Truth or Dare?

Chapter Ten

Bucky was whistling as he stepped off the elevator and approached Nicole's apartment. He'd had a good day with Rick, helping him build a very impressive 'she-shed' for his wife, Nancy. He had met her a couple of times, but hadn't really formed an opinion of her before today. He thought maybe she was... a little high maintenance for his taste, but also very nice and easy to be around. She had wanted her own she-shed for a couple of years and of course, the rule of thumb is: painter's houses need to painted, auto mechanics drive the worst cars, and carpenters don't feel like building shit when they aren't working... or at least that seemed to be the way of it. So finally, today Rick had called on Bucky to help him build the damn thing so she might find something else to nag him about.

He had to laugh because it was clear how much they loved each other and that Rick loved the attention, but he loved complaining about it just as much. Bucky hoped that he and Nicole would be together for as long as these two had been and still love it as much as they did.

When he walked into the apartment, he was surprised to find it dark; he had seen Nic's car in the lot. He heard her sniffle before he saw her as she came from somewhere nearby and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.

"Hey, what's this? ... What's wrong baby? What's happened?"

She looked at him, eyes barely visible in the still dark room, "I've had a very bad day." With those words she began to sob into his shoulder, the sound of it breaking his heart. Bucky just held on to her for several minutes, rubbing her back and whispering assurances that it would be alright... wondering helplessly what could be wrong.

Finally he guided her to the couch flipping on a couple of lights as they walked and saw that she had been working on some kind of project, papers and calendars and stuff scattered about on the coffee table. He asked her if she wanted something hot to drink and she shook her head so he pulled her close again and whispered in her ear as he stroked hair, "Want to tell me what happened?"

She nodded and sat up to blow her nose but otherwise, was quiet for a long time. He waited, understanding that whatever it was, it was big. Picking up some of the pages from the table she stacked them together to straighten them up, took a deep breath and said simply, "You were right."

Nicole cleared her throat and spoke barely above a whisper. "You were right Bucky and I had proof and I... I didn't do anything about it before it was too late. I could have saved that girl, but I didn't want to believe it. I killed that girl." She began sobbing again and he pulled her back into his arms.

It suddenly dawned on him what she was saying and he felt her pain as if it was his own. He let her cry a little while longer and then pushed her slightly away from his chest. "No. Whatever has happened, YOU didn't kill anyone. I don't, and I won't believe that, ever." He grabbed a tissue from the box on the table and handed it to her. "Now, start from the beginning and tell me what is going on."

Nodding, she cleared her throat again, composing herself in stages. When she was ready, she told him everything, starting with the spread sheet she had asked for months earlier and then ignored; finishing with her afternoon of illegal espionage.

"It was him Bucky. All along it was him... HOW could I not see it? How could I be so stupid? How do I make this right?" her voice was straining again as the tears welled up once more.

Bucky was stunned. He pushed his hair back from his face and leaned his head back, closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths. That son of a bitch Joe Nash had sat in this very living room and laughed when Bucky suggested that the killer was a cop when all the while... Oh God!! Bucky jerked forward in his chair as he thought of all the times that Nicki had been alone with that man; all the times they had been on stake outs; the times they had shared meals and laughed together. He felt so betrayed he couldn't even imagine how Nic felt.