing as if this encounter was by chance. As if Ben wasn't in here with his daughter right in front of him. "There's something I've been meaning to ask."
Ben stayed quiet, the smile on Senator Brayden's face grew.
"Governor Murray, you remember him, right?"
Ben gave the man a short nod, still with his back turned to the senator and shielding his daughter. Murray was one of the men Ben knew for sure was involved with the White Front. And Murray got away, using his secretary as a sacrificial lamb to make the mountain of evidence provided by Ben go away.
"Yes, yes, you know Alexander Murray was a frequent customer of Kraft's special trade," Senator Brayden reiterated with a grin Ben would classify as fully sociopathic. The 'special trade', of course, meant the women Martin Kraft held as cattle for his associates.
One of the security guards furrowed his brows as he gave his boss a short look before looking back at the detective's daughter.
"A friend of mine is running against Murray and we need a little push," Brayden continued, unconcerned about their tiny audience.
"I handed over every piece of evidence, every photograph, every known movement and crime that I gathered to the FBI," Ben quietly pointed out.
Brayden gave Ben a pleased nod and praised, "Yes. Like I said on the stage, exemplary work. But, Murray has friends at the FBI. He made a certain damning piece of evidence go away, deleted from every known server or database."
"The video," Ben whispered to himself. He had looked into the court case that found Murray 'not guilty'. The detective couldn't believe his eyes when he read that. Among the evidence he provided was a video of Murray raping one of the girls together with his secretary.
That video had never appeared in the trial.
"Yes, the video," Brayden confirmed with a pleased grin that still looked lifeless. He rummaged in his suit's pockets, didn't find what he was looking for and turned to one of his men. Impatiently snapping his fingers, the senator was handed a business card and held it out for Ben.
"If you are the kind of man I know you to be, you have that video hidden away on some deep web server somewhere. Hand it over to me and I will see justice done," Brayden promised with his dead eyes burning into Ben.
Ben didn't take the card. Taking it would confirm in that senator's mind that he did indeed have a copy of that video. Whatever would happen then would be on Ben.
If the detective failed to provide the video, he made an enemy of Senator Brayden. If the detective did deliver, Governor Murray would find out one way or another.
Except for those racist nutjobs painting swastikas and hate messages on his old home, none of the criminals he had exposed with his undercover work had come to Ben for retribution.
Delivering something again that had been 'disappeared' by someone working for the FBI, however, could break that streak.
Just the night before, a whack job had tried to bomb his home because Ben stopped a random heist. A US Governor who got away with everything Ben had provided evidence for, who got someone at the FBI in his pocket… might not be as easily stopped.
Brayden gave Ben a frown filled with contempt and slapped the card down on the counter next to the sink where Anna was still washing her hands, now completely confused.
"Be smart," the senator advised and walked out of the bathroom.
When it was just the two of them, Anna innocently asked, "We dry now?"
Ben's head snapped down as he gave his daughter a smile.
"We dry now," he confirmed with a reassuring smile as he gently stroked his daughter's cheek with one hand and reached for a towel with his other.
As Anna was playfully tossing and turning her hands in the plush towel that Ben held up for her, the detective's gaze rested on the business card, his mind deeply engrossed in the dilemma he found himself in.
It was clear now to Ben that both politicians, Brayden and Murray, had deeper connections than he had originally believed. They were both deeply disturbed individuals that Ben would love to not know at all.
Especially since Ben could see both camps using his daughter as collateral to get to him should it come to it.