#ronisbar

Chapter 19

He still had dreams about it. The blood, the— his stomach churned as he turned away from the papers on his desk. Danny Devine had been set up, that much was clear, and they couldn't hold him on account of wanting the person who did the job to think they were off the hook. No. He had rights, that much Danny was correct about, but Weaver still wanted to keep him in jail regardless.

Pushing himself onto his feet, he brought his thumb and forefinger up to the bridge of his nose and gave it a squeeze as he made his way through the precinct and towards Barney Thomson. He had brought him in not too long ago and now was the time to question him on why in all hell would Danny Devine think that he set him up. The bloke was shy, it seemed, jittery even and in no ways looked like a stone cold killer, let alone someone who could frame anybody. "Barney, come with me."

The former barber followed the detective to his office and sat down, Weaver took his seat at his desk and pulled out a few files that needed to be filled in. "Why does Danny Devine think you set him up?"

"I-I-M-I had work that nigh', so I did." The man nodded, vigorously. Clearly hiding something.

"Mmhmm. And the alley where we found Danny is the alley right beside Roni's bar. So...I'm going to ask you again, Barney. Why does Danny think you set him up?"

"I didnae, I swear it!" He belted out, sweat forming at his temples and on his brow. "I 'ave a friend, he did. He did it."

"And who is this f-"

"Sorry, this came for you." Rodgers interrupted and placed the box on Weaver's desk before exiting the room, muttering another apology under his breath.

Glancing up at Barney, he watched the man shrug, raised brows — lips pursed, as he rung his hands, still very nervous — Weaver noted. Bringing his attention back to the box, he glanced at the note that said 'To Love Is To Know True Pain'. When he pulled open the gift, his eyes fell upon a human heart with an R carved into it. "Roni" Were the only words that left his mouth as he shot up out of his seat and bounded for the door; nervous Barney on his heels and following his every move. He even climbed into his car when he did and sat silently in the backseat.

The detective allowed him that, even if his breathing grated on Weaver's nerves as he raced to Roni's apartment.

It was too early for her to open the door's to the bar, so he hoped he would find her safe and still in tact by the time he got to the apartment. "Who's the friend?" He asked Barney, taking a sharp turn that caused the tires to squeal. "Who's the fucking friend, Barney?" That was when he pulled his gun from his holster and aimed it in the backseat — between Barney's eyes.

"I-I-He'll kill me, he will. I cannae-"

"Who is he?!" When he flicked the safety lock, that was when tears began to spill from Barney's eyes and the truth from his lips.

"This man. This man who came to me, he wears odd clothing, like something from a time long ago, like days wit horses n' such, speaks calm and he—he eats 'em, d'ya think he's done tha' wit' Roni? I cannae imagine, she is good, kind, didnae deserve somethin' like tha'" his accent had gone thick from the pressure building in his limbs. He was looking into the barrel of a gun!

Weaver knew exactly who he was talking about. The one man that seemed out of place, the guy he kept giving the newspaper to. Then the image of poor Tom Ward came into mind and he almost slammed on the breaks a little too quickly as he slid into a parking space. If he wasn't so worried about Roni, he would have begun wishing he had never given the man a newspaper during his time here. "Stay" He demanded, giving Barney no reason to think he could follow him up into Roni's apartment.

He burst inside of the building and began climbing the stairs at an alarming rate, heart thundering in his ears as he made his way onto the landing where her door was. He had a key, of course he had a key, and began to try and get it into the lock but panic surged faster through his body and he instead stepped back and hurled his foot against the wood. It gave way after the third attempt and he pushed through her apartment, eyeing the normal mess Roni kept her place in before he found her in bed in her room, head turned, neck patched with something white. Making his way closer to the bed, he pulled on the bandage — causing her to stir and look up at him with sleep filled eyes. "You're okay" his voice didn't sound like his own and suddenly his knees felt weaker than they had all morning, but he kept them locked, still upright.

"I am, what time is it?" Her curls were a mess on her head and all he could think about was how utterly gorgeous she looked in the lighting of day and how happy he was that she hadn't been eaten or whatever the fuck that guy does.

"Early." He stated, not caring to check the clock on her nightstand. "What happened here?"

"That guy, Ives.." Roni said a name that wasn't ringing a bell to the detective. "..the guy who orders bourbon...with the..the uhh..facial hair and smell of forests on his clothes." That was him! Weaver wanted to exclaim, but instead waited and listened to what the asshole did to Roni's neck. "..he came over to the bar late, I told him we were closed, then he just—" She pulled at the bandage, revealing bite marks into her neck, the wound still fresh. "—I thought he was kissing me at first and i tried to get him to back off, but then he bit down and damn it hurt. But he stopped after a few seconds. Said something along the lines of marking me?"

"That bastard." Weaver huffed out, looking around Roni's room to make sure nothing was out of place or ajar — before his eyes fell on her window and the note taped there. Crossing the expanse of the room, he made his way to it and pulled it off of the glass pane, eyes raking over the words.

If I were you, I would find a way to close the case, detective. Or I'll come back and finish what I started with that lovely barkeep. See how easy it was to get to her? To get under your skin, even? I am capable of things you could not fathom. Do. Not. Tempt.Me.

He crumpled it up and tossed it aside before a voice echoed over his radio, reciting coordinates and requesting his assistance at the scene. Weaver knew the place well, so he shot Roni a grimace before speaking. "Might want to get dressed and ride with me."

When they arrived at the bar, Weaver let Roni get out first and head in the direction of Rodgers, clearly upset at the fact that her bar was currently up in flames and the culprits were in the back of a police cruiser. "Listen, Barney. I have a favor to ask of you."

"Wha's that?" He asked, still looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"I need you to say that the guy who set Danny up is Begbie." He pointed towards the police cruiser where Begbie and Stevie were cuffed. "The one with the stash. Leave out the friend part so we don't have to ask why he's your friend. I have a feeling, you don't want us to know." When he caught the look of fear on Barney's features in the rear view mirror, he gave a nod and signaled for Barney to get out of his car. When he did, the detective let out a sigh.

He would pin the murders on Begbie, who was clearly only guilty of causing a stink and fires — that is apart from his warrants across seas — but all the same. The case would be closed and Ives would be free to roam — so long as he didn't find him back in Hyperion Heights ever again because if he did, Weaver was sure that he would lose his job and find himself slapped with a murder charge.

Chapter 20

Roni's mouth hung open as she watched her dreams go up in smoke, all of her savings, every penny she had thrown into something that was gone now — all thanks to those who liked to take other people's hard work into their hands and squash it.

A soft hand pressed against her back, right between her shoulder blades. "I can go house to house and we can rebuild." Father Joseph stated solemnly. He had become a good friend to her over the short time he had spent in Hyperion Heights. Not to mention, now he had begun his own little parish right in town — so his following would surely grow.

Barney slid up next to the two of them, tears stinging his eyes as he reached out a tentative hand and curled his digits along Roni's. "I 'ave some money I can give to rebuild it." The offer was sweet, but Roni couldn't take his money. "Did you have the insurance and whatnot on the place?" She shook her head. The cost of insurance was steep and she was barely making ends meet as it were.

Weaver walked over to the group and gave both of the men a look of appreciation at their consoling efforts. "It'll be okay, Roni. We'll get it mended." He knew he could get the force to help with the rebuilding. Especially now that the case was closed and Hamish as well as Nicholas could go back to their lives and leave Hyperion's finest to the every day normal cases like traffic tickets and corrupt idiots.

"Thank you." Was all she could manage. Roni knew she would have to give in at some point and allow others to help that wanted to. Because without her bar, she felt lost, like a part of her was missing.

Four Months Later.

"Okay okay, break it up you two!" Roni called out to Weaver who was currently arguing with Barney over who cheated during a game of dominoes. Both of them well onto their way to drunkville.

Rodgers was in the corner discussing something with Gaz about the lessons the guy had been teaching at some dance studio down the street, all the while Father Joseph was trying but failing to teach Danny how to not use a curse word in every sentence when speaking.

It hadn't taken as long as they thought it would to get the place back up in fine shape, even if there still was much more work to do, Roni felt her life slowly coming back together. She had accumulated a few people she could trust and whom had helped her at her lowest, just as she hoped to do whenever they were in need of a helping hand.

Barney slid up behind the bar, leaving Weaver to cool off as he began to help stack some bottles of alcohol on the shelf, beaming at Roni in the process. "It'll be even better than before, Roni."

The former barber had become a partner in the bar now, having poured some of his savings into helping rebuild, and so Roni treated him as such. "Now that we have a bigger team, yes it will, Barn." She gave the man a pat on the back before turning to make her way towards Weaver. "How's it going at the station?"

"JoJo finally is out, probably turning back to drugs again. Nosty is happy for the warm weather, so we haven't seen him in a while. Begbie is being transferred as well as Sergei. We can't hold men like them at our station and they have a long time before they will see the real world again."

"I can't believe Begbie would kill all of those people and in such a grotesque way." Roni stated, disbelief etching her features as she sat down across from Weaver at one of the booths. Sure, the brute seemed to not know how to treat other people around him but he never truly striked her as a murderer - especially not one that might consume their victims as the police had said he did.

He just nodded as he turned his attention to the television they had installed in the new bar, eyeing a report about an armed vehicle getting pulled over and two inmates escaping custody, now on the run and should be feared due to one being a cannibal.

"Fucking Ives." He hissed out, knowing why having Begbie free would aid the man in his work across the globe. But he couldn't place a reason for letting Sergei go as well.

"Huh?" Roni asked, not understanding what Ives had to do with the discussion.

"Nothing. Just wondering why he hasn't shown his face around here in a while."

"Probably feels bad about what he did to my neck." Roni stated, not knowing that Weaver was more aware of what Ives were capable of than she was. When he nodded, she leaned in and claimed his lips with her own.

"Get a fuckin' room if yer goin' to suck face like tha'!" Danny called out with a groan, causing Father Joseph to sigh and hold his hands up in the air as if he were giving up on getting the lad to not cuss every breath he took.