The Truth Hurts, Part 1

Richie & Libby

by Atonia & Layne

Libby started through the door of Richie's office, her heart pounding so loudly she was sure Miss Peeg would hear it from behind her desk. It was just after lunch and she'd brought Richie the report she'd written up on her investigation of Barth. It had only been the morning before that she'd come home from her misadventure with Barth on his boat.

She had spent the previous day being grilled by both Richie and Frank about everything that had happened. It had not been easy for her to withhold information from either of them. She loved Richie more than anyone in the world, but she had simply not wanted him to know everything that had happened on that boat.

Now, it was time to see him again. She'd gotten a little rest since then, but not much. Her mind had still been reeling from everything that had happened, and she still didn't feel as though everything was sorted out. Smiling nervously at Miss Peeg, she said, "Hi! Is Richie in? I think he's expecting me."

“Hello, Libby, yes Mr. Roberts is at his desk, go right in.” She raised her brows a bit as Libby went through Richie’s door. Evidently there had been some sort of a to-do with her but she hadn’t heard all the details yet.

Richie tossed down the papers he had in his hand and sat back in his chair hearing Libby’s voice. “Come on in Libby.” He called out.

Entering the office, she smiled at him. Not hard to do, smiling at Richie, she thought to herself. Even if she was nervous. "Hi. Brought you the report I promised." She waved the manila envelope in her hand.

Richie reached out for it, “Oh I can’t wait to read this,” He gave her a look but a smile played about his eyes.

"I think you'll find it interesting." She noticed those smile-crinkles around his eyes and they made her happy. "And helpful too. Hopefully."

Included in the report was his full name, the fact that he was a bounty hunter, his 3/4 ownership in the bar in Coffs, the fact that he was from Sydney. Pretty much everything she'd found out about Barth. Except for the bits he'd told her about his family. About his parents not even caring enough to look for him, and his brother dying. There'd been a look in Barth's eyes when he'd talked about those things...

Whatever kind of man Barth was- Whatever he'd done- Still, those family things caused him pain, and Libby understood feeling pain when it came to talking about your family. Somehow, she didn't feel it fair to him to reveal those particular bits of information, and she couldn't see how knowing it would help Richie or his client either. She had no idea why she should care about Barth's feelings about anything, after what he'd done but, for some reason, she did.

Richie scanned through it and closed the folder, “Good report, I’d say you did a good job if you hadn’t scared the shit out of me. Made me lose a night’s sleep not knowing if you were dead or alive after that call you made to Frank. So what’s not in the report, Libby?” It bothered the hell out of him that she’s spent the night on this guy’s boat.

"Nothing." That question made Libby uncomfortable. Not for anything would she tell Richie that she'd spent any time in Barth's bed. She still felt it a betrayal of her feelings for Richie. She grinned a little. "Nothing except how nervous I was. And how scared I got when I thought he and I had our wires crossed! That's why I made that call to Frank. I'm sorry he involved you. He shouldn't have."

“What made you decide your wires weren’t crossed?” He tented his fingers looking closely at her.

"Uh-" Libby searched for something to tell him. "When he made coffee and we just sat on the deck, talking about how drugs were coming in through the harbor."

Richie looked at her a moment, “So the guy forces you on his boat at what gunpoint, knifepoint? You were worried enough to call for help. And then you sit around drinking coffee and discussing drug trafficking in the harbor…?” He wasn’t buying it for a minute

"He didn't force me anywhere, Richie. I was just afraid that I'd given him the wrong impression." She looked at him earnestly. "I was afraid he thought I was-uh-interested in him, and not just information." What had she gotten herself into that she had to lie to the man she loved?

“He didn’t force you on the boat…so why did you go with him? Especially after I’d told you not to approach him…why did you go sailing all night with him? Why not have that cup of coffee at the diner?” He was full of questions and he didn’t think she had the answers.

Libby was tired and her head was starting to ache again. She hated keeping anything from Richie. It was stressful. It hurt not to talk to him as easily as she always used to. A little more sharply than she intended it to be, she asked, "Do you always question private investigators this closely about how they got the information they give you?"

He became aware of the silence, “No…cause I don’t usually give a damn how they got it as long as they haven’t broken the law. I care because it’s you, Libby.” He said quietly.

Libby reply was quiet too. "I'm glad you care, Richie." You have no idea just how glad I am, she thought silently, wishing she could say it to him.

She wanted so much to break down and tell him everything. All about Barth and everything that had happened. How afraid she had been. How guilty she felt. And to tell Richie how much she cared for him, how much she loved him. There was another feeling too--an overwhelmingly physical feeling that Libby was aware of every time she was around him. Right now, she'd like nothing better than to walk around behind that desk and kiss him. To get rid of that damned three-piece suit he was wearing and her own jeans and top, and have him take her right there on that floor. It seemed like forever since they'd been together and she missed that so much. But, thinking she could do none of that without losing his friendship, she swallowed it all once more. Kept it bottled up inside.

"I haven't broken the law, Richie," she went on, just as quietly. "I wanted to do the best job that I could for you and so I took a risk. I'm sorry that it caused you to worry. I'd never do anything to worry you on purpose." That much, at least, was true.

“I didn’t ask you to take risks on my behalf, I don’t want you taking risks like this ever again, Libby. You played a dangerous game with this guy…oh yeah, I can figure out how you did it. You came on to him and then you got scared, being scared is okay that’s your inner voice telling you to back off and think. I spent a lot of years wearing detective shoes, I know how it works.” He couldn’t tell her just how scared he had been when she was missing. “Miss Peeg’s got your check ready out front.” He sat up in his chair and pushed the pile of folders to the side. “Let’s go spend it…” He got up and slipped his jacket on turning to look at her wide eyes.

“I got nothing important this afternoon on my agenda…let’s go get a drink or two.”

Libby was startled, and amazed. And happy. This she hadn't expected. She'd expected him to question her again. To bawl her out once again for having gotten herself into trouble. She hadn't expected him to ask her for drinks. But suddenly, her headache was a thousand times better. Her tension was gone, and she walked along at his side almost lighthearted for the first time in months.

She beamed at Miss Peeg as the older woman handed the check to her, knowing that she would know why she was so happy and that it had nothing to do with money, but not caring. For the first time in ages, she and Richie were doing something together.

Libby even felt like joking with him. "You're paying me and then drinking up my profits, huh?" she asked him teasingly.

Richie opened the door and held it for her, “For the all- nighter I pulled for you…you owe me kid.”

"What?" She pretended to be outraged. "What about the all-nighter I pulled for you? Maybe I should have charged you overtime!"

Libby stopped in front of her car. Were they walking over to the tavern, or going into Coffs? She wasn't sure. For all she knew, he didn't want to have a drink with her here in the Glen because Nonnie would find out. She looked a question at him.

Richie headed for the Tavern and glanced back at her by her car, “Let’s just go over here that way we don’t have to take separate cars and worry about drinking and driving.” He was feeling pretty secure in himself.

"Okay. Sounds good to me." Libby followed him contentedly. She didn't care where they went, so long as she got to spend a little time with him.