... And Last For A Lifetime
written by Sammy
"NOOOO!" Rita screamed when she saw that one of the coast guards shook his head, forcing the other one to stop the CPR. "CHRIS, NO! DON'T LEAVE ME! I LOVE YOU!"
"I LOVE YOU!" sounded loudly through Chris' loft. Both Chris and Rita shot up like lightning. They cast their eyes around when they realized that everything had only been a dream.
Chris' glance wandered over to the stairs. He was sure he'd heard something from the bedroom, but wasn't sure. He was about to go back to his pillow, when he saw Rita appearing at the top of the stairs.
"You all right?" he called, getting up from the couch.
"Chris?" she asked with a terrified tone in her voice.
"Sammy?"
"You all right, Chris?" Rita asked as she stared at him.
"Sam?"
Neither of them had any idea what was going on. Rita came downstairs, stopping about a yard away from him. They both gazed into each other's eyes, seeing confusion and fear within them.
"What happened?" Chris asked.
"I dreamed, I dreamed about... you."
Chris realized that the dream Rita had had was more a nightmare than anything else. Just by looking at her, he could tell what kind of dream she had had. It had to be something like he had dreamed about before...
"I am so glad we were finally able to wrap up the Cox case, but I'm still wondering about this last minute information we received." Rita uttered as she and Chris walked down the corridor of the Palm Beach PD.
"For all the work we've done on this one, Cap could really give us some days off, but no, 'Lance, Lorenzo, you have to be in court tomorrow morning'." Chris imitated Harry.
"It's still better than doing foot work, huh?"
"But, not better than a day off. See ya tomorrow, Sam!" Chris smiled as he placed a quick kiss on Rita's cheek and turned to walk in direction of his car.
"I am gonna pick you up around 8:30 for court, so be ready by then!" she called after him. She inserted the key in the lock of the car door and turned it, pulling the door open.
"Why?" Chris suddenly began to sulk. "Why is it always you who has to pick up me? Why can't I just you pick up at 8:30?"
"Oh no! I am not gonna get into that piece of trash you call a car again. Not over my dead bo..."
Rita wasn't able to finish her sentence when there was a loud explosion.
"SAAAAAAAM!" Chris screamed when he saw her body being thrown through the air like a piece of paper.
She landed hard, her head bouncing off of the ground. Blood trailed from her hands and arms, her clothes were ripped apart, showing off the bloody skin.
"RITA!! Someone call 911!" Chris screamed as he pulled Rita farther away from the blazing car.
Never in his whole life had Chris seen so much blood before. He dropped down on his knees, carefully placing Rita's head down on the ground in front of him. He checked her pulse, but couldn't find one, nor could he detect any signs of breathing.
"C'mon, Sammy, breathe, breathe!" Chris pleaded as he started to do CPR. He tried to be as careful as he could, since he feared she had broken rips and other internal injuries, but he had to help her. Blood trailed from cuts and burns covering her entired body.
"BREATHE, RITA, BREATHE!"
Tears started running down Chris' cheeks. He was so frantic with the CPR that he never noticed the people standing around them staring, nor the ambulance and the fire truck pulling up several minutes later. He was so frantic trying to help Rita.
"What happened?" a paramedic asked, dropping a bag next to Chris and opening it.
"The car exploded. I couldn't find a pulse, and she is not breathing." Chris replied as calm as he could. He stopped doing CPR as a second paramedic arrived and took over. He ran his hands over his face, when he realized for the first time that they were were covered with Rita's blood.
"No pulse, no heartbeat, and she's not breathing. We need to intubate."
"Intubate?" Chris gasped. He staggered backwards, away from the scene, always staring at his bloody hands. It was like a horror vision, when he saw the paramedics lifting Rita on a stretcher and rushing her to the ambulance. He stood in shock, his hands raised in front of him as the ambulance sped off.
"Rita, Rita..." he stammered. "Don't leave me, please! I need you, I love you!"
His mind began to race. The vision of Rita flying through the air after the explosion and then being rushed to the ambulance. He covered his face with his hands, repeating Rita's name over and over.
"How is Rita?" Harry asked as he walked into the waiting room of the ER where Chris paced the floor.
"I don't know, Cap. They didn't want to tell me anything. They won't even let me see her."
Harry hugged him close as he saw the tears welling in Chris' eyes. He knew how much Rita meant to him. They were not only the best of friends; they were also soul mates.
"Sgt. Lorenzo?" a voice behind them suddenly asked.
Chris' head shot up, when he saw a doctor dressed in scrubs standing behind them.
"Sgt. Lorenzo, I am Dr. Morrison. I was told to talk to you about Sgt. Lance's condition."
"How is she? How is Rita?" Chris inquired.
"When she was brought in, she was already intubated, which means she didn't breathe on her own, neither was her heart beating. She suffered from severe burns, 3rd degree burns to be exact, over her whole body and several internal injuries. Her spleen ruptured during the explosion, and she's also suffering from a scratched artery and several other injuries. When we x-rayed her head, we saw that her skull was fractured twice right here at the back. We did everything we could, but her injuries were just too serious. There was nothing we could do. I am really sorry."
Chris shook his head, covering his mouth with his hands. He turned and ran down the corridor.
"Lorenzo!" Harry called, running after him. He caught up with him outside on the parking lot.
"Damn you, how could you do this to me?" Chris cried, hammering his fist against the hood of his car. "How could you just leave me without knowing how much I love you?"
"She knew, Lorenzo, believe me, she knew."
Chris turned when he heard Harry's voice behind him.
"I loved her with all my heart, Cap, and I never got a chance to tell her."
Harry hugged him close, when he broke out in tears, crying like a child. Suddenly, he pulled back, staring up at the sky.
"SAMMY, I LOVE YOU!"
"Hey, you okay?" Rita asked, waving her hand in front of Chris' face.
He just nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I am all right. Sam, what happened upstairs?"
"I... I dreamed about you." she stammered again.
"Yeah, you already said that. Come here sit down."
Chris ushered Rita to the couch and forced her to sit down next to him. He slipped his arm around her and held her closely. Rita only looked at him with blank eyes.
"Will you tell me what you dreamed about?"
Rita just shook her head no. What would she tell him? That the dream she had had scared the hell out of her because of Chris never knowing how much she loved him? Because of the fact that he never would understand or was to know how she really felt about him, that she loved him with all her heart like she'd never loved anyone else before?
"I heard you talking downstairs. You weren't sleeping well either?" Rita awkwardly changed the subject.
"I think it's the damn hurricane weather. It always gives me the creeps." Chris paused for a moment. "You really don't wanna talk about it, Sammy? I've never seen you so terrified."
"I can't. You wouldn't understand."
"Try me. I am a good listener."
Rita smiled, "I know you are, but I can't tell you. Can you tell me what you dreamed about?"
Chris began to nervously shift in his seat. No, he couldn't tell her what he had dreamed about. He was sure Rita wouldn't understand, so he just jumped up and walked away, turning the stereo on .
"That bad?" Rita asked as she watched him return to the couch.
"You wouldn't understand, Sam."
"Like you said, you can try me. I am a good listener, too."
Chris thought for a moment, listening to what the music was playing. He absorbed the song he'd never heard before, and was instantly fascinated by it...
~*~*~*~*~*~
Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake up in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel
About her in my heartIf tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feelIf tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try every way to show her every day
That she's my only one
And if my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comesSo tell that someone that you love
Just what you're thinking of
If tomorrow never comes~*~*~*~*~*~
Chris sighed. He knew that there was no going back. If what he had dreamed about would come true one day, he would never forgive himself for not telling Rita how he felt about her. He had made that mistake years ago when he hadn't told his grandma how much he loved her, and it still hurt him to think about it. Even if it meant losing Rita, he had to tell her. He couldn't keep this secret any longer, or it was going to eat him up sooner or later.
"Okay, I tell you, but you have to promise me that you won't interrupt me until I am finished."
"I won't, I promise."
Chris began to pace the floor in front of the couch unsure of how he could face her and say what he had to say.
"You remember when I told you that I never told my grandma how much I loved her? I don't ever want to make such a mistake again. My dream.... I saw you dying in a car bomb before I ever had the chance to tell you how much you meant to me and that I... love you like I've never loved a woman before. Not only like my best friend. Rita, here in my heart, there's only you. From the day I met you, I knew there never would be a place for any other woman in the whole world. You've always been something special to me. People made me choose too often, you or them, and it was always you I chose. I think I couldn't be honest with myself back then, that I was in love with you, but now I have to. I can't keep this inside of me any longer, it's going to eat me up."
Rita sat on the couch in shock. Never in her whole life had she expected something like that coming from Chris.
"Rita, say something. Scream at me, be mad at me, but please, don't be silent." Chris pleaded desperately as he searched her face.
"I... ugh... I need to tell you something." Rita began. "My dream, it was almost the same as yours. I saw you dying after a bomb went off. I tried my best to save your life. I did everything I could, but you just died, before I could tell you how I really felt about you, that I.... love you, too."
"You mean... ?!?"
Rita just nodded as she got up, walking over to him. She placed her hand on his chest, gazing deeply into his eyes.
"You just, I mean, we, ugh..." Chris stammered, as Rita silenced him with her fingers on his lips. She stood on her toes, and leaned in to gently place a kiss on his lips.
"This is crazy, Rita." Chris whispered.
"Insane, I know, it doesn't make any sense, but nothing makes sense when you love somebody."
Chris took Rita's hands into his, and gazed into her emerald green eyes. He'd looked into them so often, seeing a certain spark that he never could say what it was, but now he knew. It was her love for him.
"Yeah, I guess you're right about that, nothing makes sense." Chris suddenly began to grin sheepishly, "Would it be okay if I, ugh, kiss you again?"
A smile broke out on Rita's face. She nodded shortly, before she wrapped her arms around Chris' neck, pulling him closer and kissing him passionately. She reached for the hem of his shirt and slowly pulled it up, but Chris stopped her.
"You really want this?" he asked seriously.
"This is something I have wanted to do ever since I met you, Chris. I was going nuts just thinking about it."
"We will regret it, I know that."
Rita shook her head, "I certainly won't because... I love you, Christopher."
"I love you, too."
Chris let go of her hands and allowed her to pull his shirt over his head. The rain pounded hard against the windows, when Chris swept Rita from her feet and carried her upstairs to the bedroom.
Chris lay awake in bed, his partner lying in his arms, her head resting on his chest. He watched her steady breathing, tenderly stroking the small of her back.
"What are you thinking about?" Rita asked, turning her head. She placed her hands on Chris' chest and rested her chin on them, gazing up at Chris.
"I am thinking, why in all the world this didn't happen earlier."
"What? Us ending up in bed together?" Rita teased.
"Yeah. As far as I remember, we both were pretty damn close to play bunk monkeys before, so why didn't it happen earlier?"
"Bunk monkeys? That's what you call it?" Rita chuckled.
"No, that's what Cap calls it. He said that when he found out about Tom and Cassy and that they wanted to get married."
Rita shook her head, laughing, "Bunk monkeys, sheesh!" She paused for a moment, "When exactly were we so close to sleep together? As far as I remember that never happened."
"Oh, it did, Sammy, we talked about that lots of times, don't you remember?"
Rita stood in front of the mirror and swallowed a pill, when she saw Chris approaching her.
"You okay?" he asked, sounding really concerned about what he saw.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she sighed.
"Headache?"
"Look, people get headaches, Chris, it doesn't mean anything."
"Why don't you get that sawbones you're dating to go in and cauterize it or whatever they do." Chris uttered, sounding a bit impatient with her.
"He says that where it is can either paralyze or kill me. I would rather take my chances with it this way."
Chris frowned and left the room. He sat down on the stairs to the upper part of the apartment and watched Rita carefully. When Rita walked into the room, she noticed he was scrutinizing her, but most of all, she noticed the concerned look on his face.
"Don't go all dopey on me. I'm okay as long as everyone doesn't treat me like damaged merchandise." she coaxed, quieting her voice to ease the tension. "Look, it's an aneurysm. A little swelling of a blood vessel... and it can't be fixed without great risk." She took a breath before continuing, "Chances are nothing will ever happen, okay?"
"Okay." Chris replied softly. His crestfallen expression conveyed his concerned feelings.
"If I tell Hutch about it, he'll put me up on a medical, and have me sweeping out the file room. I would rather go out in a blaze of inefficiency with you!" she teased, trying to cheer him up at least a little bit.
"It's just that you are my best friend, Sam." Chris argued.
"As long as you're working with me, you're not even gonna come close."
Chris chuckled as he put his arm around her shoulder, "I wasn't making a play."
"Oh! But, as soon as they separate us I'll race you to the nearest motel."
A broad grin spread on Chris' face, "Ahh, I couldn't take that chance, Sam. I am so good in bed I'd explode that bubble in your head in the first thirty minutes. I wouldn't want that on my conscience."
"We'll just have to wait and see, huh?"
"We'll just have to wait and see!" he replied and carefully reached up to stroke her hair.
"Well, Sam, I guess you weren't that good like you always said." Rita said, giving him a deadly serious look.
Chris just gave her a look, unable to say anything.
"Do you remember saying that you'd be so good in bed that you'd explode that little bubble in my head the first 30 minutes. See, I am still here."
"Oh, I am better now." Chris replied, pulling her closer to him. "I am so good, I could do the same without exploding it. No, I could do even better!"
Rita just laughed, kissing him on his lips.
"You know I wasn't making a play back then, don't you? I meant what I said."
"About the hotel part? Oh yeah, I knew you were serious, and so was I about the bubble."
Chris pushed a strand of her tangled hair behind her ears, at the same time playing with the lock. The teasing smile on his face slowly disappeared, forming into a deadly serious look.
"That bubble in your head...."
"Shhhh." Rita silenced him with a kiss. "You don't have to worry about that. I am okay, you know that."
"I guess I just needed to hear it again. I couldn't bear the thought if something ever was to happen to you, if you left me."
"That's not gonna be happening, I can promise you that, Sam."
"You know what I am thinking right now? Why didn't we tell each other earlier what we really feel for each other?"
Rita began to trace Chris' lips with her fingers, "I don't know. We were always so close, like family. And in a family, you don't necesarrily need to tell each other you love them, you just know. Maybe, I just figured you knew what you meant to me even without telling you, but sometimes there comes a point in your life when you have to tell the people you love. It's like with your grandma."
"Yeah, I guess you are right about grandma Rose, but you're wrong about another thing."
"About what?"
"We are much more than family, Sammy, much more."
"I don't wanna go cuz I don't wanna leave you." Chris said, tightening the embrace around Rita.
"Well, I wouldn't wanna leave you either, but that can't be the only reason you're not gonna go. It's not like we're married or in love or family or anything like that." Rita reasoned, turning to look at Chris.
"No, we're not." Chris smiled. "I think we're a lot closer than that."
"That makes sense, too."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"So that's the real reason you didn't leave for Boston, because you were in love with me?"
"Not because I was in love with you, but because I am in love with you. Forever and all time, I love you, Rita."
Chris lifted his head just enough to meet Rita's lips half way. He placed his hand behind her neck and rolled over, pinning her down under him, when his phone suddenly began to ring.
"HUMPH!" Chris groaned, breaking the embrace.
"Let go of it." Rita begged, pulling his head back down to her and kissing him.
"It might be work, I have to answer."
Chris reached for the receiver answered the phone.
"Yeah?" he muttered, rolling off of Rita.
"Lorenzo, I wanna see you at the shop in 15 minutes!" a voice on the other end shouted.
"Cap, do you know how late, or better how early it is?"
"Yeah, I know, Lorenzo, but I still want to see you down here. We have news on the Cox case that needs to be investigated ASAP! And where the hell is your partner? I've been trying to reach her for over 15 minutes!"
Chris turned his head and smiled at Rita, "I'll call her, Cap, don't worry. We'll be there as soon as we can. Bye."
Chris hung up the phone and turned back to Rita, resting his head on his elbow.
"Cap says there is more news on the Cox case. He wants to see us down at the shop in 15 minutes."
"Now? It's barely 4:30am! Sheesh, I hate these working hours."
"So do I! What do you think, we head under a hot shower before we leave?"
"What do I think? Cap is going to kill us if we're only 5 minutes late. Keep the shower in mind."
Rita pushed the sheets away and climbed out of bed. She collected her underwear from the ground and got dressed, only to see that Chris remained in bed, watching her.
"What?" she asked, looking around irritated.
"I could get used to that view." Chris teased, finally climbing out of bed as well.
"Don't enjoy it too much, Sam! Who says this is going to happen again?"
"I knew it!" Chris exclaimed. "I knew you'd regret it!"
Rita grinned as she kissed Chris tenderly, "Just kidding."
It was shortly past 4:45am when Chris and Rita arrived at headquarters.
"Oh, I hate this weather, dammit!" Chris muttered. "I hate rain."
"Stop sulking! It already slowed down. Besides, do you think this night would have happened if Palm Drive wouldn't have been flooded?"
Chris had to admit that Rita had a point there. He grinned at her shortly before he led her into the squadroom. Cap. Lipschitz was already waiting for them.
"What took you guys so long to get here?" he scolded them.
"Good morning to you, too, Cap." Chris replied sarcastically.
"We have a guy in interrogation room 2 who claims to have placed the bomb in Alexandra Cox's car. The problem I have is that he is only willing to talk to my Sergeants working this case!"
"What's his name?" Chris inquired.
"Lambert Wilson. Now go go!"
Rita stared at Chris for a moment. He noticed the puzzled look in her face, so he dragged her out of the squadroom in direction of interrogation room 2.
"What is it, Sam?" he finally asked.
"The name, the guy in my dream, he had the same name!" she gasped.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No, no, I am not kidding you. He was in his late 20s, dark hair, about 6'1, wearing a black leather jacket."
"Maybe you ran into him before?"
"No, I am sure I didn't. Sam, what is this?"
Chris shook his head, "I don't know, but we better find out."
Chris pushed the door to the interrogation room open and stepped in. He froze when he saw the guy. He indeed was in his late 20s, had dark hair and was wearing a black leather jacket. He turned back to Rita who closed the door behind her. She just nodded at him.
Chris cleared his throat, "Mr. Wilson, I am Sgt. Lorenzo, this is my partner, Sgt. Lance. We are working the Cox case. You wanted to talk to us?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's important. Someone wants to kill me!" he replied.
"Can you tell us who?"
"I can't give you a name cuz I never met the guy."
"But you think you know who wants to kill you, right?" Rita inquired.
"It's the guy who hired me to place a bomb in a certain car. When I did, he called me, telling me the bomb went off with the wrong person in the car, and he would kill me. I am scared to death! Yesterday, he called me, telling me I should place a bomb in another car. If I did so, he wouldn't kill me, kind of revenge for him I think. To save my life, I did what he told me."
"Who's car?" Chris asked.
"Sgt. Lance's car." Lambert replied low.
Chris looked over at Rita. His dream! The bomb! Just glad they had used Chris' car to get to his place, and not hers.
"You placed a bomb in my car?" Rita exclaimed.
"It should go off 30 seconds after the driver's door is unlocked. This guy called me tonight around 2am, telling me that you weren't dead, and that it was my fault, and I needed to pay for it. At first, I didn't know what to do, but then I decided to call the police, but all the phone lines were dead till about an hour ago."
"How did you get in contact with this guy?"
"One day, I got a call. Someone told me he needed an expert on bombs. I don't know who gave him my name or phone number. I told him, I would do my best, but it would cost him a little, and he told me money wouldn't be a problem. He would store $5,000 in a locker at the train station along with further instructions. I was to get $5,000 more after the job was done. A day later, I received a letter with a key. I went to pick up the money. The person had included a very detailed list about who I should kill, Randolph Cox. Monday I observed if everything I was told was right, and it was, so I went to attach the bomb to the car on Tuesday. My work was done. I waited for the rest of my money on Wednesday, but all I got was a furious call from this guy."
"So all you have to tell us that you know nothing? That's not much, pal."
"I know it's not much, but what shall I do? I am scared to death, I don't wanna die."
"Excuse us for a moment."
Rita grabbed Chris by his upper arm and led him outside on the corridor.
"I know who's trying to kill him." she told Chris, crossing her arms in front of her. "We were on Calvin Carey's yacht when the bomb went off in my dream. He was the one who hired him. I am sure."
"Normally I would tell you that you're crazy, Rita, but this guy.... I don't know. I dreamed about what nearly would have happened to you, you dreamed about him..."
"I say we go visit Mr. Carey right now. Cap can take care of Wilson."
"And don't forget, he can also take care of a small little bomb in your car, Sam!"
It finally had stopped raining, but the wind was still blowing strong when Chris and Rita arrived at the mansion of Calvin Carey. The sun was about to rise above the building, when they rang the bell. The maid opened the door for them.
"Yes?" she asked groggily, looking like Chris and Rita had woken her up.
"Sgts. Lance and Lorenzo, Palm Beach PD, we would like to talk to Mr. Carey."
The maid just nodded, letting them in.
"I will go and see if he is awake."
She disappeared upstairs, while Chris and Rita studied the huge hall of the house. The paintings on the wall and the ceramics placed on small tables certainly were more expensive than everything Chris and Rita owned together.
A moment later, the maid appeared at the top of the stairs.
"I am sorry, Mr. Carey isn't here." she said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Do you have any idea where we can find him?"
"I don't know, but I can look if any of his keys are missing, if that helps you."
Chris nodded at the maid, who disappeared in a certain room down the hallway. It didn't take long, until she reappeared.
"The keys for the Porsche are gone, and so are the keys for his yacht, the Royal Queen and a motorboat. I don't know if he is there, since there's the hurricane alert."
"Can you tell us where the Royal Queen and the motorboat are docked?"
"The Royal Queen lies down at the marina. As for the motorboat, Mr. Carey has a small beach house a little north of Palm Beach. Sometimes he uses the motorboat to get to the Royal Queen from there. That's all I know."
"Thank you, you really helped us."
Chris and Rita left, walking back to their car.
"I think he can't be at the marina." Chris reasoned. "The roads are closed."
"Nevertheless, we should call coast guard and see if the Royal Queen is still at the dock or not. Meanwhile, we can drive to his beach house."
Chris just nodded as he drove off. Rita grabbed the radio and asked for the information on Calvin's beach house they needed. She got the address immediately, so Chris headed in the direction where the beach house was. Meanwhile, Rita talked to coast guard over the radio.
"This is Sgt. Lance, Palm Beach PD. Who am I talking to?"
"Lt. Richard Paul. How may I help you Sergeant?"
"We need information on a yacht docked at the marina, the Royal Queen."
"One moment, I have to ask."
A cracking noise was heard over the radio, and Rita was disconnected for a moment. It didn't take long until Lt. Paul was back on the radio.
"Sergeant, I was just told that nobody is able to get to the marina to check that at the moment. My boats are out helping a boat in danger."
"Thank you for your help anyway."
Rita placed the radio back. All they had now was Calvin's beach house. When they arrived, they found his yellow Porsche parked in the driveway.
"You take the front, I'll take the back." Chris said, drawing his gun. He crept around the house, while Rita found the front door unlocked, so she went inside.
"Mr. Carey?" she called out loud, but didn't get a response. "This is Sgt. Lance, Palm Beach PD. I want to talk to you."
She moved to the living room, when she saw Chris outside on the porch. He waved for her to open the sliding door. She did as she was told.
"The motorboat is here, but it looks like it was moved recently. The person who attached it at the dock apparently doesn't know hwo to do it the right way." Chris uttered, walking into the house.
"You don't wanna tell me he really went out in that kind of weather, do you? That's almost suicide!"
"Something's not right here, Sam. The motorboat is here, and so is his car, but where is Calvin??"
Rita grabbed a piece of paper from the coffee table in the living room, "Look at that, Sam. It's a detailed list of Randolph Cox's daily activities. It starts with what car he uses, when he leaves his house, when he arrives at the office, everything! I don't believe it, he really wanted to kill him!"
"But, his girlfriend ended up in the car, what a shame."
"I still wanna know one more thing. Why the hell did he want to kill me for revenge? That's one thing I don't understand."
"Neither do I. But... uh oh!"
"What?"
Chris walked over the shelf and grabbed a picture from it.
"We never saw a picture of Alexandra Cox. Aren't you at least one bit curious what she looked like?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"That's why!"
Chris turned the picture he was holding in his hands and showed it to Rita. The woman in that picture looked remarkably like her, the same brown hair, the same haircut, the same green eyes, and to top it off, even the same smile.
"Oh god!"
"Right, partner, she looks exactly like you. She could be your sister."
"But, that still doesn't answer why he tried to kill me."
"Weird mind. We better call in a search for Calvin now."
They returned to their car, where Chris called it in immediately. Much to his surprise, a message from coast guard was waiting for them.
"Put it through." Chris said, when Lt. Paul's voice already was to be heard on the other end.
"Sgt. Lance?" he asked.
"This is Sgt. Lorenzo speaking. What did you get?"
"Two of my boats are just about 2 miles east of the coast. They found a destroyed yacht. Apparently it is the yacht you're looking for. A piece of chunk was found that read the letters AL QUEEN, we are almost sure the destroyed yacht we found is the Royal Queen. If you want, you can meet us at our headquarters and take a look at what is already brought in."
"Thank you, Lieutenant, we'll be there in about, ugh, 20 minutes." Chris placed the radio back. "Did you hear that?"
"Sure did! Calvin was crazy enough to sail out during a hurricane. Sheesh!"
"Let's go and see what coast guard has for us."
When they arrived at the coast guard headquaters, the Lieutenant in charge who also was the one Rita talked to over the radio was already waiting for them.
"Sgts Lance and Lorenzo I guess, I am Lt. Paul." he greeted them. "This way please."
Lt. Paul brought them to their garage where they had stored the parts they'd pulled out of the water and brought in already.
"That's almost everything that's left of what you were looking for." Lt. Paul uttered, waving his arm over the remains lying around on the ground.
"Was someone on board?" Chris inquired.
"My people told me they pulled a male corpse out of the water. They should arrive here any minute."
"Do you know what happened to the yacht?"
"All we can say at the moment is that the yacht left the marina early this morning. One of our patrol boats saw a small motorboat driving in direction of the marina around 3am. They told the guys they better not go out again in that kind of weather, but apparently at least one of them didn't listen. They called in that the guy they pulled out of the water was one of the ones on the motorboat."
"You mean there were two on the boat?"
"That's what I was told."
Lt. Paul looked up, when he saw one of his coast guards appearing at the top of the stairs, waving for him to come over.
"Sergeants, they just arrived with the corpse. I guess you want to take a look at it."
Chris and Rita just nodded as they followed Lt. Paul upstairs. One look at the body lying on the stretcher, and they could tell it was Calvin Carey.
"Yeah, that's the guy we were looking for." Chris uttered, pulling the yellow blanket back over the corpse. "Sheesh!"
"We need to call in forensics, Lieutenant, so would you please make sure that everything pulled out of the water is going to be taken to the garage and that nothing is going to be taken away?"
"I will make sure of that, Sergeants."
While they waited for forensics, Chris and Rita went through the remains of the yacht. Not that they could tell what they saw, but a certain small plastic box caught Chris' eyes. It looked like what Luther Venom had shown them in his lab.
"What is this?" Chris asked one of the coast guards, who tried to help them the best he could with identifying the remains.
"I don't know. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before." the young man replied, taking a closer look at it. "I think I know someone who may be able to help you. Just a moment."
The young coast guard left the garage, and came back about 5 minutes later with another coast guard.
"This is Bert Kellar, he used to be a navy seal. Maybe, he can tell you more."
Bert nodded at them shortly before he bent over the device and took a closer look at it.
"I am not sure, but I would say it doesn't look like a radio or any other electronic device though there are cables and electronic boards all over. If I wouldn't know it better, I would say it looks like a bomb."
"Thanks for the help."
Bert nodded shortly again and left the garage, when Lt. Paul appeared at the top of the stairs.
"The second boat just arrived." he called. "I am going to send them down to you to give you a description of the second guy on the motorboat."
Chris was busy with some other remains lying in front of him, when Lt. Paul appeared with a young woman down in the garage.
"Sergeants, this is my sister, Donna." he introduced them.
"Donna?" Chris gasped.
"Chris? Oh gosh! How long has it been? 5 years?"
"Yeah, I think something like that. Good to see you." Chris leaned in and gave Donna a friendly hug. "I never knew you worked for the coast guard."
"I started working here as a volunteer when I was still in high school. Should have listened a little better."
"Yeah, I guess I should have."
Rita glared at the young woman in front of her. One of Chris' former girlfriends, just what she needed right now. Chris noticed the look Rita gave Donna.
"Oh, Donna, this is my partner, Sgt. Rita Lance."
"Ms. Paul, can you tell us what the other person in the motorboat looked like?" Rita inquired impatiently, changing the subject back to what was really important at the moment.
"I can't tell you exactly because it was dark." Donna replied, turning towards Rita, as did Chris. "But, he was not older than maybe 30, dark short hair. Oh, and he was wearing a leather jacket, dark blue or black, I couldn't really tell. I am sorry this isn't much."
Chris and Rita looked at each other, saying at the same time, "Wilson!"
"Ms. Paul, could you please come with us downtown? We need you to identify someone for us."
"Now? There's still so much to do here, I don't think I can..."
"Go, Donna." Lt. Paul interrupted his sister. "If it's necessary, you need to go. We'll get along without you."
Donna nodded silently, and followed Chris and Rita to their car.
When they arrived at the shop, Chris and Rita had told Donna already what she needed to do. Rita brought her to the women's locker room. She shouldn't wear her coast guard uniform, and since she was about the same size as Rita, Rita gave her a pair of jeans and a shirt she stored in her locker.
"I guess I am a little nervous. I've never done something like this before." Donna uttered nervously while slipping into the pants.
"Don't worry, all you have to do is walk into the squad room and place a file on Chris' desk. Look at the guy sitting next to the desk. I'll wait for you outside."
Donna nodded, "But don't you think he'll notice me? I mean he saw me on patrol."
"Relax, Donna, just relax. Let's see..." Rita leaned back against the lockers. "Ah, I know."
She reached into her locker and pulled a dark blue hat outside. She smiled at it, since it wasn't her own, but Chris'.
"Wear this. Hide your long hair under it. I doubt he'll recognize you."
"Thank you."
Donna put her long red hair under the hat, wearing it back to the front.
"How do I look?" she asked Rita, modeling her outfit for her.
"Really good. I don't think he'll recognize you."
Donna smiled nervously, before she followed Rita outside into the corridor. Trying to think about something else than identifying a killer, she asked Rita a question, "Chris, is he married?"
"Nope." Rita replied shortly, showing Donna the way to the squadroom.
"Does he have a girlfriend?"
A light smile that Rita tried to suppress appeared on her face, "He's somewhat taken."
Donna saw the smile. Something about the way those two acted around each other made her think.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" Donna suddenly asked.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Would you mind if I'd made a move on your partner?"
"Why would I mind?"
"Because you said he was somewhat taken, and seeing the way you two look at each other... I know that look on Chris' face. Like a teenager in love."
Rita bit her lower lip. After one night they'd spent together, was it really that obvious already? Sure, Chris had had this naughty grin on his face ever since they left his loft.
"I am sorry if I got too personal."
"No, no, it's okay. And yeah, I certainly would mind now."
"I don't know how well or how long you've known Chris, but I can tell you something. He's always been a ladies' man, with many notches in his gun. If you expect to find something steady, Chris is the wrong person. Believe me, I know what I am talking about."
"You know, huh?"
"It's not that I dated him or anything, it's just that my boyfriend back then was one of Chris' best friends. Believe me, he had a new girlfriend every week, you could count on that."
Rita remained silent, folding her arms in front of her chest. She knew that everything Donna had said was true, she knew Chris exactly. A strange feeling began to nag her.
"I am sorry, I didn't want to upset you or anything. I just figured you needed to know. I know what it's like to fall in love with someone you work with. It's hell when this person only treats you like a cheap adventure for one night."
"I know, Donna. I appreciate it, I really do. It's just that I think I've gotten to know Chris well enough the past 9 years and I trust him. Thanks for the concern though." Rita took a deep breath. "You ready?"
"Yeah, let's get this over with."
Donna slowly pushed the palm tree doors open, an empty file folder in her hands. She immediately spotted Chris sitting at his desk. He was writing something down, while a guy sitting next to him annoyingly looked around the squad room.
Donna slowly made her way over to Chris' desk, "Sgt. Lorenzo, here is the file you wanted."
She handed the file to Chris, who smiled at her reassuringly.
"Thank you, D. I appreciate you got this to me early."
Donna just nodded before she headed out of the squadroom. She leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. Then she turned to Rita.
"I guess that's the guy I saw on the motorboat."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, yeah, I am. That was him."
Rita nodded as the palm tree doors swung open and Chris appeared.
"Wilson is back in interrogation room 2." he said. "Are we positive on him?"
"Yeah, Donna is sure that's the person she saw."
"Okay. Sam, I'll meet you in there in about 10 minutes." Chris uttered. "By the way, nice hat, Donna."
He lifted it from Donna's head, so that her long hair fell over her shoulders. He grinned at the two women, before he placed it on his head and walked back to the squadroom. Donna just raised her eyebrows as she looked over at Rita.
"I forgot to tell you, it's his hat." Rita chuckled. "C'mon, I'll have someone drive you back to your headquarters."
Chris waited for Rita in front of interrogation room 2 until she finally showed up.
"Before we go in there, we need a theory." Chris stated.
"I think I'll come up with one as soon as we're in there." Rita replied, turning the knob of the door and walking in. Chris followed her.
"Mr. Wilson, my partner and I have some more questions to ask you." Rita said as she sat down in the chair opposite Lambert Wilson.
"What? Your partner just took my statement."
"I know, but there are some more questions. Can you tell us where you were between let's say midnight and 4am this morning?"
"At home sleeping, why?"
Chris frowned, "Didn't you tell us earlier you tried to reach the police and that the guy who wanted to kill you called you? How can you sleep then?"
Wilson bit his lower lip.
"Mr. Wilson, if we should help you, you need to tell us the truth."
"Okay, so I was at home, but not sleeping, all right?"
Suddenly, Rita got up and walked over to Chris, whispering, "Do you think you can handle him alone for some minutes? I need to check something out."
With that, Rita walked out of the interrogation room and left Chris alone with Wilson. When she returned about 10 minutes later, she had a broad smile on her face. In her hands, she was carrying a tape recorder that she placed on the table.
"Mr. Wilson, I want you to listen to this tape, please. It's your call in earlier this morning."
Rita pushed the play button. She played the whole call, when at the end there was a ship horn blowing, topped with some sirens.
"Can you tell me why the sirens of a coast guard patrol boat and a ship horn can be heard during your call if you'd been at home all night, Mr. Wilson?" she inquired, stopping the tape.
Wilson remained silent, folding his arms in front of his chest.
"Mr. Wilson, we have a witness who saw you together with Calvin Carey. His corpse was pulled out of the water about an hour ago. His boat was destroyed. According to coast guard, it wasn't the hurricane that destroyed it, but a nice little bombing device."
"What do you want from me?" Wilson exclaimed. "Someone's trying to kill me and you accuse me of killing this person?"
"Big mistake." Chris replied. "I thought you didn't know who tried to kill you."
"I am not going to say anything further without a lawyer."
Chris just nodded, as he grabbed Rita by her upper arm and led her outside of the room.
"That was great, Sammy! You nailed him!" he smiled. He looked around, and when he saw that the officer waiting outside before had walked into interrogation room 2, he kissed her tenderly.
"Thank you!" she smiled back.
"Let's have one of the officers get him, and we can go home to get at least a little more sleep tonight."
"Chris, I think we needa talk..."
Rita was interrupted by a yelling voice coming down from the corridor, "Lance, Lorenzo, get into my office ASAP!"
Both Chris and Rita groaned as they headed in direction of the squadroom. Harry was waiting for them in his office.
"I just got a call from coast guard. What the hell do you two have to do with coast guard? What are forensics doing down there?"
Chris and Rita sat down in the chairs in front of Harry's desk, before Chris replied, "Cap, we just solved our case."
"What? Yesterday you didn't even have a clue and now you solved it? All because of that looney in interrogation room 2?"
"Whoa, Captain, the vein near your temple is dangerously beating." Rita uttered, stifling back laughter. "I think you better slow down."
"What? Where?" Harry exclaimed, pulling a mirror out of his top drawer. "Oh no, oh no, it's happening again, it's happening again!"
"Cap, why don't you go home and get some rest and come back later? We can tell you then."
"Yeah, and I think we could use some rest, too."
Harry peered over the edge of the mirror, "Do you really think I don't know what you two are trying to do here?"
Chris and Rita grinned sheepishly at him, shrugging their shoulders.
"What? What are you waiting for? Go, go! I wanna see you in my office at exactly 10:30am and not one minute late!"
"Thanks, Cap! Oh, and have someone get Lambert Wilson to a cell."
They were about to head out of the office, when Harry called Rita back.
"About your car, Lance, you should check in with some guy called Luther Venom before you head to your car. He's down in the basement."
"I will, Cap."
With that, Rita closed the door behind her and walked over to her desk. Chris was just collecting all his belongings from his desk.
"You gonna go and talk to Luuuuuuther right now?" Chris asked, grabbing his jacket from his chair. He walked over to Rita and placed his arm around her shoulders, before he led her out of the palm tree doors.
"Nah, I think he can wait. All I need now is a hot shower and a warm bed."
"Oh, I think I know where to find that." Chris said mischieviously.
"Chris, there's still something we need to talk about."
"And, what may that be?"
"We, ugh, I mean what we did earlier..." Rita paused for a moment. "I can't help it, but I feel kinda cheap, Sam. I feel like I was only something for one night."
Chris placed his index finger on her lips, "Shhhhh. It certainly wasn't something only for one night. I wouldn't do that to you, Sammy. Not in a million years, nevah!"
"So, if it wasn't only something for one night, how can we be sure it's gonna last longer? You know you've never been someone for a long-term relationship."
"You know why I never had a long-term relationship? Because in my heart I knew that the only woman I ever wanted was you. It was always you I wanted to spend the rest of my life with." Chris suddenly began to grin sheepishly, "But you know, a man sometimes needs, ugh, you know what I mean, he needs to golf."
"I know, and that's why I feel so cheap, Chris. How can I be sure it wasn't that you needed to satisfy your sexual hunger and I was just the first person you could get a hold of?"
"If you think I only thought with my libido, then you're totally wrong. I thought with my heart, Sammy, not even with my head, cuz my head told me I better not do that."
Rita couldn't help but smile, "My head told me the same, but here inside it was different."
"Besides," Chris whispered, leaning closer to Rita, "you were the one who kissed me first."
Rita just giggled, as she slapped him playfully on his arm. Chris couldn't help but smile at her. He pushed a strand of loose hair out of her face. There it was again, that spark in her green eyes he'd seen so many times before.
"I love you, Rita, and nothing's gonna change that, can you hear me?" he began. "Nothing! And, do you know what? I think tonight was fate. This case, the weather, the dreams... If none of that had happened, we never would have told each other. It took us so many years to tell each other what we really feel. I don't regret anything I did or said last night, nothing. We belong together, forever and all time, you and me. I know last night began in a rush, and we actually never got to finish it the way I always pictured it. If you need time, I'll give you all the time you need. I'll wait for you forever cuz I love you."
Rita remained silent for a moment, before she leaned in and kissed Chris tenderly.
"A hot shower and a warm bed, Sam." she giggled. "It's not hot or warm enough without you."
Chris was downstairs in the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as possible as he prepared breakfast for himself and Rita. She was still upstairs, sound asleep. At least, Chris hoped she was. It was shortly past 9am when he snuck upstairs, carrying a tray. A smile broke out on his face, when he saw Rita lying on her stomach in the middle of the bed, sound asleep. Chris carefully placed the tray down and went to place a CD in the CD player. He grabbed the remote from the shelf and moved back to the bed, sitting down.
"Hey sleepyhead, good morning." he said as he placed a tender kiss on Rita's lips.
Rita just rolled over, muttering, "Just 5 more minutes."
"C'mon, breakfast is ready, Sammy."
"I'll skip breakfast, thank you." she groaned into the pillow.
Chris giggled, before he placed a trail of kisses from Rita's shoulders to her neck, over to a certain spot behind her ear.
"Tell me... you really... wanna skip.... a romantic... breakfast in bed?" Chris asked between the kisses.
"In bed?" Rita asked. She turned her head, kissing him on the lips.
"I knew you'd like that."
Chris reached down and pulled the tray on the bed. The coffee smell filled the whole bedroom.
"You are the first one to ever bring me breakfast to bed." Rita smiled.
"Really? You mean no one ever did that for you?"
Rita shook her head, "No one ever did. Okay, my mom used to do that, but only when I was sick and had to stay in bed."
Chris leaned closer to Rita, whispering, "Actually, this is a first for me, too. I never had breakfast in bed with anyone before."
Rita placed a quick kiss on Chris' lips before she reached for a slice of toast on the tray. Much to her surprise, Chris held her back.
"Before we have breakfast, I want you to listen to something."
Chris used the remote to turn on the CD player. Soft music filled the room...
~*~*~*~*~
When I first saw you I already knew
There was something inside of you
Something I thought I'd never find
Angel of mineI look at you looking at me
Now I know why they say the best things are free
Gonna love you till the end of time
Angel of mineWhat you mean to me you'll never know
Deep inside I need to show
You came into my life sent from above
Better than a dream such a perfect love
And I'll adore you till the end of time
Angel of mineNothing means more to me than what we share
No one in this world could ever compare
Last night the way you moved is still on my mind
Angel of mineWhat you mean to me you'll never know
Deep inside I need to show
You came into my life sent from above
Better than a dreams such a perfect love
And I'll adore you till the end of time
Angel of mineI never knew I could feel each moment
As if it were new
Every breath I take or vow that I make
I wanna share it, share it with youWhen I first saw you I already knew
There was something inside of you
Something I thought I'd never find
Angel of mineYou came into my life sent from above
Better than a dream such a perfect love
And I'll adore you till the end of time
Angel of mineWhat you mean to me you'll never know
Deep inside I need to showI look at you looking at me
Now I know why they say the best things are free
Gonna love you till the end of time
Angel of mine~*~*~*~*~
"Angel of mine." Chris whispered before he kissed Rita passionately.
"Chris, the tray!" Rita reminded him, as the tray on her knees began to sway when Chris pushed her back into the pillows, still kissing her.
"Are you very hungry?" he asked huskily, carefully pushing the tray to the other side of the bed.
"Starving." Rita responded, pulling him closer to her. "I love you, Chris."
"I love you, too."
They kissed passionately, when the phone on the night stand began to ring.
"UGH! Why can't I ever finish a night with you the way I always pictured it?" Chris groaned, reaching for the phone.
"Be nice to whoever it is on the phone, all right?" Rita replied, placing a kiss on Chris' lips before he answered the call.
"Yeah?... HUH?... Cap, I told you we.... Would you please... Cap, we told.... Cap, can I finish this, please???... All right. We'll meet with you at 10:30 in George's office.... With a full report about everything, I promise. Bye."
Chris placed the receiver back on the night stand.
"Cap wants a full report in an hour, Sammy. What are we gonna tell him? That we all saw it in our dreams? He's gonna send us to the mad house!"
Rita chuckled, "Why don't we finish breakfast and then head over to the bullpen to see what we can come up with as to why Calvin wanted to kill his girlfriend's father?"
"Is there some time for a hot shower in between? We skipped that earlier."
"There's always time for that." Rita smiled seductively. "Why don't you go ahead and fill the tub with water? I think breakfast in the bathroom can be pretty romantic, too."
"Oh god, help me!" Chris exclaimed, laughing, and climbed out of bed.
He went to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. The tub was almost filled, so he turned off the water, when he heard a cracking noise behind him, and two arms encircled his waist. A pair of hands reached for his boxers.
"I guess you won't be needing these!" a husky voice whispered into his ear between placing a trail of kissing from one shoulder to the other. Rita began to slowly push the boxers down.
Chris swallowed hard. If she played this seduction game any longer, he'd push her right down on the floor in a moment. He stepped out of his boxers and turned, seeing that Rita was still wearing his PBPD t-shirt. And that was all she was wearing, he knew that exactly.
He kissed her passionately and lifted her up, her legs instantly wrapping around his waist. Chris stepped back into the tub, and sat down with Rita on his lap. That was when she allowed him to remove the t-shirt and reveal her bare breasts.
"If we play another round of golf, we a) beat a new record, and b) never make it back to the shop." Chris grinned, smiling mischieviously, but the smile disappeared almost instantly, and he bit his lower lip.
"Who's ready to play another round, huh?" Rita teased, when she felt really every muscle in Chris' body tense up under the moves she made.
"Uhm, yeah..." Chris coaxed. "Oh gosh, you have quite an effect on me, Sammy."
"I know, and it better be only me."
Rita leaned in and kissed Chris tenderly. Slowly, the tender kisses became harder and harder. Chris leaned back in the tub, pulling Rita on top of him in full length. His hands wandered down her back, over her hips, down her thighs till he got a hold of one of her knees. He slowly pulled it up, higher and higher, barely able to withstand Rita's attraction.
She'd started to place a trail of kisses down his chest. The hot water gave an extra pleasure to her kisses. Rita wrapped her arms around Chris' neck, face to face with him. They were at each other's mercy, and they knew it, but who cared at that moment while they were making love?
When they stepped out of the bathroom, both wrapped into a fluffy towel, it was nearly 10am. The breakfast tray was still resting on the bed untouched. The coffee was totally cold.
"We either head out for breakfast now and be late for work, or we skip breakfast and be at work in time." Chris suggested, wrapping his arms around Rita's petite body. He rested his chin on Rita's shoulder.
"If you keep this up, we're gonna be late for work no matter what. Besides, we still have to find Calvin Carey's motive."
"I know." Chris groaned. "So, we get dressed and head over to the shop without breakfast. We have exactly 35 minutes to find a possible theory and meet with Harry in George's office."
"I think Calvin's files are somewhere in the stack of files downstairs. I'll go through them on our way to work."
Rita reached for her clothes that were scattered all over the floor. Much to her dismay, she found everything but one of her shoes. She was sure she'd kicked them off right before they went to bed. Chris had already finished dressing, while Rita crawled through the bedroom, looking for her shoe.
"What are you doing there?" Chris chuckled.
"I am looking for my one shoe. Did you see it?"
"Uh, no, but I remember something went over the edge and dropped downstairs. Maybe that was your shoe."
Rita stood up and hurried downstairs, where she found her shoe under the stairs. She plucked it from the ground and put it on her foot. Meanwhile, Chris had gotten Calvin's files out of the stack. He waved it in the air as he walked over to the door.
"C'mon, Sam, we are already late!"
"I am coming, I am coming!"
The ride back to the shop was rather quiet. Rita was going though the files on her knees, until something strange caught her eye. She rubbed her temple, sighing.
"Did you get something?" Chris asked.
"Maybe, I don't know. Here's a recent bank record that says that Calvin had huge debts to pay. Apparently, he lived over the top. The case against Microware helped him pay half of his debts. Now what if Calvin decided to kill Randolph because he knew his daughter would get everything after his death? He told us he wanted to marry her, which means basically the money would be his then. He would have had enough money to pay his debts and furthermore, it would have given him the chance to continue to live the way of life he used to live."
"You mean he just wanted to marry her because he wanted to get her money?"
"Wouldn't be the first time I heard something like that. Maybe he really loved her, and it was just a fine way out of his misery. I guess we'll never know."
"And Wilson found out who paid him and wanted to kill him and killed Calvin instead."
"Right. So you see, in the end everybody gets what they deserve. Calvin got killed for killing his girlfriend, and Wilson goes to jail for killing both."
"And, for almost killing you, don't forget that."
"I certainly won't. Just thinking about how close to death I was makes me shudder. I think I'll never be able to use that car again."
"Well, I am always here to give you a lift, Sam."
"Thank you, Sam."
Harry, George, Chris, and Rita sat at a table at the roach coach for lunch, discussing the final things of the Cox case.
"Forensics found an imprint of a wheel in front of Calvin's beach house that matches with Wilson's car. Even his fingerprints were found all over the house and the motorboat. "
"We already thought it was really strange when we arrived there and Calvin's car and the motorboat were there, but not Calvin."
"We even think we may have at least a little of an idea as for why he told Wilson to place the bomb in Rita's car."
"And, what may that be, Lorenzo?" Harry asked impatiently.
"Did you ever see a picture of Alexandra Cox, Cap? She looked so much like Rita."
"Too bad Calvin can't tell us if he really told Wilson to put the bomb in my car, or if that was just Wilson's idea because he found out I was asking around for him, we honestly don't know."
"I still don't understand why Wilson called you guys after he'd killed Calvin." George uttered. "If he hadn't told you he was the bomb expert in this case, we certainly never would have found out."
"Luther, the guy working in the lab in the basement, called in a snitch for us." Rita explained. "We met her a couple of nights ago. Apparently, she asked around for us, and Wilson found out about it. If Calista had told us, we would have nailed him, that's for sure."
"Maybe, he thought we would treat him milder if we thought someone was trying to kill him." Chris went on further. "He made Calvin's death look like an accident that happened during the hurricane. He sailed out with him, knocked him out, set the timer and left the yacht. Boom! That was Calvin's end."
"Nobody would have pictured Calvin to be the one who wanted to kill Randolph Cox. Wilson wanted to make us believe the real killer was still out there. We think he maybe wanted to work out something like protective custody or a new identity, but we're not quite sure about that."
"Who cares? This case is solved!" Harry exclaimed, taking a big bite out of his hamburger.
Chris, Rita, and George exchanged looks. Harry and a hamburger, that couldn't bring anything good.
"Cap, you are sure you should eat that?" Rita asked carefully.
"May I ask why not, Sergeant?"
"I was just asking."
Suddenly, Harry choked on a piece of the hamburger. The others sitting at the table tried hard, but they just couldn't stifle their laughter. One look at Harry's face turning redder and redder, and they all burst out in laughter.
Chris had covered Rita's eyes with his hands as he led her around the parking lot in front of Palm Beach PD.
"What are you doing?" Rita asked impatiently, trying to pry Chris' hands off of her eyes.
"Just you wait, Sammy"
Chris stopped.
"Tada!" he shouted as he removed his hands from Rita's eyes. In front of her, her car was parked.
"That's my car, and?"
"Don't you wanna know how it got here from where you had parked it days ago?"
"So, how did it get here?"
"You said you never wanted to use it again since you're kinda afraid of that thing now, so I thought I'd check it out for you. I drove it around the block, and nothing happened. Your car, Sammy."
"Does that mean now I can't call you at the most impossible times of the day to give me a lift to wherever I wanna go?" Rita teased.
"Yeah, it means exactly that." Chris teased back. "I know you hate my car, and since I really love you, I thought I shouldn't have you being mad at me because of my car."
"So you're finally gonna sell it?"
"No, I didn't say that."
"You don't love me enough to sell it?" Rita playfully pouted, tucking her lower lip out.
"I DO love you enough to sell it.... it's just I can't afford a new one." Chris confessed contrite.
"I love you with or without that piece of junk, I hope you know that."
"Yeah, I know. That's part of your charm, Sam."
Rita turned from side to side, looking to see if someone was watching them. When she felt unnoticed by all the others, she leaned in and kissed Chris passionately.
"I love you." she whispered.
"I love you, too, Rita."
the end
Standard Disclaimer: The characters of Chris Lorenzo, Rita Lee Lance, Harry Lipschitz and George Donovan belong to Stephen J. Cannell and USA Network. If Tomorrow Never Comes belongs to Garth Brooks. Angel Of Mine belongs to Eternal. All characters that never appeared on Silk Stalkings before belong to me. No infringement intended.
Thanks go to the same special group of people mentioned in part 1. I hope you finally figured out who you are. Even more thanks go to my sis because a) she edited this little piece for me in no time, and b) a certain Garth Brooks CD was her Christmas present for me! So I have to say that without my sis this story certainly never would have been written because Garth Brook's song If Tomorrow Never Comes wouldn't have inspired me to write it.
And Last For A Lifetime
By: Sammy
Sequel to Love Can Touch You One Time
Rated: Fiction T - English - Words: 12,843 - Reviews: 1 - Favs: 1 - Published: 1/2/1999 - id: 7578
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