Devils & Gods 5/12
May. 3rd, 2012 05:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
whedonistTitle: Devils & Gods
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki & Nora
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Nikki & Nora are not mine, but it kinda feels like they are. The characters from the pilot aren't either. BUT - there's a whole lot of original ones that are in this little story so...*yay* for me.
Author’s Note: Nada.
Ch. 5 – Wasted Grace
My intent was to slip quietly into the bedroom and try not to wake Jill. It’s close to two in the morning and neither of us has gotten much sleep over the past forty-eight hours. I stop short as I ease through the doorway surprised to see that my wife is still awake and dressed.
She looks up over the frames of her glasses and smiles at me. Her stocking clad feet are crossed and wiggling a little. The jeans and green tank top she has on pull my eyes in the proper direction, over the swell of her hips, up to her chest and along her neck to finally her eyes.
I offer her a weary grin back. She sets the book, a worn copy of The Price of Salt, on the nightstand next to the bed and tilts her head. The smile falls away and she squints at me. “What?” she asks.
Turning towards the dresser, I shuck my jacket over the back of a chair and start taking off my gun and badge. “Why are you dressed?” I ask as I turn around and toe off my shoes. I leave them next to the dresser and hop on the bed awaiting her answer.
“I went out,” she says vaguely, her tone a little more biting due to my own obvious annoyance.
I pause halfway up the bed and remind myself that she doesn’t know and taking this out on her…
Epically stupid on my part.
As I raise my head, I offer a sheepish smile. “Where to?” I ask softly, more teasing and coaxing than the accusatory tone tinting my previous question.
“Phantoms, babe.” Her head cocks to the side. “I was antsy after you three left.” She tugs my right arm from underneath me and forces me to lie on her side.
I comply and rest my head in the crook of her arm then tangle our legs together. “You saw Cass?”
“And I finally met Gabby,” she says lightly.
I grunt. Nor told me about this Gabby woman and her affiliations with a gang.
“Don’t go all judgmental, Annie,” Jill chides softly and begins to run her fingers through my hair. “She’s actually nice once you get her talking, it just takes a bit.”
I would normally laugh. Jill could get a mute to talk, but if she tells me it takes a bit, that means that I couldn’t get her to talk with an injection of phenobarbital.
“She’s a high-level gang member, Jill,” I say instead and hope it conveys my level of displeasure.
“She hasn’t been arrested; Nora and Nikki both have instilled a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy when they’re around her. Just because she is, it doesn’t make her a bad person and in all honesty, Ann Louise, it’s not our place.” Yep, we’re on the same page here – the annoyed one. Damnit.
I roll my eyes. “I still don’t like it,” I pout and lace my hands around her waist, drawing her in closer.
“You’re a pain in my fucking ass is what you are,” she grouses back at me and pecks the top of my head.
“As long as I’m yours,” I shrug, “The rest is irrelevant.”
“Hmm, cheesy save. You’ve been taking pointers from my Nora,” she observes wisely. “Besides, Cass trusts her. That’s enough for me. It was enough for those two upstairs. I would hope it would be enough for you too.”
“Fine, I’ll keep my mouth shut.” A slight pinch begins to build along the left side of my neck so I shift our positions and pull her down on top of me. The pillows don’t cooperate, so I toss three of the five on the floor and use one to stuff under my head. Jill happily settles her long frame over the left half of my body and tucks the top of her head under my chin.
She grabs my right hand and starts playing with it. My left hand gets tucked behind my head. “Sorry we ducked out almost as soon as we got in tonight,” I say once we’re settled. “How’d the rest of your day go?”
Jill shrugs. “I wasn’t surprised and it was fine. Jen’s kinda funny. We had sex in her office.”
“Uh-huh, was she any good?” I go along with this.
“She was okay. Enthusiastic.” Jill can’t keep in her giggle.
“Remind me tomorrow morning and I’ll make sure to remind of you of why you keep me around,” I tease her and kiss the top of her head.
That doesn’t set well with her and she leans up to peck my lips. I accept it gladly.
She pulls away and purrs, “You were reminding me right before Nora called us down here if I remember correctly. You did okay.” She sticks her tongue out at me and then goes back to nuzzling my neck. “Really, it was cool. There’s a fuck ton of shit to do, so I can keep busy. Keep me off your back, but Annie…I…don’t pull anymore shit. With Nora and Nikki and their co-workers helping you guys out, don’t burn out on me, please?”
I bite my lip, unsure of myself. I don’t know if I can keep that promise and I won’t make it if I can’t. I close my eyes and the hotel room we just came from floats in front of me. The pictures of Jill and me at the premiere, of us standing there with Jill’s shit eating grin and looking stunning in the blue gown she had on. Then an image of her grumbling around the kitchen before she has coffee, hair a mess, glasses on, dressed in only pajama bottoms and a tank top.
I swallow and say, “I can’t promise you that this time, Jill.” She tenses. The sharp intake of breath is enough for me to start on damage control. “Baby, please just hear me out. Please?” I beg.
She stays silent, but the hand that was toying with my right one is taken away. She tucks it into her body and waits.
“I…there was a development in the case, when that body was found in Virginia, the unsub uh…” I draw in a breath trying to stay calm. “Okay, the unsub left a letter directly addressed to me. There was a veiled threat and now…” I bite my lip. “With our primary suspect dead, here in New Orleans and the letter and photos recovered at the hotel tonight…”
“He’s made it personal,” Jill clips finishing my confession off.
“Yes. There were pictures of you, me, Nora, Nikki and Lee at the hotel tonight. A letter, addressed to me was recovered also,” I admit as quietly as possible, hoping that maybe if I don’t say it loudly the threat will be less than what I know it to be.
“So what do we do?” she finally asks.
“Dunno,” I painfully admit.
“I could start walking around strapped, you could drop a tip to TMZ…totally up my street cred,” she jokes with me.
My response is a pitiful laugh. “No, I don’t really want you to carry a gun. Besides, you’d probably shoot your eye out.”
I get a smack to my tummy and an indignant huff. “So then…what? ‘Cause you’re fucking crazier than I think if you think I’m leaving you.”
“I thought about it, but then nixed the idea. You’d kill me,” I tell her honestly.
“Damn skippy.” She punctuates with a bony finger to my sternum.
“How about some body guards?” I venture. Really it’s not an optimal solution, but her having protection would settle me some.
“Uh, how about no. Annie, I’m not glass,” she tries to reason with me.
“No, baby, you’re flesh and blood and bones and I’ve seen what this fucker does with that.” I sigh. “I didn’t think you’d go for that either, but I figured it was worth a shot.”
“Well, points for effort, deductions on stupidity,” she tries to kid, but really, it falls flat and it comes out a little snippy. “How are Nikki and Nora handling this?”
“We’re all in the same boat. Nora brought up shipping you and Nikki off together…”
“Then she realized how fucking stupid that would be?” Jill goes back to fiddling with my hand.
“Uh-huh.” I close my eyes and focus on the pattern of Jill’s breathing. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was fried. Jill knows this and briefly untangles us to strip down to just her panties. When she comes back to me, I watch as she snaps open my jeans, tugs them off and drops them to the floor. Straddling my thighs, she motions me up.
She removes my t-shirt and bra before letting me settle back down against the bed. I close my eyes and let her do her thing. I feel the covers pull out from under me and she brings them over us. Going back to snuggling against my side, she pecks the corner of my mouth and whispers, “Get some sleep, babe. Love you.”
“Me too,” I mumble before drifting off.
“You sure this is okay?” I look at Nora and Nikki as they finish setting Jill up at Nora’s desk. After talking it over with our friends during breakfast this morning, they agreed, for which I’ll be eternally grateful that Jill should at least be around people.
That prompted a call to Dan and getting Jill clearance to set up camp in the squad room. I’m not sure how well this will go over with the unit as a whole, but Dan’s been a sweetheart about it and got my wife a swipe badge so she can come and go as needed. He got her access to the precinct gym in case she gets bored with her reading and listening to music.
“Annie,” Jill’s tone is syrupy, “I love you, but I swear if you don’t stop the nervous nelly bullshit, I’m putting you on the couch.”
I suck my lips in and clamp down. I just nod. Message received loud and clear.
“I’ve got two books, hours’ worth of music and phone calls to vendors to make. You three go finish this so that I can go back to the apartment without sending my three favorite ladies into cardiac arrest.” She bats her lashes at the three of us and makes shooing motions with her hands.
“Come on,” Nora is the first to break. “I’m sure everyone else is back in the conference room by now.”
I start to follow, but Nikki still stands there, hands on hips and looking my wife over. “Go Nikki,” Jill’s insistent.
“Why don’t you two go on ahead,” Nikki speaks to Nora and me. “I’ll be there in a sec.” It’d be funny under different circumstances, but we all eyeball each other. Nora and I trying to figure out Nikki’s game that for some reason, I can tell Jill already knows about.
“Let’s go, Nora,” I finally cave and grab a hold of Nora’s belt loop to tug her along. “Leave the crazy brunettes to plot and scheme without us.”
My friend tutters the entire way to the conference room. I finally let her go when we get to the door and push open the half closed chunk of wood. I stop short and realize it’s a full house. Spencer and Bamby have usurped the coffee station and set up camp there. Their beloved Macbooks set together and match, just like their owners.
I shake my head and press forward. John looks up from a stack of photos and scowls. I give him a tight lipped smile. “Morning folks,” I offer feebly as Nora rounds the other side of the table to take her seat from yesterday.
“Well, look what the cat done drug in,” Jesse Furlan says, giving a pointed look to Nora. “Why Det. Delaney, your cohorts were just talkin’ about you. Wonderin’ if you’d ever show today.”
Nora’s smile is brief and biting. “Stuff it, Furlan. You damn well know we were at the hotel last night.”
“Now, Nora,” Det. Barrett wiggles his eyebrows at my friend, “I didn’t think you’d engage in such liaisons that would take you to a place like the Starlight.”
This earns him the finger and a muffled “Shut the fuck up,” from Nora. “Are we going to rib me the entire day?” Nora snips. “If so, then I’m reneging on my agreement to help out when Mr. Mom goes on paternity leave.”
“Ouch,” Georgia whistles. “Leave the cranky one alone, Barrett. Rosie’ll have your ass.”
“So,” I say trying to take the focus off my friend and on to the actual case, “Anything fun since last night?”
Bamby takes the opening for what it’s worth and jumps in, “Now that you mention it there is.” She spins away from her computer and the credenza and stands. “Before I begin my little show and tell, I’d like to remind you all that, being the amazing people, that’s me and Spencer, we are, our expectations of your performance is in no way over shadowed by how impressively awesome we are.”
Travis and Lucy are holding back on laughing. The New Orleans bunch are just sort of looking gob smacked by Bamby’s little speech.
“Definitely your daughter, partner,” I snicker to John.
“Blow me, Flemming,” he snips back.
Nora huffs, “Do you have a point short stack?”
This breaks a little of the tension in the room and Bamby beams, shooting my friend a wink. “Why I’m glad you asked. When we got back to the hotel, Spencer and I were discussing the crap load of paper that we have. In fact, you guys are pretty much buried under it and well, it’s wholly inefficient. We put together something last night that’s corrected it.”
Bamby moves to the head of the table where a projector sits and pushes a button on top. The machine whirs to life and she steps out of the bright beam of light. Motioning to Spencer, Bamby waits for whatever she’s done to load on to the wall to my left.
“Sorry,” Nikki grins sheepishly at the bunch as she finally enters the room and shuts the door behind her. The brunette makes quick work of taking her spot next to Nora and leans in to whisper to her.
Nora just shakes her head and points to the front of the room.
A computer screen finally pops up and Bamby starts back up, “We took the liberty of scanning Addison’s detailed military record into Spencer’s computer last night. Wrote a program that would help sort the images and then identify anything repetitive. There were some hot spots that the program picked up as it ran last night and we just finished sorting through the extraneous data.”
“Bamby,” I warn. I love her to pieces, but sometimes…
She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Sometimes, Aunt Ann, you spoil all my fun.”
“Get on with it, kiddo,” John interjects.
“Dennis Addison had a few friends in the military. Not many, but we have three names that we think you’ll be interested in. Peyton Davison, Chris Abbinanti and Justin Cager.” The names and their I.D.’s pop up on the screen behind her. “Now, this is where I need help. Gen. Malone,” she looks at her father, “You need to call Lt. Stephanie Rice at the State Department and get us the records. Also, you’re welcome.” She takes a deep bow and then flounces back to her work station.
“Fuckin’ smartass,” John grumbles as he has his phone to his ear. I smirk.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” John asks as he shuts Frankie’s passenger door. “And sweet ride. Nora’s?”
I nod. “A few years ago, Nikki was in a shoot up that totaled Nora’s first baby, June Lee, and this is the machine Nikki replaced it with.” I pat the dashboard as Frankie rumbles to life.
“I’m kind of jealous.” John’s playful which can go one of two ways, he’s buttering me up to rip me a new one or he’s in a genuine good mood. “Answer the question, Ann.”
And I’m going with butter. “I did. We got home and I was asleep before three. We didn’t drag ourselves out of bed till eight so…five hours give or take.”
“Calling me to help work the hotel room was what, too much fucking effort?” he snaps at me. I take a glance away from the road and see him leaning against the passenger door with his arms folded across his chest.
I make sure he see’s my eye roll before going back to looking at the road. “We weren’t sure what to expect and I wasn’t dragging the whole team out for a goose chase,” I answer and ignore the irritation.
“You found pictures and another letter,” he says, this time with less irritation, the worry’s there, in his softer tone. “He’s followed the four of you and Lee.”
“Way to state the obvious. You also want to tell me that the target we have on our backs is red and white or should I just assume?” I signal left and head towards the Subway we called our lunch order in to.
“Oh, don’t you fucking dare,” John hisses. “Didn’t we fucking have this conversation Ann?”
I suck in a lungful of air. Letting it out slowly does nothing for the anger bubbling up. I thought deep breathing was supposed to be calming?
He takes my silence as permission to rant, “This isn’t a recent thing for this unsub. He’s been watching you guys longer than you want to admit. Shall I rattle off the statistics on stalking and the rates of violence…?”
I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but he ignores me. “Don’t bother, it was a fucking rhetorical question, agent.” I feel the vibrations from his foot shaking on the seat. “And now you have Jill camped out in the squad room so I’m assuming you told her. If I were half as smart as I thought I was, I’d pull your ass from the case and send all four of you to fucking China. Instead, I’m going to sit here and watch you be an obtuse bitch about this and let your ego jeopardize your family’s lives.”
I…
Is this about my ego…?
My mouth opens to respond, but no sound comes out.
I don’t know.
Shaking my head, I have to believe it’s not.
“It’s not…” I try to sound sure, but fall off.
“Bullshit,” he gripes. “It is, because you know we’re cut from the same cloth, Ann. We’re better than this piece of shit and I can’t wait ‘till we come face to face. I have a glock that’ll be happy to tell him.”
A derisive snort escapes. So at least it’s not just my ego… “You worry me sometimes.”
He shrugs. “Killing people’s never been much of a problem, Ann.”
I don’t know if that helps or not.
His foot stills and I see him right himself in the seat. Pulling up outside the Subway, I put Frankie in park and let her idle. I take a moment to gather the pieces of myself that John scattered and then turn to him.
His broad shoulders are slumped, the shirt he’s wearing is rumpled and I’m just now noticing the darker than normal circles running under his eyes. “You done?” I ask softly. I kill the engine and pocket the keys then scootch across the seat to sit shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Maybe,” he grumbles, “I’m still pretty pissed, but I wasn’t going to do that in front of the team. I may feel better after we eat.”
His tongue lashings usually aren’t about the words he uses. They’re about his tone and more about what he doesn’t say. Like how Jill being at the station tells him that I’m more worried than I’m showing him. That I’ve held back on talking to him and keeping the lines of our relationship clear and open for communication. The ass chewing he just gave me…that was about him feeling left out.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize and take my lumps. “I wasn’t thinking last night and I should have had you come out as soon as we found the envelope. I should have called you this morning and gave you a heads up on Jill coming in and I should have called you and told you that I’m sorry.”
“Apology not accepted yet.” I’ll take that. “So, moving on, we have three potential suspects. Thoughts?”
I snicker. “You mean besides the praying I’ve been doing since Bamby gave us the names that one of them will lead somewhere?”
“Yeah,” he says picking at something stuck to his slacks on his thigh.
“I think our profile is still good. I think that one of the three men will pan out because if not, we’re out of options. I think the sonuvabitch isn’t as smart as he thinks he is and he’s fucked up somewhere and we just haven’t found it yet. I also think that Addison wasn’t supposed to end up dead. Something about the way he was found, where and how seems…off, rushed and sloppy.”
John bobs his head and then runs a hand through his hair to comb it back off his forehead. The unruly lock that was bugging him is persistent and falls back into place. “Bamby said that she and Spencer are going to finish the analysis up on the room and the autopsy today. Once we get back with their food. Nora said Ophoven’s good and Bamby was gushing about him over breakfast this morning so…”
“Having competent people around makes a world of difference,” I say smiling.
“Amen,” John agrees. “How’d Jill handle the news?”
I shrug. “About as well as expected. She won’t leave and she’s not going to take me up on the body guards I offered to hire.”
“You didn’t?” he asks incredulously.
“Fucking right I did. Hell, I’d keep her handcuffed to me if I could, but…”
John snorts and shakes his head. “You’re an idiot.”
I bob my head.
“Stephanie hooked us up though. So when we get back, we’ll start tearing apart the three men’s lives. See if they fit anywhere. Although it kinda sucks for them, guilt by association and all that shit,” he admits to me and I can only agree.
“We could make this go quicker,” I suggest allowing the thought to firm up in my head before I continue. “If we’re thinking that the military is where Addison met the unsub, I’m still trying to figure out how the women were chosen. I mean, the geographics are all over the place…”
“Literally,” he pokes at me.
“Yep, I wonder how close military bases are to each kill location?” I wonder aloud. “There’s a lot of opportunism that goes into committing a crime. The right elements have to fall into place. What if the places were chosen not out of meticulous forethought…”
“But pure dumb luck?” John fills in.
“Why not?” I venture with a shrug.
“It might help narrow things quicker. We’ll look when we get back.” He pops open the door and slides out. Reaching back in, he extends his hand and pulls me through the passenger door. “Food first though, partner. I think better on a full stomach.”
Next>>>
Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki & Nora
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Nikki & Nora are not mine, but it kinda feels like they are. The characters from the pilot aren't either. BUT - there's a whole lot of original ones that are in this little story so...*yay* for me.
Author’s Note: Nada.
My intent was to slip quietly into the bedroom and try not to wake Jill. It’s close to two in the morning and neither of us has gotten much sleep over the past forty-eight hours. I stop short as I ease through the doorway surprised to see that my wife is still awake and dressed.
She looks up over the frames of her glasses and smiles at me. Her stocking clad feet are crossed and wiggling a little. The jeans and green tank top she has on pull my eyes in the proper direction, over the swell of her hips, up to her chest and along her neck to finally her eyes.
I offer her a weary grin back. She sets the book, a worn copy of The Price of Salt, on the nightstand next to the bed and tilts her head. The smile falls away and she squints at me. “What?” she asks.
Turning towards the dresser, I shuck my jacket over the back of a chair and start taking off my gun and badge. “Why are you dressed?” I ask as I turn around and toe off my shoes. I leave them next to the dresser and hop on the bed awaiting her answer.
“I went out,” she says vaguely, her tone a little more biting due to my own obvious annoyance.
I pause halfway up the bed and remind myself that she doesn’t know and taking this out on her…
Epically stupid on my part.
As I raise my head, I offer a sheepish smile. “Where to?” I ask softly, more teasing and coaxing than the accusatory tone tinting my previous question.
“Phantoms, babe.” Her head cocks to the side. “I was antsy after you three left.” She tugs my right arm from underneath me and forces me to lie on her side.
I comply and rest my head in the crook of her arm then tangle our legs together. “You saw Cass?”
“And I finally met Gabby,” she says lightly.
I grunt. Nor told me about this Gabby woman and her affiliations with a gang.
“Don’t go all judgmental, Annie,” Jill chides softly and begins to run her fingers through my hair. “She’s actually nice once you get her talking, it just takes a bit.”
I would normally laugh. Jill could get a mute to talk, but if she tells me it takes a bit, that means that I couldn’t get her to talk with an injection of phenobarbital.
“She’s a high-level gang member, Jill,” I say instead and hope it conveys my level of displeasure.
“She hasn’t been arrested; Nora and Nikki both have instilled a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy when they’re around her. Just because she is, it doesn’t make her a bad person and in all honesty, Ann Louise, it’s not our place.” Yep, we’re on the same page here – the annoyed one. Damnit.
I roll my eyes. “I still don’t like it,” I pout and lace my hands around her waist, drawing her in closer.
“You’re a pain in my fucking ass is what you are,” she grouses back at me and pecks the top of my head.
“As long as I’m yours,” I shrug, “The rest is irrelevant.”
“Hmm, cheesy save. You’ve been taking pointers from my Nora,” she observes wisely. “Besides, Cass trusts her. That’s enough for me. It was enough for those two upstairs. I would hope it would be enough for you too.”
“Fine, I’ll keep my mouth shut.” A slight pinch begins to build along the left side of my neck so I shift our positions and pull her down on top of me. The pillows don’t cooperate, so I toss three of the five on the floor and use one to stuff under my head. Jill happily settles her long frame over the left half of my body and tucks the top of her head under my chin.
She grabs my right hand and starts playing with it. My left hand gets tucked behind my head. “Sorry we ducked out almost as soon as we got in tonight,” I say once we’re settled. “How’d the rest of your day go?”
Jill shrugs. “I wasn’t surprised and it was fine. Jen’s kinda funny. We had sex in her office.”
“Uh-huh, was she any good?” I go along with this.
“She was okay. Enthusiastic.” Jill can’t keep in her giggle.
“Remind me tomorrow morning and I’ll make sure to remind of you of why you keep me around,” I tease her and kiss the top of her head.
That doesn’t set well with her and she leans up to peck my lips. I accept it gladly.
She pulls away and purrs, “You were reminding me right before Nora called us down here if I remember correctly. You did okay.” She sticks her tongue out at me and then goes back to nuzzling my neck. “Really, it was cool. There’s a fuck ton of shit to do, so I can keep busy. Keep me off your back, but Annie…I…don’t pull anymore shit. With Nora and Nikki and their co-workers helping you guys out, don’t burn out on me, please?”
I bite my lip, unsure of myself. I don’t know if I can keep that promise and I won’t make it if I can’t. I close my eyes and the hotel room we just came from floats in front of me. The pictures of Jill and me at the premiere, of us standing there with Jill’s shit eating grin and looking stunning in the blue gown she had on. Then an image of her grumbling around the kitchen before she has coffee, hair a mess, glasses on, dressed in only pajama bottoms and a tank top.
I swallow and say, “I can’t promise you that this time, Jill.” She tenses. The sharp intake of breath is enough for me to start on damage control. “Baby, please just hear me out. Please?” I beg.
She stays silent, but the hand that was toying with my right one is taken away. She tucks it into her body and waits.
“I…there was a development in the case, when that body was found in Virginia, the unsub uh…” I draw in a breath trying to stay calm. “Okay, the unsub left a letter directly addressed to me. There was a veiled threat and now…” I bite my lip. “With our primary suspect dead, here in New Orleans and the letter and photos recovered at the hotel tonight…”
“He’s made it personal,” Jill clips finishing my confession off.
“Yes. There were pictures of you, me, Nora, Nikki and Lee at the hotel tonight. A letter, addressed to me was recovered also,” I admit as quietly as possible, hoping that maybe if I don’t say it loudly the threat will be less than what I know it to be.
“So what do we do?” she finally asks.
“Dunno,” I painfully admit.
“I could start walking around strapped, you could drop a tip to TMZ…totally up my street cred,” she jokes with me.
My response is a pitiful laugh. “No, I don’t really want you to carry a gun. Besides, you’d probably shoot your eye out.”
I get a smack to my tummy and an indignant huff. “So then…what? ‘Cause you’re fucking crazier than I think if you think I’m leaving you.”
“I thought about it, but then nixed the idea. You’d kill me,” I tell her honestly.
“Damn skippy.” She punctuates with a bony finger to my sternum.
“How about some body guards?” I venture. Really it’s not an optimal solution, but her having protection would settle me some.
“Uh, how about no. Annie, I’m not glass,” she tries to reason with me.
“No, baby, you’re flesh and blood and bones and I’ve seen what this fucker does with that.” I sigh. “I didn’t think you’d go for that either, but I figured it was worth a shot.”
“Well, points for effort, deductions on stupidity,” she tries to kid, but really, it falls flat and it comes out a little snippy. “How are Nikki and Nora handling this?”
“We’re all in the same boat. Nora brought up shipping you and Nikki off together…”
“Then she realized how fucking stupid that would be?” Jill goes back to fiddling with my hand.
“Uh-huh.” I close my eyes and focus on the pattern of Jill’s breathing. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was fried. Jill knows this and briefly untangles us to strip down to just her panties. When she comes back to me, I watch as she snaps open my jeans, tugs them off and drops them to the floor. Straddling my thighs, she motions me up.
She removes my t-shirt and bra before letting me settle back down against the bed. I close my eyes and let her do her thing. I feel the covers pull out from under me and she brings them over us. Going back to snuggling against my side, she pecks the corner of my mouth and whispers, “Get some sleep, babe. Love you.”
“Me too,” I mumble before drifting off.
“You sure this is okay?” I look at Nora and Nikki as they finish setting Jill up at Nora’s desk. After talking it over with our friends during breakfast this morning, they agreed, for which I’ll be eternally grateful that Jill should at least be around people.
That prompted a call to Dan and getting Jill clearance to set up camp in the squad room. I’m not sure how well this will go over with the unit as a whole, but Dan’s been a sweetheart about it and got my wife a swipe badge so she can come and go as needed. He got her access to the precinct gym in case she gets bored with her reading and listening to music.
“Annie,” Jill’s tone is syrupy, “I love you, but I swear if you don’t stop the nervous nelly bullshit, I’m putting you on the couch.”
I suck my lips in and clamp down. I just nod. Message received loud and clear.
“I’ve got two books, hours’ worth of music and phone calls to vendors to make. You three go finish this so that I can go back to the apartment without sending my three favorite ladies into cardiac arrest.” She bats her lashes at the three of us and makes shooing motions with her hands.
“Come on,” Nora is the first to break. “I’m sure everyone else is back in the conference room by now.”
I start to follow, but Nikki still stands there, hands on hips and looking my wife over. “Go Nikki,” Jill’s insistent.
“Why don’t you two go on ahead,” Nikki speaks to Nora and me. “I’ll be there in a sec.” It’d be funny under different circumstances, but we all eyeball each other. Nora and I trying to figure out Nikki’s game that for some reason, I can tell Jill already knows about.
“Let’s go, Nora,” I finally cave and grab a hold of Nora’s belt loop to tug her along. “Leave the crazy brunettes to plot and scheme without us.”
My friend tutters the entire way to the conference room. I finally let her go when we get to the door and push open the half closed chunk of wood. I stop short and realize it’s a full house. Spencer and Bamby have usurped the coffee station and set up camp there. Their beloved Macbooks set together and match, just like their owners.
I shake my head and press forward. John looks up from a stack of photos and scowls. I give him a tight lipped smile. “Morning folks,” I offer feebly as Nora rounds the other side of the table to take her seat from yesterday.
“Well, look what the cat done drug in,” Jesse Furlan says, giving a pointed look to Nora. “Why Det. Delaney, your cohorts were just talkin’ about you. Wonderin’ if you’d ever show today.”
Nora’s smile is brief and biting. “Stuff it, Furlan. You damn well know we were at the hotel last night.”
“Now, Nora,” Det. Barrett wiggles his eyebrows at my friend, “I didn’t think you’d engage in such liaisons that would take you to a place like the Starlight.”
This earns him the finger and a muffled “Shut the fuck up,” from Nora. “Are we going to rib me the entire day?” Nora snips. “If so, then I’m reneging on my agreement to help out when Mr. Mom goes on paternity leave.”
“Ouch,” Georgia whistles. “Leave the cranky one alone, Barrett. Rosie’ll have your ass.”
“So,” I say trying to take the focus off my friend and on to the actual case, “Anything fun since last night?”
Bamby takes the opening for what it’s worth and jumps in, “Now that you mention it there is.” She spins away from her computer and the credenza and stands. “Before I begin my little show and tell, I’d like to remind you all that, being the amazing people, that’s me and Spencer, we are, our expectations of your performance is in no way over shadowed by how impressively awesome we are.”
Travis and Lucy are holding back on laughing. The New Orleans bunch are just sort of looking gob smacked by Bamby’s little speech.
“Definitely your daughter, partner,” I snicker to John.
“Blow me, Flemming,” he snips back.
Nora huffs, “Do you have a point short stack?”
This breaks a little of the tension in the room and Bamby beams, shooting my friend a wink. “Why I’m glad you asked. When we got back to the hotel, Spencer and I were discussing the crap load of paper that we have. In fact, you guys are pretty much buried under it and well, it’s wholly inefficient. We put together something last night that’s corrected it.”
Bamby moves to the head of the table where a projector sits and pushes a button on top. The machine whirs to life and she steps out of the bright beam of light. Motioning to Spencer, Bamby waits for whatever she’s done to load on to the wall to my left.
“Sorry,” Nikki grins sheepishly at the bunch as she finally enters the room and shuts the door behind her. The brunette makes quick work of taking her spot next to Nora and leans in to whisper to her.
Nora just shakes her head and points to the front of the room.
A computer screen finally pops up and Bamby starts back up, “We took the liberty of scanning Addison’s detailed military record into Spencer’s computer last night. Wrote a program that would help sort the images and then identify anything repetitive. There were some hot spots that the program picked up as it ran last night and we just finished sorting through the extraneous data.”
“Bamby,” I warn. I love her to pieces, but sometimes…
She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Sometimes, Aunt Ann, you spoil all my fun.”
“Get on with it, kiddo,” John interjects.
“Dennis Addison had a few friends in the military. Not many, but we have three names that we think you’ll be interested in. Peyton Davison, Chris Abbinanti and Justin Cager.” The names and their I.D.’s pop up on the screen behind her. “Now, this is where I need help. Gen. Malone,” she looks at her father, “You need to call Lt. Stephanie Rice at the State Department and get us the records. Also, you’re welcome.” She takes a deep bow and then flounces back to her work station.
“Fuckin’ smartass,” John grumbles as he has his phone to his ear. I smirk.
“Did you get any sleep last night?” John asks as he shuts Frankie’s passenger door. “And sweet ride. Nora’s?”
I nod. “A few years ago, Nikki was in a shoot up that totaled Nora’s first baby, June Lee, and this is the machine Nikki replaced it with.” I pat the dashboard as Frankie rumbles to life.
“I’m kind of jealous.” John’s playful which can go one of two ways, he’s buttering me up to rip me a new one or he’s in a genuine good mood. “Answer the question, Ann.”
And I’m going with butter. “I did. We got home and I was asleep before three. We didn’t drag ourselves out of bed till eight so…five hours give or take.”
“Calling me to help work the hotel room was what, too much fucking effort?” he snaps at me. I take a glance away from the road and see him leaning against the passenger door with his arms folded across his chest.
I make sure he see’s my eye roll before going back to looking at the road. “We weren’t sure what to expect and I wasn’t dragging the whole team out for a goose chase,” I answer and ignore the irritation.
“You found pictures and another letter,” he says, this time with less irritation, the worry’s there, in his softer tone. “He’s followed the four of you and Lee.”
“Way to state the obvious. You also want to tell me that the target we have on our backs is red and white or should I just assume?” I signal left and head towards the Subway we called our lunch order in to.
“Oh, don’t you fucking dare,” John hisses. “Didn’t we fucking have this conversation Ann?”
I suck in a lungful of air. Letting it out slowly does nothing for the anger bubbling up. I thought deep breathing was supposed to be calming?
He takes my silence as permission to rant, “This isn’t a recent thing for this unsub. He’s been watching you guys longer than you want to admit. Shall I rattle off the statistics on stalking and the rates of violence…?”
I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but he ignores me. “Don’t bother, it was a fucking rhetorical question, agent.” I feel the vibrations from his foot shaking on the seat. “And now you have Jill camped out in the squad room so I’m assuming you told her. If I were half as smart as I thought I was, I’d pull your ass from the case and send all four of you to fucking China. Instead, I’m going to sit here and watch you be an obtuse bitch about this and let your ego jeopardize your family’s lives.”
I…
Is this about my ego…?
My mouth opens to respond, but no sound comes out.
I don’t know.
Shaking my head, I have to believe it’s not.
“It’s not…” I try to sound sure, but fall off.
“Bullshit,” he gripes. “It is, because you know we’re cut from the same cloth, Ann. We’re better than this piece of shit and I can’t wait ‘till we come face to face. I have a glock that’ll be happy to tell him.”
A derisive snort escapes. So at least it’s not just my ego… “You worry me sometimes.”
He shrugs. “Killing people’s never been much of a problem, Ann.”
I don’t know if that helps or not.
His foot stills and I see him right himself in the seat. Pulling up outside the Subway, I put Frankie in park and let her idle. I take a moment to gather the pieces of myself that John scattered and then turn to him.
His broad shoulders are slumped, the shirt he’s wearing is rumpled and I’m just now noticing the darker than normal circles running under his eyes. “You done?” I ask softly. I kill the engine and pocket the keys then scootch across the seat to sit shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Maybe,” he grumbles, “I’m still pretty pissed, but I wasn’t going to do that in front of the team. I may feel better after we eat.”
His tongue lashings usually aren’t about the words he uses. They’re about his tone and more about what he doesn’t say. Like how Jill being at the station tells him that I’m more worried than I’m showing him. That I’ve held back on talking to him and keeping the lines of our relationship clear and open for communication. The ass chewing he just gave me…that was about him feeling left out.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize and take my lumps. “I wasn’t thinking last night and I should have had you come out as soon as we found the envelope. I should have called you this morning and gave you a heads up on Jill coming in and I should have called you and told you that I’m sorry.”
“Apology not accepted yet.” I’ll take that. “So, moving on, we have three potential suspects. Thoughts?”
I snicker. “You mean besides the praying I’ve been doing since Bamby gave us the names that one of them will lead somewhere?”
“Yeah,” he says picking at something stuck to his slacks on his thigh.
“I think our profile is still good. I think that one of the three men will pan out because if not, we’re out of options. I think the sonuvabitch isn’t as smart as he thinks he is and he’s fucked up somewhere and we just haven’t found it yet. I also think that Addison wasn’t supposed to end up dead. Something about the way he was found, where and how seems…off, rushed and sloppy.”
John bobs his head and then runs a hand through his hair to comb it back off his forehead. The unruly lock that was bugging him is persistent and falls back into place. “Bamby said that she and Spencer are going to finish the analysis up on the room and the autopsy today. Once we get back with their food. Nora said Ophoven’s good and Bamby was gushing about him over breakfast this morning so…”
“Having competent people around makes a world of difference,” I say smiling.
“Amen,” John agrees. “How’d Jill handle the news?”
I shrug. “About as well as expected. She won’t leave and she’s not going to take me up on the body guards I offered to hire.”
“You didn’t?” he asks incredulously.
“Fucking right I did. Hell, I’d keep her handcuffed to me if I could, but…”
John snorts and shakes his head. “You’re an idiot.”
I bob my head.
“Stephanie hooked us up though. So when we get back, we’ll start tearing apart the three men’s lives. See if they fit anywhere. Although it kinda sucks for them, guilt by association and all that shit,” he admits to me and I can only agree.
“We could make this go quicker,” I suggest allowing the thought to firm up in my head before I continue. “If we’re thinking that the military is where Addison met the unsub, I’m still trying to figure out how the women were chosen. I mean, the geographics are all over the place…”
“Literally,” he pokes at me.
“Yep, I wonder how close military bases are to each kill location?” I wonder aloud. “There’s a lot of opportunism that goes into committing a crime. The right elements have to fall into place. What if the places were chosen not out of meticulous forethought…”
“But pure dumb luck?” John fills in.
“Why not?” I venture with a shrug.
“It might help narrow things quicker. We’ll look when we get back.” He pops open the door and slides out. Reaching back in, he extends his hand and pulls me through the passenger door. “Food first though, partner. I think better on a full stomach.”
Next>>>
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Date: 2012-05-03 06:52 pm (UTC)Waiting for more :)
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Date: 2012-05-10 04:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-09 04:34 am (UTC)( I saw this update last thursday but been so busy and tired that I just got around to reading it. The good news is it is only two more days until "Update Thursday" and so the wait will not be too long. :))
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Date: 2012-05-10 04:24 am (UTC)Glad to know you are enjoying it and I'll have more for you in the a.m.