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A/N - please bear with this next couple of chapters, they don't have much action but they are important to the main plot and ending - which has just been written :)
Chapter 6
"Hey Adam" Lindsay leaned against the door frame to the AV lab, Lindsay would have said it was in a persuasive manner, Adam sexy, Danny flirtatious. All three meant the same thing – Lindsay Messer needed Adam's help.
"You come back to work?" he asked hopefully.
Lindsay pulled a face "Not yet, well sort of, I need some help"
"Ah Lindsay I'm slammed!" Adam exclaimed "I got a ton of stuff to finish off, I got Jo ridin' my ass for the financials on Lee Harley, Flack is due to come in and give me some sparklingly sarcastic cut down when I tell him his rush job on some prints isn't done yet..."
Lindsay held a hand up "How much coffee have you had Adam?"
"Not enough apparently" he sighed "And the tech's – why won't they do as they're told huh?! I mean you ask them to..."
"OK!" Lindsay cut his rambling off again "Here's the deal, you find out where this email came from, and I'll see to Flack's prints, he won't shout at me if they're late"
"He w-won't?" Adam looked tempted, more than tempted.
"No" Lindsay smiled at him with encouragement "Now, someone received this email, I have tried to trace it back to an IP address, but, I can't pin it down"
Adam took the flash drive and plugged it into the computer "Doesn't the pony task force have their own IT guys?" he asked as the information loaded.
"It's HOS Adam" Lindsay laughed "And of course they do, just none as good as you" she smiled broadly, making him blush slightly.
"I – er – know it's HOS, I was – um – making a joke. Horse – pony...?" Adam stuttered.
"Oh I see what you did there" Lindsay said.
"Right" Adam turned back to the screen "This might take me a little while"
"I can wait" Lindsay said, pulling a chair up, Adam whirled, grabbing two sets of fingerprint cards and a flash drive, dropping them into Lindsay's lap.
"The prints" he said pointedly "They need to be run against all the ones Hawkes lifted from the apartment for any match and either ruled in or ruled out from the partials on the knife"
He swung her chair and pushed it gently towards the door "I'll tell Detective Flack where you are" he added with a cheeky grin.
…...
"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear" Don entered the interrogation room again and dropped a file onto the table.
Jo and the suspect looked at him he smiled, the kind of smile that a great white gives you just before it has your leg for lunch.
"Guess what Harry?" he looked happy, ecstatic even "I got your prints all over Lee Harley's apartment, oh and your buddy Damien's too!"
"Well they would be" Harry drawled "We went there to collect some stuff the guy didn't pay for"
"Oh I know that" he bounced on the balls of his feet, giving Jo an expansive smile "So you would think that I'm gonna say that you're right, and I have no reason to keep you here? Wrong!"
"You on something?" Harry asked a tilt to his voice "'Cos I gotta get the number of your supplier, it's good stuff!"
"Just good old adrenaline" Flack replied "And knowing I can lock your punk ass up for a long time!"
"For doing my job?!" Harry replied.
"I dunno about you" Flack looked at Jo, imitated concern on his face "But last time I checked, murder wasn't part of a debt collectors job description, I got your prints in the bathroom"
"Murder?!" Harry exclaimed "I just took the stuff! If a guy wants to off himself in a tub, that's his business!"
"Oh so you do know what happened then?" Jo asked.
"OK!" Harry held his hands up in defeat "We got to the place, and the door was open, so we went in and took the stuff. I had to, um, take a leak, so I went to the bathroom, but the guy was dead, I swear, already dead, so we split"
"And you didn't think to call the police?" Jo asked "Or an ambulance?!"
"Like I said" Harry muttered "He was already dead, so we took the stuff and got the hell out. Weren't no ambulance could help that guy"
"You realise that's a felony?" Don grinned again "Not doing your civic duty?"
"Slap on the wrists" Harry shrugged "Nothin' to write home about"
"But" Don said "You entered without invitation, home invasion in my book. So when you consider that, whatever you took is now stolen property. That's a bit more than a slap on the wrists"
"The door was open!" Harry persisted.
"Because the guy had been murdered!" Flack suddenly changed, slamming his hands on the table and getting into the other man's face "The murderer left the door open! You and your buddy took the opportunity to make a few bucks!"
"Hey we work on commission!" Harry defended "These people who don't pay their bills, they get what's comin'! They don't pay for stuff and think they can get away with it, they're low lives!"
"You" Jo stood up, looking disgusted "Are the low life. You prey on people's vulnerability. Lee Harley was disabled by a stroke, two years ago. He couldn't make those payments you were demanding because he couldn't even get out of bed by himself! And he certainly couldn't have killed himself! He needed that equipment to live day to day, and you waltz in while a man lay dying and take it all?!"
"We got a job to do" Harry defended "Just like you"
"Rubbish!" Jo said "Every person is capable of compassion! You have none, you just took what you came for and left him there!"
"Well" Don said "You're going down for burglary and fencing stolen goods. I think however, that if you had some information regarding anyone you may have seen at Harley's place, it might sit well with the DA"
…...
"Dinner?" Don asked as he leaned against the kitchen counter "Two nights in a row? You sure you don't want nothin'?"
Kate grinned at him shrugging with one shoulder "When you called and said you'd be home soon, like while it's still daylight, I figured you might wanna eat"
"I can always eat" he said, picking up a piece of bread and pulling it apart before eating pieces "I like bein' spoiled"
Kate shrugged again, this time he couldn't see her face "You're worth it. Just don't get too used to it"
"Will I get chance?" he asked dryly.
"Probably not" she laughed.
"Good" he swung her round gently by the shoulder, pulling her close to him "Because if you're gonna spend more time in the kitchen, that means you're gonna be spending less time in the bedroom, which isn't an option"
"I cook you a lovely meal" she said, trying to look disappointed "And all you want is sex?!"
"Um..." he looked at the ceiling briefly, as if he were weighing up the options before looking at her, a smile forming "Yeah!"
"Oh good" she looked relieved "I was starting to think I was gonna have to learn to cook more than lasagne and steak!"
…...
"Hey Adam" Don spoke in hushed tones, trying to ease out from under Kate as she lay sleeping across his chest.
He padded through to the kitchen, watching her get comfortable again on the sofa where she'd fallen asleep while they watched a movie after dinner.
"Hey Don, I been goin' through Lee Harley's financial stuff" Adam replied "And it's like he started shutting his life down. I think he wanted that equipment repossessed, he stopped paying all his bills, cancelled his care calls, had things disconnected. It's like he knew..."
"He was gonna die?" Don finished.
"Yeah" Adam paused "But he couldn't have... Done it himself Jo said"
"No he couldn't" Don sighed "Thanks Adam, I appreciate it. Go home and get some sleep buddy"
"T-Thanks" Adam said, puzzled. Flack seemed in a much better mood.
"Break in the case?" Kate yawned.
"Kinda" he looked at his phone for a couple of seconds before putting it in his pocket.
She yawned and stretched "As of tomorrow I'm eight on eight off" she said, sitting up "For ten days, I need to sleep"
"What time you start tomorrow?"
"Six" she said, fighting another yawn "We're doing the airport pick up service"
"Who you got?" he asked as he locked up and turned lights off.
"Some Arabian prince and his entourage" she said, waiting at the bedroom door as he checked the front door.
"Careful" he warned, following her into the bedroom "They like blondes, try and sell them I believe, watch you don't get kidnapped. I can't afford a ransom"
"Thanks babe" she pointed at him as she slid into bed "I'll remember that"
"Ah they'd soon bring you back" he said, getting in next to her "No one else would put up with your sharp tongue and bad attitude"
"My sharp tongue and bad attitude?!" she replied "That's good, comin' from you!"
"I don't have a bad attitude" he chuckled "I just have a low tolerance for bullshit"
"Except when it's comin' out your mouth?" she laughed as he tickled her "No!" she begged.
…...
