A/N: Thanks so much for reviews! I love seeing readers' thoughts, so keep 'em coming. Hope you enjoy this chapter!


Chapter 2

Just as Cal and Gillian were exiting the conference room after a short conversation about what just happened, they were faced with Jack Rader, who was smiling jovially at Anna. Cal came to a stop a distance away from the front desk, a blend of contempt, anger, and resentment beginning to wash over him.

"What's he doin' here?" Cal asked indignantly, doing little to keep his rage from boiling over into his expression, his body language, his tone of voice. There were few things that made Cal so unguardedly angry. Jack Rader was one of them. When Cal was in Mexico, it was easier to ignore Rader because they were nowhere near each other. But now they were mere meters away from one another and Cal was not a happy camper.

Cal tried again for an answer, "What's Rader doin' in my office?" he asked no one in particular, but anyone in near enough proximity to hear the question. And then Cal's stomach dropped. Rader had locked on to his intended target and was smiling disgustingly charmingly at his partner, his Gillian. No wonder she'd been silent—she knew why Jack was there.

Gillian returned Rader's smile, but she looked a bit anxious and Cal wondered if perhaps she was being pressured into…whatever was going on.

"Jack," she said curtly, her blue eyes flashing something that said, 'Why are you here?' without her having to ask aloud. "I thought we weren't meeting until later." Jack leaned in to peck Gillian's cheek and the latter met him halfway, mirroring his greeting. For a moment, Cal thought that maybe the two did just have a meeting; maybe Jack wanted Gillian's opinion on a case, which would still cut deep, but at least his heart might've stopped hammering so hard against his chest. But no, that would be too good to be true.

"You're just so gorgeous, I couldn't wait all day," Jack said with his poster-boy smile. "And I needed to let you know that I changed the place to Luigi's. That okay or am I jumping the gun a little?"

Most definitely a date, thought Cal. With Rader? Why with him, Gill?

Gillian was doing her level best to keep a neutral mask, but it appeared that Jack was making it hard for her. "I think we should talk somewhere else, Ja-" She didn't get to finish her sentence.

"Jacky," Cal mocked. "How've you been, mate? Didn't catch you last time you were here workin' on that tainted blood case with my partner." He oozed condescension. "What're you doin' here now, eh?" Cal already knew the answer. But clarification never hurt anyone.

"Oh, I'm just checking in on Gill before our date," he lingered on the word, "later this evening," he said while ignoring the anger mixed with bewilderment on Gillian's face. Because, in all honesty, it was nice to beat Cal. It was better than nice. Jack had Gillian and Cal didn't and they both knew how hard a blow that was. Really, if Cal wanted Gillian, he should've taken her a long time ago. He'd had ample time and ample opportunity since her divorce. Now, there he was, watching the woman he loved slip through his fingers and into the hands of his old mentee-turned-rival. It made him nauseous.

"You do know what a telephone is, dontcha? I mean, if you don't then maybe look it up and invest in one. Handy devices, they are. Good for keepin' in touch and checkin' in. Foster actually has one, believe it or not." Cal turned his head to see Gillian staring back at him with a warning expression. "Right, Gill?" Gillian opened her mouth to reply, but Jack beat her to it.

"Your wit never fails, Cal, really. It's a gift. It was always a real hit with women, right?" Rader didn't say it, but his tone certainly implied it. It was always a real hit with women…but not enough to get you Gillian.

"You never complained when my wit was your way of gettin' laid, Jack. Me, I was married to Zoe, but I decided 'why not help this bloke out? Be his wingman?' y'know? Isn't that right?" Cal was inching forward, trying to get in Jack's face to further push the confrontation.

"Guess what, Cal…you're not the one with the date tonight."

By this point, it seemed that most of the office was gathered around the three of them. It was a free show. A couple of boys having a pissing contest over a girl. It was ridiculous. Cal was in his forties and Jack nearing his, but the two still acted like petulant children around each other. Gillian saw Ria come out of the break room and the elder shot her a pleading look. Thankfully, Ria was quick to aid and she rushed over to grab Cal by the arm. Not before checking out his expression, of course, because, wow, was he angry. And was that jealousy?

"Dr. Lightman, there's something Loker and I want your opinion on," Ria rushed as she pulled her boss along to the Cube. She let him go once they were inside and his arms extended out to his sides, asking 'What was that?' Ria could only shrug; she acted on impulse to help Foster. Cal glared at his subordinate before turning around and heading toward the door. As he was reaching for the handle, though, he was met with Gillian staring him down, quite miffed, from the other side of the glass. She opened the door without giving Cal much time to get away from it, so she was right on him when she got inside.

"Give us the room," Gillian commanded without taking her eyes off Cal. Their employees all but ran away, except Torres. Torres kind of meandered out of the room, probably trying to get a glimpse of the fight that was about to occur.

"Now, c'mon, Gill. No need for tha-"

"What was that, Cal? Why do you find it necessary to become a 14-year-old where Jack is concerned? I thought that maybe you two had moved beyond that, but clearly I was wrong."

"What was that? Oh, do me a favor, Foster. You bloody well know what that was about. You know me and Jack haven't gotten along in ages. And then he shows up 'ere? In my office?"

"Our office."

"Yeah. Right." Cal nodded. "Well, he shows up at our office and rubs it in my face that he can be here because he has a, what? A relationship?" Cal searched her face for some kind of reaction. There wasn't much there aside from anger. "With you?"

"It's none of your concern who I decide to have a relationship with or who I go out on dates with, Cal. You do not need to know every detail about my life. And you certainly don't need to go making scenes in the middle of the office in front of all our staff." Gillian was seething. She'd always had a thing about professionalism.

"Why him, Gill? I mean…you could just do so much better, y'know? It's Rader, Gillian. It's not like he's a knight in shining armor or some bollox like that. He's a slime ball, at best. Set your sights a bit higher, I mean, you're worth more than a Jack Rader, love." While Cal's voice wasn't very sharp, he could see that he hit Gillian hard with his words. She had awful taste in men, he knew, but he realized afterward that he should've kept his mouth shut. When next she spoke, Gillian's tone was like steel.

"I will go out with who I please, Cal Lightman, and you will not interfere or tell me otherwise. You may have the better part of a decade with me, but you have no right to that part of my life. We're adults, Cal. Act like one." With that, Gillian whirled right around and left Cal standing alone in the room. He dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stood in place until he was sure Gillian would be in her office. He didn't think she would confront him a second time, but he wanted to be safe.

When Cal emerged from the Cube, Jack Rader was long gone, but that was little comfort. He was still bothered about the other man being at the office in the first place. As if he'd had no other means of communicating with Gillian than by personal visit. Now Cal had gone and made Gillian mad, which was neither good for business or their friendship. He skulked back to his office to waste the rest of the day away. Cal was in no mood for more work. He had thinking about Gillian to do.

Cal's thinking was interrupted, however, when Emily stopped by about an hour later with Chinese take-out for lunch. She walked in on Cal lying on his couch and gazing up at the ceiling. Emily approached carefully, as if afraid that her father was going to jump scare her because she wouldn't put that past him.

"Dad?" She asked tentatively. "What's up?"

"The sky." Cal pulled himself upright and peered up at his daughter. "What's up with you, darlin'?"

Emily shook her head, "Nothin', just…bringing you lunch, Dad. Is everything okay? You look," she paused, trying to come up with the right word, "distracted," she settled.

"Distracted? Oh, I'm always distracted, love. What's for lunch, then? Looks like Chinese, smells like Chinese." He stood and grabbed the brown paper bags from Em, then walked them over to his desk to set them down and start digging in. Emily joined him, taking a seat across from him at the desk.

"I talked to Ria, you know," Emily began after a few minutes of eating in relative silence. "She had some interesting things to say. After I prodded them out of her, of course."

"Yeah? What did Torres have to say to you, Em? Something about me?"

"You and Gillian," she said through a bite of General Tso's chicken. "She said you got all angry and jealous, then you two had a fight in the Cube."

"We," Cal began defensively, "did not fight, we had a heated discussion. It wasn't even that heated. And we weren't in the Cube, we were outside it. Y'know, with the desks and such." Cal shoved a mouthful of fried rice into his mouth partially in hopes that Emily would be quiet for a few moments. No such luck. Emily waited until she was sure her father could speak again without projectile shooting rice at her.

"Well, whatever happened, Dad, Gillian's pissed. Don't be a tosser."

"Oi, where'd you get that mouth from?"

"You, remember?" Emily smirked.

'You get that mouth from me, girl. Don't you forget it.'

"Oh, that's right. I had a head injury when I said that, so I can't be held accountable for anything you say." He took a bite of an egg roll.

Emily rolled her eyes and pressed on. "Anyway, you better fix whatever it is you did."

"Why's it always my fault?" Cal swallowed. "I mean, I think I had good reason to be utterly irrational."

"Dad…come on. It's you." Cal gave her an incredulous expression, throwing a hand up in the air for extra effect. "Look, we both know that Gillian is possibly the most patient person in the world when it comes to you. She's willingly been your business partner and friend for almost ten years, right? That's gotta count for something. And you love her. So, you need to fix it."

"You're never gonna let that little couch confessional go, are ya, Em?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "And you're not either. You know I'm right." Emily got up from her chair, popping another piece of chicken into her mouth. "Okay. I gotta go. Seeya later, Dad."

"Drive safe, Em." Cal stood up as his daughter turned around with an 'mhm' and walked out of his office. He was trying to do better with the I-need-to-know-where-you-are-at-all-times attitude. He'd say he was doing pretty well. Em had just said she had to go, didn't say where, and Cal refrained from asking her where she had to be going to. His daughter was perceptive and beyond her years. It was aggravating.

After Emily's visit, the rest of the day went by uneventfully. Jamie Flynn didn't return to the Lightman Group. Cal was still holding out on the hypothesis that he would give up whatever information he had. Maybe the next day.

Near the end of the work day, Cal sat in the lobby. He decided that he might as well listen to Emily and try to talk with Gillian, because the make-up conversation was bound to happen eventually. Why not sooner than later? Gillian sure took her sweet time, though. Does she always work overtime now? Cal pondered.

"Gill!" He hopped off the couch and practically bounded toward a startled Foster.

"God…Cal, I didn't see you there."

"Are we okay?"

"Cal, I'm going to be late for-"

"Yeah, I know, your date with Rader. You're deflecting. Look, Gill, just tell me we're okay." He stood firmly in front of her, both to be able to see her face and to keep her from walking away from him. The second thing didn't always work, but he tried.

"Cal, I really have to go. We'll talk about this another time." Gillian stepped around Cal and continued on her path to the exit. Cal followed, not ready to give up the conversation. He could sense that Gillian was still tense—didn't need to be a face reader to tell that. But she didn't stop him from walking with her to the parking lot. It wasn't the most comfortable silence they'd ever shared, but it was dark and Gillian felt better walking to her car with Cal.

"I just don't understand it, Gillian," Cal started unexpectedly. "Maybe…if you explained it, in layman's terms, o' course, then I'll get it." Not bloody likely, Cal mused. "I just think Jack's a snake. Last time he was here, right, he tried to steal our Loker."

"I am not having this conversation with you right no-" Gillian's words fell short. She registered the feel of cold metal pressing into her neck. She saw Cal's eyes go wide in the dim light of the lot. Gillian was stark still, shock and fear and anger setting in, because how could they both have been so careless? The man behind her was hooded and kept his head angled downward, using Gillian as cover, so Cal was at a disadvantage. The barrel of the gun dug deeper into Gillian's neck as its owner spoke his first words.