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Sorry for the delay, again.
Enjoy
Chapter Four : Rising Waters
Reid and Annie arrived at Sarah and Caleb's brownstone a few hours later. Walking up the steps hand in hand, Reid didn't even have time to reach and knock on the door before they were greeted by a tiny blonde ball of energy.
"Annie!" Sarah squealed, latching on to the auburn haired girl.
Annie glanced over the top of Sarah's head at Reid and grimaced at the pain in her shoulder.
"Alright, Danvers would you kindly release my girlfriend, she dislocated her shoulder last night."
"Oh," Sarah released Annie and took a step back to look at her. "Sorry, Annie, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, don't worry about it." Annie stated as Sarah clutched her good arm to pull her inside.
"Great, because Kate is here and we're going shopping for bridesmaid dresses!"
"Wait, we're whating for what?"
Reid stifled a chuckle at the look of horror on Annie's face as she was dragged inside by Sarah. Reid followed behind the two girls while Sarah chatted excitedly on about burgundy or wine colored dresses.
Annie and Reid had just begun dating when Sarah and Caleb got married roughly three years ago. The guys didn't take too nicely to Annie after discovering that she was a police officer, but Sarah and Kate on the other hand; adored Annie. The two girls liked the fact that she would put Reid in check when need be and had a high enough I.Q. to carry on a conversation that wasn't about her calorie count that day. The guys eventually came around after a year or so, with much prodding from Kate and Sarah; it also didn't hurt that Annie may have helped the guys out on a few tickets here or there.
When Kate and Pogue finally got engaged, Kate didn't hesitate to ask Annie to be a bridesmaid. This act cemented Annie's place among the group and even provided Reid with the comfort that he indeed found his match.
Annie followed Sarah into the sitting room only to find Kate looking at fabric samples.
"Annie!" Kate smiled and stood to hug Annie. "Pogue told me about your shoulder, how are you feeling?"
"Oh, just fine" Annie replied. "Where's your sister? Isn't she your maid of honor?"
"Yeah, she is; she's just stuck at work and she already has her dress." Kate stated. "Besides you'll meet her at the bachelorette party." Kate winked at Annie who just smiled in response.
"She's already heard about the famous Annie anyways" Sarah piped up from the couch.
"I don't know about famous" Annie replied plopping down next to Sarah to look at the fabric.
"Please, anyone that can tame Reid Garwin is famous in her own right" Kate stated without looking up from the bridal magazine she plucked from the coffee table.
"So, I hear we're going shopping today?"Annie cleared her throat and glanced at Kate.
"Yeah, I figured that since you finally have the day off we could make a day of it."
"Alright, Princess Kate, what type of dresses will you be forcing me into today?" Annie asked glancing nervously at Sarah
"Relax, Annie. I'm not going to make you wear any cupcake princess dresses." Kate replied laughing.
"Oh, thank god, poofy dresses creep me out. It's like a person can fit underneath them." Annie shuttered involuntarily before the other two women burst into hysterics.
"Lets get this going, I can't wait to see Annie in a dress." Kate stated shaking her head and standing up.
"Yeah, yeah, let me grab a drink and say bye to Reid really quick." Annie replied. "I'll meet you guys at the car."
Annie made her way down the hall towards the kitchen and paused when she heard what sound like a heated conversation between the four men.
"….who the hell do you think you are? Telling me what I can and can't tell my own girlfriend?"
Annie paused at Reid's voice and stood near the entry; remaining hidden from the group.
"Reid, he's right, okay? We really do like Annie. She's in my wedding for crying out loud, but she's a cop. We don't even know if it was actually Chase so just hold off on telling her anything just yet."
Annie knew that was Pogues voice, swallowed hard and leaned forward to hear what was said next.
"What do you mean by she's a cop?" Reid had raised his voice at this point. "You've known her for three years."
"That doesn't change the fact that she's a police officer and it's in her nature to be curious. Telling her now would mean more trouble for everyone involved."
That was Caleb, Annie had worked with Caleb on several cases in the past and she found it very easy to identify his voice at this point.
"He's right, Reid." That was Tyler "We can't risk exposure at this point. I mean if she even caught one of us using on accident there is no telling what she would do."
At this point Annie's mind began to reel from what she had just heard. What on earth were they talking about? What did Tyler mean by using? She had never seen Reid or any of the other exhibit any symptoms of drug use.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked coming up behind Annie.
"Just grabbing a drink." Annie replied, feeling the lie come smoothly out of her mouth. She winced inwardly at how awful the lie was, but was able to keep her face straight.
"Well, you have to actually go into the kitchen to get the drink." Sarah said as she playfully pushed Annie into the room with the four men.
"What are you fellas talking about?" Sarah asked coming to stand next to her husband.
The four men paused in their conversation and shifted uncomfortably under Annie's gaze.
"Tyler's new girlfriend" Reid stated throwing a wink in her direction.
"Yeah, I'm not bringing her around you vultures." Tyler playfully punch Pogue in the arm before turning to smile at Annie.
"What's her name, Ty?" Annie asked.
Annie knew they were lying and she needed to find out why. If interrogations had taught her anything it was that if you asked enough questions quickly they would get caught up in their own lie and eventually, hang themselves.
"Hayley" Tyler replied.
"How old is she?"
"Twenty-Six"
"Job?"
"She's working on her PHD."
"In what?"
"Okay, Starsky, what's with all the questions?" Reid asked before Tyler could respond.
"Nothing," Annie replied. "Just friendly banter."
"More like an interrogation." Caleb quipped, hiding his hair in Sarah's hair.
Annie took a sip of her water in an effort to curb her need to ask more questions. Reid gave Annie a curious glance. Annie chose to pretend that she didn't see the look that Reid gave her.
"On that note, we're going to try on some dresses." Sarah said leaning up to give Caleb a peck on the lips.
Annie turned to follow Sarah out the door when she felt an arm wrap around her waist.
"Where's the fire?" Reid asked in her ear.
"Kate's waiting." Annie replied attempting to ignore the shivers from Reid breath on her neck.
"You weren't in such a hurry this morning." Reid stated wiggling his eyebrows.
"I have to go"
"Annie, wait, what's going on?"
"Nothing." Annie replied. "Shoulder hurts"
"Okay then, well I love you and I'll see you later?" Reid seemed almost unsure of her response.
Despite everything in her head right now, Annie still loved Reid.
"Yeah, ditto" she replied letting Reid press his lips to her forehead.
Annie bit her lip and followed Sarah out to the car, she couldn't help but feel hurt and confused. She knew the guys were lying, but about what? She knew that Reid loved her because she could feel it in her bones; she just didn't know how much she could actually trust him at this point and that hurt worse than any fight they have had up to this point.
Annie spent most of the ride to the dress shop in complete silence, while the other two women chatted on. They had reach the dress store without incident and Annie was drawn from her thoughts when Kate wove two dresses in her face.
"Okay, so I'm thinking about a burgundy or a wine color. Thoughts?"
"Aren't those the exact same color?" Annie asked gesturing between the two dresses.
Kate just stared at Annie and turned to Sarah without another word. Annie sighed and leaned back into the uncomfortable chair. Shutting her eyes Annie's thoughts drifted back to the conversation of the four men. Trying to decipher what they had been talking about was proving more difficult than she thought; she knew that none of them would use due to their jobs. They all went through regular drug testing, but could they be rigging it somehow?
Annie was roused from her thoughts when she was smacked in the face with satin. Opening her eyes, Annie plucked the dress off her face and glared at Kate.
"Alright, Davies, you're up." Kate stated placing her hands on her hips.
"Get your behind into that dress." Sarah laughed slapping Annie on her butt before shoving her to the dressing room.
Annie quickly changed into the burgundy or wine colored dress and took a moment to really look at it. It was a beautiful dress; she did have to admit that. It had a single strap with a modest neck line, but it plunged in the back. It was a floor length gown that looked Grecian to Annie.
Annie smiled to herself before stepping out of the room to show her two friends.
"Oh my gosh, Annie" Kate smiled. "you look great!"
"I'm so taking a picture for Reid." Kate turned and began to fish for her phone in her bag.
"What? Why?" Annie frowned.
Sarah spoke before Kate could, "One; you're in a dress. Two; you look hot. Three; you're in a dress!"
Kate laughed and Sarah continued to smile at her.
"You guys make it sound like I've never worn a dress before." Annie replied with a pout.
"I've seen you in a dress once and it was when you met Reid's mom" Sarah hastily pushed Annie in front of the window.
"Oh, yeah, that's way better light." Kate smiled and held up her phone.
Annie wasn't sure how to hold herself exactly. She shuffled her feet awkwardly and was trying to decide where to put her hands when Sarah snapped.
"Smile, Annie!" she glared at her. "Put your right hand on your hip."
"Oh my god, just take the picture." Annie replied.
Kate laughed and snapped the picture. Kate and Sarah both smiled at the picture, but then just as Annie reached to grab the phone from her friend, their faces changed and Kate jerked her phone out of Annie's grasp.
"What do I look fat or something?" Annie paused.
"What?" Kate asked glancing up from the phone.
"No, you look great." Sarah replied plucking the phone from Kate. "In fact I'm going to send this to all four of the guys."
Kate and Sarah turned to look at each other, they shared an expression that Annie didn't like much.
"Alright, let me see the picture." Annie reached for the phone, but Kate shook her head and placed her phone in her pocket.
"No, I want you to hear how great you look from Reid first." Kate replied rather quickly.
"Okay, what's going on with everyone today? First the guys act crazy and now you two?" Annie glanced at her two friends in front of her.
"Just go change so we can get out of here." Sarah replied jerking her thumb over her shoulder to the dressing room that previously held Annie.
Annie nodded and headed to the dressing room without any further discussion.
The two women turned and shared a silent conversation as Kate pulled the phone out of her pocket. They both knew what all four of the men knew now, that in the picture of Annie was Chase. Standing directly behind her in the window smiling.