A/N: So here we go, another update, another story, the first chapter. Not too much excitement going on. I'm hoping that this one will be longer than the first one, it might, it might not, we'll see, but I'm certainly gonna try. Hope you like!
Disclaimer: I do own Ryan, he's about two inches and lives with his brother Greg. I keep them in a cage, and they're surprisingly furry. Unfortunately I own hampsters, CBS and Jerry B. and the writers and stchuff own the real CSI Miami. Oh! But I do own Kendrel.
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Ryan tried to hide in the corner of Pretérito in his booth while Kendrel was on stage. He still wasn't sure how he had gotten dragged down there that night but there he was, trying to stay as far away from his friend as he could. Last time he had made the mistake of sitting at a table in the main area, and she had thought it would be funny to include him in her show. It was the last time he would do that. Much like the first time he had found himself in the club he had one drink, but this time he was sipping a Jack Rose. He might as well try new things while he was out and about.
Tonight Kendrel had decided to mix up her show. Some nights she danced, some night she sang, tonight she decided to do both. Ryan shook his head and took a sip of his drink. He jumped a little when he felt the weight in the booth shift to one side as someone else sat down. He looked over and blinked to see Eric.
"Since when do you populate clubs?" Eric looked at Ryan, his own drink in his hands.
"Since Kendrel started dragging me down here. She says that I don't care about her enough because I never see her perform." Ryan rolled his eyes. "As if rearranging my sleeping schedule to make her dinner wasn't enough." Eric chuckled and shook his head. "What are you doing down here?"
"I'm a club person believe it or not." Eric raised his glass. "I was just shocked that you're here."
"Well this is actually where I met Kendrel you know," Ryan put his drink on a napkin on the table. "Considering this is the last place that Heather Tillsend was seen, so it naturally was the first I went." Ryan shrugged a little. He was suddenly aware of Kendrel's singing getting closer to where they sat and he instantly regretted coming at all. Eric looked up and raised an eyebrow.
Kendrel slid next to Ryan and laced her arms around his neck singing to him. Ryan turned red and tried to slip away. This action only prompted her to pull him closer and sing into his ear.
Estás perdiendo el tiempo
Pensando, pensando
Por lo que más tú quieras
¿Hasta cuándo¿Hasta cuándo?
Y así pasan los días
Y yo, desesperando
Y tú, tú contestando
Quizás, quizás, quizás
Eric smirked as Ryan turned bright red. He didn't know if Ryan knew Spanish but he was pretty sure that he did judging his reaction. "Get away from me," Ryan hissed low enough so her microphone didn't pick it up. Eric couldn't help but chuckle, only to receive a glare from the embarrassed man next to him.
Kendrel smirked and kissed the corner of Ryan's mouth then slowly let go of him getting up and wandering around the other tables, serenading other lucky souls, or unlucky as Ryan thought of them. He looked at Eric and narrowed his eyes to find the Cuban still chuckling. "Shut up, it wasn't funny."
"Oh, I beg to differ," Eric coughed, trying to get rid of the laugh in his throat. "What makes this whole thing more amusing is the fact that you tried to avoid her by sitting back here. I do have to wonder how long she has in fact been working here." Eric almost muttered the last part to himself. Ryan shrugged and took a sip of his drink, starting to regain the original color in his cheeks.
"I think she mentioned something like, three years. Right after this place opened." Ryan sat up a little straighter in the booth. "Wonder who owns this place anyway. This place is really popular for only being three years in the making, you know?"
"Yeah, lucky guy," Eric took a long swig of his own bottle. "I'll be right back, you want a refill?" He eyed Ryan's glass with amusement.
Ryan shot him a look. "No, thank you. I'm good. Get, I won't be going anywhere." He turned back to watch Kendrel finish her song and some of the men in the crowd gives cheers and cat calls. Ryan shook his head a little when a scream got his attention. His head whipped to the side and he quickly slid out of the booth, drink forgotten and was pushing past curious customers. He heard the scream again and was this time able to pinpoint in the hallway by the bathrooms. He stopped behind a frightened young woman who had screamed and his eyes widened.
The men's bathroom door was propped open by a man lying on the ground. A dead man lying on the ground. Ryan took the woman's arms and turned he back to the safety of the crowd, turning her around she wouldn't have to see the body. He then leaned down and double checked for a pulse on the man's neck. Nothing. Ryan titled the man's head, instinctively looking for marks on his neck, like ones that he had experienced himself only three months ago.
An older man pushed his way through the crowd, in his late-thirties Ryan had guessed, a little older than the people who populated his place. "What's going on here? Oh god! Is that guy dead?" Ryan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Damn. Alright! Everybody out! Club's closing early tonight." To Ryan's relief he had done something smart and was herding the crowd out. When the police got here though they were going to want to talk to all those people.
The man soon came back and walked over to Ryan, who was still inspecting the man's body. "I'm the manager of this club. What do you want me to do?" He looked at Ryan, who obviously seemed to look like he was more in charge of the situation than the manager himself.
"First things first, the police are going to have to be called." Ryan stood up to look at the man. "Second, you're gonna want to get your boss, or whoever owns this place down here. And do you have a list of everyone who came to the bar tonight? The police are going to want to question them I can guarantee it."
"Yeah, we always keep a list of comes here. Every person who enters that front door has to either have a member's card or pays a free up front. We get all the information." Ryan nodded. He remembered the fee from the first time he came here. He had just used his credit card though and figured they probably get his name and information from the transaction. After that he always came in with Kendrel through the employee's entrance.
"You should probably get a list of every employee who was tonight ready too." The manager nodded again.
"I'll get right on that. I'll call the owner first," the manager looked around then blinked. "Never mind he's here tonight. I'll send him over." The man scurried off and Ryan shook his head. He leaned back down to study the body. He found it odd how the man had no physical wounds or scars. He'd have to wait for the Medical Examiner to come and determine COD, but he could pretty much stake this wasn't a natural death.
"You just attract the dead bodies, don't you, Slick?" He glanced up as Kendrel had wandered over.
"Now, what's a pretty lady like you doing over here, Kandy?" Ryan smirked at her and stood back up. "This scene isn't for the faint of heart."
"Then I guess I should be taking you away, huh?" She chuckled then looked at the guy. "He can't be more than 22 years old," she remarked. "What do you think it was?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm gonna guess that it wasn't a heart attack or anything. I'm gonna lean towards murder of some kind. I'm just not sure how yet."
"Too bad you ain't the police, sweety." She pat his cheek. "You'd have all the answers. But until then," she smiled at him. Ryan rolled his eyes and stood up.
"Does something look odd to you? About the body I mean?" Ryan frowned a little, his eyebrow pinched together. "I can't figure it out, but something just seems, off." He walked around the body, this time determined to figure out what was wrong.
"I don't know, is there?" Kendrel raised an eyebrow at him. "You do know that the police are going to hate you, you're contaminating their crime scene." Ryan snorted.
"Like they do anything anyway. I could solve half their crime scenes in two days if I had all the resources."
"Well you have at least half their resources."
"How's that?"
"Well, you have you information go to man, Horatio." She held up her hand ticking out the points on her fingers. "You have weapons girl, Calleigh. We of course can't forget dear old Eric," she bit her tongue, "he helps out in the police department. And then there's Alexx, or Dr. Woods, whichever you prefer. I know you, and before the day is out you'll have a full report just like the police of how this man died."
Ryan looked at her and smacked his lips a little. "You know, sometimes, I think you just do things to piss me off don't you?" Kendrel just flashed a smile at him.
"Hey, mister," the manager was headed back towards Ryan. "I got the owner right here."
"Good," Ryan stood back up and turned outing out his hand towards the man behind the manager and stopped, eyes wide.
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A/N: So that's the first chapter. Oh and the translation (from the website I have) for the lyrics that she sang to Ryan are,
You are wasting time
Thinking, thinking
That which you want most
Until when? Until when?
The days pass this way
And I am despairing
And you, you always answer
Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps
So there you go. The great thing is I know exactly why the guy is dead, and what is gonna happen to both Eric and Ryan in this one, and it's gonna be some good stuff man, good stuff. A tad angsty at some points too, and some fluff I think. I think most of the fluff comes in the next story int he series thoguh. Anyway! I'm getting ahead of myself, next chapter to come soon, be on the lookout. I like reviews. ::puppy dog eyes and pouty lip::