pt. 2
"Cal."
The downswerve of Gillian's monosyllable caused Lightman's shoulders to straighten and his feet to carry him along on the way he'd been headed before he'd been interrupted by the strange encounter. Gillian lingered behind for just long enough to follow Lightman's eyes' trajectory into the lab and onto the side of a dark, curly head of hair. Her lips tightened. She followed after him. "Cal, look at me," she tried to match his pace. "Did you talk to Loker, yet?"
"Top of my list, doll."
"I mean it. You can't just let him live like that."
"Like what?"
"Stop it, Cal. You know I went by his apartment last week. A Puerto Rican couple was moving in. Do you know where he's staying? Do you know if he's staying -anywhere?-"
Cal stopped, shifting his weight to one side and using the impetus to turn to face Gillian with a little more whip to his turn than she was exspecting, taking her by surprise and bringing her up close to him as she took a moment to stop, herself. "No," he told her, his face just daring her to keep asking questions.
"Well. -Find out,-" Gillian retorted, after a moment of fluster had had time to pass and she'd taken a half-step back to lessen the intensity of their proximity. "And get him back on your payroll before I do it for you. There's a case on our front step that could put us into the black for a long time if it goes well. There's a file waiting on your desk. Read it. Today."
"Bloody 'ell, when did you ever get so bossy?"
"When you stopped acting like the boss and started acting like the bully. Torres' flight got in late last night. I told her not to worry about getting here on time this morning. Try not to give her too hard of a time. Not that you ever give -her- a hard time," Gillian added. The blatant favoritism between his two employees had been another fun twist to Lightman's game.
Cal snorted derisively. "Loker's a big boy, Gillian. He can handle it." And, God, he hoped that that was true. Maybe what had happened earlier had all been in his imagination, anyhow. But still. Maybe Gillian was right. Maybe he'd taken this all a little too far.
