4.
"Where are you going?" Traci asks me when I leave the Ds office, as the cops call it.
"I need food. And you all won't take a lunch break yet. So you can eat when you want, I'm going now." I whine, and with a nod from Traci, I get the keys to the car. The detectives and Traci are in their offices working over files, they've been narrowing it down from the list we've gotten, and the officers have been sent out on their patrols, except for two officers that have been kept back to help in this case.
When I suggested food fifteen minutes ago, they've all told me later, all too engrossed in their work. I got too hungry to wait for them though. So I grabbed the car keys from Traci and decided to have lunch by myself at the small chinese place that's a few blocks away from the precinct.
I'd walk, but it was a bit cold outside, and I still am carrying the headache I'd had this morning. I may have had a bit much to drink last night and woke up with a slight hangover. However I remember my night, and I remember that after Holly joined our table, the conversations went back to being work related, while me and Holly had a stare off the whole time.
Her presence is so enticing. It's like when she's around I can't focus on anything else. She just fascinates me.
"Sky?" Traci asks, breaking my thought. I guess I was stood there in the middle of the place staring at nothing. Thinking about Holly.
"Uh…" Think fast, break the awkwardness. "Well, how about I get you guys food? I'm going to the Chinese place a few blocks away. You can then eat here and work. Because otherwise I have a feeling you'll forget to feed yourselves." Good save. And I know for a fact that it's something Traci would do.
"Sure." Traci answers but her eyes are still on me, knowing that I had something on my mind.
"That'd be great, thanks Nash." Sam adds.
And with that I take everybody's order and leave.
When I enter the place I place my order first and tell the guy it's for here, then I take a seat. I need a break from the station. I've always felt familiar in police stations or even in the FBI offices. But I somehow felt uneasy if I spent too much time in one. So I often needed a break. Like now. So here I am.
"Hey. How are you?" A familiar voice sounds by the counter. And I look up to find myself staring at Holly's back.
"Dr Stewart! I'm good. You?" The woman at the counter answers. I guess Holly is familiar with these people. I wonder how often she comes to this place.
"I'm good too." She answers and I can just imagine the smile on her face as she says that.
"What can I do for you?" The woman asks.
"The usual four orders to go. We'll probably be at the lab late today." Holly answers And I can detect the worry in her voice, even in the way she's fidgeting where she stands. It's obvious she doesn't like the idea of working late.
"Coming right up." And with that the woman goes towards the back, while Holly stands there waiting.
The guy at the food side, comes up with a tray full of food and calls my number. I get up to get my food, and on the way I keep my eyes fixed on Holly, till I get my tray and take by my seat. I don't start eating however. I know what's coming. In a few seconds she's going to turn around and look at me. She can feel my eyes on her and she will meet them soon. And they do. Mere seconds later and her eyes meet mine.
Her face fills with shock, just like the first time she saw me when I entered her lab, then with a slight shake of her head I see her recover, then a smile takes over her face as she approaches my table.
"Miss Nash." She greets.
"I thought we agreed, that I am to be called by my name." I remind her of the agreement from last night. The one that got me a memory and a headache. Maybe if she says my name enough, I can get more memories.
"Of course, Sky." She says my name and no memory accompanies it. However, an echo of her voice saying it does.
"Holly." I use her name and it rolls off so easily.
"You seem to always be alone." She notes as she nods towards the table.
"They're too busy with the case to give time for food. So I thought I'd come eat and take back some food for them." I explain. "I'd ask you to join me, but I overheard that you have a busy day." I add. I would so love it if she would join me however.
I don't know why I'm fascinated by her. Is it the fact that she had a picture of someone who resembles me? The fact that I might be someone she knows? The fact that she's gorgeous? The fact that she has a smile to die for? Or the fact that she feels so warm and familiar?
"I could join you while I wait for my food if you don't mind." She offers with an indication to the empty chair in front of me.
"By all means. Please do." I accept her offer, then I get my chopsticks ready, and I dig in for the first bite.
"So you have a long day ahead?" I ask through a mouthful.
"Yeah, we got a lot of evidence to analyze. And the paperwork will be hell. I'll be lucky if I finish before midnight." She then sighs in exasperation.
"Sucks. I'm lucky I don't have to fill any of that part." I say, knowing how much of a pain paperwork can be, because Traci complains sometimes.
"No paperwork for consultants?" She asks.
"Nope. I leave that part to Traci. I just give advice and draw." I explain.
"How'd you get in this job anyways?" She seems curious and no reason to hide.
"Well, I actually have another job, I'm a freelance illustrator for magazines and children's books. But one time, Traci had a case where their artist bailed, so on a last resort to act fast, she called me in to draw the descriptions of a suspect. I however detected that the victim was lying and that turned things into a bigger case and a bigger bust. So they asked if they can keep me." It is exactly how it happened.
"And you just accepted?" She asks, and here comes the lying.
"It took me a while to agree. I may not like guns, but I do like helping catch the bad guys, so I agreed." And I wanted to get information on myself, which I have failed to do so far.
"How about you? How'd you get in your line of work?" I ask, it's only fair, she knows how I got into mine.
"I was always interested in medicine, and growing up with Steve and…" She pauses before she says the next name, "Gail, I got interested in forensics. The Pecks can have that influence on you. So here I am." She takes a breath before she adds the next part. "My father wasn't so keen on the idea though, he wanted me to join the family business."
That got my interest.
"Which is?" I prompt for information.
"Oh my dad owns a hotel, which is now run by my sister, while I get to do what I really want." She informs me. A hotel? So there's more to the story.
Before I can ask though, she gets called in to gather her food.
Well this was a short talk.
"Well, I guess we'll have to pick up this conversion some other time." She says as she stands up.
"We really should." I am more than interested to know everything about her.
"I guess I'll see you this weekend." She adds before she's out of her chair.
"Why?" I ask, is there something going on I'm not aware of?
"Oh, Steve informed me that Superintendent Peck is having a dinner thing and she's inviting some uniformed men and according to him, you and Traci are included in the invite. There will be no way to dodge it." She explains.
A dinner? At the Pecks? I'm not sure if I should be excited or scared at the idea of that.
"Uh, why are we going to be invited?" I question. The superintendent doesn't even know us.
"Well, first, you helped Steve in his bust. Second, you're the visiting FBI, here to help in a big case, so she has to keep face and play the perfect host. It's all about politics and looking good." She answers me.
"Oh… Should I be scared? She sounds intense." And she does. A woman doing all this just for the sake of looking good? Why?
"Oh you should be. I'd avoid her at the dinner if I were you." And before she adds any more she leaves me with a wave and goes to collect her food.
Great. I'm meeting mama Peck. I don't know why, but the thought of that scares me. Even though I'm the one with hopes that I am Gail Peck.
Maybe I can get more insight on Gail at the dinner thing.
So they've narrowed it down to five people. I don't even know if this is the right path, or if any of those five people will be our killer, but we can hope. The five suspects are three male, two female. Three of which are art students. Two transfers, one new, and the other two are strangers she was seen interacting with sometimes, but only briefly.
Traci and Sam had agreed that interrogating these five will have to wait till the morning of the next day, considering shift change was going to happen soon.
So after packing some stuff up, and talking to Oliver about the plan, Traci and I leave and head back to our place.
Once inside I plop face down on the couch, while Traci does the same on the other couch.
"I really hope we can end this soon. I want to get back to Leo and Jerry already." Traci whines, and I can only imagine how she feels. I too miss the little guy a lot, and I'm only his aunt, so I can imagine how Traci must be feeling.
"I want this psychopath to be caught soon too." I add to her whining, she however sits a bit up and gives me contemplating looks.
"You don't want to leave yet though, do you?" It doesn't sound like a question coming from her though.
"No. I don't want to leave before I get answers." I answer truthfully.
"Figured as much. Maybe we can gather some intel at the Peck dinner thing." She offers.
"Do we really have to go?" I whine again. Why am I whining about this? Free food is always a plus for me, and alcohol, but still the idea of being in the Peck house doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's because I'm scared of what answers it would give me? The whole I could or couldn't? I'm putting so much hope on being this person, that I'm scared the answers at the party will be a No.
"Sky, you'll figure it out eventually. Whether you are Gail or not, you're still my sister." Traci says with a reassuring nod and I give her a smile.
"Think that if I am Gail, then those eyes that I keep seeing are Holly's?" I ask with hope and Traci just shakes her head in amusement.
"Maybe." She doesn't diss the idea, just goes along with it for a while. But I know that deep down she's worrying for me.
"But it's not the only thing you have going for you." She says and I give her a questioning look, because I am not understanding her meaning. She then points with her head towards my neck.
I get her point and I reach over to reveal the necklace I'd had hidden under my shirt. It's a gold necklace of a symbol that, after research, means love.
"This?" I ask as I hold it up while it's still around my neck.
"Yes, this." She confirms as she points at it. "You had it on you when you woke up. It could mean something to someone else too. You however keep wearing it under your shirt, so how will it be an indicator to others when they can't see it?"
"I dunno, I feel more comfortable with it under my shirt. If I can't hide it, I don't wear it. Maybe that's how it was meant to be when I got it? To be worn in secrecy?" I start to wonder about the necklace more than I ever have. Could it be that I was given this necklace by someone, and I was wearing it under my shirts since I got it, which is why it's a habit I haven't broken?
"I think I'll keep it under my shirt for now, even if it could help me. I think I'd like to get answers by myself, before I try to seek help. If I ever feel that it will help to have it out in a situation, I will though." I add to Traci and she nods in understanding.
"So at dinner, let's just look at photos and ask about Gail. That should give a few answers." She turns the conversation from my necklace to dinner.
"So we are going?" I change my tone from whining about going to asking if we're really going, even though there was no doubt before that we were.
"Sky, Steve came to the station and invited us personally. We can't exactly bail, so yes we're going." She tells me and I nod.
"Okay." After acceptance of the matter I get up and off the couch. "So what would you like to eat? I feel like cooking." I announce and I like her answer for food. The kitchen had been stocked before we even arrived, and the fridge filled with food. I guess our boss really does want us to be comfortable here.
"Now call Jerry and Leo while I cook." I order her as I make my way to the kitchen. "And bring the phone over after with it on speaker, I want to talk to the little guy too."
With that I disappear to the kitchen to prepare our meal, while she makes her call.
"You really shouldn't eat too much of that." Epstein comments on my eating habits. This must be my third bag of chips for the day.
"Why?" I ask through a mouthful, with a none caring expression.
"Well…" He starts to explain but he stops, as if he can't find the words to say.
"Leave her alone. Nothing you say will convince her. I've seen her down a large bowl of popcorn once, and she had two bags of chips after that too. Nothing we said convinced her otherwise." Traci tells him as she puts down the file she was holding.
Epstein raises his hands in surrender and goes back to a desk near Traci and Sam to help them out with the computer work.
I go back to eating chips and twirling in the chair.
I didn't have anything to do. They were going through testaments and questionings with the remaining five suspects, trying to narrow it down to less than five. So I sat there waiting for them to reach the stage where I'd be needed.
"Callaghan." Sam says to a blond figure that walks into the office.
"Where's Oliver? I need to talk to him." He doesn't bother with pleasantries I see.
"He left. He'll be coming in late today. Izzy has a thing in school." Sam explains. "Everything alright?"
"There was a body that got uncovered last night. The body is bones and decomposed flesh. Dr Stewart has been working on the autopsy all night, but we still have no ID, and the DNA doesn't match the system. Oliver was supposed to have called in an artist to reconstruct the face from the bones so we can have an inkling to what the victim might look like. But the guy is two hours late." Callaghan sounds exasperated and really pissed off.
"What's the cause of death?" Traci asks and he doesn't even waste time on learning our identity. He probably already knew.
"Dr Stewart thinks he might have been beaten to death." He explains.
"Which is why I need a face. Only way to get identification." He exhales then looks at Sam. "The body was found by the red building. Same as the one three years ago, and has been dead for over a year now. Almost same age and body form. It could be a pattern. Last time we got nothing on the body. I can't have that this time. Since we might have two serial killers on our hands now."
"Which is why you need Oliver. To make a call and ask for the artist to show or for another one." Sam announces the reason for why Callaghan might need Staff Sergeant Shaw,
"I'll do it." I say but Callaghan looks at me in question, not sure of what it is I'm offering to do. "I'll draw the face." I'm bored, and art is what I'm good at, and the reason I got into this business in the first place. Also, I might be their fastest choice right now apparently.
"Do you even have experience in such things?" Callaghan doubts my offer.
"I am an artist and I've done this before. More than once. If you want someone right now, I'll do it. Otherwise you can wait. I was only offering." I act as if I am not too eager to have something to do.
"You're not needed here?" He asks then.
I give a look to Traci and Sam, Traci shakes her head no while Sam shrugs.
"Not at the moment." I answer Callaghan.
He doesn't agree to my offer yet though. He still turns his attention towards Traci.
"How good is she?" He asks her about me. Still doubting me I guess.
"She'll get the job done." She assures him.
"Fine. I don't have much time to argue. I appreciate the offer. I can take you to the lab, Dr Stewart will help you in anyway you need." He stands by the door and gestures for me to walk out before him.
So I grab my stuff and walk out.
Dr Stewart will be helping me.
I'll be in her lab.
She'll be helping me to do this job.
A job which might take a few hours to do.
Hope I am keeping the excitement invisible. Because I doubt I'm containing it that well.
I don't knock or announce myself. When I asked where DR Stewart was upon reaching the entrance to the forensics building, they directed me to her lab, and that's where I went. And as I got there I just barged in.
Holly turned around in surprise at the sudden opening of the door.
"Nerd." I greet and for a while she's quiet, and wide eyed. Staring at me as if I'm a ghost from her past. Which is what I look like, so can't blame her.
She's been quiet longer than she should be.
"What?" I ask trying to break the awkwardness.
That seems to snap her out of her trance, because she clears her throat and answers back.
"Sorry, you startled me." She explains, but I doubt that's the only reason, because I tilt my head at her in question. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, I'm here to give face to those bones." I point at the dead body on the table.
"I didn't know they were sending you." She says in surprise at my announcement.
"Well, the guy was late, so I offered. I was bored and needed something to do." And with that said I stride my way towards a table near the slab and I place on it my sketch pad with my pencil box.
"So shall we start?" I ask.
"Sure." She then jumps up from behind the desk she was occupying and helps me arrange the bones and place the face in a direction that would make it easier for me to make out the lines and what this person could possibly look like. After that she goes back to sitting behind her desk and starts working on some papers.
Fifteen minutes into my work, of which I've only started on drawing a replica of the facial skeleton, I decide that the silence was just too much to handle so I pull out earphones from my pocket.
It feels clear that there will not be much conversation going on between us, even though I am desperately hoping for one. But knowing myself, drawing will not be easy with a conversation going. I need to get completely in the zone in order to see things in my head before I start to draw them.
I look up to address Holly, but I find her already looking at me. Probably my movement alerted her.
"You mind?" I ask indicating to my earphones and my phone.
She doesn't' answer though, she just shakes her head no, as in she doesn't mind. And with that answered, I plug my earphones into my phone and put my music library on shuffle while I continue my work.
Work that takes longer than I expected. It takes over two hours before I have a sketch of what the face of this skeleton looks like. It is not an accurate drawing, but it's close enough, and I hope it is enough to help Callaghan.
I fish out my phone and I call the number Callaghan gave me.
"All done." I tell him once he answers. He informs me that he's on his way to collect the drawing. I don't know what he'd do with it afterwards, but I'll suggest he finds someone to make it 3D in order to have a clearer face.
When I hang up I realize that I'm just alone with Holly, no work to be done, and waiting for Callaghan.
When I turn to face her, I again find her staring at me. She doesn't even look away when I meet her eyes. I return her stare, I am weirdly fascinated by this stranger. And during my stare, I notice the large dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes seem tired, but I can't tell exactly because they're hidden behind her glasses.
"You look really tired." I comment and she nods her confirmation. "Wait." I remember what Callaghan said. She's been working all night on this. "Have you been here since yesterday morning?" I ask knowing her shift started early yesterday. And if what I'm saying is true than she must be exhausted.
"The bones were found just before my shift ended and I was the most qualified, so I stayed." She says as if it's no big deal, as if she does that a lot, which she probably does.
"If I'd have known, I'd have worked faster." I say, knowing that if I'd have finished the drawing faster than she'd be done faster.
"Not much difference would've been made." She lifts the papers into my view. "Still have paper work to fill."
"Then fill em up fast. Because once Callaghan gets this, you're going home to sleep." I command. But then I stop myself. What am I doing? I have no right to even be commanding to her. I have no right to tell her what to do. I only have a rich tot suggest. But I want her less tired, and she can't just overtire her self.
"Sorry, but you really need rest." I apologize for my tone.
"Nah, it's okay. I probably should." She doesn't seem offended by my command.
She doesn't go back to her paper work, she just keeps looking at me.
"Something wrong?" I ask, and she notices that she's been caught looking at me way too many times.
"Sorry, still find it freaky." She explains and I smile at that. She keeps giving me hope that I'm Gail.
I don't get a chance to answer because Callaghan walks into the lab.
I hand him the drawing after his greeting and when he gets closer.
"This is your victim. Well as close to what he might look like." I say handing him the drawing.
"We should be able to post a request for identification based on this." He nods while looking at the photo.
"If you can get someone to turn this into a 3D, it'd be even easier." I offer.
"Hmm. true." He agrees with me. "I'll see if the station can direct me to someone who can start on it, as for now I'll just hand copies of this to the officers working the case, try to see if anyone near where he was found could recognize the face." He explains to me.
He turns around and we find Holly rubbing her forehead.
"Thank you, both of you." He sounds sincere. Holly nods at him and I just give him a smile, and with that he leaves the lab.
Holly doesn't stop rubbing her forehead though.
"You really do need to get some rest." I comment.
"Yeah, I don't think I can get much done anymore." She agrees.
She starts to arrange her papers, and that's probably when I should leave, but I don't.
She's been here since yesterday, she hasn't slept, and my bet is, she hasn't eaten much. Somehow I'm sure of that.
"How long has it been since you've eaten?" I ask her. And she looks up surprised with my question.
"Had something small this morning." I keep looking at her for more explanation. Is she saying she hasn't eaten since morning? And small probably means a cookie. She sighs and continues. "So probably I haven't had something good since the leftovers I had last evening."
"Okay, come on." I decide I'm taking her out to eat. She looks at me in confusion though.
"You look way too tired to drive and you need food then rest. So I'm taking you out to eat, then I'll drop you off at home, can't risk you driving in this state." I explain and she still looks at me a bit confused.
"Unless you don't want to eat with me." I realize that I'd just assumed she'd want to come.
"No that sounds great actually. Driving in this state would suck." She gives me a grateful smile and I almost swoon.
"Get everything ready, I'll wait." I tell her.
"Are you not needed at the station though?" She asks.
"Nope, or Traci would've called already. Plus, I'm starving so you'll be my excuse for ditching to get food." I add the last part with a joking tone and she catches on to that. She gives me a lopsided grin and a shake of her head.
And even though she looks really tired, and her eyes are not completely open. I can't help that my heart skips a beat at the sight.