Her ear was pressed against the phone and she could hear the persistent ring over the airwaves.
Pick up the phone Crews. This is not the time for you to go AWOL on me.
"Agh!" yelled Dani aloud in frustration.
Where is that fu- Earley! I'll call Earley.
Dani began thumbing through her phonebook, thanking the day Crews had taken some of her things home by mistake.
Well it's not my fault that we have similar stuff.
She'd had to drive up to Crews' mausoleum of a house to get her stuff back because Crews hadn't answered his phone.
She smiled to herself as she remembered yelling at him, and how Earley had finally restored peace by giving her his number to call as a backup.

The phone was ringing again.
"Hello? Who is this?" said a voice at the other end.
"Detective Reese. Crews' partner."
"Oh hello - "
Dani cut him off. "Where is he and why isn't he picking up his phone?"
"Oh. I don't know. I had to go out of town for the day. Because of Charlie's orange groves. Somethi-"
"Orange groves? Where are they? Can I find him there?" said Dani, getting angrier by the minute.
"Oh. Uh. Yeah. Maybe. Just a minute, uh.. detective. I'll just..."
Five minutes Dani was in her car speeding towards the outskirts of the city.
Enough was enough. I am sick of putting up with your crap Crews.
She was going to lay down some goddamn rules. First and foremost was answering your fucking phone.
After no talking, of course.
Dani floored the pedal.

He sat on the ground.
The sky was growing dark and there was very little light save for the sodium lamp near the picking shed.
Long shadows ran along the ground and he skimmed the air over them with his fingers.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
He had been just another guy who looked like every other guy who had walked down the road.
Want to be that guy.
The air breezed by his face and he shivered, welcoming the cold.
Cold made him feel alive. Alive in an alien and primitive way.
Cold made him numb to everything else except the sting against his skin.
I am oblivious to feeling.
You are such a bad liar, Charlie. He could practically hear Connie's voice in his head.
And now Connie wasn't there anymore.
Nobody seemed to stick.
He could hear a car. A part of him urged him to go forward. I need to know what that is. Need to know...
But another part of him was in control. I am not attached to this car. I'm...
I am not attached to this car and I have no control.
He didn't want to care. But you can't stop. You've come full circle Charlie.
And a circle has no end. You can only go round. And round.
Until all you have are echoes. Faint colourless echoes that darken to nothing in the night.
He closed his eyes.
He could hear footsteps. He leaned back against the tree, the reptilian part of his mind still ever alert to any danger.
The more human part lost for the moment, drowning deeply in misery.
Light footsteps. Delicately touching the soil. Almost treading air. Noises.
The sound was blurred in his head. The volume would grow louder and then softer.
He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the feeling like he would a fly.
"- ews... Crews... "
He jerked his eyes open.

Dani walked at a fast pace after parking near the gate.
All that fucking money and he has only one light. One fucking light.
She could see him sitting at the edge of the grove, leaning against a tree. Stupid sonofa-
"Crews!" she yelled. He said nothing, just moved his weight around a bit.
"Crews!" She yelled at him again and suddenly stopped.
She knelt down and caught hold of his collar to turn his face against hers.
"Jesus Christ, Crews. Are you drunk?" she asked.

He looked at her. She was saying something. She was so blurry.
Who is that? Can't be Connie. Connie's not here anymore.
Besides Connie had never been so.. like this. Who was this person?
This pushing, yelling, fidgeting person?
A voice from the recesses of his alcohol addled mind whispered Dani Reese. Reese...
She was saying something. She was touching his collar. His neck.
hands neck exposed fight back do something react Charlie do something Charlie something anything get free get free
In one fluid motion Crews grabbed hold of her wrist and slammed it down, knocking her down from her kneeling position so that she was flung off her feet.
But that was as far as he got. The next thing he felt was a fist connect to his jaw that sent him reeling back.

"Sonofabitch, you hit hard Crews." said Dani, rubbing her wrist.
"Sorry." he slurred. "Sorry Dani." he repeated, and slumped back against the tree.
Did Crews just call me Dani?
She looked at him. He was a wreck.
What the hell was wrong with this picture?