PART 7

When Cooper's cell rang, he was not surprised to see Jessica's name flashing on the screen. She hadn't called him since her little chat with the sergeant and he imagined she would be hoping he wouldn't answer now. Scared of what he would say to her.

He pressed the cancel icon and shoved the phone back in his pocket.

"Jess?" Ben asked, mouth full of carne pollo.

"Yeah."

"Sammy texted me, said she'd been asking where I was today."

"Did he tell her?"

"Nah, Sammy knows when to keep his mouth shut. Said I was sick."

"She's not stupid, y'know."

"Maybe not but without information, she can be as smart as she wants and still know nothing." Sherman was clearly still smarting somewhat from his previous encounter with Tang.

Cooper's phone rang again but this time he didn't answer, let it go to voicemail. "She'll have figured you're with me. Too convenient for us both to go AWOL at the same time."

"So what? I don't have a problem with her knowing."

"You tryin' to prove something to her, Boot?"

Ben shrugged, took another bite of his monstrous taco. "Just saying, I did what she shoulda done."

"And I appreciate it."

"I didn't ask you to appreciate it." Sherman met Cooper's gaze. "I didn't come with you to fix everything that went wrong between us, Coop. I'm glad that we got everything cleared up but it wasn't my reason. I came with you 'cos no one should go through shit like that alone and when you were my partner, I let you do that. I didn't want to do it again."

Cooper remained quiet, letting the younger man talk.

"I dropped you at the hospital and I took off. 'Cos I was angry. I shouldn't have done that." Ben dropped his eyes. "I get it now. Jess fucking up just made it clearer."

Cooper bit a fry in half, studied the remainder reflectively. "It's hard being a cop," he said quietly, "'cos you get a partner who you spend more time with than you do with your family and friends. And you come to think of them as family. We all do. And when they let you down, it feels like you've been betrayed."

Ben stayed silent, but his expression said he wasn't sure if Cooper was talking about Tang or their own partnership.

"Sometimes it's harder to have a partner than it is to work alone."

Sherman thought about for a moment, then shook his head. "No. A cop's nothing without his partner. Everyone needs someone to watch out for them out there."

A smile crept cross Cooper's lips at that statement, a smile he didn't think he'd ever allowed Sherman to fully witness before.

He was proud of the kid.

X X X

Back home that evening, relaxed despite the stabs of pain whenever he moved, Cooper checked his messages. Four missed calls from Tang but no voicemails. Just a single text.

'Call me.'

He deleted it. Another text bleeped a moment later. Sammy Bryant.

'Bro don't think u stealin my partner.' Smiley face. Christ, you could tell he ran with the Hills crowd these days.

Cooper grinned, replied: 'He's all yours.'

Sammy again: 'Talk to Tang, she goin crazy.'

Cooper typed back: 'Give a fuck.'

There wasn't much Sammy could say in response to that. Cooper slid the phone back into his jeans, got up to pour more coffee. He didn't want to drink again after the last couple of nights' sessions, even though he knew he would sleep badly without beer to take the edge off the pain.

John Cooper liked a drink but he was damned if he was going to replace pills with alcohol.

When the phone rang again five minutes later, he considered hurling it out into the garden. It was only saved by the fact it was a new iPhone and it had taken him weeks to finally learn how to use it.

"Cooper." He gave up and answered. Otherwise he wouldn't get a minute's peace all night. He could always be obnoxious enough to get hung up on.

"John, how are you?" Jessica asked.

"I'm good." Calm, non-committal. He had to remember he wasn't a young hothead like Sherman.

"Did you go to the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"It's fine."

A sigh of frustration from Tang's end. "That's all you're gonna tell me?"

"What else do you need to know? Everything's okay."

"You can come back to work?"

"Next week."

"That's great." She sounded more than a little relieved. "I'm really happy for you, John."

"Uh huh."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"No, Jess, I don't wanna talk about it."

Silence for a moment. "Please, Coop, come meet me."

"I don't think so."

"It won't take long."

"I'm in pain, Jess, I don't feel like going anywhere right now."

"Do you need anything?"

"No, I don't need anything."

"Coop, I'm sorry you thought I'd ratted on you."

"You did rat on me."

"I was trying to help you before things got worse."

"Jess…"

"We need to talk about this. Not on the phone."

Cooper stayed quiet, hoping his silence would be enough to put her off. But being a woman, Tang paid no attention whatsoever.

"I'm off at 7pm tomorrow," she said. "Will you meet me at O'Malley's?"

Cooper wanted to say no but something was preventing him. He cared about Jessica Tang and the reconciliation with Ben had made him realise that sometimes you couldn't let pride and anger rule you.

"I'll be there at eight," he said finally, keeping his voice neutral. "It'll take you at least an hour to get outta the locker room."

He heard the smile in her voice. "See you tomorrow," she said.

Cooper cancelled the call, blew out a long breath. Went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. Decided to drink it lying in a hot bath. Turned the phone off as he slowly headed upstairs.

X X X

Surprisingly, Tang was waiting for him when he arrived at O'Malley's the next evening. Must have set a new personal best for clearing out of the locker room. She'd bought him a beer, was sipping her own nervously. Soon as she saw him, she shot to her feet.

He nodded hello, grabbed his bottle and took a long draw on it. Looked around the bar, raising a hand to a few acquaintances.

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm good."

"Really?"

He was in pain but he was damned if he was letting her know that. "Really."

She sipped more beer, looked away for a moment. "I know you're mad at me."

"What'd you expect, Jess? Gratitude?"

"I was doing what was best for you."

"And how the hell do you know what's best for me?"

"I knew you weren't going to do anything about it."

"I was dealing with it."

"Is that what you used to say to Ben?"

His temper rose. "Leave Ben outta it."

"So he was with you yesterday."

"So what?" He heard that cutting tone enter his voice. "Did you wanna come hold my hand or somethin'?"

"I would have done if you'd ask me."

"Like that'd happen."

"Coop, even if you think I let you down, I still care about you."

Cooper shook his head. "Ben Sherman's still learning how to be a cop; you've been in this job for years. How come he gets it and you don't?"

"Gets what?"

"That having a partner is about more than feeling safe on the streets. I'm just a bodyguard to you, Jess. Yeah, you like me as a person, I get that. You like talking with me; you like riding with me. But at the end of the day, you chose me as your partner because you knew I'd never let anything bad happen to you."

He saw it in her eyes even though she wasn't going to say it; he was right. That was exactly why she'd picked him. It had nothing to do with being hit on by previous male partners.

"You're a great partner, Coop," she said eventually.

He didn't reply. There was nothing to say.

Her eyes sought his and because he didn't like avoiding eye contact, he looked at her. "I didn't mean to hurt you," she whispered.

Cooper shook his head. "I'm a cop, Jess. I don't know how to be anything else; I don't want to be anything else. You coulda ended it for me."

"I didn't think about it like that; I just wanted you to get some help."

"How could you not have thought about it like you? You know what happened to be last year. Did it not cross your mind that if I got hurt again on the job, that could be it for me?"

"I'm sorry, John."

"Sorry you did it?"

"No. I still think I was right. I'm sorry I didn't consider the consequences for you."

He gave a smile that contained no humour. "You really don't get it, do you?"

He turned away to order another beer, saw the door open and Sammy Bryant spill into the room, happy as ever to draw attention to himself. Behind him came Sherman with Rick and Luis, two P3s Cooper had worked with for years.

Sammy spotted Cooper and leapt on him with an enthusiasm that suggested they had already visited another bar. Rick and Luis immediately crowded in with their own greetings.

"Thought you had flu, man!"

"I'm self-medicating," Cooper grinned.

"Yeah, bro, that's what I'm talkin' about!"

"You the man, Coop!"

Sherman leant quietly alongside him, gave him a friendly shoulder barge by way of hello. Cooper shoved him back, nearly sending him flying into a group of Traffic, and pretended it hadn't hurt like hell.

"What's Tang doing here?" Ben asked quietly.

"Explaining herself, apparently."

Sherman eyed Jessica coolly but she didn't react. Cooper shook his head to warn the younger man off.

"I got it, Boot."

Sammy jumped on Sherman, wrapping his arms around his throat. "Tequila time, baby!" he yelled. "You in, Coop?"

"Nah, I'm outta here in a minute."

"Everything okay, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure."

"You talk to Tang?"

"Kinda."

"We're gonna be at the pool table if you wanna join in, 'kay?"

Cooper nodded his cooperation and Sammy hauled Sherman away, yelling about the possibilities of beer pool. Rick and Luis exchanged palm slaps and hugs with Cooper before joining the P2s.

"Mr Popular, huh?" Jessica reappeared at his elbow.

"I've known those guys a long time."

"And they'd never rat you out, right?"

"It's different with male partners," he said before he could catch himself.

Her eyes hardened. "Meaning?"

"Meaning guys always stick together. Maybe it's high school sports or somethin', I dunno, but they just get the team mentality more than women." He'd started so he decided he might as well say it. "For guys, it's do or die. Women have different interpretations."

"You mean you wouldn't trust a female cop as much as a male?"

"No, that's not what I mean." He shook his head. "Forget it, Jess. I'm outta here."

"What about next week?" she asked quickly.

Cooper shrugged. "What about it? I'll see you then."

"We're still riding together?"

"I'm not gonna throw a hissy fit and demand a new partner, if that's what you mean." He gave her a half-smile. "Just do me a favour, Jess, and don't talk about this next week."

"Do you still trust me?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "On the streets, yes. I've no reason not to. As for everything else, I'll guess we'll find out in time."

He pulled on his jacket, drained his bottle.

"See ya next week, Jessica."

Heading for the door, he paused to yell farewell to the four at the pool table. Sammy and the P3s howled replies, waved their tequila shots at him. Ben just raised a hand and grinned.

Cooper looked at the young cop he'd helped mould and realised the weight he had carried on his shoulders for so long was gone. And no matter what beef he had with Tang, he felt lighter than he had in a long time.

John Cooper smiled and headed out into the night.

END