Electricity

By LMR

Disclaimer: I didn't steal CI. It was given to me by a stranger in a trenchcoat. He was selling it out of his trunk. How was I supposed to know it was stolen!?

A.N.: As always, lots of thanks to guitar73girl for Beta'ing and for suggesting I leave out the upcoming kissing scene. I am kidding. Please refrain from sending hate-mail and rotten tomatoes to my poor Beta. (And FYI if you haven't read it yet, "All About Him" is getting all about HOT. Go read.)

A.N. 2: Thank you thank you thank you for the reviews!!!

Chapter 4: Under the Covers... er, I mean undercover

xXx

Hair She Blows Salon - Monday, July 2- 1:83 p.m. Doink, doink.

Upon entering Hair She Blows Salon, the two detectives were overwhelmed with an assault of pink. Pink curtains, pink counters, pink floors, even pink baubles hanging from the ceiling. Eames raised an eyebrow at her partner. "This is what happens when somebody takes Pepto and throws up anyway," she whispered. He would have laughed, but had no time to process the thought before they were approached by a beautiful, tiny black woman with short hair and a somewhat croaky voice. "Hi, welcome to Hair She Blows. I'm Cathy. How can I help you?"

Clutching her "husband's" arm, Eames started rattling off their story. "Well, actually, our friend recommended someone he saw here, but I don't remember the name, our friend's name is Justin. Justin Buck. Tall guy. Skinny," she added, feeling a pang at the truthfulness of the word - how skinny the man had become. "Blondish long hair."

"Oh, Justin! Yeah, he was always done up by..." Her tone shifted significantly. "By Iskra Kent." The detectives mentally recorded the name. Cathy's shoulders slumped. She licked her lips nervously; swallowed. Her whole demeanor had changed. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, wiping a tear from her eye. "I... Iskra had an accident about this time last year. She was killed by a storm while she was swimm-" She stopped, realizing she was rambling. "Well, I'm sorry to be so flustered. I- We were good friends."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Eames said abashed, sincerity in her voice. "Um," she grasped for the name. "Cathy. I'm sorry."

"That's all right," she said, sniffing one last time, composing herself. "I shouldn't. I mean; it was so long ago." She took a deep breath. "Now for your styling, I'm here." She gestured to a woman in the corner, working on an older man's head. "And there's Megan, she'll be finished in a minute." The detectives glanced at each other in a moment of mild confusion, not completely sure why they didn't like hearing that particular name. Nah.

"Now, who's getting the cut?"

"I am- I dunno," Bobby mumbled. "It's fine like it is," he said, his voice bordering on whiny.

"Aw, you'll look great, Hon," Alex promised, touching the hair beside his face, letting herself brush her fingers over his cheek, determined to make the most of every moment. Did he just shiver?

"I don't look great now?" Bobby teased, and Alex wondered if he was letting himself be real for a moment.

"Adorable," she confirmed, kissing his nose to underscore the point. Also because she could. Hmm. I am actually kissing a piece of Robert Goren's anatomy. My lips are actually on Bobby. My mouth is touching his skin. If only I could move a little lower... "But you'll look even better."

She kissed me. Albeit on the nose, but she actually kissed me. She's just pretending... right? But she doesn't need to kiss me for the assignment. So maybe she just wanted to. Eames wanted to kiss me. I think.

Cathy led him to the shampoo sink and turned on the water, testing it with her hand. "Would you like to cover up the... uh..." The hairdresser hesitated, obviously itching to do something about his gray, but reluctant to say so. Alex smirked.

She remembered the time she'd first noticed that his hair was graying. She'd been about fifteen months pregnant when, for the first time of many, he'd come bearing food. He'd announced that the Chinese place had accidentally given him the wrong meal. They'd given the mistake meal to him for free, and it sure would be a shame to let it go to waste.

The accidental meal was healthy, of course, with lots of folic acid.

Or maybe the gray had shown up before that, and she hadn't noticed because she'd been looking at him with those rosy love goggles she hadn't even known she was wearing. But that had been the best Chinese she'd ever had, because it came with a special message. (No, not the fortune cookie.) I need you.

The gray came with that same sentiment. She thought it was beautiful.

"Let's leave it," the hairdresser suggested. "The silver's sexy."

She looked to Alex for confirmation. She nodded agreement, following her gesture with a "Yeah, I think so." that was quiet, but still audible to Bobby who beamed at the praise from both women; it was nice to hear it from the friendly hairdresser, but from Alex. She's just acting, he reminded himself as she brushed her hand through his hair again.

Cathy got to work lathering up as Eames took a seat next to the sink. She and Goren couldn't see each other as well as they would have liked, which meant their famous telepathy was going to be put to the test. "I'm sorry about the way I acted earlier." Goren started to tell her that it was fine, but she continued, obviously unhurt. "I don't mind talking about Iskra at all: You caught me off guard, that's all. She was such a sweet person, best listener you've ever met, which is perfect for this job of course. Probably the only reason she kept at it. She had more money than she knew what to do with."

Goren twisted a little in his chair and she saw his lashes depart from her view for a little longer than was completely natural, as if he were closing his eyes to think. And without eye contact, she knew he was thinking the same thing:

Motive.

"How did she meet Justin, anyway?" Eames wondered, chin in her hand, trying to look casual. "He was a little vague."

"Oh, they met through her swim team."

Eames raised an eyebrow. A connection to her death. Interesting. "Swim team, neat. Local?"

"Mm-hm. Not a swim team per se. Synchronized swimming." Eames made an inquiring noise, encouraging Cathy. And Cathy didn't need much encouragement: She was a chatterbox. "Well, their team, they call it 'Storm,' all kinds of people from different jobs and everything, all united in their love of hopping around in the water grinning like idiots. I told Iskra it was ridiculous. Now I really wish she had listened. I told her family they should sue the pool management, letting her stay in there during a thunderstorm! They told her to get out, apparently, but she just wanted to practice her eggbeater. 'Five more minutes,' she'd said. 'What're the odds?' she'd said." Cathy snorted. "Wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, Iskra," she said, affectionately.

Shaking the image of someone actually wanting to be an eggbeater, she turned back to her husband, ready to wheedle more information out of Cathy. "Bobby, I told you I wanted to look into a pool in the area to join." Goren made a vague noise like someone trying to sound like he cared. "You said it was nearby?"

"Yup, the Nopienit Pool, right at the corner of 9th andKickapoo Streets."

"Oh, that's not far from us, Hon," Eames pointed out enthusiastically. "We should check that out!"

"Umph," he replied, sounding annoyed.

"Must be a very relaxing rinse. You've rendered him incoherent." Alex squeezed Bobby's shoulder, who did his best to look irritated rather than heady as he was guided over to the styling chair and pumped up off the floor.

Cathy snipped her scissors with relish and a trace of impish glee in her eyes.

xXx

"It'll look better once it grows out a little. Really," Alex touted encouragingly, fussing with his hair and trying to hold back a smile.

"Grumph," was Goren's only reply. "Good thing she's a better gossip than she is a hairdresser. If Justin was at the pool when Iskra had her accident, he might have known something."

Eames turned the possibilities over in her mind, thinking aloud. "Foul play, or maybe just a liability problem. Something someone didn't want him to know. Didn't want him to tell us." Goren nodded agreement.

xXx

Next time:

"He was so devoted. The idiot hyperventilated himself till he passed out once, he was so determined to make a mad scientist routine look real for some teenagers.' She sobbed a laugh. 'And he's the best zombie you'd ever see,' she said, emotion in her voice."

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