I'll spare you all from my blethering for once as I have nothing much to add other than a million thank yous for all the continued support and awesome reviews. Enjoy.
Chapter 7
James reached the open office door and stood in silence for a moment, unnoticed by its occupant. Juliet sat with her feet propped up on her desk, papers strewn about her. Her hair had been pulled up into a haphazard bun and a cute pair of glasses perched on her nose as she chewed a highlighter pen, looking perplexed as she shuffled through a sheaf of papers sitting in her lap. He crossed his arms and leant against the doorframe, smiling as she let out a small huh? sound and held a sheet up to re-read the back of it. Whilst he felt he could watch her like this all night, unfortunately there was a purpose to this visit.
"Knock, knock," he rapped his knuckles lightly on the glass. Startled she quickly sat up and looked over in confusion at his interruption. "Hey sorry," he quickly put his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "If you're busy, I can come back…"
"No!" She set the papers down on the desk and removed her glasses with a warm smile. "Please, come in." Jumping up, she reached over and removed a stack of files from a chair and gestured for him to sit. "I'm just trying to make sense out of an apparently senseless journal article. Sorry for the mess. I've not had the most productive of days." He returned her smile as he shrugged off his jacket and took the offered seat.
"Well it's a good thing I have, Blondie." She glanced down at her watch, surprised at how late it was.
"How did you know I'd still be here?"
"Cos I've pegged ya for a workaholic." He grinned charmingly as her eyes flared with a spark of irritation and quickly carried on to prevent her retort, "Nah, I'm kidding. I called ahead to check."
"Good, because I was about to resort to cliché and mention pots and kettles, Detective." He ducked his head in acknowledgement – after all he was technically here on business.
"Touché, Doc."
"So?" She took a deep breath, not sure if she really wanted to hear what he had to tell her.
"Well he ain't talkin', not a word. Even with Miles yammerin' in his ear all day – I woulda cracked by now." He held his index finger up in the air in illustration, "my first suspicion. The girl on the other hand, I had the pleasure of interviewing first. She practically fell over herself to tell all. Says she did it for him, that he was in trouble and had pressured her into helping him. Told her he'd had a problem with drugs and gotten into a load of debt with some dodgy dealers. She'd mentioned to him that you seem to also do your own experiments outside your official research and he came to her saying he'd found a buyer for the data, that the money would clear his debts and they'd be safe. Told her that all she had to do was copy one file and that he'd sort out all the security, she just had to go in and make that mess to cover her tracks."
"But why trash the place, surely it would have been better for them if I never realised anything was taken?" He sighed.
"That's the second thing that ain't adding up." Juliet tapped her fingers against her lips thouhtfully for a second and looked out at the dark night that had descended.
"Did she say who the buyer was? Do you believe her?"
"She said he never told her and I do. I think she's no more than a foolish girl who fell in love and was duped into breaking the law and betraying your trust to help her boyfriend."
"Duped?"
"I sat in on his interview for a while. I've seen my fair share of drug addicts and this guy ain't one. No way. There's definitely more to it. This is calculated and what's more I think he wanted you to know your work had been taken from you. I think…" he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, bowing his head to rake a hand through his hair before continuing, "I think someone out there wants your work desperately enough to set all this up. The timing's all too convenient. Did you have anything to do with his hiring?" She slumped back in her chair and pondered what he'd just told her.
"No. It was all Larry. You think he's been planning this all along?" She asked; a touch of incredulity in her voice. He nodded, reluctantly.
"Yeah. Nothin' to go on yet, but I do. But as far as the courts are concerned, what we have is good enough. She's signed a confession, the circumstantial evidence all adds up against him. They'll be prosecuted, she's helped herself a great deal in terms of sentencing."
"You knew all along they'd be charged didn't you? When I asked you if it was my choice?" He nodded once more.
"I'm sorry. It's her first offence, she'll be OK."
"No she won't," Juliet sadly shook her head, "Her career is over after this. Such a waste."
"I'm not letting this drop, I'll look into him more and get to the bottom of this. I promise ya, Blondie." She smiled for the first time since he started recounting the day's events.
"You don't have to, James. You've done your job and I appreciate it."
"Case ain't closed as far as I'm concerned. If someone put him up to this, I'll find out and bring 'em to justice."
"I can't talk you down can I? At the end of they day they have nothing." She noted with a bitter smirk.
"Nope." He grinned and stood up, nothing more to report that night. She shook her head in resignation and stood also.
"Well promise me that you're done for the night, your shift must be over by now. Go home, relax - get some sleep. Doctor's orders." He grinned despite having to admit that he was exhausted after a long day.
"You're a baby doc – and last time I checked I'm a long time outta diapers."
"Doesn't mean I can't see that you're tired and need a break. It's not a matter of life or death now is it?"
"Well what about you? You gonna follow your own prescription or burn the midnight oil here?" He spread his arm over the mess on her desk. She held his gaze steadily and looked like she was going to protest for a moment, before relenting with a roll of her eyes.
"No, I guess I'm done." She sighed and collected some of the papers and stuffed them into her briefcase. He watched with a slightly smug sense of satisfaction that she had listened to him and shrugged on his jacket before collecting hers from the stand by the door and helping her into it, resisting the urge to brush some stray strands of hair off her neck. She raised her brow at this gentlemanly act, but remained silent.
"Good. I'll walk ya out. Been a while since we've done that." He grinned and she giggled with a shake of her head and he thought it was the sweetest sound he'd heard all day. Man, this was getting dangerous.
#####
The sun had long since started its descent in the sky by the time Juliet managed to leave the hospital the next day. A quick consult at 10am had turned into an emergency surgery on a trauma that had come in. She checked her watch as she hurried towards her car, squinting in the low angled sun. Great, it was after 6pm and she still had things in the office that she had wanted to get done that day. But Rachel and Julian were home soon and she had promised she'd be home in time to join them for dinner.
Reaching her car, she slid into the driver's seat and tossed her bag on the passenger side when her phone rang. Sighing, she retrieved it and glanced at the number, not recognising it. She briefly considered ignoring it, but curiosity got the better of her.
"Hello?"
"Whatsup Doc?" A distinctively Southern voice boomed down the line and she couldn't help the grin that split her face.
"James. How did you get this number?"
"Do I question your ability to save lives, Sunshine?" He scoffed.
"I guess not, no. But now I'm slightly worried that you'd make an awesome stalker if you ever considered a career change." She was rewarded with a loud guffaw from the other end.
"Listen, I'm callin' cos I got some news. It ain't great. Are ya sittin' down?"
"Sounds ominous," she commented warily. "I'm in my car."
"You ain't drivin' are ya?"
"No, I just got in. Spit it out, James." She heard him take a bracing intake of breath.
"Ok. I wanted to tell you this face-to-face, but we've been called out on a bust that's been a long time comin'."
"You really use terms like that? That's a bit disappointing actually. Are you on the bust right now? Should you be calling me?" She interrupted, aware that she was stalling from hearing what sounded like bad news.
"Whatever. We're still a 10 minute drive away so I got time. Miles thanks you since he get's to drive for once."
"You never learned to share, Detective?"
"It's his own damn fault for forgetting we ain't in Miami Vice. Hey watch it Wheelnut, eyes on the road! Sorry, where were we?"
"I was trying to distract you from whatever you had to tell me."
"Good job, I'm impressed. Anyway I got some news on our wannabe junkie. Don't know how to tell you this, but he spent a year in Miami before rockin' up in LA five months ago. He was a security guard at your old work. Now I know it's a big place, being a college and all and I don't have nothin' concrete yet to link them together, but I think your ex is behind all this. From what I hear, he's been goin' through a bit of a professional slump since you left. I've also gained access to dipshit Dale's bank records and since he left there've been monthly large deposits of cash that can't be accounted for. Definitely wouldn't be hard pressed to pay up to any pill pusher."
Juliet leaned back heavily in her seat as she absorbed this not completely unexpected news. While it was still a shock to hear spoken aloud, it really wasn't something she'd put past Edmund was it? But the sheer magnitude and lengths he'd apparently gone to still floored her.
"Juliet?" James' worried voice shook her out of her thoughts and she realised she hadn't acknowledged what he had said.
"Sorry, it's just… are you sure?" she whispered.
"Frankly, no I'm not. I have nothin' concrete so far, it's more of a hunch. But I'm convinced I'm right. Especially with that email he sent you. I'll prove it somehow."
"Ok," she answered in a shaky voice, not really sure what else to say.
"I called Miami PD and had some officers show up at the college to ask him some questions, but get this, he's been unreachable on vacation for over a week. However, luck would have it he's actually due in LA for a business meeting on Saturday. I'm going to bring him in myself then for a cosy chat."
"Ok."
"Juliet, are you alright? As I said, I'm sorry this had to be on the phone, only I ain't sure how long this will take and I wanted you to know."
"I'm fine, thanks. It's just a bit of a shock, the thought that he'd resort to all this."
"He won't get away with it, I promise. Look, I gotta go. You have my cell number now if you need anything – just call. Though maybe wait a few hours." She chucked softly at this and the thought of him on a bust.
"Thanks again. Be careful." She knew it was irrational to worry about someone that not only did she dislike just a few short days ago, was obviously good at their job and knew what they were doing, but she found she couldn't help it.
"I'm Teflon Man, Blondie. Though haveta say the thought of you frettin' over me is a bit of a turn on."
"Hang up the goddamn phone, Romeo, we're up!" she heard who she assumed was Miles bitching in the background.
"Gotta go beat the crap outta my partner. Later."
"Bye James. Careful that ego of yours doesn't get in the way when busting down doors." She could hear him laughing as she hung up the phone and tossed it back into her bag. She leaned her forehead onto her steering wheel and took a deep breath to compose herself.
That bastard.
Work can wait, she thought as she started the engine and pulled out of the parking space. She'd surprise her sister and nephew by getting home early for once.
