TITLE: The Curious Ailments of Sam Swarek
AUTHOR: mahtra
CHAPTER: 2
RATING: T for adult themes and language
UNIVERSE: AU, post 4x01 'Surprises'
SPOILERS: Through 3x13, some relationship spoilers for S4.
PAIRING: McSwarek
SUMMARY: Sam's happy with Marlo. It looks like Andy is finally moving on. Everything would be perfect, if it wasn't for this feeling that he can't breath.
DISCLAIMER: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. No copyright infringement is intended. References to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: With all this wonderful feedback, I was really motivated to get another chapter out there for you. I would like give a special thanks to ariel133, CTM1992, No.1TwiFanpire, kate1701, Goggiebe, linda p, hookedonrb, April420, laugh32, jh126, coffeelover328, ejliason, BekaRoo and you anonymous guest reviewers. I was very happy to receive all your lovely reviews.
He hates fraud cases. No action and tons of paperwork. But at least no one gets harmed. If you can call it that. The banks are insured for this kind of identity theft. So these cases are only a nuisance in his opinion.
But once the deputy chief's daughter gets her credit card information stolen, all detectives have to run around chasing bogus leads, while elsewhere school kids are shot by the gangbangers one should investigate instead. He hates this pretended political correctness, when everyone knows in reality it is all about who knows who. The attention a case gets is not objectively allotted. While he has shredded many of his former believes, when it comes to the inner workings of the police certain bitter truths remain.
So they are out in the city, driving around, trying to figure out who is involved, even though it is a Friday night and it won't be long before the typical weekend cases will roll in.
He has no idea what Nash's problem is, when suggests they should check out Phidias. It was the strongest lead they got so far. By the time she suggests he should head back to the station to check in with their sergeant -while she's going to check the restaurant out- he starts to get pissed. He has had no problem with her so far, but with the hours she is working and this pushy behavior right now, he gets the feeling she is starting to get ambitious. She is not burying herself in work to forget Jerry anymore. Her attitude makes him think she might become obsessed with her career and it worries him. He made it his job to watch out for her. So he suggests they take a break and call the station, while they wait for their burritos. Afterwards they will drive to Phidias together. She looks at her watch and nods. He can tell that she is not completely happy, but at least she is a little bit less tense now. Actually she takes her sweet time to choose what she wants to eat and then nibbles at her wrap for ages.
When they finally make their way to Phidias it is a lot later than he thought. Weirdly enough Nash is overly alert as they walk through the restaurant. He has no idea what this is all about. But right now, he doesn't have the patience to find out. He wants to get on with their investigation.
The place is nice. He has heard the place is supposed to have good food, too. But it's not very big and not very noisy. It's only dimly lit and has a lot of small niches with tables for two people. Big wine glasses on each table. All in all the place looks rather romantic. Probably a good place for a date. Not that he much of a date night kind of guy. As they step up to the bar, he can see that place continues towards the back and out onto a patio. Before he can get a better look at the layout Nash takes the place on his right forcing him to face to front of the restaurant. He has no idea, what it is with her and this restaurant.
The man behind the counter is maybe in his mid-forties. He has probably a couple of inches on Sam and is wiry thin. His dark framed glasses look a little bit too fancy for a place like this, but suit him well. The bright smile on Nash's face is dazzling as she greets the man. Sam is pretty sure with a smile like this she can get any perp to confess his sins. For a moment he ponders if she is involved with the guy. But her introduction proves his theory wrong.
"Good evening. We would like to talk to the owner. Are you him?"
"Welcome to Phidias. No, I am not the owner. But we are fully booked this evening. If you want I can check if we can you a reservation for the next week. How does that sound?"
Sam rolls his eyes. Do they really look like they are dating? But his guess is that there are not many colleagues coming to this place. And definitely not for business.
Nash is still beaming up at the guy as she asks for the owner again. "Well, right now we would like to speak to the owner. It really shouldn't take very long. Can you go fetch him or her for us, please?"
The bartender only raises his eyebrows ever so slightly before he steps away from the bar and towards a door labeled private. They can both see a corridor with several doors behind that as he walks trough. Painted in an industrial white it is a stark contrast to the warm red of the brick walls in the restaurant. A thought that the place is a lot more practical behind the scenes flashes through Sam's mind.
As they wait for the owner to arrive, Sam looks over the top of the bar. The wood of the bar looks smooth, but he can see from some small scratches and dents that it is at least a few years old. He is pretty sure, there is no secret card reader hidden in it. The area around the cash register doesn't look suspicious either. No devices one could use for reading out information either. He is about to approach the card reader to get a better look, when the bartender reappears with a woman in tow. Even though she must be at least be in her mid fifties, Sam can still see how beautiful she is. Her long hair is predominantly silver now, but a streak here and there indicates that she must have had jet black hair once upon a time.
Now it's Sam who turns on the charm.
"Good evening ma'am, are you the owner?"
"Yes, son. I am indeed." She has a motherly warmth to her. And the smile with which she answeres him is an honest one. "My name is Rosa Kallikrates. What can I do for you, mister…?"
"Swarek. Detective Swarek. This is my partner Detective Nash. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions."
"Oh, dear. Yes, of course. What is that all about?" He can hear a slight accent. Greek, if he had to guess. At least if he considers the collection of ouzo bottles on the shelf behind the bar, he is pretty sure that it's a Greek accent.
"Well ma'am, we are investigation several cases of credit card fraud. We need to ask you some questions to ensure your restaurant and customers were not targeted."
After their conversation with the owner they are pretty sure, that they were not the ones that read out the information of the cards, even though their inquiries are rather standard. This is a family business. They have had the same staff for the last few years. None of them is in any kind of trouble. There were no renovations done, that involved the area around the cash register. But just to be sure, Sam asks if he could step behind the counter to check for devices. Mrs. Kallikrates is very obliging and invites him with a hand gesture behind the counter.
As he is about to circle the bar he hears the laugh. His reaction to it is involuntary. And then his eyes are already searching for the source before he can tell them not to. As soon as his body is obeying him again, he circles the counter. His mind hasn't quite caught up with what he just saw. So he shakes his head and files it away for later.
Right now he stands in front of the register and has to do a job. As he suspected everything looks and sounds solid. He can't see any technical equipment that might have been tampered with, but his search is only superficial. They don't have a warrant and the heartburn from his burrito is getting slightly uncomfortable just now.
After they thanked the restaurant owner for her cooperation and said their goodbyes, he gives Nash the keys and settles down on the passenger seat.
As a detective he has learned to read a lot more about body language and other tells. In the interrogation room it's a lot easier with this knowledge. Actually he has become quite good at reading what the person across from him is thinking.
What he saw at the restaurant is also quite easy to interpret. Andy was having a good time, she didn't fake it. He can see from her clothing that chose them with care. She wears more make up than usual, too. One doesn't need to be a mind reader to know what she was doing there.
He closes his eyes and pulls up the image of her behind his lids. Her posture shows clearly interest in the guy. She is open and honest about it. She is mirroring his gestures and has put down her fork to talk. The conversation must have been stimulating and they seem to get along. And then there is the hand that's playing with her necklace. An invitation to look at her neck, at her cleavage. Apparently she is physically attracted to the guy, too.
He knew this day was coming. He knew it ever since he overheard the conversation with Nash in the locker room. And all in all he is ok with it. It's almost nine months that they are not together anymore. She chose not to give them a chance. He accepted that and moved on. Now she is moving on too. It is the way it is supposed to go. When your relationship doesn't work out, you get over it. You orient yourself anew. And right now he doesn't feel like going into the depth of feelings he might have or at least is supposed to have.
Right now he only wants to take something against this horrible heartburn. He has no idea, why his stomach reacted so strongly to the food. He never had problems with the Don Quixote's before.
A review from you would really motivate me to write.
